Back in this post I mentioned that the buzzword for 2010 seems to be “speed.” I’d mentioned Cobra, Taylormade and Callaway Golf all use the word in their ads or even the names of some new clubs. Nike announced the new SQ Machspeed driver and as you can see, has now jumped on the speed buzzword bandwagon.
I apologize but for the life of my I can’t remember this basher of the ball’s name. He was a long drive clinician in the Bridgestone Golf tent at this year’s PGA Merchandise Show demo day. I watched him hit a couple of shots. The ball goes so far and so fast that I lose track of it. The ball is still ascending when I lose sight of it about 280 out…
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment, Golf Media, Golf Videos
I’ve finished uploading all of my 2010 PGA Merchandise Show Photos. I’ve got shots from many booths, after hours, tear down and demo day. Below are a few samples.
Above: Tail Of The Tiger Golf Balls which have the first 12 Tiger Woods mistresses on them
Above: Demo Day… Taping up the hands during the world record attempt at most golf balls hit in 12 hours.
Above: Titleist booth (with hot chick walking through)
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment
I have a pal named John who makes a series of irons. His brand name is Weszty Golf. I’ve reviewed one set of the Weszty irons to date, with another review on the way soon.
Here in this video below, I caught up with John and got the lowdown on his three models of irons.
| As 2009 comes to a close it is time for my annual HOG SPACE awards. For those new readers, HOG is short for my blog Hooked On Golf Blog. SPACE is short for my golf networking site called The Golf Space.
The awards come in no particular order. Just how they leak out of my cranium. Drum roll please… |
|
| Player of the year & “Playa” of the year |
Tiger Woods
 |
| Best golf course I played in 2009 | Black Mesa in New Mexico, pictured below. And yes I played TPC Sawgrass this year and like Black Mesa better… |
|
Black Mesa, New Mexico
|
|
| Best new driver |
TaylorMade r9. I would have picked the Nike STR8-Fit, but since my STR8-Fit head caved in and Nike wouldn’t replace it, I’m awarding the best new driver to TaylorMade’s r9.
 |
| Best new golf accessory |
|
| Best putter I played in 2009 |
 |
| Best irons |
 |
| Best new golf ball |
|
| Best golf shoe (tie) |
FootJoy Icon and Puma Swing GTX tie for best golf shoe of 2009. Tough choice.
|
| Best resort, mud bath and spa I reviewed |
 |
| Best new golf apparel item |
|
| Best new golf company | Winner of the best new apparel item and best new accessory, SUMI-G is hands down the best new golf company for 2009! |
| Funniest, yet useful golf gag item |
 |
| Best new golf site | Home of Golf by Andy Brown. Andy is great and does great video interviews from Scotland. |
| Best golf site for women | The Golf Girl (needs new URL) |
| Best golf blog (tie) | This is a tie between Geoff Shackelford and Armchair Golf Blog |
| Shot of the year | I hole out a 5-iron for eagle on a par-4. |
Equipment & Accessories, Golf, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Courses, Golf Equipment, Golf For Women, Golf Life, Golf Lifestyle, Golf Media, Hackers, Site News, Travel
I’ve met a lot of neat friends through my site, The Golf Space. One is the owner, founder, creator, brains behind Weszty Golf. My pal John Wesztergom founded Weszty Golf back in 2005 and has been passionately designing and building clubs since. Weszty’s mission is to make the game more enjoyable for players of all skill levels. Today we’ll be talking about highly skilled players.
Weszy Golf Zt-C Irons Overview
The Zt-C (I’ll call them the Zt’s from this point on) is an “Enhanced Blade” iron. For those who don’t know what a “blade” is, they’re typically smaller and harder to hit but allow more control of shot shapes and launch angles. Blades also have more “feedback” or feel of shots, translated to the player through the vibration and sound of the club. Higher level players, especially PGA Tour pros, often use blades. These clubs are definitely not for a 20 handicap player.
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews
Remember the Medicus from years ago? The SKLZ Refiner series are clubs with a similar concept. The Refiner Driver is a hinged training driver which shows breakdowns in your swing.
Two huge factors in the golf swing are tempo and swing plane.
Tempo
Many players’ tempos are way too fast or jerky at different points in the swing. The Refiner driver breaks down when the following tempos are too quick:
I thought I had a very smoothly timed wing, but the Refiner had a different story. I found that my takeaway was too quick. My “normal” swing had the hinge breaking down between the start of my takeaway and the first foot or two back. I really thought I was slow and smooth here but I wasn’t. Since adjusting that small part of my swing I’m hitting the ball higher and father. The rest of my swing was fine, according to the Refiner.
Swing plane
If you swing the club with a bad swing plane the Refiner will also break down. This helps players get on plane, especially slicers. If you are coming outside in, the usual cause of a slice, the Refiner will let you know.
You can actually hit shots with the Refiner Driver, as seen in the video below
While out testing a myriad of golf gear on a cold cold day at the south range of my home course my pal and mini tour pro Luke Swilor stopped by. I put Luke to work testing the Refiner. Luke is a high level player and I was anxious to see what happened in his swing with this unit.
In the video below Luke and I test out the Refiner and give some off the cuff reactions and opinions. Luke crushes the Refiner, almost hitting the the range shack on the north end of the range. I might add there was a head wind as well. That answers the question, “can you hit real shots with this thing?”
Conclusion
For hammering out swing plane and especially tempo issues, I’ll always keep the Refiner handy. I’m sure if things go a bit bad with my swing, the Refiner can tell me where the breakdowns are occurring.
Related links
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Clubs, Golf Instruction, Golf Reviews, Instruction
“Our bank has refused to fund any future operations of the company.” John Hoeflich, Nickent President.
This is terribly sad. Nickent is done. I’ve always been a big Nickent fan. I believe this lowly little blog helped that company grow in the beginning with some product reviews of their hybrids and putters. The economy and lack of interest in some of their club offerings like irons and drivers led to their demise. 60 employees are now out of work as well.
Premonition
I thought something fishy was up back on September 2nd when I noticed that Nickent’s web site had been moved from a .com to a .net. The .com had said “this account has been suspended” which typically is displayed by web hosts when they haven’t been paid for their service.
Currently I have two Nickent hybrids in my bag which I depend on greatly. One is a 17 degree and one a 23 degree. I have 20 degree to complete the set which I let my dad use, and he hits it so well he has informed me that I won’t be getting it back. Otherwise I might have three Nickent hybrids in my bag.
Perhaps some bigger golf company will buy up the assets and designs of Nickent and carry on some of their great hybrid designs.
Jan 28-30 in Orlando, Florida is the 2010 PGA Merchandise Show. For the 2nd year in a row after a period of not participating, Titleist will have a presence there as well as at the demo day. Demo day is the day before the show starts on the show floor.
I plan on attending the show this year so I should once again be getting the scoop on the latest and greatest from Titleist and hundreds of other golf companies in Orlando.
UPDATE: Typo fixed. Thanks to those who pounded it through my thick cranium
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Accessories, Golf Apparel, Golf Balls, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment
There are some days when being a golf blogger really sucks. Take for instance, when I was asked to play the four new series of irons from Titleist which come out in November and December 2009, the MB, CB, AP1 and AP2 irons. Talk about tough duty. Maybe I should quit doing this and look for a more fun gig like being a photographer for Playboy or something.
AP1 Overview
“Advanced performance, multimaterial, dual cavity irons provide improved feel, great looks, shot control and higher flight with forgiveness for the avid to skilled golfer.”
AP1 Technology
Improvements
AP2 Changes from last year’s model AP1’s include a thinner face (from 3.3mm to 2.0mm), removed weighting in the back and top of the club and a more lively feel. The very cool looking back of the head has visually changed a bit as well. In my Titleist gallery, you can see graphs showing the changes between last year’s AP1 and this year’s.
My AP1 Comments
The AP1’s are as close to “game improvement” irons as you’ll see Titleist get. But hold on a minute. They’re not overly offset or super anti-slice. If they were I’d be hooking the hell out of them on every shot and I don’t. I hit them perfectly straight, EVERY time.
The heads of the AP1’s are the largest footprint of any Titleist irons you’ll see. These are forgiving clubs which are very easy to hit. So easy in fact they made me wonder why I play clubs which are “harder” to hit.
All of the AP1 irons fly nice and high. They fly higher than any of my current irons in my bag. Despite not being forged I still get a nice feel from them, but these are definitely NOT blades. Mis-hit shots still “go” well and don’t hammer you with tons of feedback (zingers) like blades.
These babies go fairly straight, but I can definitely work them either way if I need to.
Would I play them? Hell yes. I could really benefit from hitting irons exactly where I want them to go on 99% of my shots. 
AP2 Overview
“Advanced performance, multimaterial, dual cavity forged irons provide improved feel, classic blade looks, and playability with shot control for the serious and skilled golfer.”
AP2 Technology
My AP2 Comments
The AP2’s are the closes model Titleist offers to what I’m accustomed to playing. They’re player’s clubs, yet still have some “help” for off center shots.
I love the feel and look of these clubs. Like the Ap1’s the AP2’s all launched my shots higher than my current irons. The AP2’s are very easy to hit and provide great feedback on mis-hit shots. I know exactly where on the club face the ball is impacting.
Shot making with the AP2’s is a blast. I set out to hit about six different types of shots with them, high fade, high draw, low punch, punch cut, punch draw. The AP2 performed just as I wanted and I was able to manufacture every shot I tried.
I had my son lasering my shots as I tested out these irons. Though they launched higher, the distances were the same or longer than my regular irons. I determined through the performance and feel of the AP2 4-iron, that this particular club was the holy grail of 4-irons. I couldn’t miss the thing, despite not being able to hit a four iron in any of my three iron sets all year. My son lasered each shot at 225-230 yards and I was hitting into a slight wind.
For my game, a 1-3 handicap, the AP2’s are the ticket.
CB Overview
Traditional cavity back blade for skilled golfers. “Required performance niche for peak of the pyramid.”
CB Technology
My CB Comments
The CB’s are very nice to play. The traditional look standing over the CB’s inspires shot making. For a blade these aren’t overly difficult to hit. The cavity back makes this club’s feel much better than one would expect from a traditional blade. Feedback is high and I could tell to a fine degree where off center shots were impacting the club face.
I don’t launch the ball as high with the CB (or the MB) as I do the AP1’s or Ap2’s.
Manufacturing shots with the CB’s is a joy and the long irons surprisingly easier to hit than I expected.
All those compliments taken into consideration, I’d still need to have my A or B+ game to truly take advantage of these clubs. If I had my C game it could get ugly.
MB Overview
Traditional muscle back blade for skilled golfers. “Required performance niche for peak of the pyramid.”
MB Technology
My MB Comments
It is a shame to even hit these shiny clubs and scuff them up. They have to be the most visually appealing irons I’ve ever seen. They also have to be some of the most visually intimidating irons as well standing over them. These are pure blades, small heads and not “easy” to hit for me. I’m no Adam Scott (though I may be better looking) so hitting these babies is a real test for my game, despite being an above average amateur player.
When I DO hit the MB’s on the center of the face nothing feels better, responds better or flies more true. The problem is, that happens about 50% of the time.
Would I put these in my bag for every day play? My low handicap hack swing is obviously not at the “peak of the pyramid.” Unless my game improved a great deal I won’t put the MB’s in my bag.
More images of the AP1, Ap2, MB and CB’s
I have MANY images and diagrams of all these new Titleist irons in the HOG Titleist gallery for you to drool over.
Equipment & Accessories, Golf Clubs, Golf Equipment, Golf Reviews
over 11,000 images!
Recent Comments