NEW GOLF EQUIPMENT

GOLF New Golf Equipment

By Corey Roberson, Director of Golf

Late winter and early spring are when the big golf club manufacturers release new equipment. Typically, these announcements are reveals made at the annual PGA Show in Florida. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 PGA Show went virtual. The good news for all of our members is that the manufacturers shipped demo and fitting product early! We have the majority of the latest and greatest from Titleist®, PING, TaylorMade® and Callaway.

Titleist’s product cycle is a little different than the rest of the big four. They have major product releases in the fall and supplemental releases in the spring — last year they launched the TSi line of drivers and fairway woods. This coming fall, they will release new irons. The new TSi line is using a new face material called ATI 425 Aerospace Titanium. Essentially, ATI is lighter, has higher rebound and allows the engineers to move weight around in the head to make it more stable. This spring, Titleist will launch the TSi hybrids.

PING announced the release of their G425 line of clubs that includes drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons. I’ve conducted a few fittings so far with these weapons in the mix and the results have been great. In the driver, you have the option of MAX, LST or SFT. Most players will see the best performance in the MAX head, but those who need to knock their spin down might like the LST, and those who need a little help hitting a draw will like the SFT. These same versions are available in the fairway woods as well. The G425 irons are a nice evolution of the successful G400 irons with a cleaner appearance, higher launch and faster ball speeds.

TaylorMade released the SIM2 line that will replace 2020’s SIM. The driver is offered in standard, MAX and MAX D. Similar to PING, most players will find the best performance in the MAX variant — the standard version is lower spinning and the MAX D is great for those wanting to hit butter draws. Last year, we saw awesome performance from the SIM fairway woods and the early reports show the SIM2 is a nice upgrade. The SIM2 irons and hybrids also have two versions — standard and MAX. For this part of the bag, the MAX is going to have stronger lofts and a larger chassis.

For 2021, Callaway is bringing back the Epic line of clubs. The driver comes in three versions — Speed, MAX and MAX LS. Most players will find themselves liking the MAX version. The Speed’s profile is a little smaller and the MAX LS has a larger chassis with a lower spin profile. The most exciting part of Callaway’s launch is a refresh on the Apex line of irons. You can choose from the Apex Pro, Apex and Apex DCB. The Apex Pro features a smaller profile with hollow cavity technology — it’s a perfect fit in the popular player’s distance category. The DCB in Apex DCB stands for deep cavity back — this iron falls in the game improvement category. All three of these irons offer a 100% forged body, AI designed flash face cup and urethane microspheres.

There’s a lot that goes into figuring out what clubs should land in your bag. Our team is here to help — schedule an appointment with a golf professional to test the new equipment. Our goal is to help you play better golf. That might be accomplished by making an equipment change or just tweaking your current setup.

Corey Roberson is the Director of Golf at The Clubs of Cordillera Ranch. He can be reached at croberson@cordilleraranch.com or 830.336.4653.