Your Old Clubs’ Days Are Numbered
By Tyler Henning, Equipment Editor

When you set out on your spring cleaning adventures this year, it might just be time to throw some old clubs into the trash pile.

This year’s new introductions are primed to replace the sticks you’ve been playing with for way too long or even new clubs you’ve put in the bag and just don’t mesh with. More and more, the manufacturers that supply the vast spread of golf equipment are catering to the golfer, creating clubs that are easier to hit and that get better results.

In this look at what will be great in 2008, we’ve chosen four introductions in each critical golf-club-equipment category that will help you decide what to put in your bag for the new year.

Say Goodbye to Screw-In Weights
Mizuno believes loose screws are meant for toolboxes. The company that is known for its high-performance irons has spent time in the research and development labs for the last few years while other golf manufacturers churned out model after model.

Now Mizuno steps forward with two new models, the MP-600 and MX-560. The favorite of the two for the upcoming year might be the MP-600.

While Mizuno was designing, one of the big-time movements of the golf industry was the introduction of adjustable-weight drivers. As golfers bought up the adjustable drivers, Mizuno latched onto an idea of using a “Fast Track” to hold the weights inside the clubhead. This reduced the pieces of equipment down to just the driver and the tool that moves the weights along the Fast Track. The new technology creates 15 ball-flight settings.

Mizuno’s top professional player, Luke Donald, had the MP-600 in his bag as early as the Deutsche Bank Championship in early fall of 2007, with Mizuno research and development personnel in tow.

“The main reason Luke has changed so quickly is the shape of the MP-600 head and the ball speed off the face,” says Chris Voshall, Mizuno R&D. “Luke likes to be able to work the ball — even with the driver — so now having a real player’s shape is a great start.”

Donald gained a few yards after experimenting with different flight settings and shaft options at the Deutsche Bank Championship. www.mizunousa.com

It’s Time To Deliver A Knockout
The Infiniti KO gets its punch from a stability bar system that is built into the crown of the driver. The stability bars supplement moment of inertia characteristics, resisting twisting on off-center hits, while not sacrificing a traditional driver shape.

“Our engineers were given the challenge to create a high moment of inertia (MOI) driver that provided solid sound and feel as well as an eye-appealing shape that also hits the ball long and straight,” states company president Eric Yeh. “We’ve succeeded with the KO.”

The sleek presentation of the KO is topped off with a boxing glove for a headcover that will let everyone around know that your golf game has serious punch. www.infinitigolf.com

Going Where Magnesium Has Never Gone Before
Tour Edge is known for fairway woods that outdrive most 460cc drivers off the tee. The secret was a cupped titanium face that had a trampoline-type response when striking the ball, resulting in high ball speeds.

The obvious evolution of the highly praised fairway woods was a driver built with the same technology. However, the weight properties and other USGA design rules made a direct cup-face technology application difficult. The solution to this problem was magnesium. Due to the weight saved by using the magnesium crown, extra weight is applied to other parts of the Tour Edge Exotics XCG clubhead for an extreme CG position and extreme distance. www.touredge.com

Squares Are Back And Better Than Ever
The square-headed driver movement continues in 2008, with Nickent creating the first second-generation square driver in the 3DX Tour Square.

Increased bulge and roll of the clubface helps to keep ball flights on the straight and narrow. However, one design need that was addressed was to make a square-headed driver workable. Amazingly, the MOI-enhancing features do not rob the Tour Square of being able to work the ball, which is a complaint of other square-headed models.

Both models of the 3DX Square drivers, Tour and the original model, have an internal structure that makes the acoustical properties pleasing, which is quite the accomplishment in the square-driver realm. www.nickentgolf.com

NewCGB Max Line Demands Attention
TaylorMade dominated the driver market with the r7 driver of several years ago, which introduced the golfing public to Movable Weight Technology (MWT). The technology has been tinkered with and reapplied to different models since the introduction of the initial r7.

In 2008, golfers will be able to find MWT in the r7 CGB MAX line that features drivers and fairway woods. A fine iron line complements the set but doesn’t have movable weights.

The best way to understand what’s packed into the r7 CGB MAX line is to tackle the name itself. CGB is short for center of gravity back, which is the company’s name for the practice of placing the center of gravity as far back as possible. The technology makes the often hard-to-hit fairway wood extremely simple to hit into the air. MAX is representative of all the combined technologies that give the club maximum distance, maximum forgiveness, maximum performance and maximum ease of use.

TaylorMade’s SuperFast Technology infuses the woods with the ability to squeeze distance out of the r7 CGB MAX by reducing weight in the RE*AX graphite shaft and grip of the club. The loss in weight gives the golfer an opportunity to add a few miles per hour to his swing speed. www.taylormadegolf.com

The Fairway Wood Goes Square
Simpac Golf claims to have initiated the square-headed movement before anyone else, producing a USGA-conforming square driver in 2002. Two years later, the company was awarded a patent for its square driver and fairway-wood design.

The new HS-45 fairway woods don’t stop with the innovative square shape. Simpac has decided to use an HS-45 alloy fabricated at its processing facilities. Using the Rockwell hardness scale, HS-45 is 48.4 percent harder than 17-4 stainless steel and 32.4 percent harder than 6-4 titanium. HS-45 has been found to be much more reliable than traditional club-making materials due to the hardness that can still remain pliable. www.simpac.com

Marrying Golfers To Maraging Steel
Srixon’s strategy for creating game-enhancing equipment is based on using a maraging-steel face to get the CG lower and your golf ball up in the air easier. Maraging steel is harder and stronger than conventional stainless steel.

“The Z-Steel fairway woods feature the same design philosophy and technology that have made our drivers so successful,” says Richard Stamper, president of Srixon. “Impact Power Face design enables us to create optimal launch conditions so players can hit fairway-wood shots off the deck, high and straight. By using maraging steel, the clubface is lighter and thinner, thus distributing the weight lower and deeper for better trajectory and maximum distance.” www.srixon.com

Classic From Any Lie
“The new 906F4 is the most playable Titleist fairway metal yet,” says Steve Pelisek, vice president, sales marketing for Titleist.

It’s not just marketing fodder either. The new 906F4 has a fresh multi-relief sole that minimizes turf resistance. Crisp contact with the new model is a definite possibility from the rough, the fairway and all places in between.

Another beneficial trait of the 906F4 is Titleist’s bore-through design. The shaft of the club extends through the clubhead, with the shaft tip positioned much closer to the point of contact than on other clubs. The stability that is gained from the bore-through technology is an added bonus that really provides feel and touch to the club. www.titleist.com

You Guessed It — Geometry-Driven Hybrids
A year ago, golfers everywhere rushed to retailers for SUMO Saturday, a marketing event that introduced the new highly anticipated and discussed Sasquatch SUMO2 driver. Riding the success of the high-MOI driver, Nike has put the squared geometry into fairway woods and now hybrids.

“We believe we have created a line of hybrids that addresses the performance needs of all skill levels,” said Bob Lukasiewicz, product director of golf clubs for Nike Golf. “In the SUMO2, we have created our most forgiving hybrids by combining square geometry with advanced materials.”

Just like the driver introduction, golfers will find both a SUMO and SUMO2 version. The SUMO is a high-MOI hybrid with a more traditional head shape and some ability to move the ball. The SUMO2, targeted for golfers looking for straight, long, accurate shots, has a generous offset and Nike’s PowerBow Weighting that puts the bulk of the hybrid low and toward the perimeter to achieve the high MOI.

Advanced materials come into play as well with a hot Cryo Steel face that maximizes the distance and forgiveness attributes of the club.

The SUMO2 comes in four different loft options, as well as steel and graphite shaft options. Nike also offers more flex options than most companies in the business, including women’s, seniors, regular and stiff flexes. www.nikegolf.com

Ending Hybrid Confusion
Wilson believes the new FYbrid series will help “simpliFY” the process for golfers seeking long-iron and fairway-wood replacement. The Wilson Staff FYbrids line features long-distance utility clubs that help properly span the range between driver and 6-iron, especially the gap between where fairway woods stop and hybrids begin. Just like finding that magical putter that seems to work most days, it is important to gain that type of confidence in the hybrids that get you on the green from those long par 4s and par 5s.

The sole of the FYbrids has recessed areas in the heel, toe and center that create a raised sole plate. This design helps cut through some of the more ominous conditions found on a golf course. www.wilsonstaff.com

The Iron King Jumps Into The Graduated Set
Widely known for an expertise in irons and wedges, Mizuno has set its sights on a new market. A graduated set is an iron set that can be comprised of different clubhead shapes that benefit the golfer in various ways.

The MX-950s are loaded with advancements that have made recent Mizuno irons treasures in the market. Grain Flow Forged Hollow Technology makes the 5- through 7-irons high-MOI clubs with a low and deep weighted cavity that helps the ball launch high and true despite any lie. A 1025E “pure-select” mild-carbon steel is used for the 8-iron through lob wedge, resulting in a soft, consistent feel for the pin-seeking weapons in the bag. www.mizunousa.com

Hybrid Fan? Play All Hybrid Irons
Some golfers have fallen so in love with the hybrid club that they are clamoring for complete iron sets made of the replacement clubs. Paragon Sports is serving hybrid-happy golfers complete sets of hybrid irons with the Pyramid R600 line. Ranging from the 2-iron to sand wedge, the R600s include Trapezoid Squared Impact design — another geometry-driven design technique to boost MOI.

A closer look at the R600 clubhead reveals that golfers interested in the set will be looking down at a wide, trapezoid-shaped head. Although widely different from most clubs on the market, the back of the club does frame the ball well at address and provides the MOI benefits that make the R600 a stout performer. www.paragon4sports.com

Golden Bear’s Company Has Golden Idea
Polarity comes from the idea of putting weight in polar opposites of the club — the hosel and the toe. An easy translation of this example is that of a tightrope walker. A tightrope walker is often seen with a pole that is evenly carried across the rope so as to spread the weight out for stability and balance. Nicklaus has applied the same concept to the new Polarity MTR irons.

The patented Extreme Polar Weighting Distribution brings the misses every golfer has during a round into a much tighter dispersion area due to the high MOI that is much greater than other comparable game-improvement iron models on the market. Where Nicklaus’ technology is different from those other models is that weight is added onto the hosel in the form of a small nob. The same weighted material is added to the toe of the club, creating the radical distribution of the weight. However, the small bulge on the hosel is perfectly engineered into the design, not taking away from the smooth cosmetics of the club.

Nicklaus included other game-improvement techniques to make the irons all-around winners. The offset and sole width progress through the set — less on short irons and more in the longer irons — providing the right amount of touch, turf relief and other benefits. A polymer insert gives a sense of touch to the iron set, helping feel players get a sense about their shot feedback.
Nicklaus also allows consumers to mix their iron set with the PlusSet option that includes a 3 and 4 Claw Hybrid. www.nicklausgolf.com

Technology At The Tip
For some, it’s thinking outside of the box. At Wilson, they are thinking outside of the clubhead. The new Ci7 irons feature a .450-inch-wide shaft tip. Most shaft tips measure in at .355 or .370 inch in diameter. The extra diameter acts as an MOI booster, making it much tougher for the club to twist on off-center shots. The set also has a progressive tip design that gives the longer irons a soft tip and lower kick point for higher ball flight and the shorter irons a stiffer tip and higher kick point.

The Ci7 clubhead has a tour-inspired midsize shape that should appeal to low and high handicappers alike. A thin face and perimeter-weighted undercut cavity put plenty of power on the table for golfers to feast on. www.wilsonstaff.com

Forgiveness, Feel, Control And Classic PING Looks
The Phoenix-based iron magicians are back with the new G10s and i10 irons, with the G10s likely to appeal to most golfers who prefer a large, high-launch design clubhead.

As for the clubhead’s technology, a Custom Tuning Port (CTP) gave PING engineers the ability to stabilize the hitting area for consistent ball velocity across the clubface. The elastomer CTP insert is in place for solid feel and sound. A wide sole helps house the weight and boost the club’s ability to provide a high, helping launch. The clubface really battles against distance-robbing spin.
The G10s also have classic PING 17-4 stainless steel with a splash of Atomic Orange to create another explosive club set. www.pinggolf.com

Burning Fairways With Distance-Enhancing Advancements
Just like the popular Burner driver, TaylorMade did everything possible to strip down an iron to be a sleek and speedy distance giant. RE*AX SuperFast graphite shafts promote a faster swing speed that translates to more distance. Also, a thin titanium clubface on a large clubhead creates a high coefficient of restitution — the ability of the club to produce a high ball speed at impact for more distance.

The distance-focused irons aren’t uncontrollable. Because of the lightweight clubface, the Burner XD uses the saved weight from the clubface and places it low and deep within the clubhead for high launch and high MOI, resulting in straighter shots. www.taylormadegolf.com

Weighing In With Adjustable Weights
Proof to the fact that wedges are getting a complete technology overhaul by golf manufacturers, Tour Edge has brought the adjustable-weight movement to wedge design and has also incorporated a feel-enhancing injection. The new Tour Edge Exotics Xtreme Spin features a removable-weight screw that allows golfers to dial in the swing weight of the wedge by changing out 2-, 4- and 6-gram screws. By adjusting the weight, golfers find the preferred feel, weight and performance.

As if the versatility in the weighting weren’t enough, a thermal plastic elastomer (TPE) filling gives engineers the opportunity to make the face only 1.5 millimeters thick. Just like in other wedges, the filling material creates extra feel and feedback for the golfer.

The face grooves on the club are milled, and the cosmetics of the club are simple, sophisticated and stylish — a staple of the premium Exotics line from Tour Edge.

The Exotics Xtreme Spin wedge is available with a True Temper Dynamic Gold taper tip steel shaft. The kick point on the shaft is high, putting control closer to the hands on important scoring shots. The discerning golfer can outfit his wedge set with 50-, 52-, 54-, 56-, 58- or 60-degree models for a suggested price of $130. www.touredge.com

Using Pros To Supplement Design
Every major manufacturer employs professional players to play its clubs from week to week. Some use the feedback from the pros to change designs that eventually become the products in play for the masses.

Srixon designers took the professional expertise and created the WG-706 wedge. Soft 1020 carbon steel and face press-milling give the wedge extreme feel and touch.

“The WG-706 wedges feature the shape, profile and classic look preferred by better players and serious golfers,” states Richard Stamper, Srixon president. “Beyond the aesthetics, the performance we’ve designed into these clubs makes them scoring weapons that have already been proven at golf’s highest level.” www.srixon.com

High MOI Hits The Wedge Scene
High moment of inertia usually isn’t a topic in the wedge discussion, simply because most shots with wedges are chips and pitches, not full swings that demand some level of forgiveness. PING believes the new Tour-W wedges will suffice in bringing forgiveness on full-swing shots while still being versatile in other short-game aspects.

Just like in the new G10 irons, PING used the Custom Tuning Port to move the center of gravity down and forward to correct head rotation during a shot. The tungsten weight in the toe of the club increases the MOI and forgiveness in the club. High-density materials pack the mass into a smaller tear-drop-shaped club for playability out of various conditions. www.pinggolf.com

All Zipped Up And Ready To Go
Cleveland has put its “spin” on the new gel craze in the CG14s with Gelback Technology. The Gelback approach involves a lightweight, visco-elastic vibration-dampening material injected into the back cavity. The placement of the gel behind the hitting area dampens unwanted mishit vibrations while still processing feedback from good shots.

While the gel is zipped up in the back cavity, Cleveland put its ZIP Grooves on the face of the CG14s for optimal bite and distance control. The ZIP Grooves are precision-milled to the maximum conforming dimensions and are large enough to channel debris out of the way on the clubface for crisp contact. www.clevelandgolf.com

Two Popular Models Mingle And Mix
Chocolate is a great flavor, as is vanilla. Together, they make a pretty grand treat. The same thought process went into mixing two of Rife Putters’ best-selling models — the Two Bar and Barbados Island Series putters — to create the Two-Bar Hybrid.

“We’re very excited about the new Two-Bar Hybrid,” says Matt Molloy, Rife Putters president. “We’ve designed a new, innovative faceplate technology that will further enhance the benefits of our patented RollGroove Technology. The Two-Bar Hybrid is still fully self-adjustable for weight and lie angle.”

Quietly, the new model made the rounds around the Champions and Nationwide tours with great praise. Rife has infiltrated the bags of some tour players under contract with larger manufacturers, all without shelling out sponsorship money to the players. The RollGroove technology is simply a tour favorite.

RollGroove creates a situation at impact where the putter’s face gently presses into the cover of the ball, gripping the ball and imparting a true end-over-end spin. Without this spin technology, most putters push, skid and hop the ball off line at impact.
www.rifeputters.com

Driver Shares Technology With Putter
HiPPO Golf made a splash in 2007 with the geometry-driven design of the HEX2 driver. Amazingly, the company has carried the beneficial design through fairway woods and now down to the putter.

HiPPO delivers on the high-MOI promise by putting 3 grams of weight in the extreme back corners of the hexagon shape. The hexagon theme doesn’t stop with the shape of the club. Three hexagons are visible on the top of the club, providing a top-notch alignment aid.

For the price, the feel and technology of the HEX2 putter might be unsurpassed. A CNC-milled aluminum face is backed by a polymer to create a soft response for a multi-material clubhead. www.hippogolf.com

Popular Boutique-Shop Designs Get Makeover
Sizemore’s latest gift to golf is the center-shafted XM-1 (there’s a new XM-2 as well), which complements the company’s Alignment Insert Management. Each putter comes with a plethora of weighted end caps and alignment inserts sure to please any eye.

Sizemore’s putters go through a checklist of criteria called the Total Club Approach or TCA. TCA requires that putters are original with a unique design and feel, have machining tolerances less than 1/1,000 inch and a 3-D optical design for superior alignment. www.sizemoregolf.com

C-Groove Technology Lives On
The bread and butter behind all of Yes! Golf’s putters is the C-Groove technology. The C-Groove actually lifts the ball out of the depression in which every ball comes to rest on a green. A Yes! putter usually gets a true roll started within 3 to 4 inches of contact. A traditional putter without C-Groove technology requires 14 to 18 inches before the skids stop and roll begins.

The Yes! Valerie is a 355-gram face-balanced mallet putter that features a double-bend shaft, allowing you to see more of the clubface. A single sightline sits on the cavity-back design. The 304-stainless-steel Valerie putter is a sight to behold with a cosmetically appealing titanium-carbon finish. www.yesgolf.com

Get Dialed In
65, 72, 72, 74, 75, 73, 76, 68, 73, 74, 75, 70.
Those 12 numbers are the official compression measurements as given by the Hexcaliber when measuring a leading manufacturer’s dozen golf balls.

If you’re a better player, then a specific compression number might help dial in your game. Maybe it’s a particularly cold day outside and you want to single out the lowest compression golf balls you have so you don’t feel like you are hitting rocks in the cold. Whatever the reason, and there are plenty, the Hexcaliber is available to measure the compression of golf balls.

Consider once again the range of measurements above. On average, golf-ball compressions range from 50 to 100 in the market. Just in the dozen golf balls measured above, there’s a range of 65 to 76. That’s a range of 11 compression points.

Compression measurements aren’t the only function of the Hexcaliber. Golfers can check to make sure that the ball is perfectly round and has a USGA-conforming circumference by placing it in the round holes that make up the front of the unit. If you are an avid fan of picking up lost golf balls, this will assure that the found golf ball is useful. Many times, golf balls that have been lost end up being deformed by forces of nature, lawn mowers and other elements.

If compression measurements and rule-checking uses don’t suit you, then the Hexcaliber makes an interesting and attractive conversation piece. The Hexcaliber comes in a handful of anodized colors, as well as polished aluminum, and looks great in an office, on the course or as a mantelpiece at home. www.hexcalibergolf.com

NXT And NXT Tour Get A Sibling
Titleist has a whole stable of brands that are household names, at least among golfing families. The ProV1 and NXT lines are immensely popular, and now golfers will have a new member of the NXT family to get familiar with.

The NXT Extreme is a two-piece ball primed to get far down the fairway. Built for golfers wanting distance with a touch of feel around the greens, the NXT Extreme has a soft-compression core and a Staggered Wave parting line for more consistent dimple coverage. The end result is a two-piece ball designed for more distance that maintains a soft feel in the scoring zone.

The core isn’t the only part of the NXT Extreme contributing to maximum distance. A low-spin Surlyn cover reduces driver spin for long, straight distance. www.titleist.com

Recycled Packaging Is Good Karma
Golf-ball manufacturers are scrambling to create low-compression golf balls for slower swing speeds. Nike’s first attempt is the KARMA, a ball with a fun concept to boot.

The KARMA is a 50-compression golf ball packaged with 50-percent recycled content. This earthy approach to packaging might just bring about good karma after all.

“Our objective was to create a soft, 50-compression ball that would compress enough at impact to deliver 100-percent performance — and I believe we have accomplished that,” says Rock Ishii, Nike Golf’s director of golf ball creation. “When men and women with slower swing speeds hit the KARMA, they will immediately feel how soft it is and how well it carries.” www.nikegolf.com

A New Player
Innovex likens its approach to golf balls to that of racing crew chiefs. A crew chief uses aerodynamics and engineering to get more speed out of his craft. Shock absorbers help get every last drop of speed and performance out of a car. The engineers at Innovex have used some of these concepts and put them into the E-Motion golf ball.

The powerful engine of the E-Motion golf ball is the Progressive Motion Dual Core, which senses the type of impact and loft of a shot, giving a soft feel for shorter shots and firmness off the tee for more distance. The analogy of cars and shock absorbers continues through the design of the Shock Absorber Rebound Technology that propels the ball back to its round shape faster to take advantage of aerodynamics and improve carry.

The cover is a proprietary material known as Aeroblend, which provides tour-caliber control around the greens. www.innovexgolf.com