Each year there are hundreds of equipment nuggets that we dole out to our audience. And every year there are some that stand out as being truly notable and worth revisiting. Whether a major champion using irons that were 3D-printed, a six-time PGA Tour winner putting in two drivers at the Masters or a fairway wood from 2006 finding its way back in play, here’s our take on the top gear stories of 2024.
Bryson’s 3D-printed irons
Leave it to the content king, Bryson DeChambeau, to become the gift that keeps on giving for equipment writers, wrestling that title from Phil Mickelson. Nowhere was that more on the mark than at this year’s Masters, where DeChambeau showed up with irons that were 3D printed from a company called Avoda. Making things even more unusual, the irons had just hit the USGA’s conforming database Monday of Masters week.
The one-of-a-kind irons were the same one-length design as DeChambeau’s previous irons, but with weight ports in the toe and bulge on the face. “It’s a speed thing,” DeChambeau said. “When I mishit on the toe or the heel it flies a lot straighter for me, and that’s what has allowed me to be more comfortable over the ball.”
Comfortable enough to win the U.S. Open with them two months later.
Finau’s two drivers at Masters
In 2006, Phil Mickelson had two drivers in the bag when he won the Masters. Six-time PGA Tour winner Tony Finau tried to duplicate that feat when he put a pair of Ping drivers in play at Augusta National this past year.
Finau, realizing he had no need for a 3-wood, employed a 7.75-degree Ping G430 LST at 45.25 inches, as well as a G430 LST that was three-quarters of an inch shorter. The 10.5-degree head was in the minus adjustable hosel position, making it closer to 9 degrees of loft. Both had a Mitsubishi Diamana GT 70-TX shaft. Finau planned to use the shorter-length driver off the tee on Nos. 2, 7, 10, 14 and 17.
Unfortunately for Finau, he did not get Lefty-like results. He finished T-55, his worst showing in seven Masters starts.
Fitzpatrick’s cracked driver saga
When is a busted club not a busted club? Matt Fitzpatrick had to be wondering that after he noticed a crack in his Titleist TSi3 driver on the eighth tee during the final round of the BMW Championship. Seeking to replace the damaged club under Model Local Rule G-9, Fitzpatrick asked for a ruling. A discussion ensued, and then his request to replace the club was denied.
Icon Sportswire
Fitzpatrick was aghast. “This is outrageous. It’s an absolute joke,” he said to the official who denied his request. He continued, “There’s an obvious crack there that’s causing a defect of the ball flight. … So, I’m going to have to use 3-wood the rest of the day?”
According to the rule, there are several instances a damaged club qualifies to be replaced. And one notable exception: “A club face or clubhead is not broken or significantly damaged solely because it is cracked.”
Weird? We’ll leave that up to you. But Fitz was left fuming—and teeing off with a 3-wood the rest of the round.
Lexi signs with … Maxfli?
Lexi Thompson has won 11 LPGA Tour titles, including the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship. Such credentials mean she can pretty much strike a deal to play any ball she wanted in 2024. All of which made her decision to play Maxfli a real stunner.
Maxfli has a rich heritage in golf balls, but in recent years has been a store brand for Dick’s and Golf Galaxy. Nonetheless, Thompson was high on the ball’s performance.
“I was like, ‘you know what, I’ll give it a try’ and it just exceeded my expectations,” she said. “I’ve seen my game around the greens improve and definitely some extra distance off the tee. I’ll take both those things. … But I would have to say how it reacts in the wind, that’s definitely the most important aspect of a ball for me.”
Given that, not so much a stunner after all.
Tiger’s rusted wedge at the Open Championship
A Getty Images photo of Tiger Woods’ heavily rusted TaylorMade wedge at the Open Championship at Royal Troon sent social media abuzz as it looked like something straight out of the used-club bin at some low-end golf shop. Still, there’s an explanation why Woods was using it.
Kevin C. Cox
The wedge had a “raw” head—one that is not chrome-plated. Such clubs rust over time. That provides more surface roughness to the face. Does it impart game-changing additional spin? No. But at the tour-pro level every little bit helps. Even for Tiger.
The passing of an equipment legend
Alastair Cochran, the former lead consultant to the R&A’s Implements and Ball committee but more famously the co-author of the most widely referenced golf science research book in the history of the game, Search for the Perfect Swing, died in March at the age of 94.
Cochran’s impact on the game was wide-ranging. Balls, clubs, swing, statistics, strategy, Cochran was at the forefront of all of it.
While his PhD was in nuclear physics, the former scratch player saw science as vital to improvement for all golfers. He wrote in the preface to the 40th anniversary edition of Search, “It would be an overstatement to say that this book’s publication stimulated manufacturers to apply science and technology to the creation of golf equipment, but I do believe it was one of the triggers.”
Given where technology in golf stands today, that is an understatement.
When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
Let’s be honest. Everyone loves a good club toss from a tour pro and at this year’s Players Championship, Adam Hadwin provided a nice one. After his ball trickled into the water on his approach shot to No. 18 during Thursday’s opening round, Hadwin launched his Callaway Apex TCB 8-iron into the water guarding the hole’s left side.
Adam Hadwin discards his club in the lake after finding water on 18.
📺: Golf Channel & @peacock | #THEPLAYERS pic.twitter.com/biJ4JMvUaP
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) March 14, 2024
So, he played a club short the next day, right? Nope.
The folks at Callaway saw what happened and went into action. Hadwin had an afternoon tee time and having his specs on hand made it relatively easy to build and get ta new club to the Canadian Friday morning before his round. Having 14 sticks didn’t help much though. He followed his Thursday 75 with a 73 and missed the cut.
Poulter’s old fairway-wood friend
Golfers are always seeking the latest in technology. Well, almost always. There are some clubs where comfort is king—as in the comfort of knowing you’ve hit a ton of good shots with that club and that confidence is worth giving up a little in the latest tech. Fairway woods tend to fall into that category, but Ian Poulter took things to a new level at the first event of the 2024 LIV Golf League season in January when he put a Titleist 906F2 from 2006 in the bag.
Sometimes you have to go back and find the clubs you simply loved. I’ve been looking for a 240 – 245 carry. My old 906F2 @Titleist was that once. Pulled it out and OMG it’s incredible. Coming back to play. Can’t wait to bring her back. Old is good sometimes.
It has some battle… pic.twitter.com/MBsk7WPlwK— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) January 24, 2024
“Sometimes you have to go back and find the clubs you simply loved,” Poulter tweeted. “I’ve been looking for a 240–245 carry. My old 906F2 @Titleist was that once. Pulled it out and OMG it’s incredible. Coming back to play. Can’t wait to bring her back. Old is good sometimes. It has some battle wounds, but she holds great memories. I won several events with it.”
Whatever you say Ian.
Main Image: Icon Sportswire
