Golfing News & Blog Articles

Titleist has announced the TSR2 and TSR3 hybrids.Reimagined shaping and lower/deeper CGMAP $299 eachPre-sale starts Feb. 2 with full retail availability on Feb. 23.

Because we discussed the Titleist TSR2 and TSR3 fairway woods several months ago, you might have assumed that Titleist released TSR2 and TSR3 hybrids concurrently. 

If so, I forgive you. 

And given the cacophony of equipment releases this month, it would be easy for Titleist’s updated TSR2 and TSR3 hybrid launch to come and go relatively unnoticed.

But I’m working to change all of that. After all, ain’t no party like a hybrid launch party. 

Let’s discuss.

Srixon Soft Feel Golf Balls – Key Takeaways

The newest edition of Srixon Soft Feel golf balls would appear, if you checked the specs, to be no different from the previous edition of Srixon’s Soft Feel golf balls.

Both are two-piece ionomer-covered balls priced to move at $22.99 per dozen. Both releases report a compression of 60 for the standard model and 58 for the Soft Feel Lady version. And both tout a “new”  FastLayer core that is Srixon’s softest yet. Even the cover thickness—or in Srixon’s case, we should say “thinness”—is the same.

Even the Soft Feel Brite colors are the same: matte red, matte green and matte orange.

So what’s new and/or different?

It’s hard to say. But we can say OEMs don’t spend a lot of time, energy, effort or money pumping innovation into two-piece ionomer-covered balls that sell for $22.99. Any innovation is usually trickle-down stuff from the next tier or two of golf balls.

Si Woo Kim captures the Sony and a Masters invite.

Plus, Fernandez de Oliveira's LAAC win lands him three major invites, Continental Europe takes the Ryder Cup audition, Paul Azinger's PAC comment and Nelly Korda signs with Nike.

All that and more in the latest Quadrilateral!

Si Woo Kim brought a sleepy Sony Open to life on Sunday in Honolulu with a birdie-birdie finish, giving him a 6-under 64 and a one-shot victory over Round 3 leader Hayden Buckley.

Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira closed with a 5-under 67 on Sunday to win the Latin America Amateur Championship, earning a spot in three majors this year.

Continental Europe, led by Francesco Molinari raised aloft the Hero Cup as they beat Great Britain and Ireland in the inaugural competition on Sunday.

Hayden Buckley started and ended the back nine at Waialae with eagles on Saturday for a second straight 6-under 64, giving him a two-shot lead and creating some separation going into the final round of the Sony Open in Honolulu.

Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira of Argentina had a record day at Grand Reserve to build a 4-shot lead Saturday at the Latin America Amateur Championship, leaving him one round away from a spot in the Masters and U.S. Open.

Continental Europe will take a two-point lead into the final day of the Hero Cup after extending its advantage over Britain & Ireland in the afternoon foursomes on Saturday.

Chris Kirk leads the Sony Open after a strange Friday that saw Jordan Spieth start the day with a share of the lead, only to walk off the 18th green in a minor state of shock after missing the cut.

Luis Carrera of Mexico took the Latin America Amateur lead after a second straight 5-under 67, while 18-hole leader Mateo Fuenmayor fell nine back after a 77.

Adam Scott is among 16 players appointed to the Player Advisory Council for 2023.

Jordan Spieth opened with a 6-under 64 on Thursday, grabbing a share of the lead with Chris Kirk and Taylor Montgomery at the Sony Open.

Mateo Fuenmayor, a junior at Oregon State, made seven birdies and shot a first-round 66 to take a 1-shot lead in the Latin America Amateur.

Sleeker new head profileThree adjustable sole weightsH.O.T. face technology with ST-118 face materialTargeted at advanced players

From a bean counter’s desk, maybe it is more practical to prioritize budget and resources to build products for recreational golfers—by far the largest percentage of the world’s golf population—over a much smaller consumer segment comprised of highly skilled players.

For the majority of golf OEMs, that kind of logic simply doesn’t fly. Here’s why: Zero to 15-handicap players are entrenched consumers. Sure, the “better player” numbers are much smaller. But they play more frequently, spend more to do it and pay closer attention to industry trends and innovation.

That’s for whom COBRA built the new KING TEC hybrid. The premium-level, adjustable hybrid complements COBRA’S new family of better player irons (KING Tour, KING CB and KING MB) and affords elite ball strikers a multi-purpose option from a variety of lies and situations.

About Face

Like it did for with AEROJET irons, the engineers at COBRA applied H.O.T. Face technology to the KING TEC hybrid with one added wrinkle to the PWRSHELL insert: a new forged ST-118 steel face material. The highly flexible forged ST-118 creates a larger zone for higher launch and faster ball speeds on off-center strikes.

Every KING Wears a Crown

The KING TEC hybrid also comes with a four-gram carbon-fiber crown. Use of the lightweight material helps push weight lower and further back in the clubhead resulting in lower CG, improved launch and just a hint of forgiveness.

Three new models: KING Tour, KING CB and KING MBFive-step forging process, not industry-standard fourIntricate shape and design consistency clubhead to clubheadKING Tec Utility features COBRA metalwood face technologies

The late Tom Crow, COBRA Golf’s founder, believed that innovation, when it’s done right, can make a difficult game easier for anyone. The Australian lived it, too.

Products like the sole-railed Baffler, golf’s first larger iron, KING Cobra Oversize, the 46-inch Long Tom driver and Trusty Rusty wedges (designed by PGA TOUR player Phil Rodgers) provide evidence of Crow’s innovative deviation from golf’s traditional path with gear.

They also epitomize COBRA’s current “Doing Things Differently” slogan. That said, Crow surely would appreciate how COBRA “forged” (literally) a path to its latest KING Tour, KING CB, KING MB irons and the new KING Tec Utility.

Forged Consistency

Usually, forging irons is a four-step process. You know the drill. Carbon steel billets are heated to a temperature of 1,200-degrees Celsius before undergoing rough forging, where metal is bent and rough-shaped to look like an iron head—not once but three times.

Step Four is 1,200 tons of pressure applied to the rough clubhead at 800 degrees Celsius. That turns it into a more refined and detailed shape. When cooled down completely, the forged clubheads get ground down, buffed, polished and paint-filled to a finished consumer product.

Callaway has announced the 2023 version of its three-piece ERC Soft golf ball.Increased speed is provided by a new HyperElastic SoftFast Core.A GRIP Urethane coating over the ionomer cover provides more spin.Retail price is $39.99.

It is the stated goal of Callaway Golf’s ball division to make the best-performing product in each segment and at each price point.

Overlooking for the moment that the company doesn’t offer a true Titleist Pro V1 competitor (and my personal feeling that there are market segments and price points at which no golf ball should exist), the launch of the new ERC Soft is both unexpectedly and unusually compelling.

That’s right. Much to my own surprise, I find myself intrigued by an ionomer-covered ball.

What makes this Callaway ERC Soft better (and more interesting) than the last boils down to two key technologies.

Detailing this week's top storylines in professional golf as the PGA Tour heads to Honolulu for the Sony Open.