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Scott Jamieson took a one-shot lead in the opening round of the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi after carding 63 to finish at nine-under on Thursday.

According to an email obtained by MyGolfSpy, Nassau, the South Korean golf ball manufacturer recently purchased by TaylorMade, will produce only TaylorMade-branded products moving forward.

Fortunately for budget-minded golfers, there does appear to be at least one notable exception. Nassau’s largest and best-known client is the Massachusetts-based Snell Golf, owned and operated by Dean Snell. Snell is the former TaylorMade golf ball chief and a former Titleist engineer who helped develop the Pro V1. From what MyGolfSpy has been able to learn, supply-chain issues continue to impact Snell’s inventory but every indication is that the TaylorMade/Nassau facility will continue to supply Snell with golf balls.

The Nassau plant is one of the few facilities in the world capable of making cast urethane-covered golf balls. Before the acquisition, Nassau supplied TaylorMade with finished urethane and ionomer balls as well as cores and mantle layers for TP5 balls which are finished at TaylorMade’s South Carolina facility.

Of note, Nassau was also responsible for the original Kirkland Signature four-piece urethane ball in 2016.

A Surprise Notice

In addition to Snell, Nassau also has produced balls for smaller direct-to-consumer brands and range-ball brands. It has also sold balls in Europe and Asia under its own brand name such as the Nassau Quattro.

Golf is not a casual game that you can play without changing your swing thought for every type of club. The most dramatic change should be made when using your driver and your irons but every club requires attention. These swing thoughts can revolutionize your game.

Every golfer has different physical injuries, flexibility, and strength as well as clubs with different weights and shaft flexibility. I am recommending that you test all of your clubs at a practice facility using the recommendations below and then make slight adjusts for your stance, grip and ball position to accommodate your physical issues. Determine your ideal setup for each type of club.

There are some basics that never change for your setup and swing sequence:
–Your grip should be light and relaxed. Tense muscles used by Bryson DeChambeau will NOT improve most golfer’s games. Muscle tension only changes the consistency of your game. You may even have to adjust your stance and swing as your body and mind relax or tense over 18 holes of golf.
–Avoid swinging over the top by keeping your leading wrist flat to help you shallow the downswing for all of your fairway clubs (driver, woods, hybrids and irons).
–Your backswing should take at least double the time of your downswing to give you more time to coil your body and to add wrist lag. (Rushing your backswing limits your swing and power!) Hideki Matsuyama showed us that a slow backswing can create powerful results.

Each Type of Club Requires a Unique Swing:
Driver: Position your teed-up ball forward of the center of your stance so that the arc of your swing is RISING to launch your ball upward. To optimize your swing, tilt your spine to your trailing side for more power to launch your ball upward as you push forward with you trailing foot.

Fairway Woods and Hybrids: These clubs are designed to slide over the surface of the ground to avoid slowing down their impact speed at the launch angle of the face of the club. Impact should be at the bottom of your swing arc. You can’t afford to be swaying back on your trailing foot during impact. To optimize your impact, rotate your hips and shoulders around your straight spine over your ball and avoid swaying back during your backswing.

 The Titleist AVX golf ball is a bit of an enigma.

Based on its material make-up, it doesn’t fit with the three-piece, TPU-covered Titleist Tour Speed or two-piece Titleist Tour Soft. Yet, without any obvious connection to the Pro V1 franchise (say, like calling it Pro AVX or something), it exists in golf ball purgatory. It’s not a value-priced option aimed at the golfer who wants to play Titleist without paying a premium. However, it lacks perhaps the most identifiable moniker in the golf ball industry—Pro V1. For those of you who enjoy pop-culture references, the AVX is like working on Dutton’s Yellowstone ranch but without the “Y” brand.

So, that roughly covers what AVX isn’t. But what about what AVX is?

Back It Up

Titleist introduced AVX in 2018 primarily as an alternative to the bellwether Pro V1 and Pro V1x offerings. The intent was to give golfers softer overall feel with less spin and a lower trajectory. Point of reference: Titleist Pro V1 is billed as mid-launch/mid-spin while Pro V1x is high-launch/high-spin, relatively speaking.

When any brand launches a new family of metalwoods—in this case, the COBRA LTDx—the blueprint remains largely the same. Put another way, manufacturers generally apply whatever technology makes sense, either from a story-telling or performance standpoint, in the accompanying fairway woods and hybrids.

It’s also no secret that sell-through of fairway woods and hybrids depend a good bit on the retail success (or lack thereof) of the driver. So, while fairway woods and hybrids deserve some individual attention, the familial context is just as important.

COBRA LTDx Fairways

The COBRA LTDx drivers are the hopeful reboot of the original LTD drivers. And the inherent challenges of sequels are noted though it’s fair to point out that the original LTD fairway launched in 2015.

That aside, the performance objectives of the COBRA LTDx fairway woods and hybrids aren’t the same as the drivers; still, COBRA believes this iteration is more Godfather Part 2 than Jaws 2.

COBRA LTDx Irons – Key Takeaways

Want to know what the new COBRA LTDx irons are all about? Simple …

Distance.

Pure, unashamed, unabashed, unadulterated distance.

You can add undaunted, unapologetic and unflinching, as well.

When COBRA makes an iron for a purpose, it doesn’t screw around. You want sleek, sexy, traditionally lofted forged blades? COBRA has the blad-iest of blades. Looking for futuristic manufacturing methods? COBRA does that, too.

Not all that long ago, I was what you might call a COBRA driver guy. The flirtation started when COBRA started making blue drivers. AMP and BIO Cell made me COBRA-curious and by FLY-Z, I was all in. LTD (not blue), F6 and F7 were all mainstays. After that … Yeah, not so much, but with the launch of the LTDx family of drivers, I could see myself being a COBRA driver guy again.

Not that you asked but my amicable breakup with COBRA started with F8. There was nothing particularly wrong with the driver but, by the time F8 and its CNC-milled face launched, the PING G400 LST had captured my heart. SpeedBack, SpeedZone and RADSPEED all followed and, despite COBRA innovating every step of the way, nothing took.

I’ll level with you. I think the sound of everything after F7 left something to be desired but, in hindsight, I think the thing is that I just wanted another LTD. I think a lot of us did.

And so here we go.

Not every player at the Latin America Amateur Championship has hopes of playing on a professional tour. Some are here on breaks from work. But all have the dream of the Masters.

PGA Tour action expands to four feeds this week at The American Express. Here is how to watch on ESPN+.

The PGA Tour heads to La Quinta, Calif. this week for The American Express. Here are our best bets for the event.

Phil Mickelson is the host this week at The American Express. That got our experts to thinking -- can he produce more magic in 2022? Plus, a look at the next breakthrough 40-something and more.

The chase for No. 1 is on. There's a new commissioner. There's more money at stake. A big season opens on the LPGA Tour. Here's a look at the things to watch.

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