Golfing News & Blog Articles

Cleveland RTX 6 Zipcore Wedges – Key Takeaways

Sixth-generation RTX gets second-generation ZipCore technology.New HydraZip face for improved wet condition performanceNew Low+ Sole Grind for better sand performance$169.99 each. At retail Jan. 20

Say this for the new Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore wedges: they pack a lot of zip.

Three degrees of zip, to be precise.

While this is the sixth installment of Cleveland’s signature RTX wedge family, we are getting the second generation of Cleveland’s unique ZipCore technology. Then there are the updated UltiZip grooves and something new called HydraZip. HydraZip is supposed to do what it sounds like it’s supposed to do but we’ll unpack a bit more on that later.

The previous generation, simply called RTX ZipCore, was released in the summer of 2020. If you’re a calendar cop, you could say these new wedges are a tad overdue but, hey, there was that COVID thing, after all. But Cleveland always has some interesting and useful technology in each wedge release and those 2020 RTX ZipCores represented a major leap for Cleveland.

Can these new wedges maintain that momentum? And can HydraZip do what the name suggests? There’s lots to unzip here so let’s zip to it.

COBRA launches new AEROJET fairway woods (three models) and hybrids.The platform seeks to increase forgiveness and boost ball speeds.Key technologies:  PWR-Bridge, PWRSHELL H.O.T. FACE,Retail price is $349 (fairway), $279 (hybrid). Available Feb. 10.

I’m not sold on the COBRA AEROJET fairway woods and hybrids.

Correction: I’m not sold on the name. The product, however, is a different story.

COBRA is arguably the most underrated mainline manufacturer. It might not have the gaudy sales figures of other large brands but plenty of industry R&D folks respect the metalwood line COBRA engineers bring to market every cycle.

Fairway woods and hybrids often get pushed to the perimeter of product launches. Second fiddle. Slightly off-Broadway. Just off the podium. That sort of thing.

But what COBRA learned from previous launches (Radspeed and LTDX) is ultimately what makes AEROJET compelling.

Jon Rahm came from seven shots behind to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Sunday as Collin Morikawa lost a 7-shot lead in the final round.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Sunday of LIV Golf: "What they have is very different from what we have. We're going down our path, and they're going down theirs."

Collin Morikawa sank four birdies over his final five holes Saturday for an 8-under 65 and a six-shot lead in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Collin Morikawa was dialed in with his irons early and took advantage of some of the scoring holes late in his second round Friday for a 7-under 66 that gave him a 2-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler and J.J. Spaun in the Sentry Tournament of Champions.

Xander Schauffele was 1 over for his round when he withdrew in Kapalua, later saying he couldn't swing at full speed and will have an MRI to see what's wrong with his back.

The new Vessel Carbon Fiber Collection are limited-edition golf bags that are really, really cool.

But five will get you 10 those bags are going to make you really, really mad.

They shouldn’t but odds are they will. Here’s why.

The Carbon Fiber Collection features a stand bag and cart bag for $1,595. The Staff bag goes for $1,695. And there’s also a driver head cover that’s a relative bargain at $245.

Vessel is quite upfront in saying it really doesn’t know who the customer will be. It just knows there won’t be a lot of them. That’s the whole point behind a limited edition, after all.

Sub 70 699 and 699 Pro V2 Irons – Key Takeaways

Performance upgrade to the three-year-old 699 Player’s Distance ironsLower CGs and stronger lofts than the previous modelsAvailable in Satin Chrome and Black DLC$110/stick in chrome; $120/stick in blackAvailable to order now

The new Sub 70 699 and 699 Pro V2 irons are the living embodiment of a very old TV commercial.

If you’re of a certain age, you can remember Orson Welles assuring us that Paul Masson would sell no wine before it’s time. Sub 70 owner Jason Hiland has consistently taken the same approach with new club releases.

“I’m only going to bring out a new club if we have better technology,” Hiland tells MyGolfSpy. “It has to be enough of an upgrade that you if you grab both and hit them side by side, you’ll see a performance difference. If I can’t do that, I won’t bring out a new club.”

The three-year-old Sub 70 699 and 699 Pro have been very successful for Hiland. But to satisfy the boss’s line in the sand, Sub 70 had to basically erase all the 699 files, grab a blank sheet of paper and start from scratch.

The end result is the new 699 and 699 Pro V2 irons. Cosmetically, at least, Sub 70 is giving you a very different piece of equipment. And according to Hiland, the performance upgrade is more than enough to get your attention.

Jon Rahm birdied three of his last four holes for a 9-under 64 and shared the lead Thursday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions with Collin Morikawa and J.J. Spaun.

Gordon Sargent and Kazuki Higa have accepted invitations to compete in this year's Masters, the Augusta National Golf Club announced Thursday.

Wilson Staff DUO Soft Golf Balls – Key Takeaways

New update for Wilson’s softest ball“Specially formulated core” for more distance$22.99 a dozen. Available now

The Wilson Staff DUO Soft golf ball may have a better claim to being “the ball that changed the ball” than the original Callaway Chrome Soft ever did.

Not this one, mind you. The original DUO debuted in 2011 as a low-compression ball. In 2014, it broke new ground in soft with a damn-near Charmin-esque 29 compression. One can make a compelling case that the DUO jump-started the whole “soft feel” movement. The DUO has become Wilson’s signature ball franchise and is a favorite among the slow to moderate swing speed crowd.

And, not for nothing, hitting the damned thing is addictive.

Now called the DUO Soft, the ball is getting the requisite update for 2023. While we don’t know much, we do know some. Let’s get under the hood and see what’s what.

Wilson Staff DUO Soft: Not As Soft As Before

The DUO franchise is your basic two-piece ionomer-covered ball designed to move in the $20-per-dozen range. What started as the DUO has had several incarnations and variations. The DUO morphed into the DUO Soft and then the DUO Soft+. We’ve also had the DUO Spin, the underrated DUO Professional and your ball of many colors, the DUO Optix.

The first event of the 2023 PGA Tour is the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua, Hawaii. Here's how you can watch the action.

Golf is a lot less frustrating if you learn this game backwards. Putting is the easiest part of this game so why not practice until you learn to 2 putt every green. After that chipping and pitching with your irons to hit every green is a special art that you need to perfect. To make those shots easier, you need longer drives that land in the fairway. That’s why Hank Haney recommends that perfecting your game with his “Speed Slot” technique will make this an easy game.

Longer drives will improve your game faster because it’s easier to hit shorter shots into the green. So we all should have learned this game by using the forward tees until we learn the most difficult skill of hitting longer drives and landing in the fairway.

In short: Your goal is to improve your driving and iron accuracy in order to hit more greens in regulation. Then the pars and birdies are easy.

Speed Slot Technique
Hank Haney teaches this technique for power, accuracy and to avoid the dreaded slice. The Speed Slot is the opposite of the Slice Slot. You have all heard that slicing is caused by “swinging over the top”. It’s a natural tendency that we all learn when we swing a baseball bat from the top of our backswing and down into the strike zone.

In golf you need to learn to swing your driver from the inside and up your target line. The critical move in golf is to flatten your wrist at the top of your backswing so that you can swing your club from the inside and up the SPEED SLOT.

The new course is scheduled to open when the U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst in 2024.

Callaway Paradym and Paradym X irons – Key Takeaways

New player’s distance and game-improvement ironsForged 455 Cup Face and Speed Frame for ball speedCallaway-patented Urethane Microspheres for feel$200/club in steel; $215/club in graphitePresale starts Jan. 13; at retail Feb 24

The new Callaway Paradym and Paradym X irons compel me to make a promise.

I will not stoop to making any cringe-worthy puns, painful references or other excruciating allusions to the name of this new line of clubs for the duration of this article. That, dear reader, is my 20-cent pledge to you. (Editor’s Note: Paradym. Pair a’ dimes. 20 cents. Get it? He’s so clever.)

Anyway, it is Callaway’s Paradym day and the company is launching two iron sets to join its 2023 drivers, fairways and hybrids. The new Paradym iron is a surprisingly sleek-looking player’s distance iron while the Paradym X is an astonishingly sleek-looking game-improvement iron.

Where they fit into Callaway’s iron continuum is fuzzy but it would appear the Paradym X might lean slightly to the “better player” side of the Apex DCB while the standard Paradym might be to the “better player” side of the standard Apex 21.

Let’s see what’s under the hood.

Callaway has announced the Paradym fairway wood and hybrid lineup.Callaway promises better down-range distance and dispersion.Retail price is $349.99 (fairway) and $299.99 (hybrid)Pre-sale for the Callaway Paradym driver lineup begins 1/13. Full retail availability starts on 2/24.

The 2023 calendar suggests that Callaway’s Epic franchise is due for a refresh.

But it’s not. The Epic clock has struck zero. 

It’s Callaway Paradym time. If this launch had a theme song, it would have to be You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by Dead Or Alive. It just makes sense. But don’t think about it too hard. 

Regardless, Epic lurid green is gone and, for at least another year, we won’t be talking about Rogue, either. It’s an entirely new Callaway family, though the guts of the fairway woods and hybrids build off a good bit of the 2022 Rogue ST architecture. 

If you’re reading this on Jan. 4, I’m likely hitting the Paradym right now at Topgolf in El Segundo, Calif. (Damn, where’s my wallet?) I only mention that to corroborate Tony Covey’s last known location, should that be important at some point. 

Callaway has announced the Paradym driver lineup.The new models feature an innovative 360-degree carbon chassis.Callaway says Paradym drivers offer better down-range distance and dispersion.Retail price is $600. Availability begins 2/24 (Pre-sale starts 1/13).

The teaser for Callaway’s 2023 launch event billed what we now know is the new Paradym driver as a 360° Shift in Performance. It’s a compelling, perhaps even exciting, proposition—so long as you don’t think too hard about it.

Who sees it?

Shifting paradigms isn’t new to Callaway. It was said that Epic was a paradigm shift. Epic Flash shifted that paradigm, too. So, with the launch of the Paradym driver family, I suppose our original paradigm is now thrice-shifted though, this time around, Callaway has also shifted the generally accepted paradigms of spelling as well.

It does feel a bit like we’re going in circles.