Golfing News & Blog Articles

 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

New PWR-COR weighting systemVariable and ONE Length options$899 in steel, $1,099 in graphiteAvailable at retail Feb. 11

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.

 

The post Tiger Woods Announces Aaron Beverly As Recipient of Charlie Sifford Memorial Exemption appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

MyTaylorMade+ represents a significant overhaul of what was TaylorMade’s MyRoundPro App. If you’re not familiar with MyRoundPro, it was TaylorMade’s foray into sensor-less shot/round tracking. With the rise of mostly automated shot-tracking platforms like Arccos and ShotScope, unless you’re willing to go full DECADE, entering every shot by hand is neither appealing nor necessary. Golfers should want more.

With that in mind, MyRoundPro needed to evolve.

Where evolution might creep towards revolution is a new structure which arguably makes TaylorMade the first golf company to offer a rundle.

What’s a rundle, you might ask?

The Latin America Amateur Championship has a spot in the Masters riding on it. Here's how you can watch this week on ESPN's family of networks.

More than 50 United States colleges will be represented at the Latin America Amateur Championship, including five players from Arkansas. All arrive with the same goal: a spot in the Masters.

 

The post Spirit of the Game: Bing Crosby appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

Srixon Z-STAR DIVIDE – Key Takeaways

Srixon’s Tour-level Z-STAR and Z-STAR XV get the two-color DIVIDE treatment.$44.99 per dozenAvailable Jan. 21

The new Srixon Z-STAR DIVIDE yellow/white golf balls beg one simple and obvious question.

Why?

Fortunately, there’s a simple and obvious answer to that simple and obvious question.

Why the hell not?

I’m sure a bit more went into Srixon’s decision-making than why the hell not? There had to be questions of market potential, unit forecasting, break-even points, new-equipment capital expenditure and amortization, the potential for cannibalizing existing sales versus market share growth and so on. Those are all for the grown-ups to decide.