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NEW YEAR,
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CONTENTS

G O L F.C O M

MARCH 2021 / VOLUME 63, ISSUE 2

51
CLUBTEST

Top Gear 2021

The numbers don’t
lie: 40 raters, and
more than 150 clubs
tested over the
better part of three
days. The result:
Our most com-
prehensive review
of new gear in the
30-year history of
GOLF’s ClubTest.

Drivers 52

Fairway woods  58

Hybrids 64

Irons 70

Wedges 84

Putters 89

6 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

21 94
CLUBHOUSE F E AT U R E S

94
20 Reasons to Love...

... the game as we steam
toward a new season
and 21 ways to make sure
you’re taking advantage
of them to the fullest.

36 108
Power Plays
Kathy Whitworth
These 10 top-selling, Knows a Few Things
aftermarket shafts have
the juice to take any iron Golf’s winningest player
or wood in your bag to has also covered some
the next level. significant ground in
helping to grow the
40 game she loves.
A Bomber’s
Dozen

We picked the 2020
U.S. Open champ’s
brain for 13 ways to
get the most out of
your gear choices.
Prepare for liftoff.

115
LESSONS

115
Six Moments
of Truth

There are few absolutes
in golf. But this collection
of checkpoints shows up
in every great swing. Are
you paying attention?

COLUMNISTS 22
The Knockdown / Alan Shipnuck 32
Golden Rules / Jack Nicklaus 40
Bryson Explains... / Bryson DeChambeau 48
This Golfing Life / Michael Bamberger

COVER: CHRISTIAN HAFER. THIS PAGE,
FROM TOP: JEFFREY WESTBROOK; EVAN SCHILLER
PHOTOGRAPHY; CHRISTIAN HAFER













G O L F.CO M

PUBLISHER HOWARD MILSTEIN CONTRIBUTING EDITOR JACK NICKLAUS

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID DENUNZIO

EDITORIAL
Editorial Director ASHLEY MAYO Executive Editor JOHN MCALLEY
Managing Editor JOHN LEDESMA Senior Writers MICHAEL BAMBERGER, JOSH SENS,
ALAN SHIPNUCK Managing Editors LUKE KERR-DINEEN (INSTRUCTION),
JONATHAN WALL (EQUIPMENT) Senior Editor, Equipment ANDREW TURSKY
Architecture Editor RAN MORRISSETT Contributing Writers MICHAEL CORCORAN,
EVAN ROTHMAN, PAUL SULLIVAN Contributing Production Editor AIMEE E. BARTOL
Analytics Editor MARK BROADIE Contributing Fitness Editor KOLBY TULLIER

Contributing Instructors THE TOP 100 TEACHERS IN AMERICA

ART + PHOTO
Design WORKS WELL WITH OTHERS DESIGN GROUP: DAVID CURCURITO,
JESSICA MUSUMECI, STRAVINSKI PIERRE, NANCY JO IACOI, KEVIN GRIMSTEAD

Chief Photographer and Visuals Editor CHRISTIAN HAFER

Contributing Photo Editors MIGUEL SAAVEDRA, NANCY WEISMAN
Contributing Photographers STEPHEN DENTON, MATTHEW SALACUSE,

JEFFREY WESTBROOK Contributing Illustrators BEAUDANIELS.COM,
BEN MOUNSEY-WOOD, DARREN ROBINSON

G O L F. C O M
Executive Editor ALAN BASTABLE Managing Editor JOSHUA BERHOW
Senior Writer DYLAN DETHIER Senior Editors NICK PIASTOWSKI, SEAN ZAK
Managing Producer KEVIN CUNNINGHAM Multimedia Editor JESSICA MARKSBURY

Assistant Editors JAMES COLGAN, ZEPHYR MELTON
Director, Commerce and Social Media TIM REILLY

Sr. Social Media Manager RACHEL BLEIER Social Media Manager CLAIRE ROGERS
Video Production ZAK CEDARHOLM, RORY FUGAZY, MARK HANNAN,
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HOWARD MILSTEIN

CHAIRMAN

HOYT MCGARITY ASHLEY MAYO

President Head of Brand

DINO MARKUS JAMES RIDOUT CHARLIE GRACE
Head of Video Finance + Investments Player Relations

BRIAN RICHARDSON JEFF FUJIMOTO, ANTHONY GERARD,
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Advisors
EMILY HAAS
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Letters

Hungry Like the Wolff

I must admit, your cover feature on Matthew Wolff (“The Kid’s Alright,” January-

February) made me feel old. I realized that I’ve been a subscriber to your maga-

zine longer (25 years) than the young man has been alive (21)! That said, I’m ever

amazed at the poise and talent these young guys have brought to the Tour in recent

years. I’m not sure if it’s advances in teaching or better equipment or what, but

today’s young players just seem to be better prepared for success right out of the

gate. Wolff epitomizes the confidence, tenacity and dedication it takes to excel at

the highest level and it’s fun to watch. —Russell Flannery, Chicago, Ill.

Michael Schwartz Fore Country game and just about anything else are
timeless. Then a few pages later, I see
There are so many in golf doing good another new column from my current
things for other people. Alan Shipnuck’s favorite player, Bryson DeChambeau
column on Leigh and Bobby Tuttle is an (Bryson Explains...)! There’s no one on
outstanding example (The Knockdown, Tour right now more intriguing. Both
January-February). What a powerful new columnists are definitely keepers!
gesture to offer fellow Special Forces
alumni the opportunity to connect with —Barry Munkres, Fort Worth, Texas
business leaders through our great
game. Makes me proud to be a golfer. (Ed. Note: Thanks, Barry. You’re going
to love this issue. Jack is back! And in an
—Michael T. Harriet, Charlottesville, Va. expanded column, BDC shares his thoughts
on equipment, as part of our cover story.)
Star Power
DROP US A LINE SOMETIME!
What a delight to discover a new col-
umn in your Clubhouse section from my Please send us your comments, opinions,
favorite player of all time, Jack Nicklaus thoughts and suggestions. Letters may be
(Golden Rules). Jack’s insights on the edited for clarity and brevity if published.
E-mail the editors at [email protected].

G O L F.CO M

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From the Editor

This Is a Test

THE WAY MAGAZINE PRODUCTION goes, any issue you hold in your hands prints roughly four weeks before you

receive it. In the four weeks leading up to that date, editors, writers and designers are busy putting together

the pages that comprise each edition. In the case of GOLF’s March issue, traditionally earmarked to cover the

new season’s gear offerings, that means staff and our 40-golfer-strong cadre of club raters are busy swinging,

investigating, researching—you name it—over such noteworthy dates as Thanksgiving, the December holi-

days and New Year’s. And it’s been that way at GOLF going back 30 calendar years, when the title first intro-

duced its ClubTest franchise in the March 1992 issue.

So allow me to heap B-52–sized praise on equipment editors Jonathan Wall and Andrew Tursky for

managing the process (to say nothing of their sanity). Starting on page 51 is, I think, GOLF’s most complete

and informative ClubTest yet—156 entries strong, with insight from golfers just like

you on the advanced and unique performance benefits of every new driver, fairway

wood, hybrid, iron, wedge and putter on the market. On top of that, we pepper the

package with nine compelling reasons—courtesy the big brains at our testing part-

ner True Spec Golf—why 2021 is the year you should finally make the decision to get

custom-fit. As you’ll discover, a clubfitting solves many problems. Even manufac-

turers will tell you their shiny new creations perform best when built specifically for GET YOUR
the player. The last time I got fit, tweaks made to my lie and lengths numbers alone CLUBTEST FIX ON
instantly made me look better at address—and that’s saying a lot. If I can’t convince
GOLF.COM!

you, maybe a major winner can. In a special gear-centric column from GOLF’s play- WATCH: Behind-the-
ing editor Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champ shares the pains he goes scenes test footage

through to make sure his sticks and spheres are optimally tuned and maxed out to HEAR: Gear news
perform. Flip to page 40 and you’ll learn a lot from him. on our Fully Equipped

podcast

I’ve always felt that the clubs a player puts in his or her bag is an extension of them- LEARN: We test
selves, a reflection of their dedication to not only the numbers they want to see on their new and old models
scorecard but to the game itself. Here’s a chance to shine bright—and to give you and
head-to-head

your swing the best chance for success. INTERACT: Our
experts answer your

questions

Matthew Salacuse BUY: Great deals
from the GOLF.com

Pro Shop

David DeNunzio Editor-In-Chief

17

Spotlight FootJoy 2021

When you’ve dominated ably won’t surprise you
golf footwear for the to hear that FJ has done
better part of a century, just that with not one
there’s a lot to live up to. but two new shoes in ’21.
Not necessarily to the
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the challenge is to live up modern classic with too
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18 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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LOVETHEJOURNEY

LESSONS • CLUB FITTING • golftec.com

Clubhouse
G O L F.C O M / S M A R T G O L F STA R T S H E R E / M A R C H 2 0 2 1

Bottom: Michael Schwartz/Trunk Archive Real Steel

IT WAS CLUB HEAVEN ON EARTH for three sunny days in the
Arizona desert this past December, when 40 lucky golfers
had the pick of the new iron litter (and drivers, hybrids, putters...)
to assess and rate as part of GOLF’s 30th annual ClubTest.
Imagine asking for any clubhead imaginable, having a True Spec
Golf fitter snap on a shaft to your exact specs and swing until
the sun went down. Fun stuff. Oh, they did work too. Catch the

results of our testers’ efforts beginning on p. 51.

43.5 “First off in the morning? Perfect. ONLY WHEN I SWING
Last one out at dusk? Even better. DOES IT HURT TO
The average length, in inches, of
the shafts played by Jack Nicklaus Alone is the best way to play PLAY GOLF WEARING
the game on your own terms.”p. 94 A SUPER BOWL RING?
in his—true!—almost precisely
43.5-year professional career. THE UBIQUITOUS
HOF-ER MICHAEL
p. 32 STRAHAN HAS AN

ANSWER. p. 128

21

Clubhouse

The Gays in
Hawaii for this
year’s Sony Open,

where Brian
finished 72nd.
Guaranteed he’ll
get a talking-to
from his agent.

The Knockdown with Alan Shipnuck

You Had Me at “Hello”
When five-time PGA Tour winner Brian Gay found himself without a sports agent,

a fiery and ambitious one stepped up and took charge: his wife, Kimberly

UNLESS YOU WERE AN obsessive golf fan, the arrival tive at Diamond Resorts. She said the first thing that came to
of Brian and Kimberly Gay onto the PGA Tour at the mind: “Mike, when are we going to sit down and do a deal?”
turn of the century was easy to miss. Yes, he’d been everybody’s
All-American at Florida and she was, to borrow Brian’s favorite Flaskey was amenable, and by Tuesday of the following
phrase, “a tornado with lipstick.” But for most of the 2000s, Brian week Kimberly had emailed him a 13-page proposal, which led
struggled to find his place on Tour, just barely getting by with to the creation of an “ambassador” program starring Brian.
a magical short game. He was one of the anonymous journey- (Upon signing, the Gays didn’t have to part with the 20 per-
men that the camera rarely finds. Meanwhile, Kimberly threw cent that agents traditionally skim off the top of endorsement
herself into raising two daughters and, at times, a Tour pro. deals.) There wasn’t time to get logoed hats made for Brian’s
“Brian is a very quiet, laid-back, introverted guy who’s happy first start under the deal in Hawaii, so Kimberly bought blank
to be on the couch watching football,” says Gay’s longtime caps at the mall and drove around Honolulu to find an embroi-
swing coach, Joe Mayo. “Kimberly has a take-charge kind of derer. The following week Brian won the Bob Hope and col-
attitude and so she’s been great for him, pushing and motivat- lected a $25,000 victory bonus that would not have been paid if
ing him and dotting all the i’s in their life.” he hadn’t been wearing the Diamond Resorts hat. “She can pull
In 2008, Brian finally broke through for his first win, at Maya- a rabbit out of a hat like nobody else,” says Brian with a chuckle.
koba, and the following season he turned into a semi-star by win-
ning twice, including a stunning 10-shot romp at Hilton Head. Kimberly has served as Brian’s agent ever since, corralling
It was a remarkable emergence for one of the shortest hitters deals with Sligo, G/Fore, EasyGo, PapaNicholas Coffee and
on Tour. Brian had an agent, but Kimberly became increas- Sentinel Spine, as well as the ongoing relationship with Dia-
ingly involved as her hubby began fielding more requests for mond Resorts. Chris Stroud, winner of the 2017 Barracuda
interviews, charity appearances and corporate outings. By late Championship, was so impressed by her work that in 2018 he
2012 Brian was without representation altogether. At that year’s asked Kimberly to represent him too. That forced her to formal-
tournament in Disney, Kimberly was walking in the gallery— ize the business and thus GSD Sports Management was born.
“I try to never, ever miss a hole”—when she spotted a familiar (It stands for Get, uh, Stuff Done.) At the 2019 Players she was
face from various golf gatherings: Mike Flaskey, a top execu- invited, for the first time, to the annual meeting between agents
and Tour brass. Of the 80 or so aspiring Jerry Maguires in the
room, Kimberly was one of only two women. “I’ll be honest,

Leading Ladies Jill Smoller (pictured) Lisa Joseph-Metelus Rachel Luba
Most famous client: Most famous client: Most famous client:
For decades, across the Serena Williams Zion Williamson (NBA)
full spectrum of sport, Yasiel Puig (MLB)
women agents have Sherry Whay Nicole Lynn
been, well, representing. Most famous client: Most famous client: Emilie Castonguay
Here are just a few. Quinnen Williams (NFL) Most famous client:
Billy Horschel Alexis Lafreniere (NHL)

22 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

“It’s great to that was an emotional day for

keep the money me,” Kimberly says. “Yes, it’s
great to keep the money in the
Opposite, from top: P.S. Yushin/Best Hawaii photos; Avalon; This page, from top: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images; Sam Greenwood/Getty Images; Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images; Rob Carr/Getty Images in the family
family when Brian signs a deal,
when Brian
but the real reason I do this is to
signs a deal,”
Kimberly says, be a role model for our daugh-
“but the reason ters. For them to be proud of me
I do this is to be is the most important thing.”
a role model for Mission accomplished. In-
our daughters.” spired by her mom, Makinley
Gay is majoring in sports man-

agement at Florida and simultaneously pursuing a master’s in

international business. The hope is that, among other things,

she’ll bring a younger, fresher perspective to GSD’s digital-

media offerings. Kimberly’s ambitious goal is to someday have

20 players in her stable. She’s already diversifying, having signed

Maurice Allen, the 2018 Long Drive champion, and venturing into

event management around their hometown of Windermere, Fla.

Kimberly’s is not the only reinvention in the Gay household.

Injuries and the vagaries of aging had kept Brian winless since

the ’13 Hope. Finally, at Colonial in 2019, he gave in to Mayo’s

beseeching to chase more distance. Mayo, who earned a mod-

icum of fame for his sardonic Twitter nom de plume Track-

man Maestro, says that back then Gay generated 107 miles

per hour of clubhead speed and 154 mph of ball speed with his

driver, carrying his tee shots barely 260 yards. After learning to

lift his left heel on the backswing and lengthen his turn, Gay’s

speed quickly spiked to 117/173 and he began flying it up to 40

yards farther. The hard work began to pay off that fall in Ber-

muda, when Gay tied for third. (“I actually didn’t even want to

go play there because that weekend was the Florida-Georgia

game, but Kimberly talked me into it.”) But Brian struggled

throughout the 2020 season.

“I might have been pressing a little bit,” he says. He was

aware that, for the first time, colleagues were watching him on

the range and whispering about how far he was hitting the ball.

He finally found some peace of mind returning to Bermuda in

November, and a month shy of his 49th birthday Brian bird-

ied the 72nd hole for an out-of-nowhere victory, capping what

Mayo calls “one of most remarkable careers in golf history.

I mean, for 20 f---ing years he was the shortest hitter on Tour. If

Brian can keep adding speed, Dustin Johnson and everybody

else can pack up and go home, because nobody else has this

guy’s heart or toughness or ability to get the ball in the hole.”

Kimberly memorialized the victory with an emotional video

capturing the ups and downs of their two decades on Tour. “I’m

just so, so proud of him,” she says. That’s a wife talking. And

what does the victory mean to Brian Gay’s agent? “Let’s just

say there are some exciting opportunities we’re pursuing,” says

Kimberly, “but I’m not at liberty to discuss them yet.”

FOR MUCH MORE FROM ALAN SHIPNUCK, GO TO GOLF.COM/SHIPNUCK

Clubhouse

1

Address

A great, balanced
posture like Brooks’
allows you to “flow”
like an athlete. Note
the straight mid-
spine and the round-
ed upper spine. Copy
this! His knees are
slightly flexed with
weight balanced in
the mid-foot.

2 3

Start Top

Brooks is a “closed- The uber-flexible
face” player, which Koepka coils his
produces a bowed upper body against
left wrist at the top. a rather fixed lower
You can see it al- body. This cre-
ready in this picture: ates tremendous
The face is pointing torque—power that
toward the ground gets transferred to
instead of away the ball at impact to
from him. His body produce that gaudy
is relatively static 310-ish driving
as his arms and club average without him
start their journey batting an eye.
to the top. Perfect.

Watch & Learn Sequence: Mark Newcombe/visionsingolf.com;
Left: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Brooks Koepka

Expect this major-winning machine—and his potent,
powerful swing—to rock leaderboards again in 2021

Analysis by Top 100 Teacher Jonathan Yarwood

BROOKS KOEPKA is the epitome of a modern athletic golfer. I love everything
about the guy, especially his attitude come tournament time—all business
and ready to win. Unfortunately for Brooks (and golf fans), nagging injuries kept
this firebrand out of the spotlight during the fragmented 2020 Tour season. There’s
a lot to look forward to this year, and Brooks’ return is near the top of the list.

24 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

4 5 6

Halfway Impact Finish
Down
His trail arm is bent Like all great players,
Koepka’s left arm, and stable with his Brooks ends his
hands and the left arm up. This swing in perfect
grip are tracking creates the desired balance. Notice how
to the right. This in-out club path and high his hands have
“shallows” the club angle of attack that finished. It’s unusual
and helps produce produces square but necessary to
the power-rich strikes with plenty neutralize his closed
clubhead lag you of pop. His legs are clubface and bowed-
see here. Also totally extended— left-wrist position at
notice how his vertical force that the top. It’s a perfect
body is rotating sends swing speed matchup that not
and “jumping” off off the charts. only makes Koepka’s
the ground—the swing one of the
modern PGA Tour most functional on
power move. Tour but also one of
the most powerful.

I was recently at the Bears Club in Jupiter, Fla., working with a Tour player and BROOKS KOEPKA STATS
had the good fortune to run into Brooks. I asked him about playing without crowds.
The gist: Great players excel under pressure, and for the best to shine through you 2020 SEASON (14 EVENTS)
need fans in the stands. Brooks, like all of us, is hoping for a return to normalcy in
2021 and, in his case, the chance to face major pressure eye to eye and beat it. DRIVING DISTANCE 307 yds (25th)

When his swing and short game are on, Brooks is unbeatable. We all know that. His CLUBHEAD SPEED 120.3 mph (20th)
technique doesn’t ooze the poetry of, say, an Adam Scott, but it’s highly functional
if not “workmanlike.” Like Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm, Koepka is a bowed-left- SG: OFF THE TEE .362 (28th)
wrist guy at the top (frame 3), which allows him to turn like crazy on the way down
without fear of missing right. It’s well documented that Brooks loves the gym and APPROACH (150–175 YDS) 23' 9" (2nd)
works out like an NFL linebacker. The key is that his gym work jibes with what his
body needs to do on the course. There’s plenty of flexibility training to go with the SCORING AVERAGE 70.5 (58th)
bulk-and-muscle reps. It adds up to a swing that any rec golfer would be wise to copy.
OWGR 8th

25





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an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to buy OLDC-owned real estate in Reynolds Lake Oconee by residents of HI, ID, OR, or any other jurisdiction where prohibited by law. As to such states, any offer to sell or solicitation of offers to buy applies only to Resale Properties. Access and rights to recreational amenities may be sub

For OLDC properties, obtain the Property Report required by Federal law and read it before signing anything. No Federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. Void where prohibited by law. WARNING: THE
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Clubhouse

Ask The Rules Guy

My ball rolled through a hard-packed
bunker and came to rest outside it.
I needed to stand in the bunker to play Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
my next shot, so I took a practice swing, Browse our library
of rulings and out-
of-this-world decisions
at golf.com/rules

hitting the wet sand, which stayed on Q: I know the latest Rules revision removed

the clubface. The sand added spin to the penalty for pulling a T.C. Chen—a
my shot, helping to keep it on the green. double-hit shot now just counts as one
stroke. But does that also hold true on the
Is it legal to take a practice swing in putting surface? Recently, my opponent
had a short putt that he “inadvertently”

a bunker and ground the club? And hit twice and holed.
can you leave sand on the clubface?
—Mike Stout, Myrtle Beach, S.C.

A: First, Mike, let’s spare a thought for

—Jim Smith, via email T.C. “Two Chip” Chen, remem-

bered for one cruel twist of fate

A: Be forewarned, Jim: Reading while leading the 1985 U.S. Open

this answer is going to make this rather than his playoff victory over

the last time you can legally put none other than Ben Crenshaw at

sand on the clubface. The bunker the 1987 Los Angeles Open or for

restrictions as set out in Rule 12 being the first Taiwanese player

apply only when your ball is in a to earn a PGA Tour card. Like

bunker; when your ball is outside Bill Buckner in the 1986 World

it, there’s no issue with going into Series, Scott Norwood in 1991’s

the sand and making a practice Super Bowl XXV or Chris Web-

swing, grounding the club or not. ber in the 1993 NCAA Division

(Remember to rake when you’re I Basketball Championship, no

done, of course.) That said, Rule one wants his worst moment to

4.1(a)3 prohibits the player from be his legacy, nor should it be.

deliberately applying material to Back to the matter at hand: Rule

the clubface in order to affect its 10.1(a) applies anywhere on the

performance characteristics. If course, from the highest of rough

you ignore that prohibition and to the shortest of grass. Your air

then play a stroke that way, you’ll That rare occasion when a rough break can go your way. quotes suggest that you believe

be disqualified at the first offense. your opponent’s double hit was

Knowledge isn’t just power; it’s responsi- A: Surely any broom-wielding hold- no accident, however, and if you are

bility too. And, no, you can’t claim never out has suffered enough indignity, no? convinced that’s the case you’re free

to have read this column! And, in fact, this disgusted one would to bring the matter to the committee’s

have been in the clear regardless, as the attention for adjudication as to whether

Q: I was watching a Champions Tour event relevant Rule, 13.1(d), turns on the ques- Timmy Two Times played a moving ball.

recently, and a player who shall remain tion of whether the player accidentally But that seems almost as sad as inten-

nameless using a long (but presumably not caused the ball to move, not on whether tionally double-hitting a putt.

anchored) putter missed a short putt. He he intended to drop the putter. As con-

dropped the flatstick in disgust and it came tact clearly would have been acciden- GOT A QUESTION ABOUT THE RULES?
very close to hitting his ball at rest. Had it tal, he’d simply move the ball back to its
done so, would there have been a penalty? original location with no penalty… and ASK THE RULES GUY!
try to hole another shorty with his longy.
—Mark Pozniak, Red Hook, N.Y. SEND YOUR QUERIES, CONFUSIONS AND
COMMENTS TO [email protected].

WE PROMISE HE WON’T

THROW THE BOOK AT YOU.

30 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

How It Works 6
4. ONBOARD
Fore COMPUTER
the Win Swing data is
parsed by a series of
Like the MLB at the start high-powered pro-
of the Moneyball era, golf is cessors, translating
in the midst of an analytics the images into
revolution. This one’s led by numbers the com-
puter analyzes in a
Foresight Sports. matter of millisec-
onds. “We design our
Illustration by beaudaniels.com LONG BEFORE Bryson DeCham- 1. QUADRASCOPIC boards to capture,
beau was golf ’s distance king, CAMERAS carry, process and
he was golf ’s data king. The 2020 U.S. store data at ex-
Open champ didn’t thrust himself to the Simply, launch moni- tremely high speed
center of golf ’s distance debate because tors seek to capture rates—think on the
he wanted to. He did so because the swings and interpret order of gigapixels
numbers told him to. them. The Quad gets per second,” says
But the “numbers” is an abstract its name from its Foresight director
term. For DeChambeau’s sake, let’s talk four super-speed of sales Rick Cuellar.
in his language: absolutes. DeChambeau cameras that ensure 5. ALIGNMENT
began his makeover because his Fore- high-level capture STICK
sight Sports GCQuad launch moni- accuracy to the tune How does it know
tor ($14,000 to $18,000) told him if he of 10,000 frames per whether your
added weight, he would add ball speed. second. shots are straight?
If he added ball speed, he would add Because you tell
distance. And if he added distance, it 2. PHOTOMETRIC it which direction
would be easier to score better. SENSORS you’re aiming using
The GCQuad doesn’t look all that rev- an alignment stick.
olutionary, but that’s okay because it These tiny sensors 6. MOBILE APP
does something revolutionary. It speaks regulate the flash Your GCQuad has
in absolutes. Absolutes like pinpoint data feature on each run its calculations
about the swing, the ball and the club. camera, which con- and you’ve got the
The GCQuad is a Tour favorite— trols the amount of data. What now?
used by names like DeChambeau and light allowed into the With the Foresight
McIlroy. But it’s also an industry stand- lens for each image. Sports FSX Pro
ard, the preferred indoor equipment used The slower you mobile app, you can
by clubfitting experts at True Spec Golf. swing, the more light access and interpret
“We offer all our clients a perfor- each camera must swing tendencies like
mance guarantee—that our clubs are produce in order for path, smash factor,
going to do what we tell them they do,” the machine’s on- impact position, face
said Ryan Richardson, president of True board computer to
Spec. “In our independent testing, we collect information. 1 at impact, spin rate
found the GCQuad performed excep- and ball speed—ev-
tionally well indoors and that the data it 3. CLUB erything you need to
produced was exceptionally accurate.” MARKERS max out your motion.
We all want to change the world, but
the Foresight GCQuad is actually doing Four removable 4
it. Here’s how it works. —James Colgan stickers allow the
cameras to measure 2
movement, tilt, ro-
tation and a number 5
of other important
swing attributes 31
as the club moves
through impact.

3

Clubhouse

At the 1975
Masters, I was
still hitting my
MacGregors on
the screws. I won
my fifth green
jacket that year.

Golden Rules from

Perfect Union
I had my first clubfitting in ’51 (though they didn’t call it that back then), and the same

principle applies today: You and your clubs should work together, like a good marriage

WHEN GOLF TALK TURNS TO EQUIPMENT—and this Arnold Palmer was the opposite. We used to joke that Bettmann Archive
issue of GOLF and its annual ClubTest package will Arnold would hit one bad shot and change his grip. But not
certainly encourage that—I sometimes think of a boyhood trip the grip on his putter. Nobody had a thinner grip on his putter
I made with the encouragement of Jack Grout, the head pro at than Arnold and he was loyal to it. I liked it so much, I started
Scioto CC, in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. As a 10-year- using it too. I had more feel with a thin grip. Now you see
old starting out in golf, I was using pass-me-downs from my many golfers—amateur and professional—with fatter grips
father. But early in 1951, sometime after my 11th birthday, on their putters. If it works for you, that’s all that matters.
my dad and I made the two-hour drive to Cincinnati, where A thin putting grip worked for Arnold. It worked for me. It
MacGregor had its factory. The concept of a “clubfitting ses- works for Tiger too.
sion” didn’t really exist then. But working with Bob Rickey,
the head of MacGregor, and Leon Nelson, their club liaison, I was particular about my clubs—the fit, the grind, the
we were probably doing some form of it that day. appearance—but I didn’t tinker much because I knew what
What I know for sure is that I came home with a set of those MacGregors could do. I liked the clubs and I liked the
beautiful MacGregor irons. I was a big kid, and these clubs employees. In 1982, I bought MacGregor. I worked with one
were standard length, with standard loft and lie and swing- clubfitter there, Jack Wullkotte, for 40-plus years.
weights. (They were D-2s.) They had stiff shafts and leather
grips. Through the heart of my playing career, I put new irons Today, you can do for yourself what Jack Grout and the
in my bag on a regular basis, but for the first 30 years of my MacGregor people did for me that day in 1951. There are so
professional career—I signed with MacGregor just before my many options now, particularly in shafts, that it makes sense
rookie season in ’62—they were always MacGregors and they to have a session with a professional clubfitter. My business
always had the same specs as that 1951 set. I was never one to partner, Howard Milstein, owns True Spec Golf, a premium
change much of anything. clubfitting company. The people there are not selling golf-
ers any particular brand; rather, their goal is to make sure
you have the right specs, just as Jack Grout did with me

32 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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Clubhouse

“I always wanted a club that was
a little heavier than I could handle.
There’s a tendency now toward
light clubs, but a light club doesn’t
encourage you to do anything.”

70 years ago. The numbers on a machine can tell you only Arnold was a tireless tinkerer, but once I zeroed in on my gear I liked to stick
so much. The club has to feel right to you, too. with it. At the 1962 U.S. Open, my first pro win, we both gripped and ripped it.

One of the most important factors is the weight of the I fiddled with a longer shaft in my prime, I got wilder. But that
club, both its overall weight and how the weight is distrib- was me and that was then. Over the years, I made the tran-
uted throughout the club. (That’s what a swingweight, like sition from a persimmon driver with a metal shaft to a metal
D-2, indicates.) A club that is the correct weight will encour- driver with a graphite shaft. And over the years, the length of
age you to swing the club rather than dominate it. It will help my driver shaft went from 42.75 inches to 45 inches (although
you maintain a good rhythm. A properly balanced club helps most of the time I settled on something closer to 43.5 inches).
put you on the right path. When I was growing up, I always
wanted to have a club that was a little heavier than I could As golfers, we change. What worked for you at 11 isn’t likely
handle. There’s a tendency now toward light clubs, but a light to work for you at 81 or any other age. Finding what does will
club doesn’t really encourage you to do anything. That won’t make you a better golfer.
help your golf. It’s like a marriage: You and your clubs have
to work together.

I could say about the same thing for shaft lengths. There’s
a lot of talk now about longer shafts in drivers. Every time

Give Yourself a (Warm) Hand GET ONE BEFORE Top: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images; Bottom: Jeffrey Westbrook; Styling: Miako Katoh
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34 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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Clubhouse

1
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10
36 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

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37

Clubhouse

100, your best target is always the middle

Data Driven with GOLFTEC of the green, unless you’re within 25 yards
of the flagstick. If you typically shoot in

Stick Your Approach the 90s, your best target is the middle of
the green until you’re within 100 yards
of the pin. (Even at 100 yards, however,

in the Best Spot it’s probably still risky to play toward the
flag.) If your average score is in the 80s,
you can stare down the pin from 135 yards

GOLFTEC VP of Instruction Nick Clearwater offers hard and in but not from anything farther.
data on where you can pick up strokes by adjusting your aim We arrived at these distance thresh-

olds taking into account that the average

green width is approximately 25 yards

THE LURE OF PIN-HUNTING is in thousands of rounds by thousands of and the dispersion pattern of various

strong. I get it—there’s noth- golfers, some better than you and some handicap groups based on the data we

ing better in this game than cozying an not. The chart below neatly summarizes aggregated. As crazy as it may sound,

approach shot next to the hole for a tap-in this research, outlining your best pos- even a PGA Tour pro should take cau-

birdie. But be honest: How many times sibility of hitting the green depending tion when aiming at the pin outside 172

doesthatactuallyhappenduringaround? on distance to the pin and, more impor- yards. At that point it’s time to channel

A better question: How many times has tantly, the exact yardage when you Tiger, think smart and aim for the mid-

taking dead aim at the pin resulted in a should consider ignoring the pin and go dle of the green.

missed green (and dropped strokes)? for the center depending on your hand-

Since opening our doors in 1995, icap. Pretty powerful stuff. Nick Clearwater is based at GOLFTEC’s

GOLFTEC has measured the swings Asthechartshows,ifyoucannotbreak headquarters in Denver, Colo.

of tens of thousands of golfers of every

skill level. Our massive database grows

every day as we continue to help find solu- Pocket Caddie: When to Take Aim at the Middle
tions for our students’ games. While tech-
nology has made improving swings and The heat map at right, developed by studying dispersion patterns of four handicap groups and
scores easier than ever, it’s the decisions the average green width, shows when (orange squares) to pump the brakes on pin-hunting.

that you make between shots that con- Absolute Proximity to pin following approach (yds)
tinue to be a critical barometer of success. go-for-the-
Yardage Pro 80s 90s 100s
Over the years Tiger Woods has pin limits to pin shooter shooter shooter

famously admitted that looking away 25 3.1 4.0 4.9 5.8

from the pin and instead aiming for the

center of the green has led to many of his 50 5.0 6.8 8.5 10.3

82 PGA Tour victories. Hidden in these 75 5.3 7.4 9.6 11.8
statements is his belief that playing away

from the center of the green is an oppor- 100s 100 6.1 9.0 12.0 14.9
tunity rife with unfriendly implications if
49 yards

you don’t execute precisely, even for an 120 6.6 10.2 13.8 17.4

all-galaxy ball striker like Tiger. 90s 135 7.4 11.5 15.5 19.6
In addition to the sage words of argu-
78 yards

ably the greatest golfer of all time, there 150 8.4 12.9 17.4 21.9
are other reasons you should adjust your

approach-shot strategy and honestly ask 80s 165 9.4 15.6 21.8 28.0
when and where you should aim at the
117 yards

pin. You might not like the answer, but 180 10.6 17.4 24.2 30.9

it’ll make a lot of sense.

The stats department at GOLFTEC 200 12.2 19.7 27.2 34.7

recently crunched some numbers, plot- 70s (pro) 220 15.2 23.4 31.7 39.9
ting the success rate of approach shots hit
172 yards

38 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Stephen Denton Even a PGA Tour
star such as Tony

Finau knows to
think twice before
aiming at the flag

from as close as
172 yards (and

even closer when
the pin positions

get nasty).

To find the
GOLFTEC center
near you (over 200

locations), visit
golftec.com
39

Clubhouse

From Our Playing Editor

Bryson Explains...

A bomber’s dozen: The 2020 U.S. Open champion has 13 reasons why
his gear choices—like his powerful swing—are second to none

Why I use graphite shafts make their graphite feel like steel. with JumboMax. I kid you not—zero
They’re really comfortable—not light pain from the first swing on. My ini-
throughout the bag or flimsy. And they’re super precise tial JumboMax grips were mediums.
and predictable, with no manufactur- I quickly went to their XL model. It
Like all golfers, I go graphite in the ing imperfections. I’m all about quality was the greatest thing I’d ever experi-
driver—but not for the reason you may control in every part of my bag—shafts, enced. It started making sense: Grips are
think. People think that you don’t have club, ball, grips. It all has to be up to naturally bigger in almost every other
to be precise with a driver because the the highest standards in order for me sport. You hold a bowling ball more in
fairways are 25 to 30 yards wide. Wrong. to play my best possible golf. There’s the palm of your hand. Tennis rackets,
Precision is part of the reason every- no reason you shouldn’t set the same baseball bats—much bigger grips than
body uses graphite in drivers. A good benchmarks. a golf club. I soon thought, Why isn’t
graphite driver shaft should be just as every golfer doing this? For fun, check
stable and repeatable, or even more so, My fascination with out your favorite NBA player when you
than steel. see them on TV in a pro-am or charity
monster-sized grips event. They all use JumboMax grips,
I use an LA Golf Partners (LAGP) because their hands are so big. That
shaft in my driver. I’ve always been I’ve been using JumboMax grips on my said, almost nobody gets fitted for grips
blown away at how stable it is consid- clubs since 2011. Even as an 18-year-old and they should.
ering how fast I swing, so I eventually I could swing the club pretty hard, and
thought I’d try one in my putter (where a with the interlocking grip I used at that How I test out new golf balls
different kind of stability is important). It time, my fingers would hurt. I started
really worked well! I’ve won a lot of tour- getting weird pains in my hand. I decided Any ball I use has to work with my
naments with an LAGP graphite shaft I wanted to try something bigger. driver. No compromise there. And
in the putter, so I won’t be going back to I think that’s where amateurs should
steel anytime soon. My coach, Mike Schy, came back start too. Then you get to the business
of making sure it works for your irons.
You can guess where my mind went (For the record, I do indeed test a ball Photographs by Christian Hafer
after that: What if I could replicate the with every single club to make sure all
stability of graphite in my irons as well? of the spin rates and launch angles are
So I got together with LAGP and we correct.)
decided to go with the stiffest graph-
ite shaft they could build, knowing we When you’re testing a new golf ball,
could always back off from there. Like pay particular attention to the last
the putter experiment, the one for my three-quarters of ballflight, especially
irons worked really well. I had been spin- the end. That’s where you’ll really see
ning my iron shots too much, and the if it’s stable or not. There’s a lot more
new graphite shafts lowered my spin that I could go into, but that’s how I start
rates and helped reduce deflection. First the test process. The last time I went
time out I grabbed a top-five finish at the through it, the Bridgestone TOUR B X
Shriners Hospital for Children Open in came out on top.
Las Vegas. That was 2020. I was off to
the races after that. My team and I used to test every ball
to see if the core was centered. Painful!
LAGP shafts have some unique tech-
nology. The dampening mechanisms

40 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

Jumbo grips, graphite
shafts from putter to
driver, a single shaft
length for the majority
of the bag—for Bryson
DeChambeau, any gear
tweak to squeeze out a
few extra mph or add
stability is worth it.

From left: Stephen Denton; Courtesy Puma; Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images; Stephen Denton; Jamie Squire/Getty Images (2); Courtesy Bryson DeChambeau

DeChambeau’s obses- Credit here tktktk
sion with equipment
helped fuel a major
win for the ages at the
2020 U.S. Open. At
right, the tools of the
mad scientist’s trade.

42 GOLF.COM / M ao nr cth 2 0 2 10

Clubhouse

What’s good about playing Bridgestone When you know a club I looked at was my irons. It’s really diffi-
(one of their models has been in my bag cult to master a 3-iron all the way through
since the 2016 Masters) is that their gives you the best chance of the wedges. That’s something I struggled
quality-control standards are so high with. I saw every single club was being
I don’t have to worry about it anymore. optimizing launch swung on a different plane, and I was
in a different body posture. I thought,
The most important design I would say this: Check your lofts. You Why are all of the iron lengths different?
know how everyone says “An 8-iron is Why can’t they all be the same length and
element to consider when X loft,” “a 7-iron is Y loft” and so on? just have different lofts?
Don’t think of it that way. Think of it
buying a wedge as “I’m unique in the way I deliver the Mike Schy said, “That’s an easy ques-
golf club.” My advice: Match loft to spin tion to ask and a very difficult one to
You won’t believe me, but it’s the shaft. rate and the launch angle you need. You answer.” We went down the rabbit hole
Most people go with what stock option have to be okay with changing lofts. And of trying to figure it out. We got all the
is offered. That may not “kick” properly if this all sounds very confusing, then same club lengths, grips, shafts, club-
for your swing speed or what you’re try- you’re starting to realize the importance head weight—just different lofts.
ing to accomplish. You need a shaft that of working with a professional clubfitter.
responds consistently. It’s extra impor- We went out and tried it. It took me
tant if your swing speed is erratic, which If I’ll continue with the less than an hour to get used to those
is probably true for a lot of recreational clubs. Over the course of time, it inte-
players. This causes a wide variance in one-length irons approach grated even more. I felt like this was
dynamic loft at impact, meaning you something—if people would really
need a stiffer shaft, which probably isn’t Absolutely! Flash back to 2011. I was try- think about it—that could completely
the one coming off the rack. ing to figure out a better way to prac-
tice—work half the number of hours
while getting twice as good. One thing

43

Clubhouse

Bryson’s new Cobra all have the ability to gain five miles
RadSpeed driver an hour.
already shows the
marks of thousands What putting or putter
of test and practice
swings. (See p. 53 feature to focus on the most
for what makes the
RadSpeed go.) Stability is the important thing, whether
you’re on the course or just practicing.
Always look for ways to get more sta-
ble through impact so that it feels more
comfortable on any length putt. That’s
what I’m looking for in a design feature,
whether it’s high MOI, a stiffer shaft,
arm-lock technique—anything that
allows me to be more stable and more
repeatable on the greens.

One equipment change

rec players can make to

instantly lower their scores

Going with single-length irons is
the answer. It’s just super easy to do
because they’re all the same. In the
beginning you may think, The pitch-
ing wedge, it’s longer. No, it’s just your
7-iron with a different loft. Just think
of every iron as a 7-iron and you’ll start
noticing consistently better—and cen-
tered—contact.

revolutionize the game. I still do. And or whatever. That isn’t going to cut it. Why you should never
it’s why I partnered with Cobra on their You must find a club that fits you, what- test gear in the absence
One Length offerings. ever it is. Look at my bag—I sort of have of a launch monitor
a cavity-back thing going on with the
Here’s the rub: When I practice with Cobra King Forged Tour irons. Maybe This depends on where you’re at in
my pitching wedge, I’m also practic- that surprises you. Don’t let it. I go with your game, but if you can understand
ing my 3-iron. When I’m practicing my what works. the data, you can always make better
7-iron, I’m practicing with my pitch- decisions.
ing wedge. On every swing I’m getting The one training aid golfers
reps with the same club, because I’m The correct way to demo
using the same posture, stance, setup— shouldn’t live without a longer shaft
everything. Talk about efficiency!
Anything that helps you train for speed My advice is to try 45, 46, 47 and then
The biggest equipment- is a worthy device. But the best one is maybe 47.75 inches—just short of 48
your desire. Here’s what I mean: Say inches, the legal limit. Spend the time
buying mistakes I see you’re in a speed session and you’re testing out the different products to get
getting to the 15th or 20th ball hitting comfortable with whatever it is you ulti-
amateurs make really hard. All of a sudden, you see your mately decide is right for you.
numbers drop. That’s when most peo-
I’m deeply ingrained into trying to fig- ple stop. Don’t! Convince yourself to Are we going to see 47 or 48
ure out what I’m working on. As such, continue swinging—I’m talking 50, 60, inches from me this year?
I’m no expert on the amateur game. 70 balls. Push your body’s limits. Get
But, for the most part, I see a lot of rec your endurance level up so that you can Probably at some point, if there’s a
players simply opting for the “coolest” swing that way at any point in time. We course it makes sense on. If I’m mov-
clubs they see. You know, the blade iron ing it and controlling the longer driver
or the driver with the super-stiff shaft in practice, yes, you’ll see it.

44 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1



Clubhouse

Access

G.O.A.T. Track

The owner of ultra-private Grove XXIII Golf Club wanted a slam-dunk
driving range. And he—Michael Jordan—got it.

Teeing areas for approach-game practice. The facility has two driving The short-game
corridors, framed by mounding, area for 20- to
with widths ranging from 27 to 33 yards 50-yard shots A long
to mimic the dimensions of PGA has five hitting bunker for
zones, with practicing
Tour fairways. different lies sand shots
and degrees of of varying
slope. distance.

Players From left: LC Lambrecht; Atlantic Golf Club
getting loose

can fire at
casual warm-up

targets,
set at 25-yard

increments.

46 GOLF.COM / M a r c h 2 0 2 1

The teeing area for driving, IN HIS NBA PRIME, Michael
where you hit over the Jordan abided by a grueling
short-game area (not a regimen that pushed him to train harder
than everyone around him—and that
safety issue at a club with inner drive hasn’t lost a step. This well
so few members) to a range groomed swatch of greenery is the
practice range at Grove XXIII, Jordan’s
that extends 480 yards. private golf club, in Hobe Sound, Fla.
It reflects the mindset of a man who’s
The short-game area The teaching building opens The putting green, neverbeenaccusedof beingunprepared.
for 20 yards and in. on three sides, allowing featuring four sections “Michael believes that the training
should always be harder than the play-
you to hit shots toward the of different degrees ing, so failure becomes an opportunity
short-game areas or out onto of slope. to improve,” says Darren May, the facili-
ty’s designer and golf coach. In devising
the range. A second teeing area plans for the 16-acre range—which was
at the back of the shaped by Grove XXIII architect Bobby
The approach-game Weed—May relied on statistical data and
target greens, arranged range allows players to consultation with PGA Tour stalwarts,
at 25-yard increments from practice shaping shots the better to re-create the most demand-
50 to 200 yards, are divided into ing shots on Tour. Since opening last year,
quadrants, with each landing area in both directions. Grove XXIII has become a go-to train-
representing a different degree ing ground for the likes of Rickie Fowler
of difficulty. The flags are set on and Justin Thomas, among the hand-
stands, not placed in holes, so they ful of Tour players who are members.
can be relocated easily. But the concept can be customized for
all skill levels. Prestigious Atlantic GC,
on Long Island, recently cut the ribbon
on a new range tailor-made by May and
shaped by architect Tyler Rae. Other top
courses have asked May for the same.
Welcome to the future. If you want to
be like Mike, beating balls the same old
way just won’t suffice. —Josh Sens

Though smaller in scale, the range at Atlantic
GC (below) shares similarities with Grove XXIII
and nicely illustrates May’s adaptable design.

Tiered targets, set
at 75, 100 and 125 yards,

challenge players to
match both Tour and
amateur standards.

The driving corridor
is 40 yards wide,
mirroring the
dimensions of the

14th hole, just to the
right of the range.