It’s the week right after an exhausting Major for #teamcallaway BUT the show continued on to Harbour Town for the elevated RBC Classic. This place is 10/10 when it comes to great Tour stops. Easily in my Top 3. The vibe is relaxed, the fans are awesome, and the course is out of a storybook.
To address a few things you may have seen on GolfWRX.com (two prototype driving clubs), we were testing some “ideas” with TOUR staff to get some feedback, and that’s it. It happens all the time, but in this case, the cameras got a snap of two of the ideas, and the speculation about what, why, and when began.
I won’t go too far into it since they are just ideas, but both are 2nd club driving options, with one looking like a “mini-driver” and the other like a UW on HGH. The feedback was more curiosity than anything, and NO, they won’t be sold at retail…at least not the plan. Maybe TOUR only at some point, but even that is a stretch. So, for all the gearheads (like me) that want it… they are just ideas from R&D, and that, in many cases, is how it sits. Most of the time, they bleed into future releases IE, Paradym Standard Tour into Ai-Smoke Max. So you may not see that exact club in the WRX picture but perhaps a glimpse of the idea in years to come.
Now that we got that sorted.
On-site at Harbor Town, we had Sports Marketing lead Jacob Davidson, Tour Manager Joe Toulon, Performance reps Kellen Watson and Johnny Thompson, Odysseys Cody Hale, and Tour Tech Greg Shaw.
Xander testing some new tee options in prep for “The Opens”
X-man REALLY loves his UWs and was looking for a potential HOT version of one to navigate Pinehurst and Troon. What he likes about UW is the ability to hit down on it, maintain spin, and start line in harmony with crazy ball speed.
He also tested a 20-degree Apex UT as a driving iron option for Troon, but it didn’t get past the first couple of swings; with the hollow body construction of that design and smaller profile, he had trouble feeling the head, so the boys will go back into the lab and try again in future weeks.
Bez goes into a Jailbird Mini CH
Christiaan swapped into this model a couple of weeks back to remedy some alignment issues he’s been having. His ball-striking has been on point all year, and now it’s just a matter of capitalizing on it.
Specs: Ai-One Jailbird Mini CH (34 EOG, 72.75 lie, 2 loft)
Emi Grillo testing Ai-Smoke TD+ to increase spin a bit
It’s just a test as he’s still in his AIS TD 9 this week, but Emi wanted something he could curve a bit easier, and TD+ is usually the first place to go in that case, although this head (for most) spins 300-500RPMs more than retail TD. Still a TBD.
Cool Odyssey snaps…
Funny story here: Bez found this hard-to-find 5T on eBay and had Pro Tour refinish it and carve a white line on top. Pretty elite work if you ask me. The guy LOVES this head and will always have two or three backups lol.
Misc:
Brice Garnett testing Ai-Smoke TD and has a new Ai-Smoke Max 3HL in the bag
New 3HL specs: 16.5@15.7 with Fuji Ventus Blue Velo + 7X (43 EOG, D2.5, Tipped 1)
Random PM grind in a Ryder Cup hero’s bag…not in play, though.
Si Woo’s new Jaws Raw 06/C…
Non-Staffer AIS Max D…I LOVE THIS HEAD. We got 3 to 4 in play every week.
Wes Altice
April 19, 2024 at 3:44 pm
Any insight on the photos out on golfers regarding the Callaway Ti 340 Mini Driver and an Ai Smoke DUW. Would love to know the benefits a mini driver provides.
Johnny Wunder
April 19, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Read the article.