Identical to the approaching of Outdated Man Winter and jolly previous St. Nick, golf’s Launch Season is certainly one of life’s certainties. And similar to a snowstorm, it begins with a flake or two (witness the Cleveland HiBore XL). Subsequent come the flurries and a lightweight dusting (Sub 70, COBRA, et al), simply sufficient for these of us dreaming of a white Christmas.
Come January, nonetheless, we’re in for Snowmageddon.
Shoveling by all that … snow … is daunting so now’s pretty much as good a time as any to organize for what’s coming. It’s simple to be overwhelmed however similar to your neighbor with the snowblower, we’re right here to lend a serving to hand.
Launch Season is loaded with myths, realities, fact and customary misconceptions which can be stated many occasions, some ways. Within the spirit of the season, we’ve made an inventory, checked it twice and, similar to Santa, we’ve culled the naughty from the good.
So hearth up the sleigh, fellow GolfSpies. Let the Reindeer Video games start.
Fable #1: Let me guess, one other 10 yards?
This fable is up there with Frosty the Snowman however not in the best way you’re considering.
We’ve scoured OEM adverts, press releases, official statements and personal conversations and we’ve discovered one thing exceptional.
OEMs are NOT promising you 10 extra yards with their new drivers. They haven’t for a protracted, very long time. They may inform you longer, straighter, sooner, but when you could find me an advert, press launch or any respected OEM saying, “Our new driver gives you 10 extra yards,” I’ll roast my chestnuts over an open hearth.
Actuality #1: It’s about your mishits
Let’s get this on the desk now so there’s no misunderstanding.
The foundations are the principles and the principles place exhausting and quick limits on balls and CT. CT stands for Attribute Time and the USGA limits how lengthy the ball can keep in touch with the clubface at influence: the so-called “trampoline impact.”
“One other 10 yards” has gone from a cynical objection to a lazy cliché. Nobody is promising you one other 10 yards on on-center strikes. Nevertheless, the place efficiency can enhance is on the outskirts of heart influence. Whether or not it’s the ART face expertise on Sub 70’s new 859 drivers or the assorted OEMs’ AI-designed variable-face thickness, the objective is to enhance efficiency if you miss the center.
Hey, when you’re one of many chosen few who by no means misses the center of your driver’s clubface, my hat’s off to you. You might be The Pan. For the remainder of us, something that retains off-center strikes in play and with extra distance is a welcome improvement.
Fable #2: Wait six weeks; they’ll launch one other one …
Yo, 2012 known as. It needs its Sizzling Take again.
This one pops up yearly, often following a TaylorMade driver launch. Did TaylorMade pull this nonsense at one time? Completely however that was again within the R1/JetSpeed/SLDR days. TaylorMade was underneath completely different possession and struggled by some distinctive – and largely self-inflicted – market challenges.
As soon as once more, if you could find any event previously decade when TaylorMade launched a very new driver to switch the final fully new driver it launched simply six weeks prior, you may name me Mr. Grinch and inform me I stink, stank, stunk.
Actuality #2: OEMs are on one- or two-year product cycles
It’s been this fashion for fairly a while.
TaylorMade, Callaway and COBRA will launch a brand new driver household every January. They’ll additionally launch game-improvement irons every January, though – Spoiler Alert!! – there can be one shocking change this January. Every will most likely launch one other driver later in 2025 nevertheless it’ll be a line-extension kind factor (suppose mini-driver or Triple Diamond Max) or a limited-edition particular.
PING and Titleist are on 18-month to two-year launch cycles for irons and metalwoods however they’ll additionally launch their stuff at odd occasions. PING launched the G430 MAX 10K final January as the remainder of the G430 driver line was getting into the second 12 months of its life cycle. The brand new G440 line comes out subsequent month however the G430 MAX 10K will keep present for the foreseeable future.
Simply bear in mind, additions aren’t the identical as replacements.
Fable #3: “Seems to be similar to ____,” or “It’s simply one other copy of____.”
This one’s a Launch Season custom.
If one golf membership bears a passing resemblance to a different, the lazy OEM will need to have simply copied the design, proper? Hey, if it appears to be like like one other membership, it have to be the identical as the opposite membership.
It simply goes to point out there’s nothing authentic on the market and these new launches are all BS. If it appears to be like related, it have to be the identical. Nothing to see right here …
It’s particularly emphatic when you add a bunch of “laughing face” emojis after your feedback or when you be certain the world is aware of you realize greater than anybody else by including an “LOL” or “LMAO.”
That’ll present ’em.
Actuality #3: “Seems to be like” and “Similar as/Copy of” are two various things
A 12 months or so in the past, an OEM posted an image of its new 3-wood. A serial commenter felt it essential to level out – with all of the requisite emojis and an LMAO – that it appeared suspiciously like a unique OEM’s 3-wood from a earlier 12 months.
Will need to have been a duplicate, proper?
I’m only a easy scribe however 3-woods are inclined to look an terrible lot like 3-woods. Participant’s irons are inclined to look alike as do participant’s distance irons, game-improvement irons and wedges. All of them have hosels, toes, heels, soles and toplines. Sound design isn’t essentially a “copy.” A golf membership has to appear to be a golf membership so there are sure to be similarities.
You will note golf equipment from lower-end DTC manufacturers that look alike. They’re, most definitely, “open-mold” irons. An open-mold iron is a generic design owned by a foundry in Asia. They slap the DTC model’s identify and brand on it and, presto, that model is within the golf enterprise.
Past that, you’ll usually see designs from among the bigger and extra authentic DTC manufacturers slip by the cracks and wind up provided by one other foundry as an open mould. We’ve written about this earlier than, however as you progress to Asia’s third- or fourth-tier foundries, all bets are off.
Fable #4: Curse these grasping OEMs! Pricing is getting uncontrolled!
Most individuals use a selected expletive as a substitute of “curse” however, c’mon, this can be a household weblog. I can see why individuals wince as mainstream OEM drivers push the $600 mark and irons prime $1,200 for a six-piece set. That’s painful.
And let’s not even carry up the $54.99 per dozen golf balls.
Don’t the nimrods who run these OEMs know they’re pricing the common golfer out of the sport? Gear is just too costly and it’s driving individuals away. Do they actually suppose we’re silly sufficient to purchase a brand new driver yearly at these costs?
Actuality #4: It’s by no means been a greater time to be a client
It’s true and, no, your devoted scribe hasn’t dipped his cup into the eggnog early nor has he sparked up slightly frankincense and myrrh.
There’s extra high-performing golf gear out there at higher costs at present than at another time this century. Need a actually good recreation enchancment iron? You gained’t do a lot better than the Tour Edge E723 at $569.99.
Participant’s distance on a price range? The MacGregor MT-Milled ($549.99) or the Sub 70 699 Professional V2 ($630.00) will do you simply high-quality. At just below $450, the Ram Axial Cast may be the perfect solid cavity-back deal going.
Drivers? The Sub 70 859 driver begins at $399 as does the brand new Cleveland HiBore XL. As we transfer into Launch Season, you’ll discover loads of choices from recognizable names underneath $500.
Golf balls? In case you can’t discover a solid-performing urethane “Tour” ball for underneath $35 a dozen, you’re simply not making an attempt very exhausting.
It additionally bears repeating: The existence of a $600 or above driver or perhaps a $6,400 set of irons doesn’t negate the existence of lower-priced choices. It’s not a zero-sum recreation, pals.
It’s probably the most fantastic time of the 12 months …
Over the following month and a half, we at MyGolfSpy will write greater than 50 product launch articles. Hey, it’s what we do throughout Launch Season. However we wouldn’t be of fine cheer if we didn’t share some last-minute recommendation, courtesy of Walt Whitman through Ted Lasso:
Be curious, not judgmental.
Snap judgments and scorching takes on social media could offer you an endorphin rush however they have an inclination to steer down a darkish, cynical path that’ll eat away at your soul and crush any hope of seasonal pleasure.
OK, it’s perhaps not that severe, however it’s simply golf. Each business commonly releases new merchandise with completely different options, expertise and different doo-dads. Simply because a brand new Dodge Ram or Toyota 4Runner appears to be like superior, that doesn’t make the one you acquire final 12 months out of date, does it? The identical commonplace applies to golf gear. In case you performed good golf with the gear you had final 12 months, you’ll greater than doubtless play good golf with that very same gear subsequent 12 months.
Conversely, when you performed crappy golf final 12 months, you most likely gained’t play higher golf simply by shopping for new gear. Correctly fitted gear, nonetheless, may assist. There’s no magic bullet however there’s all the time hope.
So it doesn’t matter what occurs this Launch Season, you higher not cry and also you higher not pout and I’m telling you why.
As a result of we’ll be doing this all once more a 12 months from now.
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