Similar to the approaching of Previous Man Winter and jolly outdated St. Nick, golf’s Launch Season is certainly one of life’s certainties. And identical to a snowstorm, it begins with a flake or two (witness the Cleveland HiBore XL). Subsequent come the flurries and a light-weight 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 means of all that … snow … is daunting so now could be pretty much as good a time as any to arrange for what’s coming. It’s simple to be overwhelmed however identical to your neighbor with the snowblower, we’re right here to lend a serving to hand.
Launch Season is loaded with myths, realities, reality and customary misconceptions which are stated many instances, some ways. Within the spirit of the season, we’ve made an inventory, checked it twice and, identical to Santa, we’ve culled the naughty from the good.
So fireplace 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 pondering.
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 an extended, very long time. They’ll inform you longer, straighter, quicker, but when you’ll find me an advert, press launch or any respected OEM saying, “Our new driver will give you 10 more yards,” I’ll roast my chestnuts over an open fireplace.
Actuality #1: It’s about your mishits
Let’s get this on the desk now so there’s no misunderstanding.
The foundations are the foundations and the foundations place laborious and quick limits on balls and CT. CT stands for Attribute Time and the USGA limits how lengthy the ball can keep involved with the clubface at impression: the so-called “trampoline effect.”
“Another 10 yards” has gone from a cynical objection to a lazy cliché. Nobody is promising you one other 10 yards on on-center strikes. Nonetheless, the place efficiency can enhance is on the outskirts of middle impression. Whether or not it’s the ART face know-how on Sub 70’s new 859 drivers or the varied OEMs’ AI-designed variable-face thickness, the objective is to enhance efficiency if you miss the center.
Hey, for those who’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 growth.
Fable #2: Wait six weeks; they’ll launch one other one …
Yo, 2012 known as. It desires 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 below completely different possession and struggled by means of some distinctive – and largely self-inflicted – market challenges.
As soon as once more, if you’ll find any event up to now decade when TaylorMade launched a totally 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 will likely 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 (assume 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 instances. PING launched the G430 MAX 10K final January as the remainder of the G430 driver line was coming into the second yr 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: “Looks just like ____,” or “It’s just another copy of____.”
This one’s a Launch Season custom.
If one golf membership bears a passing resemblance to a different, the lazy OEM should have simply copied the design, proper? Hey, if it appears like one other membership, it have to be the identical as the opposite membership.
It simply goes to indicate there’s nothing authentic on the market and these new launches are all BS. If it appears comparable, it have to be the identical. Nothing to see right here …
It’s particularly emphatic for those who add a bunch of “laughing face” emojis after your feedback or for those who make certain the world is aware of you realize greater than anybody else by including an “LOL” or “LMAO.”
That’ll present ’em.
Actuality #3: “Looks like” and “Same as/Copy of” are two various things
A yr 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 regarded suspiciously like a unique OEM’s 3-wood from a earlier yr.
Will need to have been a replica, 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 like a golf membership so there are certain to be similarities.
You will notice golf equipment from lower-end DTC manufacturers that look alike. They’re, almost 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 emblem on it and, presto, that model is within the golf enterprise.
Past that, you’ll typically see designs from a few of the bigger and extra authentic DTC manufacturers slip by means of the cracks and wind up supplied 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 folks wince as mainstream OEM drivers push the $600 mark and irons high $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 folks away. Do they actually assume 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 shopper
It’s true and, no, your devoted scribe hasn’t dipped his cup into the eggnog early nor has he sparked up somewhat frankincense and myrrh.
There’s extra high-performing golf tools out there at higher costs right now than at every other time this century. Desire a actually good recreation enchancment iron? You received’t do a lot better than the Tour Edge E723 at $569.99.
Participant’s distance on a funds? The MacGregor MT-Milled ($549.99) or the Sub 70 699 Professional V2 ($630.00) will do you simply high quality. At slightly below $450, the Ram Axial Solid is likely to 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 below $500.
Golf balls? When you can’t discover a solid-performing urethane “Tour” ball for below $35 a dozen, you’re simply not making an attempt very laborious.
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 great time of the yr …
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 might provide you with an endorphin rush however they have a tendency to steer down a darkish, cynical path that’ll eat away at your soul and crush any hope of seasonal pleasure.
OK, it’s possibly not that severe, however it’s simply golf. Each trade usually releases new merchandise with completely different options, know-how and different doo-dads. Simply because a brand new Dodge Ram or Toyota 4Runner appears superior, that doesn’t make the one you purchased final yr out of date, does it? The identical commonplace applies to golf tools. When you performed good golf with the tools you had final yr, you’ll greater than possible play good golf with that very same tools subsequent yr.
Conversely, for those who performed crappy golf final yr, you most likely received’t play higher golf simply by shopping for new gear. Correctly fitted gear, nonetheless, would possibly assist. There’s no magic bullet however there’s at all times 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 yr from now.
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