Hope you all had a great day! I want to use today to wrap up some odds and ends from the Orlando PGA Show. It was an interesting few days in Florida and there were all sorts of things going on. I’ve picked out a few of the best odds and ends and thought I’d pass them along.
It is clearly the year of the square driver but companies aren’t stopping there. I saw a few different square hybrids and fairway woods. Expect to see some of these in shops this year. The whole square thing makes a lot of sense… I think it’s here to stay!
I talked to a lot of people that felt the Nike SUMO was the best of the square drivers. The one knock I heard time and time again had to do with the extremely loud sound it made when hit. Nike told me that they had the option of dampening the sound a bit but decided against it. They want it to get all of the attention on the local range and feel the sound sets it apart from other drivers. The consumer will make the call here… I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
I was very impressed with Nickent this year. They’re really putting out some quality equipment. The highlight of the line for me was the 3DX Pro fairway wood. I really liked the way this one looked… traditional looking and full of technology! It will be available in 4 lofts and will be brought to market in limited quantities. I had a chance to try the 4DX driver too and was impressed. It’s up against some very stiff competition this year but it’s a solid improvement over Nickent drivers of the past.
We had lots of emails asking about Tour Edge. The company has rolled out some more Exotics products and people are starting to figure out how good the line is. The company says their new CB2 fairway wood is even longer than the last one but it was hard for me to tell. Both hit it so far! I think it looks a lot better the the first one though. I wasn’t a huge fan of the Exotics Iron-Wood but the new CB2 is a far better looking club. The Iron-Wood didn’t do very well in our shop and I think it was partly because of it’s look. The Exotics name is still somewhat unknown amongst most golfers and I think a club without a big name and some serious shelf appeal has a tough road ahead of it. I was a huge fan of the CNC Forged Blade too… probably one of the best looking irons at the show. The EX-3’s weren’t as ugly as I thought they would be and they boast some serious performance. One person I talked to said that he was getting an extra club and a half out of the EX-3’s. I was a bit torn on the GeoMax. It comes in at a good price point but I just don’t know if it stacks up all that well against some of the other drivers in it’s class. It’s worth a try though.
I was actually really excited to see SeeMore putters back in the spotlight. They feature a technology that is so basic but so effective. I was a huge fan back in the Payne Stewart days and the new line is small and solid.
Maruman put a lot of effort (and money) into their Orlando launch. The company makes some great products but they’ll need to pull out all the stops to get their name out there. The company is known for their ultra high-end products and it’s very obvious that they make quality stuff. It’s vital that they get their name out there… otherwise it might be a short trip to North America (despite the quality of their products).
Thanks to one of our readers for this interesting note… there may be a wedge in the works for Yes! Golf. Our reader noted seeing a “dark colored milled wedge” at the Yes! booth. He was told that they are not close to the production stage but an interesting note nonetheless. We’ll keep you updated.
That’s all for now. We’ll have posts running right through the weekend. I’ve got more Orlando posts, Gary Bos has sent over a couple more and our friends over at Bob Burns Golf sent over an interesting history on their namesake… a cool little read that I’ll post for everyone! Thanks for dropping by and we’ll talk to you tomorrow!