SirShanksAlot
Well that was fun… what’s up with the weather on the PGA Tour this year? Hopefully they can play a bit more tomorrow.
Some news today about the new Callaway Fusion driver. I had a nice chat with my Callaway guy today and he basically set the record straight about what we will and will not see in the near future. Let’s just kind of start at the top… there are three new Fusions out there… the FT-1, FT-2 and FT-3. Most of the Callaway Tour players are using either the FT-2 or FT-3 models. We will see the FT-3 model in June. It is 460CC and the first retail version will be neutral weighted. This will soon be followed by draw weighted and fade weighted versions. The FT-2 will be the other retail model available but we won’t see it until fall at the earliest. My guy seemed to think that the FT-2 was smaller… more towards 400CC. The stock shaft in the FT-3 will be an orange Fujikura. Callaway is really excited about the new Fusion because they eventually will be able to customize the weighting to anyone… send them information on your typical ball flight and they will pop the carbon back off, adjust the weights as necessary and then fuse the carbon to the titanium. The new Fusion should be right about the same price as the TaylorMade R7 Quad and matching fairway woods should be available at the same time. I will pass on any more information as I get it.
Moving on to TaylorMade. Yes… an R7 fairway is coming. The Japanese TaylorMade website has some pictures of an R7 fairway wood with removable weights. Go to www.taylormadegolf.com and then change the region at the bottom to “Japan”. This should be the one that comes to North American and Europe… or at least something very similar to it. The new TaylorMade wood features two weight ports that allow the player to give the club a heel or toe bias. It is a titanium head and it comes with a 2 and a 12 gram weight. As reported in the past, this club is just starting to hit the PGA Tour so expect it sometime over the summer. Also expect to see a matching Rescue club too. The new Rescue should feature two removable weights just like the fairway wood. A putter with removable weights is in the works also. I will keep you posted.
So what will the release of these new TaylorMade products mean for the average golfer? A few things. Prices on the old equipment will go down. We have already seen a price drop on the Rescue Mid and Rescue Fairway. This should probably be the end of the drop because TaylorMade’s stock will diminish quickly. It is already getting hard to get certain Rescue clubs… they are either backordered or sold out. These are great clubs and they are now priced very reasonably. The R7 fairway causes a bit of a problem. Will something get dropped or will TaylorMade run with three different fairway woods? To me it doesn’t make any sense to have both the R5 and R7 fairway woods in the line together unless the R5 takes a huge price drop. Why wouldn’t someone want the removable weights if it is almost the same price as the non-removable weights? The V Steel should be safe. It would not make sense to drop the stainless steel club without replacing it. The V Steel II should eventually replace the V Steel but I have no idea when that could happen. It will be very interesting to see what happens!
Let’s talk about nanotechnology. SirPuttsAlot and I have touched on this in the past and I thought I would give everyone a broad overview of what it is. Nanotechnology should be the next big craze in shafts and even golf balls. Have you ever worn stain resistant pants? You know… the ones that basically shed water and let it bead and roll away? Those pants are an example of what nanotechnology can do… they are basically injected (at a molecular level mind you) with a substance that allows the water to bead. Take a graphite golf shaft. There are tiny, tiny spaces between the woven graphite. Nano can be injected into these spaces to increase the strength and recovery of the shaft. The nano process is usually done in the bottom foot of the shaft… the most important area of a golf shaft. This bottom foot is what controls torque and kick point. Some say that nanotechnology will revolutionize golf shafts. It sounds like a good idea but consumers will eventually determine it’s fate. Wilson is probably the biggest supporter of nanotechnology right now. They use the technology in both shafts and golf balls.
Watch for the CPR Tour near you soon! Nike Golf has announced an tour across the U.S. in support of their popular hybrid woods. Nike will have three “CPR Ambulances” touring around the country in an effort to get the CPR clubs into the hands of consumers. Check out www.nikegolf.com for a full tour schedule.