Similar to the approaching of Previous Man Winter and jolly outdated St. Nick, golf’s Launch Season is considered one of life’s certainties.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 via 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 straightforward 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 might be stated many instances, some ways. Within the spirit of the season, we’ve made a listing, checked it twice and, identical to Santa, we’ve culled the naughty from the great.
So fireplace up the sleigh, fellow GolfSpies. Let the Reindeer Video games start.
Fable #1: Let me guess, one other 10 yards?
This delusion 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 are going to inform you longer, straighter, quicker, but when yow will discover me an advert, press launch or any respected OEM saying, “Our new driver provides you with 10 extra 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 principles are the foundations and the foundations place onerous 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. Nonetheless, the place efficiency can enhance is on the outskirts of heart influence. Whether or not it’s the ART face know-how on Sub 70’s new 859 drivers or the assorted OEMs’ AI-designed variable-face thickness, the aim is to enhance efficiency if you miss the center.
Hey, should 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 Scorching 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 totally different possession and struggled via some distinctive – and largely self-inflicted – market challenges.
As soon as once more, if yow will discover any event prior to now decade when TaylorMade launched a totally new driver to exchange the final fully new driver it launched simply six weeks prior, you’ll be able to 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 shall be one shocking change this January. Every will most likely launch one other driver later in 2025 however 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 keep in mind, additions aren’t the identical as replacements.
Fable #3: “Appears identical 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 like one other membership, it should 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 should be the identical. Nothing to see right here …
It’s particularly emphatic should you add a bunch of “laughing face” emojis after your feedback or should you be certain that the world is aware of you recognize greater than anybody else by including an “LOL” or “LMAO.”
That’ll present ’em.
Actuality #3: “Appears like” and “Identical 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 seemed 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 note golf equipment from lower-end DTC manufacturers that look alike. They’re, almost certainly, “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 usually see designs from a number of the bigger and extra authentic DTC manufacturers slip via 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 an alternative 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 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? Tools is simply too costly and it’s driving individuals 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 trustworthy 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 accessible at higher costs at present than at some other time this century. Need a actually good sport enchancment iron? You received’t do a lot better than the Tour Edge E723 at $569.99.
Participant’s distance on a finances? The MacGregor MT-Milled ($549.99) or the Sub 70 699 Professional V2 ($630.00) will do you simply tremendous. At slightly below $450, the Ram Axial Cast may be the greatest cast 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 attempting very onerous.
It additionally bears repeating: The existence of a $600 or above driver and even a $6,400 set of irons doesn’t negate the existence of lower-priced choices. It’s not a zero-sum sport, associates.
It’s essentially the most great time of the yr …
Over the subsequent 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 excellent cheer if we didn’t share some last-minute recommendation, courtesy of Walt Whitman by way of Ted Lasso:
Be curious, not judgmental.
Snap judgments and sizzling takes on social media could provide you with 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 possibly not that severe, however it’s simply golf. Each trade often releases new merchandise with totally 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 normal applies to golf tools. In case you performed good golf with the tools you had final yr, you’ll greater than seemingly play good golf with that very same tools subsequent yr.
Conversely, should you 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 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 yr from now.
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