The post Why Bridgestone’s new blade iron is so intriguing | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Bridgestone’s new blade iron is so intriguing | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Fully Equipped co-host Kris McCormack had that experience in testing Bridgestone’s new 200 series irons.

Bridgestone Golf announced their first new golf clubs in five years — the 220 MB, 221 CB and 222 CB+, along with two forged wedges — earlier this week and on this week’s Fully Equipped podcast, McCormack, a 2-handicap golfer, revealed he had been testing the irons and surprisingly found the best results with the 220 MBs.

“I was even surprising myself with how consistent that ball flight was, because I don’t consider myself a good ball striker by today’s standards, but I would say that I’m better than average for iron play, but I wouldn’t call myself good. And that MB was awesome,” McCormack told fellow co-host Wadeh Maroun.

Irons

McCormack has regularly been gaming a split set of cavity back irons, so to really find success with a set of muscle backs caught him off guard. But the interesting thing is that the set McCormack uses has forged short irons and cast long irons. He makes the split after the 6-iron, the same iron he was testing in the forged Bridgestone product.

Maroun wanted to find out more about the difference in feel between the new cubs and McCormack’s current set where he has Ping i230 long irons.

“Feel wise, definitely a little more responsive, more feedback. I had a little more control with the Bridgestone as far as being able to shape shots,” McCormack said. “The thing that I noticed was the 230 for me, higher launch, a little bit higher spin, so obviously gave me more control and stopping power coming into the greens.

“But the Bridgestone, I was really, really happy with look, sound, feel. Would I put it in the bag? Definitely needs more testing outside just to see kind of what turf interaction looks like. But it checks all the boxes in the bay for numbers that I would be ideally looking for. Just haven’t had a chance to take them on the golf course yet.”

For more from this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, listen to the full episode here or watch it below.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2025? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Why Bridgestone’s new blade iron is so intriguing | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s what to make of the zero torque putter craze | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s what to make of the zero torque putter craze | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Just in the past month, Odyssey and Bettinardi have unveiled new zero torque putter models while L.A.B. Golf has added to its stable of “low torque” putters with the release of the OZ.1.

Zero-torque putters initially made their way on the PGA Tour with Adam Scott and Lucas Glover gaming L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 putters and Justin Rose employing an Axis1 for the last several years.

While both of those brands have been on the market for more than five years, other manufacturers are now capitalizing on the trend. The zero torque design revolves around placing the center of gravity (CG) of the putter directly under the shaft axis, thus keeping the putter square throughout the stroke. This results in a putter that balances with the toe pointed up, rather than down (toe-hang), or parallel to the ground (face-balanced).

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Back to the original question; is this something that can help all golfers? Not necessarily says GOLF’s Fully Equipped co-hosts Wadeh Maroun and Kris McCormack.

“Zero torque, I think, is going to be fantastic for a lot of people,” Maroun said. “And I think zero torque is not going to work for a lot of people.”

McCormack agreed, calling it a “love it or hate it kind of thing.”

“Look, at address, it’s really odd to look at,” Maroun continued. “And so I think for me, when I look at something like a zero torque putter, and I’ve spent a lot of time with [CEO] Sam [Hahn] at L.A.B. and I love what L.A.B.’s doing, and I love Sam, and I’ve tried to game a couple of L.A.B. putters, but as you go through different things and you see what’s going on, and you see the people that are really doing really well and successful with it, they are more of rockers. They will go square to square, whereas I accelerate through the ball.

“And what I’ve noticed is because I accelerate through the ball, I close the face a lot quicker with a zero torque putter, and it doesn’t really work very well for me.”

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The concept isn’t exactly new to golf, and McCormack, in his years as a fitter, often got questions about how different zero torque putters are.”I mean, kind of an approach that I’ve had for years is if it’s something that is dramatically different, there’s only a little bit of time before every other manufacturer starts to copy the design and basically make a version,” he said.

Now it seems that is exactly what is happening.

For more from this week’s episode of Fully Equipped, check it out below.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Here’s what to make of the zero torque putter craze | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post How Ping improved the Blueprint irons into Blueprint S and T | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post How Ping improved the Blueprint irons into Blueprint S and T | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

But on this week’s GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-hosts Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun looked deeper in Eckroat’s bag for his second PGA Tour title, to his split set of Ping Blueprint S and Blueprint T irons.

The Blueprint S and T were released earlier this year and are the next generation of the original Blueprint iron which McCormack recalled as a very visually intimidating iron.

“Historically for Gen 1 Blueprint, it was one of the smallest, most intimidating irons that was in the drawer at True Spec. And I mean, you had to be the elite of the elite, ball striker, to make this thing work consistently well for you,” McCormack said. “Had a great feel, but man, it was intimidating to look at. Especially when you got up into that 3-, 4-, 5-iron.”

Irons

Then the evolved versions, a cavity-back Blueprint S and muscle-back Blueprint T, started popping up in Tour bags and eventually made their way to retail in January, providing options for the best ball strikers that wasn’t possible with the original.

“Blueprint S, Blueprint T, footprint changed a little bit, but still has that thin top line, nice face progression, little bit of offset, and the ability to combo those is really, really cool,” McCormack added.

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Additionally, both the Blueprint irons can be blended with Ping’s popular i230 irons to increase the number of possible combinations and fit as many players as possible, including McCormack.

“If I had to go out right now, million dollars on the line, what irons am I putting in the bag? And I was talking about the i230s and the Blueprint S, the Blueprint T combo with that i230 as well,” he said. “So I mean, you’ve got the ability to put together a set that could consist of three irons, all the same lofts, and very similar design as far as who they are targeting for that particular demographic. I’ve hit all three of them. I’m definitely more of that I230 and Blueprint S guy in the way bottom end of the bag.”

PING Blueprint T Custom Irons

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For the accomplished golfer who relies on control and precision, Blueprint T delivers a single-piece, 8620 carbon steel forging that puts a premium on workability, trajectory control and superb feel. SHORTER HEEL-FACE Allows the hosel transition to blend smoothly into the top rail, creating a clean, distraction-free appearance at address. The narrow soles enable consistent turf interaction from all conditions. MOI BOOSTED Save for the slight MOI boost from tungsten toe screw and tip weights, it’s a purely forged iron, concentrating mass through the impact zone to ensure a pleasing sound and feel with the workability to take on any shot. Jockey Tip: The lofts match the Blueprint S and i230 irons to allow golfers to create blended sets within PING’s precision iron offerings.

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Both McCormack and Maroun agreed, even though Blueprint T is a traditional blade, it was surprisingly playable, especially for toe misses.

“It still felt like it had some kind of forgiveness in there that is going to help you,” Maroun said. “So you’re not going to lose 15, 20 yards on a mishit.”

For more from this week’s episode of Fully Equipped, check it out below.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post How Ping improved the Blueprint irons into Blueprint S and T | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Getting fit for a putter? Here’s 1 thing you must do | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Getting fit for a putter? Here’s 1 thing you must do | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

That’s beginning to change, though.

Putter fittings are now a fast-growing segment of the custom-club business, and Fully Equipped co-host Wadeh Maroun recently had the opportunity to go through a putter fitting at Ping headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Maroun co-host, Kris McCormack, was along for the ride and he explained how Maroun and Ping Master fitter Alex went about the testing process and how it helped Maroun achieve such good results.

“I like the approach that you were talking about that Alex has where you gather all the data and do all of the initial adjustments in a vacuum in a laboratory-type setting where you can control all the variables,” McCormack said on this week’s episode. “But the secondary part of that confirmation on the putting green.”

McCormack unpacked that thought a little further.

“Ever heard of parallax distortion?”

“Absolutely not,” Maroun said.

“Perfect,” McCormack said. “So essentially it is the players’ interpretation of their environment and how they will subconsciously start to adjust to external linear influences.”

In layman’s terms, that means golfers don’t play golf on perfectly conditioned ranges or flat putting greens. They play on a course that is going to present them with a unique shot, target, wind and many other variables. How you hit a club or a putter in a controlled environment isn’t exactly how you hit it in real life.

“You’ll see this a lot in an indoor fitting environment,” McCormack said. “So you’ll have a square screen and a square turf that you’re hitting off of. And it’s just everything is square, square, square, square. And same kind of thing in a putting environment, you have all of these external linear influences that start to manipulate things.”

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That’s why, McCormack said, a fitting isn’t complete until you go out onto a real green and validate what you saw in the controlled environment.

“It’s not real, because you’re on a perfect mat. Right?” Maroun said. “There’s always a little groove, so everything goes dead straight. So you’re like, ‘Heck yeah, how am I hitting this straight every single time? This putter is amazing.’

“It’s when you get out and the variables come into play. A straight putt in real life is one of the hardest things to hit on a golf course.”

Maroun’s fitting experience will be coming soon to GOLF’s social channels, and you can watch the whole episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped below.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a True Spec fitting location near you.

The post Getting fit for a putter? Here’s 1 thing you must do | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post After Ben An’s win, is the 1-iron making a comeback? appeared first on Golf.

The post After Ben An’s win, is the 1-iron making a comeback? appeared first on Golf.

An is one of the few players in pro golf still playing a 1-iron and he got his first win with the unique driving iron in the bag at the Genesis Championship in his home country of Korea. Even more unique is that An was using the Titleist U505 driving iron as the longest club in his bag after the driver (perhaps the only player on the PGA or DP World tours employing such a setup).

With the tendency for Tour pros to copy what works for others, is this something that could start a trend at the highest level of the sport? That would be a reverse to the latest trends in pro golf says GOLF’s Fully Equipped co-hosts Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun.

“If we go back like five, six years, the driving iron was so important in the professional’s bag, that it would be very rare that you would not see one in there,” Maroun said. “It was usually like they had a 3-wood and a driving iron.

“That’s kind of maybe made a bit of a turn, where driving iron is pretty non-existent on tour.”

Irons

Nowadays, Maroun says, pros are more likely to have high-lofted fairway woods like 5- and 7-woods — even 9-woods in some cases — while even modern hollow-bodied long irons have been gradually disappearing from bags. Even mini drivers haven taken the place of the driving iron.

But when McCormack is talking with players in a fitting environment, he’s thinking about clubs at the top-end of the bag that will help players advance the ball so their next shot is closer to the hole. Because you’re not talking about clubs you’re usually going to be hitting into greens, you need to think about the practical applications, he said.

“I love the idea of creating a very sound and comfortable lower end of the bag to offer itself to more full-swing options,” he said. “And then as you transition into the top of the bag, that’s where it’s every club has to have a purpose for proximity.”

As for An’s no-fairway wood approach, time will tell if that trend ends up catching on with other players.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post After Ben An’s win, is the 1-iron making a comeback? appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s the best way to find the right golf ball for you | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s the best way to find the right golf ball for you | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Most golfers will shell out hundreds and even thousand of dollars to get a custom fitting to make sure each one of their 14 clubs is tuned and optimized for their swing and game (as they should), but rarely do they spend the same resources on fitting or even testing for the right golf ball.

“I think most people out there use whatever is free,” said GOLF’s Fully Equipped co-host Wadeh Maroun on this week’s episode. “Like they go play a golf tournament or something and they get a free dozen of Pro V1s or Pro V1x or Callaway balls or TaylorMade balls, whatever it may be. And they’ll play those until they get something else for free.”

Balls

Maroun stressed the importance of going through a golf ball fitting in addition to club fittings, but he also suggested golfers try the online Ballnamic tool, created by Ping.

Co-host Kris McCormack offered the idea that when golfers identify some serious options of what golf balls they might use, start testing around the green before moving your way back to the tee.

“I always tell people; start from the green and work your way back,” he said. “Everything performs off the tee, within a couple yards of each other.”

McCormack explained that there simply isn’t that much of a difference of how far they will go off the tee between golf balls, but the difference in spin and control around the greens can be massive.

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“All of the independent golf ball tests that come out, it’s always 10, 11 yards between the longest ball and the shortest ball,” he said. “Then it always begs the question like, okay, if you’ve got somebody that’s down and across versus inside and up, what’s going to be the longest golf ball for those different types of release patterns and impact positions? So golf ball for me is always something that I tell people, start at the green and work back.”

Once you identify which golf balls you like around the green, move back to hitting iron shots and see which preform in that category. Finally, you should have only a few options once you get to the tee and can easily decide which ball flies the best off the driver.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Here’s the best way to find the right golf ball for you | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s why Titleist GT drivers were so impressive | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Here’s why Titleist GT drivers were so impressive | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

Thirteen players immediately put GT2, GT3 or GT4 in the bag the first week it was available and another six switched to it the next week at the U.S. Open. By July, at the Genesis Scottish Open, more than 100 players had already tried a GT driver on the PGA Tour.

If you see that kind of instant adoption, GOLF’s Kris McCormack thinks you should take note.

Drivers

If you’re seeing the trend on tour, that when something new becomes available and all of the staffers just immediately jump ship into the new product, they got something cool,” McCormack said on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped. “GT has been a great performer. TS, TSI, TSR, now GT, new tech in those heads. And it’s definitely something to be taking a look at for ’25.”

McCormack’s co-host, Wadeh Maroun, isn’t waiting to put a GT driver, which was released to the public in August, in play. He’s already been playing with a GT3 for the past few months in his bag.

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“And I just found it to be super forgiving, to be honest with you. And, far,” Maroun said. “It’s fast, man. There’s something about that driver for me that was just great. And it made me switch.”

McCormack added that it was also impressive because it built on an already successful TSR product.

“The fact that they were able to sneak out a little bit more speed from GT is pretty impressive,” he said. “I mean, they’re a top contender in the speed category now as far as what I’ve seen with testing.”

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Here’s why Titleist GT drivers were so impressive | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why 2024 was a great year for drivers | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why 2024 was a great year for drivers | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

So much so that when GOLF Fully Equipped co-hosts Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun were breaking down the clubs they play in their bags, they each have far more than just 14 to choose from.

“This year has probably been, in my mind, the best year for gear in a long time,” Maroun said. “In regards to like drivers for me, this is the first year where I’ve actually changed my driver.”

Gear

Maroun said he’s gone from playing a four-year-old TaylorMade SIM to playing first a Ping G430 Max 10k and currently a Titleist GT3.

Meanwhile, McCormack is gaming a Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Max, but also said the top of his bag is a “revolving door” that can change based on how his body feels.

“There is so much good gear out there this year,” he said. “Like, it’s crazy. It’s crazy how much everything is good in different ways, too. That’s the thing, it’s all in a different way.”

He mentioned how he loves the TaylorMade Qi10 because of how forgiving it is off of toe strikes and then he also pointed out the Titleist GT3, which had its center of gravity characteristics changed to get farther away from the GT2 model.

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GT3 – Speed-Tuned Distance & Control GT3 offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization. With a speed-tuned design that allows you to precisely match performance to your most frequent contact location, you can make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping. For players with a relatively consistent impact location, GT3 offers a precisely adjustable CG Track to max out distance and directional control. Seamless Thermoform Crown A reimagined ultra-lightweight design, born from a new Proprietary Matrix Polymer. The tunable acoustic properties of this unique composite allow Titleist engineers to realize new material gains while maintaining our signature sound and feel. All wrapped in a clean look that inspires total confidence. Split Mass Construction A breakthrough in internal weighting unlocks longer drives and enhanced directional control in GT3. The Adjustable CG Track now sits closer to the face for more dynamic CG control, while additional discretionary mass is pushed to the back of the club to maintain optimal stability through impact. Advanced Aerodynamics GT3 features a new raised tail contour that represents a dramatic shift in driver aerodynamics. Previously impossible to execute due to design constraints, this advanced shaping results in a driver that swings faster while still providing optimal CG control.

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“There was enough separation between those heads that they really performed drastically differently,” McCormack said of the TaylorMade Qi10 family. “And same thing can be said for the Callaway family, and then you get into the Ping family and the Titleist with the new GT line and GT2, 3 and 4, there’s enough separation between the heads that they really appeal to different demographics of players.”

Make sure to listen to or watch the full episode below to get to know McCormack and Maroun and get their full “what’s in the bag” breakdowns.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Why 2024 was a great year for drivers | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Meet the new hosts of GOLF’s Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Meet the new hosts of GOLF’s Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

While most fully equipped listeners already know Kris McCormack, who has been a part of the show for nearly four years, he’s transitioning into a new role, leaving his former job at True Spec to join GOLF full-time as our Head of ClubTest and Gear Data.

Now Kris is joined by a new face to the Fully Equipped pod, Wadeh Maroun, the president of GOLF’s sister company Fairway Jockey.

This week, the two decided to give you a brief introduction to themselves and how they got to where they are in the golf industry.

Wadeh Maroun: President, Fairway Jockey

Wadeh is the newest face (and accent) on the pod and on this week’s episode, he shared of the details of his background and how he ended up at Fairway Jockey.

If you can’t tell, Wadeh was originally born and raised in Melbourne, Australia and didn’t come to the United States to live full-time until 2013. He only came to the U.S. in the first place in 2010 when he decided to quit his job and go traveling when he was 26.

“We bought a car and we drove from one side of the country to the other and along that way, I met my now wife,” he said.

Wadeh eventually decided to move to Arizona full-time which is when he picked up the game of golf. But he wasn’t in the golf business yet.

First, he worked for PetSmart where helped the company acquire the Chewy brand. Then he worked for a supplement company called Full Script.

He finally got into golf when he was approached by a headhunter for a job at PXG to lead their digital marketing before eventually landing at Fairway Jockey two years later.

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“I didn’t want to leave PXG,” he said. “This was just a really great opportunity for me and my family.”

Kirs McCormack: Head of ClubTest and Gear Data, GOLF

Kris, sometimes known as the “Cereal Killer” (more on that in a moment), has been on the Fully Equipped podcast since January 2021, but that was as True Spec’s VP of Tour and Education.

Kris is an expert in club fitting, having spent six years before joining True Spec in 2018 as a master club fitting professional.

“I get to create content. I get to continue the podcast. I get to get back out on Tour,” Kris said of his new role.
”I get to be more involved with gear and releases and working with our OEM partners and I get to maintain the relationship I have with True Spec, work with the fitters that I help train, but then I also get to work with Fairway jockey with Miura, with other members from GOLF, and it kind of helps to bridge the gap that we’ve had, bringing some of our sister [8AM Golf] companies together.”

You may have heard Kris referred to as the “Cereal Killer” on the podcast and it has no sinister origins. He earned the nickname in college because he couldn’t cook and his diet “consisted of all things cereal.”

Kris also identifies as a “Disney adult” and has what some might describe as an unhealthy obsession with SWAG Golf headcovers.

Check out the full episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped to learn more about Kris and Wadeh and stay as they reveal what they are playing in their golf bags.

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

The post Meet the new hosts of GOLF’s Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Callaway’s fully forged clubheads matter | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

The post Why Callaway’s fully forged clubheads matter | Fully Equipped appeared first on Golf.

But on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Fully Equipped, co-hosts Kris McCormack and Wadeh Maroun broke down how Callaway is fighting that stigma with it’s Apex Ai200 and Apex Ai300 irons.

“Callaway is the only company out there that’s doing fully forged components in that hollow-cavity, players-distance kind of iron,” McCormack said. “So a lot of companies out there have a forged face that they’ll put onto a cast chassis or incorporate some different multilateral construction components.”

So what does that really mean? McCormack explained further.

Irons

“A lot of it comes down to feel consistency, acoustics, sustainability, ball speed, spin,” McCormack said. “You look at golf essentially when you break it up into different demographics, different player types, right? And there’s always kind of this stigma that better players have forged products in their bags. So, when you’re looking at players-distance iron or something that has some game improvement components to it, more often than not, when you get into those categories and you have a variety of different types of materials coming into the build in your irons, you sacrifice feel, you sacrifice acoustics. And there’s just not a lot of feedback there.

Callaway Apex Ai200 Custom Irons

$200

Apex Ai200 Irons are meticulously designed for pure feel, power, and consistency. These elegant hollow-body designs blend performance and precision in our most complete player’s distance iron, delivering performance that stands alone. Premium Look and Feel A forged hollow-body combined with a forged 455 face creates a Tour-level sound and feel. This advanced forged construction is coupled with a stunning, premium design that will captivate you more than ever before. Most Complete Player’s Distance Iron  In addition to enhanced feel, the Forged 455 Face Cup delivers outstanding power across the face. This unique combination of power and feel separates the Apex Ai200 from the rest. Incredibly Consistent Ball Speed, Spin, and Dispersion The Apex Ai200 achieves incredible consistency through the Ai Smart Face. Using real golfer swing data combined with artificial intelligence, the Ai Smart Face generates outstanding speed and spin consistency with tight dispersion into greens. Optimized Flight and Forgiveness Strategically positioned MIM weighting ensures the optimal CG for your best launch windows. And the Dynamic Sole Design ensures enhanced turf interaction to provide more forgiveness through the turf.

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“So being able to maintain some of those forged components still provides the feel, the sound that most players are gonna prefer.”

McCormack points out that while feel and sound preferences are different for each player, most will still prefer the feel of a forged product.

Then the technology benefits that Callaway packs into the head are what really makes the Ai200 and Ai300 stand out, Maroun added.

Callaway Apex Ai300 Custom Irons

$200

Apex Ai300 Irons are meticulously designed for pure feel, power, and consistency. These elegant cavity-back designs feature a slightly larger profile that blends performance and forgiveness in our most complete game-improvement iron, delivering performance that stands alone.  Premium Look and Feel A forged cavity-back design combined with a forged 455 face creates a Tour-level sound and feel. This advanced forged construction is coupled with a stunning, premium design that will captivate you more than ever before. Our Most Complete Game-Improvement Iron In addition to enhanced feel, the Forged 455 Face Cup delivers outstanding power across the face. This unique combination of power and feel separates the Apex Ai300 from the rest. Incredibly Consistent Ball Speed, Spin, and Dispersion The Apex Ai300 achieves incredible consistency through the Ai Smart Face. Using real golfer swing data combined with artificial intelligence, the Ai Smart Face generates outstanding speed and spin consistency with tight dispersion into greens. Optimized Flight and Forgiveness Strategically positioned MIM weighting ensures the optimal CG for your best launch windows. And the Dynamic Sole Design ensures enhanced turf interaction to provide more forgiveness through the turf.

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“It’s gonna give you the forged feel with a club that’s injected with some kind of material to help you keep the same ball speeds, keep you keep the same distances, all of those kinds of things,” he said. “So if you miss hit, instead of being 15, 20 yards short, like you might be with a forged iron, you’re going to keep maybe be five yards short.”

Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

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