Golf Equipment 2011-Golf Europe Report, A walk in the Black Forest

Maybe it was just coincidence that the piped music in my hotel lobby kept playing A Walk In The Black Forest, the self-styled Bavarian signature song by German pianist, Horst Jankowski. But it was certainly appropriate given the forest of black golf clubs greeting visitors to almost every stand at last month’s Golf Europe Show at the Munich Order Centre.

Black is most definitely the must-have colour scheme for golf gear in 2011 - not just graphite shafts and driver crowns but, increasingly, clubfaces to match. Of course, black, gunmetal and other dusky finishes are not new, but what started out with a few anti-glare wedges has turned into a fully-fledged fashion statement available standard next season on a flood of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids, irons and putters. ‘PVD’, standing for Physical Vapour Deposition, is the industry buzzword now in every catalogue, referring to the method of applying the tall, dark and handsome effect which some companies even incorporate into the name of the club itself.

Among Callaway’s new drivers is the Diablo Octane Black, soon to be joined by Nike’s rival SQ Machspeed Black and Adams’ Idea Super Black hybrid. You could complete the set with Cleveland’s Black Pearl irons, the latest Odyssey Tour Series Black putter and a sleeve of the new Maxfli C3 Black balls (even if they’re actually white). Throw in a black Motocaddy S3, or the sinister-looking, all-carbon push trolley from German company Ti-Tec, and you have golf kit fit for Darth Vader. As for the shot itself, mine’s a Smirnoff Black. Even it’s not in the name, other dark drivers for 2011 include the Titleist 910, Adams 9064LS and MacGregorM85 Tourney, all set to challenge Taylor Made’s equally dark R9 Super Tri, already a major winner in the hands of Martin Kaymer.

Of course, it’s not all style over substance and, as we highlight below, some fascinating new technology underpins the cosmetic craze. But with Wilson Golf having started the Spinal Tap sayings in Munich with their “These Go To 11” marketing mantra for the new Dx11 irons, the question is how much more black can this get?.....None. None more black.

DRIVERS: adjustability goes to new lengths...

Adjustability continues to be a flagship feature for many of the latest big sticks. While moveable weights started the trend, the fashion has shifted strongly towards adjustable face angles, as well as loft and lie angles, usually by means of a high-tech hosel that you ‘turn and click’ with a supplied wrench.

The most novel variation on the theme is the Adams Speedline 9064LS (£249) where the shaft length can be varied by sliding different sized metal spacers into the hosel section (and compensating for the change in swing weight by switching a colour-coded sole screw). You can only go between 45, 45.5 and 46 inches, but that should be enough to find your ideal tradeoff between the speed advantages of a longer shaft, and the control benefits of a shorter one.

Meanwhile, the new Titleist 910 series impresses for the way it truly separates the adjustability of the driver’s loft and lie angle. In rival models the two parameters cannot be set independently due to the way the shaft enters the hosel at a single angle. Titleist’s technicians have got round this with a nifty SureFit ‘dual angle’ hosel - quite apart from a new face insert and a thinner crown which look set to surpass the success of the excellent 909.

Those looking for face angle adjustment should also consider what amount of variation they might need. For example, while most models offer a one-degree difference as you go between open, neutral and closed, the MacGregor M85 Tourney (£249) provides a bolder, two-degree panacea for more extreme hookers and slicers.

It’s early days, but perhaps the most notable driver development is in the area of exotic head materials with Callaway ditching graphite in favour a special forged composite material that is more malleable and efficient for concentrating weight to the corners of titanium clubheads. The famous Fusion sub-brand has been dropped, with this new marriage of materials debuting in the (European only) Diablo Octane Black driver (£249) and a new range of aerodynamic RZR Hawk metalwoods.

IRONS: turning ‘feel’ into a science...

Golf International had already enjoyed a pre-Munich peek at Mizuno’s new range, in particular the previously Japan-only JPX- 800 boasting top-of-the range game improvement features but without the often bulky aesthetics of the MX range which it now replaces globally.

JPX will face stiff competition in this sector from Callaway, though their longstanding X-series of irons has now been replaced by a completely new design under the RAZR X umbrella. These Roger Cleveland-designed forgings shift the centre of gravity lower and deeper in the face (reflecting where many amateurs strike the ball) while also introducing a new sole concept that we will dissect in a later issue.

Meanwhile, MacGregor has an entirely new range across every club category, having now sold all the stock remaining from the controversial Greg Norman era.

US design guru Jeff Sheets has done a great job of reviving the famous VIP iron several decades after its heyday. The 2011 model is a blade-style forging with a forgiving recessed cavity retailing at £550. Even more playable is the MacGregor Tourney M85i (£450), a modern cavity back also assembled at the Golfsmith HQ and offered in graphite or 115g KBS Tour steel.

Benross has impressed with both their club design and component choices in recent years, and the attention to detail continues with the VX2012 Pro irons. A great looking, compact forged head with a narrow sole and top edge with minimal offset, all finished in fashionable Smoked Chrome and also fitted with KBS Tour shafts, priced at £499.

TaylorMade weren’t formally exhibiting at Munich but we gate-crashed a sales meeting to peek at the Burner 2.0 iron, the follow-up to the best-selling iron in their history. We haven’t hit it yet but the aim is clearly to add playability to the distance story, while offering a more refined performance in terms of feel and sound thanks to a new vibration-management system in the cavity. The £549 model is progressive in every way, including the weight distribution, face thickness and topline through the set which is finished in (what else?) Burner Black.

The elusive feel factor is increasingly backed by serious R&D. Mizuno leads the way with Harmonic Impact Technology which ensures that the sound frequency profile of the impact acoustics is scientifically consonant (a.k.a. pleasing to the ear). We’ve hit both the new MP-63 and MP-53 (both £105 per club) in which the HIT feature appears and “buttery” just doesn’t do justice. Ambitious replacements for the sleek MP- 62 and more forgiving MP-52 respectively, the new Mizunos outperform their predecessors through a Diamond Muscle design and V-shaped milled pocket cavity. These redistribute weight to the edges for more forgiveness and yet a 360-degree grind cleverly reduces the effective width of the sole and the top edge, paradoxically improving the overall aesthetics.

Those seeking the sleekest musclebacks should checkout Wilson’s FG 62 blades that contrast starkly with the more playable Control and Distance models. Meanwhile, the Di11 iron is claimed to be the longest Wilson has ever produced (see tagline above), helped by wide sole and wide shaft-tip technology which reduces twisting on off-centre hits. Not forgetting the strong lofts - the PW is down to a meagre 43 degrees, meaning you might need not one but two Gap wedges…..

HYBRIDS: including cutting edge Combo sets...

Following the phenomenal success of its Idea Pro Black hybrid on tour this season, Adams is extending the line to include the Idea Black Super, an (even) more user friendly version with a ½-inch longer shaft and a wider flange with deeper weighting.

Meanwhile, the Adams Idea Tech V3 (can it really be their 15th generation of hybrid inspired full sets?) is available in three combinations of hybrid woods, transition mid-irons and more workable shorter irons, all a contemporary jet-black finish. Other great-looking rescues include MD Golf’s Seve Icon Hybrids with their shiny black gloss finish, Callaway’s RAZR X and MacGregor’s MH Tourney Hybrids (£99) that also inspire the M75i combo package (in the 3-4-5 before generous cavities kickin at the 6-iron).

There are a handful of other great hybrid designs for next season which are currently subject to a media embargo tighter than a celebrity Super Injunction. Most notably, Cleveland, who have a comprehensive new range for 2011, with some technically and aesthetically impressive highlights in every category. We’ll bring you details as soon as we can.

Wedges: new groove rules fail to stifle innovation...

While wedge designers now have to operate within much tighter protocols, they are still finding exotic new groove configurations that conform within the R&A’s rules on new models that start on Jan 1st.

Mizuno’s MP T-11 Quad Cut is unique in having two different groove styles to optimize spin within the range. The 50-54 degree lofts have narrower, deeper grooves appropriate for fuller, squarer strikes; while the 56-64 degree models have wider, shallower grooves that better complement those shorter, partial strikes where the golf ball does not fully compress (but where spin rates have been most affected by the rule changes).

MD Golf have enjoyed a brisk trade with their line of Seve Icon wedges, and now add a Santander model whose leading edge is ground completely straight (rather than traditionally curved) for those that prefer a much squarer alignment look at address. MD’s other star wedge line, the Norman Drew signature, adds a cobalt finish option.

The Ping Tour-S wedges have already hit the headlines for the Oosthuizen connection, and the smart shape, machined face and more sophisticated custom tuning port looks set to be a hit with amateurs, too. However, for all the modern designs, arguably the most talked about wedge at Munich was the new version of the now legendary Ping Eye2 wedge. Named the Eye2XG, it has the same distinctive shape and contouring of the 1980s model that won majors with Bob Tway and Mark Calcavecchia, but offers a precision- milled face, anti-glare satin finish and, of course, after such a history of controversy, conforming grooves.

PUTTERS: lining up the next generation.....

Alignment issues dominate the latest flatsticks, whether through outlandish head shapes or on-board features and cosmetics.

Leading the way is Ping with its Scottsdale range, already a winner on tour with Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Manuel Lara. While six of the fourteen matt-black models are more traditional heel-and-toe weighted styles, another nine are seriously Sci-Fi mallets mixing influences from the company’s own Craze-E to the sharp ‘teeth’ of the rival Odyssey Sabertooth.

Over at Odyssey, the Mickelson Masters replica (ProType PT-82) will woo collectors, but the most important development is the £129 DART series, standing for Direction And Realignment Technology. This new visual triangular aid focuses the eye toward the centre of the golf ball and is available in Odyssey’s best-loved designs, including the 2-Ball and Dave Pelz’ Backstryke that has proved such a hit in its first year.

Meanwhile, Mizuno’s Line 90 series has a novel sequence of lines placed parallel to the putter face (and therefore perpendicular to the main ‘down-the-line’ graphic). Carefully positioned on a steel medallion above the blade, the lines are designed to encourage acceleration through impact, as well as lining up square to the target. The five models (priced at £89 and named after volcanoes, apparently in appreciation of their Lava Orange Mid Size Winn grip) have a CNC-Milled face and a heavier swing weight to discourage an over-active wrist action.

Elsewhere, with the tag line “Lock And Roll”, Wilson’s Vizor putter has a channel in the roof of the mallet over which you must directly set you eyes, with any margin of error easily corrected by amending your stance so as to obscure the colours either side of the inside of the groove.

Alignment aside, Advance Putter Technologies have a unique method of manufacturing involving the high compression of powdered metals, including steel, brass, copper and tungsten. By working with these different densities they can create heads of identical shape but with different weights without resorting to adjustable weighting.

For a healthy price premium, they will customize a model with the precise weight distribution across the clubhead (heavier toe, etc) to suit your style of stroke. Endorsement from the German branch of the David Leadbetter Academy is bringing immediate credibility to a revolutionary idea.

TROLLEYS: push, power and personalise......

Ironically, the most interesting new push trolley for 2011 is from powered specialist, Stewart Golf, better known for its Porschelike FI Lithium and X5 Remote models.

The Stewart Z1 still has the slick style and design that you’d expect from Stewart, with a simple two-step folding mechanism and three quick-release wheels that downsize it into a tiny space. It has a height-adjustable handle with various accessory holders and adjustable bag jaws designed to hold any bag - including Stewart’s own new range for next season. In the powered market, the trend is towards greater customization of various elements.

Taking a leaf out of FootJoys’ MyJoys shoe venture, Motocaddy (with their S1 and S3 Digital) and Golfstream (Revolution) will be offering online personalization of frame colours, finishes and graphics, as well as accessory stations and battery choice. Motocaddy, incidentally, has dramatically upped its rental fleets at clubs around the country, giving golfers the perfect chance to test-drive their trolleys.

The UK has been surprisingly slow in embracing the far superior lithium batteries so popular on the continent. But the gap is narrowing and Munich saw a campaign towards greater awareness in the far lighter, smaller and longer-lasting lithium for those who can stretch to the hefty £200 premium.

Batteries of all sorts continue to improve all the time, as illustrated by the LitePower company that makes models to suit every trolley on the market. Cris Simpson, the golf industry’s battery king, explained how many lithium batteries use the more chemically active lithium cobalt, or lithium magnesium, that run off 14.7 volts, requiring a trolley’s typical 12-volt motor to be preconfigured to avoid it alighting too fast and tipping over. In contrast, LitePower uses the more stable lithium phosphate in its genuine 12-volter that comes in at 1/4 of the weight and 1/3 of the size of a cumbersome lead acid. Its small foot print fits any trolley and should deliver 1,000 rounds of golf, complete with a 24-month guarantee (double that of most rivals).

BALLS: softly softly...

With Srixon golf balls having notched up some 33wins on the tour this season (highlighted by Ryo Ishikawa’s stunning 58, in May, and Jim Furyk’s FedEx Cup victory) Japanese parent company SRI Sports announced plans for a new golf ball production factory in Indonesia to cope with sales pricing at over 15 per cent a year. The Srixon range is being substantially upgraded for 2011, starting with refined versions of the popular Soft Feel featuring amore resilient blended cover for low spin and greater distance, and a softer 68 compression ideal for slower swingspeeds. Incidentally, the 59 compression of the new Soft Feel Lady is the lowest that Srixon has ever offered,while sharing the same upgraded 324 dimple pattern for a stronger, higher trajectory. A mention, too, for the best-selling Srixon AD333 that now comes in a bright orange option after the success of yellow Srixons (even on tour) this season.

Bridgestone have had considerable success with their B330 balls as played by Fred Couples and Matt Kuchar but, for 2011, are simplifying the models into two (rather than three) categories of swing speed. If you’re above 105mph, the choice is between the more distance-oriented Tour B-330 or softer B-330RX; if you’re below, the equivalent balls are the ionomer-covered Tour B-330S or the higher-spinning, urethane-covered 330RXS.

Maxfli make a welcome return with their three-piece, urethane C3 Gold & Black balls; while, at the premium end, we hear Callaway are making subtle refinements to their Tour iX and iS balls, to be unveiled in Orlando, in January.

And finally: apparel, shoes, bags and gadgets....

Golfing GPS technology has reached a new level in 2010. After the space-age SkyCaddie SGX comes the rival Golf Buddy World Platinum GPS. While not quite as sophisticated as the SGX in terms of the highly detailed green-mapping feature offering distance to mid-green ridges, the Golf- Buddy has one huge attraction. It requires no membership package to access the data. It comes pre-programmed with 40,000 courses, with all data revisions and software upgrades downloadable free of charge.

Other glamorous gadgets include the Insight iTrainer, a magic box that clips onto the shaft of your club and delivers instant swing analysis on swing shape and club face angle as well as various dynamic data. Gi had tried this pre-Munich, so see our write-up in Planet Golf this issue, along with The Extra 25 Yards – golf’s answer to the treadmill – a pulley-based home exercise unit for developing swing strength.

Gadgets at Munich went all the way up to £20,000, if you include a fully-featured simulator from Sports Coach Systems where punters queued for a ‘virtual’ (and rain-free) round on Celtic Manor’s 2010 Course. Monty himself had sampled the same stunning visuals when showcasing his Ryder Cup ‘whistle’ from luxury Italian tailors, Canali of New Bond Street, the previous week.

Talking of bad weather, Galvin Green’s latest rainsuit is part of their smart new Limited Edition Series whose Achilles jacket won the Best Apparel prize in the Golf Europe Product Awards.

Top new shoes for next season include the Ecco BIOM, biomechanically designed with minimal bulk to improve contact with, and support from, the ground (which many golf shoes have lost in recent years). Despite the pared-back padding, they still felt very comfortable on our first try in Munich and we look forward to a full ‘road test’.

Puma are also upping their game following their take-over of Cobra this year, and launch the Cell Fusion shoes, complete with their distinctive high-traction Smart Quill cleats, as worn by Puma poster boys, Rickie Fowler and Johan Edfors. Even more trendy are Mizuno’s new Aerolite bags, some with funky, silk screen skull graphics, confirming the company’s new upbeat marketing stance as its worldwide profile evolves.

Power Balance wristbands were also doing a roaring trade now that top golfers like Ian Poulter are joining celebrities like Beckham, Ronaldo and Di Caprio in wearing the latest must-have, New Age silicone trinket claimed to increase flexibility, strength and balance.

Meanwhile, offbeat innovations continue with the Golfholic electronic hand warmer the size of an iPod (possibly rechargeable from the USB socket on a Motocaddy S3 – they’re currently testing it) that won the Golf Europe prize for Best Accessory.

But for sheer minimalist satisfaction, the Sumi-G metalwood headcover, designed and made in Utah by a former Ogio bag expert, did it for me. No more wrestling with those dangling sock-like attachments, or dropping your favourite lion or tiger head on the last tee. Simply slide the clubhead effortlessly into the snug cradle and click the shaft into the specially fitted groove. In so far as any golf club headcover can be considered sexy, this is it.