Like the coming of Old Man Winter and St. To jolly old Nick, the golf tee season is one of life’s certainties. And just like a blizzard, it starts with a flare or two (witness the Cleveland HiBore XL). Next come the storms and a light dusting (Low 70, COBRA, et al), enough for those of us dreaming of a white Christmas.
However, come January, we are ahead Snowmageddon.
Shoveling through all that … snow … is scary, so now is as good a time as any to prepare for what’s to come. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but just like your neighbor with the snow blower, we’re here to help.
Launch season is loaded with myths, realities, truths, and common misconceptions that are told many times, in many ways. In the spirit of the season, we’ve made a list, checked it twice and, like Santa, weeded out the bad from the good.
So break out the sled, fellow GolfSpies. Let the New Games begin.
Myth #1: Let me guess, another 10 feet?
This myth is up there with the Frosty Snowman, but not in the way you’re thinking.
We’ve combed through OEM ads, press releases, official statements and private conversations and found something remarkable.
OEM They do NOT promise you another 10 meters with their new leaders. They haven’t for a long, long time. They’ll tell you longer, straighter, faster, but if you can find me an ad, press release, or any reputable OEM that says, “Our new driver will give you 10 more miles “, I will roast my chestnuts over an open fire.
Reality #1: It’s about your mistakes
Let’s get this out on the table now so there are no misunderstandings.
The rules are the rules, and the rules put hard and fast limits on balls and CTs. CT stands for Characteristic Time, and the USGA limits how long the ball can stay in contact with the clubface at impact: the so-called “trampoline effect.”
“Another 10 yards” has gone from a cynical objection to a lazy cliché. No one is promising you another 10 yards on center strikes. However, where performance could be improved is at the periphery of the central influence. Regardless of whether the ART face technology is turned on 859 young drivers under 70s or the AI-designed variable face thickness of various OEMs, the goal is to improve performance when you lose the middle.
Hey, if you’re one of the select few who never misses the middle of a driver’s club page, my hat’s off to you. You are Pan. For the rest of us, anything that keeps shots off center and with more distance in the game is a welcome development.
Myth #2: Wait six weeks; they will release another one…
Yo, 2012 called. Seeks his return hot.
This comes up every year, usually after a TaylorMade driver release. Did TaylorMade put this crap out at one time? Absolutely, but that was back in the R1/JetSpeed/SLDR days. TaylorMade was under different ownership and struggled with some unique – and mostly self-inflicted – market challenges.
Once again, if you can find any instance in the past decade where TaylorMade introduced an all-new driver to replace the last all-new driver it released just six weeks ago, you can call me Mr. Grinch and tell me that stench, stench, stench.
Reality #2: OEMs are on one- or two-year product cycles
It has been that way for a long time.
TaylorMade, Callaway and COBRA will launch a new family of drivers each January. They’ll also be launching game-enhancing irons every January, though – Spoiler alert!! – There will be a surprising change this January. Each will probably launch a different driver later in 2025, but it will be a line-extension type thing (think mini-driver or Triple Diamond Max) or a limited-edition special.
PING and Titleist are on 18-month to two-year release cycles for irons and woods, but they’ll also release their stuff at odd times. PING started G430 MAX 10K last January, while the rest of the G430 driver line was entering the second year of its life cycle. The new G440 line comes out next month, but the G430 MAX 10K will remain current for the foreseeable future.
Just remember, additions are not the same as replacements.
Myth #3: “It looks like ____,” or “It’s just another copy of ____.”
This is a tradition of the launch season.
If one golf club bears a passing resemblance to another, the lazy OEM must have copied the design, right? Hey, if it is looks like another club, it should be same as the other club.
It just goes to show that there is nothing original out there and these new releases are all BS. If it looks similar, it must be the same. Nothing to see here…
It’s especially noticeable if you add a bunch of “smiley face” emojis after your comments or if you make sure the world knows you know more than anyone else by adding an “LOL” or “LMAO”.
This will tell.
Reality #3: “Looks like” and “Same as/Copy of” are two different things
A year or so ago, an OEM posted a photo of its new 3-wood. One serial commenter felt it necessary to point out – with all the requisite emojis and an LMAO – that it looked suspiciously like a different OEM’s 3-wood from a year ago.
It must have been a copy, right?
I’m just a simple writer, but 3-forests tend to look a lot like 3-forests. Player cuffs tend to look similar to player distance cuffs, game improvement irons, and wedges. All have studs, toes, heels, heels and uppers. Sound design is not necessarily a “copy”. A golf club must look like a golf club in order to bear resemblance.
You will see clubs from lower end DTC brands that look the same. They are most likely “open mold” irons. An open cast iron is a generic design owned by a foundry in Asia. They slap on the DTC brand name and logo and, preemptively, that brand is in the golf business.
Beyond that, you’ll often see designs from some of the biggest and most original DTC brands slip through the cracks and end up being offered by another foundry as an open mold. we have wrote about this beforebut as you move into the third or fourth tier Asian smelters, all bets are off.
Myth #4: Damn those greedy OEMs! The price is getting out of control!
Most people use a specific expression instead of “cursing” but, come on, this is a family blog. I can understand why people are put off as mainstream OEM drivers push the $600 mark and irons reach $1,200 for a set of six. This is painful.
And let’s not even bring up $54.99 for dozens of golf balls.
Don’t the nimrods running these OEMs know they are pricing the average gamer out of the game? The equipment is too expensive and is driving people away. Do they really think we are stupid enough to buy a new driver every year at those prices?
Reality #4: It’s never been a better time to be a consumer
It’s true and, no, your faithful scribe hasn’t dipped his cup in egg early and lit some frankincense and myrrh.
There is more high-performance golf equipment available at better prices today than at any other time this century. Want a really good game-improving iron? You won’t do much better than that Tour Edge E723 at $569.99.
Distance gamer on a budget? of MacGregor MT-Milled ($549.99) or Under 70 699 Pro V2 ($630.00) will do you good. At just under $450, the Ram Axial Forged can be The best forged back cavity deal.
The drivers? The Sub 70 859 driver starts at $399, like new Cleveland HiBore XL. As we move into launch season, you’ll find plenty of deals from big names under $500.
Golf balls? If you can’t find a solid performance urethane “Tour” ball for less than $35 a dozen, you’re just not trying hard.
Also worth repeating: The existence of a driver of $600 or more or even a $6,400 set of irons does not deny the existence of lower priced options. It’s not a zero-sum game, friends.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Over the next month and a half, we at MyGolfSpy will be writing more than 50 product launch articles. Hey, that’s what we do during launch season. But we wouldn’t be happy if we didn’t share some last-minute tips, courtesy of Walt Whitman via Ted Lasso:
Be curious, not judgmental.
Snap judgments and hot takes on social media may give you an endorphin rush, but they tend to lead down a dark, cynical path that will eat away at your soul and crush any hope for seasonal joy.
OK, maybe not that seriously, but it’s just golf. Every industry regularly releases new products with different features, technologies and other fathers. Just because a new Dodge Ram or Toyota 4Runner looks great, that doesn’t make what you bought last year obsolete, right? The same standard applies to golf equipment. If you played good golf with the equipment you had last year, you will most likely play good golf with the same equipment next year.
Conversely, if you played crappy golf last year, you probably won’t play better golf just by buying new equipment. However, properly fitted equipment can help. There is no magic bullet, but there is always hope.
So no matter what happens this launch season, you better not cry and you better not spill and I’m telling you why.
Because we’ll be doing this all over again a year from now.
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