Ready or not, launch season begins today. For the next month and a half, MyGolfSpy (and the rest of the golf media world) will hit you with a veritable tsunami of product launch stories.
I thought about calling it a “tidal wave”, but tsunami sounds more ominous.
Every OEM you can imagine, plus a few you’ve never heard of, will be announcing their 2026 lineup over the next month and a half or so. The whole experience is not unlike Christmas: most find it magical, but some find it extremely stressful.
(There are also some oddballs who couldn’t care less. What are you doing here?)
Either way, we’ve been through this many, many times over the years. As veterans of launch season, we’ve put together these rules to help you really enjoy the next 45 days.
We call them “rules” but they are not enforced by any official national, international or intergalactic golf enforcement agency. Strictly speaking, they are really just suggestions.
No matter what you call them, we think they’ll help you make the most of this year’s kick-off season and maybe even have some fun along the way.
Rule 1: Do not be unnecessarily cynical – no one promises you another 10 meters
We can, with 1000 percent certainty, expect someone, somewhere, to say this about someone’s new driver:
Let me guess? Another 10 meters…
Rule no. 1 is simple and will keep you sane: Leave knee-jerk cynicism at the door – no one is promising you another 10 meters this year. No one promised it last year either. The truth is, no major OEM has promised anything resembling another 10 yards for at least 15 years.
Still, it’s a great lament from lovable cynics. It’s a lazy hot treat, usually followed by an equally crazy one”We should all have hit 400 by now.
Look, OEMs are in the business of selling golf clubs and distance selling. Nothing coming out this year is going to turn you into Prime Minister John Daly. That said, it’s foolish to assume that driver technology is maxed out. You’ll hear a lot of stories about “longer, straighter and faster” this month. The benefits they’ll talk about aren’t huge (perhaps negligible to us mere mortals), but that doesn’t mean they aren’t real. Most of the real improvement will be in maintaining ball speed on off-center shots, which isn’t all that insignificant to us mere mortals. Whether these benefits are important to you as a consumer is entirely up to you.
Oh yeah, while we’re at it, let’s retire Just wait: there will be another in six weeks nonsense, too.
2011 called. Seeks his return hot.
Rule 2: You don’t have to buy a damn thing if you don’t want to
Here’s another reality check. You and you alone decide if it’s worth pulling out the credit card and buying new sticks. If you’re ready, buy it. If you’re not, don’t. OEMs don’t expect you to buy a new driver every year (they wouldn’t mind, but they don’t).
If it helps, think of it this way: OEMs are selling at a parade. This year’s driver isn’t meant to parade around with all the players who just bought a new one last year. It targets the next cruise, the one with players who bought a driver five or six years ago. This year’s latest and greatest may be a little better than last year’s, but it may very well be much better than something from the pre-Covid era.
And, yes, we know someone out there can hit their 2017 Epic Whatever as much as any of the new stuff. congratulations. We are happy for you. You don’t need to upgrade.
That said, there are dozens of reasons to shop for a new driver. In the final analysis, however, all that matters is that you want one.
It’s your money, so it’s your decision.
Rule 3: Be curious, not judgmental
The annual groaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth at product launches is predictable. It can also be tiring. However, this year promises to be fascinating. You’ll read a lot about some cool golf stuff, but the main topic will be one of playability.
You can be judgmental and dismiss it all as marketing gibberish, and some of it undoubtedly will be. However, most of it will not be. Therefore, might we suggest approaching launch season with an open mind and curiosity? See how much you can learn about golf equipment design. Hell, you can even play “Marketing Verb Bingo” and keep track of how many times OEMs use words like optimize, maximize OR customize.
If you drive with curiosity, it’s a safe bet that you’ll read about some pretty fascinating, if strange, golf developments and innovations. Can a blade be as forgiving as a game-improving iron? We will look into it. What is Mizuno’s mysterious new “World’s First _____ Driver” all about? This is a pretty cool story. And are we seeing the birth of a new category of irons that are more forgiving than forged shoulders, but with more playability and workability (not to mention weaker loft) than the player’s distance? (Spoiler alert: It sure looks that way.)
It will be fun, as long as you listen to the words of the legendary philosopher Frank Vincent Zappa:
The mind is like a parachute. It does not work if it is not open.
Rule 4: Consumer fatigue – and its attendant cynicism – is a real danger
On the other hand, Chairman Zappa also told us that “being cynical is the only way to deal with modern civilization. You can’t swallow it whole.”
The season’s kick-off drum longer, faster, straighter every January comes to excuse us for exercising a little cynicism. Everyone, after all, needs a defense mechanism from time to time.
Perhaps the best way to guard against misplaced cynicism is to be an informed consumer. Even if you’re not in the market for new clubs, read as much as you can while making sure you follow Rule 3 above. You don’t have to swallow it whole, but also understand that no one out there is simply repackaging last year’s technology in a new wrapper and paying more for it.
If you really want to get some insight into how OEMs can squeeze extra juice out of a driver and how the USGA limits don’t mean the equipment is maxed out, take a listen the latest No Putts Given. Kudos to Tony and Chris for doing it weird tech stuff understandable.
Finally, rule 5: Don’t put your cleats on a club – they’re just golf equipment
In the grand scheme of things in this little round ball of mostly water we call home, golf equipment ranks far behind things like famine, drought, and pestilence. If you don’t play on TV for a paycheck, these are tools we use to play a game for fun.
Light it up. It’s just golf.
We’ve said it before on these pages, but there’s never been a better time to be a golf consumer. We have more truly remarkable devices available than ever before. With the rise of direct-to-consumer brands, much of it is available at a relative bargain.
You can’t or won’t pay $650 for a new driver? You don’t have to. There are many excellent DTC drivers available for less than $400. You can also find a bargain on a 2025 model or find something used. You can even choose not to spend anything and keep playing what you have. No one is going to call the cops on you.
When it comes to buying, you have the ultimate power. In this world, you can choose to be either the dog or the fire hydrant. There is no reason to choose the fire hydrant.
Or, as ol’ Frank so aptly and metaphorically puts it:
Don’t eat that yellow snow.
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