By Mike Stachura and E Michael Johnson
What do real golfers like you think about the latest clubs? That’s why our panel of players is such a key part of our process. Together, they provide input that helps the Hot List judges determine the leading clubs in Performance and Look/Sound/Feel, two of our four Hot List criteria which together account for 65 percent of a club’s score.

But we know you want as much specific advice as you can get about what club is exactly right for you. So why not see which of our players matches best to your game and see what they were thinking. What follows are some of the top choices in each of our full swing categories from each player on our panel, choices that are informed by data from the Rapsodo MLM and GCQuad launch monitors. Certainly, you’ll see a lot of repeats as you go through these lists (that’s why those products tended to do well on the Hot List overall), but consider this another piece of information as you continue the search for the right club for you. Of course, we firmly believe that search needs the wisdom of a good clubfitter to finish the process, too. Each player’s basic data is listed below, along with their individual lists and accompanying swing videos from the Rapsodo MLM app.

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Jason Guss

Age: 45; Handicap: 0; Driver swing speed: 101; Driver distance: 260; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 162\
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)’
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS; Cobra LTDx LS; Ping G425 Max | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST LS; Ping G425 LST; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Cobra King Tec: Cobra LTDx; Wilson D9 | PLAYERS IRONS: Henry-Griffitts TS+; PXG 0311T; Srixon ZX7 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; Proto-Concept CO5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec X; Cobra LTDx; XXIO X

Molly Braid

Age: 34; Handicap: 0; Driver swing speed: 86; Driver distance: 215; 7-iron swing speed: 72; 7-iron distance: 135
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx Max; Titleist TSi2 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0341XF; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Cobra Air-X; PXG 0317XF; Titleist TSi2 | PLAYERS IRONS: Srixon ZX7; Proto-Concept C03; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal Pro; PXG 0311P; Srixon ZX5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425; Titleist T300

Ricky Brown

Age: 43; Handicap: +4; Driver swing speed: 108; Driver distance: 270; 7-iron swing speed: 88; 7-iron distance: 170
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max LS; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 LST; Titleist TSi3 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Epic Super; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3; PLAYERS IRONS: Callaway Apex Pro; PXG 0311 T; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; Titleist T100•S; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cleveland Launcher XL; Cobra Forged Tec X; PXG 0311 XP

Larry McCoy

Age: 57; Handicap: 6; Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 156
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Mizuno ST-Z 220; Ping G425 LST; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Mizuno ST-Z; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Titleist TSi3; Cobra Air-X; Mizuno CLK | PLAYERS IRONS: Cobra King Tour; TaylorMade P7•MC; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: PXG 0311 P Gen 4; TaylorMade P•770; TaylorMade P•790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Paul Ianniello

Age: 60; Handicap: 5; Driver swing speed: 92; Driver distance: 220; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 162
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: PXG 0811 X; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade Stealth; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Cobra Air-X; Ping G425; PXG 0317X | PLAYERS IRONS: Callaway Apex TCB; Srixon ZX7: Proto-Concept C03 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Proto-Concept CO5; TaylorMade P•790; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Sean Harper

Age: 50; Handicap: 8; Driver swing speed: 89; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 79; 7-iron distance: 152
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811XF; Srixon ZX5 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth Plus; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Apex; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi3 | PLAYERS IRONS: Cobra King Tour; Mizuno JPX921 Tour; PXG 0311T | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Mizuno JPX921 Forged; TaylorMade P790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Ryan Kroll

Age: 46; Handicap: 8; Driver swing speed: 98; Driver distance: 235; 7-iron swing speed: 79; 7-iron distance: 155
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi2 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx; Mizuno ST-Z | HYBRIDS: Mizuno CLK; PXG 0317X; Titleist TSi3 | PLAYERS IRONS: Proto-Concept CO3; Titleist T100; Wilson Staff Model CB | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Mizuno JPX921 Forged; Srixon ZX5 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Tom Allen

Age: 57; Handicap: 6; Driver swing speed: 95; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 155
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Titleist TSi2; Ping G425 Max | FAIRWAY WOODS: PXG 0341X; Srixon ZX; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Mizuno CLK; Ping G425 | PLAYERS IRONS: Mizuno JPX921 Tour; PXG 0311T; Titleist T100 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; TaylorMade P790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300

Alejandra Bedoya

Age: 23; Handicap: 5; Driver swing speed: 90; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 75; 7-iron distance: 146
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; PXG 0341XF; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: PXG 0317X: Mizuno CLK; Cobra Air-X | PLAYERS IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 223; PXG 0311T Gen 4; TaylorMade P•7MC | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Mizuno Mizuno Pro 225; PXG 0311 P Gen 4; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP Gen4; Srixon ZX4; Titleist T300

Anand Mudaliar

Age: 39; Handicap: 9; Driver swing speed: 105; Driver distance: 265; 7-iron swing speed: 84; 7-iron distance: 164
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; PXG 0811XT; XXIO X | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; Titleist TSi2 | HYBRIDS: Callaway Apex; PXG 0317X; Tour Edge Hot Launch C522 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Pro; Proto-Concept C05; PXG 0311 P Gen 4 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra LTDx; Srixon ZX4; Titleist T300 | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Cobra T-Rail; XXIO 12; Wilson Launch Pad

Peter Lee

Age: 54: Handicap: 9: Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 245; 7-iron swing speed: 80; 7-iron distance: 156
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811 XF | FAIRWAY WOODS: Mizuno ST-X; Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Callaway Rogue ST Pro; Cobra LTDx; Ping G425 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; PXG 0311P | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; Callaway Rogue ST Max: Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211Z; Titleist T400

Gary Abbott

Age: 34; Handicap: 15; Driver swing speed: 98; Driver distance: 235; 7-iron swing speed: 81; 7-iron distance: 153
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Cobra LTDx Max; TaylorMade Stealth; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | HYBRIDS: Ping G425; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi2 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; TaylorMade P790; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max: Ping G425: TaylorMade Stealth | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; Cleveland Launcher XL Halo; Titleist T400

Dan Lupo

Age: 29; Handicap: 14; Driver swing speed: 97; Driver distance: 225; 7-iron swing speed: 87; 7-iron distance: 160
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Ping G425 Max; PXG 0811XF; Titleist TSi3 | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway; Rogue ST Max; Cobra LTDx; TaylorMade Stealth | HYBRIDS: Cobra King Tec; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist TSi1 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; PXG 0311P Gen 4; TaylorMade P•790 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311XP Gen 4; TaylorMade Stealth; Titleist T300 | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; Titleist T400; XXIO 12

Alex Reinhart

Age: 37; Handicap: 12; Driver swing speed: 102; Driver distance: 248; 7-iron swing speed: 82; 7-iron distance: 160
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Ping G425 LST; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Cleveland Launcher XL Halo; Titleist TSi3 | HYBRIDS: Cobra LTDx; Mizuno CLK; TaylorMade Stealth Plus | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Cobra King Forged Tec; Ping i525; Titleist T200 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: PXG 0311 XP Gen4; Cleveland Launcher XL; Mizuno JPX921 Hot Metal | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211 Z; XXIO Prime

Wei Mao

Age: 51; Handicap: 15; Driver swing speed: 90; Driver distance: 220; 7-iron swing speed: 78; 7-iron distance: 145
TOP CLUBS (in alphabetical order)
DRIVERS: Callaway Rogue ST Max; Titleist TSi2; TaylorMade Stealth | FAIRWAY WOODS: Callaway Rogue ST Max D; Srixon ZX; Tour Edge Exotics E722 | HYBRIDS: Ping G425; Srixon ZX; Tour Edge Exotics E722 | PLAYERS DISTANCE IRONS: Callaway Apex; Ping i525; Proto-Concept C05 | GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Apex DCB; XXIO X; TaylorMade Stealth | SUPER GAME IMPROVEMENT IRONS: Callaway Rogue ST Max OS; PXG 0211 Z; Titleist T400

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The post WATCH: Inside the Hot List — Our testers reveal their preferred clubs appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: A carbon-composite face—not the crown or even the body as we’ve seen in various stages over the last 15 years or so, but the part of the club that makes contact with the ball—is the foundation for TaylorMade’s three new Stealth drivers. The trio includes the adjustable weight Stealth Plus; the higher-launching, higher-forgiving Stealth; and the high-launching and draw-biased Stealth HD. The face, made of 60 layers of carbon-composite fiber, is 40 percent lighter than a similarly sized titanium face to create a more efficient energy transfer and better ball speed consistency across the face.

UAE Pricing and release dates to be confirmed)

THE DEEP DIVE: The titanium face driver, the golf industry’s staple since the mid-1990s, has run its course. So says TaylorMade’s team of engineers who in fits and starts over the past 20 years have been pursuing something they say is not merely entirely different from titanium, but of course, fundamentally better. As Tomo Bystedt, TaylorMade’s senior director of product creation, puts it, referencing the famous “S Curve” for innovation, “We knew the S curve for Ti was ending and the S Curve for carbon-composite faces was beginning.”

These are, of course, both charted and uncharted waters. Other companies have made little inroads or even dramatically failed when they introduced composite-faced drivers. Yonex is one, and so, too, perhaps more infamously was Callaway with the Big Bertha C4 over 20 years ago. TaylorMade’s team has been studying the idea of carbon composite replacing titanium as a face material for the past two decades. The company kept pulling back from introducing the idea for a product because titanium, the super-strong, super light and super flexible metal alloy, really couldn’t be beaten. It’s worth remembering, of course, that titanium alloys were at the root of golf’s ruling bodies instituting rules limiting the way a driver’s face could flex. Originally, that was under the heading of “springlike effect” or “coefficient of restitution” (COR), but that performance attribute gave way to characteristic time (CT), a reference to how a portable test measured face flexing.

TaylorMade believes the Stealth drivers, which include the sliding movable weight Stealth Plus; the high-launching, high-stability Stealth; and the slice-fighting Stealth HD, perform better with respect to those springlike effect properties and guidelines because the carbon-composite face is significantly lighter than a titanium face. The faces on the Stealth drivers weigh 26 grams compared to 43 grams were they made of titanium. It’s a complex bit of engineering theory, but the idea is that the lighter the face, the more efficient the collision because when there’s less mass taken up by the face, there’s more mass in the body. The problem for titanium is it can’t really get significantly lighter anymore, said Matt Johnson, TaylorMade’s principal engineer in its advanced design division.

“You could get thinner and thinner with titanium but then it becomes nonconforming so the only way to overcome that is to go to a new material,” he said, noting the new Stealth faces also are 20 percent larger than TaylorMade’s recent SIM drivers. “It needs to be appropriately stiff but as light as possible.” That makes carbon-composite fibers the great untapped alternative.

The result of the carbon-composite faced drivers, what TaylorMade is calling “Carbonwoods,” is what the company sees as an opportunity to create a higher springlike effect across a greater area of the face—something that was limited more by the properties of titanium than by the game’s specific equipment rules.

“The reason we’re doing this first and foremost is for speed,” Bystedt said. “Normally, we’ve talked about how when something is lighter we’re using that discretionary weight and moving it lower or moving it back. Well, this is not that story. We’re not going to say this is a weight savings for improving mass properties. Essentially we’re taking mass away from the face and putting it in the body of the club. So the part of the club that moves momentum into the ball is now heavier. So the momentum transfer is more efficient. That’s why this face delivers additional speed.”

In other words, it’s not exactly the case that the moment of inertia (stability on off-centre hits) for the Stealth drivers has improved dramatically because of the lighter face or that the centre of gravity is lower or farther back. Rather, the lighter construction means a higher speed across a wider area of the face, in part because the face is 20 percent larger compared to the SIM driver of 2020 and the largest on any TaylorMade driver since the Burner Superfast 2.0 from 2011.

In addition, though, it’s not just that the face is lighter. The carbon composite design, which involves 60 layers arranged in different orientations, patterns and shapes, can target a higher range of high spring-like effect measurements than a typical variable thickness face design made of titanium. Why? Because the manufacturing tolerances of carbon composite are more precise. Also, the carbon construction allows for more consistently precise shaping of the company’s patented asymmetrical “Twist Face” curvature, where the face is more open in the high toe and more closed in the low heel than typical symmetrical bulge and roll curves. That means tighter dispersion on off-centre hits.

Of course, the problem with carbon-composite face designs is often durability. As TaylorMade’s Todd Beach, senior vice president of research and engineering, puts it, “Composites aren’t designed typically for direct impact. If you hit a tree with your graphite shaft it’s going to snap. So that was a big hurdle to get over.”

The key element in solving that problem was a thermoset polyurethane blend cap on the carbon-composite layers. Similar to the polymers used in golf ball covers (particularly in terms of hardness), the underside of the cap features the distinctive red-black face graphics. (TaylorMade will offer six color options as part of its MyStealth program, which also includes additional choices in finish, body colour, sole decal colour and headcover.)

The protective polymer cap isn’t merely a durability play. There’s also a nanotexture roughness pattern between the grooves to create the ideal friction for the optimal spin and launch conditions to maximize distance. That sawtooth friction pattern between the grooves is only 18 microns high, or about one-fourth the width of a human hair. In TaylorMade’s 20-year R&D journey to bring a carbon-composite face to the market, the friction pattern and the development of the special 5-axis CNC machining of that pattern took two years all by itself, all while working on other driver designs.

The company introduced a carbon-composite faced driver in Asia in 2013, the Gloire Reserve, which sold about 8,000 units, a significantly smaller batch compared to the hundreds of thousands of heads that would be required for a global launch. At the time, Beach said, that the 30 percent larger face on the Gloire Reserve, which featured 70 layers of carbon composite, “gave birth to a new step in distance.” Eight years later, Beach sees Stealth as a global paradigm shift—and interestingly, a design they’ve discussed with the ruling bodies for some time. Even if the guidelines governing springlike effect were tightened, as has been indicated, Beach believes the precision of the carbon-composite face design and the tighter tolerances allows them to stay closer to the limit than traditional titanium faces.

“As we were developing these ideas in carbon composites, Ti would catch up and then raise the bar and then Stealth would raise the bar and ti would catch up,” Beach said. “So we weren’t going to launch this until it could beat ti. But we finally made it over the mountain and we’re on a whole new S-curve now for innovation in composites. We’re now in this era where we’re basically saying more and more of this head is going to be made out of this material that’s better than ti.”

The three drivers in the lineup start with the Stealth Plus (8, 9, 10.5 degrees; $600), which brings back a sliding weight track in the forward part of the sole last seen in the SIM driver. The 10-gram weight can be set in a vast range of positions from heel to toe to accommodate ballfight preferences. There’s also the Stealth (9, 10.5, 12 degrees; $580), which eschews the movable weight feature to concentrate on redistributing mass for maximum forgiveness (about a 15 percent higher MOI compared to Stealth Plus). The draw-biased Stealth HD (9, 10.5, 12 degrees; $580) attacks slicers needs by shifting the back-weighted keel-like feature in the sole slightly toward the heel, which adds draw spin but maintains the high stability on off-centre hits, the highest in the Stealth family. The Stealth also will be offered in a higher-launching women’s spec (10.5, 12 degrees; $580). The custom MyStealth options will retail for $700.

The post TaylorMade Stealth drivers: What you need to know appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.