For full specs and analysis of all the award winning models in this years Hot List, grab your copy of Golf Digest Middle East’s May issue out now.

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For full specs and analysis of all the award winning models in this years Hot List, grab your copy of Golf Digest Middle East’s May issue out now.

The post Golf Digest 2017 Hot List – Blade putters appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

TaylorMade’s Milled Grind wedges offer a fitting idea for the clubs charged with the most precise distance control in the bag: Precision manufacturing techniques.

As TaylorMade’s engineering team sees it, a wedge design’s precision can be compromised by a crude manufacturing process that often involves old-fashioned hand-grinding techniques. So instead the Milled Grind wedges, which originally are cast from soft 8620 steel, use a computer milling process on every wedge to precisely shape the contours andbounce angles of the sole. This process numerically matches the computer design model’s parameters explicitly. The process is also designed to produce a more consistent leading edge shape from wedge to wedge for more reliable versatility than hand grinding mass production of wedges.

“People think that if it’s hand-crafted it’s got be better, but it’s simply not,” says TaylorMade’s Paul Demkowski, a manager of product development at TaylorMade. “It’s actually a detriment. You have a line of 10-15 operators hand-polishing wedges all trying to make them identical to each other? It’s simply not possible. There’s just too much variation in that hand-polishing process.

“The sole is the business end of the wedge that we had to make sure was perfect. With the milled grind technology that we use now it’s perfect every time. It replicates our models perfectly.”

That precision also includes a rethinking of the clubhead’s center of gravity. The design saves more than 11 grams of weight by drilling a deeper bore in the hosel for the shaft and then filling a port in the heel with a soft, light polymer. The result is a center of gravity that’s now closer to the center of the face and a little higher for higher spin and launch.

The final effort to increase precision in the Milled Grind wedges is a new groove design that features steeper sidewalls and closer spacing. The steeper sidewalls help reduce launch angle and increase spin compared to previous TaylorMade wedges, while the closer spacing allows room for one extra groove for better contact with the ball.

The three Milled Grind bounce angles include the LB, a low-bounce option with a C-shaped sole grind; the MB, a mid-bounce with extra heel relief; and the HB, the higher bounce with a wider cambered sole. Altogether the Milled Grind wedges are available in 13 lofts from 50 to 60 degrees. They will be available in March (RRP US$160).

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Core: The three-piece Z-Star’s core is now softer (two compression points lower from 90 to 88) to improve feel, lower spin and increase launch. The dual core on the Z-Star XV features a larger and softer inner core while maintaining the firmness of the outer core (105 compression or firmer than other leading outer cores according to Srixon’s testing) for faster ballspeeds.

Dimple pattern: Both balls use a new 338-dimple pattern that reduces drag for better downrange carry. The new pattern uses five dimple sizes to improve the relationship between the uniformity of the dimples and the occupancy (or surface coverage).

Cover coating: In addition to the urethane covers, both balls benefit from the third generation of a cover coating it calls “spinskin.” The new design is 13 percent softer than the previous version, helping it to get into the grooves better. The softer coating allows the cover to stretch more at impact to create greater friction & more spin on short greenside shots.

The Z-Star and Z-Star XV differ largely in spin, with the Z-Star spinning a little less on tee shots and launching generally higher through the bag than the XV.

“I think it’s more complicated than saying the differences are based on swing speed,” says Srixon’s Jeff Brunski, director of research and development. “For our tour staff, they’re making the decision between Z-Star and XV based on approach shots and greenside. The guys that are really sensitive in those kinds of shots tend to be Z-Star guys because of a slightly softer cover and feel.”

Brunski also makes the point that while the high swing speed player may see more ballspeed with the XV, certain of those players may get better launch conditions and end up hitting it farther with the Z-Star.

While the Z-Star models are geared to elite players with swing speeds north of 90 miles per hour, the other new urethane cover entry for Srixon has a focus on average golfers and average wallets, too. The Q-Star Tour is a lower compression design (overall ball compression of 75, according to the company) with a three-piece construction aimed at producing higher launch and lower spin on driver and iron shots. The lower compression core helps average speeds produce more ball velocity, while the resilient intermediate mantle layer works with the core to help iron shots launch higher and faster.

Brunski says the Q-Star Tour’s urethane cover produces very close to the spin on short game shots that its Z-Star models do (about 200 rpm less on a half-wedge shot where overall spin might be in the mid-5000s). In addition, its one of the few balls from a major manufacturer at this price point ($30 a dozen) to feature a urethane cover, which can be key to executing greenside shots that check when they land rather than release. Most other balls less than $40 a dozen use ionomer covers, which tend to yield less spin on the shortest of shots.

Brunski believes that because of its lower-spin Q-Star Tour would be a benefit to any golfer who’s fighting to keep the ball curving less off the tee.

“I think the Q-Star Tour could really help a lot of golfers because a lot of golfers spin the ball too much,” Brunski says. “And since it’s higher launch and lower spin through the bag, a lot of players are going to be hitting 5-irons instead of 4-irons, for example. So the Q-Star Tour really has mass appeal.”

The Z-Star and Z-Star XV ($40 a dozen) will be available February 17. The Q-Star Tour will be in stores April 14.

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