As 2019 draws to a close, we are starting to see many manufacturers begin to refresh their product lines. As usual, we keep in close contact with the engineering teams from each OEM and test the new equipment as it comes in. Our goal is to make sure we can match up the proper clubs with your swings when we do custom fittings.
Most golfers don’t know this, but the fall is one of the best times to get custom fit for new clubs. The benefit is that you can experiment with late-season changes and continue to practice with the clubs during the winter. When the spring comes, you’ll be more comfortable with your new clubs and won’t have to spend 1-2 months of the peak golfing season getting accustomed to your new equipment.
Here are several fall 2019 releases that we are excited about.
Titleist
Perhaps the most significant change in the equipment industry is Titleist. They have completely revamped their iron lineup with five new iron sets. Most notably, the popular AP irons have been replaced by the T-series.
A significant alteration we have seen is the shift from the AP3 to the T200. We felt the AP3 was a good iron, but its performance made it relevant to a narrow range of players. That is not the case with the T200; our testing so far has yielded impressive results. The T200 has an excellent feel, launches higher, and looks fantastic. We believe that this iron will match up well with a much more extensive range of players – the difference is night and day.
Titleist believes their T300 irons will be their most successful model. In our testing, we’ve seen tremendous forgiveness and distance. Interestingly, local professional Matt Dobyns switched to these irons. Despite the T300 not being a tour-level iron, they tested the best for him. Matt went on to win his first Met Open shortly after switching, so you could say the irons performed well for him! Overall, we believe the T300 will be a home run for Titleist.
Lastly, Titleist upgraded its driving irons. This category gets more and more popular every year for golfers who generate a lot of ball speed. In the past, Titleist was never a strong consideration for driving irons in our fittings. However, the T510 is likely going to change that. It’s easily one of the best driving irons we’ve tested over the past several years. We expect to be putting the T510 into a lot of players’ bags.
Ping
Ping has had tremendous success with their Glide wedges, and the release of the Glide 3.0 continues their innovation. Ping came out with a much better fitting system for their wedges, which allows interchangeable heads and shafts. These modifications allow us to dial in our custom specs more effectively during a fitting.
The Glide 3.0 looks much more attractive and based on our testing, we believe they have improved the feel as well. Perhaps the most impressive feature is the grooves. There have been some interesting experiments popping up. This YouTube video surprised us. It shows the Glide 3.0 maintains similar spin rates even with water on the clubface.
The mark of a premium wedge is how it performs in less optimal conditions. It seems that Ping has done something special with the Glide 3.0.
Also, Ping has continued its leadership in women’s golf clubs. They’ve improved the performance of their new GLE irons along with more adjustability. Female golfers will benefit from these irons.
TaylorMade
Traditionally, major OEMs like TaylorMade wait until just after the New Year to announce their releases. But they did announce an upgrade to their successful P790 irons. These irons have been an excellent product for us over the past several years.
While you don’t have to fix something that isn’t broken, TaylorMade did make some minor tweaks in the looks and body of the irons. We expect these irons to continue matching up well with many of our clients – stay tuned for early 2020 for more announcements from them.
Callaway
Callaway will also wait until early 2020 to announce most of their new clubs. But there are two noteworthy changes to their lineup – the Epic Forged irons and the Epic Flash Star woods.
The Epic Forged irons focus on adding distance with more aggressive lofts for players who need it. They feel great and deliver on that promise. While we have to get a little creative with loft gapping, these irons will fit the needs of golfers who need more distance out of their irons.
The Epic Flash Star driver is an ultra-lightweight premium club. It’s an improvement over the initial Epic Star but still caters to a small segment of golfer. We don’t recommend this driver for higher-speed players because they will have issues controlling their ball flight. But for golfers who struggle to generate clubhead speed, this driver can help quite a bit.
Mizuno
Over the past several years, we have seen an explosion of hollow-body irons. Mizuno has joined the part with their MP-20 HMB (hot metal blade). As usual, Mizuno has crafted a beautiful looking club with a great feel. One of the biggest things we liked is that the lofts are a little bit weaker compared to their competition. This alleviates the challenge of loft gapping (particularly with wedges).
While the MP-20 HMB might not go the farthest, if they are correctly fitted with players who have more ball speed, they will perform exceptionally well.
You Get The Clubs You Need
That wraps up our list of new products we are excited about for the fall of 2019. Our promise to every golfer who walks through our doors is that we will put together the right mix of equipment for your golf swing. It doesn’t matter which manufacturer’s name is stamped on the club. Our goal is to make sure you will have the best opportunity to play well out there.
If you are interested in booking a fitting, you can visit this page. We are now offering extended fitting appointments in New York City at Golf & Body NYC. We look forward to seeing you soon!