Equipment
by JOHN HOLMES
GO-TO
GIFT GIVING
Mizuno JPX-EZ irons
Mizuno JPX-EZ
irons
Find the perfect present for friends and
loved ones with a variety of selections
T
he weather outside might be more frightful than
delightful this time of year, but shopping for gifts
is always worthwhile. Here’s a quick list of cool gift
ideas guaranteed to highlight the holiday season for
all your favorite golfers.
ON COURSE
TaylorMade SpeedBlade irons, SLDR
fairway woods and SLDR Rescue clubs
The club engineers at TaylorMade always seem to have something
interesting in their pockets. In the case of their new SpeedBlade
irons, it is literally a pocket—a Speed Pocket.
The SpeedBlades, like the RocketBladez irons and RocketBallz
woods, continue TaylorMade’s trend of cutting Speed Pockets—
handlebar-shaped slots that run from heel to toe just behind the
face—into the sole of their 3- through 7-irons. The slots help those
faces to flex and rebound faster, and the result increases ball
speed and elevates the launch angle to boost distance, according
to the company.
So if RocketBladez and SpeedBlades both have Speed Pockets,
what’s the difference? The heads on the SpeedBlades are more
compact than the RocketBladez, making them more appealing to
better players. They also flight the ball higher, thanks to a lower
center of gravity, and they’re more forgiving on mis-hits.
($99 per club and $899.99 per set; taylormadegolf.com)
It didn’t take long for the TaylorMade SLDR driver to become
the most widely played driver on the PGA Tour, and the new SLDR
fairway woods and rescue clubs likely will prove pretty popular as
well. They look like the driver, with a traditional head shape, lowprofile face, charcoal gray crown and silver impact zone.
While they’re minus the SLDR driver’s sliding sole weight, they
have TaylorMade’s adjustable loft functionality. They also feature
the driver’s low and forward center of gravity to enhance ball
speed with a lower spin rate for greater distance. And they boast
the latest version of the Speed Pocket—a slot cut into the sole
that helps the face flex more for improved ball speed.
In all, there are five SLDR fairway woods (from a 14-degree Tour
Spoon to a 21-degree, high-loft 5-wood). The fairway woods are
also available in 15-, 17- and 19-degree lofts. The four Rescue
clubs come in lofts of 17, 19, 21 and 24 degrees. (SLDR fairway
woods: $249 per club; SLDR Rescue hybrids: $219 per club;
taylormadegolf.com)
TaylorMade
SLDR
Rescue
club
TaylorMade
SLDR
fairway wood
38
VIRGINIA GOLFER
TaylorMade
SpeedBlade
iron
What are the Mizuno JPX-EZ irons all about? Well, their name
gives it away—they’re designed to be easy to hit by mid- to
high-handicap players.
Their ease of launching the ball is derived from the deep
cavity carved into the back of the carbon steel head. The
weight scooped out of these cavities is repositioned around
the head’s perimeter to make the club steadier and more
forgiving upon impact, producing a higher trajectory. A
significant portion of this repositioned weight is massed low
and toward the toe to help fight slices.
Mizuno’s hot metal face design imbues the clubface with a
larger sweet spot, resulting in longer, more consistent shots,
even on off-center hits. And their dark finish and orange color
accents make them distinctive when compared to Mizuno’s
traditional chrome finish and blue palette.
($699 per set with steel shafts; $899 for graphite shafts. An
upscale JPX-EZ Forged edition goes for $899 with steel
shafts and $1,099 for graphite; mizunousa.com/golf)
Tour Edge Exotics XCG7 driver,
XCG7 Beta driver and Exotics
CB Pro fairway woods
Tour Edge Exotics
XCG7 driver
Tour Edge sometimes doesn’t get the kind
of publicity that the bigger club companies
generate, but that’s certainly not a reflection on
its products.
Among its newest offerings are the CB Pro
fairway woods, which feature a compact steel
body attached to a beta titanium cup face and
crown. Its most unique attribute, however, is its Tour Edge Exotics
XCG7 Beta driver
“Slip Stream” sole, which has a unique looking
series of waves flowing parallel to the target line
that minimize the sole’s interaction with the turf
for maximum clubhead speed.
Also worth noting are two new additions to
the XCG line of drivers: the XCG7 and the XCG7
Beta. Both models boast Tour Edge’s Power
Tour Edge Exotics
Grid design, a variable thickness grid directly
CB Pro fairway wood
behind the center of the face to help it launch
the ball hotter. Hexahedron sole weight pads reposition the weight
from the center of the sole to the edges to enhance stability.
The stock XCG7 positions that weight farther back for
extra forgiveness, while the hotter Beta model moves the
weight forward for a penetrating ball flight. The head on the
stock XCG7 is larger and has a lower profile to make it easier
for mid-handicap players to make solid contact, while the
head on the Beta version is smaller but deeper to help better
players produce a lower trajectory. (CB Pro fairway woods:
$499.99 per club; XCG7 driver: $249.99; XCG7 Beta:
$299.90; touredge.com)
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