Just like the coming of Old Man Winter and jolly old St. Nick, golf’s Launch Season is one of life’s certainties. And just like a snowstorm, it starts with a flake or two (witness the Cleveland HiBore XL). Next come the flurries and a light dusting (Sub 70, COBRA, et al), just enough for those of us dreaming of a white Christmas.
Come January, however, we’re in for Snowmageddon.
Shoveling through all that … snow … is daunting so now is as good a time as any to prepare for what’s coming. It’s easy to be overwhelmed but just like your neighbor with the snowblower, we’re here to lend a helping hand.
Launch Season is loaded with myths, realities, truth and common misconceptions that are said many times, many ways. In the spirit of the season, we’ve made a list, checked it twice and, just like Santa, we’ve culled the naughty from the nice.
So fire up the sleigh, fellow GolfSpies. Let the Reindeer Games begin.
Myth #1: Let me guess, another 10 yards?
This myth is up there with Frosty the Snowman but not in the way you’re thinking.
We’ve scoured OEM ads, press releases, official statements and private conversations and we’ve found something remarkable.
OEMs are NOT promising you 10 more yards with their new drivers. They haven’t for a long, long time. They will tell you longer, straighter, faster, but if you can find me an ad, press release or any reputable OEM saying, “Our new driver will give you 10 more yards,” I’ll roast my chestnuts over an open fire.
Reality #1: It’s about your mishits
Let’s get this on the table now so there’s no misunderstanding.
The rules are the rules and the rules place hard and fast limits on balls and CT. CT stands for Characteristic Time and the USGA limits how long the ball can stay in contact with the clubface at impact: the so-called “trampoline effect.”
“Another 10 yards” has gone from a cynical objection to a lazy cliché. No one is promising you another 10 yards on on-center strikes. However, where performance can improve is on the outskirts of center impact. Whether it’s the ART face technology on Sub 70’s new 859 drivers or the various OEMs’ AI-designed variable-face thickness, the goal is to improve performance when you miss the middle.
Hey, if you’re one of the chosen few who never misses the middle of your driver’s clubface, my hat’s off to you. You are The Pan. For the rest of us, anything that keeps off-center strikes in play and with more distance is a welcome development.
Myth #2: Wait six weeks; they’ll release another one …
Yo, 2012 called. It wants its Hot Take back.
This one pops up every year, usually following a TaylorMade driver release. Did TaylorMade pull this nonsense at one time? Absolutely but that was back in the R1/JetSpeed/SLDR days. TaylorMade was under different ownership and struggled through some unique – and largely self-inflicted – market challenges.
Once again, if you can find any occasion in the past decade when TaylorMade introduced a completely new driver to replace the last completely new driver it released just six weeks prior, you can call me Mr. Grinch and tell me I stink, stank, stunk.
Reality #2: OEMs are on one- or two-year product cycles
It’s been this way for quite some time.
TaylorMade, Callaway and COBRA will launch a new driver family each January. They’ll also launch game-improvement irons each January, although – Spoiler Alert!! – there will be one surprising change this January. Each will probably launch another driver later in 2025 but it’ll be a line-extension type thing (think mini-driver or Triple Diamond Max) or a limited-edition special.
PING and Titleist are on 18-month to two-year launch cycles for irons and metalwoods but they’ll also release their stuff at odd times. PING launched the G430 MAX 10K last January as the rest of the G430 driver line was entering the second year of its life cycle. The new G440 line comes out next month but the G430 MAX 10K will stay current for the foreseeable future.
Just remember, additions aren’t the same as replacements.
Myth #3: “Looks just like ____,” or “It’s just another copy of____.”
This one’s a Launch Season tradition.
If one golf club bears a passing resemblance to another, the lazy OEM must have just copied the design, right? Hey, if it looks like another club, it must be the same as the other club.
It just goes to show there’s nothing original out there and these new launches are all BS. If it looks similar, it must be the same. Nothing to see here …
It’s especially emphatic if you add a bunch of “laughing face” emojis after your comments or if you make sure the world knows you know more than anyone else by adding an “LOL” or “LMAO.”
That’ll show ’em.
Reality #3: “Looks like” and “Same as/Copy of” are two different things
A year or so ago, an OEM posted a picture of its new 3-wood. A serial commenter felt it necessary to point out – with all the requisite emojis and an LMAO – that it looked suspiciously like a different OEM’s 3-wood from a previous year.
Must have been a copy, right?
I’m just a simple scribe but 3-woods tend to look an awful lot like 3-woods. Player’s irons tend to look alike as do player’s distance irons, game-improvement irons and wedges. They all have hosels, toes, heels, soles and toplines. Sound design isn’t necessarily a “copy.” A golf club has to look like a golf club so there are bound to be similarities.
You will see clubs from lower-end DTC brands that look alike. They are, most likely, “open-mold” irons. An open-mold iron is a generic design owned by a foundry in Asia. They slap the DTC brand’s name and logo on it and, presto, that brand is in the golf business.
Beyond that, you’ll often see designs from some of the larger and more original DTC brands slip through the cracks and wind up offered by another foundry as an open mold. We’ve written about this before, but as you move to Asia’s third- or fourth-tier foundries, all bets are off.
Myth #4: Curse those greedy OEMs! Pricing is getting out of control!
Most people use a specific expletive instead of “curse” but, c’mon, this is a family blog. I can see why people wince as mainstream OEM drivers push the $600 mark and irons top $1,200 for a six-piece set. That’s painful.
And let’s not even bring up the $54.99 per dozen golf balls.
Don’t the nimrods who run these OEMs know they’re pricing the average golfer out of the game? Equipment is too expensive and it’s driving people away. Do they really think we’re stupid enough to buy a new driver every year at those prices?
Reality #4: It’s never been a better time to be a consumer
It’s true and, no, your faithful scribe hasn’t dipped his cup into the eggnog early nor has he sparked up a little frankincense and myrrh.
There’s more high-performing golf equipment available at better prices today than at any other time this century. Want a really good game improvement iron? You won’t do much better than the Tour Edge E723 at $569.99.
Player’s distance on a budget? The MacGregor MT-Milled ($549.99) or the Sub 70 699 Pro V2 ($630.00) will do you just fine. At just under $450, the Ram Axial Forged might be the best forged cavity-back deal going.
Drivers? The Sub 70 859 driver starts at $399 as does the new Cleveland HiBore XL. As we move into Launch Season, you’ll find plenty of offerings from recognizable names under $500.
Golf balls? If you can’t find a solid-performing urethane “Tour” ball for under $35 a dozen, you’re just not trying very hard.
It also bears repeating: The existence of a $600 or above driver or even a $6,400 set of irons does not negate the existence of lower-priced options. It’s not a zero-sum game, friends.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year …
Over the next month and a half, we at MyGolfSpy will write more than 50 product launch articles. Hey, it’s what we do during Launch Season. But we wouldn’t be of good cheer if we didn’t share some last-minute advice, courtesy of Walt Whitman via Ted Lasso:
Be curious, not judgmental.
Snap judgments and hot takes on social media may give you an endorphin rush but they tend to lead down a dark, cynical path that’ll eat away at your soul and crush any hope of seasonal joy.
OK, it’s maybe not that serious, but it is just golf. Every industry regularly releases new products with different features, technology and other doo-dads. Just because a new Dodge Ram or Toyota 4Runner looks awesome, that doesn’t make the one you bought last year obsolete, does it? The same standard applies to golf equipment. If you played good golf with the equipment you had last year, you’ll more than likely play good golf with that same equipment next year.
Conversely, if you played crappy golf last year, you probably won’t play better golf just by buying new gear. Properly fitted gear, however, might help. There’s no magic bullet but there’s always hope.
So no matter what happens this Launch Season, you better not cry and you better not pout and I’m telling you why.
Because we’ll be doing this all again a year from now.
Ron
1 year ago
This comment is specific to myth #2. Many myths, like their close relations “stereotypes”, have their basis in fact, and even if they are no longer true can leave a lingering prejudice. I was in the market for a new driver when they did their “new driver every 6 weeks” release schedule, accompanied by the “you’ll hit this driver better because we painted it white” marketing BS. They dropped out of consideration for those reasons (it felt like they were peddling snake oil) and I haven’t looked seriously at a TM driver since.
OpMan
1 year ago
Yes!
That is exactly why I always say that “Death of a Salesman” was written in 1949, and yet people have not learned a thing
😆