Ping usually introduces their new equipment before anyone else, and their G15 and i15 drivers are no exception. Introduced in July, these new drivers further improve on the successful Rapture V2 and G10 models. The G15 is considered the more forgiving driver that can be classified as "game improving" whereas the i15 is considered to be a "player's" or "competition" driver. The main difference is usually in the shape and trajectory (players' clubs are usually less forgiving and lower launching, and sometimes shaped slightly differently).
And every company is going to have some new variation on a set of irons or two. Reviews would take forever, so I'll let the Golf Digest Hot List 2010 cover all the of new offerings from drivers to wedges, putters to balls.
One piece of equipment that I'm personally eager to try is the new Callaway Tour i(s) golf ball. Golf ball technology is amazingly complex. About 3 or 4 years ago I decided to spend the better part of a season experimenting with new balls and ended up playing the Bridgestone B330-S. The B330-S was a neat alternative to my go-to Titleist Pro V1. It had an awesome trajectory and was super durable, but had a significantly firmer feel than the Pro V1. Along came the Callaway HX Tour which solved the feel issue of the B330-S but the durability wasn't great. Callaway solved that with the Tour i(x). The latest model Tour i-series balls from Callaway are extraordinary, in my opinion.
But now they'll be on sale after the release of the Tour i(s).
Callaway claims that the Tour i(s) is the most highly-engineered golf ball they've ever introduced. Every new model introduced by each company always trumps the previous model, but this ball is interesting because it supposedly changes characteristics depending on what club you hit the ball with.
Confused? Read on.
It's the softest ball that Callaway has produced, according to Vice President of R&D Steve Ogg. The aforementioned Pro V1 is considered the benchmark of soft tour-level balls, and considering that Callaway's Tour i balls were as close to that as can be is saying a lot for the new Tour i(s) version. Callaway claims that their new ball has spin separation, meaning that a single ball will spin differently depending on the club used.
What? Read on.
"The ball has a high core compression differential," says Ogg. "That is the difference between the compression of the inner core and the outer core. When you have a high-compression outer core, the ball holds it shape better when you're hitting wedge shots so you can give it more spin." The greater force of a driver will penetrate the outer core and compress the soft inner core, resulting in a reduction of spin and greater distance.
Ernie Els was raving about it, and Callaway balls finished 1-2-3 at last week's WGC-HSBC Champions event in China (Mickelson, Els and Moore) with Els playing the new new Tour i(s). The race to gain market share each year is amazing, and 2010 promises to be another great year to showcase the latest and greatest in club and ball technology.
