Big equipment signings, gear trends to watch and the ‘Tiger effect’ | Wall-to-Wall
Aberg's Titleist staff bag was the most obvious sign that a gear deal had been struck between the Swede and equipment manufacturer.
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Welcome to Wall-to-Wall Equipment, the weekly gear wrap-up in which GOLF equipment editor Jonathan Wall takes you through the latest trends, rumors and breaking news.
Super Swede
Ludvig Aberg had a year to remember in professional golf. Scratch that, a good six months to remember. Back in June, the former Texas Tech product turned pro at the RBC Canadian Open and made an immediate impact with a win in just his ninth start at the DP World Tour’s Omega European Masters. Two months later, Aberg notched his first PGA Tour title at the RSM Classic.
A Ryder Cup invite would eventually follow. Again, it’s been a very good six months.
One of the constants for Aberg during the improbable run has been an equipment setup that’s undergone very few changes, outside of a putter swap later in the season. Without an equipment contract connecting him to one brand, there was no reason to mess with a successful setup.
The last part of that sentence is important because Aberg made a noticeable change last week at the Grant Thornton Invitational when he arrived on site with a Titleist staff bag in tow.
Indeed, Aberg is officially a Titleist staffer. The deal didn’t receive much fanfare, but that doesn’t make it any less important: Titleist has a superstar in their stable who was already playing their wares without compensation.
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In addition to the new bag, Aberg chose to change out 2019 Titleist T100 irons (4-PW) for the latest version after conducting testing with Tour rep J.J. Van Wezenbeeck two weeks ago. According to Van Wezenbeeck, Aberg liked the look of the new irons and how they moved through the turf. Similar control and a reduction in spin in the short irons — while maintaining spin in the long irons — helped seal the deal.
“I’m not the biggest fan of changing too much, especially your clubs, and I like to figure it out myself,” Aberg said. “The switch was very easy and I feel like this week was a good time to get used to it and then have a few weeks off and be ready for next year.”
As for the rest of Aberg’s setup — Titleist TSR2 driver, TaylorMade Stealth 2 3-wood, Titleist 718 T-MB 2-iron, Vokey SM9 wedges and Odyssey’s White Hot Versa One putter — it remained intact for another week. With the winter break quickly approaching, it’ll be interesting to see if that remains the case when Aberg returns in January.
Where there’s smoke
If getting Scottie Scheffler to convert to a relatively unknown putter brand is a newsworthy gear story, what happens when the count moves to two with the inclusion of fellow American Nelly Korda? No doubt, Olson Manufacturing, a putter company located in Fortuna, California, is enjoying a dream start in professional golf.
Founder Logan Olson confirmed via social media that it only took a “few prototypes and a brief testing session” to convince Korda to make the switch to an Anser-style blade sporting a Pure Roll-esque insert. While nothing has been confirmed, both Scheffler and Korda are TaylorMade staffers, which leads one to wonder if something bigger is in the works.
The end of the season remains an ideal time to tease upcoming releases and vet new prototypes. That’s one way of saying the timing of these switches isn’t mere happenstance. Continue to watch this space in the months ahead.
If Scheffler and Korda are already seeing positive results, it won’t be long before others follow suit and give Olson a shot.
Tour proven
Even when Tiger Woods doesn’t get credit for the win, he’s still part of the equipment conversation. In the aftermath of the team win for Jason Day and Lydia Ko at the Grant Thornton Invitational, the Aussie revealed the Bridgestone Tour B X prototype ball he’s been playing since the Hero World Challenge received extensive feedback from not only Day but Woods as well during the development phase.
“Tiger and I worked with the Bridgestone team on the design of the new ball over the last year and we got it dialed in perfectly. It’s still very long but provides a bit more spin around the greens, which I love. I’m excited to play the new Tour B X moving forward and think a lot of players who get fitted for it will find it’s easily the best X-ball ever made.”
Following Day’s win, Bridgestone teased opening ball testing on social media ahead of their scheduled window — and then promptly offered the opportunity one day later.
Getting Day into the new ball early on is big news. The only thing that could top it would be Woods making the transition, which has yet to happen. All signs point to that eventually happening as the calendar turns to 2024.
Quick-hitters: Speaking of Nelly Korda, she was spotted using an unreleased version of TaylorMade’s Qi10 Max driver in Florida. Remember the second Qi10 that landed on the USGA conforming driver head list? That one wasn’t for her. With that in mind, it’s now safe to assume at least three Qi10 models will be released in the not-too-distant future.
Want to overhaul your bag for 2024? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.
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