Equipment
Callaway launches Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver
First in our sites on the PGA Tour at the RBC Heritage in April, Callaway announced today it is bringing its Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver to retail as the competition for the “not quite a driver, not quite a fairway wood” slot in golfers’ bags continues to heat up.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver: Tech story
At 340 cc’s and designed primarily as an alternate tee club (11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts), the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver features the same Ai Smart Face technology as the Ai Smoke family of drivers — for more on Micro Deflections and Swing Code, check out our driver launch piece. Additionally, with the mini driver Callaway engineers opted for a dual weighting system (four grams and 12 grams), which can be swapped to adjust launch and spin.
Discussing the mini driver, Paul Winterhalter, Product Manager at Callaway, said, “This isn’t necessarily your “bomber” spec; this isn’t looking for extra added distance as compared to your driver. But this is an alternative club to where it’s giving you that consistent distance. It’s that smaller footprint for a player that’s probably a little bit higher caliber, looking to control.”
Added Advanced R&D Manager Nick Yontz, “What we’ve seen from a Tour aspect is that Tour players are rarely hitting their 3-woods into greens as approach shots. The 3-wood has become nearly a tee-only club, so situationally I think we’re going to see tour players lean into this at certain golf courses and certain setups as a club that they can use to hit more fairways.”
Yontz also stated the mini driver is 43.75 inches in length, two inches shorter than a traditional driver. He described it as “easier to swing and easier to hit straighter, because of that shorter shaft being able to square it up and control it a little bit more.” He also mentioned the Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 is well suited to players who struggle to hit their 3-woods, particularly off the tee.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Ti 340 Mini Driver: Pricing, specs, availability
- Price: $449.99
- Lofts: 11.5, 13.5 degrees
- Shafts: Project X Denali Blue (50, 60), Project X Cypher (40)
- Pre-sale date: 6/11
- At retail: 6/27
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Equipment
What’s the most forgiving and longest driver you’ve played in past 5 years? – GolfWRXers discuss
In our forums, our members have been discussing the most forgiving and longest driver they’ve played over the past 5 years. WRXer ‘bogeykibg’ poses the question and also asks “does forgiveness mean shorter?”, and our members have been sharing their thoughts on the subject in our forum.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- Kai Slater: “The Callaway Rogue ST Max driver is the most forgiving/long driver that I’ve personally tried. It’s my current driver and, although, I see no reason to change, I’m very curious about trading up to the AI Smoke when the prices drop later this year.”
- Ger21: “Srixon ZX5 LS MK II. Remarkably forgiving.”
- scooterhd2: “If we are talking about average on course distance, and not max distance, or good hits on a sim, then its G400MAX. Theres no rollout in the woods or the lake. Hit em straight.”
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Equipment
Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (6/11/24): 2024 Bettinardi BB1W Raw putter
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a 2024 Bettinardi BB1W Raw putter.
From the seller: (@tnrts345): “2024 Bettinardi BB1W Raw – slight patina. Limited Release. 36.5” 3* loft 72* lie. Ping cord midsize. Can get lie and length adjusted free of charge prior to shipping out. No headcover. $500 shipped. $450 Shipped.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: 2024 Bettinardi BB1W Raw putter
This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules
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Equipment
Tiger Woods swapping 5-wood for TaylorMade P770 2-iron at Pinehurst
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt of an article our Andrew Tursky filed for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Read the full piece here.
In recent years, Woods has almost always used a 5-wood, unless he’s playing in The Open Championship at a links venue where the winds are high and he wants a lower trajectory off the tee … or when he played in the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills. However, this week at the U.S. Open the 5-wood was absent from his Monster Energy staff bag, and in its place was a 2-iron.
Throughout 2024, Woods has been using a mixed set of irons, including a 2023 TaylorMade P770 3-iron, and TaylorMade P7TW blades (4-PW), each of which are shafted up with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts.
Interestingly, the 2-iron he added on Monday is a 2021 version of TaylorMade’s P770 iron model, and it’s shafted up with a True Temper Dynamic Gold MID X100 shaft, which is slightly lighter and designed to launch slightly higher than his stock iron shafts. This is the same 2-iron setup that he used at the 2022 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
While it’s unclear at the moment why Woods has left his usual 5-wood out of the bag this week, it can be seen that Pinehurst No. 2 surely has more of a links-style setup than standard American courses, and bunkering around the landing areas off the tee lends itself to strategic placement of the golf ball in order to have a clean approach shot at the greens.
“Proto” wedges
Additionally, the ultradwarf bermudagrass at Pinehurst No. 2, combined with Donald Ross’ diabolical greenside chipping areas, creates a unique short game challenge for U.S. Open contestants. Woods appears to be preparing for that challenge by equipping himself with two new TaylorMade MG4 “Proto” wedges, which have different grinds on their soles than he typically uses.
Head over to PGATour.com for the full piece.
Related: Tiger Woods WITB 2024 (June)
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