Equipment

Spotted: Ben Hogan’s personal and prototype clubs at the Charles Schwab Challenge

Published

1 year ago

May 24, 2023

Ben Hogan’s personal and professional history is golf lore. Born in 1912, Hogan overcame a challenging start in life to become one of the game’s all-time greats. The “Wee Ice Mon’s” dedication and unwavering work ethic were unparalleled. Hogan amassed a total of nine major championships throughout his career, including four U.S. Open victories, two Masters wins, two PGA Championships, and one Open Championship. Notably, in 1953, he accomplished the incredible feat of winning all three majors he entered — the Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship.

Another well-read section in the annals of golf history concerns Ben Hogan’s founding of the golf equipment company that bears his name in 1953. On the subject of names, the company’s iron models can be rattled off easily by any equipment junkie — Precision, Apex, Power Thrust, Edge…

In recent years, however, we junkies have been given the gift of a new lens through which to view these iconic irons — and woods, for that matter — in the form of prototype clubs from the Hawk’s private reserve presented at the Charles Schwab Challenge by the Ben Hogan Foundation and it’s generous (and equipment loving) CEO Robert Stennett.

Last year, our Andrew Tursky spoke with Stennett and got a look at prototype woods, irons, and putters.

The proto-hybrid from the 1960s, pictured below, was particularly interesting.

At this year’s contesting of the tournament at Colonial, we were fortunate to get a look at some more Hogan prototypes and personal clubs. Check out a few below.

For more photos and to see what GolfWRXers are saying, head to the GolfWRX forums.

And check out all our photos from Colonial here.

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Whats in the Bag

C.T. Pan WITB 2024 (July)

Published

49 mins ago

Jul 18, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

C.T. Pan what’s in the bag accurate as of the John Deere Classic. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GT3 (16.5 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7 X

5-wood: Titleist TSR2 (21 degrees, C1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Red 80 TX

More photos of C.T. Pan’s WITB in the forums.

Irons: Titleist U505 (1), Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T150 (5-9)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Red RDX 80 6.5 (1), KBS PGI 90 (4-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F, 52-08F, 64), Vokey WedgeWorks (59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Purple S400

More photos of C.T. Pan’s WITB in the forums.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Tourtype SSS TG-6.5

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

More photos of C.T. Pan’s WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Justin Thomas WITB 2024 (July)

Published

1 hour ago

Jul 18, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Justin Thomas’ what’s in the bag accurate as of the Scottish Open. We will make any updates if JT has many any changes for The Open Championship when we have those details.

Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60 TX

3-wood: Titleist TS3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 85 TX

5-wood: Titleist 915 Fd (18 degrees @19.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 9.2 X

See more in-hand photos of Justin Thomas’ WITB in the forums.

Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 621.JT (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (46-10F @47.5, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), Titleist Vokey Design WedgeWorks Proto (60-06K @60.5)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (46), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (52-60)

See more in-hand photos of Justin Thomas’ WITB in the forums.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.2 Tour Prototype
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Pistol Tour

(Photo courtesy of Scotty Cameron)

(Photo courtesy of Scotty Cameron)

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

See the rest of Justin Thomas’ WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

How data informs Edoardo Molinari’s WITB

Published

2 hours ago

Jul 18, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.

Molinari said his data-driven approach has helped him most with strategy – more specifically, it has opened his eyes to use his driver more often off the tee.

“Strategy is a big thing,” Molinari said. “I think off the tee especially, I’m a good driver of the ball, and once I started looking at the numbers a bit more in-depth, I realized I could hit driver a lot more often than I used to. So I would say, these days, I hit driver a lot more than other players simply because, A) I’m more accurate than average and, B) I’m a little bit shorter than average. Especially on shorter holes, I try and push it up a bit more, as much as I can, and I feel like I’ve been gaining shots in that area for sure.”

On that note, Molinari recently switched into Titleist’s new GT3 8-degree driver, which he said provides more consistent spin rates and roughly 5 to 6 more yards of distance compared to his previous driver.

On the lower end of his setup, Molinari uses four wedges (PW, 52, 56 and 60 degrees) – a decision that was solidified by the proof he found in the data.

“Looking at the numbers, I realized that I could gain a lot more with the wedges … if I didn’t have a 3-iron,” Molinari said. “So I basically have a bit of a bigger gap between my 4-iron and the hybrid. But the thing is, once you’re that far away from the green, all you’re trying to do is just trying to hit the green. So I don’t need a perfect number there, but I’m happier to have some more options around the greens, and especially from shots in the 75- to 125-yard range.”