Top 10 clubs, training aids, and golf accessories from the PGA Merchandise Show
Best Golf Clubs
While many golfers have embraced hybrid clubs, the category isn’t universally loved. Cobra Golf recognizes this and created the King Tec Hybrid—a versatile club available in four standard lofts with ample adjustability. The clubhead comes outfitted with three adjustable weight settings to affect spin, launch, and draw- or fade-bias. It also features a flatter face and longer heel-to-toe design, which appeals to those who have shied away from traditional hybrids. Like most adjustable drivers, the King Tec Hybrid allows players to tweak the club’s loft by as much as 3 degrees. $300; cobragolf.com
The new Paradym family of golf clubs from Callaway is solid across the bag. The woods are likely to steal most of the spotlight, but the Paradym irons are a perfect blend of performance and forgiveness. Available from 4-iron all the way to gap wedge, they feature an A.I.-constructed forged face that optimizes shots hit across the entire surface. This promotes consistently faster ball speeds, higher launch angles, and more spin (when and where it’s needed). A new Speed Frame construction adds stiffness to the body of the club, providing the stability necessary to support a thin face. Tungsten weights—up to 67 grams—improve mishits. $200; callawaygolf.com
Never the longest-hitting clubs on the market, Titleist drivers are celebrated for their control and consistency. That’s still the case with its latest TSR drivers, but these clubs deliver more ball speed—meaning more distance—when compared to the brand’s preceding TSi models that launched 2.5 years ago. Available in four configurations to accommodate varying ability levels, TSR drivers feature a boat tail shape that improves aerodynamics and generates faster swing speeds. They are constructed with an aerospace-grade titanium lauded for its strength, durability, and rate of recoil. $600; titleist.com
In 2022 LA Golf unveiled a fully customizable, all-carbon putter. It was the first complete golf club made by a company that, up until then, only produced specialty aftermarket shafts. The California manufacturer has followed its debut with the launch of two second-generation models: the Bel-Air (a blade) and the Malibu (a mallet). The putter heads are made entirely of carbon, which produces a much larger sweet spot given that the material is five times less dense than steel. Each is equipped with a specialty, anti-vibration shaft and features the brand’s patented Descending Loft Face technology, which produces more consistent strikes and leads to more predictable rolls. From $500; lagolf.co
Best Launch Monitor and Simulator
Best Golf Shoes
The landscape of available personal launch monitors is vast, but not every device lives up to expectations. Typically, you get what you pay for, only with the new Golfzon WAVE you get a two-for-one. The device operates as a launch monitor that can detect all shots—even short-game finesse swings—and it tracks more than two dozen ball flight parameters. When paired with the accompanying putting mat, which utilizes precision infrared technology, the WAVE acts as a golf simulator with incredibly quick response times and access to more than 100 bucket list courses. $4,000; golfzongolf.com
The classic styling of golf shoes from the 1950s serves as the inspiration for the Boxto Heritage Series, a lineup of golf shoes made by hand from exotic and full-grain leathers. Equipped with the latest, industry-leading soft spikes, each pair features wooden soles with integrated TPU technology, making them water-resistant. The full-grain leather uppers are water-repellent and lined with baby calfskin. Above all, these shoes marry comfort with traditional aesthetics. They do it so well, in fact, that US Open champion Jim Furyk—a PGA Tour player known for having incredible high standards when it comes to his shoes—partnered with the Houston startup as a brand ambassador. $1,200; boxtogolf.com
Best Golf Training Aids
Wish you were a better putter? Augmented reality can help. German company PuttView introduces PuttView X, utilizing Microsoft’s HoloLens 2. This high-tech headset can display the contours on any green; and through voice commands, users identify the hole and the starting point of a putt, then watch as the sensors in the goggles map out the setup, aiming cues, and ideal lines that a putt must follow to drop in the hole. Although the headset is comfortable, looking through the goggles can be a bit disorienting at first. At the very least, it will teach you to be a better green reader, which alone is half the battle. $14,480; puttview.com
Electro muscle stimulation (EMS) is nothing new; the application of using low-frequency pulses of electric current to stimulate muscles into contracting has been utilized for decades (and is medically tested to build strength and improve conditioning without external loads). Up until recently, reaping the benefits of EMS required working with a certified trainer, but thanks to Las Vegas–based Katalyst, the technology is accessible for at-home use. The system incorporates an iPad or tablet, and via an app guides users through any number of 10- to 20-minute workouts. The necessary sensor-laden suit is configured to each client based on their body measurements, and the system can be purchased for as little as $66 per month. $2,385; katalyst.fit
Best Golf Digital Accessories
Magnetized Bluetooth speakers have allowed golfers to listen to tunes on the course—so long as they used a golf cart. Now, thanks to TecTecTec, golfers who walk the course can wear the Team8 S, a miniaturized Bluetooth speaker that clips to their hip or their golf bag and allows them to bring their music anywhere on the course without cranking up the volume. The device not only plays music, but provides GPS-aided distances to the front, middle, and back of greens, as well as to hazards on the course. $100; us.tectectec.com
Among the greatest advantages of having a caddie are peace of mind and course knowledge. But it’s one thing to know how far the flag is and another to know how much green is between the flag and the lip of a front greenside bunker. For years, that’s been the shortcoming of distance-measuring devices, but the new CaddyTalk Cube laser rangefinder delivers more assistance with Caddy Mode, an algorithm that triangulates the distance between two points. The device is equipped with an environmental slope function that factors in temperature, altitude, and humidity, the latter of which is a variable that hasn’t previously been calculated by laser rangefinders. $350; caddytalkusa.com
