The new r7 quad 425 has 28 grams of movable weight screws, and Odyssey’s new putters seek to offer increased stability with a ring that connects the heel, toe and back. Photos: Jim Herity

TaylorMade’s r7 quad driver and Odyssey’s 2-ball putter line receive dramatic face-lifts

The r7 quad driver from TAYLORMADE and the 2-Ball putter from OODYSSEY changed just about everything in their equipment categories. Now, they’re getting ready to change themselves.

The new TaylorMade r7 quad 425 becomes the largest all-titanium driver with four movable weights, which are now spaced wider than on its predecessor in an effort to enhance slice or draw correction. The driver has the highest moment of inertia of any driver its size, according to its designers. TaylorMade officials say they were able to increase the head size of the original r7 by reducing the thickness of the titanium walls to 0.6 millimeters, about the thickness of six sheets of paper. That allowed the amount of movable weight to go from 24 grams on the original r7 to 28 grams on the new model.

buzz The gotta-have-it equipment golfers are talking about (or soon will be)

PUTTERS Although PING‘s new Ug-Le (right> features the same insert as other G5i putters (softer perimeter with firmer middle), its shape is straight out of Star Trek. The theory is that by hollowing out the midsection, the extra heel-and-toe weighting increases the moment of inertia, making it the highest in the G5i series, including the Craz-E ($145, pinggolf.com). BALLS The return of colored golf balls is no longer a curiosity. No less than five companies are in the colored-ball game, following the cult success of the VOLVIK Crystal balls. There’s the colored “Karma” ball in each dozen box of NIKE‘s Mojo ball. Others to go all in on color include the TOP-FLITE Quartz (in pink, blue, yellow and clear), the PRECEPT Lady SIII (in yellow, pink, blue and clear), and the MAXFLI Noodle Ice (lime, lemon, tangerine and raspberry). IRONS Thin is in, as in thin-face irons. As expected (New Looks, July 2005), there is a rush on irons that feature special thin metals in the face to save weight and possibly increase an iron’s springlike effect. NIKE‘s Slingshot iron had a large unsupported face area when it first came out, and now its latest version, the Slingshot OSS, will have an even thinner face (about two millimeters) made of a cold-rolled Cryo Steel that designers say saves 29 grams (over typical 17-4 steel) for redistribution around the perimeter ($700, nikegolf.com). NICKLAUS GOLF‘s High-CT irons employ a Carpenter 455 steel sheet face insert that is 2.4 millimeters thick. The CT refers to the U.S. Golf Association’s springlike effect pendulum test for “characteristic time” ($800, nicklaus-golf.com). WEDGES The wedge might be the simplest looking piece of equipment in a golfer’s bag, but don’t be fooled. Groove technology and sole shaping are perennial challenges being tackled by technology. For instance, ADAMS GOLF‘s Puglielli wedge features a face that has been fly-cut milled and grooves that are machined to the maximum USGA depth and width. The series, named for Adams’ director of tour operations and wedge designer Max Puglielli, comes in two sole configurations. The Sweep version features standard bounce angles (12 degrees on the 56-degree wedge), and the Steep version provides extra bounce (15 degrees on the 54-degree) for players with a more aggressive angle of attack. It was used by the winner of three Champions Tour events in 2005 ($125, adamsgolf.com).

TaylorMade also focused on improving the shaft, partnering with FUJIKURA to design a shaft that improves stability and consistency. The 65-gram RE-AX shaft uses a woven sheet of graphite fibers near the tip to reduce the tendency of the shaft’s circular structure to flatten out in the bottom part of the downswing (available in late 2005, $400 for r7 quad 425, $800 for r7 quad 425 TP, taylormadegolf.com).

Meanwhile, Odyssey’s 2-Ball gets the most dramatic alterations in its history in 2006. First, the traditional 2-Ball look incorporates material and shape changes in the new White Steel 2-Ball SRT. A zinc-alloy ring extending from the heel and toe to the back “ball” is designed to push more weight to the perimeter. According to Odyssey, this increases the putter’s moment of inertia by 33 percent over the previous 2-Ball White Steel. The Tri-Ball SRT adds a third white circle aimed at enhancing alignment and includes a similarly placed, larger zinc-alloy ring (available in February, $190 for 2-Ball SRT, $200 for Tri-Ball SRT, odysseygolf.com).

Turf war

As hybrid lofts go lower, where should fairway woods take over? When Jerry Pate shelved his 4-wood for a 17-degree hybrid, Tim Reed, ADAMS GOLF‘s vice president of research and development, wasn’t surprised. “It got him the shot shape he was after,” Reed says . “The 4-wood was floating, and if you’re trying to reduce spin, you move the center of gravity closer to the face. In a hybrid the CG is relatively closer to the face than it is in a fairway wood.” Of course, just to confuse us all, Charles Howell III went the other way, shelving a couple of hybrids in favor of CALLAWAY‘s prototype fairway wood.

The debate is fueled by hybrid lofts stretching to the 3-wood level. For example, NICKENT‘s retooled 3DX DC Ironwood line comes in two head shapes and 14 lofts (as low as 14 degrees). The 3DX features a thinned-out 17-4 steel face and positions two 20-gram tungsten-polymer weights in the back ($150, nickentgolf.com). Callaway’s 1H Heavenwood checks in at 14 degrees, and Adams’ A2 hybrids start at 16 degrees, as do hybrids from TAYLORMADE (Rescue dual), PING (G5) and COBRA (Baffler). Generally, more swing speed allows you to use more lower-lofted hybrids. For average players, a fairway wood has stability, an even lower center of gravity (more spin) and a longer shaft (more speed), crucial for launching the ball. Says Scott Rice, principal design engineer at Cobra, whose new Speed line of fairway woods starts at 13 degrees: “The number of people who can benefit from a utility club over a long iron is enormous, but that’s not true when you start backing down to a 3-wood loft.” Bottom line: Hybrids are better at precision; fairway woods are better at distance.

Sneak Peek A first look at what the insiders are showing off

TITLEIST has never had a driver this big–literally. The 455-cubic -centimeter Pro Titanium 905R, 55 cubic centimeters bigger than the 905S, ended up in the bags of tour players at the end of 2005. The one pictured here belongs to Davis Love III. It has the same aluminum-hosel tube as its predecessors but offers slightly more spin. Expect it in shops by late spring.