Modern Muscle Technology is Here! This week, the Discount Golf World Pro examines the Nike Vapor Irons to highlight some of their key features. the Nike Vapor Pro Irons are positioned as the replacement for the traditional blade. These irons produce approximately 1.7 yards more distance and feature an MOI that is ten percent higher than the VR Pro Blades they replace. The main technological advantage provided by the Vapor Pro design is what Nike calls a “modern muscle.” This design incorporates tungsten plugs that significantly improve the CG location of the club by moving it closer to the center of the clubface. Unlike traditional blade designs, which feature a CG that’s closer to the hosel, the Vapor Pro and its modern muscle design provide the best results when the ball is struck in the middle of the clubface and produces improved results on shots struck off-center. The Nike Vapor Pro Combo Irons, which fit nicely between the Pro and the Speed, also utilize the modern muscle design to provide a combination of precision and ball speed. Like the Vapor Pro, the Pro Combo irons feature a CG closer to the center of the face, making them both more precise and more forgiving than past Pro Combo models. The Nike Vapor Speed Irons are aimed at players who want maximum distance and forgiveness, simply. Nike’s modern muscle design moves the CG closer to the center of the clubface and lower and deeper in the clubhead to provide a combination of this new CG location with very thin clubfaces and lighter, longer shafts. The result, high launching shots with maximum carry distance. Shop for the Nike Vapor Irons at Discount Golf World. [embed width="640" height="360"]http://youtu.be/5Pgv3ThsO1I[/embed]

Powered by Modern Muscle Technology Building a better iron starts with listening to the voice of the athlete. At The Oven, Nike's meticulous process of collecting insights and implementing feedback from the world's best athletes has been the driving force behind the development of the Vapor Iron family and Modern Muscle. "We had this idea, if we moved the CG towards the center of the face that it would have more impact and more mass right behind the golf ball. And it worked. I was able to hit that ball a little bit further, it came off more solid, and the amazing thing is the ball flew better." - Tiger Woods Modern Muscle technology is available in all three members of the Nike Vapor Iron Family - the Vapor Pro, Vapor Pro Combo and Vapor Speed. Because no matter what conventional wisdom might say, there's always better. Tiger's future irons, the Nike Vapor Pro Irons are positioned as the replacement for the traditional blade. These irons produce approximately 1.7 yards more distance and feature an MOI that is ten percent higher than the VR Pro Blades they replace. The main technological advantage provided by the Vapor Pro design is what Nike calls a "modern muscle." This design incorporates tungsten plugs that significantly improve the CG location of the club by moving it closer to the center of the clubface. Unlike traditional blade designs, which feature a CG that's closer to the hosel, the Vapor Pro and its modern muscle design provide the best results when the ball is struck in the middle of the clubface and produces improved results on shots struck off-center. The Nike Vapor Pro Combo Irons, which fit nicely between the Pro and the Speed, also utilize the modern muscle design to provide a combination of precision and ball speed. Like the Vapor Pro, the Pro Combo irons feature a CG closer to the center of the face, making them both more precise and more forgiving than past Pro Combo models. The Nike Vapor Speed Irons are aimed at players who want maximum distance and forgiveness, simply. Nike's modern muscle design moves the CG closer to the center of the clubface and lower and deeper in the clubhead to provide a combination of this new CG location with very thin clubfaces and lighter, longer shafts. The result, high launching shots with maximum carry distance. Check out all of the Vapor Irons at Discount Golf World.

Patrick Reed was struggling. By the end of April 2013, he’d entered 13 PGA Tour events and had missed the cut eight times. Save for a 7th place finish at Pebble beach in February, his first full season on Tour was horrific. In fact, from mid-march through the end of April, Reed had missed the cut in 5 of 6 tournaments and finished t71st—almost dead last--in the only event in which he’d managed to play the weekend. With the truncated 2013 season half over, Reed made the switch to Callaway in May. Since then, he’s missed only one cut and garnered 4 top ten finishes, including his first ever victory at the Wyndham Championship, and earned over $1.6 million and enough FedEx Cup points to begin the playoffs at number 22 in total points earned. Reed’s change to Callaway in May resulted in stellar play ever since, and in July he added the new FT Optiforce 440 Driver and Mack Daddy 2 Wedges to his bag. Entering the FedEx Cup playoffs, he’s one of the tour’s hottest players with top tens in his last three starts. In winning the Wyndham Championship, Reed was 1st in Greens in Regulation, 5th in putting and 11th in driving distance. We can’t tell you definitively that Reed’s game turned the corner with Callaway, but the stats don’t lie…and they would indicate the equipment change propelled his season in a new—and highly lucrative—direction. Here’s Patrick Reeds Bag; DRIVER: Callaway FT Optiforce 440 (9.5 degree) with an Aldila Rogue shaft IRONS: Callaway X Forged (2-iron bent to 15 degree, 2- and 4-irons) and Callaway Razr X MB (5-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts WEDGES: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 (50, 56 and 60 degree) with True Temper Dynamic Gold shafts PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 BALL: Callaway Hex Chrome+ You'll find Patrick Reed's Callaway equipment and much more at DGW.

By his own admission, there was a time when even Phil Mickelson, not one known for self doubt, questioned his ability to ever win a British Open. That changed Sunday with his victory at Muirfield. Phil’s first Open Championship and fifth Major title was much more dramatic than the three shot margin of victory would indicate. Starting the day 5 shots off the lead, Mickelson was steady, if not spectacular through the first 12 holes on a day when steady looked, well, spectacular compared with the rest of the field. Pars were at a premium and birdies were scarce. So it was remarkable that Phil played the last 6 holes in 4 under par, sealing the victory and ending a tournament that looked as if it were anyone’s game until that final, fateful hour. How did he do it?   Phil is known for changing up his equipment, for experimenting (see, e.g. The Phrankenwood) and for tailoring his equipment to the venue and conditions, even more so than your average tour pro, who does a fair amount of all of the above. For the Open Championship, Phil packed five wedges and no driver, opting to tackle the lengthier tee shots with a Callaway X Hot Pro 3Deep Three Wood. In the end, he credited his three wood and his Odyssey Versa #9 Putter for his finish as the only golfer in the field to break par. And Mickelson is nothing, if not gracious, so it was no big surprise, really, when he thanked the Callaway design team and technical folks for outfitting him with the perfect set to fashion what he claimed to be his best round of golf ever as a professional.   Here’s Phil’s Bag:   Fairway Wood: Callaway X Hot 3 Deep (13°) Hybrid: Ping Anser (17°) Irons: Callaway X Forged (4-PW) Wedges: Callaway Mack Daddy 2 (60°, 64°); Callaway X Series Jaws (52°, 56°) Putter: Odyssey Versa #9 Ball: Callaway Hex Chrome+   For a limited time Callaway and DGW are commemorating Mickelson’s winning score of 281 with a celebratory sale on Callaway Hex Chrome+ Golf Balls for $28.10. We have all of Phil’s Callaway equipment at DGW.

The USGA likes to say they set up the US Open venue to identify the very best player as our nation’s champion. And despite the fact that this isn’t always the case—see Michael Campbell--Justin Rose clearly fit that description for the Open just ended at Merion Golf Club. In the end, he struck the ball better and putted better than anyone else through 4 rounds on what appeared to be the hardest golf course on the planet. Particularly impressive were his clutch putting, including a 20 footer for birdie on 13 that tied him for the lead, and his long iron play on both 17 and 18. Of course, he had to hit fairways to hit good iron shots, and none was more impressive than the drive on 18, setting up the opportunity to rip a 4 iron dead at the hole, and effectively eliminating any legitimate drama from Phil Mickelson’s finish.   Rose used a full complement of TaylorMade equipment, including the new Lethal Golf Ball. Here’s his bag:   Driver: TaylorMade R1 Fairway Wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Tour Irons: TaylorMade RocketBladez Tour (3-6), Tour Preferred MB (7-PW) Wedges: TaylorMade ATV (52°, 56°, 60°) Putter: TaylorMade Spider Blade Ball: TaylorMade Lethal   Check out DGW today for all your TaylorMade equipment needs.    

Those of you who try to avoid full time golf addiction by trying not to watch PGA Tour coverage this early in the season may be unaware of the big news. Two of the first three tournaments of 2013 were won with TaylorMade’s new RocketBladez Tour Irons. From where I sit, that is not just big, it’s monumental.   We’re accustomed to TaylorMade leading the driver count on tour, and the RocketBallz Fairway Wood phenomenon of 2012 proved that creative design can squeeze ever more yards from a club and still conform to USGA standards. But who would’ve thought TaylorMade would dominate the early 2013 PGA Tour season with an iron design offering forgiveness and distance? Aren't those attributes created for the handicap golfer? Well, yes...and no, apparently.  As you might surmise from these tour victories, the new RocketBladez and RocketBladez Tour Irons are the real deal.   You can believe TaylorMade’s distance claims, or not. Here’s what you need to know and understand: with the RBladez Irons you will lose less distance on mis-hits. The really cool innovation and the reason the TM Tour staff is switching is the same reason the rest of us search for new irons. RocketBladez help them play better. TaylorMade has created an iron that is more forgiving—consistently more forgiving--meaning you can count on the fact that your mis-hits will go about as far as your solid shots. That is a major development.   Tour pros are all about “feel” and precisely “dialing in” their distances. Even though their misses are less frequent and less severe than ours, the pros do miss, and while the effects of those misses might look less dramatic than ours, the consequences are no less penal, and are perhaps more so. A mis-hit for PGA Tour Guy might mean the difference between a chip from the fringe versus a birdie putt. With the RBladez, that same mis-hit is still a birdie putt…and that’s a big, big benefit, especially multiplied over the course of a 72 hole tournament. For recent convert, Dustin Johnson, that could the difference between winning or merely finishing with a top 25—significant, that. For you and I, it can mean hitting a lot more greens and scoring better—much better.   Sergio Garcia switched to the RocketBladez Tour late in 2012 and promptly won in Asia. DJ switched and won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. Brian Gay switched and won last week’s birdie-fest at the Humana Challenge.   You need to switch, too. Hit more greens and have more fun. Get better in 2013.  Order your RocketBladez or RocketBladez Tour Irons today at DGW. And by the way…they are longer too.

Cleveland Golf just introduced the new 588 Altitude Irons. Constructed with a full hollow body design, these “hybrid irons” are for any golfer seeking distance, height and forgiveness.  Each iron in the set is engineered to provide optimum, flight, forgiveness and feel, according to Cleveland.   The Altitudes have advanced internal weighting that promotes a low and deep center of gravity for both high launch and maximum distance. The company says the center of gravity is 13% lower and 121% deeper compared to a typical game-improvement iron resulting in iron shots that are easier to hit with proper trajectory. This is possible because of the hollow body construction that offers hybrid-like playability through each iron in the set.   Each club offers Face Forged® Technology that enhances ball speed and delivers feel. Cleveland says the Altitudes are designed for customization through a notch in the hosel that allows change in lie angle by three degrees up or down and loft by two degrees weaker or stronger. This is a significant acknowledgement by a company that higher handicap players can benefit from custom-fitting options, as well.   The 588 Altitude Irons are available in 3-SW for both men and women in graphite or steel shafts. Cleveland will begin shipping these new hybrid-irons November16, 2012.   Pre-order your set of the new 588 Altitude Irons at DGW today.

For weeks golf geeks everywhere have been speculating about TaylorMade’s teaser ad featuring Sergio Garcia and a tag line suggesting he was about to get “freakishly longer.” Today, TaylorMade released its “secret” to the public with the announcement of the new RocketBladez Irons. TaylorMade says this new design is a “once-in-a-lifetime innovation that revolutionizes iron performance.”   We’ve all grown accustomed, perhaps even a bit jaded, to marketing efforts in all walks of life touting the newest new thing; the latest thing we can’t live without. Nowhere is marketing more evident than in the world of golf club manufacturing where every new product cycle bears claims of longer, more forgiving clubs. Consequently, if TaylorMade’s claims cause you to raise a skeptical eyebrow, consider yourself normal. But don’t let skepticism get in the way of taking a good look at these irons. Set your cynicism aside and you’ll find that TaylorMade does in deed have something new going on with the RocketBladez Irons.   The RBZ Speed Pocket Technology, so successful in generating distance increases in the RocketBallz Fairway Woods and Rescue Clubs, has been incorporated in the new RocketBladez Irons—and to the same effect. The 2 mm-wide Speed Pocket design, in the 3-7 irons, flexes and then rebounds at impact to promote faster ball speeds, higher launch and a ball flight that descends on a quick-stopping angle. The Speed Pocket is really more of what I think of as a “speed slot,” and it’s filled with specially formulated Polyurethane developed by 3M that dampens vibration, while allowing the slot to flex as designed at impact. This material also acts to keep debris from clogging the slot. The 8-Wedges don't have the Speed Pocket because they're designed with an emphasis on workability.   TaylorMade claims the Speed Pocket, in conjunction with a face design 11% thinner than predecessor irons, adds up to 10 COR (coefficient of restitution) points to the face as compared to the Burner 2.0 Irons. This is particularly true on shots struck low in the face of the club. TaylorMade’s research found that 72% of amateur iron shots are missed low, so this makes sense. The Burner 2.0 Irons were hot. These new irons are even hotter.   Another innovation is not so much a new design as it is an improvement. These irons offer an enhanced Inverted Cone design that TM claims delivers 2 distinct benefits. 1) It increases the size of the sweetspot. Two, and of significance to better players, it influences how the face flexes and rebounds so players get consistent control without hot spots on the iron face. The inverted Cone Technology has been in use by TaylorMade for awhile, but they say this new iteration is better.   If you’re still skeptical, you should know that these irons were first designed for amateurs, and then the TaylorMade Tour staff became enthused to the extent that TM created a RocketBladez Tour model, as well. It has the same high tech, but a thinner topline, smaller club head and minimal offset. The really good news is that all of this new technology is incorporated into a very good looking iron. You'll really want to see these in your bag.   The new RocketBladez are available for pre-order now at DGW. The RocketBladez will ship 12/01/12 and the RocketBladez Tour will ship 02/01/13.

If you’re a golfer grown accustomed to the forgiving nature of perimeter-weighted cast irons, Mizuno has something truly new for you. Yes, that’s right; I said Mizuno. The company best known for its pure blades and muscle-back “player’s” irons has upped their game, and quite possibly yours, with the introduction of four new iron sets.   Mizuno has a well-deserved reputation for crafting beautiful forged irons for the better player; irons that promote “feel” and “workability,” rather than distance and forgiveness. Not all that long ago, Mizuno was the undisputed leader in the iron category on the PGA Tour, and while the company no longer holds that position, it has nothing to do with the quality of their clubs. Rather, other companies have improved the quality of their irons, while simultaneously throwing endorsement dollars at Tour players to play them. Tour players, having discovered the benefits of perimeter weighting, particularly among the longer irons, have gone to set compositions that combine hybrids and cavity back long irons with more traditional mid and short irons. That trend among all golfers is here, and it’s here to stay. Mizuno, maybe as much as any golf company, knows this.   Still, forged clubs have lagged behind their cast cousins in the attempt to offer “game improvement” features. This is primarily because of the nature of forging, which makes it more difficult to shift weight to the perimeter of the club. For those of you who don’t know the difference, forged irons are made by heating solid bars of mild carbon steel and then shaping them into form. Cast irons are constructed by heating stainless steel alloy until it liquefies, then pouring this liquid steel into molds. That makes it easier to shift weight to make cast irons more forgiving and easier to hit high in the air. As a result, those of us who follow such things still think of Mizuno, the premier maker of forged irons, as a club maker dedicated to the low handicap guy.   That should change with the recent introduction of the new Mizuno iron lines. Mizuno released four new iron sets in September, each geared to a different segment of the golfing population. In short, there is a set of irons here for every golfer of most any ability. From tour pro to high handicapper; Mizuno has a new iron for you.   For the 10-28 handicap range, Mizuno’s new JPX-825™ is being touted by the company as its longest and most forgiving iron ever. These irons have a pocket cavity and thin face that offer a deep center of gravity (CG), maximum forgiveness and USGA- maximum COR (spring-like effect). They’re pretty to look at, easy to hit…and hot.   The JPX-825 Pro™ model is designed for handicaps between 6 and 18. These Grain Flow Forged™ irons offer attributes similar to the 825s, with a thinner top line and tour- design triple cut sole for added workability. PGA Tour pro Charles Howell III uses a mix of JPX longer irons with Mizuno MP scoring clubs.   For those who crave a player’s forged iron look, but need an assist with trajectory in the longer clubs, Mizuno has created the MP-H4, a brand new iron set directed at the 2-14 handicap player. This set is, in essence, three different iron designs. The 2 (yep, you can get one), 3 and 4 irons have hollow bodies with a forged face, neck and sole. The 5, 6 and 7 irons have a forged face and neck, but not a forged sole and the 8, 9 and wedges are traditional one-piece forgings. Without going into the rather complicated science behind this, suffice it to say that Mizuno claims the set is designed in this manner to optimize trajectory for low handicap players by precise placement of CG.   Finally, Mizuno also introduced the MP-64, based on direct input from Luke Donald. The company calls these irons a “player’s cavity” design and they are one-piece solid forgings utilizing Mizuno’s patented Grain Flow Forging™ process. These are targeted at the +2 to 10 handicap golfer, although I would suggest that if you’re closer to the 10 than the plus 2, you take a hard look first at the MP-H4s, or even the JPX-825 Pros. The new thing with these MPs is the Diamond Muscle Pad that flows with the varied cavities to optimize launch through the set.   You can get the full details, and the clubs, right here at DGW.

TaylorMade is "giving away distance" by giving away 20,000 new Burner 2.0 6-irons. Giving away, as in FREE! Haven't registered to get yours yet? All you need to do is just sign up here for your chance to win. Already received your free Burner 2.0 6-iron? Then we know you love it and are looking for a way to complete your set. Discount Golf World is here to help you with that. Most vendors require you to buy the whole 8 or 9 piece iron set, but at Discount Golf World you can buy each club individually . TaylorMade has already saved you money by giving you the 6-iron for FREE! Now, build your dream set around it. If you love this iron and want to complete the set, just buy the remaining individual irons. If you prefer using Hybrids over the traditional long irons, then perhaps you could mix a 3 and 4 Hybrid into your set. In fact, TaylorMade has released a whole new Burner 2.0 line that includes the Burner SuperFast 2.0 Drivers, Burner SuperFast 2.0 Fairway Woods, Burner SuperFast 2.0 Hybrids, Burner SuperFast 2.0 Rescue Club, and of course, the Burner 2.0 Irons. What if you just like your free 6-iron? Would having it made to your custom specifications make you love it? If so, then call our experts at 1-866-411-4349 to get your perfect Burner 2.0 Irons. Need more information on the Burner 2.0 irons?  Click here to check out our previous post on the technology behind the clubs.