Precept Ec Hybrid - RH Graphite

Precept makes clubs, too?

Lets see. Now all the clubmakers are making balls (Callaway, for example), and the ball makers are making clubs. And everyone now has their own line of apparel and shoes. I’m guessing that they’re all trying to follow the example of the Titleist behemoth.

Here’s a thought: how long will it be until one of these manufacturers opens a series of little botiques in tony malls in golf mad areas of the country? How about the “TaylorMade-Adidas” store in Myrtle Beach? Or the “Callaway Corner” across the street from Oakland Hills in Michigan? Might be worth taking a look.

Jesse Ortiz is one of the most respected names in the club design business. As chief designer at Orlimar, he helped to turn that company into a major player in the golf business.

Now, he returns with the Bobby Jones line of clubs, which made the Golf Digest 2006 Hot List.

The Players Series hybrid increases stability with its triangular head and improves playability with a wide contoured sole. The crown’s maraging steel construction allowed Ortiz to redistrubute down and back for higher trajectory shots.

Golf Digest called it a “retro cleek” and praised its ability to get out of the rough.

What I like best about the clubs is their elegant, classic look. They’re a set that is worthy of the Bobby Jones name.

Bobby Jones by Jesse Ortiz Utility Wood

The Mizuno Fli-Hi are designed as easy-to-hit repalcements for your long irons. The Fli-Hi hybrids have a graphite composite crown, a stainless setel face and a low, deep center of gravity. Mizuno says that it’s CORETECH technology uses three variable face thicknesses to deliver uniform face deflection for consistent distance control.

Interestingly, Mizuno also claims that these clubs can be played out of sand becuase of its blunt leading edge and heel and toe relief areas.

I need a long club that can be played out of sand. There are a couple of sand traps on the par 5s at my home course that narrow the fairway right where my ball lands. The sides are steep, so playing a fairway wood won’t do the trick. I need a club that gets the ball up in the air quickly, but that also gets it down the fairway so I have a deent chance at a par.

These might do the trick.

Mizuno Fli-Hi Clk Hybrid - RH Steel

For the budget conscious, GigaGolf offers a wide selection of inexpensive, custom configured clubs.

The Acer XP Hybrid, for example, is priced between $23.50 and $48, depending upon the options that you choose. When you buy online at their site, you can choose the grip type and size, the shaft brand and flex, and the length. Various fitting guides help you make the right choices.

It sounds risky to buy a club online, sight unseen, but it’s apparently not. GigaGolf offers a 30-day playabiity guarantee. If, at the end of 30 days, you don’t like the club, you can return it for a 100% refund—no matter what the condition. Ther’s also a one year component and workmanship guarantee.

If top line clubs are beyond your reach—or if you are just an occasional player who doesn’t want to invest a lot of money, these may be the ticket.

Tour Edge has a reputation for high quality, but low priced clubs. That’s why the Iron Wood was a 2005 Golf Digest Best Value, and why it’s on the 2006 Golf Digest Hot List.

Designed—as all hybrids are—as a long iron replacement, the Iron Wood is designed to be more forgiving and easier to get the ball in the air. The hollow body is constructed of super-thin super steel, which allows half of the clubhead’s mass to be positioned in the sole. The body is supported by internal struts.

You can get the Bazooka JMax Ironwoods in three different combinations: as an individual iron, as a set of Iron Woods, or in a mixture of Iron Woods and Traditional Irons. That’s a terrific idea, and one that I’d liek to see other manufacturers offer. TaylorMade, for example could offer a set that consists of 3, 4, and 5 Rescue Duals, and 6-PW R7 XDs. Or Ping could have a 3, 4, and 5 G5, with 6-PW irons.

The idea good, but it isn’t new. There’s a retired teacher I know (who coached the school’s golf teams before me) who has always played with a club set composed nearly entirely of woods. Some of those woods have faces that look like ski slopes. But he had to compile that set on his own, since such things weren’t available when he started.

You can check prices and get more information at Golfsmith, below:

TOUR EDGE JMAX IronWood w/Steel Shaft

TOUR EDGE JMAX Iron Wood Set w/Graphite Shaft

TOUR EDGE Bazooka J-Max QL Combo Set 3,4/ 5-PW w/ Graphite Shaft

For this club, Nike took the successful principles of the Slingshot Irons and applied them to a hybrid.The resulting Nike Slingshot Hybrid made the Golf Digest 2006 Hot List.

Like the Slingshot Irons, the hybrid has a different—even strange—look. Golf Digest said that, from address, it looks a bit like an ashtray, and I have to agree:

Still, looks aren’t everything (at least that’s what I told all my former girlfriends). The strange slingback design moves 70% of the clubhead weight below the equator of the ball. That makes it easier to get the ball into the air from a variety of lies.

The club comes in versions designed to replace 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 irons.

NIKE Slingshot Hybrid w Diamana Shaft

The TaylorMade Rescue Dual was the Editor’s Choice among hybrid clubs on the 2006 Golf Digest Hot List.

The club features two of TaylorMade’s famous TLC (TaylorMade Launch Control) weight ports that allow users to change the club’s weighting for a draw or neutral bias. The ports in this model are more widely spaced, creating a higher moment of intertia (resistance to twisting). The hybrid also has a new v shaped sole design for better aiming and less drag at impact.

If you aren’t already using a hybrid club in place of your long irons, you should be. I have one of these in my bag, and will surely add another this spring.

TaylorMade Rescue Dual - Graphite Shaft