Nike Mens TW13 Golf Shoes - Black/Red

The natural motion engineered outsole of the Nike TW’14 is designed to mimic and conform to the natural motion of the foot, and still deliver all the protection and traction of a lightweight performance golf shoe. This innovative outsole allows the athlete to keep contact with the ground longer, better harnessing the energy of the foot to the shoe and, therefore, the shoe to the ground.
 

“These shoes provide freedom of movement and allow me to release more power through my swing,” said Tiger Woods.

The new upper features improved ventilation that delivers increased breathability and comfort. This was achieved through strategically located perforations and a more comfortable mesh tongue providing athletes the ventilation they want without compromising the waterproof protection they need.

“With this shoe, we worked diligently to take every detail to a new level,” said Tobie Hatfield, Athlete Projects Innovator in Nike’s Innovation Kitchen. “Tiger’s relentless focus on getting better makes us better. His insights force us to never stop innovating and delivering technology that will enhance a golfer’s performance. In the TW ’14, he wanted more stability with mobility and we’ve accomplished that by using Nike’s Dynamic Flywire technology which moves with him, but stabilizes his foot when he swings.  We also increased breathability of the shoe by using a full mesh tongue.”

The new TW’14 footwear stays true to Woods’ signature colors, White, Black and Red, and also adds a new colorway to the mix, Cool Grey with Vivid Blue and Venom Green accents (available 8.1).

Steven Alexander sent me a pair of their hand-made Italian golf shoes, and I have to say that they’re the most beautiful pieces of footwear I have ever seen. They’re comfy, too.

I have not yet tried them out on the course, though, because everything here in Michigan is a sea of mud. I don’t want to take these works of art out until I’m sure they won’t get ruined

Bender Gloves
Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: A good glove. Color!

Rickie Fowler.

Say the name and an image comes to mind of a riot of color, defying the stereotypical staid golf clothing conventions. Orange. Blue. Yellow. Green.

Bender Gloves aren’t endorsed by Rickie Fowler, but they ought to be. Defying the stereotypical staid white glove convention, Bender Gloves instead come in a riot of color: orange, blue, yellow, green, pink and red.

They’re more than just a pretty face, though. Bender’s are well constructed gloves and should hold up for a great many rounds. They’ve also got a nice feel. I was surprised to learn from the site information that it is not cabretta, but a synthetic leather. This was a decision apparently driven by the need to make the glove more colorfast.

After playing several rounds, my Bender Glove seems to be holding up well. Lower quality gloves, I’ve found, lose their shape quickly and start to fray at the seams. I’ve seen none of this with the Bender Glove. There’s no undue wear on the palms, either.

Across the back of the Bender Glove is a bit of elastic fabric that stretches as the hand flexes. Elastic along the fingers prevents the glove from bunching. Finally, there’s a pad on the palm designed to help prevent slipping.

One thing I noticed is that the wrist on the Bender Glove doesn’t extend as far up the wrist as some others I’ve used.

The whole design produces a nice fitting glove.

Overall, the fit is dead on. I normally wear a large in Titleist or Taylormade gloves, and the large Bender fit as well.

I was initially concerned that the blue dye would somehow wear off on my hand, but that turned out not to be the case. I actually got a little sweaty in last week’s 80 degree weather and there was no sign of anything rubbing off.

The one quibble I had was that when I first opened the package, there was a strong chemical odor that took a couple of days to dissipate. The folks at Bender say they’ve resolved that issue.

Bender Gloves are priced very reasonably at $14.99, with free shipping from their website. They’ve also got a 14-day size exchange policy.

Licensing agreements would prevent Bender from saying so, but I have no such restrictions, so I’ll suggest that these gloves are a nice way to sport your favorite team’s colors. Blue for WVU or Michigan, Orange for the Texas, Oklahoma State, etc. It’d be really cool if Bender could eventually expand into dual-color gloves.

Bender Gloves: Recommended.

Fila Golf London Waterproof Wind Jacket

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Light, roomy and breathable.

I have unfortunately had ample time in the past couple of weeks to field test the Fila Golf London Waterproof jacket. The weather this spring has been extraordinarily rainy—the start of our league has thrice been postponed because much of the course is under water.

Still, I’ve managed to get some playing practice in weather that could only charitably be described as drizzly. On those rounds, I’ve been very thankful that Fila sent me one of their London Waterproof Windjackets for testing.

From a golf swing perspective, the jacket fits very well. It is roomy, and the “mechanical stretch” fabric allows a great deal of freedom of movement. It’s a big step up in that respect from my older Nike Storm Fit jacket. That tends to bunch and reduce movement.

The fit is great, but where the jacket really shines is in its fabric. The material is both fully waterproof and breathable. That avoids the problem presented by some cheaper waterproof jackets (especially the “provisional” jackets) that keep the rain out, but trap your body’s moisture inside. The end result of those jackets is that you still end up damp.

A little Boy Scout knowledge here:

Breathability is by no means new to fabrics. Gore-Tex has been around since 1980. Indeed, I already own several “breathable” rain jackets for camping and golf purposes. The difference with the Fila fabric is its feel. This is much softer, lighter and more flexible.

It is, however, ultimately not as waterproof nor as breathable as a Gore-Tex fabric. Typical Gore-Tex weather fabrics offer 28,000 mm of waterproofness and 15,000 g/m2 of breathabilty. That means that the jacket will hold up to 91 feet of rainfall in a single day. A breathability of 15,000 indicates that 529 ounces of moisture can pass from the inside out in a 24 hour period.

Fila’s Waterproof Windjacket has a waterproof rating of 3,000 mm (9 feet in a 24 hour period) and a breathability of 3,000 g/m2 (105 ounces). That’s significantly less, but conditions regularly faced by golfers are considerably less severe than those of campers and other outdoor adventurers. If a golfer is faced with a rainstorm that will sustain more than four inches an hour, chances are he’s headed to the clubhouse.

I’ve had no issue in a steady drizzle.

The seams of the jacket are additionally reinforced with waterproof tape. Anyone who has ever camped in bad weather (as I do frequently with the Scouts) will tell you that the seams on a tent are its weakest link. I am sure the same holds true on jackets.

Another nice feature: the jacket has a detachable hood.

I have two suggestions in the design department. First, the jacket needs additional pockets—an inside breast pocket at a minimum. People carry so many gadgets these days that I don’t think a jacket can have too many pockets.

Second, I’d like a tighter sleeve closure.The current ones have a velco tab, but it doesn’t quite close snug enough for my tastes. This may be a design decision, since a tighter sleeve will trap more body moistue.

Still, I think those are minor complaints for a jacket that fits as comfortably as the Fila London Waterproof Windjacket. I think that Fila has made some very good design tradeoffs for the golfer. Making the jacket more waterproof would likely increase weight and cause a loss of flexibility.

Fila also makes a women’s waterproof windjacket called the Victoria.

Just as an aside: I assume that London refers to the city and that Victoria refers to the queen (unless it is one of several places named after the queen). Therefore, to keep the naming conventions similar, wouldn’t it make more sense to name the men’s jacket the Churchill? Or the Peel, Disraeli or Gladstone (Victoria’s prime ministers). Or if the decision is to stick with London(for its famous rain) wouldn’t it make more sense to name the women’s jacket the Manchester, Tyneside, or Glasgow? Tyneside sounds a bit feminine, doesn’t it.

But I wander too far afield.

As for the Fila Waterproof Windjacket: recommended

Victoria Women’s Waterproof Windjacket

Mobile Warming Rain Gear Jacket

Grade: A
Teacher’s Comments: Great for spring and fall rounds where the temperatures may swing wildly.

Serious golfers in Michigan play in cold weather. On any day when the ground is clear of snow, you’ll find golfers at local courses, bundled against the freezing air, plunking the ball from hole to hole. Cold weather golf presents a number of unique challenges, but none make the game as difficult as the layers of clothing which ward off frostbite, but prevent you from executing a regular swing. At times, golfers look like kid brother Randy from A Christmas Story or the Michelin Tire man.

What golfers really need is a jacket light and flexible enough to permit a regular golf swing, but warm enough to play in windy, 30-degree temperatures.

That technological miracle has arrived.

The Mobile Warming Rain Gear is a lightweight jacket that’s embedded with heating panels powered by a 7.4 volt rechargable lithium battery. Panels located over the chest and back keep the core areas warm enough to make even temperatures in the low thirties tolerable without extra layers of clothing.

Even better: the battery has four warmth settings, so as the air temperature rises, the jacket heat can scaled back.

In several tests of the Mobile Warming jacket this winter, I found that it works marvelously. On a couple of freezing rounds in January, I was quite comfortable with just a turtleneck and the Mobile Warming jacket on my core (I of course had a hat, earmuffs, gloves and lined pants). Indeed, I was actually too warm on both those rounds, feeling more than a bit sweaty at the end. I probably should have scaled the heat setting sooner than I did.

Profuse sweating in a jacket on a cold day normally results in an uncomfortable, clammy feeling and puts you in danger of hypothermia. Thankfully, in addition to being waterproof and windproof, the fabric of the Mobile Warming jacket is also breathable. Just be sure that the shirt you wear under the jacket also is breathable and quick drying.

The heat produced by the jacket has the same feel as an electric heating pad or blanket—not natural, but protective. I also found that—like a pad or blanket—it is relatively slow to respond to setting changes. If you increase the setting, it takes a while to feel the effects; lowering the setting is not immediately noticeable either.

Mobile Warming says that, depending upon the setting, the battery will last up to 10 hours. In practice, I’ve found that at the medium setting it lasts about four, and two hours at high. Fortunately, you can get an extra battery and swapping a fresh one is a snap. The battery is stored inside one of the side pockets, and just plugs in. I’m going to get a second battery for mine.

Aside from the adjustable warmth, the best part is that the Mobile Warming jacket doesn’t impede the swing. The cut of the jacket is just right for me, and the fabric stretches. I feel no hitch at all in my swing.

I’m going to keep this jacket in my golf go-bag throughout the spring and fall. The fact that it is so lightweight, and heat settings adjustable means that it’s perfect for those spring and autumn Michigan golf days that start out near freezing, then warm up to the 70s. With one light jacket, I can comfortably weather the usual forty degree changes (pun intended).

Another bonus is that its waterproof. That eliminates the need to tote a separate rain jacket.

Recommended.

Masters Collection Golf Shirt - Green Window

This is just the thing to wear on Masters Sunday as you’re lounging in front of your big screen television watching yet another exciting finish.

It is a source of fascination to me that golf’s marketing machines have become such well-tuned machines that athletes’ apparel is literally scripted for tournaments. Nike reports it has done this for ten years, and I assume other apparel companies do the same.

I wonder what the fashion consultants would have thought of Jimmy Demaret.

And I am having fun imagining what Ben Hogan would have thought of someone whose job title is “fashion consultant.”

All that said, here’s what Tiger will wear next weekend:

Woods will be wearing a new innovation from Nike Golf’s Tiger Woods Collection. Woods’ passion and competitive spirit fuel the continuous drive to create the most innovative and athletic products in the sport and his apparel pieces exemplify this dedication to innovation. He will be wearing the TW Jacquard Polo in Dark Grey ($80), the TW Modern Color Block Polo in White/Dandelion ($95), the TW Ultra Polo 2.0 in Squadron Blue ($95), and the TW Emboss Polo in Hyper Red ($85). These polos are extremely lightweight and utilize the laser-perforated collar for increased ventilation to keep the athlete cool while also reducing overall weight. Three of the four polos Woods will wear utilize the posture performance chassis which has a kimono style back design to allow Woods an increased range of motion throughout his swing.

And Rory McIlroy:

McIlroy will sport looks from the Nike Tour Performance collection, featuring the latest innovations in lightweight, breathable performance fabrications. He will wear the Fashion Body Map Polo in Violet Force ($70), the Embossed Polo in Stadium Grey ($65), the Iconic Polo in Pink Force ($65), and the Light Weight Heather Polo in Squadron Blue ($60). He will be sporting bold colors each day with color pops in either his polo, trousers or his Nike Lunar Control footwear.

Full press release follows: