Equipment

Ben Hogan GS53: Value and performance in new metal woods

Published

7 years ago

May 13, 2019

The Ben Hogan Golf Company has made huge strides with its direct-to-consumer model, starting with its irons, moving to wedges, and then putters. The next product coming from Hogan to offer golfers value and performance are the Ben Hogan GS53 metal woods, named after the year 1953 when the man himself won the Masters, U.S. Open, and Open Championship.

Ben Hogan GS53 driver and woods

The new line is lead by the GS53 driver with Flight Control technology. Offered in both 9 and 10.5-degree models, the Flight Control hosel allows golfers to change the loft of the driver a total of two degrees from stated loft (one degree up, one degree down). The hosel also allows golfers to change the lie angle and face angle from square to open or closed. Like with all modern adjustable drivers, these switches can be made quickly and easily using a torque wrench, but what separates the GS53 from many drivers is the shaft (and grip) doesn’t change position, meaning you can tinker with your settings to your hearts content and you never have to worry about your grip changing position.

When it comes to getting into the details of the construction, I’m going to let the engineers at Hogan take it for a minute

“The GS53 utilized a design feature called Face Flex. This allowed them to create an ultra-thin face at different thicknesses … from toe to heel and sole to crown to increase the size of the Effective Hitting Area (EHA) across the entire face. Face Flex ensures maximum distance on shots struck in the center of the club face and minimizes distance loss on off-center hits. Additionally, the score lines are precision milled into the forged face at exact and consistent depths and, combined with bulge and roll that is precisely engineered for the specific geometry of the face, provide exceptional accuracy.”

Speaking to the GS53 fairway woods, they are being offered in three loft options: 3-wood (14 degrees), 4-wood (17 degrees), and 5-wood ( 18 degrees). The head shapes are traditional pear-shaped and all feature a shallow face design to make shots from the fairway as easy as shots from the tee. Like the GS53 driver, the fairway woods utilize two-piece construction — a stainless steel body joined to a C455 maraging steel forged faceplate This multi-material design helps designers precisely position weight to maximize MOI and push ball speed to the limit. The lofts on the fairway woods are specific and there are no adjustable hosels.

Initially being offered in right hand only, the GS53 driver is priced at $300, while the fairway woods are $200 — these are attractive prices thanks to Hogan’s direct-to-consumer model that also include three premium aftermarket shafts, in multiple flexes and weights

Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black (low trajectory)
Tensei CK Blue (mid trajectory)
UST Mamiya Helium (high trajectory)

Recognizing that many golfers want to personally experience equipment before they purchase, the company offers a simple, risk-free demo program. For more information or to purchase the GS53 driver or fairway woods visit www.benhogangolf.com

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

16 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”