Equipment

GolfWRX Spotlight: Optic Golf Z11 putter

Published

6 years ago

Feb 2, 2020

Product: Optic Golf Z11 putter

Pitch: (From Optic): Optic Golf has a line of putters that not only make alignment super easy, but also create a more natural stroke and allow the player to stay relaxed throughout the putting motion. With the Z neck design and bold alignment lines, the putter is constructed to give the player the best chance to create a consistent set up. From hand and eye position, to squaring up the face to you target, this putter should help anyone who has trouble in their pre-shot routine.

By lining up the toe line with the Z neck and then to the heel line, this putter ensures that you are square to your aiming line. Once the putter is square to your line, it should have your hands in the same place every time when lining up, thus keeping you consistent and more worry free to start your putting stroke. The weighting and shape of the Z neck allows perfect balance in the head to help with off center hits that many of today’s players struggle with daily. The neck behaves as a fulcrum that the weight in the toe and heel move around which Optic states, “Raises the Center of Gravity in the clubface generating more topspin (MOI), more than any other putter on the market…” I took this out to the course to find out for myself if this putter does what Optic markets.

Our take on the Optic Golf Z11 putter

First Look

First thing I noticed was the interesting look of the Z11. The head shape is a mid-mallet design with “forks” and soft lines that seemed to mesh well with the alignment lines and z neck. The finish is a great charcoal/black finish with white lines to give you contrast that makes it very easy to see if you are in fact square or slightly off. The shaft is a very attractive black that matches the head nicely and the Garsen Quad Tour Tapered grip is a nice touch, but a grip that I have not used.

On course

I took the Z11 to the putting green, and the first thing I noticed was how easy it was to see if I had the putter lined up appropriately or not to my intended line. Now, I feel this has always been a strong suit of mine, but something that causes it to be this easy and quick, I’m certainly a fan. I started with some five-foot putts to make sure I was in fact hitting my intended line and to see if this design allows me to putt more freely.

The putter feel is on the heavier side. I putt left hand low and the grip was comfortable, but I do prefer less tapered grips such as super strokes or similar. The feel/sound of the face is a bit firmer than I am used to as well. I enjoy milled and insert putters, but even this face and the metal they use (proprietary materials and face mill per their website), it is much firmer than most milled putters I have used in the past.

Roll seemed to be consistent and started quickly. The putter has about 2.5 degrees of loft, but as stated above, Optic also points out that the Z design assists in forward roll as well.

Now, how did it work? For me, it was hard to get used to the look of how the putter head transitioned from body, to the Z neck, to the hosel, and up the shaft. I did notice that with my putting motion, I was initially fighting the path/how the head rotated through the stroke. It took quite a bit of practicing to find a ball position, tempo, and stroke length to dial this putter in to get line and speed. Once on the course, I could find my line, set up, and be confident on my alignment. I was getting good, smooth roll off the face, but unfortunately, me not being comfortable with the design/look from above did not give me great confidence. I will say, with their toe and heel weighting and the Z neck design, off-center hits performed very well. In some cases, while hitting off the toe purposefully, the putt tracked and seemed to perform better for me. Distance control on off-center hits was very good.

My experience

This putter can certainly help players out there having trouble with pre-shot setup and consistency. Much like many putters out there today, this has all the tech that can make consistent and perfect position possible. The only problem is, putting is so unique to the player, that, of course, no one putter is great for everyone. I think that is what I had an issue with while having this putter in play. Due to the concerns, a look that was a significant departure from my gamer, and having to change a few things in my own setup, the result for me was inconsistent in terms of performance.

My biggest issue was pulling putts left, which could be from me changing certain habits in my stroke due to having difficulty laying the putter correctly due to its more rocker-styled sole. Everything up to making the actual stroke was easy as stated by Optic, but unfortunately for me, there can be a big disconnect or a confidence factor when looking down, and the perspective is different than what I look for in putters and am used to.

I did have a friend try it out just to get another opinion. While he said the look was a departure from what he was used to as well, he was lining up putts quickly, and he put a stroke on the ball that worked very well for him. I highly suggest to anyone who would like an easier and much simpler way to set up to those crucial putts: have a look at this brand.

It’s also worth noting Optic does offer some more traditional shapes with the Z neck. If I had tried one of those (specifically the Z8 or ZK), I do believe it would have been more beneficial to me.

Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

5 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.