Equipment

It’s mini driver season at the Masters

Published

1 year ago

Apr 10, 2025

Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a piece our Andrew Tursky filed for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report in conjunction with our ongoing partnership. In the piece, AT discusses the shots mini drivers might help with at Augusta National and speaks to a couple of reps. Read the full piece here.

Mini drivers are designed as a “best of both worlds” type of solution for the modern golfer, because they provide more distance and surface area on the face than fairway woods, but they also offer more control and workability than drivers. Think of these mini drivers as the “sweet spot” between drivers and 3-woods.

Mini driver usage on the PGA TOUR has boomed over the last several years. The craze started with the TaylorMade BRNR, which was first spotted in early 2023, and players such as Tommy Fleetwood and Adam Scott were early adopters. Now, nearly every major club company has a mini-driver of their own. Callaway has a new Elyte Mini, Titleist has a GT280, and Cobra has “The Deuce” prototype 2-wood.

“I call this mini driver season,” said Adrian Rietveld, TaylorMade’s senior Tour manager. “If you look at the stats around Augusta National, there are holes where you’d lose half a shot to the field if you miss the fairway. So now how do you hit the fairway? Do you hit 3-wood? Now you’re really giving up something to the field there (because of a lack of distance). But you can find that happy medium by using a club like a mini driver, get it in play, get it far enough down there, and statistically, over four rounds, you’re probably gaining on the field. … It’s a golf course where you do need every shot, and I think the mini driver adds to the ease of producing those golf shots.”

It’s not just the 13th hole where using the mini driver can be an advantage at Augusta National, either.

“The second hole now with the tee further back, if you’re not one of the guys that can carry the (right fairway bunker), for me, can I hit a mini that’s short of it, knowing that it’s fine, and I’m still going to get it on the green or greenside from where I am,” Fleetwood said. “I think for me, 10 is a great mini-driver hole, unless it’s playing short and I can hit driver and turn it. Thirteen, my mini driver turns over, so that will be a nice one. … And 18, as well, I can hit it and it’s short of the bunkers on the left. So there are actually a few holes I can hit (the mini driver).”

When asked about mini driver or “2-wood” usage at Augusta National this week, Cobra rep Ben Schomin added further insight.

“I think there are enough holes, like 13, where you don’t want to hit it too far, and you don’t want to hit it too short, and if you have something where you’re a little more confident working from right to left, it could be worth (using it at the Masters) just for the 13th hole if you think about it,” he said. “It’s very important for you to have your tee ball in the right spot on that hole. And even No. 10, off the tee is a really good one to sling and get it working right to left, so if it’s easier to … hit a low 2-wood off the tee from right to left, that may be a better play.”

Read the full piece here.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

17 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

17 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

17 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.”