Equipment
Latest patent filings: Cobra, Ping pursuing slots
A new year, a new batch of patent filings: It’s time to take a look at what the major OEMs are working on.
Last time, we saw TaylorMade experimenting with multi-layer driver face, Callaway toying with some very interesting adjustable irons, and Ping working on highly adjustable irons.
In this edition, we’ll take a look at some of the avenues TaylorMade, Titleist, Nike, Cobra, and Ping are exploring.
TaylorMade: Pursuing aerodynamic heads
In a filing for a patent “high volume aerodynamic golf club head” TaylorMade’s designers seem to be turning their eyes toward (you guessed it) aerodynamics in driver head design.
As the filing states:
“In the past the aerodynamics of golf club heads were studied and it was found that the aerodynamics of the club head had only minimal impact on the performance of the golf club.
Golf club designers pay little attention to the aerodynamics of these large golf clubs; often instead focusing solely on increasing the club head’s resistance to twisting during off-center shots.”
TaylorMade also filed a patent for the design below.
The company lays out the thinking behind the triangular design in an interesting couple of paragraphs:
“Often, golf club manufacturers are faced with the choice of increasing one performance characteristic at the expense of another. For example, the shape and size of some conventional golf club heads approach the maximum envelope dimensions in an attempt to increase the moments of inertia of the heads. Such designs, however, most likely require a decrease in the face size, or ball striking surface area, in order to comply with the USGA regulations. As another example, some conventional golf club heads have an increased face size in an attempt to optimize the ball striking surface of the golf club head. Such golf club head designs, however, typically have decreased moments of inertia.
Golf club designers and manufacturers have struggled to design golf club heads having increased moments of inertia while maintaining other desirable golf club head characteristics and abiding by the USGA regulations.”
Titleist: A progressive CG iron set
Fairhaven, Mass.-based Titleist is working on a set of progressive irons, per a recent filing. The irons feature “a progressive center of gravity allocation” in order improve launch angles.
Nike: A new golf ball
Nike is working on some new pellets. It’s always difficult to determine exactly what a company is shooting for in a golf ball patent filing, because of, well, language like this:
“A thermoplastic multi-layer golf ball has a core center having a diameter from about 21 mm to about 29 mm and including a first thermoplastic material having a first flexural modulus of less than about 15,000 psi, a core layer disposed radially outward from the core center with a thickness of at least about 4 mm and a second thermoplastic material having a second flexural modulus of up to about 15,000 psi that is greater than the first flexural modulus, and a cover disposed radially outward from the core layer. The cover comprises a third thermoplastic material having a third flexural modulus. The first thermoplastic material and the second thermoplastic material each includes an ionomer resin, and these ionomer resins may be the same as or different from each other.”
Anyway, here’s the ball:
See the full filing here.Cobra: Channeled woods
In a filing that includes actual photos, Cobra is putting forth woods with a recessed channel.
However, as Cobra points out, there is a potential problem with “channeled” clubs. The company lays out the perceived problem and their solution in the section clipped below.
“During a high speed drive, the ramped portion of the sole may distribute and neutralize torsional stresses, dampening unwanted and unpredictable twisting that can be introduced or amplified by prior art channel structures.
“One insight of the invention is that adding an elastically deformable channel to a driver head can destabilize the structure, allowing the club head to twist, shear, or compress non-uniformly and transfer momentum non-uniformly to the strike face during the down stroke of a high-speed drive or at impact.
“Thus a club head that includes a channel area with a groove that is buttressed by a shallow ramp will resist non-uniform deformation and non-uniform momentum transfer to the face with the result that shots will fly straight, and the club head will provide the full and intended benefit of a channel in the sole—a high coefficient of restitution and a large sweet spot in a club head that hits true. The channel area or groove preferably runs in a heel-to-toe direction substantially parallel to the face and close (e.g., within a few centimeters) to the face.”
Ping: Slitted (or slotted) woods
Ping looks to be getting into the slot/channel game with the design pictured below. And as the filing says “slit” or “slot” about 300 times, the technology seems to be the core of the next generation of the Phoenix-based manufacturers designs.
Equipment
Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory
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.
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.
Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (9 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Blue RDX 60 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 70 6.5
5-wood: TaylorMade SIM2 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 80 TX
Irons: Srixon ZXiU (23 degrees), Srixon Z785 MB (5-PW)
Shafts: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 100 6.5 (4), KBS Tour 130 X
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (50-08F, 54-10S, 58-04T @59)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Dual Force Rossie II
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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John Seiter
Jan 10, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Did anyone recognize Adams was the first with “slots’?? That’s why Adidas was interested in acquiring Adams. I have Adams clubs that are about 8 yrs old with “Velocity Slots”. Look it up!!
Slat
Jan 10, 2015 at 4:04 am
Can Ping get that patent? I’m guessing that as long as it is slightly different to the ones already out there? Crazy
talljohn777
Jan 9, 2015 at 2:18 pm
If the first company that patented the slot did so, then how are any other companies using this same concept? And why would the patent office allow any other patents for the same concept?
Cash
Jan 12, 2015 at 3:53 am
MONEY
KP
Jan 9, 2015 at 1:50 pm
It looks like the turbulators are not on the slotted club diagrams. Although not being an IP atty the patent may only be showing the item being applied for and when actually produced may incorporate the turbulators.
labillyboy
Jan 9, 2015 at 1:50 pm
I play with someone who uses a TM slotted fairway… the slot picks up dirt on every practice swing, causing an annoying swing routine which involves cleaning the slot between the practice swing and the real one…
Maybe they can invent a slot that cleans itself?
My non-slotted TEE still works a lot better, BTW.
Regis
Jan 9, 2015 at 2:50 pm
That criticism of the original Rocketblade slots has long since been corrected by subsequent models. Try keeping current. Maybe its why Titleist and now Ping and Cobra are moving into slots. Sorry Titleist calls it the “Active Recoil Channel”.
JEFF
Jan 9, 2015 at 12:37 pm
Its all a scam to sell. Nothing is going to be easier to hit than it is right now.
Nigel
Jan 9, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Funny how there are factual, statistical gains in distance etc from all reviews on YouTube by professionals that use launch monitors. Also strange how the slot ‘gimmick’ is being used by all of the companies, even the honest and old school Titleist and Ping. Get with the new generation of golf grandad.
Pingbling23
Jan 11, 2015 at 8:05 pm
People said this 20 years ago too. Everything might not stick, but when every company is striving for something better, I think it will lead to better things.
Dpavs
Jan 8, 2015 at 2:21 pm
The industry knows we are nothing but a bunch of Ho’s, so it’s no surprise they are turning into a bunch of slots. 🙂
Kenner
Jan 9, 2015 at 2:47 am
Brilliant comment. 10/10
Rich
Jan 9, 2015 at 8:14 am
+1 LOL!
Bill
Jan 9, 2015 at 10:43 am
Well done@!
g patock
Jan 9, 2015 at 10:52 am
One thing for sure, the choices of quality products have never been greater… which is good for us.
The only downside is that pricing is getting a bit ridiculous.
Jim
Jan 9, 2015 at 6:26 pm
Well done Dpavs
Teaj
Jan 8, 2015 at 1:14 pm
hit the aeroburner last night… Brutal club. Feels really light, so much so that it feels like there is no mass behind the ball when hitting it which for me lead to shorter drives.
Ping Taking on the Slot or Slit im fine with that after seeing what it did for the Titleist this year.
Chuck
Jan 8, 2015 at 11:41 am
Here’s the thing that I like about slotted woods, based solely on my personal experience and preferences…
You can tee the ball lower, hit it lower on the face, and still get a high-quality strike.
When I tee the ball lower, I feel like I have more control of the spin and I have less margin for error. I well remember the days of the TaylorMade R510 TP, and a thousand other similar designs, when you had to hit the ball well up into the top half of the clubface.
The TaylorMade fairway woods beginning with the Rocketballs series of a few years ago really took off with players for a reason. Those fairway woods were hitting lower on the face.
That’s just my thinking. Now a real expert can weigh in.
I am REALLY looking forward to a new slotted Ping driver design.
TR1PTIK
Jan 8, 2015 at 12:41 pm
I certainly can’t argue with the performance of slots. I just don’t like them from a visual standpoint. Especially the way TM has done it with AeroBurner.
Regis
Jan 9, 2015 at 2:52 pm
You do know the bottom of the club points to the ground? Just kidding
TR1PTIK
Jan 8, 2015 at 10:35 am
Not sure how I feel about so many slotted clubs entering the market, but I do like the 915 line from Titleist and the Nike Vapor and VR lines so as long as it’s done “tastefully” I guess it will be alright. But, if club manufacturers start churning out clubs that mimic the TM AeroBurner then you will have to pry my 905r from my cold dead hands!