Equipment

Bettinardi Putters – 2010 BB Line

Published

16 years ago

Jan 26, 2010

Sakman

Attached Image

Pros:

A piece of art! Perfect combination of sound and feel. Well balanced. Crisp lines that flow from heel to toe. Made in the USA. Other putter manufacturers take note, Bob Bettinardi is coming on strong in 2010. Are you prepared for the challenge that awaits?

Cons:

Availability. The BB line will only be sold online, select green grass accounts and fitting studios. For those who want to “try before you buy” may have some difficulty finding one depending on your location.

Bottom Line:

Bob Bettinardi is no stranger to the business. He can take a classic design, add his patented Honeycomb face milling to a single block of Mild Carbon Steel (One-Piece Technology) and truly have something unique. This isn’t the first Bettinardi in my collection and definitely not my last.

Look:

The entire 2010 BB line is flat out one of the most elegant putter lines to be released in quite some time. From the stealthy ‘Black Box’ it was packaged in, the minimal use of stampings, all the way down to the elaborate Black Nickel finish, Bob Bettinardi was spot on when crafting this line.

This category is definitely one of the most important key factors for me when deciding on a new putter. If it doesn’t fit my eye, how am I supposed to stand over that 6-footer for birdie with enough confidence that the ball is going to hit the bottom of the cup?

I’m more of a traditionalist when it comes to putters and the 2010 BB8 definitely caught my eye when I first saw it. The smaller top line visually made the putter look like it had much more mass behind it when compared to the BB1. The crisp lines made alignment effortless and again, the Black Nickel finish is one of the best that I’ve seen.

Absolutely flawless!

Performance/playability:

This probably has to be the most difficult category for me while reviewing a putter so let’s put it this way…

Some people cannot putt. Period. Give them a broomstick, place them two feet away from a non-regulation size hole and they’ll still miss. Face it, it’s the Indian and not the arrow…always has been and always will be.

Now, what I can tell you is that Bettinardi’s patented Honeycomb face milling does indeed provide a flat surface that gets the ball rolling faster than a few other manufacturers that I’ve tested. Granted, I’m not a machine, but the dew marks on the greens never lie.

Playability? Yes, the BB8 is secure in the bag this year.

Feel:

This is another key factor for me when choosing a new putter. I want a flatstick that allows me to feel where I’ve made contact at on the face of the club. Many putter manufacturers these days (especially those with inserts) have forgotten about this simple concept.

The 2010 BB line has the perfect amount of feel (responsiveness) without being too harsh. Misses near the heel or toe can definitely be felt compared to those coming off the sweet spot.

Something else that is important to me that fits into this category is sound. The Bettinardi Mild Carbon Steel putters have always had a unique muted ‘pop’ to them. Distinct sound, yet noticeable where the ball makes contact with the face.

Perfect!

Overall bottom line:

I have not been this excited about a new putter line for quite some time now. Besides not being able to drive down to your favorite brick and mortar shop to check one out, I do not have one negative thing to say about these putters. Bob Bettinardi’s 20+ years of experience can be found from pre-production all the way to presentation with the 2010 BB line. You’ll be doing yourself (and your game) a favor by checking one out.

Hands down 5 out of 5 stars!

More information can be found here:

http://www.bettinardi.com

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

4 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.