A few observations from our GolfWRX archives! Let’s head inside the ropes and back in time to May of 2016. We take a look at 10 things inside and outside the bag from the Truist Championship (then the Wells Fargo Championship) at the Quail Hollow Club.
Steve Williams, pictured above, was caddying for Adam Scott this year. Getting ready for the round, it’s time to grab a pin sheet. Needing to tidy and quick for information from hole to hole, what caught my eye here is the tournament fold of this sheet of paper. This is very niche, but that’s why we are here. When you’re getting the hole locations scoped out, you can’t have any delay in finding where the pin is above the ridge or near a false front.
2.) Tony Finau’s driving iron, which we just saw this last week on the Lead Tape Report, with a little zoom in, you can see the club in his bag all the way from 10 years ago. This was the origin of the Nike driving iron being in the bag, and it still remains there in play today.
3.) Bryson’s Edel irons. DeChambeau turned pro in April 2016 at the RBC Heritage, right after competing in the Masters as the defending NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion. While he signed with Cobra Puma when he turned professional, he still played his single-length irons created by Edel Golf. Got a kick out of the members looking at his clubs, as you knew that was talk around the locker room in the following weeks.
4.) Putting drills. Two clubs, a line, and an alignment device. Blending simplicity and some technology, this is a look back at when putting training aids were plentiful, but not in the most complex form. Now you see all types of training aids with gates, alignment sticks, mirrors, and multiple lines. I’m all for it, but it is a refreshing reminder that, at the end of the day, it’s about getting the ball in the hole in the simplest way for you. I do see a line on the putting green here with a permanent marker. I always wonder what the superintendent’s take is on that decision. I’m partial to a chalk line, even though it requires a couple of extra moves compared to the permanent marker. It does clean up much more easily.
5.) Ernie Els with an M2. This driver was the talk of the golf world for many years. Same with Ernie Els. In today’s golf landscape, sometimes we don’t hear enough about how great Ernie was and still is. Really a trendsetter for the game in a lot of ways, being a good ambassador of the game and a multiple Major champion. 19 total PGA Tour wins, 4-time major winner (1994 & 1997 U.S. Open, 2002, 2012 Open Championship). 80 wins globally and has played the PGA Tour Champions Tour since 2020, where he has won 7 times. The Big Easy has always got it done since turning pro in 1989.
6.) Stewart Appleby and the cultural icon Adams Pro Gold Hybrid. Origins of this hybrid date back to 2009. The beefy, shot-making clubs bridged the gap from long iron to woods in a more distinct way ten plus years ago compared to today. Now we can choose between high-lofted woods, driving irons, hybrids, and clubs in between. But now, things are so fine-tuned with each club when you want to dive deep. This photo with Appleby’s clubs is also good to see with the lead tape on the hybrid signaling it was a certified gamer.
7.) The simplicity of these two staff bags full of putters really paints a different picture than today. Today we could see a bag for Blade, Mallet, Zero Torque, Counter-Balance and Face-Balanced. How would you break down your putter staff bags on the green? But this does make sense, putting was entering a new era after the USGA and R&A banned anchoring with putters which began on January 1, 2016. This was the origins of the 38″ counter-balance and arm-lock putters we see today.
8.) A look back at Mackenzie Hughes’ bag in 2016 at Quail Hollow, a couple of things I notice here are the training aid on the bag and then the glove on the alignment stick while on the putting green. I know this is a little odd to notice, but this is a total move of a tour pro. You are not seeing the glove on the alignment stick but anywhere else other than a tour event. If this happened at the weekly game, someone is wondering what is up.
Mackenzie Hughes won later this year at the 2016 RSM Classic, gaining full PGA Tour Status for the 2017 season. He is in the field this week as well.
9.) The Titleist T-MB driving iron. Right in the discussion with the Adams Hybrid seen earlier here. It is interesting to see the advances in technology today where we see a driving iron similar to this but so many more options in the top part of the bag to fill the 4 iron through 5 wood gaping. Not as common 10 years ago, it is common to see multiple styles of irons in bags on and off tour today.
10.) Hideki Matsuyama and Scotty Cameron putters. We see the tinkering week to week from Hideki on GolfWRX — but is it anything new? Here is a similar putter he has been using lately, going back to 2016. It is fascinating to see the nuance he works in between the putter styles for which one is played that week. I guess we could say, history repeats itself here.