Mix and match - the latest craze

How to adjust your set - courtesy of Callaway i-Mix system

A brave new world of self-customised golf clubs was among the highlights of January's PGA Merchandise Show in Florida. Here's a round-up of new gear that caught my eye.

DO ADJUST your set! That's the message from top companies including Callaway, TaylorMade and Nickent, whose research boffins have been doing overtime exploiting the R&A's recent rule relaxation regarding the adjustability of golf equipment.

Just as golfers were getting their heads around clubs with adjustable weights, we now have drivers with heads and shafts that can be dismantled and re-assembled, allowing golfers to 'mix and match' components themselves - though only between, not during, rounds.

Leading the revolution is Callaway, with its i-Mix clubs that combine their popular FT-i and FT-5 drivers heads with a selection of premium shafts. Nickent and TaylorMade are first generation rivals with their respective ADX Evolver and r7CGB Max Limited drivers. Nike's 360 system is set for release later in the year.

Nickent's adjustable system

But do the clubs play the same without that traditional permanent connection?

From my humble experiments in Orlando with the i-Mix clubs, the answer is 'yes', with no discernible difference in either feel or performance despite the heads being carefully adjusted to compensate for the extra four grammes of weight needed in the high-tech hosel.

As to who really needs this gadget-of-the-year-for-gearheads? That's a different story.

In theory, golfers can change their ball flight using anything from a swing change to wind and ground conditions at the course. In practice, this could be a dangerous substitute for the professional custom fitting most golfers require.

New Tour-i ball from Callaway

High MOI still the buzz word

Elsewhere at the show I noticed that 'High MOI' is still a major buzzword in 2008. The marketing fixation with Moment of Inertia is now spreading from drivers to irons (Tour Edge's Bazooka GeoMax Max MOI), as well as shafts (Aldila MOI Proto) - and even golf balls.

Callaway's new Tour-i and Tour ix balls have tungsten-infused covers that claim to re-distribute more of the weight from the core to the edges of the sphere, effectively creating a perimeter-weighted ball.

Hybrids still high profile Orlando saw a further inexorable rise in 'hybrid sets' where wood-like hybrids in the equivalent to 3-, 4- and (often) 5-irons, morph into extreme cavity backs in the mid-irons and shorter shafted high lofted irons.

Classic MacGregor MT iron

Once I got over the mixed geometrics, I found them effortless to hit (and right up there for forgiveness with the Mizuno MX-950s and Cobra Transition-S iron/ hybrids launched at Munich last October).

Callaway's new blades

But dodgy ball strikers should steer clear of Callaway's super-sleek new blades, as played by Phil Mickelson in his victory in China at the end of 2007 and now being tested by Michael Campbell and Ernie Els.

While a protoype set of these wafer-thin forgings were discreetly on display at Orlando, they are not yet officially launched - or even formally named (X-Muscle is a working title). But these could be the irons for trendy purists to boast later in the year.

Bobby Jones Pelz wedge

Pelz wedge

Among the more important innovations is the Bobby Jones Pelz wedge which, despite its classic curves, features an elaborate insert, crafted by design legend Jesse Ortiz that significantly extends the durability of the grooves.

Inspired by the detailed research on grooves carried out for the USGA and R&A by short game wizard, Dave Pelz, Ortiz explained to me that while top pros have long acknowledged the dramatically rapid decline in the spin efficiency of a wedge over time, most golfers are in the dark over how this can seriously compromise their short game.

Best of the rest

Elsewhere, Orlando paraded a good mix of stars led by Greg Norman, the new chairman of MacGregor, who described the company's major U-turn to more classic head shapes in its new MT range.

Five models of irons offer something for everyone, from the purist Pro-M forged musclebacks to the cast game-improvement OS model with its sophisticated yet effective undercut cavity.

Odyssey Sabertooth putter

Several putters are breaking new ground, including Odyssey's stunning Sabretooth with rabid 'fangs' created as much for perimeter weighting as high fashion.

My personal favourite is GEL Golf signature range from putting guru, Paul Hurrion. The Rego model has an unusually high centre of gravity - along with the famous (now enlarged) groove insert - in the latest attempt to impart early topspin.

For sheer novelty value, my prize goes to the German-designed Nickel putter with a head that boasts an automatic ball marker and built-in ball retriever, with another built into the grip to pluck it out of the hole.

Dominic Pedler (left) with Paul Hurrion (right) and the Rego putter

Other excellent innovations included the latest 'breed' of animal designs from Daphne's Headcovers, a cottage industry with a list of celebrity clients including Sam Woods (daughter of Tiger), Ernie Els, Adam Scott and Craig Stadler.

Dominic will be back next month with a review of the equipment making the early 2008 headlines on Tour, including a round-up among pros switching equipment in search of that elusive spot among the world's elite