Johnny Miller, Hogan, High Heat, Backpack Golf and More

Johnny Miller gloves and Ben Hogan Hybrids lead new golfy stuff at the annual PGA Merchandise Show.

There’s always a little of everything golfy at the annual PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. To give you some idea of this year’s most popular and talked about new products, it ranges from rediscovered hybrids from the Ben Hogan Company to a set of clubs that fits in a backpack. And that’s merely the tip of the golf iceberg.

According to Terry Koehler, President/CEO of the Ben Hogan, they found some designs in the Ben Hogan business papers that they believed to be hybrids. The clubs dated to the 1960s, but this year the Ben Hogan Company decided to bring the design back.

Their goal with the VKTR hybrids was to combine the feel and shot-making capabilities of an iron with the performance and playability of a utility club. The company said the new hybrids have a higher ball flight than long irons without sacrificing distance.

The VKTR Hogan hybrids are available in lofts of 17-27 degrees with UST or Aldila shafts Price is $184 for graphite and $169 for steel.

Dean Knuth used to work for the USGA and created the slope system to measure golf course difficulty. He became known as the Pope of Slope.  After leaving the USGA, Knuth decided to take some of what he had learned there, some of what he knew as a golfer, and some of what he knew about technology and materials, and then he created what was one of the most talked about clubs last year: The High Heat driver from Knuth Golf.

Last year, the International Network of Golf voted the High Heat driver the winner of the 23rd Annual ING Industry Honors award in the Product Ingenuity category for emerging companies.

This year at the PGA Show, Knuth debuted a High Heat 3-wood, which was so new that the company’s standard metallic, icy blue coating had not been applied to it yet.   It was still a raw silver color, sleek and low, without the deep face of the driver design. Those who hit it said balls took off like they were headed for outer space. (Ok, I exaggerate slightly.) They also unveiled a High Heat Hybrid, which had the High Heat blue coloring. Equally good comments were made about the hybrid.

Knuth Golf’s announcement about both clubs said that one reason people liked them was because the High Heat fairway woods and hybrids feature a Beta titanium cup face, which is supposed to give a significantly increased spring-like effect. In other words, more distance, especially compared to steel.

“Our High Heat clubs are engineered for single digit to high handicap amateurs who have difficulty getting the ball up in the air,” Knuth explained. “Our technology, overall design and use of a beta titanium cup face will help all amateurs improve.”

High Heat driver, $399; High Heat 3-wood, $299; High Heat hybrid, $249.

Johnny Miller bought in to Zero Friction and the company debuted a new golf glove in his name, the Johnny Miller Motion Fit Glove™.

“The Zero Friction line of gloves is something the industry has needed and is long overdue” says Miller about the decision. “I believe in the Motion Fit System. It is unique, it is better, I have to be a part of it”.

The Johnny Miller glove will be available in 12 color combinations. As with all Zero Friction gloves, they are one size fits all for men, for women and for juniors.

“The new exclusive Johnny Miller Motion Fit glove feels good since it moves with your hand. When you play with it, you will see it has a good solid grip. In fact, I think people will say, ‘that was custom-made for my hand’ when they try it,” said Miller.

In 2014, Zero Friction’s original Zero Friction™ Compression Fit Glove was launched in seven different colors with models for Men, Ladies, and Juniors. At last year’s PGA Merchandise Show (2015), Zero Friction released the Zero Friction™ Storm All Weather Golf Gloves and the Zero Friction™ Cabretta leather Golf Glove.

The Miller glove: $21.95 at zerofriction.com

You probably never knew you wanted a set of golf clubs in a backpack, but a guy named Pat Brady, not related to Tom, did. He saw people lugging golf clubs through airports and thought, there’s got to be a better way. Enter the DV8, which is a set of take apart clubs that are carried in a backpack, the better to put them into the carry-on compartment. Plus, they only weigh 15 pounds.

How do they do that? The DV8 set has a shaft that is in two parts and then individual club heads. They all snap on together and, presto, instant golf club. Of course, you have to attach a different head with each shot, but a small price to pay if you are taking a quick trip and don’t want to lug along your tour-style bag.

In reality, changing a 5-iron to a wedge takes just seconds. It will probably take longer to grab the wedge head and put the 5-iron back than it will to snap the head component onto the shaft. They say it’s three seconds, due to the quick-connect coupler which took five years to design. They vary the lower shaft length from coupler to club head, so that each club is the right length.

Now this would sound ridiculous except that the two guys who worked on the club system came from Callaway and Taylormade. They know better than to sacrifice performance.

The DV8 back pack is 13″ x 9″ x 6″ and you can have anything from the Starter Set at $499.95 with a four club heads –driver, 5-iron, 7-iron and 9-iron ( all graphite shafts) — to the Full Monty at $1199.95 with 14 club heads — driver, 3-wood, 5-hybrid, 3-iron, 4-iron, 5-iron, 6-iron, 7-iron, 8-iron, 9-iron, approach wedge, pitching wedge, sand wedge and putter. Available in lengths from -1 to +2 right and left handed.

Superstroke is the grip Jordan Spieth has on his putter. He does not use the jumbo size grip. He uses the medium, called Flatso 1.0, and he does not put the optional 50 gram weight in the top of the grip, according to a company spokeswoman.   The company says their grips promote even grip pressure, and whatever it is, if Jordan Spieth is using it, can it hurt you to have one like it? You can get your own for $24.99, available on line.

If you are having trouble finding space in your car for kids and clubs, take a tip from a dad who was being X-ed out of golf club space by having two car seats in his vehicle.

He got creative and invented a soft club-grabber thing that holds clubs together, like a bouquet. It holds six clubs, three tees and a ball marker in a soft, colorful carrier that is about the circumference of a beer can. They call it a Silo, but I suspect that the inventor has never been on a real farm.

Available from www.rivalandrevel.com, for $25.

Next: Phil Mickelson: How Close Is He To a Win?

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