Posted by Jason Sobel
Throughout this week, I will list three holiday golf gift ideas per day in a five-part series -- and, therefore, five different categories. Check back each day, Sunday through Thursday, for updated blog entries.First off, this ain't the Golf Digest Hot List, folks. What that means is this list is hardly a complete directory of equipment currently available in the marketplace; instead, it's just a few items that caught my eye recently. Anything to add? Click here and let your fellow consumers know about it.
• Ping Redwood putters: Named for the home to Karsten Solheim's original Ping putter, Redwood City, Calif., this series features the company's first completely milled stainless steel line. Tour pros such as Angel Cabrera, Mark Calcavecchia, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Hunter Mahan, Ryan Moore, D.A. Points, Charles Warren and Lee Westwood already have put these new putters -- available in three models: the classic Anser, the Zing and the mallet Piper S -- into their bags. Retail price is $280.
• Adams Golf hybrids: What do I know about these clubs? Honestly, not a lot ... except for the fact that seemingly every Monday morning, an e-mail shows up in my inbox from the company's PR folks, in which they praise the hybrids not with their own rhetoric but with numbers. Simply put, almost every week, on just about every tour, it seems the Adams is one of the most popular hybrid clubs around. If they're good enough for the top pros, well, maybe they're good enough for you and me, too.
• Nike Sumo Squared driver: Yes, I know, this is supposed to be a holiday gift guide and to include this product, which won't be available on the market until Feb. 1, 2007, would imply that you'll be seeking an extra-special gift under the Presidents' Day tree next year. It might be worth the wait. In his first start since switching to the square-headed driver this season -- that's right, square-headed; this thing looks like a metal shoe box on the end of a shaft -- K.J. Choi won the Chrysler Championship. Pro: Players have reported an increased distance on their drives. Con: You'll wince at the tinny sound upon impact every time. (The Sumo Squared is not yet shown on the Nike Web site, but the company's other drivers can be found here.)
