Ranking 10 Unforgettable Items From the 2023 PGA Merchandise Show

Gary Van Sickle took in the Super Bowl of golf equipment in Florida and found more cool stuff than could possibly fit in his bag.

What did The Ranking learn at last week’s PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla.?

• A fruit smoothie should definitely cost $12 …

• You can, indeed, find a golf shirt featuring flamingos, unicorns and toucans as floaty toys; giant frosted donuts; and multi-hued dinosaurs. It’s called “fashion”…

• World long-drive champ Kyle Berkshire hits the bejeezus out of a golf ball …

• Five hundred bucks won’t buy you a good driver anymore …

• Tom Watson, after badly injuring a shoulder in a recent go-kart accident, is definitely retired from golf …

• The PGA Merchandise Show is NOT moving to the PGA of America’s new home in Frisco, Texas, next year …

In other news, here are the 10 most memorable items that The Ranking’s crack staff found at the show:

10. La La Land

Is the world waiting for a $2,500 putter? LA Golf thinks so. The putter is all black, made of elite carbon and supersized like the famed Response putter Jack Nicklaus used to win the 1986 Masters. And even though a businessman as sharp as the late Ely Callaway once almost bankrupted his company by entering the cutthroat golf ball business, LA Golf has its own new line of golf balls—at $69 per dozen. If this is a poker game, LA Golf just went all in. Your turn—call or fold?

9. Playing the Trace Card

The simulator industry just keeps getting better and Amplus’s Focus AI club tracer (price TBA) added a new wrinkle. Its software and projector not only display each shot’s club data on the hitting mat area at the player’s feet, it shows the clubhead’s position and path through the impact zone—projected onto the mat—plus the trajectory and path of the ball. It’s an easy-to-understand visual, ideal for explaining what went wrong in a golfer’s swing (which is usually everything).

The Ranking likes its coffee and clubs black, so the Vokey Design SM9 Jet Black wedge is going in the bag.  / Courtesy Titleist

8. Black Is the New Black

Some at The Ranking are suckers for dark-toned golf heads. Mix in wedge-master Bob Vokey, a Titleist wedge and a jet-black finish to create the Vokey SM9 Jet Black premium wedge ($249, available March 3) and resistance is futile. Come over to the dark side, Luke, I am your father …

7. The Wheels of Fortune

Meet two carts from Zero Friction: The innovative Wheel Pro ($349) was introduced a year ago but supply-chain issues delayed its arrival until late fall. It weighs only 10 pounds, has two wheels that easily pop on and a handle that cranks up to turn a carry/cart bag into a push cart, perfect for golf coaches who have to load five bags AND five push carts into the team van. The Stride ($2,199) is the sturdier, self-propelled offspring of the Wheel Pro with Smart Follow Technology for those who like gadgets—which is everybody, right?

6. The Outlaw

Not Josey Wales, the outlaw Mizuno JPX923 Hot Metal cavity-back irons ($187 per club). They’re so hot that the USGA approved them but sent a letter warning Mizuno that the clubs, offered in five different models, were too close to the legal limits of hotness so put your hands in the air, amigo, and don’t make any sudden moves.

5. The Iceman Putteth

Maybe Wisconsin-based Caliber Golf should sponsor “Happy Gilmore” on tour with its carbon-fiber, hockey-stick-shaft putter ($314-$349). The putter head is a traditional shape, not Happy’s goaltender stick, and the flattish, carbon-fiber, rectangular-shaped shaft helps with aim and stroke execution. It is ideal for blacksmiths who can’t make short putts—just split the grip, slide one hand low on the shaft like a hockey player about to fire a slapshot and shoot/stroke. Suddenly, short putts are easy one-timers. Sorry, gotta go—Gretzky is on Line 2 …

4. The King of Clubs

There’s a lot to love about Cobra’s King Tour irons ($1,299, 7 clubs). The soft feel. The thinner topline. The clean look. The KBS steel shaft. And it comes in cavity-back for better players, muscle-back for the rest of us mammals. The feel is real. Hey, The Ranking’s marketing staff should trademark that phrase.

3. The Rolling Stone

No ball since the Haskell rubber-wound model from 1900 has been more important than the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x ($55 per dozen). Titleist announced new-and-improved models that feature high-gradient construction with progressive levels of firmness. That means less spin on long shots but still plenty of spin for short shots—the best of both worlds or, in Titleist World, business as usual.

2. The Big Guns (field entry)

The golden age of golf equipment continues as the big manufacturers deliver what may be the best drivers ever made. Unfortunately, it’s therefore harder than ever to make excuses for our most god-awful snipe-hooks and block-rights. The field:

Ping's G430 Max driver / Courtesy Ping Golf

Callaway’s Paradym ($599) driver comes in a no-nonsense blue shell, launches it high and comes in three models to suit your level of not-good-ness… Titleist’s TSR1 ($599) is a titanium big boy at 460 cc but light in weight, designed specifically for average golfers with moderate swing speeds (75-90 mph) and comes in menacing black … The Ping G430 ($600), available in three versions, features a rugged monster-truck-type look and is Ping’s most forgiving and longest driver… The Cobra Aerojet ($549) is offered in three editions, has a small splash of color on the sole plate, a carbon-fiber crown and is streamlined to generate a little more clubhead speed and a little more distance.

Four sweet new drivers? That’s tougher than deciding which supermodel to invite to go bowl a few frames.

1. Stripe Show

The race for the Comeback Player of the Year is over. It’s Zebra Golf's AIT1 ($249), an update of the old Ram Zebra putter. You may remember Raymond Floyd winning the 1976 Masters with the distinctive striped mallet Zebra. Golf Brands Inc. bought the brand from Dick’s Sporting Goods, which had ignored it, and reimagined a new Zebra with a slightly larger head and a wider milled face. It is also available in four models. The Zebra ranks among the most iconic and beloved clubs of all time. Just ask Raymond.