Conversation about irons often focuses on touring pros and their irons.

But on the other side of the spectrum, Adams and Tour Edge have introduced irons –the Adams Super S and the Tour Edge Exotics XCG6 – that likely will never be used by touring pros. They are designed, however, to be high-performance irons for many amateurs.

If the truth be told about trajectory, most amateurs don’t hit the ball high enough. Most touring pros, on the other hand, struggle with hitting the ball too high.

The Tour Edge XCG6 iron features extreme heel and toe weighting (thanks to four tungsten weights in the sole) along with the deepest undercut cavity ever produced by Tour Edge. The result: higher shots with a maximum amount of forgiveness.

These irons are designed to be easy to hit. The ultra-thin face adds extra ball speed and enhances carry distance, according to the company.

There’s more: The KBS Tour shaft, the same one used by Adam Scott at the Masters, is a stock offering with the XCG6. It’s a heavier shaft – 120 to 130 grams, depending on the flex – and will appeal to players who want to feel the weight of the ...

If a putter is easy to aim and can help you control speed effectively, it should help you hole more putts. To accomplish these two objectives, Ping has combined a popular mallet and a newly-designed face insert to create the Nome TR putter.

In February 2012, Hunter Mahan switched to a Ping Nome putter on the eve of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. He went on to win the event and used the putter to win again a few weeks later at the Shell Houston Open.

Then, last fall, the Ping Scottsdale TR ("True Roll") putter family was launched featuring a unique groove insert in the face. According to Ping designers, internal studies showed that deeper grooves slow putts more than shallow grooves, so they created an insert with grooves that blend from deep in the center to narrow in the heel and toe areas. Ping says that combination creates a more-consistent hitting area and better speed control across a larger portion of the face. According to the company, research showed the insert improved ball-speed consistency by more than 50 percent when measured across nine points on the face. Angel Cabrera finished second at the Masters this season using a ...

Horschel wields Ping clubs for first PGA Tour victory

After earning three consecutive top-10 finishes leading to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Billy Horschel finally broke through and won his first PGA Tour event.

Here is a complete list of the clubs he used at TPC Louisiana: Ping G25 (9.5 degree, 45.25 inches, Mitsubishi Rayon Fubuki 63-X shaft, D4 swingweight); Ping G25 fairway woods (15 degree, Oban Kiyoshi Black 75-05 shaft, D2 swingweight; and 18 degree, Oban Kiyoshi Black 75-05 shaft, D2 swingweight); Ping S56 irons (3-PW; Ping ZZ-65 shafts, D1+ swingweight); Ping Tour with Gorge Grooves wedges (52 degree bent to 53; and 60 degree, both Standard Sole, True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 Tour Issue shafts) and Ping Redwood Piper S putter with custom hosel (35 inches, 70 lie, 3.5 loft, SuperStroke midsize grip). He used a Titleist Pro V1x ball.

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Zurich Classic champion provides grip tip

For his woods and irons, Horschel used Golf Pride V55 full cord 58 ribbed grips; his wedges had Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58 round. Horschel uses ribbed grips in all his clubs except the wedges.

Why does he use round grips in his wedges? Because wedge faces are ...

Take a look inside the winners' bags from the week of April 22-28, 2013, on the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, European Tour and Web.com Tour.

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Billy Horschel (PGA Tour – Zurich Classic of New Orleans)

Driver: Ping G25 (9.5 degree; Mitsubishi Fubuki 63x shaft)

Fairway woods: Ping G25 (15 and 18 degree; Oban Kiyoshi 75x shafts)

Irons: Ping S56 (3-PW; Ping ZZ-65 shafts)

Wedges: Ping Tour with Gorge Grooves (53 and 60 degree; True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts)

Putter: Ping Redwood Piper S

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Footwear: FootJoy FJ Icon MyJoys

Glove: FootJoy StaSof

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Brett Rumford (European Tour – Ballantine's Championship)

Driver: Titleist 913D2 (8.5 degree)

Fairway wood: Titleist 913Fd 3-wood (15 degree)

Irons: Titleist 712U (2-4) and Titleist CB (5-9)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM4 (48 and 54 degree) and Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (60 degree)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Big Sur long

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Footwear: FootJoy FJ Icon

Glove: FootJoy SciFlex

• • •

Will Wilcox (Web.com Tour – South Georgia Classic)

Driver: Cleveland Classic Custom (10.5 degree)

Fairway wood: Callaway RAZR Fit Xtreme 3-wood

Irons: Cleveland 588 MT (3; True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shaft) and Cleveland 588 CB (4-PW; True Temper Dynamic ...

On the Tuesday of Masters week, Titleist posted a teasing tweet on Twitter:

Now, with spring in bloom across the United States, Titleist has announced that it has produced a pink-stamped, limited-edition of the Pro V1 golf ball.

While the number and arrow on the side of the ball may have a new color, in every other way this is a three-piece Titleist Pro V1. It has the same core and casing layer as the 2013 black-stamped Pro V1, including its urethane cover and tetrahedral 352-dimple pattern. To learn more about the new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls, read this story by Jim Achenbach.

The limited-edition Pro V1 is only available in numbers 1-4 for $47.99 per dozen (the same price as the regular ball) at authorized Titleist dealers. Click here to find one near you.

After earning three consecutive top-10 finishes leading up to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Billy Horschel finally broke through and won his first PGA Tour event. Here is a complete list of the clubs he used at TPC Louisiana:

DRIVER: Ping G25 (9.5 degree) with a Mitsubishi Fubuki 63 X shaft

FAIRWAY WOODS: Ping G25 (15 and 18 degree) with Oban Kiyoshi 75 X shafts

IRONS: Ping S56 (3-PW) with Ping ZZ65 shafts

WEDGES: Ping Tour with Gorge Grooves (53 and 60 degree) with True Temper Dynamic Gold S400 shafts

PUTTER: Ping Redwood Piper S

BALL: Titleist Pro V1x

GRANITEVILLE, S.C. – With a final round 2-under 70, Carson Young of Pendleton, S.C., birdied the 18th hole to win the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley by two shots over Robby Shelton, Sam Horsfield, Austin Langdale and Greyson Sigg. Young used the following equipment to earn this prestigious title:

Driver: Titleist 910 D3 (8.5 degree) with a Tour AD graphite design shaft

Fairway woods: Ping G20 (15 degree); Ping i15 (17 degree) with KBS shafts

Irons: Japanese hand-made Miura Forged (4-PW) with KBS shafts

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design (52, 56, 60 degree) with KBS shafts

Putter: Ping Anser

Ball: Titleist Prov1x

Because it's hard to see the technology built into modern driver shafts, exotic terms and odd-sounding phrases often are used to describe what these magic wands do. Anytime "gearheads" start talking about shafts, words such as torque, tipping and kick point are tossed around. But do you really know what they mean?

To help better understand the finer points of these terms, I asked several experts from some of golf's major shaft manufacturers to decipher the mysterious language of shafts.

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1. What is kick point?

"A lot of people will say that a shaft has a low kick point or a high kick point, and then point at the shaft near the tip or up neat the butt section [the handle area]. But in most shafts it's really about a 3- to 4-inch section somewhere in the middle of the shaft where it's bending," says Pat McCoy, director of technical services for Fujikura. "Really it's the difference between a low bend and a high bend."

According to Don Brown, product development manager for True Temper who works on Project X and Grafalloy driver shafts, kick point is a somewhat-dated term that is used a lot ...

There is no way Rife could have planned it this way, but the recent Masters provided something of a springboard for the company in the new golf year.

Ted Potter Jr., playing in his first Masters, used a Rife Iconic putter to win the annual Par 3 Contest that precedes the 72-hole competition.

On Wednesday of Masters week, Potter beat superstars Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar in a playoff to win the Par 3 Contest. Unfortunately for Potter, the Masters Par 3 jinx was alive and well as the left-hander battled the demons at Augusta National Golf Club.

On Thursday, Potter shot 76 in the opening round of the Masters. No Par 3 winner has gone on to win the Masters. Most have failed somewhat miserably, and Potter seemed to be upholding that tradition. He added a 73 on Friday, missing the cut by one shot.

Beyond the Par 3 Contest and the jinx, however, Potter's story segues into the re-emergence of putter manufacturer Rife. The company is introducing new putters and new golf balls for 2013.

Potter, who is not paid by Rife, won his first PGA Tour title at the 2012 Greenbrier Classic. At the time, Potter ...

McDowell back in the winner’s circle

Ending nearly a three-year drought on the PGA Tour, Graeme McDowell earned a victory at the RBC Heritage, blending different Cleveland long irons to better manage windy conditions at Hilton Head. He played a Cleveland 588 MT 3-iron and a 588 TT 4-iron.

The rest of McDowell’s bag: Cleveland Classic 290 driver (9 degree, with Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56 X shaft); Cleveland Launcher FL fairway wood (14 degree, with Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72 X shaft); Adams Idea a7 hybrid (22 degree, with Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 83 X shaft); Srixon Z-TX irons (5-9, with Project X Flighted 6.5 shafts); Cleveland 588 Precision Forged (48 and 52 degree) and Cleveland 588 RTX (58 degree) wedges with Project X Flighted 6.5 shafts; Odyssey White Hot No. 7 prototype mallet putter. He used a Srixon Z-Star XV ball.

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Not always for the masses

Tour-only golf equipment is becoming more prevalent on the major professional tours.

At the Masters, Phil Mickelson used a Callaway X Hot Phrankenwood driver that Callaway said would not be sold to the public. Webb Simpson, runner-up to Graeme McDowell in the RBC Heritage, played a ball identified as the 2013 ...

If the music bopping in the background of Nike's latest golf ball commercial sounds familiar, that's because it should.

In 1999, the soundtrack played while a young Tiger Woods bounced a ball repeatedly off a wedge before popping the ball high into the air and blasting it down a fairway. The commercial is now considered one of the most famous golf equipment advertisements in history.

To tout the latest Nike RZN golf balls, the company has re-created that trick-shot video, except this time it features Rory McIlroy, Kyle Stanley, Nick Watney, Suzann Pettersen and Paul Casey instead of Woods.

The commercial is shot as a black-and-white video, with the only pop of color coming from the red, resin golf ball core, which the golfers bounce while the familiar music plays.

Take a look inside the winners' bags from the week of April 15-21, 2013, on the PGA Tour, Champions Tour, European Tour and PGA Tour.

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Graeme McDowell (PGA Tour – RBC Heritage)

Driver: Cleveland Classic 290 (9 degree; Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56x shaft)

Fairway wood: Cleveland Launcher FL 3-wood (14 degree; Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72x shaft)

Hybrid: Adams Idea a7 (22 degree; Matrix Ozik Altus X shaft)

Irons: Cleveland 588 MT (3), 588 TT (4) and Srixon Z-TX (5-9) – all with Project X 6.5 shafts

Wedges: Cleveland 588 Precision Forged (48 and 52 degree) and 588 RTX (58 degree) all with Project X 6.5 shafts

Putter: Odyssey White Hot #7, prototype mallet

Ball: Srixon Z-Star XV

Footwear: Ecco World Class GTX

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Bernhard Langer (Champions Tour – Greater Gwinnett Championship)

Driver: Adams Speedline Fast 12 LS (8.5 degree)

Fairway wood: Adams Insight 3-wood (12.5 degree; Graphite Design Purple Ice 95 shaft)

Hybrid: Adams Idea Pro (18 degree; RT Tech Midas shaft)

Irons: Hogan Apex Forged (3-5) and Adams Idea MB2 (6-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design Spin Milled (56 and 60 degree)

Putter: Odyssey White Hot 2-Ball long

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Footwear: Adidas Golf

Glove: Titleist Players

• • •

Raphael Jacquelin ...

Our David Dusek takes you inside Graeme McDowell's winning bag -- mainly consisting of Cleveland/Srixon equipment -- in our weekly installment of "The Toy Box Winner's Circle."

Click the photo above or click here to watch the video.

DRIVER: Cleveland Classic 290 (9 degree) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 56 X shaft

FAIRWAY WOOD: Cleveland Launcher FL (14 degree) with a Miyazaki Kusala Indigo 72 X shaft

HYBRID: Adams Idea a7 (22 degrees) with Matrix OZIK Altus X shafts

IRONS: Cleveland 588 MT (3), 588 TT (4) and Srixon Z-TX (5-9) with Project X Flighted 6.5 shafts

WEDGES: Cleveland 588 Precision Forged (48 and 52 degree) and Cleveland 588 RTX (58 degree) with Project X Flighted 6.5 shafts

PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot #7, prototype mallet

BALL: Srixon Z-Star XV

Callaway wedge guru Roger Cleveland arrived on Hilton Head Island before the start of this week's RBC Heritage with several prototype wedges in tow.

Although the company has not officially announced the name and release date of its next wedge, Golfweek has learned that the dark-finished clubs show a textured pattern between the grooves and feature a "Mack Daddy 2" stamp on the back of the clubs. Callaway has touted the spin-generating ability of Mack Daddy grooves in previous versions of its X Series wedges.

Here's a tweet Cleveland posted:

Callaway already has acknowledged that Phil Mickelson has put the prototype wedge in play. Several other Callaway staff players at Hilton Head discussed the wedges with Golfweek.

"It felt good. I played with it on Sunday in Augusta," said Ernie Els. "Just waiting for Roger (Cleveland) to make the 54-degree version of it. It's got a little different bounce and a nice face."

Jim Furyk received a 60-degree model on the Monday before the start of the Masters, but hadn't tested it. Said Furyk: "The Monday of Augusta doesn't seem to be the time to put it in play."

During his off week, Furyk plans ...