I’ve been playing quite nicely of late, and my swing is really starting to click, so I’ve been patiently waiting by the door every morning for the postman to arrive, just in case word of my form has reached the green jackets of Augusta National, and a late Masters invite drops through my letter box…
In the unlikely event that this is true, I have been mentally preparing and deciding upon which clubs I would be taking along with me for my Masters debut! Here is what I have come up with…
Driver
Augusta National has been heavily lengthened over the years and as such it is one of the most demanding courses from the tee in professional golf, thus requiring one of the best drivers in golf. Not only will I need one of the best drivers for distance, but because of so many tee shots demanding a right-to-left shape, such as the 2nd, 9th, 10th, 13th, and even the 14th, I also need to consider something with maximum adjustability or even one of the best drivers for slicers.
The Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max-D could be a strong shout, or even the Taylormade Qi10 Max as I find both of these easy to turn over, but for me, there’s only one driver I would currently want in my bag to tackle Augusta and that is the Ping G430 Max 10K.
Whilst it isn’t necessarily marketed as a draw bias driver, I have noticed that tendency in my testing, so that will help me. I’m anticipating being a little nervous over the opening few holes, so the incredibly forgiving head will be a nice insurance policy too. A great all-around package of distance and playability is why I’m taking the Max 10K with me to Georgia. Roll on the 1st tee shot!
Fairway Woods
This is an important area for me to get right. If I am looking to make some birdies (which I am), I will need to take advantage of the par 5s on the back 9 like the 13th and 15th. Both of those demand some high-flighted, steep descending approaches from distance so I am going to need some of the best fairway woods in the game.
I thought about taking the Cobra Darkspeed X as I love the look of it and the confidence it gives me at address, and I also gave huge consideration to the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max fairway woods as they are so easy to launch. For me though, to round out the top end of my bag, I am taking the TaylorMade Qi10 fairway woods in 3, 5, and 7 to cover all eventualities!
They sit great behind the ball, are exceptionally easy to hit and the low profile face will give me plenty of confidence to launch some high ones over those troublesome Augusta hazards.
Irons
This was a tricky area for me to decide upon as so many of the best irons of 2024 could do a great job for me at Augusta. The main point I wanted to consider here though is turf interaction. The Augusta National fairways are so tightly mown that I am going to need something that glides through the turf with ease, and for that, there is only one place to look, the Srixon ZX7 MkII irons. The V-Sole is the envy of a lot of other manufacturers and in my opinion, makes them the best through the turf in the game. The head shapes and proportions are excellent too which will give me lots of confidence to attack those tight pins.
Wedges
With some of the most devilishly tricky greens on the planet, my wedge play is going to need to be razor-sharp if my invitation comes through on time, so I am going to need some of the best wedges. Initially, I was torn between 3 models that I currently have on rotation, Vokey SM10, TaylorMade MG4, and the PXG Sugar Daddy wedges, all of which are absolutely fantastic, but I need to think outside of the box here.
As a somewhat late entry, I might not feature in the marquee groups (at least until I am in contention on Sunday), so I am likely to get at least one very early tee time, and that means dew. I can’t afford any loss of spin so I am going to trust the Hydropearl 2.0 finish of the Ping S159 wedges to disperse that moisture and maintain my control. I’ll definitely be selecting the 62-degree T Grind option too as with only 6 degrees of effective bounce, it’ll be easy to slide under the ball from even the tightest of lies!
Putter
This is where I could win and lose the tournament, and I am not flying all the way to Georgia to come 2nd! I need one of the best putters in the game to convert all those chances the rest of this bag is going to create…
I do love the LAB concept and the DF3 could be a great option to minimize face rotation on those lightning-fast greens. That said, the sophisticated feel of a Scotty Cameron Super Select could be a good shout too? I’m going to put my faith in my boss Joel Tadman here and go with his selection of the best putter of 2024, the Odyssey Ai One Milled.
The tech behind the insert is bound to help me and the premium feel of that milled face will really help my distance control on some of the slipperiest greens in golf. Also, the orangey copper color of the face will go really well with my green jacket on Sunday…
