There, she said it and I have it on tape. Mary Lou Bohn, Titleist's vice president of golf ball marketing and communications, had just taken the redeye back from the West Coast, but she was awake and alert when she told me, "I think, in a perfect world, in terms of performance, the best golf balls for all golfers are the Pro V1 and Pro V1x."
 
The Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls are wildly popular among PGA Tour pros (who get them for free) and accomplished amateurs. But price is critical for most of us when it comes to selecting a ball, so at $48 per dozen, they just aren't the best option..
 
So with the Titleist NXT line, the company tried to keep as many Pro V1-like performance attributes as possible while keeping prices budget-friendly.
 
For 2012, the company went back to the drawing board and came out with two updated NXT balls. It's also releasing an all-new distance ball, the Velocity. Here is what you need to know about all three.

David Dusek
Titleist NXT Tour
 
Titleist NXT Tour, $31.99 per dozen
"We asked [engineers] for longer distance on the NXT Tour," Bohn says, "but only do it if you can deliver similar spin control."
 
To do that, Titleist shrank the inner core of the three-piece NXT Tour 4 percent and used a different blend of materials. That allowed the outer core—which is also designed using a new, softer material—to be made bigger. The company says it was able to keep spin rates about the same, but this combination creates more ball speed.
 
The cover of the updated NXT Tour is unchanged, a softened blend of Surlyn, ionomer and other materials that Titleist calls Fusablend. But a new 302 dimple pattern helps the ball reach its highest point farther downrange off the driver.
 
You can think of this ball as the "Pro V1 Junior."

David Dusek
Titleist NXT Tour S
 
Titleist NXT Tour S, $31.99 per dozen
This model has the same cover and dimple as the NXT Tour, but it's a two-piece ball with a lower compression. That means it has a lower initial launch angle with a driver than the NXT Tour, but Titleist says it delivers nearly the same distance because it will roll out more.
 
The real benefit of the lowered compression is more feel. In blind tests, golfers told Titleist the biggest difference between the two balls is the NXT Tour S simply feels softer, hence the S.
 
"For some players, especially bigger hitters with the driver, the NXT Tour ball is going to go a little farther," says Bill Morgan, Titleist's senior vice president of golf ball research and development. "Not radically, maybe a couple of yards. If that's important to you, by all means, play the NXT Tour. If feel is important to you, play the NXT Tour S."
 
Aside from enhanced feel, the NXT Tour S has one other feature that the NXT Tour doesn't—it's available in a highly visible yellow version. It's not the first yellow ball Titleist has made, but the company says it did a lot of research to make sure the color looks appealing in bright sunlight.
 
"It's a multilayer color that you're seeing," says Michael Mahoney, Titleist's director of golf ball product management. "We developed it layer on top of layer. The color of the core actually contributes to the color that you see." 

David Dusek
Titleist Velocity
 
Titleist Velocity, $26.99 per dozen
The name Velocity provides more than a subtle hint about what Titleist tried to do with this ball. The first all-new Titleist ball in 10 years, the orange-trimmed Velocity is a two-piece ball that features the fastest core material in the company's arsenal. According to Mahoney, it's even faster than the outer core material used in the Pro V1x.
 
After researching cover designs tested over the years, Titleist engineers encased that core material with the fastest cover layer they had developed, which turned out to be a 332-dimple pattern.
 
Unfortunately, the first balls they made exceeded the USGA's initial velocity rules and had to be scrapped. In fact, several more versions of the Velocity were produced that also exceeded the USGA rules, but Titleist says the ball it is bringing to market is absolutely legal.
 
Interestingly, the Velocity is not a rock; it has the same compression specs as the Pro V1 (although the Pro V1's two additional layers and different cover material make it play quite differently).
 
Sure, the back of the Velocity's box mentions that the NaZ2 cover emphasizes short game playability, but that's not why someone is going to buy these bullets.
 
"Look, this is not our Tour ball," Morgan says. "This is a ball that you can play with in all aspects of the game, but really the focus was, 'Make this bad boy long.'"
 
If you really want to crank up the volume, don't settle for sleeves of balls numbered 1, 2, 3, or 4 … the Velocity is also available in 00, 11, 22 and 33.

Keegan Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion and rookie of the year switched apparel sponsorship from Oakley to Tommy Hilfiger early this year. But at the Farmers Insurance Open last weekend, Bradley was still wearing Oakley footwear. What gives?
Apparently, Oakley lost a heated bidding war for Bradley to Tommy Hilfiger, a golf line licensed to the Fletcher Group of Canada which also makes Sunice. Oakley wanted to keep Bradley, but the rising star commanded as much as five times what Oakley had been paying him to wear its apparel. Executives familiar with the action estimated Bradley's eventual deal to be in the $500,000 range.
However, Tommy Hilfiger does not make golf shoes, so Bradley will continue to wear Oakley's advanced Cipher shoes — with their sandpaper-like soles and ultralight weight — under a separate contract.
G-Mac's eyes were smiling
Ireland's Graeme McDowell, who had two incredible shots last weekend — a hole-in-one and a ricochet birdie — also signed a new apparel sponsorshipin January, with Dublin-based Kartel. Alan Swan, the chairman of Kartel, said that when he first met McDowell to propose a deal, the two of them were wearing nearly identical cashmere sweaters. That helps. He then made three sample outfits for the Irish pro, who found that they exactly suited his style. Kartel, which dresses Padraig Harrington, too, specializes in mercerized cottons, classic fitted trousers and soft sweaters. This spring the company introduces a new full collection, G-Mac by Kartel, based on the clothes McDowell will be wearing on tour.
 

ORLANDO, Fla. — Last week’s PGA Merchandise Show was, once again, an embarrassment of riches. It’s a golden age of equipment, a time when all the big manufacturers — and even some small ones — make superior gear.
 
I’ve already named my 10 favorite items, but those were just the beginning of the most notable things I saw at The Show.
 
Oakley Golf was this year’s biggest surprise for me. They’d been only marginally in the golf business, to my mind, with sunglasses and efforts to spin off some of their trendy footwear as golf shoes.
 
So I didn’t expect much when I checked out their gear, but I was stunned. The Oakley Cipher shoe was remarkable, but so was the company's high-tech apparel. Oakley hired some talent away from UnderArmour and adidas, went all-in for technology and signed some prominent names to wear its stuff—Rory McIlroy, Keegan Bradley, Ryann O’Toole and Rickey Barnes. My favorite was a windbreaker with removable sleeves. That idea isn’t new, but this jacket had a real innovation: you unzip the sleeve partway up and then neatly fold it, still-attached, into a pouch hidden on the inside of the vest. It’s totally out of the way, and you can't lose the sleeve. Ingenious.
 
A Swedish outfit I’d never heard of, Cross, also impressed. The kings of raingear are FootJoy, ProQuip and Sun Mountain, but Cross is suddenly in the mix with its FTX Full Stretch rainwear. It’s soft and unusually stretchy and quiet. It reminds me of ProQuip’s Silk Touch raingear from a few years back, as soft as a sweater but impervious to water. Plus, Cross has slick European style. Only a few online outlets carry Cross gear, and keep in mind that it’s cut to European sizes. The large pullover fit me nicely, but if I were going to wear it with a sweater or vest underneath, I’d probably have to go up a size to extra large. I’m pretty sure this is going to be my next rainsuit. The jackets go for $275-$300, the pants for $225.
 
In addition to the RocketBallz line, I was also impressed by the new TaylorMade ATV wedges. With their beveled leading edges and versatility, the ATVs are a big improvement for TM.
I like that Titleist broke out of its traditional mold ever so slightly and painted its new Velocity’s numbers in yellow-orange ink. Also impressive on the ball front was the Callaway Hex, which a fellow hacker in the industry told me was the best ball he’d ever played — “phenomenal,” in his words. I also played nine holes in an outing with the Innovex V-Motion Tour ball and was impressed. Its playing characteristics were comparable to top-of-the-line balls, but they’re about $29 a dozen.
 
Nobody ever talks about spikes. Well, I do, but only to complain when I'm trying get them changed. Champ spikes has a new model out — the Zarma — with six longer, spidery legs that have a little more bounce, cushion and give.
 
I never get tired of looking at or trying out new drivers. The Adams Speedline Fast 12 has a more bulging head and a flared fantail, and it felt great when I hit it on Demo Day. I also liked the classic style of the Ping i20 driver and its flat-black paint job. No driver looks better than the Cleveland Classic, which looks like an old persimmon and gets my vote for Prettiest New Driver.
 
I also got a chance to swing a unique club at Demo Day, the new Exotics 11-degree 3-wood from Tour Edge. It’s got a large, flattish head and is perfect for the golfer who needs a backup driver during his round.
 
You’d have been hard-pressed to find more than one belly-putter in almost any golf shop a year ago, but golf’s newest trendy club was all over The Show. Everybody has a version. TaylorMade has its Ghost Manta series, a large center-shafted mallet with a white head and alignment markings. The Ping Nome has a similar mallet shape but is more rounded, and it had a really balanced feel that I liked. The Odyssey Metal-X is based on the Sabertooth model that Keegan Bradley used to win the PGA Championship last year, with two prongs behind the face. Bradley’s Tooth was white. The Metal-X is gun-metal black.
 
How about gadgets? Golf Buddy’s GPS rangefinders now have audio, so you don’t have to constantly check the screen. You can clip one to your belt, maybe even your hat, and it will announce distances as you move around the course. If I jack the volume up, I bet I can annoy my playing partners. I love that idea. Bushnell tweaked its classic laser rangefinder. The new Tour Z6 is more compact and attractive, and the numbers now light up in electric red instead of the usual black. It sounds like a minor change, but it makes the yardages much easier to see. Bushnell says it can hit targets up to 450 yards; from 125 yards and in, it provides distances to a tenth of a yard. It’ll be available in April.
 
Sky Caddie is the Cadillac of the GPS market, with accurate and up-to-date course information. Sky Golf, which makes Sky Caddie, has also expanded into a new area with Swing Labs, a launch-monitor-based fitting system that aims to help club pros, club-fitters and retailers match golfers with the perfect clubs.
 
I will go to extreme lengths to distract my opponents. Hence, a new Hello Kitty headcover for my driver. Hello Kitty Golf, as absurd as it seems, is going to sell a lot of accessories. Women, especially, were buzzing around that booth at The Show. They sell women’s and children’s clubs, bags and accessories. In the same vein, I may pull out some Chromax golf balls, which have colorful metallic finishes, kind of like lawn orbs. They come in seven colors, including turquoise, silver, pink and yellow, and they’re much easier to see than a standard white ball. The suggested retail price is $20 for a six-pack.
 
I can’t believe I’m about to write this, but I was also impressed by the Jacqueline Kennedy Collection.  It’s a line of historically accurate jewelry, sunglasses, hats and accessories that has been approved by Caroline Kennedy. Why was this company at the Show? Because the collection will be sold in golf shops. Prices will vary, but most of the jewelry will be under $100.
 
More on shoes: adidas has two eye-catching models, the Crossflex and the Puremotion. The Crossflex, which weighs just 10.6 ounces, has molded traction areas on its soles instead of spikes and is modeled after a running shoe. The Puremotion is a mesh shoe based on the shape of the foot, and it’s also spikeless. They’ll be priced somewhere around $100-$120 and will be available in late spring. True Linkswear updated its models from last year and made them more contemporary. The phx model has a striking red stripe on the outside of the shoe and gripping nubs in the sole for traction instead of spikes. The Stealth is a leather model. They’re all very comfortable and light and are continuing the trend away from spikes.

From GOLF Magazine ClubTest 2012
Category: Max Game-Improvement Drivers
WE TESTED: 9°, 10.5° with Yonex Nanospeed 200 graphite shaft
KEY TECHNOLOGIES: A carbon graphite crown positions the center of gravity lower and more rearward. The net effect is a larger sweet zone for more forgiveness and ball speed. The sweet zone, in fact, is 20 percent larger than in Yonex’s previous driver model.
OUR TESTERS SAY: Handsome-looking driver. A dependable stick that has above average forgiveness capabilities.
PROS
DISTANCE: Pretty good output on less-than-perfect contact.
ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: One of its better features; tall, deep face provides tons of room for error; misses don’t stray too far off-line; left-to-right shots won’t get out of hand.
FEEL: Very light and quick through impact but well balanced; clean, clear “click” on solid contact, while mis-hits are more muted.
PLAYABILITY: Repeatable flight; slightly closed face favors a draw.
LOOK: Red shaft and black head combo is appealing; large, confidence-inspiring face makes you think you can bomb it.
CONS
It doesn’t excel in any one category; lacks an alignment aid on crown; attempts by faster swingers to lean on it are often met with less than desirable results.

From Golf Magazine ClubTest
Category: Max Game-Improvement Drivers
WE TESTED: 9°, 10.5° with Aldila NV 50 graphite shaft
KEY TECHNOLOGIES: The aerodynamic, lightweight club has a sloped crown to reduce drag (improve airflow) and boost swing speed. The 9° loft has a square face angle while the 10.5° is 1° closed. Comes standard with 50-gram shaft at 46 inches.
OUR TESTERS SAY: Steady yet unspectacular performer provides respectable distance.
PROS
DISTANCE: Several testers get distance comparable to their own driver; a few guys get up to 10 more yards; off-center hits get out there a good ways.
ACCURACY/FORGIVENESS: Steadyeddie driver forgives and forgets most mediocre swings and mis-hits; by and large, slices are held in check.
FEEL: Subtle but perceptible feel on well-struck shots and mis-hits; head is fairly stable through impact.
PLAYABILITY: Lower ball flight than most; straight, boring trajectory works well in firm conditions.
LOOK: Large, deep face inspires confidence; glossy black finish.
CONS
Several other models deliver more forgiveness; it’s difficult for some testers to decipher center hits from offcenter ones because of dullish impact sensation; nothing sets it apart visually.

LA JOLLA, Calif. — When a golf club traveling at 130 miles per hour hits a ball, the effect can not only be seen and heard, but also felt. If you stand10 feet away from Gary Woodland when he hits a drive, you can literally feel the collision as the ball screams off the tee and becomes a tiny white dot in the distance. It's as if a giant balloon pops.
When you tinker with that kind of power, even the slightest adjustments can have big implications, but Woodland, who started working with Butch Harmon just two weeks ago, is making some swing changes. Like other big hitters, Woodland has always hit a power fade off the tee, but Harmon wants the 27-year-old to be able to hit a draw as well.
To help him work on those changes, Harmon asked Titleist, the company that makes Woodland's 910D3 driver, to supply Woodland with a training aid.
“Titleist built me a new driver with a lot of loft to help me work on the range on the things I need to do," Woodland said. He couldn't keep a straight face when he told me, “My driver has 6 degrees of loft, but the one they built me has 10.5 degrees.”
On the soggy practice tee at Torrey Pines on Monday, Woodland explained that Harmon wants him to hit down more with his driver. While the shaft in the high-lofted driver is the same 96-gram prototype Graphite Design model that's found in his gamer, the only way Woodland can avoid hitting his 10.5-degree Titleist 910D3 into orbit is by keeping his hands forward at impact and driving the clubhead down and through the hitting area instead of sweeping the ball up.
As skilled as Woodland is, his first few shots with the high-lofted club looked like bottle rockets. "They went moon high," he said. "I mean, they were skyscrapers."
But as Woodland worked his way through a bucket of balls, he started to get the hang of it. He slowly adjusted his swing, flattened it a touch, and started to control all that loft and the spin it created.
Interestingly, Woodland has not needed to make any adjustments to his irons while implementing Harmon's swing changes. He uses a set of Titleist 712 MB irons, although his have a customized, shiny chrome finish reminiscent of the 710 MBs instead of the standard brushed chrome finish of the new model.
"[Hitting down] is a little easier for me with the irons,” Woodland says, “because my swing is a little more compact. The longer the club, the tougher it gets for me.”
The ultimate test of Woodland's new training aid and swing will happen on the golf course. He knows he has to work on hitting the draw every day and be willing to hit the shot in tournaments like this week's Farmers Insurance Open. 
“It's going to be hard, but like Butch said, we are working towards Augusta, so I have until April,” Woodland says. "Hopefully by the Masters we'll be all ready to rock and roll."
 

Whatever you thought of his funky apparel, you had to respect Ryan Moore, that rare Tour pro who has eschewed apparel sponsorship in order to develop an individual style all his own. He tends toward skinny neckties and cardigans, like something out of a different era. Now Moore has signed an endorsement deal to wear the new Arnie line, based on the clothes Arnold Palmer wore in his heyday.
The line has been created by Geoff Tait and Bobbie Pasternak, the guys who make Quagmire, a golf and lifestyle brand with the motto “Not fit for the fairway.”
But somehow Tait and Pasternak have come up with a collection that really seems to fit Moore’s laid-back, iconoclastic look.
As Tait, the designer of Quagmire and the newly licensed Arnold Palmer collection, said: “Truth is I built the line with Mr. Palmer’s style in mind. I did all of the research about what he wore back in the day, and it turned out to be exactly Ryan's style.”     
 
Moore had been wearing what Tait calls, “a mishmash of clothing from his own wardrobe,” mostly non-golf brands. “Sorting through the archives, most of the pictures that I went through were of Mr. Palmer wearing cardigans much like Ryan likes to wear regularly.”
The Arnie clothes are based on the iconic style of Palmer in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. Cardigans are all cotton and the sweater crests are replicas of the Ryder Cup patch from the ’70s, Tait said. A striped cardigan is based on a sweater that Palmer wore in the ’60s. Polo shirts are in Palmer Performance Polyester, a fabric designed to be moisture-wicking, anti-bacterial, breathable, piling and wrinkle-resistant, and quick-drying. The ties are made of silk.
 
“We wanted him to stand out once in a while rocking the tie,” Tait said, “and the tie is actually really cool with the umbrella logo on it.”
 
Some of the new Arniewear shirts have a ’50s feel, with smaller collars and shorter plackets. Others show the ’60s influence with wider collars and a longer placket. The ’70s shirts sport contrast woven collars, in a 60-40 cotton-polyster blend. 
 
“We made the collars a little stiffer, because Mr. Palmer requested a few shirts with some cotton and hard collars,” said Tait. “He wore a lot of those back in the day.”
 
Of  Moore’s reaction to having, for the first time, a brand on his back, Tait said, “He is a really nice guy and has the same kicked-back attitude as us. I think he fits the clothing pretty well, and to be honest, I'm happy he is not boring.”

Hidden underneath a black, matte finish that looks like it was taken off a stealth fighter, the Ping i20 driver, the company's newest offering for better-players, is made using three different materials.
 
The body is cast from a titanium alloy that has been infused with aluminum to make it lighter. Ping engineers shifted the weight saved by blending the aluminum and titanium together and moved it into two tungsten pads located in the back sections of the sole.
 
Marty Jertson, Ping Golf's Senior Design Engineer, says moving the weight to those spots helps to improve the clubs moment of inertia and make it more resistant to twisting on off-center hits. Those weight pads also shift more of the head's overall weight away from the face, which helps to create a higher initial launch angle. Ping also says that the club produces less spin than its predecessor, the i15.

Ping Golf
Ping i20 Driver
 
While the i20 offers a 460-cc head, Jertson says that the club is more aerodynamic than the i15, which should mean more power for golfers off the tee.
 
"With the same amount of energy, the same amount of input, you are able to get more velocity from the club head," Jertson says. That clubhead velocity should translate directly into more ball speed and longer shots.
 
While the i20 is not adjustable like many drivers on the market today, golfers who like to maneuver the ball around the course should appreciate its neutral weighting and square face at address. Whether you prefer to hit a draw or a fade, the clubhead won't fight you.
 
As you might expect in a driver designed for big hitters, the i20 is only available in three lofts—8.5°, 9.5° and 10.5°. It comes standard with either a low-spinning Ping TFC 707D shaft or a Project X Black shaft and costs $385.

The golf world is experimenting with "natural motion" footwear, as companies like TRUE Linkswear and Nike adopt golf shoe designs loosely based on the "five finger" concept that has swept the running and hiking fields. This approach brings the foot into closer contact with the ground and eliminates much of the superstructure of advanced athletic shoes. Ryan Moore and Tiger Woods have been early adaptors of this trend.
 
Now Adidas is introducing its own version, with two new models that play up the idea of "freedom and control" and "natural stability."

Adams Golf
Adidas Golf's new Puremotion golf shoes, left, and Crossflex.
 
The first, provisionally called Puremotion, is a highly technical golf shoe with an “anatomical shape” and spikeless sole. It features a wider, “web-shaped forefoot” that Adidas says provides a natural fit for comfort and performance. The idea here is that instead of being firmly locked into place, your toes have room to wiggle and grip down at key moments during the swing.
 
The second shoe is the Crossflex and it’s built on a lightweight running last—a shoemaker’s form shaped like a human foot. In lieu of spikes, it has "pods" and "zonal traction elements" for grip in various ground conditions. In other words, it's flexible, lightweight and spikeless.
 
These seem to be the buzzwords in golf footwear right now, along with breathable. Both models have Climaproof mesh uppers and carry a two-year waterproof guarantee.
 
Both shoes will be unveiled atthe PGA Merchandise show in Orlando, Fla., in two weeks. Adidas is not even sure what the final names will be or the exact price ($100 to $120) when they go on sale this summer, but one thing seems clear: like other hybrid and natural motion golf shoes, they can be worn on the street, in your kitchen and to the office on Friday, which for many men will be a welcome leap forward. 

Rickie Fowler's influence on Cobra-Puma Golf is undeniable. While rumors swirl that Fowler is joining Cobra's Tour staff, nothing official has been released yet. However, Puma's apparel line is already awash with Fowler's favorite colors, and now even the accent colors on Cobra's latest clubs are getting the Rickie treatment.
 
But if you look past the orange highlights on the new AMP (Advanced Material Placement) driver, you'll see an innovative approach to customization. Instead of an adjustable weight system, Cobra has manufactured the drivers with the weight and center of gravity in different locations for each loft.

Cobra Golf
Cobra AMP Driver
 
"It's all about moving weight inside the head, strategically, to position the center of gravity very precisely,” says Tom Preece, Cobra Golf's vice president of research and development . “So it's really about pre-customizing the driver based on a player’s clubhead speed."
 
Like last season's S3 drivers, the sweet spot of the AMP drivers does not make a circular pattern around the middle of the face. Instead, it's elliptical, moving from the low heel to the high toe area because that's where Cobra's researchers found that golfers mis-hit drives most often.
 
"We've actually maximized ball speeds for shots that miss the center of the club face in this elliptical pattern," says Preece.
 
Using a torque wrench, the AMP’s face angle can be adjusted to one of three positions: neutral, two degrees closed or two degrees open. Cobra is also offering a draw version that has a built-in offset. According to Cobra, the face on the draw version should close more easily on your downswing to diminish slices.
 
Both AMP drivers, which should start arriving in pro shops around Feb. 15, will come standard with an Aldila RIP Speed Tuned shaft and should cost about $299.