Nike (http://www.nikegolf.com)

As hard as it is to believe, it wasn’t that long ago that Nike was the new kid on the block…at least on the golfing block, anyway. To put it mildly, Nike’s early golf lineup was less than a hit with both professionals and amateur’s alike. Not long after Nike clubs hit the market 5 years ago or so, one of my coworkers ran out and bought a Nike driver along with matching 3 and 5 woods. I played a round with him one afternoon and asked him what he thought of his new clubs. His response…”Hate ‘em, worst clubs I’ve ever owned”.

Remember when other golfers were snickering at Tiger Woods because he was playing with inferior Nike clubs? Who’s laughing now, bitches? Things sure have changed, and but quick too. Nike’s products are now among the mostly widely played both on tour, and on your local courses. While Nike doesn’t churn out products at quite the same pace as some of the others (pretty much I just mean TaylorMade), their 2007 lineup is as comprehensive as any in the industry and features one innovation that I’m particularly excited about. We’ll get to that in a bit, but first…

Drivers

This year Nike was first to market with their new woods (fairway, not Tiger) lineup, the heart of which is an upgrade to the very popular SasQuatch. The new SUMO lineup features two models; one looks exactly what you might think your basic run-of-the-mill SasQuatch upgrade would look like, the other, the brand new SUMO Squared, looks like a bright yellow pizza box on a stick.

Nike is calling the SUMO squared the ultimate driver. Oh…and in case you’re wondering, I keep capitalizing SUMO because it’s apparently an acronym which stands for Super Moment Of Inertia. Of course, if Nike were playing by anything close to standard acronym rules I’d be telling you about the SMOI or at the very least, the SMI driver, neither of which sounds nearly as awesome as the SUMO, but clearly I digress.

The SUMO Squared (as you’ve by now guessed) is Nike’s entry into the Square-headed arena. The SUMO Squared delivers the highest MOI (5300 g cm) in golf. Nike claims this was done through radical geometry (apparently a square is now more radical than something like a dodecahedron, I guess), and multi-material construction. Just for your own future reference, anytime you see the phrase multi-material with respect to a driver, it means titanium face with a composite crown.

The the non-squared SUMO is basically the 2007 SasQuatch (not that there is anything wrong with that). Nike incorporated a new PowerBow geometry; raising the MOI to 4950 g cm vs. 4650 in last year’s model. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the SUMO delivers even more distance and forgiveness than the ‘Squatch.

Both of these new drivers will be on my demo list. I actually hit the new SUMO Squared last week. Because my swing showed all the rust that you might expect after nearly 4 months without picking up a club, I’ll reserve judgment on things like forgiveness and distance. What I can say is that SUMO Squared is without a doubt the LOUDEST DRIVER I HAVE EVER HIT IN MY LIFE. It sort of sounds like an aluminum bat smashing the hood of a car. It’s actually so loud that it’s potentially disruptive to other golfers.

Fairway Woods

Thankfully for their fairway woods, Nike skipped the whole SUMO thing, instead choosing to call this year’s model the SasQuatch 2. New for this year is a monorail sole design, which reportedly cuts through all types of lies (let’s see it handle the water I’m often in). The new club also features increased perimeter weighting, and a deeper center of gravity; all of which leads to a higher launch and greater distance. Finally, SQ2 offers a new Cryo Steel face for a larger and hotter sweet spot. Like it’s big brother, the SQ2 fairway wood will be on my demo list.

Hybrids

Thus far nothing new from Nike in the hybrid lineup. The Slingshot & Slingshot Tour are their top of the line models with the CPR3 available for the more budget-conscious.

I worked with a pro last year who carried the Slingshot Tour model. He told me it was the best hybrid he had hit (at the time he was working in a proshop, so he had pretty much hit everything). My buddy J carries a couple of the previous CPR clubs. He seems pretty content with them, so much so that he hits his Utility 4 when I would hit an 8-iron.

Irons

While the popular Slingshot series, and Tiger’s forged blades are still available, new for 07, Nike has introduced two models in the CCi series. The CCi is billed as a game-improvement iron, although it’s undersized head design makes it more suitable for the low to low-mid handicapper. The standard CCI is made from 431 stainless steel, which is 25% softer than 17-4 stainless…at least that’s what Golf Digest has to say. The point is that the CCi, while not forged, should feel closer to a forged club than most other irons.

The CCI forged is, well, a forged players iron. The head is made 1025 Carbon Steel, and features a thin topline and narrow offset.

Neither of the CCi series irons will be on my demo list as I’m not completely delusional about my abilities.

Wedges

Nothing new in the Nike wedge lineup as well. The highly regarded (and budget-priced) SV line of wedges is still current. For those who want to be like the man himself, the TW wedge is also still available.

Putters

You thought square drivers were innovative. Personally, I think Nike’s long term impact on the golfing landscape isn’t going to be made with the big club; instead it’s going to be made with the most over-utilized and under appreciated club in the bag. As of right now, right this second, the only club in Tiger’s back without a swoosh on it is his putter. Maybe that’s a reflection on the past quality of Nike’s putters, maybe it’s a simple matter of Tiger’s preference for his Scotty Cameron blade. Regardless, 2007 could be the year that everything changes.

New this year is the Unitized line of putters. The selling point here is that the shaft is laser welded to the head (instead of the standard epoxy glue-job). Nike claims the result is unprecedented feel and distance control. This all has to do with some physics about the frequency at which human hands are most sensitive. Nike’s got all sorts of data and fancy looking charts to illustrate just how wonderful the Unitized line of putters is. All science aside (I mean, if the President doesn’t believe in science, why should I?) Early reviews seem to agree. While the $250 retail price seems a little high, considering your putter is the club that gets the most use over the course of a round, logic would suggest that it makes sense to spend well on the club.

The Unitized is available in 4 different models. The Tiempo, Retro, and Neo models feature standard blade designs. The Techno is a center-shafted mallet-style putter which offers among the highest MOI of all putters.

Also available from Nike are the Black Oz and Ignite series. The Oz lineup features mostly mallet designs while the lower priced ignite series contains a majority of blades.

I actually tapped a few with the Black Oz T130 putter the other day at Dick’s and found the feel to be incredible. Much to my surprise I liked it better than the Bettinardi Baby Ben, and is the only reason why the Ben isn’t in my bag right now.

Should I decided to buy a new putter this year, the Unitized series will be on the top of my list, with the Black Oz series also receiving consideration.

Balls

Nike’s ball lineup is as complete as anyone’s in the game. Their top of the line One Series is my #1 favorite ball (I’d rather play with Nike balls than my own). The Platinum series is softer and has better feel, while the Black has a larger core to generate more distance. Although a distance ball, the 2007 black has been softened up a bit.

New this year is the Juice, Nike’s $20 pure distance ball. Early reviews suggest it flies off the tee, but can be a little hard on and around the green.

Also in the $20 range, Nike offers the Mojo which is among the best balls in it’s price range.

In between the Mojo/Juice and the One is the Ignite; a 3 piece ball designed to appeal to players with a variety of swing types.

Finally, also listed with a retail price of $20 (although they can often be found for around $15) is the Power Distance lineup which features a different ball for every type of golfer. The PowerSoft ball was named Consumer Report’s best bargain ball and called the equal of many higher priced balls.

Apparel

While generally I’m going to shy away from talking about clothes, Nike’s Dri-Fit and Sphere shirts are worth mentioning. Although the Sphere shirts usually cost around $60 I find them to be worth every penny. I justify their purchase by wearing them to work as well. They look great and hold up much better than other shirts I’ve owned in the past.

I’m also going to mention Nike’s SP Shoe lineup. Series 8 is current. I own shoes from the 7 series and love them so much that when it comes time to buy again, even with their shoe prices on the rise, I probably won’t look beyond Nike.

Share This Post