![[original_title]](https://rawnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/hovi-1-1024x576.jpg)
Do not mess with the Viking on Hovland’s Ping putter cowl.
Jonathan Wall
The gear crew at GOLF.com spends a number of time at Tour occasions snapping pictures of the instruments utilized by the very best gamers on the planet. Posting membership photos with out context works in some instances, but it surely doesn’t assist the weekend golfer perceive the why behind a professional’s setup.
On this GOLF.com collection, gear editors Jonathan Wall and Ryan Barath reply these questions by highlighting fascinating golf equipment in gamers’ luggage, distinctive weighting, loft sleeve settings and extra. Welcome to “Bay Spy.”
The Viking
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Little or no in Hovland’s bag has modified in recent times — outdoors of some gadgets. The obvious is a customized putter cowl — some would possibly name it a stretch to connect a gear change to a canopy, however that’s OK — that made its debut final yr when Ping formally rolled out the “Hovi” Signature PLD Limited putter.
For years, Hovland protected his Ping PLD DS72 putter with a easy white overlaying bearing the Norwegian flag. The most recent protector of the wand is something however easy with a menacing Viking staring straight into your soul. It’s a glance we’ve seen from Hovland on a couple of events.
Look nearer and also you’ll see a couple of extra Easter eggs dotting the perimeters which are symbolic of his life and pursuits. The orange and black stitching is little doubt a nod to his time spent at Oklahoma State College. And by the best way, he nonetheless resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
It’s a enjoyable cowl that brings collectively his Norwegian roots, love for dying steel music and life in “Stilly.”
Quiet transition
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
It began with the lob wedge in 2023 and has quietly unfold to the opposite scoring instruments within the bag. I’m speaking about Hovland’s resolution to maneuver away from the all-KBS shaft setup he used within the irons and wedges for years and embrace True Mood’s Dynamic Gold Tour Problem.
True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Iron Shaft
$44.99
The True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue is ideal for the player looking for a low launch, low spin shaft designed for optimum control and accuracy. You can buy the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue built to your required specifications.
The True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue is the Gold Standard by which all other irons shafts are measured. It is the most successful shaft in the history of golf and still continues to dominate on professional tours each and every year. The Tour Issue shafts hold the industries tightest weight tolerances for exacting performance demanded by the best players. You can purchase the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue in the following flexes: S400, and X100.
View Product
Arguably the most well-liked wedge shaft on Tour, Dynamic Gold Tour Problem marked the primary time Hovland deviated from utilizing an extra-stiff flex in his wedges since turning professional. The S400 provides a barely softer really feel than KBS’s Tour V however with the same weight profile (132 grams vs. 130 grams). Choosing a heavier weight within the wedges can add a bit extra management and really feel across the inexperienced.
In Hovland’s case, going to a softer flex and including weight can ship extra really feel across the inexperienced for these difficult contact pictures.
Comply with my lead
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Hovland’s Ping i210 irons are a terrific reminder that top-of-the-line gamers on the planet wields a set with a profile that deftly toes the road between higher participant and sport enchancment. With a thicker topline and wider sole than Ping’s better-player choices (Blueprint S and Blueprint T), i210 is geared for a variety of gamers — from scratch to mid-handicappers.
If something, Hovland’s setup, one he’s been utilizing since turning professional in 2019, highlights the significance of attempting different choices earlier than defaulting to the compact profiles littering skilled circuits.
In Hovland’s case, he discovered the i210 to be a great match within the mid to brief irons due to the lower, more controlled flight they produced. Within the 4- by way of 6-iron, the extensive sole retains the pinnacle from needlessly digging into the turf. It’s a setup extra golfers ought to embrace.
Hiding in plain sight
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Again in 2023, Ping launched a video of Hovland hitting flop pictures with Tour rep Kenton Oates by his aspect. It’s a enjoyable video meant to focus on the large short-game enchancment Hovland made with coach Joe Mayo that culminated in a torrid end to the season. To not point out a PGA Tour report for one-year earnings with $34.5 million. It was a very good yr for Hovland.
Hovland has transitioned into two Ping’s s159 wedges (50 and 56 levels) for the reason that dream season, however the Glide 2.0 lob wedge stays. As for why Hovland nonetheless performs 2.0, Oates informed GOLF.com final season that it got here down to non-public preferences.
“The only real of [the 2.0] was all the time good for him,” stated Oates. “The heel and again had been good. Now if he wished to enter the 4.0 lob wedge with the identical traits, we’d most likely must do barely various things to match it up.”
Because the wedge sport continued to enhance final season, Hovland got here to Oates on the 2023 Gamers Championship and requested for a real 60-degree Glide 2.0 TS. Earlier than the swap, he was utilizing a low-bounce 58TS (Skinny Sole) wedge bent two levels weak to a acknowledged loft of 60 levels to reap the advantages of much more versatility across the inexperienced.
Hovland hasn’t regarded again since that week.
PING s159 Custom Wedge
$179.99
With the addition of two grinds and new lofts, the tour-style s159 wedges are available in 25 loft/grind combinations to match a wedge to your playing conditions and technique while ensuring a properly gapped set. Extensive testing with top PING tour players helped create wedges that will appeal to golfers of all abilities. The new WebFit Wedge app provides a quick and easy way to determine the s159 grinds that best fit your game.
Tour-Proven Design
The tour-inspired 8620 carbon steel head features a soft feel and clean shape with a straighter lead edge for improved results on full shots. Two performance-enhancing finishes (Hybropearl 2.0 Chrome and Midnight) are available in all loft/grind combinations.
More Grooves. More Spin.
Wheel-cut grooves are precision-milled to varying dimensions, depending on loft. The 46-to-52-degree wedges are milled to maximize groove volume for greater control on full shots. The 54-to-62-degree options feature more tightly spaced MicroMax grooves to impart more spin, especially around the greens.
View Product
“Now he’s enjoying a true 60-degree wedge that’s going to be extra versatile,” stated Oates. “It’s going to sit down decrease to the bottom resulting from having much less bounce, but it surely’s additionally going to require extra talent. Ever since he modified, his stats have slowly gotten higher and he’s by no means requested to return [to the 58-degree]. That exhibits the work he’s put in studying how one can expose that bounce and hit these pictures a bit of bit cleaner.”
And if you need a little bit of inside baseball, Hovland’s lob wedge is definitely one of many earliest s159 prototypes. It says Glide 2.0 on the pinnacle, however the sole geometry and turf interplay is designed to imitate Ping’s newest scoring instruments. Speak about hiding in plain sight.
Regular as she goes
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Hovland isn’t afraid to change his favorite club in the bag — offered the tweak produces outcomes. And when the outcomes bear fruit, the tinkering stops.
In the event you want proof, look no additional than Hovland’s G425 LST driver. In 2022, Ping reps labored with Hovland to extend launch and fight a lower-than-comfortable spin charge by eradicating the shaft tipping from his Fujikura Speeder 661 TR TX shaft to melt the general construct.
The top loft additionally elevated barely from 8.4 to eight.6 levels and sizzling soften (three grams) was positioned within the toe to maintain Hovland from overdrawing the ball since his path began transferring extra proper. Ultimately, the adjustments resulted in a constant launch round 11-12 levels with roughly 2,300 RPMs of spin.
The small tweaks present an all-important profit: Hovland didn’t have to fret about spin dropping to harmful ranges on the occasional mishit anymore.
The changes had been so good Hovland has stored the driving force construct frozen in time. That’s when you realize you’re doing one thing proper as a Tour rep.
Holding it constant
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
The membership grip is one other merchandise within the bag that hasn’t modified going again to Hovland’s time at Oklahoma State. Golf Delight’s New Decade MultiCompound (58R) is a well-liked choice utilized by a myriad of execs, together with Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy. (It was McIlroy who helped put “MCC” on the map round 2011.)
Golf Pride New Decade MultiCompound Midsize
$11.99
The Golf Pride New Decade MultiCompound grip fuses the performance of rubber and cord for a new look and feel. It features Golf Pride’s exclusive black Velvet Cord in the upper hand area for firm, all-weather control, and a soft, rubber material in the lower hand for ultimate control and responsiveness.
View Product
Designed with a brushed cotton twine within the higher hand for stability, and rubber within the decrease hand for management, MCC was one of many first grips to mix two feels and textures. For Hovland, the grip gives a continuing really feel and reliability that is useful (no pun meant) when he’s testing completely different heads.
Depart it as-is
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Concluding this version of “BagSpy” with back-to-back grip notes feels anticlimactic, but it surely’s onerous to not save area for Hovland’s 15-inch Winn grip. When Hovland and Ping began engaged on a brand new prototype mallet in 2020, the 26-year-old staffer made it clear he didn’t need to mess with a unique grip. The seen put on on the crimson deal with (the above picture was taken on the Memorial Event) is additional affirmation that Hovland has no real interest in attempting anything.
The 36-inch putter isn’t almost so long as the 38-inch counterbalanced build Rickie Fowler popularized final season, however the addition of an extended grip permits Hovland to choke down a bit extra for added stability in the course of the stroke.
Wish to overhaul your bag for 2022? Discover a becoming location close to you at GOLF’s affiliate firm True Spec Golf.
