From Brent Kelley,
Your Guide to Golf.
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Jun 28 2007

Rounding up some of the new golf clubs and accessories coming to pro shops near you:

King Cobra Transition-S Set
Cobra Golf offers this 8-club blended set, one that begins with utility metals, transitions to hybrid middle irons and then to wide-sole short irons. The Transition-S sets are aimed at golfers with moderate swing speeds seeking extra forgiveness throughout the set.

David Abeles, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Cobra Golf, explained in the news release, "All clubs in the set are designed with higher MOI to maximize forgiveness and low-back CG to optimize launch. Transition-S was designed as a complete set to optimize distance gaps so players with moderate ball speed have the right club for every shot, making the transition from fairway to green easier."

The clubs in the Transition-S set are:

• Nos. 3, 4 and 5 utility metals - Wide sole, low crown design; offset hosel with draw bias
• Nos. 6, 7 hybrid irons - hollow body construction, low profile, back weighted
• Nos. 8-SW wide-sole irons - urethane-filled back cavity

Men's, women's and senior sets are available. Men's sets include 3-PW; women's and senior sets 4-SW. Cobra/Aldila NV-HL shafts and Cobra/Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips are stock.

The King Cobra Transition-S set begins shipping July 15, 2007, with an MSRP of $840.

More info: www.cobragolf.com

TaylorMade Women's Burner Woods, Hybrids
Not too long after its 2007 Burner releases for men, TaylorMade is ready with a Burner driver, Burner fairway woods and Burner hybrids designed specifically for women. Each is designed to help increase swing speeds while also aiding the golfer in getting the ball up in the air.

The Burner lineup attacks those issues with lighter materials including extra-light grips and shafts, and head construction that emphasizes increased MOI and lower, deeper center of gravity.

The women's Burner clubs are fashionably accented blue (you rarely hear companies bragging about their "color schemes" for men's clubs, eh?).

• Women's Burner Driver: An L-flex graphite shaft is standard. Available lofts are 12 and 10.5 degrees. MSRP is $360.
• Women's Burner Fairway Woods: Available in 3-wood (15 degrees), 5-wood (18 degrees) and 7-wood (21 degrees). An L-flex graphite shaft is standard; MSRP is $235 per club.
• Women's Burner Rescue Hybrids: Available in 4 (22 degrees), 5 (25 degrees) and 6 (28 degrees). The L-flex graphite shaft is standard and MSRP is $200 per club.

More info: www.taylormadegolf.com

Zen Oracle RDE Mallet
The latest putter/training aid from Zen Golf is the Zen Oracle RDE Mallet. Like all Zen putters, this one, too, includes the aperture in the head of the putter into which a golf ball fits. That hole in the head is what allows Zen putters to double as training aids, with several different types of drills possible (Zen Golf claims more than 200 touring professionals in the past five years have worked with a Zen putter as a training aid).

However, Zen putters are USGA and R&A legal for play, and the company wants to make sure golfers don't forget that they are, first and foremost, putters for play.

The "RDE" in the new putter's name stands for "reduced dimple error." Bob Hanington, CEO of Zen Golf U.S.A., said in a news release that company testing revealed it was more important to focus on dimple error - improper contact between the face and ball - sending a ball offline than on "grabbing" the ball and keeping it on the clubface a smidge longer to promote better forward roll.

The Zen Oracle RDE Mallet "utilizes micro ridges that are milled onto the putter face to reduce the amount of surface area contact from the putter face on the ball, improving impact dispersion by 50-percent," the company claims.

The Zen Oracle RDE Mallet will carry an MSRP of $325 and be available beginning in mid-July 2007.

More info: www.zenoracle.com

Precept iQ 180 Balls
Two new golf balls from Precept are geared to help golfers with slower swing speeds achieve more distance.

The Lady iQ 180 and Distance iQ 180 golf balls feature super soft cores and enhanced ionomer seamless covers. The Lady iQ 180, according to Precept, has the lowest compression of any ball on the market. The Lady iQ 180 also comes in several colors; in addition to the traditional white, there are Clear White, Bright Yellow and Bright Pink balls.

The Distance iQ 180 has a slightly "stronger" feel than the Lady iQ 180 and comes only in the traditional white. Both balls will be available beginning Aug. 1, 2007, at an MSRP of $30 per dozen.

More info: www.preceptgolf.com

Golf Workout DVD
Fitness Anywhere Inc. and the Titleist Performance Institute are the forces behind the new (and straightforwardly named) "Golf Workout" dvd. The program is built around Fitness Anywhere's Suspension Training and its TRX Suspension Training system, first developed for use by Navy SEALs. The TRX Suspension Trainer weighs less than two pounds, folds into the size of a golf shoe, and utilizes non-elastic nylon webbing. It can be set up on any secure overhead structure (pull-up bars, fence, beam, walls, doors, etc.), and by adjusting body position the user can create resistance equal to from 5- to 100-percent of body weight.

The "Golf Workout" program created with TPI starts with warmup routines and moves on to full-body workouts designed to help golfers increase strength, balance, flexibility and core stability, while helping to prevent common golf-related injuries.

More info: www.fitnessanywhere.com