Remember that trusty 2-wood you used to carry? Ya, the persimmon one with the loose screw and the tiny plastic insert. You remember it, don’t you? The black whipping on the hosel always kept coming undone. Well, guess what? It’s back. Kind of.
IZZO Golf, the company that brought you the dual strap (voted one of the four greatest innovations in modern golf by USGA technical director Frank Thomas), has recently started manufacturing golf clubs. Specifically, they have launched a new series of woods called Zwoods. The flagship club of this series is their 2-wood. (The Zwoods also come in 4,6,8, and 10 woods).
At 12.5 degrees with a titanium clubface and large sweet spot, the sales pitch on this puppy centres on its ability to get you home in two on those par-5s that were previously unreachable.
I recently gave the 2-Zwood a test drive and felt the club provided a satisfactory experience, but not an exceptional one. The club seemed to hoist the ball in the air fairly quickly and distance was good. However, my dilemma with this club – and it was an issue with its “grandpa” as well - was the fact that it was awkward to use from the fairway (I felt the clubhead was too large to be effective from tight fairway lies) and the face, in my opinion, was too shallow to make for a confident experience off the tee.
Still, I think the company is on to something here with the strong-lofted 2-wood. This type of club certainly appeals to the average over-90 weekend golfer (who makes up the majority of the market.) And I would still recommend it as a driver for mid-handicap players (and perfect puffy lies from the fairway). But, is this going to forever change the complexion of the golf world like the dual straps did? No chance. I’ll bet my persimmon 2-wood on that one. www.izzo.com. Zwoods retail for $229.00
Andrew Penner writes for a number of publications in North America. He can be reached at andpenner@shaw.ca.
