Thursday 13 November 2014 21:42, UK
Eagled-eyed viewers at the Ryder Cup soon spotted Rory McIlroy carrying a new driver, and while many had their doubts with him putting a new big dog into the bag for such a huge event, his confidence in the new Nike Vapour live delivered the perfect boost for the company’s launch of the new range.
Nike have totally redesigned their entire range for the new season, out goes the red colourway and in comes a striking ‘Volt’ yellow as they call it – something you’ll be seeing a lot of throughout the year with Nike introducing three new drivers, three sets of irons and two options in fairways and hybrids.
McIlroy slipped right into gear immediately in his Nike Vapor Pro, which actually isn’t the most tricked out driver in the range – the Vapor Flex with its ‘Flightpod’ takes that title – but a driver with such ability and accuracy as McIlroy needed just a big dog that was longer and straighter than his old one.
“The Vapor Pro was designed through Rory’s eye and how he likes his driver to look,” said Dr Tom Harper of Nike, who lean on McIlroy and Tiger Woods for input in their design strategies.
“Rory can hit it further, straighter and with more carry so it was an easy switch for him to make. Tiger wants a driver that he can play nine shots he plays better. Rory just wants it long and straight so that’s more with him in mind.”
Vapor Speed will be the most popular model at retail with its extra forgiveness and pure distance, but don’t be put off having a try with the Vapor Pro, which is still surprisingly forgiving despite being designed for the better golfer.
Vapor Flex takes adjustability to the next level with not only the usual features of adjustability of loft and face angle, but also with the RZN cartridge insert which is placed by the cavity underneath the driver.
This ‘Flexflight’ technology includes the weighted ‘Flexpod’ and when this is moved it can change the launch angles and those that love technology and tinkering with their driver to suit playing conditions have a huge amount of options to play with.
Players have already been following Rory in sticking the new drivers in the bag so you’ll see a lot of Volt flashing off the tee over the next year.
Although you can get confused with all the different setting and such, a quick visit to a fitting centre is always recommended when shelling out for new golf equipment.
Available January 31, 2015, Drivers all 8.5-12.5° loft, Vapor Flex: £349.99; Vapor Pro: £299.99; Vapor Speed: £249.99
Fairways woods and hybrids come in two variations, the Flex and the Speed – with the Flex having the adjustability function which again gives you 15 different options, along with a black face and lower, straighter leading edges that were requested by their athletes.
The Vapor Speed hybrids contain a design called ‘Linear Progression’ which sees the longer clubs have a larger bods and shallower face to promoter a more penetrating ball flight, while the shorter clubs have deeper faces to make for a higher flight for use with approach shots.
Francesco Molinari, who put a Vapor fairway wood in his bag at the Matchplay, said: “It gives the look that it’s an easier club to hit in the air even off not such a great lie. For someone like me who’s not the longest hitter I need a club I can hit off the turf on par fives especially.”
Fairways -Vapor Speed: 3W: 15°; 5W: 19° £159.99; Vapor Flex 3W: 13°-17°; 5W: 17°-21° £189.99
Hybrids - Vapor Speed: 2H: 17°; 3H: 20°; 4H: 23°; 5H; 26° £134.99; Vapor Flex: 3H: 17°-21°; 4H: 21°-25° £159.99
In the irons it’s a similar story to the drivers with three different specs on off, the Vapor Pro, Pro Combo and Speed cover all abilities of player between them. The Pro are for the better player with more workability but even here Nike have pushed the boat out with black PVD providing colour on a blade for the first time.
The Pro Combo follow in the footsteps of the popular previous line where the clubs progress from blades to cavities throughout the range, but these clubs are proving popular in the pro ranks with McIlroy himself putting a Pro Combo two iron in the bag for his Open Championship win at Hoylake.
That could be a popular move across the board with the Pro Combo long irons being easier to hit but still providing and measure of control and, of course, the distance that is needed. Even when you work down the bag the Pro Combo irons are surprisingly comfortable to strike, even though at address they’ve got the sleeker look of a blade.
With Vapor Speed Nike have ‘used metal wood construction in an iron’ with the longer irons being hollow constructions down to an eight iron when the RZN cavity takes over. The result is great forgiveness and jump in distance as well – which is why these will be the most popular model at retail.
All available January 31, 2015: Vapor Pro: £699.99; Pro Combo: £699.99; Vapor Speed: £499.99 - £599.99. For further information all all the Vapor range go to http://www.nike.com/nikegolf.
