Equipment
Hayden Buckley (T3 at the US Open) made drastic last-minute putter changes
Hayden Buckley wasn’t exempt to play in the 2022 U.S. Open, so he had to do it the hard way by going through qualifying (he survived a 5-for-1 playoff). Now, the 26-year-old, former University of Missouri golfer finds himself T3 after opening the event with a pair of 2-under-par rounds of 68.
On Tuesday ahead of the event, Buckley completely overhauled his putting; he changed his putter, putter grip, and the way he holds the putter (he switched to cross-hand for the first time).
In the house at -4! @hbuckley13 finishes his second round with an unlikely birdie. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/4gUs3iomvt
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 17, 2022
During the qualifying round for the event, Buckley was using a blade-style putter, but that changed on Tuesday at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
According to Odyssey putter rep Joe Toulon, Buckley switched into an Odyssey White Hot OG putter with a double-bend hosel, White Hot face insert and a red Odyssey Stroke Lab shaft. He also changed into a SuperStroke Traxion Flatso 1.0 grip.
Uniquely, Buckley has the grip turned 90 degrees so that the flat side of the grip faces toward the target when he’s addressing the golf ball.
Buckley isn’t completely new to using a mallet putter, though. At the 2022 Bay Hill Invitational in February, GolfWRX photographed Buckley’s WITB, and he was using an Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas mallet style putter.
While perusing Buckley’s WITB, I noticed he was using a 2022 Titleist Vokey prototype 54-degree wedge, with a “Knuck If You Buck” stamping. Aside from the obvious play on his last name, it’s also a reference to a Crime Mob rap song called “Knuck If You Buck” (although I personally prefer Lil Wayne’s Dedication 2 freestyle remix).
As Buckley heads into the weekend at the 2022 U.S. Open, he’ll need to overcome a one stroke deficit, sitting behind Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen. He’s also tied with Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Aaron Wise, and Beau Hossler. Toulon pointed out that Buckley’s new White Hot OG is actually one of three in the final two groupings on Saturday (Dahmen and Rahm also use versions of the putter model).
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.
It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.
Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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Sam
Jun 18, 2022 at 6:54 pm
That’s 90 degrees, not 45