I was on-site this week at the Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park. It was up close and personal with the world’s best. Beautiful weather and premium course conditions are shaping up for a great event in Houston.

Let’s take a look at this week’s Lead Tape Report.

Odyssey Ai-Dual Jailbird Mini DB

We have seen the release of the Ai-Dual series from Odyssey this year. With a new color scheme of black and white, this one kept it to color only. An all-white Jailbird Mini was spotted on the putting green for testing. The icing on the cake was a strip of lead tape on the bottom to get it in this week’s report. This was the only putter like it in the Odyssey staff bag on the practice green. Cannot confirm that the putter made it to the course this week, but it is absolutely knocking on the door with the all-white finish.

Sudarshun Yellamuraju 

With the big debut of the new Titleist GTS driver this week, plenty of testing was underway to see if it would be in the bag by Thursday. The Titleist team was making sure each new driver for testing was completely to spec of the player’s previous driver. Make no exception here. Sudarshun Yellamuraju’s GTS 2 driver was matched to his GT2 driver, and that included lead tape as well. A little twist here: the new driver has the Titleist lead tape logo. Coming off his T5 at The Players Championship, he is back in action and will be a fun follow this week in Houston.

Trey Mullinax

Trey Mullinax with his Scotty Cameron Newport blade. This putter has been in the bag for a bit. Clean stamping on the back of the putter with a nice, wider strip of tape on the sole of the putter to add a little more headweight. The crimson paint fill is a nice touch for the Alabama Crimson Tide alum. In the current world of mallet putters, there is always room for blades. What I like here is the wide tape that looks like it was meant for the putter. With Trey and his ability to drive the ball, he’ll be hitting shorter clubs into the greens at Memorial Park for plenty of birdie opportunities. He is this week’s tournament via a sponsor’s exemption.

Emiliano Grillo

Looking into Emiliano Grillo’s bag, something certainly caught my eye. With an array of generations of wedges over the years from Callaway, both of his 60-degree wedges have the silver stuff on them. Two different bounce options show he makes a decision for the course conditions for which wedge to play. With how the tape is positioned on the back of the club. It can help with a driving ball flight when they are in hand. 

Titleist Logo Lead Tape

Traditionally, when it comes to tour club building, lead tape on a club blocking the brand logo is taboo to a club builder. I completely understand, but the tape also adds character and provides instant feedback on the players’ feelings and the club’s performance. Titleist decided to get its own tape made with the company logo on it to assist with any questions of what brand of club could be hiding under the tape. The wider one-inch style tape is versatile for any use!