Top gear news from the British Open at Royal Liverpool — so far

Aug 08, 2023

Mizuno debuted their newest titanium fairway wood at Royal Liverpool .

Mizuno Europe

The British Open brings the best players in the world together once a year to find out who can conquer the test that is links golf. This year that test is taking place at Royal Liverpool, a.k.a. Hoylake, and with all the top players in one place, the equipment manufacturers are all hands on deck with some very cool and new gear.

Let’s break it all down!

Mizuno likes to drop new clubs around the British Open, and once again they have not disappointed the gear junkies anticipating what’s coming to retail soon.

A post shared by Mizuno Golf Europe (@mizunogolfeurope)

So far we have spotted three new clubs in images from around Hoylake and they include a new titanium STG fairway wood, and hidden behind that in Mizuno’s Instagram post appears to be the matching STG driver that we have also found on the USGA conforming clubs list (below).

What’s even more interesting is we originally spotted a prototype of the STG fairway over a year ago at the Travelers Championship, and now it’s finally making its way onto Tour and into full production, which goes to show just how long the development process can be.

Last but not least from Mizuno, they snuck some of their new T24 wedges into an Instagram story post about their irons, and then we went to the conforming list again to confirm that they are in fact the newest wedges from the Japanese manufacturer.

The OEMs and their design teams have pulled out all the stops for the final men’s major of the year by delivering some of the most beautiful and creative golf bags yet.

With themes around water, the event, and of course The Beatles, do you have a favorite?

A post shared by Callaway Golf (@callawaygolf)

A post shared by TaylorMade Golf (@taylormadegolf)

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Look, we can’t blame the guy for knowing what he likes — heck, when I walk into a pizza shop, regardless of the menu, I already know what I want too.

For former Open Champion Henrik Stenson that means a fresh new set of his Callaway Legacy Black forged irons which date back over a decade to when they were released in 2013. Although this is a “new” set for the major champion, it’s pretty safe to say that these are some of the oldest irons in professional golf at the highest level.

The conditions of links golf compared to North American parkland golf means players often have to make some adjustments to both ends of their bags.

At the top end that means new long irons and driving irons, like what Rory used to hit his clinching shot last week at the Genesis Scottish Open, and on the other end it means new wedges with fresh grooves, and in some cases lower bounce angles to deal with the more coarse sand and tight lies.

The Vokey team on the Titleist truck has been busy this week with a whole bunch of new wedges, and they shared some of them on their Instagram.

A post shared by Titleist Vokey Design Wedges (@vokeywedges)

Want to overhaul your bag for 2023? Find a fitting location near you at True Spec Golf.

Ryan Barath is GOLF Magazine and GOLF.com’s senior editor for equipment. He has an extensive club-fitting and -building background with more than 20 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. Before joining the staff, he was the lead content strategist for Tour Experience Golf, in Toronto, Canada.