What will golf equipment look like in 50 years?

[BarrySanders]

I can't even imagine what kind of "longest and most forgiving drivers" we will have by then. Haha

[HalfSet]

Don’t forget about the 38 degree “pitching wedges” 

[Tyler724]

27 minutes ago, HalfSet said:

Don’t forget about the 38 degree “pitching wedges” 

Already got these, Titleist T400 😂

[deejaid]

I’m guessing in 50 years, there will be no more iron “sets”, you’ll buy your irons as single clubs to fill that small area in the bag between hybrids (up to 30* of loft)and the new wedge “sets” you’ll be buying instead of individual wedges (36*, 40*, 44*, 48*, 52*, 56*, 60*)

 

 

[getitdaily]

 

 

[HalfSet]

53 minutes ago, Tyler724 said:

Already got these, Titleist T400 😂

🤣😭🤣😭 noooooooooooooo

[cgasucks]

Only 2 OEMs will survive.

 

Taylormade (a subsidiary of Titleist)

 

Callaway/Ping Inc.

 

The rest of the OEMs will become house brands at Dick's.

Edited January 23 by cgasucks

[Yacho]

Dark matter-infused amorphous molybdenum quantum face drivers that claim to finally get you back the 6 yards you lost in the 2028 ball rollback. 

 

And boutique blades from Ikea will be in everyone's bag.

[Jeff58]

V1xL.

 

[this_is_golf]

I’ll still shoot 90 so doesn’t matter. 

[JAM01]

2 hours ago, cgasucks said:

Only 2 OEMs will survive.

 

Taylormade (a subsidiary of Titleist)

 

Callaway/Ping Inc.

 

The rest of the OEMs will become house brands at Dick's.

Costco will own all of these

[Long_Left]

Microprocessor in the club will send a NFC signal to a chip implanted in your head to provide haptic feedback on the shot. If you think a shank hurts the hands now...

 

 

[cgasucks]

3 minutes ago, JAM01 said:

Costco will own all of these

 

Your guess is as good as mine.  

[Jamie_Tee]

Reminder of what they thought 10 years ago....

[ranesy]

I anticipate golf courses will be very different in 50 years. Regardless of whether one believes in global climate change, resource (e.g. water shortages) and other socio-economic trends will change the affordability / accessibility of playing golf. 

The equipment will continue to evolve to support the changes in the playing arena (i.e. golf courses)....for e.g. if the courses get constrained by distance, I would assume club makes will shift focus from trying to maximize distance with clubs and the golf ball.

 

[philly2kuk]

They’ll be the same as now because the rule makers decided to keep rolling back equipment.

[cardia10]

If the USGA has their way, hickories and chicken feather balls. Have to keep those old courses relevant...

[PedronNiall]

3 hours ago, ranesy said:

I anticipate golf courses will be very different in 50 years. Regardless of whether one believes in global climate change, resource (e.g. water shortages) and other socio-economic trends will change the affordability / accessibility of playing golf. 

The equipment will continue to evolve to support the changes in the playing arena (i.e. golf courses)....for e.g. if the courses get constrained by distance, I would assume club makes will shift focus from trying to maximize distance with clubs and the golf ball.

 

Many arid courses have already started going to hardy brush and hardscaping anywhere that isn't a standard playing zone, but it will depend on the location. A lot of courses maintain the natural & wetland areas that are already a part of the location so there's really nothing that needs to be done to be more sustainable. Certainly more beneficial to nature than another warehouse or inefficient sprawling subdivision. 

 

Regarding equipment, going to say the imagination is probably the limit. AI has come up with some possibilities in design that wouldn't normally be tried because the math to get there is complex and the amount of data needed to put it to work didn't exist before. As far as what actually comes out for competition play, the rules of golf will keep those items from drifting too far from semi-traditional looks I'd imagine, though I could easily be wrong.

[Chunkitgood]

In 50 years you’ll be able to sit in your chair and play with a robotic surrogate in the vast verdant areas of Siberia created by global warming.

[Peak]

Your bag will be carried by a hover board.

 

Caddies are robots that will read putts for you and tell you to take the 7i instead of an 8i to reach the green. You’re still expected to tip though.

 

The balls are now akin to floorball balls and USGA and R&A are out of ideas on how to make them fly a shorter distance. Instead the cup size has recently been cut in half.

 

The shafts will help you stay on plane and swing like Adam Scott with mini thrusters. No brand has yet figured out how to stop me from chunking it though.

Taylormade has just introduced a new painite driver face to finally end the era of carbonfiber. Other manufacturers are still using titanium.

[sharkiesj]

Iron sets 4-PW, will be gone. You’ll have 1 adjustable iron from 20*-50*.  Your bag will have 6 clubs max. Balls will have small magnets in them to help them fall into the hole on edge burning putts.  Courses will have synthetic turf for greens and tees, but probably whole entire courses will be synthetic turf.  I’ll be long gone but Pbo will still be hitting laser 2 irons carrying 260yds. that never miss the fairway…

[RangeBaller]

On 1/23/2024 at 9:54 AM, Long_Left said:

Microprocessor in the club will send a NFC signal to a chip implanted in your head to provide haptic feedback on the shot. If you think a shank hurts the hands now...

 

 

Disgustingly realistic...

[Shushwap]

This  is a prototype for the 2047 ping driver 

[Gysse]

According to AI irons will look like this  🙂

 

Edited January 26 by Gysse

[Maine Golfer]

Golf in space 

[Long_Left]

On 1/25/2024 at 2:16 PM, RangeBaller said:

Disgustingly realistic...

I work in information technology, and between Apple Vision Pro, Neuralink, and AI, you have all three components of an adaptive, real time input, analysis, and feedback mechanism.

 

 

[Dustdevil]

Behold the future!

 

Pow.

 

[gvogel]

My prediction, 50 years.  Elite players have gotten taller, faster, more athletic, etc.  Courses have not lengthened appreciably, since society has mandated that other things are more important than golf courses.

 

So the players have collectively decided that, in order to make the game more interesting, it is time to go back to the past.  They, and the ruling bodies, determine that irons should be plain and simple: no more muscle backs, perimeter weighting, hollow bodies, not even cavity backs.  Irons become a simple one piece forging with a straight back.  In order to save titanium for aircraft, drones and weapons for war, wood heads will be made of wood, or steel, and should be plain and simple in shape, not unlike the great MacGregor woods of the 1950's.  Balls, having been reined back from time to time, are now tested at a swing speed of 135 mph and cannot exceed the long held distance standard of 317 yards.

[herkyjerk]

Provided I haven’t croaked yet which is highly unlikely, in 50 years I’ll still be a whore that upgrades every other year thinking this is finally the bag that will help me shoot 80.  Even though I’ll still never practice, just play to drink and gamble, and wonder why I still shoot 90.