WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Vice Golf, the funky direct-to-consumer golf ball brand based in Germany that’s recently made its first foray into clubs, takes its next step into expanding its repertoire with a 10-piece starter set. The all-in-one Vice Boost set includes driver, hybrid, irons, wedges and putter, with each club developed through the learnings of its clubfitting partner HIO Labs.
PRICE: $450 for 10-piece set, which includes a seven-way divider stand bag.
3 COOL THINGS
1. Starting with numbers. Vice may catch your eyes with its hip aesthetic, but its work in clubs starts with the serious practical research done over the last decade by its partners at HIO Labs. As one of Europe’s top clubfitting entities and the largest fitting center on the continent, the HIO team has developed a database of testing and fitting information about what equipment components lead to the most early success, particularly with new and beginning golfers. According to the company, HIO’s team has processed more than five million shots in over 100,000 fitting hours over the last 15 years.
“Our mission is to make the game more accessible without sacrificing quality or style,” said Marco Burger, Vice’s chief product officer. “This starter set is the culmination of extensive research and feedback from everyday golfers, offering top-tier performance at an entry-level price point. We’ve removed the intimidation factor so that new players can trust their equipment and focus on having fun.”
According to Burger, one of the keys has been focusing on shorter lengths on the driver and lighter weights. “I think one of the cool things we’ve seen from HIO is how they’ve been doing so well with average and senior golfers because of how much lighter they’ve gone,” he said. “I just feel it’s a more relaxed swing, and I get more support for hitting a draw, which most of these golfers really need. It’s a combination of what we’ve found out over the last 10 years and doing a lot of additional testing and research.”
2. Long and high. As the name implied, the Boost set makes proper launch a priority for beginning golfers. That’s why the set’s titanium driver option features a generous 10.5-degree loft and a softer R-flex shaft. It’s the same directive on the women’s model, where the stock driver comes with 12 degrees of loft and an L flex shaft. Largely derived from HIO’s fitting research, the shaft length on the drivers is 44.5 inches or more than an inch shorter than most typical drivers on the market today. The shorter shaft (it’s 43.25 inches on the women’s version) should provide more control for beginning golfers. And as mentioned earlier, it pushes a lighter profile with an overall club weight of 265 grams.
The set skips fairway woods altogether, only offering a hybrid as the lone “wood”-like club in the set. The standard version comes with a 22-degree model, while the women’s set features a 25-degree hybrid as the only club between the driver and the irons.
3. Easy irons. The slightly oversized irons feature a deep undercut cavity back design, but most importantly offer wider sole for smoother turf interaction on less than clean strikes. The set starts at the 6-iron and includes the four irons (6- through 9-iron) and two wedges (pitching and sand). They also come in a lighter spec with the graphite version offering a 68-gram shaft.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
