Ultimate gift guide for golfers

Putters
Nowhere in golf is equipment — and mental capacity — more important than on the green, where great rounds turn to horror shows in mere seconds. You need a putter you’re comfortable with, and there are a few technological advances out there designed to get your confidence up and your strokes down.

The MacGregor Response DCT Putter with Face-Off technology might bring to mind that lame movie with Nicolas Cage and John Travolta, but the putter comes with an extra face and a tool that allows you to switch out putter faces if the speed of the green or your personal preference dictates that you need a change. Another popular putter is the Yes! C-Groove Valerie model, which takes advantage of the patented technology devised by Yes! in which each putter has a 20-degree upward slant of the C-Groove’s concentric edges. As Yes! States, “Upon contact, these edges grip the ball surface and apply physical forces that simultaneously lift the ball out of its resting position and impart and over-the-top rolling motion,” making it a true roll without skips or bounces.

You can always go old-school with the flat stick, too, and the exceedingly popular Scotty Cameron line by Titleist is a good place to start on that end. The Circa 62 putter in particular brings back the old days with a classic retro design but feels very 2007 with the milled soft carbon steel construction and comfy grip.

Balls
Going on vacation, you’ll probably need to take a bunch of these annoying little things with you and then buy some more in the middle of one of your rounds. A good place to start is with Srixon’s Z-URC and Z-URS models, which are good enough for Furyk so should probably be good enough for you. These balls aren’t quite as pricey as some of the other industry leaders but offer soft feel for spin without sacrificing distance.

Titleist’s Pro V1 and Pro V1X are wildly popular and still among the favorites of PGA Tour players, as are the Callaway HX Tour and Nike One Black and Platinum lines. Taylor-Made’s TP Red and TP Black models, both of which score high marks in the industry.

Shoes
The agony of the feet isn’t a good thing to suffer when you’re stranded on a golf course in a foreign land, but golf shoes have become unbelievably light, comfortable and even good-looking over the years. It shouldn’t be surprising, but Nike’s Air Tour TW 8.5 is among the best golf shoes out there, and if you don’t know what the “TW” stands for, well, maybe you shouldn’t be reading this story.

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Other great products are the Tour360 II by adidas, the Etonic Difference 3Z, with waterproof GoreTex built in, and anything from Bite, which is now owned by Crocs and includes very comfortable standard shoes and the best golf sandals — yep, soft spikes and all — in the business.

Clothing
Did you happen to watch the recent Presidents Cup and see Tour player Woody Austin swing at a ball in the water, slip and fall into the lake? It was one of the best golf bloopers ever and also a showcase for the outerwear he had on by Zero Restriction, which produces fantastic waterproof and wind gear, particularly the TOUR-Lite Traveler’s Jacket. You can also get outfitted by Mizuno’s tree-layer approach to apparel with turtlenecks, sweaters and rain outerwear. And if you’re into more conservative, classic golf apparel, check out Fairway & Greene, which makes everything from shirts to pants to a fantastic après-golf suede bomber jacket.

For those sunny days on the course, Bolle makes the Upstart and Anaconda models that are so popular that they’re even worn by PGA Tour star Sergio Garcia, who has the game and attitude to match a hipper look. And for fitness, adidas Golf is coming out with a golf version of its TechFit PowerWeb apparel that uses thermoplastic urethane power bands that cling to the body in the “ClimaCool” fabric that helps manage moisture.

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