General Look at Pure Grips(part two)

PURE ships five models of grip. The red grip (left) is the PURE Soft Wrap and is the softest grip in the lineup. It weighs about 54.5 grams in the .580 core and 49.9 in the .600 core. The blue grip, the PURE Smooth Wrap, has the look of an unperforated leather grip. It's a mid-firmness grip, weighs 54.5/49.9 grams. The green PURE Wrap is the same as the blue grip except with dimples that mimic perforated leather grips. The orange grip, the PURE Midsize Wrap, is a mid-firmness grip that's thicker. It weighs 64.5/59.9 grams. Finally, the yellow PURE Pro is the firmest grip in the lineup. It's a "velvet-style, traction-grooved" grip similar to the Lamkin Crossline without the white paint. Its firmer feel provides maximum shot feedback. The black and yellow grip weighs 54.5/49.9 grams. All of the grips cost about $5.50 apiece and come in .580 core and .600 core sizes for easy tapeless installation. (Mizuno MX-300 Irons)Each of the two grip sizes will feel "standard sized" when installed without tape on a shaft with the corresponding butt diameter.

Performance
Yeah, yeah, so the grips are easy to install. They're easy to remove, they have five styles, and the toughest thing about switching to PURE grips are removing your old worn-out grips and tape.

But how do the darn things feel? How do they play? How tacky are they? Is that one-year guarantee legitimate?

 

Suffice to say I think PURE is safe in guaranteeing their year-long playability. With my normal grips (Lamkin Crosslines or Golf Pride New Decade Multicompounds), a single heavy practice session could show appreciable wear on my grips. (Mizuno JPX AD Irons)I saw none with the PURE Pro. I've worked with a student who has the PURE Smooth Wraps installed. He hit about 300 golf balls per day in all sorts of weather for two months and his grips look virtually new.

I've played with my PURE Pro grips in all sorts of weather. I don't wear a glove, and yet I've never experienced any sort of slipping. The PURE Pro (and the rest of the PURE grips) aren't excessively tacky like some other grips I've felt. Instead, they feel only slightly tacky but that level of tackiness lasts and lasts and lasts… precisely the opposite of the fast-wearing Winn grips, for example.

The feel is as advertised as well. The red grip has a softer feel that will likely be preferred by the higher handicapper,(Mizuno JPX AD Series) the blue and green grips will be preferred the by "aspiring" golfer, and the yellow PURE Pro transmits all the feedback a good player will want to feel. Vibrational feedback was similar to any other top-flight grip.

 

Finally, I suppose, the grips are stylish in an understated way. I've already mentioned that I prefer to install them logo down, leaving a smooth black surface with minimal decoration – a single paint color in thin stripes – at each end. Though I've messed with the different colors of New Decade Multicompound grips, I've never been one to care a whole lot. A plain grip suits me just fine… and it doesn't hurt that the small bit of yellow on the PURE Pro reminds me of the Pittsburgh sports teams.