Erik van Rooyen’s bag has been retro over the years, going from driver to 3-wood (or Apex UW in recent years) and then straight to the driving irons and his iron set.
But over the past year, Van Rooyen has embraced some of the most popular trends on tour, adding a mini driver, a 5-wood and even testing a 9-wood at the U.S. Open.
Van Rooyen isn’t the only pro swapping utility irons for high-loft fairway woods and adding a mini driver, but he explained on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Full Equipped how he went from being a reluctant tester to embracing both trends.
“I’ve never been one to test a lot of stuff and change a lot of stuff. But I think my eyes have been opened to other possibilities,” van Rooyen told Amenities co-host Johnny Wonder. “I got the Mini last year in Utah, so it’s almost 12 months old now. It’s barely left the bag. It’s great. On the deck, on the tee, so stable.”
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When it comes to fairway woods, this is very important to Van Rooyen as he has exclusively used Apex Utility woods as his “3-wood” for years, with the 5-wood and occasional 7-wood becoming course-dependent options.
Callaway even gave him a 9-wood to try out at the U.S. Open.
“I think it was more out of curiosity and trying to get the equipment to help me than me, like trying to figure something out, hitting a 3-iron through this heavy rough, you know?” Van Rooyen said. “It took me a long time to realize that there are a lot of things you can do to change the club. If the hook goes too far, you know, you can do something on the heel or change the setup of the driver.”
For more on Wunder and van Rooyen, listen to the full episode of GOLF’s “Fully Equipped” here or watch below.
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