Women Only: Nickent unveils Goddess Collection golf gear

By Kiel Christianson,
Senior Writer

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Nickent's Goddess Collection includes a nearly complete set of ladies' clubs. (.)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Women's golf has received a lot of attention recently, thanks to Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie playing in PGA Tour events—and Natalie Gulbis's calendar. Now the equipment companies are picking up on that interest, offering women high-performance, top-quality sets designed especially for players with two X-chromosomes. One of the newest of these is the Nickent Goddess Collection.

The unique aspect of the Goddess Collection is that it includes a full 10-club set, including a 14-degree titanium driver, 19-degree 3-wood, 4-, 5-, and 6-ironwood hybrids, and cavity back irons filling the 7 through sand wedge slots. As such, the transitions between lies, lofts, and shaft lengths are smooth and seamless.

"We at Nickent feel that the time has come for women golfers to benefit from the same technological advancements that the men's game has enjoyed," said Nickent CEO Michael Lee. "One of the greatest advantages men have had has been complete confidence in their equipment. Women, however, have been relegated to using clubs that were frankly second-rate in many cases, or, perhaps worse, men's clubs that were ill-fitted to their golf game. That will not be the case at Nickent Golf."

From the Winn Master Wrap grips, through the 65-gram UST Ultralight Ladies' Flex shafts down to the precision cast clubheads, there appears to be nothing second-rate about Nickent's ladies' offering.

Cindy Johnson, owner and president of Fran Johnson's Golf in W. Springfield, Mass., recently proclaimed, "The days of pink and purple shafts are behind us." Johnson further pointed out, "There's a significant number of women who spend the money [in households] - from cars to golf clubs. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't play and don't know the difference between shafts." She also noted that the increased popularity of hybrid clubs, of the sort found in the Goddess Collection, has closed the gap between women's and men's equipment.

Kellie Stenzel, PGA Professional and author of three instruction books for women, calls the widespread availability of hybrids "terrific for women."

How they play

Being completely unqualified to test out these clubs myself, I asked Madeline Hoeft, a Champaign, Ill.-area real estate agent and avid golfer, to take the Goddess Collection out for a spin. Madeline and three of her friends played three rounds with the clubs.

Hoeft, et al. found the lavender shafts and deep midnight purple clubheads with matching headcovers extremely appealing. "I even had people asking me where I got them," she reported, despite the slight stereotypicality of the hue for women's clubs.

When it came to performance, Hoeft was equally complimentary. "I have a $400 Callaway driver," she said, "and I hit [the Nickent driver] farther and straighter than mine. I hit the irons longer [than my Callaway irons], too, as did all of my friends."

The ironwood hybrid clubs proved problematical, however, especially since none of the foursome had ever hit hybrid irons before. "I think they require some practice," she said. When it was pointed out that, in order to play hybrids well, you need to make sure to still hit down on the ball, rather than trying to sweep it as with a fairway wood, she agreed that this was probably their mistake. "But they look like woods," she explained.

Even the grips garnered praise: "It was a bit rainy one day, but there was absolutely no trouble controlling the club. Much better than my own grips."

The verdict

After considering the input of Madeline and her playing partners, Nickent's Goddess Collection appears to be an impressive success.

Some of the women we consulted at first balked at the MSRP of $799, but after considering that it included a driver and 3-wood, recalculated and decided that it might not be too much to pay for essentially a full set. All that would need to be filled in would be a putter and one or two more lofted fairway woods (5- and 7-woods, for example).

For more information, visit www.nickentgolf.com.

September 13, 2004

Kiel Christianson has lived, worked, traveled and golfed extensively on three continents. As senior writer and equipment editor for WorldGolf.com, he has reviewed courses, resorts, and golf academies from California to Ireland, including his home course, Lake of the Woods G.C. in Mahomet, Illinois. Read his golf blog here.