5 Other Car Brands (Besides McLaren) That Have Dabbled In Golf Club Design

McLaren Golf — (Image credit: Getty Images)

Earlier this year, McLaren announced an exciting new venture into the golf world, and as much as it came as a surprise at the time, it makes a lot of sense.

Automotive engineers tend to know their onions when it comes to aerodynamics and moment of inertia, just as much as the R&D bods at golf equipment manufacturers - and they have a good idea how to make marginal gains.

“We’ve hired some of the best minds in engineering and combined them with leading figures from the golf world to create an innovation-led company that pushes the limits of what golfers can expect from their equipment,” said Neil Howie, CEO of McLaren Golf.

Two months on, McLaren Golf's debut products have been launched, with Justin Rose confirmed as the first of its tour players.

Will McLaren Golf be a serious equipment manufacturer? If the signing of the former World No.1 is anything to go by, the company clearly intends to hang around for a bit longer than the other car brands that have dabbled in the golf market.

Such as? Well, if you really like your cars and you’re also keen on your golf, you may be familiar with a few of the following collaborations.

Maybe you have a limited edition purchase or two sitting in the garage...

Ferrari

We thought we might find a Cobra ZL Ferrari driver on eBay. However, anyone who forked out $2,000 on one 15 years ago probably isn’t the type of person to go looking to try and recoup some cash.

Should this limited edition model, which was designed using the Cobra ZL driver platform, ever reach six figures in value, maybe we’ll see a few pop up.

When engineers from Cobra Puma Golf teamed up with the iconic Italian sports car brand, one of the goals was to find more clubhead speed.

Changes to the face perimeter were made, and the trail edge was lifted off the ground. And it was red. Very red. Obviously.

“We had an opportunity to work directly with Ferrari engineers,” said Tom Preece, who was the vice president of research and development at Cobra Puma Golf. “They had suggestions on material usage, and they thought they could improve aerodynamics.”

The driver is no longer in production, but who knows, maybe we’ll see another Ferrari collab in the future.

Bentley

Developed in partnership with Professional Golf Europe, a set of Bentley irons will set you back about $5,000 - and that’s before you start customizing.

Maybe they were a touch more affordable a decade ago, when the car brand entered the market with a collection of handcrafted, state-of-the-art, bespoke golf equipment.

Hand forged in Ichikawa, Japan, the clubs are designed to produce stunning feel, consistency, and performance.

We can’t comment because no one on the team has ever tested any of the Bentley range, which includes a full wood line-up, wedges, and a putter; however, the irons (BB1, BC1, and BC2) certainly look good.

If you’re interested in making a statement - maybe you fancy the look of a set of Bentleys in the back of your Continental - the clubs are still available through select luxury retailers and online retailers.

Porsche

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Another collaboration, this time with TaylorMade. If you’re a collector, you’ll find all sorts of interesting Porsche golf clubs in the second-hand marketplace, as our deputy editor, Joel Tadman, did on a recent trip to the golfclubs4cash store in Milton Keynes, where he discovered an old Porsche (TaylorMade) driver.

As has been the case with most other car brands, this wasn’t a move to establish itself as a major player in the golf marketplace, and if you have an old Porsche Design model tucked away gathering dust in the loft, it’s probably not worth enough to retire on.

Lamborghini

Remember when Callaway teamed up with Lamborghini to collaborate on research and development initiatives?

Our editor, Neil Tappin, does, because he went to the Paris Motor Show to witness the unveiling of the first design to feature Forged Composite, a co-developed material billed as the lightest and strongest either had ever made.

Stephan Winkelmann, the then president and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, said: ‘We see power-to-weight ratio and weight reduction as the keys for future super sports cars and carbon fiber as the material to achieve these goals.

“Callaway’s expertise in specific technologies is strategic for our research projects, and therefore, we welcome this partnership as a further, important milestone in our over 30-year-long history of carbon fiber applications.”

In case you’re wondering, there was no actual Lamborghini Aventador driver or such - it was all about Forged Composite, a material that was used in both Lamborghini’s cars and Callaway’s drivers.

Not ringing any bells? It should if you ever owned a Callaway RAZR Hawk and/or Diablo Octane driver, both of which boasted a lower CG thanks to Forged Composite.

Mercedes AMG

Mercedes AMG dipped its toe in the golf equipment market roughly 16 years ago with a full line-up of clubs.

More aerodynamicists doing clever things for greater speed and, as you might expect from a German company, better efficiency.

To be more specific, its engineers borrowed the Venturi Channels used in its Formula One cars to “manipulate airflow”.

If you own or still own any of these products, we’d love to hear from you.

Still performing? Please leave your comments in the box below.

Michael has been with Golf Monthly since 2008. A multimedia journalist, he has also worked for The Football Association, where he created content to support the England football team, The FA Cup, London 2012, and the FA Women's Super League. As content editor at Foremost Golf, Michael worked closely with golf's biggest equipment manufacturers and has developed an in-depth knowledge of this side of the industry. He's a regular contributor, covering instruction, equipment, travel and feature content. Michael has interviewed many of the game's biggest stars, including seven World No.1s, and has attended and reported on numerous Major Championships and Ryder Cups around the world. He's a member of Formby Golf Club in Merseyside, UK.