Leaves changing colors and golfers changing clubs this autumn

There was a time not so long ago when springtime was the season when golf equipment companies would usher in their new designs, and golfers bounded into pro shops like children in search of Easter eggs, giddy with anticipation.

In those days of yore, autumn was a time to clean off the old sticks and, with a hint of melancholy, stow them away in the closet. Then you turned on football and forgot about your clubs for a few months.

These days, thanks to razor-thin profit margins, speed-of-light technological advances, and an arguably very unhealthy insatiable desire for continual improvement, equipment companies roll out new clubs in two big waves: spring and (gasp!) autumn.

Over the past month or so, I’ve received countless press releases from equipment companies big and small announcing the introductions of new swag. Many roll-outs are yoked to the Fall PGA Expo in Las Vegas, which has, despite the poor economy over the past several years, grown into a major event.

Even staid Callaway is bringing a new driver to market in the fall for the first time in many years: the FT-iQ ($499).

Nike Golf is unveiling its Victory Red line of irons ($1000). These come in three varieties, aimed at three levels of players. Already, the mid-level Victory Red Split Cavity irons have won a tournament over on the Japan Tour.

Cleveland Golf is rolling out a whole raft of new equipment, including The New Launcher driver ($299), Launcher fairway woods ($179), HiBORE XLi irons ($599), and the intriguing little Niblick ($109), a short-iron hybrid club aimed at the highest of high-handicappers (Tommy Chong, I’m lookin’ at you, dude.)

In short, autumn is no longer a time for golfers to sink into Barcalounger-bound reverie. These days, the changing of the leaves signals the changing of the golf clubs.