The course is important. The swing is important. The outfit is important.

But the equipment? It’s what you geek out most on.

As the year comes to a close, we’re offering up a snapshot of the top 10 stories from each of Golfweek’s most popular sections, including travel, the PGA and LPGA tours, instruction and amateur golf.

Today we’re looking at equipment. Under the watchful eye of our gear guru David Dusek, this list has some of our top posts of the year in terms of your clicks.

Callaway Paradym X driver. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

By making the entire middle portion of the Paradym drivers with carbon fiber, Callaway created significant amounts of discretionary weight that – in combination with hitting areas designed using artificial intelligence, Jailbreak and adjustability – can lead to more distance and tighter downrange dispersion.

Here’s our look at the family of drivers.

Better Player Irons for 2023

Better Player Irons for 2023. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Better-player distance irons are designed to look like the clubs single-digit handicap golfers want to play. They have compact blade lengths, narrow toplines and soles and typically come with only a touch of offset. However, manufacturers pack them with distance-enhancing features and technologies so they appeal to players who might lose a few yards, and they tend to be more forgiving than cavity-back and muscleback irons made for aspiring club champions.

Here’s our list.

Best affordable drivers 2023

When big-name brands like TaylorMade, Titleist, Callaway and Ping release new drivers, the prices can be astronomical. You could be a die-hard golfer playing 2 to 3 times a week, and it’d still be hard to justify spending that much money on a golf club.

So we thought it’d be a good idea to scour the internet for the best deals on name-brand drivers to save the average golfer some coin on their next big stick. 

2023 Wedges

2023 Wedges. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

Several manufacturers have released outstanding wedges, including Callaway, Mizuno, TaylorMade, Titleist and Tour Edge. so to keep you up-to-date with the latest shortgame tools to hit the market, Golfweek has updated our list of this season’s best wedges.

Here is our list.

Best golf balls for 2023

(David Dusek/Golfweek)

The best way to find your ideal ball is to think about what you need and how much you are willing to spend, then buy a few three-ball sleeves of a few brands and try them out. Play six holes of an 18-hole round with three different balls and think about how each performed off the tee, from the fairway and around the greens. Many shops also offer two-ball promotional packs of premium balls, which is a great way to see if a tour-level ball is right for you.

2023 Drivers

2023 Drivers. (David Dusek/Golfweek)

The best way to discover the driver that is best suited to your swing and game is to work with a good custom fitter who has a launch monitor, try several models (along with different shafts) and see which performs best.

Here’s our list.