George Kittle's secret golf weapon: Why 49ers star still uses iconic Nike driver from 2014

Fox News

2 days ago

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The final day of this year's Tight End University involved a different sport than football, one that co-founders Travis Kelce, George Kittle and Greg Olsen thought would be the perfect way to build more camaraderie.
"We did see how Nashville summers are pretty hot, didn't want to put guys in the fields two days in a row. So, you know what, what's a way to get everybody around? Golf. Everybody loves golf," Kittle told Fox News Digital before playing at Hermitage Golf Course in Old Hickory, just outside of Nashville.
It was still a scorcher under the Tennessee sun, but Kittle was ready to go out with his group, which included Kelce, Olsen and his coach, Jon Embree. And they may have needed some ear plugs when it was Kittle's turn to tee up.
That's because Kittle has a certain loyalty to his driver, one with an ear-piercing noise that resembles an aluminum baseball bat rather than today's usual sound coming off the face of a "big stick."
The Nike SasQuatch Sumo2, known more commonly as simply the "Sasquatch," is no longer produced. Its square face and body, mixed with it's black-and-yellow finish, makes it truly one-of-a-kind – much like the man who still wields it today.
Modern golf technology has created better drivers since, but Kittle hasn't wavered from using it since 2014. He explained why.
"I was a really, really bad golfer – not saying that I'm good now – but I was really bad in college. I didn't have nice clubs," Kittle explained when asked why he won't stray away from this particularly old driver for some newer technology. "A guy that I played with, a [Iowa Hawkeyes] defensive lineman named Brant Gressel, he had all these nice clubs. He was like an 80s golfer in college. He had like three bad drives in a row, and he just whips it into the woods, the Sasquatch.
"I was like, 'Hey, can I have that?' He said, 'If you can get it, you can have it.' Walked into the woods, grabbed it, and it's been my driver since 2014. I keep it straight, it makes a great noise, and it's great for conversation because people are obsessed with it. It works for me and that's all that really matters."
Kittle called the loud ping, a sound that would make you jump three holes away, let alone at a driving range, "cleansing" to him.
And if you think otherwise, Kittle doesn't want to hear it.
"It reminds me of playing tee ball in like sixth grade," he said. "Is there anything better? Just going out there with the boys just hitting the ball around? I love it. And if you don't like it, it's heresy and it will be punished."
Now, because the club is no longer made, Kittle didn't want to take any chances at having to buy a modern driver and figure out what worked for his swing ever again.
He took matters into his own hands, and thanks to some research, he doesn't have to worry about that.
"In case I ever broke it, I found like six of them on eBay and I bought all of them," he said, smiling.
It's much like wearing that favorite part of cleats or gloves in football: if it works, why switch things up?
For Kittle, golf is more about the vibes than the results on the scorecard. So, while his competitive juices are always flowing on the football field, this golf trip at TEU was all about showing his peers a great time before they went back home to prepare for the grind that is NFL training camp.
"Overall, just a fun time to get out there, have a couple Bud Lights, enjoy yourself and really thankful for Hermitage for letting us out here today," Kittle said.
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