From the blockbuster sale of an iconic company to some scrambling efforts to broken clubs, equipment was very much part of the conversation last year.

Although belly putters and TaylorMade's white R11 driver made our top newsmakers list in 2011, those weren’t the only equipment stories of note this past year. Broken and lost clubs, changes due to strategic thinking and the sale of golf’s most iconic brand all grabbed our attention during the past 12 months.

1.  The sale of Acushnet

The year saw the largest purchase of a golf equipment company when fila Korea ltd. and mirae asset Private equity bought the acushnet Co. (comprised of the titleist, footJoy and Pinnacle brands) for $1.225 billion. the deal allowed acushnet to remain a stand- alone operation in fairhaven, mass., and offered the ability to expand in asia where great potential lies. “Companies that are U.S.-centric will be roadkill on tomorrow’s scorecard,” Acushnet CEO Wally Uihlein said at the time of the sale.

2.  McIlroy’s broken 7-iron

Rory McIlroy not only hurt his right arm and wrist when he struck a root on the third hole in the opening round of the PGA Championship, he also damaged his titleist MB 7-iron. titleist made a replacement at its oceanside, Calif., facility and had it flown overnight to atlanta aC. The club was placed in McIlroy’s locker at 7:25 a.m. Friday just before he went out to warm up for his second round.

3.  Browne's lofty putter

After a practice round at inverness Club in preparation for the U.S. Senior open, Olin Browne (left) decided to have 2 degrees of loft added to his odyssey Black Series i #1 putter, boosting the loft to 6 degrees, in an effort to give his putts a smoother roll. the results couldn’t be disputed: Browne won by three shots, ranking third in the number of putts taken with 108.

4. Presidential gifts

Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III and Bubba Watson tried to help out President obama when he got down to business on the course with Speaker of the house John Boehner. during a dinner with the President, love pre- sented obama a red, white and blue Bridgestone bag, a Scotty Cameron by titleist putter with “obama” engraved on the back and a box of Bridgestone golf balls. watson’s gift was a left-handed Ping G15 driver with specs matching Bubba’s big stick. lefty’s contribution was a trio of Callaway X-forged wedges (56, 60 and 64 degrees) stamped “Prez 44” (below right) on the back.

5. New grooves a go at all Open qualifiers

In 2011 the USGA deemed that grooves conforming to the condition of competition statute would be re- quired for all phases of the u.S., u.S. Senior and u.S. women’s opens—a departure from the year before when the less-effective grooves were only required in the championship proper. the move was designed to eliminate confusion, yet problems still arose, such as when taylor fontaine borrowed wedges from a friend (who told him they conformed) for a U.S. open local qualifier at Newport (Rhode Island) CC. Fontaine qualified but later was told the wedges were nonconforming, resulting in his disqualification.
 

6. Furyk's not-so-soft shoe

During Monday of Masters week, Jim Furyk (left) found his right foot slipping on the lush turf. Given the forecast for warm temperatures, Furyk felt the surface was only going to get slicker so he opted to put metal spikes in his right shoe while staying with plastic cleats in his left.“i’ve done it before,”said Furyk, citing the 2006 British Open at Royal Liverpool as an example.“What can i say? I’m a little goofy.”

7. Appleby's lost putter

It’s not often you lose a club you used to shoot 59, but that’s what Stuart appleby did prior to the first round of the hyundai tournament of Champions. the Aussie put another putter in play, and a day later the mystery was solved. Rick folio, a production assistant for Golf Channel, found the putter (an Odyssey White Hot XG 330). “It was a happy ending,” said Appleby.

8. Moore's bad reminder

Ryan Moore uses a grip with a raised rib in the area where the fingers grip the club, but it turns out Moore’s were in the wrong spot for half the season. “The grip was just spun a little bit to the right, which if i get my hand on there the way i like was actually making the clubface shut 2 or 3 degrees,” said Moore at the Travelers Championship. “I’ve been overdrawing it for the last five or six weeks when my swing felt great. I couldn’t figure out what was going on.”
 

9. Lefty's big chill

Cold weather was a factor at the waste management Phoenix open, and it had Phil mickelson thinking about his equipment. “I’ve been switching golf balls in cold weather,” he said. “I’ve been using a much softer, much lower compression golf ball.” Mickelson said when the air gets a little nippy as it did in Scottsdale, the ball doesn’t compress as well and the effect on mis-hits 
is exaggerated. A softer ball, he contended, compressed more easily, leading to straighter shots in cold conditions. Mickelson finished t-29.

10. The Mechanic's repair

On Tuesday of the WGC- Accenture Match Play, Miguel Angel Jiménez cracked his Ping TiSi Tec
(a 2001 model) 3-wood. Components (including a head with 11.8 degrees of loft) were gathered at Ping’s nearby headquarters in Phoenix and 2010 British Open champ Louis Oosthuizen was enlisted to drive the parts to Tucson where the club was built.