PING Crossover Review

The Ping Crossover design creates a new club category to combine the precision, workability and control of an iron with the speed and forgiveness of a hybrid.

ping_crossover_heroPING introduces the Crossover hybrid iron. Billed as a new category of iron and not a driving iron, it promises to create higher, longer shots. This can be an advantage to holding greens from long distances out. Let’s take a look at the Crossover.

TaylorMade M2 Rescue Review

TaylorMade’s current marketing campaign is all about distance with forgiveness and the M2 Rescue definitely fits the bill.

TaylorMade M2 Rescue HeroFor a number of years, TaylorMade has been known to crank out one line of clubs after another in quick succession. The entire business model has turned off some golfers who were confused by the multiple offerings out or preferred to sit and wait for the newest line of clubs they know is coming just around the corner. TaylorMade has gone away from that lately, choosing instead to market fewer clubs than they have in the past. They now just have a high-end line, the M1, and the simpler (and cheaper) M2 lineup. This doesn’t mean the M2 clubs are inferior; they are still high performance clubs.

The M2 Rescue is a performer. I love hybrids; they need to be workhorses for me and I usually carry two in my bag at all times. I use them as long iron replacements and for teeing off when I don’t want to hit driver. I also like to use them to try and reach a short par five in two or to advance the ball out of the rough after an errant tee shot.

TaylorMade has produced some very good hybrids in the past. How does the M2 stack up to its predecessors? Let’s find out.

Volume Four Hundred Ninety-Two

In this week’s edition, we take a look at Rory McIlroy’s victory at TPC Boston.

Hittin the Links Welcome, Hittin’ the Links readers! We’re not halfway through the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with the events in New York and Boston down. The Tour heads west next week, to Crooked Stick and the BMW Championship. But first, we’ll take a look back at last week, and the Deutsche Bank, where Rory McIlroy won by two strokes over Paul Casey.

We’ll also look into Beef Johnston trying out for the PGA Tour, a few European golfers testing out some hickory-shafted clubs, and hear from Peter Kostis on the Rules of Golf. All that, plus your Weekly Woods Wrap-up.

Let’s hit the links!

Voice Caddie VC300 GPS Review

A GPS unit with no display? The Voice Caddie 300 is a little like having an invisible caddie in your ear telling you how far to hit it.

The Voice Caddie 300 GPS… It'll talk to you!The first thing that strikes you about the Voice Caddie VC300 is that there is no screen… none. There have been several talking GPS rangefinders in the past, but the Voice Caddie line is the only one that comes to mind that doesn’t sport at least a small LCD screen to back up the voice output.

I was not sure what to think of that. Frankly, the idea of a talking GPS has always struck me as a little gimmicky. Having a glance at a screen just seems easier than pressing a button and listening to a virtual caddie give me the yardage.

Would my predisposition against talking GPS units sour me on the VC300? Just a few trips to the course would tell.

The Curious Case of Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk’s recent play has warranted a deeper look as one Davis Love’s picks for the Ryder Cup. I explain why DL3 should look elsewhere.

Thrash TalkThe 58 shot by Jim Furyk earlier this year was pretty incredible. Yeah, he holed a shot, but even if you take that away he was going to be close and likely still would have shot 59, which is one small insignificant place below incredible. Pretty freaking awesome, maybe?

What it has done though is really made life a challenge for Davis Love III. To pick a forty-six year-old guy who at the start of this season was planning to help in an assistant coaching capacity is fraught with risk. Furyk’s Ryder Cup record is a train wreck. 10-20-4 for a winning percentage of .353. Among active golfers with more than fifteen matches played he is the worst. If you take a look at the all-time records of golfers with more than fifteen matches, only Curtis Strange at 6-12-2 with a win percentage of .350 is worse, and only by a few thousandths of a point. I hate to call out someone like this, but Jim Furyk is pretty awful when playing for his country against Europe.

Volume Four Hundred Ninety-One

We take a look into Patrick Reed at the Barclays and a bevy of Ryder Cup news.

Hittin the Links Welcome back to Hittin’ the Links! This week was the first tournament of the FedExCup Playoffs, and as such, we’ve got you covered. We’ll take a look at champion Patrick Reed from several angles, and read about how Justin Rose finished the event out in a unique fashion.

We’ll also delve into Ryder Cup coverage, as the Barclays saw Zach Johnson leapfrog Rickie Fowler on the Ryder Cup list, and the European team’s captain’s picks have leaked. All of that plus a preview of the outfits and a look into Davis Love III’s own captain’s picks.

Let’s dive in!

Reliving the Olympic Success

Golf returned to the Olympics for the first time in over one hundred years and did not disappoint. I review how it went and how it can get better next time.

Thrash TalkIt seems from the ratings that I have seen that, like me, there were a lot of people watching the final round of golf for both the women and the men at the Rio Olympics. The ratings for the men were in fact, second only to the Masters. That is truly fantastic to hear.

Going into this Olympics, at least on the men’s side, you might think that we were set for a complete disaster. All but a few of the high profile names dropped out for multiple reasons. Pika, safety, or the real reason – just plain tired. I suspect all that didn’t play sort of wished they did. They will come out and say that they didn’t miss it, because they don’t want to look stupid, but the reality is they probably have a pit in their stomach for missing the first Olympics in over 100 years. I am talking about Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, and yes I suspect even Rory McIlroy.

Blast Golf Review

Has advancements in motion sensor technology made 3D swing analysis possible for the average golfer?

Blast Golf Box FrontGolf is hard (a registered trademark of this site’s owner…). Even the pros do not go about improving without some help from modern technology. For some, it may be with high-end launch monitors like TrackMan or FlightScope. For most of us, the price tag of one of those units puts them out of reach. Fortunately, it seems nowadays that more electronic products are coming out for the everyday golfer that are designed to be both helpful and affordable.

One of those products in the market is the Blast Golf, created by Blast Motion. The company is a leader in motion capture and analysis technology. They create products for a variety of sports and continue to develop new ways to use motion sensor technology to help athletes improve. For golfers, their sensor is designed to detect the movements of the golf swing and analyze it, giving an indication of how well they perform in various functions of the swing and where they can improve, all while taking high-speed video.

Having a good swing trainer at home would be a boon to any golfer who works to improve their game, but is it the real deal? Let’s find out.

Volume Four Hundred Ninety

The women’s Olympic tournament wraps up golf from Rio in style.

Hittin the Links Hello all, and welcome to Hittin’ the Links!

This week, we’ll take a deep dive into the women’s Olympic golf tournament, where Inbee Park took home the gold. We’ll also check in with Wyndham winner Si Woo Kim and U.S. Am champ Curtis Luck.

We’ll also check in on a few more stores from the last regular reason event of the PGA Tour season, and this week’s Tiger Woods nostalgia moment.

Let’s hit the links!