True Spec Golf Review

True Spec GolfSnowflakes started falling on the range as I began to loosen up for my fitting at True Spec Golf in Columbus, Ohio. Appropriately enough, it was April 1. Mother Nature had clearly pranked me. At least the snow melted as soon as it landed on the newly greened range grass.

True Spec’s Columbus location occupies one side of the range at Brookside Golf & Country Club, a course that regularly co-hosts the final round of U.S. Open qualifying. True Spec uses a brand-agnostic approach to custom fitting and building clubs to best fit any player’s golf swing. That means you get to try a much wider variety of clubheads and shafts than you would at a typical demo day. And while most big box golf stores can put you on a simulator or launch monitor and walk you through several brands of clubheads, the shafts are limited to the stock options and perhaps a handful of special-order shafts, In comparison, True Spec boasts some 50,000 clubhead and shaft combinations to find just the right fit for any player. With 23 locations in the U.S. and three in Europe, you may need to travel a little to get fit. (Maybe finally take the wife to Paris and work in a full bag fitting for yourself?)

Callaway Epic Flash and Epic Flash Sub Zero Drivers Review

The Epic introduced Jailbreak technology. The Epic Flash introduces AI-designed faces. Skynet is here… and it may just get you some extra distance off the tee.

Callaway Epic Flash DriverTwo years ago, we loved Callaway’s Epic. It introduced a new design concept, Jailbreak, that paid noticeable benefits on the course. Understandably, Callaway sold a ton of drivers.

In 2018, Callaway introduced the Rogue. It was an improvement over the Epic in terms of forgiveness and was a very good driver (we liked it), but it didn’t fly off shelves the way that the Epic had. Maybe Epic owners didn’t want to upgrade their $500 drivers that quickly. Heck, maybe the teal color scheme didn’t appeal to golfers as well as the Epic’s green.

But Jailbreak truly delivered in both drivers, so when Callaway started to talk about adding its AI-designed Flash Face technology to a new Epic, we couldn’t wait to tee it up.

Comparing the Mizuno JPX919 Irons

Mizuno’s JPX919 line offers three (make that four) different models with very different playing characteristics. But find the right one for your game and good things could happen on the course.

The Mizuno JPX919 family debuted last fall with three members (and recently added a fourth). I compared launch monitor results from a few range sessions with 7-irons in the Hot Metal, Forged and Tour models. My findings are below, but first let’s take a look at what goes into these irons.

From reassuring to compact, the JPX919s have something for everyone.

Callaway Rogue and Rogue Sub Zero Drivers Review

After an Epic year, Callaway went Rogue. Promising distance in a forgiving driver, the Rogue borrows Jailbreak and more from its big brother. Let’s see how the Rogue and Sub-Zero fare.

Callaway Rogue DriverCallaway had a huge hit in 2017 with its Epic woods. In particular the Great Big Bertha Epic Driver earned its way into a lot of bags. On several occasions last year, I found myself in foursomes with three or four Epic drivers in play. That’s testament to a very popular driver.

To follow up on the Epic, Callaway debuted the Rogue this year to much fanfare. Like the Epic, the Rogue features “Jailbreak Technology,” those two bars behind the clubface designed to produce more distance through increased ball speed. In the Epic, that technology not only captured the imagination of golfers, it also produced noticeable results.

So when the announcement of the Rogue line came out in January, we took notice. The Rogue driver promised the distance of Epic in a more forgiving package. That would be one incredible combination if the Rogue could deliver.

Titleist 718 AP3 Irons Review

Titleist designed its all new AP3 to combine the best of the company’s popular AP1 and AP2 irons. Making an iron as long and forgiving as the AP1 that is also as workable and great feeling as the AP2 would create one great club. Is the AP3 all that? Well, I truly enjoyed finding out.

Titleist AP3 ironsThe Titleist iron line has traditionally skewed toward the “better” player. With the exception of the AP1, the brand’s irons favored workability and distance control over forgiveness. Previously, there was a pretty big jump from the everyman’s AP1 to the tour-popular AP2. Now Titleist has added a true “mid-AP” iron with the AP3, a “better players’ distance iron.”

Irons in this category are expected to deliver extra distance while still providing the feel and consistency that mid- to low-handicappers need.

Titleist bills the new AP3 iron as its longest and fastest player’s iron ever. The AP3, which fits between the AP1 and AP2, is intended to provide some of the forgiveness of the former with some of the shotmaking ability of the latter for players wanting more distance and forgiveness without sacrificing feel. Add one and two and you get three. Now the name makes sense!

AP3 truly represents the best of both worlds. We’re giving you the distance and forgiveness of a game improvement iron packed into the look and feel of a player’s iron.

Josh Talge, VP Marketing, Titleist Golf Clubs

That’s a pretty tall order. The AP1 is very popular among mid- and higher-handicap players (though the long irons sometimes find their way into the bags of better players). The AP1s strong suit is forgiveness and ease of getting the ball in the air. The AP2 is widely played on professional tours and by a sizable number of lower handicap players, where its feel and consistent distance pays dividends. Can the AP3 really combine the best of both worlds?

A New Twist: TaylorMade rolls out M3/M4

TaylorMade has released its M3 and M4 families of woods and irons. Twist Face Technology in the woods promises to help correct for off center contact, while RIBCOR is aimed at helping you get more distance with your irons.

Bag DropNow available in U.S. golf shops, TaylorMade’s M3 and M4 families feature technology packed woods, Rescues, and irons. Here is a slightly shortened version of the TaylorMade media release on the launch, starting with the drivers.

TaylorMade’s Twist Face technology, featured in both the new M3 & M4 drivers, is TaylorMade’s solution to counteract golfers’ most common misses, more specifically, those resulting from the high toe and low heel impacts.

To counteract the high-toe miss (a hook), the driver face has been “twisted” open (loft increased and face opened) on the high-toe to help straighten ball flight. Similarly, to counteract the low-heel miss (a slice) the driver face has been twisted closed to de-loft and close the face in the low heel area. Ultimately, TaylorMade’s Twist Face technology delivers a corrective face angle when hit off-center for longer, straighter shots.

Another Jailbreak: Callaway Launches Rogue

Jailbreak is back. Callaway’s Rogue drivers and fairway woods feature the technology. And the Rogue line doesn’t stop there… you can also get Rogue irons and hybrids to fill out your bag.

Bag DropBuilding on the success of its Epic line, Callaway is giving its new line of Rogue clubs an enhanced version of Jailbreak Technology in both the driver and, for the first time, the fairway woods. Plus, there are new irons and hybrids to accompany the line.

Mizuno JPX900 Driver Review

The Mizuno JPX900 driver delivers a ton of adjustability. Can it keep up with the top driver models this year? (You might be surprised.)

Mizuno JPX900 DriverThe Mizuno JPX900 is the brand?s performance counterpart to its game-improvement JPX-EZ (which I thought was a pretty decent game improvement driver). The 900 is lower spinning and more workable, and provides a wider range of adjustments to fit your swing. I mean a really wide range.

The 900 replaces the JPX850, a pretty solid, lower spinning driver that required a reasonably good swing to produce consistent results.

MedZone Activity Pak Review

Are aches and pains interfering with your enjoyment of the game? Medzone wants to help you swing pain free.

MedZone logoGolf is not the most strenuous of activities, but it nonetheless can generate a wide range of injuries. MedZone has over 15 years of experience in treating athletes in a variety of more intense sports, and is now promoting its products to the golf market.

I did spent a couple months using MedZone’s PainZone, BlisterZone, BurnZone, and ChafeZone products as needed to treat and prevent minor aches and pains. MedZone has packaged them nicely in a compact, easy-to-fit in the bag, Activity Pak, which makes it easy to take with you to the course.