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.

Mizuno MP-18 Iron Review

The Mizuno MP-18 irons match their excellent design with even better performance.

MP-18 Irons“Irons to touch your soul.” That is the tagline for the Mizuno MP-18 irons released recently. I’ve been playing a set of Mizuno irons, except for maybe a year, for the past 20 years starting with the T-Zoids so I’m guessing my soul is their target audience. I’ve always looked forward to seeing what they have in store with their latest releases. Back in 2014 I had a chance to review the MP-4’s and have had them in the bag since.

This year, they introduced the MP-18’s as the latest update to their catalog of irons. I was able to get my hands on a progressive set of both the muscle back and split cavity (SC) irons. More and more players are using this type of setup and, with the introduction of new irons and technology, I thought it was time to give them both a try.

How do the new MP-18’s stand up to their predecessors? Do they touch my soul? Read on to find out.

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.

Callaway Apex MB (2018) Irons Review

Rumor has it Sergio Garcia’s switch to Callaway played a role in the company’s introduction of these irons. If so… Thank you, Sergio!

Callaway Apex MB 2018 HeroWhen Callaway acquired the Ben Hogan brand all those years ago, better players were curious what would come of the Hogan designs, names, and ethos. Callaway was, at the time, producing great clubs but was seemingly focused much more on game-improvement and super-game-improveement irons, while the Hogan brand targeted primarily better players with simple, austere designs that evoked a sense of history and longevity over fanciful new technology and flash. Would Callaway use the Hogan IP to bolster their better player lineup, or did they just want the Apex name and the Hogan designs, patents, etc.?

For a few years, many feared it was the latter, as few clubs Hogan-like clubs were introduced, and even as recently as 2016 the “Apex” name was stamped onto clubs that didn’t resemble the old Hogans very closely. But, over the past several years, Callaway has seemingly boosted their stable of PGA and LPGA Tour pros. They’ve continued to introduce irons aimed at the game-improvement and super-game-improvement segments, but they’ve also strengthened their commitment to players clubs with wider releases of clubs designed for the better player.

After a series of irons like the Apex Pro and the 2014 Apex MB, the 2018 Callaway Apex MB fully returns to the Ben Hogan roots. Easily the best looking irons Callaway has released within the last decade (hey, this is my review, after all!), the Apex MB unabashedly says “I’m not giving you a ton of help, but if you can handle me, I’m going to be your new best buddy.”

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.

Miura ICL-601 Driving Iron Review

Miura, the mystical Japanese brand with a samurai sword-making background, has released a new driving iron with a typical Miura price tag. Is it worth a spot in your bag? Does it feel like a Miura? Read on to find out…

Miura ICL-601 HeroMiura has an almost mythical background. The company, once upon a time, forged the blades carried by Japan’s respected samurai. Nowadays, the company forges blades (and cavity backs) for players who look to defend their honor against Old Man Par rather than those who would do harm against Japanese nobility.

I still play primarily with a set of Miura Tournament Blades I reviewed back in 2011. In fact, I still carry a 3-iron in that set (it passes the modern-day “butter knife lookalike” test). The 3-iron is nice, but it doesn’t see a lot of action: it’s not the most forgiving 3-iron ever made (understatement!), and I generally only pull it from the bag when I need a 230-yard shot that won’t get up into the wind like a hybrid would.

So, when I heard about the ICL-601, I was excited to see if I might be able to replace my 3-iron with a “driving iron” style iron to offer more forgiveness and an ability to hit it from a wider variety of lies. And, of course, I was looking forward to see whether the “Miura feel” carried over into a polymer-filled, hollow-body “iron.”

Read on to see what I thought after putting it through its rigorous paces.

Review: SynLawn Synthetic Putting Greens

This isn’t your typical review, but I wanted to formalize my feelings toward a product we’ve used at our indoor training facility for years.

SynLawn LogoMany years ago, when this site was in its infancy, I wrote an article about how you could build your own 8′ x 8′ putting green relatively inexpensively. That putting green served me well for the few months before I bought my house. It was not worth moving, so I left it (with permission) for the next owner(s). For years afterward, I went without a home putting green (the carpet in my living room stimps at about 8, so it could be used in a pinch).

Then, in late 2011, we opened Golf Evolution in downtown Erie, PA. GE included a 2000 square foot putting green, and after exhaustive research, we partnered with a company called SynLawn for the putting surface.

Last winter, we finished our basement. With a competitive junior golfer in the house, I again felt the urge to build a putting green that she (and I) could use to work on our games when we couldn’t (or didn’t want to) drive the eight miles to Golf Evolution. So, I built a frame out of some 80/20 aluminum slot rails and flattened and glued down some of the remaining Wittek turf I had from years ago. It had been safely kept in good conditions, rolled up lengthwise, in the meantime.

SynLawn Closeup

The Wittek putting surface was never great. Despite flattening the carpet for weeks, random bumps would pop up. The surface was eventually glued, but bumps still appeared, and then migrated. Balls could roll over the same area and go left or right seemingly on the whims of fate, and often dramatically. The surface was hard and crunchy and even a little bit “prickly” beneath your feet (it’s our house, so we’d often putt in socks or barefoot). It was an “okay” surface – better than nothing and slightly better than our living room carpet – but it wasn’t what we wanted.

So, I ripped it off, sanded down the glue spots (probably unnecessarily), and installed some SynLawn turf. The instant we put it down, we knew we’d made the right choice.

Snell Golf Introduces MTB Red and Black

Snell Golf broke ground with the revolutionary My Tour Ball in 2015. What can they do for an encore?

Snell 2018 MTB Red Optic YellowDean Snell, owner of the eponymous Snell Golf company, and co-creator of the original Pro V1® and TaylorMade Penta®, has already made great strides in shaking up the golf world. For years, he’s been offering premium, Tour-level, urethane-covered golf balls which sell for $31.99/doz. And that’s the most you’ll pay, as buying as few as six dozen balls at once drops the price per dozen to about $27.

Meanwhile, balls from the big names – with their big marketing and player promotion budgets – continues to rise, currently settling in at about $45.99/dozen at most retail stores.

Snell LogoDean Snell is ready to shake things up again, as he offers what customers have been clamoring for on two fronts: today, Snell Golf is announcing the release of their new generation of “MTB” (or “My Tour Ball”) line, with two balls – an MTB Red and an MTB Black – as well as the release of their first bright yellow golf ball in the MTB Red model.