Mizuno MP-58 Iron Review

The MP-58 provides a solid option not only for the mid level handicap player but for the scratch player as well.

MizunoMizuno irons have long adorned the bags of many good players around the world. A large percentage of the near-scratch guys at my club are playing them and have consistently raved about them. In fact one of them just replaced an old set of MP-32s with a new set of MP-67s, never considering another brand. When I had the opportunity to review a set of Mizunos, I jumped at the chance.

The MP-58s were actually a good fit since my last set of Mizunos (yes, I also have had them in my bag) were the T-Zoid Pro IIs – a pseudo-cavity backed club. With the advancement in technology, though, this set was bound to be slightly more forgiving and consistent: two traits any golfer is looking for in a set of clubs they buy.

The biggest question that remains, though, is whether the MP-58s can give you the playability that a one-piece forged muscleback does? Sure, I was a previous Mizuno owner but I currently sport the Titleist 695 MBs. Taking them out side by side was the best and most sure way of answering that question. So what was the result? Read on to find out.

Titleist 710-Series AP1 Irons Review

Titleist’s improves on an already great set of irons with the new 710 AP1.

Titleist AP1 HeroLike a sports car (or any vehicle for that matter, I guess) evolves as model years pass, so has Titleist’s Advanced Performance irons. The newer models might look pretty similar at first glance, and in some ways, they are, although there are loads of significant updates that shouldn’t be overlooked. As you know, more weight here, less offset there, and some added horsepower under the hood can make a world of difference.

In 2008, Titleist broke their own mold a bit with the release of the AP1 and AP2 irons. Never before had the (in Alan’s words) “traditionally traditional” Titleist released irons with more visible technology and with that they stirred quite a buzz. Fast forward to August of 2009 where we learned that Titleist had done some fine-tuning and enhancement to both the AP1 and AP2 irons. Luckily, I had the chance to give the Titleist 710 AP1 irons a spin.

TaylorMade R9 Iron Review

The R9 are said to be longer, more forgiving, have a better feel, and be more workable than any other game improvement club on the market. Do you believe the hype?

TaylorMade R9 Iron HeroTaylorMade seems to have made it its mission in recent years to reinvent what the phrase “classic golf club” means. For example, they have taken the pear-shaped driver and morphed it into a geometrical tinker toy that looks both modern and classic at the same time. Now, their researchers and designers have turned their attention to creating a classic/modern iron.

Given the success of the r7 line, the expectations for the TaylorMade R9 line could not be much higher. Is it possible for a club to gain 10% of distance over the already long r7? Can the R9 improve its forgiveness while incorporating several characteristics of a classic golf club? Can a game-improvement club have a soft feel? Since the initial announcement, the forum has been buzzing with golfers interested in whether the R9s can truly live up to those expectations. Read on to see some the answers that I found to those questions.

PING G15 Hybrid Review

With a club as easy to hit as the G15 hybrid, why fight a difficult long iron? The new G15 hybrid offers great distance, incredible forgiveness, and loads of versatility in a new package.

PING G15 HybridPING has been a major innovator in the industry for quite a while. No one can argue the significance of the innovations they’ve created to help all players. Even in PING’s inception, Karsten Solheim made history as being the first to use heel-toe weighting in the custom putters he created. 50 years later, that tradition of forward thinking and advancement continues, as the new G15 lineup is evidence of how far along they’ve come.

Up until this point, my experience with PING clubs had been limited to their drivers and putters. Though I never pulled the trigger on it, the Rapture V2 was (in my opinion) one of the best drivers I had ever hit. The G10 however wasn’t too far behind it, which is the reason I was pretty excited to have the opportunity to review the hybrid in the latest of PING’s G-series.

“It’s All About Impact” Book Review

Many of golf’s greats have said that the secret to playing good golf is consistently arriving at impact. This book from Andrew Rice promises to help you with precisely that.

It's All About ImpactAndrew Rice describes himself on his site as a “golf swing junkie.” Unlike amateur golf swing junkies, Andrew has studied under some of golf’s greatest teachers and taught some of the game’s best players.

Originally from South Africa, Rice competed in junior events against Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. He played for University of Central Florida and finished Second Team All-American with Justin Leonard in 1991. He played the mini-tours before getting into instruction at David Leadbetter’s Junior Golf Academy.

Rice currently serves as the Director of Instruction at the prestigious Berkeley Hall in Bluffton, South Carolina. He’s taught PGA Tour players like Nick Price as well as other PGA, European, LPGA, Champions, and Nationwide Tour players.

As a “golf swing junkie,” Andrew has seemingly never been content to take what David Leadbetter or any one person says about the golf swing, and much in the style of Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer, has spent time analyzing the great swings to discern the truth about what works and what doesn’t.

His first book – It’s All About Impact – The Winners of Over 100 Majors Prove It – is the result of such efforts.

PING G15 Fairway Wood Review

PING had a big winner on it’s hand with the G10 fairway wood. Does the new G15 expand on that greatness?

PING G15 HeroThe folks at PING have been quite busy as they celebrate their 50th Anniversary and as a gift to you, they released two new lines of clubs. One of those is the G15 fairway wood which has the unenviable position of following the wildly successful and much praised G10 model.

Rather than leave “well enough” alone and just slap a new coat of paint on the G10 and call it a day, PING went out and changed things around a bit with the G15. While it’s more of an evolutionary change, it still boasts some pretty cool design features that should make you give it strong look.

So is the G15 one you should add to your list of fairway woods to try out during your next shopping trip to your favorite golf shop? What about the headcover? Is it forgiving? Most importantly, did it knock out my current occupant out of the bag?

Read on to find out the answers to those questions.

“The Stack and Tilt Swing” Book Review

If you consider yourself a student of the game, you owe it to yourself – and your golf game – to own this book.

Stack and TiltI’ll plainly admit it (and have, a few times, in the forum): when Stack and Tilt first came out in Golf Digest in 2007 I said things like “I don’t know much about it, but it seems like they’re trying to sell it pretty hard and I’ll wait a little while to see if it’s still around in a few years before I really devote much thought to it.” I didn’t look into it, I didn’t seek understanding, and I kept tinkering away at my own “conventional” swing.

Ooops. My bad.

Earlier this year I hooked up with a Stack and Tilt instructor in my hometown – and given that there are only about 20 truly qualified instructors, I am fortunate to have one nearby – and my opinions about Stack and Tilt changed as I gained insight into the swing pattern built by Mike Bennett and Andy Plummer.

Throughout the summer, my instructor applied a few “pieces” of the Stack and Tilt pattern to my golf swing. The more instruction I got the more the information made sense to me, and the closer I got to “full conversion.” Any objections or disinterest I had regarding Stack and Tilt slowly dissolved away in the face of information and consideration.

Boxgroove.com Review

Private club golf without the private club price.

Boxgroove.comWant to play that private course down the road but don’t know a member? Now there’s a way to test drive private courses across the country without risking the trespassing charge.

A new online service called Boxgroove.com provides access to tee times at private clubs. Boxgroove currently has 70 participating courses and over 650 members, some of whom hold memberships at private clubs and may be willing to host other Boxgroove.com members (more on that later). The company plans to be in 30 states by summer 2010 and eventually to take the service international.

If you’re like me, you love those occasions when you get to play a course in excellent condition with great greens. The problem is that I don’t belong to a private club, so I play public courses where the maintenance is generally not quite as well applied. While it’s less expensive (unless you are really racking up the rounds) to play public courses, being able to play the occasional round on a truly well kept course is a nice change of pace, one I’ve found to be more and more alluring lately.

Enter Boxgroove.com. I’d been hearing about the service on the radio here in Columbus, my home and Boxgroove’s, as it turns out. When Boxgroove.com offered a membership to let me try out the service and write about my experience, I jumped at the opportunity.

PING G15 Iron Review

If the G10 provides maximum forgiveness then what do you call an iron that provides even more forgiveness? PING calls it the G15.

G15 Iron HeroWhen you are setting up to a “classic” iron, what kinds of thoughts run through your mind? For me, I imagine the silky smooth feel of the sweet spot. I visualize the ball curving through the air at will. I can almost see the ball falling to the green with just enough spin to bounce twice and then stop. However, put a blade in another player’s hands and the reaction could be entirely different. They might look down desperately searching for that microscopic sweet spot, trembling at the thought of the painful reverberations of a mis-hit.

Karsten Solheim may not have been one of those golfers who feared the sweet spot but he certainly empathized with them. In fact, PING’s innovations were so significant that in 1966 the USGA outlawed all PING irons claiming that they provided golfers with an unfair advantage (due to a bend in the shaft beneath the grip). Nearly 40 years later, the USGA may want to reopen that claim.