Windy Knoll Golf Club (Springfield, OH) Review

After a slow start, Windy Knoll blows you over with a good challenge at a reasonable rate.

Windy Knoll LogoIf ever a course name evoked a certain image, well, I suppose “Windy Knoll” does a pretty good job. Set just a touch out of the way and west of Columbus, OH, Windy Knoll lives up to both halves of its name. With flat farmland to the west, the direction from which the prevailing wind blows, the subtly mounded “links-style” course will vex players when the wind is up and offers a stern test even in rare calm conditions.

I played Windy Knoll in early July on a breezy day. Read on to see whether it’s worth a visit the next time you’re looking for a new course to play.

Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons Review

Another generation of blended iron/hybrids are on the shelf in the Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons. Read on to see if they could help your game.

Adams A3 HeroThe Adams Idea a3 Hybrid Irons are the latest offering intended to blend irons with hybrids in a seamless set. Adams Golf has been an innovator in the blended-iron/hybrid market for a few years. Their concepts have been ahead of industry trends.

While the general golfing public hasn’t picked up on the usefulness of such sets I see the wisdom in seamlessly pairing irons and hybrids. The days of your average golfer carrying a 2-iron (or 3-iron, or 4-iron…) are officially over. It’s become an anomaly to see a 2-iron in a professional’s bag. Hybrids hit the ball longer and higher than similarly lofted irons. The biggest draw for the average golfer is that hybrids are much easier to hit than irons.

Adams Golf obviously sees the potential of blended sets for making golf easier for the average player. The Idea a3 Hybrid Irons are intended to fill this niché. See how well they do…

Adams Idea Pro Forged Irons Review

Adams Golf has built a solid reputation in game-improvement clubs. Now they’ve introduced a player’s forged iron to match up with their superb Idea Pro hybrids.

Adams Idea Pro Forged Irons HeroAdams Golf has become known primarily for their presence on the Champions Tour and for making some of the most forgiving irons and hybrids in the game.

More recently they’ve leveraged their success in hybrids to pioneer integrated hybrid/iron sets as we wrote about here. That they’re the leading hybrid brand on the combined PGA, Champions, and Nationwide Tours is extraordinary given their limited professional endorsements.

Given this background, I was somewhat surprised last fall when at a press gathering I was introduced to and hit their new forged iron, a true player’s cavity back blade. I was impressed. That’s why when the chance came to do a full review of these clubs I jumped at it. Here’s what I found out…

Whispering Woods Golf Club (Erie, PA) Review

Whispering Woods is clearly Erie’s best public course, and it will only get better as the course matures.

Whispering Woods LogoThe Erie area first heard about the golf course that would become Whispering Woods Golf Club in early 2002. In late 2005, a golf course began taking shape among the houses of the Whispering Woods residential development. Seeded in two phases during 2006, the semi-private course opened May 25, 2007 with less than the desired 100 members. A rate drop for both membership and public play only 11 days later lured the remaining members, necessitated a waiting list 70+ names long, and increased public play on the course dramatically.

The course, like so many others, lays claim to the title of “best in the area.” I tested the assertion – is the course the best public course in the Erie area? Read on to find out…

Scotty Cameron Newport Detour Putters Review

Scotty Cameron has taken a Detour… and married it with a pair of Newports!? It’s like a science experiment gone crazy. Good thing the marriage is a success.

Scotty Cameron Newport Detour HeroScotty Cameron, in the mind of some, has been on a bit of a trip lately. As a long-time advocate of an absolutely anti-Pelzian “inside-square-inside” putting stroke, last year Scotty pushed his belief to the forefront with the odd-looking “Detour” putter. I reviewed the Detour favorably last December, and I still use it in a regular rotation with my Red X mallet.

This year, Scotty has further pushed his belief that a good putting stroke moves in an arc by sticking a mini-Detour sight curve on the back of his rather classic Newport putters. Introduced in January as prototypes for market, the putters were released in late March.

Though I’ve always been more of a mallet guy myself, the Newports with the stuck-on sight curve look enough like mallets that I decided to give them a try. Read on to see whether the Newport Detours replaced my original Detour or took a detour of their own…

Tour Edge Bazooka GeoMax Driver Review

High MOI is this year’s “big thing” in drivers and it has spawned a host of strange shapes and high prices. Here’s a good-looking high MOI driver at a great price.

TourEdge Geomax Driver HeroMoment of inertia (MOI) represents a club’s resistance to twisting on off-center hits. The higher the MOI, the more distance and accuracy you get when you miss the sweet spot. It’s an attribute that has set off a marketing numbers race among club manufacturers as they begin to push towards the limits set by the USGA.

Tour Edge, based in Batavia, IL, has become something of an interesting maverick among club manufacturers. Founded in 1985 by former club pro David Glod, they have gradually built a solid reputation for delivering innovation and performance in clubs that don’t come with a premium price tag.

So, while they have created a premium-priced line of clubs under the Exotics moniker like the Exotics CB2 3-wood we recently reviewed here, their core line of clubs under the Bazooka designation are solid, playable, affordable sticks. So how does their newest high-MOI driver stack up? Here’s the review…

Darby Creek Golf Course (Marysville, OH) Review

Darby Creek is a great example of a small diamond in the rough, except by “rough” I mean “nowhere near signs of modern civilization” and by diamond I mean “a moderately priced venue that exceeds expectations.”

Darby Creek LogoTo get to Darby Creek, you drive through a few towns the likes of which you’ll be surprised still exist. You’ll hang a right at a driving range in the middle of nowhere, drive another few miles, then take another right. A golf course appears, and suddenly you’ve arrived at Darby Creek.

The course takes its name from a stream which is two miles from the course itself. Designed in 1993 by the design tandem of Brian Silva and Geoff Cornish, Darby Creek blends a bit of the old and a bit of the new, just like the designers themselves (Silva graduated from college in 1973, Cornish was born in 1914).

Tour Edge Exotics CB2 Fairway Wood Review

The Tour Edge Exotics CB2 not only could kick your current fairway wood out of the bag, it may also be gunning for your driver as well.

Tour Edge Exotics  CB2You may have seen the Tour Edge advertisement for their new Exotics CB2 fairway wood that boasts of a guarantee that you will gain an additional 20 yards compared to your old fairway wood. It’s a pretty bold statement and one that is sure to grab golfers’ attention as we all strive to add additional yardage to our game.

I had the opportunity to test the CB2 to see if this small company from Batavia, IL might have the best fairway wood you’ve never heard of.

To be fair, my current fairway wood is a Titleist 904F with a True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shaft, so I was bound to gain some additional distance just by switching to a lighter head and a graphite shaft. Just how much distance was a bit surprising. Did it make me reconsider my steel-shafted ways? Read on to find out.

Callaway FT-i/FT-5 Driver Review

Callaway Golf has followed up the successful FT-3 driver with two new titanium/composite models. Is one of them worthy of a place in your bag?

Callaway FT-i/FT-5 HeroA pair of new drivers from Callaway Golf hit golf shops earlier this spring. Though they share the company’s Fusion multimaterial technology, the two 460cc big sticks couldn’t be much more different.

The FT-5 is a refined, evolutionary update to the FT-3 driver from mid-2005. Meanwhile, the FT-i (the i is for inertia) is something completely different, sporting the aggressively odd square shape that has, along with the Nike Sumo2 and Nickent’s 3DX Square, drawn so much attention to square-shaped drivers this year. The differences are more than cosmetic, as each driver will appeal to a certain type of player.

Read on to see which one might be best for you.