Category: Review

CaddyPatch

CaddyPatches – suede leather impact markers – cost less and offer less hassle than impact tape. Why haven’t you switched?

caddypatch.jpgHey there. Got a second? I’d like to ask you a quick question: How do you tell where your club hit the ball on a mis-hit?

If you’re anything like I was a little over a year ago, your answer is probably some variation of “Look for the sky mark.” But, as you play and improve, you’ll eventually have a few lessons and the pro will pull out those little pieces of paper.

You put them on your club, you hit a few shots to see where you’re hitting the ball on your clubface, and then you throw them away. The little papers work, but who wants to mess with peeling stickers every two or three shots? Besides, they sure are expensive, aren’t they?

Enter the CaddyPatch.

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TaylorMade Rac Y-Cutter Wedge Review

TaylorMade’s y-grooves are all the rage on the PGA Tour, but are they worth it for amateur golfers?

TaylorMade LogoFor the past year and a half, two of my favorite clubs have been my 56° and 60° Titleist Vokey Oil Can wedges. These wedges performed superbly on approaches from the fairway, out of the rough, and were a sure bet out of the sand. However, many people have been raving about the incredible spin produced by TaylorMade’s y-groove wedges which are found only on their tour versions of the RAC wedge series. Recently I had the opportunity to purchase one of these wedges from Bomb Squad Golf and pounced on it just to see what all the hype is about. A few days ago, a 56° oil quenched RAC y-cutter with 12° of bounce was delivered to my door and I tested it at the course the next day.

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“The Sweetest Game” by Cal Brown

A book about “Playing Golf By Your Better Instincts.”

Sweetest GameI was over at Barnes & Noble a couple of months back and, like a true fanatic, was perusing the golf section and I came across a book I had to take home. “The Sweetest Game,” by Cal Brown is a collection of anecdotes that serve to instruct and humor anyone who loves the greatest game.

In his chapter, “Golfers Are Born Losers” Brown quotes the proverb that says: “God gave us music that we might pray without words” and goes on to say, “The Scots gave us golf that we might suffer without guilt.” Everyone who has played golf for any length of time knows what Brown is talking about and that is what makes this book so much fun. It’s golf in the raw – the struggles of the greatest players in history as an example for the weekend hack.

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Ogio Exo Stand Bag

Ogio’s Exo has a Woode™, and you will too after you give this stand bag a try.

Ogio Exo Bag LeftFor the past ten years, I’ve used a Titleist stand bag I purchased with my winnings in a golf tournament when I was 17. The Titleist worked well – and worked particularly well after I replaced its single strap with a dual strap from Izzo.

Unfortunately, in the past few years, the full-length (cloth material) dividers have torn up a bit. Putting a club away became an adventure in jiggling the bag and trying to find a slot into which the grip could fit. Otherwise, well, clubs were sticking out an extra six or ten inches all over the place. It had become just plain silly.

I like Titleist equipment, but their bags are simply overpriced. I’ve checked out the quality of the recent series of bags, and it’s just not there. Rebranded Sun Mountain bags at a premium price didn’t set well with me, so I looked elsewhere. And I found what may be one of the best stand bags around: the Ogio Exo stand bag.

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The Loooong Green Line

The back sleeve of the book describes Newport’s journey playing America’s mini tours as “wild,” but there’s nothing wild about it.

Fine Green LineI don’t admit to being much of a book reader: I tend to read books for information or for escape. I don’t read books to find meaning in my life. I read books that make me laugh, tell me a few stories, and while away the winter hours when my gal isn’t around.

The Fine Green Line, by John Paul Newport, is not going to change your life. It won’t reveal any of your inner truths and it won’t improve your sex life. It won’t make you finally understand your father, your mother, your alter ego, or your fear of clowns. The Fine Green Line isn’t about money and it won’t tell you how to make any. In fact, it’ll cost you $12.95.

The book details John Paul Newport’s quest to experience life as a two-ish handicapper playing the professional golf mini tours (the image to the right tells you that). It leads JPN through a series of states, tournaments, bad shots, and lands him at the first stage of PGA Tour Q-School where he unceremoniously bombs, landing him in a Golf Week article about “bums of Q-School.”

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Stinger Tees

Stinger Tees – yet another tee that helps you hit the ball further. The difference? These actually make sense, and are affordable too!

Ever since seeing The Golf Channel‘s Playing Lessons from the Pros with Cobra Long-Drive Champs Jason Zuback and Brian Pavlet, I’ve been intrigued by the “Stinger tee.” Zuback and Pavlet recommended it as “necessary equipment” that gives them an advantage. When LPGA cutie Laura Diaz professed to using the same tees in her Playing Lesson I had to give Earl Weiss, owner of Stinger Tees, a ring.

A few days later, I had my grubby paws on some 2¼” and 3″ Pro XL Competition Stinger tees. The tees are as attractive – the natural wood grain doesn’t leave paint marks on my clubs – as they are functional. The thinner tees are easier to stick into hard ground and the sharper points make these tees great groove cleaners. My course’s superintendent is a fan of Stinger tees too: “they don’t chew up our mower blades as much as thicker tees or those damned plastic tees.”

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Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide

The Sand Trap takes a look at Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide by Mike Pedersen. At $47, this eBook tips the “expensive” scales a bit, but it’s worth it in the end.

Golf FitnessSnow is not a golfer’s friend. In fact, sitting around on your couch, watching football, and eating pizza is not a golfer’s friend either.

Golf is a game of precision, flexibility, and power. I live in Pennsylvania, so to say our golf season is “shortened by winter” is an understatement. It’s difficult to hit balls when there are three feet of snow on the ground, but despite that, I’ll be improving my golf game this winter. How?

Using Mike Pedersen’s Ultimate Golf Fitness Guide. Pedersen’s eBook is priced at $47 and aims to offer a range of stretches, exercises, and dietary tips that will help you improve and maintain your golf game.

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Epoch Tees

Can tees really improve your golf game? Perhaps sometimes it’s just the confidence.

Epoch Pure LaunchWe’ve previously written about the epoch-3 tees from Evolve Golf here at The Sand Trap .com in an article titled “Tees Me.” We’ve even reviewed another kind of tee, the Brush-T. What is up with all of these tee reviews? Tees are just a peg? You put your ball on them, then you hit the ball hard. Simple, right?

Not so, says Evolve Golf (and the Brush-T folks). When a ball is struck from a standard wooden tee, friction between the tee and the ball at the moment of impact can have a dramatic effect on both the distance and accuracy of your drives. This is true of deflection as well: the relatively hard lip of a standard wooden tee can redirect your ball slightly, imparting spin and sending it in the wrong direction. The Brush-T, for example, can grant you up to an extra four yards and 3% better accuracy! The epoch-3 was independently tested to deliver an extra 1.81 yards in distance and 2.34 yards more accuracy.

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hammY Putter

The hammY putter is an interesting take on rolling the ball into the hole. How does it fare?

hammy_stance.jpgThe pitch goes like this:

If I handed you a golf ball and asked you to roll the ball to the hole, how would you do it? Assuming you’re right-handed, you’d probably face the hole, put your left foot forward, and roll the ball underhand towards the hole. The hammY Putter enables you to putt the same way; the natural way.

After all, a three year old can roll a ball to a hole, right? They don’t do it by standing facing perpendicular to their target and throwing the ball straight sideways. That’s how most of us putt, however. Sideways. The hammY Putter aims to change that (pun intended).

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