October 13, 2022
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There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.
Today we’re reviewing the adidas Code CODECHAOS 22 BOA — the BOA Fit System-equipped version of adidas’s top-performing spikeless golf shoe. And, yes, we’re 100-percent positive this adidas shoe is spikeless.
Tony Covey. Resident BOA guy back from a brief hiatus spent tying laces.
Even though golf is booming, welcoming new players to the game should be a priority. Here’s a friendly reminder: Some of these new golfers may not know (or even care) that their choice of golf shoe can impact performance.
Here at MyGolfSpy, our goal is to help golfers make the best buying decisions. That’s why we have such a rigorous testing regimen and why our mantra is #TruthDigest. It’s why we pour our heart and sole (get it?) into testing golf shoes to bring your our Best Golf Shoes of 2022 lists.
But all that has nothing to do with this article!
As I always say: Golf is about having fun and what makes the game fun is up to you. Does performing well make the game fun for you? I’d suggest checking out our Best Spikeless and Best Spiked golf shoes for 2022. But if all you need to have fun on the course is a sweet-looking pair of shoes, you’ve come to the right place.
It’s OK to buy a shoe because of hype, because it matches your favorite shirt or reminds you of shoes from your childhood. That’s what my weekly StockX picks are all about.
Brendan Steele finished with four consecutive birdies and shot a 6-under 64 on Thursday to take the first-round lead at the PGA Tour's Zozo Championship.
For our next few blogs, I am sharing a series of 30 tips that will help you simplify your knowledge of golf and hopefully improve your game. I found these tips in an article published by Luke Kerr-Dineen for a GOLF franchise called “Play Smart”. I have only distilled nuggets of knowledge from his article to provide you with a quick reference to sharpen your games.
1/ Avoid Doubles Bogeys: I love this line “The difference between the lowest handicap golfers and the rest of us isn’t the quantity of good shots. It’s what happens after the bad ones.” We all have bad shots in every round, but you need to avoid a succession of poor shots. Clear your brain and get back in the game with a great recovery shot to avoid a double or triple bogey.
In a recent study by Sherman (The Four Foundations of Golf) golfers with a handicap of 2, average 1 double bogey/round and 2 birdies/round. Golfers with a handicap of 20 average 5.5 double bogeys and only .2 birdies/round. So, focus on great recovery shots and not on trying to birdie every hole.
2/ Stretch to Improve Your Speed: We are all aware that you need to activate your muscles before any sport. To generate more power in your golf swing you need to load up your muscles or coil them up like a spring before you release that power. One of GOLF Top 100 Teachers, Chris Como, says: “Stretching your arms wide away from you on the backswing sets up a ‘rubber-band effect’ in your muscles, which allows them to contract forcefully and send the club whipping through impact with extra speed.” If you fail to feel this stretch, you’re leaving yards on the table. After you warm up your body with body stretching make sure that you hold your shoulders, arms and wrists in the same wide stretch that you want to achieve in your backswing.
3/ Swing a driver you can handle: Most recreational golfers swing their driver under 90 mph. We are all looking for more distance and control off the tee. So Luke recommends changing to a lighter club with a lighter shaft and club head to stay in better balance so that you can swing faster. He suggests trying the XXIO: “The use of lightweight and strong materials creates a distinct advantage and can help you get the most off the tee.”
Want to test the new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x?
Welcome to Testers Wanted where we recruit readers like you for objective feedback on products that roll into HQ throughout the year!
We don’t expect to see the new Pro V1 and Pro V1x balls hit retail shelves until next spring. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to wait that long to get them in your hands. White box included.
Titleist is the #1 ball company in the industry. They know it and so does everyone else. So how do you improve on a product that changed an entire paradigm?
Because data-driven objective testing is what we do so we need some of you to assess and report back to us at MyGolfSpy.
The International Crown returns to the LPGA Tour in 2023. Typically played every other year, it has not be held since 2018 as the 2020 event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jack Nicklaus is concerned that elevating 10 of the PGA Tour's events may have the unintended consequence of minimizing other tournaments.
For value-seeking golfers, Tour Edge Hot Launch Series drivers—the Hot Launch E523 and the Hot Launch C523—will likely be in the consideration set.
They arrive with a retail price of just $269.99 and, while Tour Edge describes that as “mid-tier” pricing (with allowances for PXG’s occasional deep discount), by modern standards it’s on the low end of the price range—likely less than clearance-priced drivers from the industry leaders (and everyone else, for that matter).
I’d wager Tour Edge E-series will be the cheapest drivers you’ll find on big box retail shelves this season.
While price alone may be the deciding factor for many, Tour Edge is seeking to position itself as “the leader in performance-value custom fitting.” That’s an odd combination of words but the point is that, with fitting bags available at more than 1,000 locations, nobody else comes close to offering fitting options at this price point.
The new Hot Launch 523 irons and wedges from Tour Edge are a cold slap upside the head for anyone who loves to complain about the high price of golf equipment.
That means if you’ve ever shouted, uttered or even mumbled something akin to “the prices these OEMs are charging will drive the average golfer out of the game,” Tour Edge advises you to duck.
Tour Edge owner David Glod is on to something with the Hot Launch line. It’s designed for the budget-minded game-improvement golfer who doesn’t want to be treated like a second-class citizen. There’s plenty of trickle-down technology from the Exotics line with plenty of custom-fitting opportunities.
And true to the company’s credo, the price can make even the most cynical golf gear wonk downright giddy.
The new Tour Edge Hot Launch 523 irons and wedges follow the same format as their immediate predecessors. The E523 irons are a hybrid-like iron-wood firmly planted in the super game-improvement category. It’s the type of iron you’d most likely associate with the Hot Launch brand. According to Tour Edge, the “E” stands for Extreme, as in Extreme forgiveness and an Extreme-ly low CG.
Along with the Hot Launch E523 and C523 drivers, Tour Edge is introducing matching Hot Launch E523 and C523 fairway woods and hybrids. At a budget-friendly price of $169.99 (fairway) and $149.99 (hybrids), it’s fair to wager that Tour Edge is positioning this seventh generation of Hot Launch products as the best “bang for the buck” in the industry.
The challenge for Tour Edge is giving consumers as much performance as possible while working with a limited menu of technological resources. It’s why manufacturers often offer several lines of equipment at multiple price levels. If you want the full suite of modern materials and current generation technology, it’s always going to cost a bit more.
As it did last time around and in line with the 523 series drivers, the Tour Edge Hot Launch lineup will feature two product lines.
The E523 Fairway Metal is every bit as extreme as the E523 driver. And in this context, “Extreme” is a proxy for what we typically see in SGI (super game-improvement) equipment.
Taking a look at what's in store as the PGA Tour heads to Japan, LIV Golf visits its homeland of Saudi Arabia and the LPGA takes a break before playing in South Korea.
No need to check your calendars. It’s closer to Halloween than Thanksgiving but that’s not stopping PXG from releasing a Special Edition Stars & Stripes version of its 0311 3X Forged wedges.
According to PXG, the Stars and Stripes design pays homage to the company’s military roots. “The new Stars & Stripes edition brings an even bolder statement to the course and shows our unwavering patriotism,” says PXG founder Bob Parsons. “We’re forever proud to be an American company!”
The Stars & Stripes flag pattern is laser-etched into the Xtreme Dark finish of the 0311 3X Forged wedge.
0311 3X forged wedges are forged from 8620 steel. They feature full-face grooves and high toe weighting for exceptional consistency on open-face shots.
Though he didn't offer any details, past Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama said Tuesday that LIV players should be able to earn ranking points.
Dustin Johnson, who already has clinched the inaugural LIV Golf Individual Championship, needed only six events to have a $30 million year, and he still has two events left with the Saudi-funded operation.
Mizuno’s 2023 drivers—the ST-Z 230 and ST-X 230—have landed on the USGA conforming clubs list. While that clears both models for play on the PGA TOUR, Mizuno is mum on the technical details and what improvements golfers can expect over the soon-to-be previous models.
The most intriguing teaser is the addition of a “CORTECH CHAMBER” in the front sole area where we’d typically expect to find Mizuno’s Wave Sole. The best (and, I suppose, obvious) guess is that it’s a bit of speed-enhancing tech particularly beneficial on low-face impact.
Because it’s the driver category, we should expect claims of modest ball speed gains.
This is one of the most impactful tests we have ever published.
Why? Because it affects almost every golfer’s score without them even knowing.
Moisture is a part of nearly every single shot you will hit with a wedge. Whether from rain, dew, or thick grass, it’s almost inevitable during a round of golf. The ability to control your golf ball during the variety of situations you’ll face during the round is crucial to shooting lower scores. After 160 hours of research and, 17,000+ shots later the average wedge lost about 35% of its dry spin, while the worst-performing wedges in wet conditions saw more than an alarming 60% reduction.
This is most definitely impacting your score if you play one of these poor-performing wedges.
The good news is, however, that the best-performing wedges are almost identical under wet conditions. It’s unlikely that many of you have been fit for wedges in wet conditions, but you might want to start thinking about it after reading these results.
Golf is a game, and talk and discussion is all to the interests of the game. Anything that keeps the game alive and prevents us being bored with it is an advantage. Anything that makes us think about it, talk about it, and dream about it is all to the good and prevents the game becoming dead. ALISTER MACKENZIE
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