Golfing News & Blog Articles

Shot Scope PRO L1 Laser Rangefinder – Key Takeaways

Shot Scope enters the market with a full-featured, value-priced rangefinderThe PRO L1 includes 6X magnification, Target Lock Vibration, red/black graphics & Adaptive Slope technologyAvailable starting today at retail and at www.shotscope.comPrice: $199.99

There are two ways to look at the new Shot Scope PRO L1 laser rangefinder.

On one hand, it’s the latest entry in the growing field of high-featured yet modestly priced rangefinders. On the other, the Shot Scope PRO L1 is a touchpoint for a deeper and more interesting conversation.

But first, let’s see what Shot Scope is bringing us for $200.

Shot Scope PRO L1 Rangefinder – Facts and Figures

The Shot Scope PRO L1 rangefinder is the first foray into the laser market for the Edinburgh, Scotland-based company. Feature-wise, the PRO L1 is the full plate of haggis. For two bills, you get 6X magnification, Target Lock Vibration, an 875-yard range and accuracy down to 3.6 inches.

You also get two other features you may not expect for $200: Adaptive Slope Technology and Black/Red dual optics.

Introducing the all-new Astro Tour V IV Driver from Masters Golf.

Masters Golf was founded in 1979. For over 30 years, their brand philosophy has been built upon the pursuit of optimum distance performance for all golfers and the development of clubs designed for ultimate ease of use.  

Their Astro Tour V series drivers have been extremely popular among experienced amateur golfers due to the exceptional distance performance along with a traditional deep shape preferred by purists.   This 4th iteration Astro Tour V IV driver follows this fundamental design concept of its predecessors.  Though it has an R&A allowed max volume of 460cc, the appearance at the address looks much more compact due to the deep face / deep back design which also helps promote a very strong trajectory.   

The Astro Tour V IV driver also features a 14g stainless weight plate towards the back end of the sole which helps minimize energy transfer at impact.   CG angle is increased to help capture the ball for a stronger trajectory.   Because of the deep back a low placement of the stainless plate, this CG design promotes a higher launch with greater directional stability. 

Donald Trump granted clemency to 143 people on his final day as president, including commuting the sentence of professional gambler Billy Walters, who was serving time for insider trading.

Are your drives randomly flying left or right every time you swing your driver? If you don’t understand what’s causing the flight path you will never be a great golfer. The swing path of your club and club face direction at impact are both contributing to your launch direction and path: straight, draw, fade, hook or slice. Check out this summary and then start practicing to shape the shot you want. Controlling the side-spin of your ball is the starting point for great golfers.

Golf publications consistently state that the direction of the swing path of your club through impact controls about 85% of the initial direction of your ball. The face direction of your club at impact causes side spin for your ball that move your ball left or right from its launch trajectory. Of course wind direction WILL help or hinder the direction of your ball but you will have to add that factor into your shot depending on the prevailing wind direction.

The following description is for a golfer using right handed golf clubs.

Use a Conventional Grip for all Shots
You should be setting up with a conventional grip with the back of your left hand facing directly up you target line. Your club should line up across the upper end of your fingers of your left hand (NOT YOUR PALM). The crease between your thumb and first finger on both of your hands should be pointing at your tailing shoulder. [Rotating your hands to a stronger or weaker grip will have an impact on your ball flight so you should test changes to understand the proper grip.]

Straight Shots
Because all golf clubs are swung in an arc around your body it is difficult to hit every shot in a straight line up your target line. Just setup with your toes on a line pointing straight up your target line. If your swing impacts your ball straight up your target line with a perfectly square face up your target line, your ball will launch straight up that line.

 

The post Winter 2021 appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

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.

What We Tried

TaylorMade MyTP Custom putter interface – The online design interface that allows golfers to create customized versions of TaylorMade’s Juno and Soto blade putters.

Your Custom Builder

Dave Wolfe – MyGolfSpy writer and putter fanatic. I’ve tested hundreds (maybe thousands) of flatsticks.

TaylorMade MyTP Interface

Like the MySpider design interfaces, the number of options is the most significant feature in the system. For a putter to be truly custom, you must be able to pick enough features to make it unique to you. Here are the options available with the MyTP program:

Tiger Woods announced that he had another back procedure. So what does that mean for him in 2021? We look at the year ahead.

The PGA Tour heads to California for Jack Nicklaus' tournament at the PGA West TPC Stadium Course. Our experts offer their best bets for the event.

Justin Thomas says he understands being dropped by a sponsor after uttering an anti-gay slur.

Vokey has added M Grind Gap Wedges to its WedgeWorks platformThe new offering provides an alternative to the F GrindThe price is $199, including customization

There were signs last year that Vokey WedgeWorks was evolving from a place exclusively for limited-run specialty wedges to a means to expand the SM8 lineup without forcing inventory into retail shops. That was the case with last year’s low bounce K, and that’s the case today with the new addition of the Vokey WedgeWorks M Grind collection.

The M Grind itself isn’t new. It’s a staple of the Vokey retail lineup. That said, the retail version is currently limited to lob wedge lofts (56° to 62°). With the WedgeWorks M Grind collection, Vokey is expanding its M Grind offerings to include 50°, 52°, and 54° gap (and I suppose sand) wedge options.

The Vokey WedgeWorks M Grind gap wedges include all of the technology of the standard retail offerings in lower lofts. That’s most of the story.

D.J. Trahan will not play in this week's The American Express after becoming the 22nd player to test positive for the coronavirus since the PGA Tour returned to competition in June.

 

The post NCGA Member Outing – Green Hills appeared first on Northern California Golf Association.

Tiger Woods will miss the Farmers Insurance Open and the Genesis Invitational after having a microdiscectomy procedure to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was pinching a nerve in his lower back.

Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump just one day after the attacks at the U.S. Capitol, said she wouldn't "spend any energy looking back" at the timing of the ceremony.

This year’s PGA Merchandise Show has been cancelled, leaving some wondering: is attending the show even worth the effort?

0:22 – Most Wanted Driver Test check-in7:31 – 2021 PGA Merchandise Show has been cancelled18:20 – The worst products from Desperation Row24:36 – Embargo Update: New releases from Callaway and Taylormade32:34 – Why do old/similar club designs keep resurfacing?

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The post The End of the PGA Show? | NPG 68 appeared first on MyGolfSpy.

Phil Mickelson, who 30 years ago won on the PGA Tour as an amateur, begins his 2021 season this week. So what is fair to expect? Plus, making sense of Bryson DeChambeau and more.

TaylorMade SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max OS Irons – Key Takeaways

New Cap Back Technology allows for greater face flexPolymer badge create a hollow cavitySofter ECHO Damping System improves feel over previous models$799 steel, $899 graphite, available February 19th

The 2021 TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons are going to make a fascinating case study: Just how much better can TaylorMade make their signature game improvement better in just one year?

You can’t assume TaylorMade started the SIM2 Max project the day after going “pencils down” with the 2020 SIM. That’s not how R&D works. But there are enough changes, upgrades and enhancements to make the TaylorMade SIM2 Max irons one to watch come Most Wanted time.

TaylorMade’s game improvement irons have been middle of the pack or worse Most Wanted performers ever since M4’s third-place finish in 2018. That hasn’t hurt sales any as the SIM Max and its bigger and stronger brother, the MAX OS, were last summer’s No. 2- selling irons behind the Callaway Mavrik. The Mavrik, ironically, finished behind SIM – and next-to-last – in last year’s Most Wanted.

Go figure.

Still, TaylorMade is giving SIM2 Max some rather significant upgrades. We’ll see if they are enough to move it up the Most Wanted leaderboard. But in the meantime, let’s see what they’re all about.

Key Takeaways

TaylorMade is releasing three fairway models and two hybrid models.The SIM2 rescue is a new iron-like hybrid.SIM2 fairway woods ($299-$399 MSRP)SIM2 hybrids ($249-$279)

We are in the throes of “release SZN.” If you’re not down with the lingo, it’s basically the post-holiday period in which many of the major manufacturers debut their new equipment. In this instance, it is the TaylorMade SIM2 fairway woods and hybrids.

Before COVID knee-capped retail sales in 2020, TaylorMade seemed poised to claim its status as the No. 1 selling metalwood brand. No doubt, this was due to the early success of its SIM driver. However, driver sales tend to be a pretty solid indicator of sell-though on fairway woods and hybrids.

As a result, some brands held off on scheduled 2020 equipment updates. Others tried the “early discount” approach to grab some sales while big box stores remained closed. Then the industry went bananas and here we are, more or less back on schedule.

TaylorMade SIM2 Fairway Woods

TaylorMade is, once again, going with three models in its fairway wood stable: SIM2 Ti, SIM2 Max and SIM2 Max D. By name alone, it appears to be roughly the same setup as the outgoing SIM line. And to some degree, it is, though TaylorMade is quick to point out that it’s worked to create more separation between models. The objective of “increased model differentiation” (my term) is becoming a theme in 2021 and it’s reasonable to expect that to continue.

The TaylorMade SIM2 driver family includes three models (SIM2, SIM2 MAX, SIM2 MAX D).Each of the models has a single-piece face cup and a forged aluminum ring to support the crown and sole.Retail price is $529.99. Availability starts Feb. 19.

With the release of the TaylorMade SIM2, SIM2 MAX and SIM2 MAX D, the company reaffirms its commitment to the shape (and, I suppose, the in motion) portions of the story behind last season’s SIM drivers. With SIM2, the shape carries on because speed is still important (you don’t say?) and so aerodynamics remain important, too.

So, much of what we first saw with SIM carries over with SIM2 drivers. A ubiquitous TaylorMade technology has been chopped, however, and the materials and construction used to create the signature SIM (and now SIM2) shape have been replaced with different and potentially compelling materials.

In some ways, SIM2 is pretty much the same as the original. In other meaningful ways, it’s significantly different.

Given the announcement of new PGA TOUR staffers late last week, it’s not particularly surprising to see PXG 0811 GEN4 drivers on the USGA conforming clubs list. What is surprising is that, with GEN2 being its current lineup of metalwoods, the company appears to be skipping GEN3 entirely.

A line of drivers so good they skipped an entire generation?

TBD, obviously.

PGA TOUR Staff announcements from @PXG.

New troops:

Jim Herman
Sung Kang
Danny Lee
Luke List
Henrik Norlander
Adam Schenk
Kyle Stanley
Hudson Swafford

— Tony Covey (@GolfSpyT) January 15, 2021

As per usual, the USGA pics don’t tell us everything we’d like to know. The description (and the sole of the driver) reference AV Carbon Fiber Tech but beyond that, there’s not much to go on. AV could be short for the technology or, like Titleist’s ATI face, it could refer to the company that produces the carbon material used in the driver.