My 5 Favorite Finds Of The 2025 Golf Season (Barba Edition)

One of the best things about writing for MyGolfSpy is the opportunity to try out lots of new stuff, whether it’s equipment, apparel or accessories and then tell you about it. It’s a responsibility we take seriously and we hope we’ve developed enough trust with you for our opinions to matter.

That said, each year there are studs and there are duds. Listed here are five studs that have helped my game, my wardrobe or my overall sense of well-being.

Let’s have some fun.

Pretty much anything from Original Penguin

If there’s a phrase that aptly describes Original Penguin apparel, it’s “retro cool.” I might also humbly submit that the phrase also aptly describes yours truly. At the very least, Original Penguin is one of the few apparel brands that has prompted my wife to say, “You know, you don’t look half stupid in that.”

I know deep down she means retro cool.

Original Penguin was the first brand to successfully make the cultural leap from golf to mainstream casual wear in the early ’60s. Sinatra, Crosby, Martin and Hope made Penguin the on- and off-course choice for the suave, mid-century male.

Perry Ellis is putting plenty of muscle behind Original Penguin. Its Technical Earl golf shirts are classy, comfy and cool and they’re named after ‘70s bowling legend Earl Anthony. What’s not to love? The Performance Earl hoodie is stylish, streetwise and stretchy, which is welcomed by this suave, mid-century male.

Even better, there’s almost always some kind of sale on the Original Penguin website. The Black Friday Sale is 50% off (or more) site-wide with most stuff under 50 bucks.

TaylorMade R7 Quad mini driver

Don’t know how else to say it so I’ll just say it: I friggin’ love this thing. Like many of you, I was kind of skeptical about mini drivers. I figured it was just an overweight 2-wood or something. Why not just keep using my 3-wood off the tee?

Well, three things changed my thinking. First, I wasn’t having much consistency off the tee with my 3-wood. Second, off the deck, my 3-wood was becoming a 50/50 club, meaning it was working about half the time. Third, my Wilson Dynapower Carbon 5-wood was becoming a major weapon.

Actually, there was a fourth thing. I demoed a mini driver at Golftec and damn if that thing wasn’t magic. After a fitting in May, the TaylorMade R7 Quad mini went straight in the bag and hasn’t been out since. It’s not an off-the-deck club for me (the Wilson 5-wood is now cranked down to 4-wood loft and also belongs on this list) so it’s an off-the-tee alternative for narrow holes where hitting the fairway is a must and for those times where a full driver might go through the fairway or into some crap.

Maxfli XC2 irons

These, quite frankly, were a shocker for me. Like Maxfli golf balls, the Maxfli XC2 irons are a DICK’S/Golf Galaxy store brand. Don’t let that spook you, though. They’re a five-step,1025 carbon steel forging engineered by the team at the DICK’S-owned Golfworks. While they bear a more than passing resemblance to the Maltby TS3 irons, there’s enough of a difference to make them their own entity.

Anyway, these puppies displaced the equally splendid COBRA 3DP irons in my bag for one important reason: a wee bit less offset and a wee bit more spin. I could hit the COBRAs a mile but not with a ton of spin and, more often than I’d like, with a hook. The Maxflis are much less left-biased and, for reasons I’ve yet to figure out, produce more spin despite similar lofts and the same shaft.

Sometimes things just are so it’s best not to ask too many questions.

They’re on sale now for $799.98. For forged irons you can actually try and get fitted for, that’s hard to beat.

Penfold Ryder Cup 1927 backpack

I travel a lot for my day job so I tend to go through backpacks like Madonna used to go through men. I like pockets, but not too many, and I like structure, but not too much. The Penfold Ryder Cup 1927 backpack is minimalist enough so I’m not tempted to overload it and structured enough that I don’t feel like I’m carrying a lump on my back.

Its laptop sleeve easily fits my laptop and dual-screen extended monitor. The main compartment fits my accessories bag, headphones and a notebook. The front zipper pocket fits all the other assorted junk that business travelers bring along.

My only complaint is that the Penfold doesn’t have a built-in slot to fit over the expanded handle of a roller suitcase. But, hey, I’m a grownup. I can cope.

It looks cool, too, especially the red leather bottom embossed with “Penfold.”

Heathlander golf shoes

Gotta admit, these snuck up on me.

To keep it simple, Heathlander checks the three most important boxes for any golf shoe. They’re comfortable, stable and, to my eye anyway, stylish (even my wife thinks I don’t look half stupid in them). The unique pink sole gives you plenty of traction. It’s also soft enough for comfort and doesn’t leave nasty marks on the green.

They’re not cheap, at $225, but at least Heathlander doesn’t nickel-and-dime you. For that price, you also get a cushioned nylon zippered shoe bag, an inner cloth bag and two pairs of shoelaces in contrasting colors.

Don’t sleep on small upstart brands like Heathlander. I just got another pair of under-the-radar shoes from a company called Alma Mater. They may join Heathlander in the golf shoe rota. They’re worth checking out.

Honorable mention: forelinksgolf gloves

One last quickie for you.

I first got to know Tyler Nguyen over the summer on a Google Meet call. The 25-year-old budding golf glove entrepreneur is as impressive a young man as you’ll ever meet. His story is quintessentially American and his company, forelinksgolf, is the kind of brand you feel compelled to support.

And the gloves? They’re not the cheapest (nor are they the most expensive) but they are very, very good.

As I said in the article introducing forelinksgolf to the MyGolfSpy universe, we vote with our dollars for the kind of world we want to live in. I want a world where people like Tyler Nguyen are successful way more than I need a cheap-ass golf glove.

The post My 5 Favorite Finds Of The 2025 Golf Season (Barba Edition) appeared first on MyGolfSpy.