Golfing News & Blog Articles

Golf companies love Halloween. Headcovers, balls, grips, nearly everything else … it’s like Starbucks with just a hint less spice to go with the pumpkin.

Maybe it’s because there’s a limit to how many kids I want ringing my doorbell, but I’m kind of over Halloween in a general kind of way. And, if we’re being honest, a good bit of this limited stuff looks like it was designed by someone who raided the clearance bin at Spirit Halloween on Nov. 1.

At least TaylorMade’s new Dia de los Muertos collection isn’t completely devoid of originality. That is to say that it’s as original as any piece of golf gear featuring a skull can be.

Now, sure, it’s not like TaylorMade skips Halloween entirely—this year we’ve already covered their limited-edition Midnight Howl collection. The scariest thing about that was TaylorMade’s willingness to go all in on a Halloween-themed Spider putter.

Instead of just building on that with more of the typical Halloween aesthetic, TaylorMade (as it has done with limited-edition balls in the past) has tapped into the rich cultural traditions of Día de los Muertos with a collection that should appeal to golfers with a genuine appreciation for the Day of the Dead as well as those who just think skulls are cool.

2025 Bank of Utah Championship tee times for Thursday's first round in Utah, featuring Matt McCarty, Jason Day and more.

The post 2025 Bank of Utah Championship Thursday tee times: Round 1 groupings appeared first on Golf.

PXG’s golf balls have been quietly improving every year and the 2025 MyGolfSpy Ball Test presented by UNRL confirmed what many golfers are starting to notice: both PXG models are legitimate tour-level performers. Now you need to decide which one fits your game.

We tested both the PXG Xtreme Tour and Xtreme Tour X and while they share a lot in common, the performance differences are subtle but meaningful.

Off the tee

At higher swing speeds, both PXG balls posted strong distance numbers. The Xtreme Tour launched a bit lower and rolled out a touch farther while the Tour X flew a few feet higher and landed softer.
At mid swing speeds, total distance was nearly identical and, at lower speeds, it again showed slightly more rollout thanks to its firmer feel and lower driver spin.

The takeaway:

If you tend to generate plenty of clubhead speed, both models will perform well, but the Tour’s flatter flight may squeeze out a few extra yards.If you’re a moderate or slower swinger, the Tour X’s added launch and higher flight can help you carry trouble and keep tee shots in the air longer.

From the fairway: Height and control

The real separation between the two PXG balls shows up in the iron data. The Xtreme Tour consistently launched higher and landed steeper. If you’re playing a course with firm greens, that’s going to be a true benefit. The Tour X flew flatter and spun slightly more, offering a bit more total distance but less stopping power.

For too long, golfers have been pressured to conform—to “get in line,” wear certain clothes, and act a specific way. This has drained the personality from the game, making it, frankly, hard to watch. But I’m here to tell you that there’s a simple fix, player edition footwear.

When I talk about “more of this,” I mean more personality in golf. This BK-labeled shoe, with colors chosen by Koepka and inspired by his son, is a powerful statement.

The NBA, WNBA, and NFL have mastered this. Why can’t golf do the same?

Imagine a Justin Thomas “Alabama” HyperFlex or a Tony Finau “Lakers” inspired shoe available to the public.

Golf’s biggest struggle is marketing its athletes. Creating Player Edition footwear—like this Koepka model I snagged at Golf Galaxy, or the ones we’ll see soon from Nelly Korda is a unique, effective way to close that gap. It’s how you take the gear we see on the PGA, LIV, and LPGA tours and put it directly into the hands of everyday golfers like you and me.

When Grant Horvat teed it up against Max Homa at Pelican Hill, the idea was simple: start five under par and see if he could hang with a PGA Tour winner. We won’t spoil what happened but let’s just say Homa had one of the best rounds ever posted on Horvat’s YouTube channel.

Playing alongside Homa gave Horvat (and anyone watching) a front-row look at what separates elite golfers from the rest of us. The things he learned were more about rhythm, conviction and simplicity, not advanced swing mechanics or theory.

Here are three things Grant Horvat learned playing with Max Homa and how you can actually use them.

1. Great tempo doesn’t mean slowing down

Watching Max Homa swing up close, you may notice the same thing Horvat did. Every swing has the same rhythm. Whether it’s a driver, wedge or iron, it’s all identical in pace. He’s not trying to swing harder; he’s just staying completely in sync.

How you can use this:
Most golfers think improving tempo means slowing everything down but that’s not what Homa does. His tempo is consistent, not slow.

Well, well, well. Look what showed up in my Amazon recommendations between the USB-C cables and the 64-pack of AA batteries I apparently need.

Amazon has entered the golf ball business with the Amazon Basics Core Soft, and honestly, we probably should have seen this coming. There’s a Basics version of damn near everything, and since I’m reasonably confident Alexa is always listening, the simple act of many of you wondering aloud why Amazon doesn’t have its own golf balls was enough to make it happen.

What exactly is the Amazon Basics Core Soft?

According to Amazon’s product description, the Core Soft is designed for “VERSATILE USE” (their caps, not mine). You can put pretty much any vaguery you’d like in a product description, but even by that low standard, it’s fairly uninformative.

The same holds true for the USGA spin rating, where the Core Soft is listed as offering medium driver spin and high short iron spin. If you’re expecting that rating to hold true for greenside performance, prepare for disappointment. Soft doesn’t spin. Ionomer doesn’t spin. And given that one of those is definitely true and the other might be, the Amazon Core Soft isn’t a viable option for golfers looking for stopping power.

What we do know is that Amazon is billing this as a low compression ball, and the “Core Soft” name certainly more than hints at a soft core. But that’s about as specific as it gets. We’re going to order some and throw them into our compression gauge to see where the Core Soft fits on the spectrum between Supersoft and Tour Soft.

If you care about scoring, the golf ball you play matters. MyGolfSpy’s 2025 Golf Ball Test presented by UNRL shows just how big the distance gaps can be between models.

The takeaway is simple: soft is slow but “firm” doesn’t always mean longest. Trajectory, spin and aerodynamics play just as big a role and, at certain speeds, they can completely flip the leaderboard. Here is a golf ball distance chart for every swing speed with the top 10 golf balls for distance.

How we test (Quick summary)

Every ball in the 2025 test was purchased at retail, hit by a robot and compared to a Titleist Pro V1 control ball. We tested drivers and irons at three speeds—high (115 mph), mid (100 mph), low (85 mph)—under consistent launch and spin targets.

The goal isn’t to show absolute yardage but relative differences. How much one ball out- or under-performs another when everything else stays equal. The results reveal a clear separation between constructions, compressions and cover types.

High swing speed (115 mph driver)

At the top end of the speed spectrum, high-compression tour balls still rule. The Callaway Chrome Tour Triple Diamond led at 328 yards, edging out the PXG Xtreme Tour and Bridgestone TOUR B X.

I know I’m not the only one who gets tired of finding a golf ball that’s long off the driver and short off the irons. I probably need more help keeping my yardage up on my irons but it’s hard to give up driver speed to get it.

So I went digging through the 2025 MyGolfSpy Ball Test presented by UNRL to see which models have high driver ball speed and iron ball speed. Here are those picks for every swing speed.

High swing speed (Driver ~115 mph/7-iron ~90 mph)

At higher speeds, firm “tour” balls still ruled for total speed but a few models managed to stay quick through the irons as well. The PXG Xtreme Tour X was among the fastest across the board, combining a firm core with a stable mid-flight profile.

Srixon’s Q-STAR Ultispeed surprised testers by keeping pace with urethane balls despite its ionomer cover although it gives up greenside spin.

The Maxfli Tour X continued to prove that speed and overall performance don’t have to come at a premium price.

We have to start with a big disclaimer: these numbers are only my estimations based on publicly available data including view counts, average RPMs and more.

As such, use this info only as that: a rough (but educated) guess as to what Grant Horvat, one of the most popular YouTubers, makes on a yearly basis from YouTube ad revenue.

Keep in mind that this estimation doesn’t include any private sponsorship deals, money made from his equity stake in DTC club company Takomo Golf or other streams of revenue. Today, we’re strictly talking about ad revenue paid by YouTube.

Understanding RPMs

The first thing to tackle is RPMs, revenue per mile. This number is crucial to estimating what Horvat makes per year on YouTube.

Simply put, an RPM is the amount of money a creator makes per 1,000 views, AFTER YouTube takes its cut.

Golf towels might not seem like a big deal … until you’re standing in the rain with a soaked microfiber square that can’t dry your grips or clean your clubface.

Sometimes a cheap towel makes sense.

Microfiber options are affordable, easy to wash and perfectly fine for casual golfers who want something small to clip to the bag. But when you play more often, you start to appreciate the towels that do a little more, ones that hang right, dry quickly and can handle both club cleaning and rain protection.

The top 3 best-selling golf towels on Amazon

When we checked Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Golf Towels,” these three came up at the top. Both the Handy Picks and LUSTEMBER options are solid low-cost solutions. They are easy to clean, quick to dry and reliable for light use.

What do you do if you notice your opponent making a stroke without picking up his ball mark? Rules Guy has the answer.

The post Rules Guy: My opponent putts with his mark to the side of his ball. Is that legal? appeared first on Golf.

A Florida jury on Monday awarded Jack Nicklaus $50 million in his defamation lawsuit against Nicklaus Companies, which is owned by billionaire banker Howard Milstein.

Tommy Fleetwood turned his darkest hour into a springboard. He took over this chapter of the golf season. And he granted his son's wish.

The post Tommy Fleetwood just won Act 3 of this pro golf season | Monday Finish appeared first on Golf.

The PGA Tour is returning to Austin, Texas, for a FedEx Cup Fall event next year with the popular YouTube group "Good Good Golf" as a title sponsor for the first time.

You saw that recent swing video of LeBron James, right?

King Bron has been getting in the game, thanks in large part to his Los Angeles Lakers teamate and self-proclaimed best golfer in the NBA, Austin Reaves.

Reaves, a budding star for Lebron’s Lakers has some serious game, both on the hardwood and the hard pan. And after being a brand ambassador for Socal’s TravisMathew for over two years, the hoops-and-golf phenom is finally getting his own signature apparel line.

The Austin Reaves Collection from TravisMathew features a cool golf/basketball logo. The two sports have similar goals, afterall: Get the ball into the hoop (or hole).

Don’t get it twisted, the apparel is still TravisMathew through and through. Subtle designs, uber-comfy fabrics and perfect for the course or the clubhouse.

Keegan Bradley said he's still trying to emerge from the "Ryder Cup fog" after the U.S. loss, adding "there's no part of me that thinks I'll ever get over this."

Fred Couples says his downswing thought is really only five words, and he talked about it on an social media post by Nick Faldo.

The post Fred Couples’ downswing thought? He says it’s really only five words appeared first on Golf.

Good Good is coming to the PGA Tour.

The Good Good Championship is set to be played in November of 2026 at Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa’s Fazio Canyons Course in Austin, Texas.

It’s the first time a digital-first golf brand—one with a strong YouTube presence—has gotten involved as a title sponsor of a Tour event. It also brings the Tour back to Austin for the first time since the WGC-Match Play Championship ended in 2023.

“The PGA Tour is proud to return to the great city of Austin for the first time since 2023 for the Good Good Championship, an exciting new event as part of the FedExCup Fall,” said Tyler Dennis, PGA TOUR chief competitions officer. “We are pleased to partner with Good Good Golf and Omni Hotels & Resorts on this unique event as the PGA Tour further connects and engages with our game’s younger fans.”

The tournament will be broadcast on Golf Channel with a full field size of 120 Tour players.

How to watch the 2025 Bank of Utah Championship at the Black Desert Resort this week, including a full Bank of Utah Championship TV schedule.

The post 2025 Bank of Utah Championship: TV schedule, streaming info, how to watch, tee times appeared first on Golf.

Naoyuki Kataoka entered the week ranked 500th in the world. He ended it with a ticket to the Masters and Open championship.

The post He was ranked 500th in the world. Now, he’s headed to the Masters appeared first on Golf.