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Rather than waiting I'll share what I know and am aware of. JS can add to it later or if he gets a chance to. There has been a shift in how tests this season are provided and promoted this year by HQ. Where in previous years mods (meaning Rob) would be on the hunt and provide tests for the community. This is no longer the case and all testing opportunities come directly from HQ. We as a mod team have been assigned to run and manage them, but asked to leave the sourcing of them to HQ. We have been told to expect in the neighborhood of 20 testing opportunities for 2022. To date we have had 5 with one more scheduled June 17th. It has been admittedly a slower start to the season, but the communication to us from HQ has been that OEM's are more interested in Q2/Q3 slots and therefore June and July could still be slower with August/September/October being a lot fuller. Supply hasn't been as much of a issue as we have been told so far. It is more the desire to wait till later in the season for one reason or another. The other part of the equation is most our opportunities so far have been from advertisers of the main site. As per the blog they do not advertise with any of the major OEM: https://mygolfspy.com/advertise/ and testing opportunities for the membership are part of the package. Therefore we should see companies like EVNROL, motocaddy and others who have been advertisers on the blog in previous years. Although we do have a testing schedule with whats to come and what weeks products are placed in for typical seasons. With the shift this year we still have one, but again it is light as of right now. We have been told that as soon as any new tests are scheduled or known they will be posted for us to see so we can get started on our work with them. Unfortunately we cannot say what testing items are before the scheduled date we are able to make a calendar on the forum in which we can post when tests are about to be announced, when reviews are due to be posted and other news for dates if that is of interest to the community? I apologize I cannot share more, however I can only share what I know and at the moment that is all I know and am aware of. I hope that JS can further add to this conversation again as he is our Community Manager and the direct contect to HQ for the forum. Finally a big shout out to @Golfspy_CG2 for all the work he has done for the forum over the years providing tests and this season getting the Major Pools up for us as well as sourcing the prizes. He has been intergral to the community and done so much for us still in his semi retired role.

Hello all! As a mod team we wanted to provide an update to a few changes coming down the pipeline in terms of site navigation and organization. Over the coming week or two we will be making some title changes to several of the main categories and merging several other categories. For example Boomsticks will become Drivers, Shiny Metal will become Irons and an overall simpler naming/navigation of the forum will be provided for all. We will not simply just do these changes overnight and will notify everyone of the date a few days in advance. These changes are aimed at making the site more user friendly for all who come to the forum or who have never been on a golfing forum before. Most of us use Recent Content or Unread Content for our day to day use, however a new user often has to navigate through the main page which can be a little intimidating. Another example of a change will be merging in a few redundant categories such as General Q & A, General Talk and The 19th whole as they all work to achieve similar discussion. Important to note that during this process threads WILL NOT BE LOST. They will simply be moved over. As of right now as a mod team we are working on finalizing our structure and have requested that testing be crossplaced so it will show up in both testing and Driver section for example. Testing section will remain as is until the offseason where we will then discuss how to move forward with that. Content Corner: This section will be brought back and available for all with a few new highlights - One being "The Daily" this will be 4 or 5 threads that are popular to check in and post in daily. Think How Did You Play Today? and What Equipment Have You Tested? type threads. We will also include Breaking News/Viral Golf Content where the popular goings on of the day can be posted. Finally Articles of Interest, simple really as if there are popular articles/stories or articles/stores that stand out to you in the golfing world simply post there for membership to easily find. All the content in the above section will still show up in your recent/unread content. Of course if you have questions reachout via PM and we can discuss further. Cheers, Mod Team

It is Thursday and we have an exciting announcement with a little twist. I want to introduce our new mods, yes plural. We have been fortunate enough to have been given approval for 2 new mods to our team as we go through a slight restructure. No worries, nobody is leaving how with some time commitments and such taking up time in various areas we were able to bring on two new mods. Please welcome @Golfspy_Lukes (former jlukes) and @Golfspy_TCB (former tiftaaft)! We are really excited to have both Joe and Tim join our team and work with us and the forum moving forward. Both have been stellar members and I feel will bring a lot to this community. @Golfspy_Lukes has been a member for a long time and most all of you know him well. He has a wealth of knowledge about the game that suprasses many. He brings a great background in equipment and fitting and is one of the most recognizable names on our forum for many years. We look forward to his experience and expertise and what he can bring moving forward! @golfspy_TCB has been a member for a little over a year and has made great contributions to the forum in that time. He has taken part in the Nippon test where he is now a bit of a shaft expert and has truly provided this community with quality content that is worth reading by all. As with Joe we really look forward to having Tim join the team with his drive and commitment to making the forum a better place for all! Finally I want to thank all who applied. To put it simply we had so many good candidates and it was near impossible to pick. It just goes to show how great this community is and the amazing members we have here, along with the varying skillsets and backgrounds is really cool. I enjoyed getting to know many of you a little better throughout the process and look forward to everyones participation in various areas on the forum! With that welcome to the Mod Team Joe and Tim!

One of the most anticipated irons of this year was Cobra's release of the 2022 Forged Tec line, which expanded to included the Forged Tec X model. Read about them Here in My Golf Spy's First Look piece. These irons are stunning looking and in the case of the Forged Tec X are packed with enough help for the player that handicaps from scratch to 20 can probably play them. Cobra is going to give one lucky Forum Member a chance to win a set of their choice, you will be able to choose between Forged Tec Forged Tec X Entering will require a little research and work on your end, but it's well worth it to get a chance to put these in your bag. To Enter you must be a registered member of the forum. Then complete ALL of the steps below: First Head to the Cobra website https://www.cobragolf.com/golf-clubs/irons Research both irons and select which set you'd like Build a set (using any no upcharge options) and take a screen shot and post it in this thread. Note for Lefty's-You can click on Custom Options if you want the X model to buld your set. When the winner is chosen, if he/she is LH we will submit the specs directly to Cobra to be build. So in short Lefy's should have the same choices as RH in the X model. Then answer the following questions in the same post that you put your bag. Explain why you chose the model you did and what you'd hope to get out of them performance wise List your first name/city state (US Only entries) What current irons you're playing Handicap Will you agree to patriciate in discussions on the forum about your experience with the irons after receiving them. Plese join us in Congratulating @Lacassem Thanks to all who spent the time to enter and we will have more of these coming soon!

2022 has come and gone and it was an interesting year for the forum. We had a lot going on and a lot of changes throughout the year. Not only did we have the pleasure of adding a few new mods to our team, but we also had a lot of new people join the forum. Before getting into the awards here are a few stats for everyone to know! This has turned more into a recap and thanks/recognition vs awards... we will work on award names for 2023. New Registrations on the forum - 4881 Members who had content reacted to - 2321 Members who reacted to content - 1144 New Topics - 3932 Number of Posts - 63,448 Images uploaded to the Gallery - 118 Community Markers - 178 Tests - 18 Test Comments - 3,467 (on the new now old platform) Total Reviews - 39 (again on the new now old platform) Total Reactions Given - 176,715! Most Searched Item: Sub70 @GolfSub70 Most Marker Reviews goes to @GolfSpy_BOS Most Posts in 2022 goes to @Kenny B Most Reacted to Content (non staff announcements) @chisag Maxfli Tour Post with 40+ Reactions! This was closely followed by @azstu324 Otto Phlex Thread which had over 30+ Reactions! Third was a thread that will live on forever in the 2018 Odyssey O Works Giveaway with 30 Reactions! Some other noteworthy threads that should be recognized are of course the LIV Thread. This thing racked up thousands (2543 and counting) of comments and I don't believe will ever stop. However we had some other notable content worth recognizing @inner_game_coach had a career low post which gathered a great amount of reactions here: Also in one of our last AMA Matt Blois made a great video for us: Not to be outdone @PMookie journey to Ping was also a significant topic which you can find in the link below Then there are several threads which may have not made reactions list, but have been community highlights. One being the MGS Virtual Tournaments being led by @Golfspy_TCB! If you haven't seen them you can find all the details below and join in the fun! https://forum.mygolfspy.com/forum/104-mgs-virtual-golf-tournaments/ Also as this is the off season we have had some great threads which have kept us going in the winter months for those of us who are not lucky enough to play all year. A headliner for this is @ejgaudette MGS Off-Season Speed Challenge thread! Now that much of that has been covered we get to some of the thread/pm acknowledgements! @Yellow Ball gets a shout out for providing much comedic relief... which is often needed! Thank you and we expect more of the same in 2023! Of course we can't just recognize just Yellow Ball, @The Hat Must also be recognized for being a sense of joy and laughs on the forum. Thank you and keep it going! A special shoutout to all who attended, organized and participated in the MGS Regional Outing! Lets hope this year is even bigger and better! @edingc and his Work In Progress deserves a shoutout as one of the best Game Improvement threads. There are so many others we can recognize and truly I could go on and on so I will tag a few others and I truly apologize if I miss a few. we have so many incredible members it is impossible to name everyone. @cnosil @DaveP043 @GregGarner @Getoffmylawn (new Fantasy Football winner) @EasyPutter @BIG STU @tommc23 @tony@CIC @MattF @Lacassem @MattWillGolf @Berg Ryman @sirchunksalot @Bang60 @Samsonite @THEZIPR23 @TylorJudd @fixyurdivot @cksurfdude @Rickp @JerryB @Tom the Golf Nut @revkev @GolfSpy Barbajo @Samsonite @blackngold_blood @RickyBobby_PR @RollingGreens @silver & black @Jnoble89 @Siamese Moose And so so so many more! I also want to shout out our mod team @GolfSpy_BOS, @Golfspy_CG2, @GolfSpy MPR, @Golfspy_TCB and @Golfspy_Lukes for all the work they have done this past year and so. This site wouldn't be the same without you all and the work you guys do is amazing! Again I am sorry if I missed your name and if I did you can send me a PM telling me so! Thank you all for making 2022 a special (different) kind of year and one that will certainly be one to remember! Now onto 2023! (ps as I see members I forget I am trying to add them in as I feel bad that I am so forgetful often with names and such!)

You read it correctly.. "Otto Phlex". I'm sure there's not a person on MGS or in the golf world who hasn't heard of (or seen) the Auto Flex shaft. For those of you who have been living under a rock for the past couple of years, Auto Flex is a South Korean company that has basically branded their flagship shaft as a very flexible, but high performing, high tech, and somewhat "magic" shaft made with "Secret Hidden Korean Technology". The concept lends itself to the idea that a specific flexy profile can help increase clubhead and ball speed, while increasing launch and keeping spin relatively low, and improving disbursement and forgiveness, therefore yielding results of long, straight, towering bombs.. I mean, who doesn't what that right? Another claim is that while keeping the profile relatively soft, tempo improves, and the overall risk for injury can be reduced. Well I'll be one of the first to admit it. I was NEVER enamored by the claims and especially the price of the AutoFlex. Oh, and let's not forget about the color scheme.. Ultra Hot Pink? not my jam Sam. As a sole provider trying my best to balance a decent golf game on a budget with my family life, spending $800+ on a hot pink golf shaft just isn't something that interests me.. regardless of the claims. Well over the past year or so, there have been a few Youtube channels that have showcased the AutoFlex Hack.. or as I like to call it, the "Otto Phlex". It has been somewhat theorized that the secret sauce to the AutoFlex is based on the following basic profile characteristics: 2-3 flexes lighter than your preferred flex or frequency, at least 1 or even 2 weight classes lower than your preferred weight, a swingweight between D0 and D2 depending on the flex, and a mid/high launch profile. It has also been debated that the Autoflex works best when it's at least 46" or longer. I tried starting at 46.5" and just didn't like the length. I then tried shorter .5" increments and I ended up at 45" and I'll explain how I got there in a bit. OK before anybody sounds the alarm, I realize that all of these characteristics are subject to each shaft company's interpretation and that there is no such thing as a standardized R, S, X, etc, flex shaft. All of these characteristics are based on broad generalities and this experiment has quite a bit of wiggle room so don't get your plaid golf knickers in a twist. (there, got that out of the way) I've been playing the MotoreX F1 6X for the past 2 years. It's an XS shaft according to Fujikura, it weighs in at about 68g uncut. I've played it at about D5 SW but the shaft can take the extra head weight with no issues. Up until very recently, this was supposed to be my "Forever" shaft. It just works and up to this point I just couldn't find anything better. This is however going by conventional wisdom standards that with 110+ mph swing speed, I need to play either a hefty stiff or XS profile shaft and my preferred weight has always been sub 70g in driver. My Otto Phlex profile should look something like this: A flex, 45 - 55g, High Launch with low loft setting or mid launch with standard loft setting. Torque is another factor that can be thrown into the debate ring as having any value. The AutoFlex from what I've read is around a 4.0 torque rating. I believe torque can be important with this experiment because we're really treading on the edge of making sure the shaft bends but doesn't twist. Too high of torque rating and you may be pushing things a little too far. DISCLAIMER 1: I realize that this is a subject that might rub some folks the wrong way.. namely those who've spent the $ and are completely bought into the Autoflex concept.. or those who've done the research, had a fitting, and are about to pull the trigger on one. I think that this topic fully encompasses the MGS spirit of debunking a pretty hyped up marketing claim and/or discussing alternatives that take all of the marketing hype out of the equation and stick to the hard facts. Does the concept actually work? Can I make an Otto Phlex shaft that performs similarly or better than the real thing while nixing the insane price tag by following the guidelines listed above? DISCLAIMER 2: just because I'm finding success with this at the moment, it doesn't mean that it's for everybody. This is definitely a concept that even I'm still working to wrap my head around after playing for 30 years. It definitely has a lot of allure and appeal so the best we can do is try it out, give it some time and formulate final conclusions when the data is adequate. Below are a few of the videos that influenced my journey (and a few others like @Samsonite, @blackngold_blood, @cnosil, @cksurfdude, @tommc23, (forgive me if I missed anyone else) down this Otto Phlex rabbit hole. We all started up in the thread discussing the new PXG 0311 Gen5 Driver and ended up directing most of our discussion towards this AutoFlex Hack project because it just worked in such harmonized synchrony with the Gen5 head. Below is the PGX Gen5 thread if you'd like to catch up on what lead to this topic. The top of about page 3 is where the discussion starts to go sideways and turn into AutoFlex hack project Here is the original review by MrShortgame of the Autoflex. Very supportive of the Autoflex performance benefits Here are the colab videos by MrShortgage and MobileClubmaker. Both guys make great and very informative videos and they both know their stuff. Simon from SAS did something similar a while back.. He kind of rolls like me. He's all about getting the most out of a budget and still getting some really killer gear. Freddie Meikle Golf. I found this one as I was looking up more reviews for the PXG Gen 5 and it happened to be that he also stumbled upon the Otto Phlex After watching these videos about 10x each and saying "hey I can actually do that!", I tracked down a Project X Evenflow Riptide CB. In fact, it's the exact same spec of the shaft in the MrShortgame video. 40g 5.0 A flex. I sourced the shaft from a local OfferUp listing for a PXG Gen4 driver for sale. I reached out and offered the guy a straight trade for the Diamana S series that initially came with my Gen5 driver. Being that he was trying to sell his driver and I was able to gently convince him that an S flex might appeal to a broader audience, he was open for the trade. My fallback plan if all else fails is to plug in my trusty MotoreX and resell the experimental shafts and get on with my life. The only concern that I had was that the Evenflow played at 45" and I was convinced that it needed to be at least 46" for max results so I was already sourcing my shaft extension piece to have ready. Well eventually I discovered that 45" was absolutely perfect and that no extension was needed. I took the shaft back to the workshop, put it in the Gen5 and got the SW calculated to D0. Because of the higher balance point, I needed to add just a little more weight to the head. Luckily I was able to find a 10g PXG weight to replace one of the 7.5g weights and there we go.. I'm sitting right at D1.5. Now why is the SW so important with this build? Well this shaft isn't made for swing speeds over 100 MPH.. let alone the 110 - 115 that I'll be imparting on it. From my obsessive gathering of info, if you're able to keep the head weight to a minimum, and keep the swing weight optimal based on the desired shaft frequency (D1 lighter to D2 heavier), you should still be able to apply a max swing without any unwanted torsional head twisting. This is where the head can twist open or shut in addition to the shaft flexing the face up or down and then even more damaging is finding some odd variation in between where the face is flexed open or shut to some degree and then the face lofted or delofted to another degree and then who knows which direction the ball goes? Ultimately, the idea is to be able to put a hefty swing on the club and the ONLY reactional bending is the face increasing in loft, therefore assisting with an easier launch. Other variations are the actual club head itself. Every driver head is engineered for something specific. Luckily in my case, the PXG Gen5 seems to be a perfect mate for this experiment. It's naturally a lower spinning head and has a load of variable weight configurations. I have the 9* head option. Here are some standardized #'s from what I've seen with the MotoreX. I no longer have my membership with PGATSS (due to their recent 50% cost spike) so I'm just basing this off of memory from my last few sessions. (not 100%). As you can see though, the MotoreX works well for me. It's not an overly stiff profile. I'd say that it falls right where I need it to be between S+ and XS if I could give it my own classification. It's in the 65g weight class but actually closer to 70g than 65g. Launch - 10-12* Ball Speed - 157 MPH (probably not accurate) Swing Speed - 111 Carry 270 Spin 1900 Moment of Truth I took the Project X Evenflow Riptide along with the MotoreX to the Foresight Monitors at an outdoor range. This way I can see true flight and get some basic #'s to help quantify what I'm seeing with my eyes. The only downside is that the balls they use are limited flight which supposedly cut the flight down by 20% and the monitors weren't showing club or ball speed and weren't showing Spin so I was kind of disappointed. The limited results that I did see however blew my socks off. I started off the session with about 20 hits from the MotoreX and saw a nice low-ish draw. The carry was about 250 with rollout to about 270+. Not bad considering the balls were limited flight. I did see my miss come into play a few times which is a hard pull hook. This happens when I'm not fully sync'd and I'm swinging with my arms, chasing the ball, and just flipping the face closed. My shot can quickly go from fairway to neighborhood finder on the wrong layout. As soon as I plugged in the "OttoPhlex1" (I'll get to that "1") I could immediately feel the difference but that's to be expected.. the difference however isn't what I was expecting at all. The club actually doesn't feel lighter by weight or Swing Weight. I think there's some kind of trickery about the D1 SW and overall lighter club. The club doesn't feel too light at all. In fact if feels perfect! The SW also doesn't feel like D1 but closer to my preferred D4-5. I'm sure it's more to do with physics than witchcraft but to a lay fool like me.. it's the devil at work! JK. when I tee'd up my first ball, it was a high fowl ball to right field.. probably into the parking lot. weird.. OK this is a new sensation to me. At first impression I'm thinking, man this thing's too whippy and twisty. Well I buried that though and hit a few more. The more I hit, the more in sync I was getting and then the easier it became to just hit high towering baby draws. I'll say that the overall height at 9* was probably more than I wanted to see so I ended up cranking the loft down to 7.5 and just like old Bob Parsons himself would put it "KABOOM BABY".. ok I actually really hate PXG marketing but I guess it can have a time and place. You can read more about my thoughts on the Gen5 in the thread above.. but the overall feeling of it paired with the OttoPhlex1 is something else. The launch is effortless and even though I couldn't see the spin or ball speed #'s, I was getting about 15 yds more carry and rollout to about 290 - 300 yds. I went back and plugged the MotoreX in, bumped it back to 9° and then found myself struggling to get the ball in the air. A shaft that I've been familiar with for 2 years all of a sudden became a stranger to me. I had been so completely overtaken by the feeling, flight, and performance of the OttoPhlex1 that I'd completely forgot everything I knew about the MotoreX.. and that was just in 1 hitting session. So of course I go home all giddy happy but my silly brain just couldn't rest on 1 thing.. Just like the video with MrShortgame, the PX Evenflow Riptide didn't really feel how the Autoflex looks from videos. Those guys got some real 1/1 comparison and I don't know if I'll ever have that luxury. The shaft just felt like a really smooth, stable "Me" flex. Take the stigma of "# Flex" out of the equation. It isn't really whippy or overly explosive feeling but it just feels like a really nice, stable shaft to play that gave some great results and something that I could definitely game. So that night I went back to looking around for possibly another option that might land me a little closer to the Motore F3 like they used in the video. Looking at all of the comments, it's literally impossible to find that exact shaft anywhere and people were frustrated. Even the current MotoreX F3 is a tad pricy for an experiment. Off the top of my head I knew of a few light weight, low cost options that I could look into. I looked at the UST ProForce V2 in both the HL and standard version, the Aldila NXT GEN NVS Orange, and the classic Garafalloy Pro Launch Blue. All in A flex and ranging between 45 and 55g. Well I settled for the Garafalloy PL based on a very technical analysis of.. Aesthetics . Now we have OttoPhlex2 in the mix. This and all of these are shafts that you can pick up at Golf Galaxy, PGATSS, or Golfworks for around $60, which is about the same price that AJ (Mobileclubmaker) paid for the OG Motore F3 and all seem to fit that general profile. I will add that I started out the GPLB at 46.5". The SW was just too much and I wasn't loving the length. So this is where I shortened it in .5" increments until I just found my glass slipper at 45". I took this out to play a round on Saturday 9/24 and I tell you what.. Just like I was blown away by the improved results with the Evenflow Riptide, I was even more so impressed with the Garafalloy PLB. The round I played was on a tight community Exec course with very narrow fairways. I played the front 9 with the OttoPhlex1 and hit everything! then I played the back with OttoPhlex2 and not only did I hit everything but it was a noticeably longer and higher flight. Not feeling content with the limited amount of playing time during the round, I immediately took to the course driving range afterward to compare both shafts in a long drive battle. Same situation as the other range, they have limited flight balls. It's in a retirement community so the back wall of the range stops at about 290 from the matts and on the other side behind the back wall is a gigantic aluminum storage facility. When it's matts only, I haven't ever hit over the fence. When they push it to grass, and depending how far forward, and when you smash a good drive, you're rewarded with a loud PING when the ball hits the storage facility over the fence.. too many good drives, and the storage facility calls the golf course and you are kindly asked to put your driver away . like I said, from the matts, that's that furthest point from the end of the range and I've never hit one over the fence. So I started the contest with the OttoPhlex1 (Riptide). I hit a lot of nice straight bombs that bounced to the wall but not over. When I put the OttoPhlex2 (GPLB) in, I was clearing the fence almost every 2 or 3 balls. Not only was I clearing the fence but I kept a directional point of a large tree at the back end of the range and everything was at or just outside of the tree. Luckily I finished the bucket and wasn't asked to leave Well for the finale, I took a used ball from my bag that I planned to retire to my backyard for chipping practice and tee'd it up. I didn't hit the side of the storage facility.. I landed it on the roof which had to be about 30' high and I wasn't rewarded with 1 PING.. but a series of pings as the ball bounced all the way across the rooftop. I've already made a short story very long but I had a chance to take both shafts to PGATSS to get some better #'s with the Garafalloy PLB. What I found just added to some of the crazy things that I've already seen with this club. Launch from a 7.5* head with little to no effort is right at about 14*. Club head speed 112+ without breaking a sweat. Spin.. 2000 - 2200 RPM. Carry distance an avg of 285 - 290 rolling out to around 315. Shots that I felt like I hit off the planet were just right or left of the green. I will add that I was using my game ball Maxfli Tour CG. I've got 1 more potential candidate that I would like to add to the mix and that's the UST ProForce V2 HL or regular V2. TBC **************** It's getting late. This is phase 1. I'll add some pics and continue more tomorrow. ***************** PLEASE feel free to start commenting or sharing any similar stories. I think this could be a really good topic for MGS to cover on their GolfScience channel. Cheers!

WINNER ANNOUNCED! 4 years later we finally have been able to select a winner for the 2018 Odyssey O Works Putter! Please say a huge congrats to

I stood on the 18th tee not aware of my score - it is recorded automatically through Arccos. I knew I was playing well (to my standards) but it didn’t feel lights out. There were some mishits, but they were saved. Some short putts that were missed. I didn’t even card a single birdie - which I have done in the past multiple time and still card in the high 80's, low 90's I put a drive about 245 into the fairway - I am not a long hitter. I had 135 left to the front of the green, pin set 10 paces on. I stood over my bag and without thinking or making judgments, I let myself pull my 8i. On the range my 8 is my 150 club - but I took the ego out of the situation and trusted my feeling. I put a smooth swing on it and the ball just cleared the sand trap guarding the right of the green - pin high, 10 yards to the right of my target. So, when stepped up the 18th green at Architects to take my 35ft birdie putt, I was surprised to see that I had shot a 75 through 17 holes and that if I carded a par here, I’d break 80 and my lowest round ever. I immediately got nervous and though there was no one to care about my score and no crowds watching me, I felt this perceived pressure mounting. Something I had avoided for 17 holes. I let my thoughts get the best of me and I left myself with a nerve-wracking 5ft left. I became acutely aware of my tense upper body so I took a deep breath and allowed my shoulders to relax. “This truly doesn’t matter one way or the other”, I told myself. I stepped up the ball after getting my read and I imagined the feeling of picking the ball out of the cup and took my shot. It landed true and I finished the hole with a par. 79. While I celebrate that accomplishment, I know that some days will be better or worse than others and that I should not feel defeated if the next time I go out I shoot an 89. Expectation is the enemy of enjoyment. Up until that round I hadn’t played 18 in 3 or 4 weeks. I had been to the range a bunch because I am one of those nuts that loves to practice. But practice has been different lately. Instead of trying to “perfect” a certain swing, or come more from the inside, or hitting the ball first, I am working to practice what I preach - learning how to feel and getting my mind in the right space to play. I am learning to trust that my body can make the swing that it needs to make to get the ball where it needs to be. I was going out with little expectation on myself. The only thing I told myself as I played was trust your “learning self” and accept the uncertainty - because uncertainty is part of the fun. If I could control every shot, I’d be great but at the cost of not enjoying the game. I was great at my job and could control most aspects of the work I did, but I still quit because it didn’t bring me joy in doing it anymore. I don’t want golf to be a job. I’m here to have fun, release stress, and enjoy nature. Accepting the uncertainty in turn allowed me to unconsciously loosen up as a played. And being loose allowed me to have a smoother, more athletic swing than normally wanting to control how I swing and tightening up. I don’t know how often I’ll shoot that low, but I’m inclined to continue accepting the uncertainty and enjoying the game a little more. I know working on my mental game will make a larger impact for me than trying to engineer a better swing.

Congrats to all of those who selected the @GolfSub70 Forged TC Irons! They were @berkeleybob @cnosil @Hook DeLoft @Vegan_Golfer_PNW @NJN @Lkt4gs @Hailstorm13 @rascott_09 @PMookie @TR1PTIK @Tiftaaft @tucker_jct @Brent Vodrazka @Kanoito @BIG STU @mikeanthony @Hobert @Josh Ross! Now for the reveal! Yes there will be a LOT more photos to come. Also again thanks to Nick @GolfSub70 Europe for making the clubs, going through the whole process with me and being so kind to add in a bunch of goodies for me to share and use here in Switzerland! Final Spec: Sub70 659 TC w/ Raw finish LH 5-A Wedge Standard Length 1* Flat KBS Tour V 90 Black PVD Shafts Lamkin Crossline Midsize Grips Custom Engraving for each club Love that they have already started to show the rust wear on them!

We are thrilled to offer this contest sponsored by Titleist for this years US Open. And what a great Prize Package they have offered to the top two finishers! 1st Prize-Custom set of T-Series Irons of Winners Choice 2nd Prize-Choice of U505 Utility or a TSi Hybrid MY GOLF SPY 2022 US OPEN CONTEST SPONSORED BY TITLEIST -- for the -- 2022 U.S. OPEN HOW IT WORKS Everyone picks a team of 6 golfers. Add your best 4 of 6 golfers scores to form your team score. The best team score wins the pool. Cut golfers (and anyone who doesn’t finish 4 rounds) get 80 for any rounds not completed. Playoff holes do not count. HOW TO JOIN THE POOL Pick your team of golfers here: http://www.easyofficepools.com/join/?p=210416&e=vpom LIVE LEADERBOARD Follow the action live http://www.easyofficepools.com/leaderboard/?p=210416 Please read the 2 Rules Below, there are only two, but if they are not followed completely, your entry will be disqualified. 1) You MUST be a registered member of the Forum to win 2) Your entry MUST be your FORUM USER NAME!!! Entries will close at 7:00 AM on June 16, 2022 If either of those two rules are not followed your entry will be disqualified.

Hello everyone, I would like to first of all say that I am extremely honored and excited to have been selected as a forum moderator for MyGolfSpy. I am sincerely looking forward to working with the MGS Forum Team, and working to make the forum the best it can be for all the members. A bit about me: My name is Tim and I was born and raised in Washington State. I have been playing golf off and on for the past 45 years, with a few breaks from the game for work and family reasons (happily married 27 years with 5 kids – and as fate would have it… none are interested in golf….. yet!) My childhood home is about a drive and wedge away from the 3rd hole at Suntides Golf Course in Yakima, WA (I know this from first-hand experience). I then moved to SW Washington just after getting married and raised my family. 3 years ago I moved to Houston Texas for a work opportunity, and really started to dive back into this sport I love so much. Being able to play golf year round was one of the few advantages to living in South Texas. It was a little over a year ago, I came across MyGolfSpy and the forum. This forum quickly became my home away from the course, and it wasn’t long before I recognized the collective Golf IQ across the forum members was at a different level than any other golf forum I visited. The knowledge about all aspects of the game of golf is tremendous here, and the members are always open and inviting to fellow members – eager to share thoughts and opinions and offer help to better understand all aspects of Golf. I have learned so much by reading through the forum and discussion various topics with the forum members, that when the opportunity was posted to become a forum moderator, I found it a great opportunity to “pay back” what the MGS forum has given me. I was lucky enough to be selected by the MGS Admin team (who deserve so much credit for keeping the forum running so smoothly!) and I am dedicated to and support this forum fully. I am a proud member of the CHA thread – I LOVE LOVE LOVE all things equipment - to my own detriment, I am sure (or at least a detriment to my bank account ). Some of my favorite threads (which should come as no surprise if you have seen many of my forum posts) are the equipment threads. Balls, Irons, Drivers, Putters, Shafts… oh my!! I am also an avid fan of the industry and profession of golf, from the Professional Tour, to the Korn Ferry Tour, the Champions Tour, LPGA, College, Amateur/USGA events, and even the business of golf at the Club Professional level. It is really a fascinating business and it is rare that I don’t have either The Golf Channel on in my house, or if I’m in my car… listening to the PGA Channel on Sirius/XM when I’m not working or on the course. Had my early career path taken a slower turn, I am fairly confident I would have landed somewhere in the golf industry on the business management side. Being a CHA member, picking a favorite club is about the same as picking a favorite child. So I will pick two. Titleist TSi3 Driver – Most accurate club in my bag. If I could hit approach shots to the green with it… my GIR% would go up – no doubt. Having said that… The TSr line looks really good! But it will take something very special to replace the TSi3. Vokey SM9 58*/08 – Up and Down machine! Low runners, medium checking chips, knock my cap off flop shots… yep. Every other club in my bag comes in a very close 3rd for different reasons. As with 100% of all golfers… my golf game is a work in progress. It is cliché but a combination of a teaching professional and practicing with purpose is really the key for me. I am far from technically sound in my swing, but I am trying to focus on a more repeatable through my whole bag – and making better decisions on each shot to give myself the best chance to post lower scores. What I hope to bring to the Forum as Moderator is an ever improving experience for all the members using my business background along with my love of golf. The existing Forum Admins are amazing, and I’m learning that more and more with each passing day. I will be drinking from a fire hose in the coming weeks, and will work diligently to be an asset to the MGS forum and the members. ~Tim @Golfspy_TCB

I am STOKED! I’m being sponsored for a trip to Ping HQ in order to go through a FULL BAG fitting! I fly out there Wednesday for “work”, then Thursday I go to Ping HQ for a 10AM tour, and the fitting is from 1pm-4pm. I’m signing a NDA, so I’m hoping I get to hit the “new stuff”. I’m most excited about their putter fitting because from what I’ve heard, it’s pretty legit! I probably won’t be able to take many pics of anything other than what’s in the tour, but I’ll try to get data and fitting info to post here. I can’t wait!!!!

We’ll happy mothers F’in birthday to me! I promise no more memes! Thank you all for getting this put together and cobra for again being extremely generous. Cannot wait to get some serious rounds in! My wife is about to be sick of me talking about golf if she wasn’t already.

Congratulations to @Lacassem as the winner of the Forged Tec Irons! You will receive a PM from me shortly We look forward to offering more of these contests in the future

I wanted to address the "never get picked again" for one I don't really like that it is said. HQ doesn't decide who the testers are. We do as mods. At least it my eyes it is a bit off hand and doesn't give us enough credit to keep memberships honest feelings apart from the test selection process. I put a lot of hours into selecting testers and try to find a balance between new and older members. That being said something that is likely to change a bit is if you are a tester and have tested 5 straight seasons it is a good chance that this year won't be the year. We have such an influx of new members and new members who are contributing we need to give them a chance at testing and show what they can do. This isn't to say anyone who has tested 5 + times this year won't be selected, however we are making an effort to get more new testers involved. Add on top of this limited testing as well it makes getting newer members involved even harder. Again as we have been told we are to expect 20 tests this season. WIth 6 announced already that leaves us with plenty more to come. Although I have no insight as to what will come items I would expect (as they are site sponsors to my knowledge still) - Arccos - Puttout - Birdie Ball - Evnroll - Fujikura - Rapsodo - Honma - Precision Pro - Tommy Armour/Maxfli - Motocaddy Hopefully we see a few others like Ping come on. I am also hopeful that we could see the new Edel Irons come to testing, maybe the Sub70 659 series of irons and potentially other clubs. This was something we requested that we saw more club reviews and for a few less kit/golf balls. Whether this happens or not I don't know. The final note is if you have concers or questions that you may not feel should be posted on the threads, send me or one of the mods a PM. We are part of this community and want to help it grow. Maybe you have an idea that can help us or suggestion as how we can help improve the forum.

After my trip with @Ben_Howell34 to Big Cedar Lodge (I’ll update on his post about how that trip was….it was incredible) I got to play with a buddy at my local club today. I shot a 75 today (my best this year and one off my personal best ever) I had a chip in birdie and then….. a hole in one! Can’t even describe the feeling of seeing the ball drop into the hole off the tee. 149 yd shot, downwind. Pin is on the front. I played a full PW with the slightest fade. Hit 5 ft to the left of the flag, checked up on the side hill and started falling to the right towards the hole. The anticipation was real as I didn’t know if it was tracking or not. I saw it roll into the flag stick, catch the lip of the cup, do a 180 around the flag before falling in. Beautiful weather, incredible day. I’ve had many lows while playing, but this is why I love going out again and again. The chase for perfection and today was pretty dang perfect.

Okay all here are the divisions as it stands right now. We have room to add more spots, but for now we have 6 divisions with either 12 or 13 players. Your League Manager will create the league and send out the invite to you via PM. Then simply click on the link and join up! First Division (Golfspy APH Division) - FULL @GolfSpy_APH @sirchunksalot @RCGolf @Samsonite @Jim Shaw @Bucky CC @Mixtape Master @kelpie @Pvicary @Ben Stubbs @KDeuce @Fairwayguy2 @cciciora13 @Getoffmylawn @ArizonaLogan Second Division (Fixyurdivot Division) - FULL @fixyurdivot @EasyPutter @Parshooter36 @DiscipleofPenick @Eisen @Undershooter @homerun3 @DanDan @Eric Jansen @Mark OBrien @StateOfMyArt @Thomasnoble79 @Berg Ryman @Hobert @climberboy2000 Third Division (Splatt Division) - (1 Spot Left) @Splatt @RollingGreens @Play18 @TylorJudd @Placasse61 @Jpkiser @bgsurick @Bizekidz007 @3piece @Dbroyles11 @Sparkey67 @fredsharky @xOldBenKenobiX @MichaelC_81 Fourth Division (Golfspy_TCB Division) - 2 Spots Left @Golfspy_TCB @Lacassem @cnosil @Jnoble89 @Golfspy_CG2 @NoHalfsteppin @djogolfs @J-Sizzle @DeBartola_B @stuka44 @DWellbrock @carter18 @David Leighton Reid Fifth Division (Blackngold_blood Division) - 1 Spots Left @blackngold_blood @ejgaudette @Vegan_Golfer_PNW @daviddvm @poprocksncoke @griffwatt @jstone @DJ Matt @Durrell @tucker_jct @550025KV @Dodgersfan33 @Albatrass @DMac Sixth Division (Golfspy_BOS Division) - 2 Spots Left @GolfSpy_BOS @fozcycle @DannyDips @drb_golfreak @KenBender @Mikr @Digiburdie @JudgeSmails @BMDubya @lacou19 @Delhump22 @Dragon3 @billdcatt40 There are still spots open and if you are still interested please let us know and we can add you to one of the divisions!

I'm glad I'm late into this game as I may have posted something I would not have been proud of. I'm going to speak for myself here and let it be. I did not come to MGS to be a tester. I had no idea that forum members might be selected to test things when I came. In fact I don't think that they were at that time, unless they were handpicked by what would now be termed HQ's. I came because I had some questions about equipment (particularly the golf ball, spin and it's impact on driver dispersion). I stayed because I got answers primarily from knowledgeable forum members but also from Tony who around on the forums a lot and Matt Sateranus. Testing, as we know it, started a year or so after the time that I arrived. Some testers were selected by mods directly but slowly but surely all testers came to be selected via applications. That made sense to me. Like the rest of us I've noticed the "shortage" of tests from OEMs including the Cobra Connect. That last one doesn't surprise me, it had its run but I'm not sure that there's the bang for the buck for Cobra any more at this point. As for the other OEMs it's their stuff, they can choose whom they want to do their testing for them and when. Likewise we are HQs stepchild or baby if you will, they may do with their platform as they please. I visit the forums because I have friends, both virtual and real here. There are often interesting discussions taking place that I like to be a part of and I do learn about equipment even if we aren't formally testing it - consider the Stack system threads. As for our mods they do a great job. They can only work with what they have to work with. When I have a significant complaint I go to them on a PM and they've always been open and honest with me. So thanks to all of them for their hard work and advocacy. Thanks to all of my fellow forum members as well - even when we disagree on a matter you make this place a fun place to come, blow off steam and talk about golf.

Hello all! (Apologies for how long this is, but I want to cover as much as I can) As we approach the 2022 testing season it is a good idea for us as a mod staff and community to welcome all the incoming members and guide them in how to best improve everyones chances of becoming a MGS Community tester. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ First please do NOT apply in this thread. It won’t help and any and all signups are done through the individual testing signups throughout the season. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Also a few quick house keeping notes before getting into it. - have questions about the process or anything that may have been left out? Just ask! - As mods we try to be as transparent as we are allowed to be and won’t hide things from the community as we are members just like you! - We hope to have a lot of new opportunities this year and encourage everyone to take a look at these pretty basic steps in order to better your chances. - Don’t want to read through the thread? Check out the FAQ page ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Okay! So a lot of this may be repeat and many of you will already know this, but here we go! You must be a MGS Forum Member in order to be selected. - Sounds pretty straight forward, but I ran some of the numbers and on average 90% of our signups are what I would classify as one off signups with 1 or fewer posts. Then if we look at those with 50 or more posts that number is only 2% of the overall signups. Complete your profile! - This includes a profile picture - this is one of the first things we look for with tester selections. - Although the new Player Profile is not a requirement, it is high encouraged and will not only help us, but you and other members. For you, signups will be quicker as much of the info is pulled from your profile and for members it helps them see how their game relates to their own. Get involved! - I want to state that we actively work to get a well rounded group for all testing selections. This includes attempting to get at least one brand new tester per test as well as include international members as well. - That being said, being active on the forum, creating new content for the community is huge. We want to make sure the OEM and community gets the best possible review (I mean completed, not good as in praise) and having a body of work even if minimal is important. - Only ever involved in sign up testing threads? Not likely going to increase your chances. Just being honest, likely not going to happen. Really want to stand out? - Do a unofficial review! We may have more on this coming soon which will hopefully help our review catalogue, but having unofficial review gives us a insight as to what you are able to do! - Want to make it a more official unofficial review? Send us a PM and we can provide you with the template that is used for all the official reviews. Do you have to be a donor? - No, although being a donor can be used as a tie breaker it is not a necessity to become a tester. Not only that but we cannot see how much anyone has donated. - While we are on this, if you have donated and don’t have the tag send myself (tag) a PM with your transaction number for it to be added. That is the basics to becoming a tester. Pretty simple right? We don’t ask for much, but we do want to see these things in order to make our selections more trustworthy. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Now all the other nuances I believe it is important for us (mods) to be transparent about all of this as again we are members like you as I said. So for those that don’t know or want a bit of a sneak peak of what happens behind closed doors… or computer screens let me do a bit of a run down for everyone. Once a test is created everyone signs up and during this process we actively take a look at who has applied and create a short list. We are fortunate to have a wealth of info at our disposal to make this a robust list. Examples? We look at recent activity, been a tester before? We look at your review(s) grades (more on this later), yes donor status, number of posts, number of reactions, location, handedness, and more. As well the mods add in notes for thoughts on each member who has made a short list. We also look at what members have tested in the past. If you tested a set of irons the previous year, chances are we won’t look to do another iron selection for this year. There is no limit to how many members we can have on a short list, it can be 5 or it can be 40. All depends on how everyone feels about the members who have applied. We aim to have the short list completed within 2-3 days after the signup has closed. It is then roughly a week later that we want our 4 or however many testers are required to be selected and then announced before moving onto the next test. In order for us to select someone for testing it needs the go ahead from at least 3 mods. This way no one mod can control or have bias towards certain testers. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What happens after being selected? - A group PM is made with the selected testers asking if they agree to completed and participate in the review process. We expected good efforts on all reviews and for members to follow the guidelines/templates and instructions from the mods during the process. It is perfectly okay for someone to back out. It happens, life happens and maybe the commitment is too much which again is perfectly okay! In that case we go back to our short list and grab someone else.| - Remember reviews are work and not just winning a prize. - After everyone has agreed to completing the review and participating we move onto the order process for the product (if fittings are required this can take a little longer) the order is placed through the mods and we wait for the product to arrive. - During this time intros are worked on and when the product arrives unboxing/first impression posts are completed. - After everyone has their kit we (mods and testers) discuss a timeframe for when reviews are to be completed (this was a complicated one last year with product wait times…) - Final reviews are posted then as mods we have more work to do as reviews are graded. This is outlined in the templates for testers to see as well as what makes for a 1 out of 5 and 5 out of 5 and everything inbetween. - These grades are REALLY important. As if someone bails on a review, it is good luck getting in on another review. We take pride in these reviews and our selections and being ghosted or having someone take zero effort is really disappointing. - For reference we understand life happens and there can be situations that cause someone to have a review completed late or something come up which make it harder to do the review and are of course lenient. I will send several follow up messages for those that are late in posting or gone mia, but after a few of those I will record it in our overall record that said member has gone mia and should not be considered for further reviews. Review grades are used for future selections. Good review scores better a testers chances at another review in a following year where poor reviews lesson those chances. So as a first time tester it is certainly best to do the work and get in a good review IF you want to better your chances next year. We do our best as a mod team to promote and create engagement within each review thread (last year with the new system was tough we all know), but in the end it is a lot on the testers to put out updates during their review to bring eyes to the thread. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Finally a few general rules of thumb - Testers are generally only selected for one test per season. Exception being a Golf Ball test or lesser valued items. - Brand new testers are often selected for lower valued items, like golf balls. However this is not exclusive. Example I was selected for Ping i210 irons with my first ever review. Again it is a general guideline and a first time tester who has put out good content to the community can of course be selected for a higher valued item. - Testers are generally not selected for the same equipment type year over year. Meaning tested a driver last year? More likely you won’t get a driver test again this season. Again general rule as sometimes it is interesting to see someone test the progress of a product year over year. Apply for what you WANT to test. Of course you can apply for everything and anything, but truly it is best to apply for a product that excites you. It is pretty easy for us to notice the same name applying in testing for every single test even when they are currently testing a product! Most importantly, enjoy the experience, have fun with it and ask questions. Be creative and although there is a template do what you can within those guidelines and make a unique review that will be remembered. Finally follow up is encouraged, whether it be with the mods or in the testing thread it is noticed and very much encouraged as members are often still curious about what is going on. For those that made it ALL the way down here, well done. Seriously. Have more questions just ask away!

If you spread the contact out all over the face like I do, I think you can get 500-600 rounds... easy!

A little back story… A few months ago I joined the Swiss Golf Association with a Migro membership. Basically the simplest way to get an official handicap here which is required to play most courses. A side perk was I received a Swiss Golf Magazine delivered to my address. As I am still learning German I eagerly read through it and noticed a few brands I had never seen before. One of particular interest was Single Putt. I went to their site and posted about it on our Underrated and/or Unknown thread about them. A niche putter company that is relatively new to the market as they were founded in 2019 and an entirely swiss made company. With them being located a mere half hour from where I live I figured it would be a great opportunity to reach out and see if I could come by and get to know a little more about the company and this very nice putter (which comes in both right and left hand!) which for me being a lefty was a huge perk. A quick email later and a near immediate response we had a date and time setup for me to swing by and get a tour of the facility as well as the chance to demo some putters and discuss more about the brand. The Visit… After some typical Zurich traffic, a missed exit and about 45 minutes of driving in heavy traffic I made it to their shop. Daniel (the owner) owns a production workshop that specializes in making various parts for medical equipment, valves and a whole lot more. The shop itself is tucked between some other buildings and is a pretty good size with several CNC machines and a back area where the putters were assembled and a little office area. I wasn’t sure what to expect when going there if this was going to be a little retail outlet or what, but when I saw that it was the actual shop and that is where everything was made, my eyes lit up. The fact it was the start to finish shop for the product really added to the experience not to mention the staff and Daniel were super friendly and easy to talk to. During a brief tour through the shop and after some introductions we discussed the story about the origins of the company. It is family owned and run with his sons and wife all being avid golfers. Daniel mentioned it was one of the things he loves about golf is that they can play as a family. He also mentioned that he had seen his friends who were good golfers play well and lose a ton of strokes on the green with putting and got the idea for making a new putter which would help. Certainly a benefit having all the tools at your disposal they had various prototypes and different thoughts on what to do, including a circle style 3D insert (think Odyssey RedBall), but ultimately ended up going with the 3 line design for aiding in overall alignment as well as being a consistent visual aid for golfers. They own the patent for this design and also have their official R&A newsletter with the approval for the putter. This I found really cool as he showed me the original putter which was not approved because it had a flat side. Apparently (I did not know this) this is not conforming as the side of the putter could be used as well so they updated the design to show this notch in the side. Non conforming Conforming Seeing everything built in house and being able to talk to the owner and go through the process to me is very unique and adds to the experience of purchasing a putter. With so many options from colors, weights, insert/face choice, length, grip and more you can truly make a perfect putter for you. There is no big fancy SAM Lab or computer for fitting, but a simple putting matt and cup for testing. However he is designing a clippable laser to attach to the putter in order to help better first customers. They also adjust the lie angle for each individual so that their putter is properly spec’d for them. The Putter… After going through many of the ins and the outs of the putters, their story, designs and more we got to the putters and testing them. I first tested the aluminium faced mod. This one has the inset slide into a slot behind the face and honestly I loved the feel of it. The sound was what I came to expect with the metal face and with the grooves it was responsive and not too hard. In this model we had the lighter weights and it was at 35” which is my typical playing length. The PMMA inserted face on the other hand had a completely different feel and sound. I was honestly expecting it to be much closer to my whitehot face with that softer feel, but was surprised with how firm it felt. And by firm I do not mean hard, but firm much closer to a metal face then the whitehot face or other softer inserted putter faces. It also had a much higher pitch than I had expected. The pitch was more of what I would come to expect from a metal face vs a composite type face. It also had a good amount of pop off the face. It was still grooved as you can see in the photos, but I would say rolled a good 10% further than the aluminium face. Now I will say with heavier weights this could have played a part as well. We were using their Single Putt 3 piece golf balls which I do have now and will look to cut open to see what it is like inside, that is also likely for another later article/comparison. However I would compare it to a Srixon Z star type feel. Both faces felt great and I am sure that I could have dialed them in a little more as I certainly preferred the lighter feel (again going back to stroke lab I am more used to a counter balanced putter). With 2 weight options (65gram heavy and 40gram light for totals of 130g and 80g) there really is a lot of options to find the weight and even though it is naturally a face balanced putter I believe you could make it slightly toe hanged if you wanted! I have gone all this way and yet to touch on the main selling point of this putter! The insert with 3D lines. What can I say it works as advertised and is a great visual aid as well as posture aid. The way it sets up feels very natural and not forced. The alignment both left and right and eyes over the ball work harmoniously and outside of getting used to the speed of the putters/mat I never felt as though my alignment was off or that I was going to miss left or right with a good stroke. Of course with the exception of a few pulled putts with the heavier putter nearly all went on their intended line. Below: Over the Top Sight Line with proper angle. Below: Sight Line toe up or putter too far away from you (white line moves under closest orange line) Below: Sight line Toe down or too far overtop of the putter/putter too close to body and white sight line under far orange line. The bottom of the putter is pretty basic and plain. No branding or anything flashy, but still does look elegant to me with the cnc milling lines and leaves some level of mystery to the putter when looking at it from the bottom. The shaft itself is a typical steel shaft. They can cut to length for the customer and I was fortunate that I used a 35” putter and both demos I tried were 35”. They have several grip options being the superstroke 3.0 or 2.0 and also have their own Single Putt grip. Their house grip would be the one I would lean towards if I was to make the purchase. Putter Customization… This is a huge selling point to this putter. As I’ve already talked about specs for customization I’ll leave that out and get to the fun stuff. Colors colors and more colors! Although they have some limited options on their website if there is a color you really want they can do and make it for you. They can also engrave various logos, put diamonds on the face and a whole lot more to make it a completely unique putter to you. This also includes the lines within the insert. The price for the putter is quite costly, however with the attention to detail, level of customization and keeping in mind the price for golf and golfing equipment in Switzerland it really isn’t that far out. There are also options for headcovers which again are hand made by a family member within the company. Wrap Up... To finish off I just want to say thank you to Daniel at Single Putt for taking the time out of his morning to talk and go over everything about the putter, his company and everything else. It was really cool to go and see how it was all made and the fact they do it all in house to me is just impressive. The putter also really works and feels great. To have that many options from colors, weights, insert vs metal is simply impressive to me. I hope you all enjoyed reading this and check out their website if not just to read a bit more about their story and let me know what type of putter you would pick or what colors would suit you the best!

This is going to be a new bi-weekly golf column focusing on all the major news and stories around professional golf, golf equipment, and the general golf world. Please send your submissions to me as you think of them throughout the weeks and maybe your submission will be featured in the next column! Stock Up: Great Names on Tour After sluggish Double Bogey, Bogey start, the dart ripping (pun-intended) Thai fan favorite, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, drained his Ace. Shortly followed by Scott Gutschewski, one hopping in his Ace. In this case, do you split the bar tab or does it mean everyone gets doubles? Stock Down: The Shark swimming in the North Sea this July Despite not competing in the last 13 years, Greg Norman made some bold statements claiming that he deserves a special exemption by saying "I am past Champion. I love St. Andrews." The R&A swiftly dunked on him by saying “The entry terms and conditions for The Open stipulate that a champion must be aged 60 or under or have won the championship in the previous 10 years to be exempt from qualifying,. That remains the case for the 150th Open and we have no plans for any additional exemptions.” Looks like the Shark will have to keep swimming. Stock Up: GET TO THE CHOPPA Tiger stans were notified early Thursday that his private plane had departed Jupiter in route to Tulsa to play a practice round at Southern Hills to test his leg. While media was strictly prohibited on site, an Oklahoma news channel got very creative and flew their traffic helicopter over the practice green to watch Tiger and his beautiful Newport putter. Stock Down: Phil's Coffee for Wellness The golf news was dominated by Tiger, but there was a Phil sighting for the first time in a few months at Rancho Santa Fe, and by the looks of it he's been taking a break from his diet and his coffee for wellness program. Boy, oh boy, Phil is looking THICC nowadays, but he's still ripping HELLACIOUS SEEDS. Stock Up: Counting score like a 30 Handicapper After taking an unplayable and having to punch out, Rickie Fowler flushed a wedge from 134 yards to sink his bogey 5. Wait till the end of the video below for a classic Rickie moment. Stock Down: Reading The PGL (Professional Golf League) sent out a lengthy memo to all PGA Tour Members this week. In case you forgot, the PGL was actually the initial contender to the PGA Tour prior to the Saudi backed LIV Golf backed the Brinks truck up and took all the attention. If you want the TLDR on the memo below, the PGL claims that it can build a league worth $2 Billion and is offering the players a 50% share in the league.

2022 PNW Spy Meet-up | Round 1 | Galena Ridge | Kellogg, ID Okay, technically the first 3 rounds of what will be 9 rounds in 10 day chronology isn't the official meet-up but, since attending these is a bit of a drive for me, I like adding some days/rounds to amortize the drive. Today was Galena Ridge. Chris @Thin2winhad planned to meet me here but life happened and he couldn't make it. This is a 9 hole course with championship layout. They have 4 tee boxes and I chose blue/white which plays at 6264 yards. As wet as the course was and with so many uphill landing zones (at my distance off the blue tee), I probably should have just played white on both nines, but what the heck. You'll note the two players walking in the linked video... false advertisement at its best! After hole #1 the electric cart must grunt its way up the side of the mountain, and after 6 (yup, count em, 6) switchbacks, you arrive at hole #2 tees, gaining a few hundred feet in elevation. In fact, after hole #2, it is yet another similar long set of uphill switchbacks to the #3 par 3. This course is a major goat-track with lots of slope. The area has had an exceptionally wet spring and many areas on the fairways and approach areas were soggy. Rollout was pretty much non existent. The course has fantastic views and was alive with wildflower blooms. A good many holes had steep uphill second shots that were blind. I hit a handful of second shots that left with a prayer in tow . The fescue grass is tall, wet and thick. I lost 2 balls in it and was pretty darn sure where they were. I'd have had to take an unplayable even if I found them. The course was pretty empty and I played two balls; 43/45 and 41/44. I had one birdie on the #12 par 3 which was also a "close encounter"... rolling to about 16 inches. I had that holes number, putting all 4 balls on the green and converting the others into pars. Here are images from around the course. Sorry, but except for the "close encounter" I cannot recall which hole each photo is. However, these are Boeing 737 fuselages along I-90 headed into Missoula, MT. These come from the Wichita, KS facility and head to Renton, WA... certainly this has to be a good omen... right? The very unassuming pro shop. Had I not seen the course flyover beforehand, I might have turned around and gone to the hotel . Hole #1 Hole #3 #3 Results Another elevated par 3 Close Encounter on #12,,, almost converted both birdies. Tomorrow I'll be at Palouse Ridge in Pullman, WA.

....when you buy a club from the marketplace and realize it's the same club you sold 6 months earlier to someone else, and you're paying more than you got for it

edingc's 2022 Club Champion Full Bag Fitting Experience and Mini Review Since this is a very long (2,000+ word) post with pictures, I’ve added my fitting results and mini review of the Club Champion fitting process right up top: TL;DR (Fitting Results) - Dumina AutoFlex SF505X will be replaced with Fujikura Motore X F1 6X in my Callaway Epic Max LS head. Top four irons, in order, were Ben Hogan PTx Pro, Srixon ZX7, Callaway Apex Pro and TaylorMade P770. FlightScope Mevo+ doesn’t lie and is damn close to Trackman. TL;DR (Club Champion Review) - Do your homework and be open/honest with your fitter. I would not want to go into a Club Champion without a clear purpose, or without an understanding of how they do business. Definitely worth the trip for gearheads. I’d hesitate to recommend a fitting at CC for someone who doesn’t have either a very deep pocketbook or a good foundation of golf club fitting knowledge. I had the opportunity this afternoon to go for a full bag (minus putter) fitting at my local Club Champion location. While I’m mostly satisfied with my bag heading into the 2022 season, I had several reasons for my visit: Chance to look at and hit the full line of 2022 releases. Check out as many graphite iron shafts and driver shafts as possible. Potentially find a more “player’s style” iron that jives with my swing. While I’ve been around the forums for a while, I’m an upper single-digits handicapper as a quick refresher for anyone finding this post. I joined the forums in late 2018 as roughly a 25-30 handicap. Over the past several seasons, I have been working hard to improve my game through lessons and lots of practice and play. I’ve been lucky enough to play more than 75 rounds each season for the past two years. I’m not shy about switching equipment. My dedicated WITB thread in my signature shows the evolution of my bag from the time I joined MGS until now. Between a couple of really awesome testing opportunities and long Michigan winters, I’ve turned every area of my bag over several times in the past three years. Despite Club Champion’s somewhat spotty reputation, there is nowhere else locally with such a broad selection of equipment to try. My fitter, Jake, also previously worked for another local golf shop. He fit me for a putter in 2018 and a driver in 2019, so I had the benefit of some prior experience guiding my choice of fitters. I’ll break this post into two pieces: my fitting experience and a small review on Club Champion. It seems everyone wants to know if they are “worth it” or not. My Fitting Experience I had a 1 PM appointment, so I worked a half day from home, hit a few balls in the garage to get in somewhat of a groove and then hopped in the car for the 20 minute ride to Club Champion. I got to CC about 20 minutes early. Jake was ready for me about 10 minutes early. In retrospect, I should have used this time to stretch and warm-up with my Rypstick like I do on course. Something to remember for next time. There were two goals of today’s fitting in my mind. One, to try the latest and greatest player’s style irons with more “traditional” lofts than my Sub70 699 Pros. Two, to evaluate the Dumina AutoFlex SF505X, which I purchased last season and did an unofficial review of on MGS. I hit the weights hard this offseason and have noticed the AutoFlex being inefficient and spinney when not hit perfectly. Also, while I’ve enjoyed the Sub70 699 Pros, I don’t hit the ball quite high enough or with enough spin. I have been fighting a left miss that can get pretty miserable when I’m not purposely trying to feel a “big fade” swing. We started by baselining my 6 and 8 irons from the 699 Pros. As I have been seeing lately, I struggled with big sweeping hooks, lack of spin and peak heights that ideally should have been 10-20 feet higher. Admittedly, I routinely deal with a bit of anxiety and the first 15-20 swings were probably less than perfect, but the pattern was there. Speed-wise I was seeing about 95 MPH out of my 6 iron. That number stayed pretty consistent throughout my fitting, reaching somewhere around 98 MPH at peak. From there we worked toward trying to improve upon both my left miss and the lack of height and spin. Jake started me with a TaylorMade P770 head as he said they tend to launch the ball quite high despite the lofts. I worked through the P770 for a while, trying an Accra i110 Tour shaft, an LAGP model, KBS TGI 110 and then SteelFiber fc115s in x-stiff. I did start getting into a groove and had better swings as we went, but it wasn’t until Jake pulled out stiff SteelFiber i125s that we found something good to work with. They felt really nice to me, my delivery improved quite a bit and as a result my launch and spin was much better. At that point I felt comfortable telling Jake that I’d like to cycle through different heads with the i125s. I hit several different heads I would consider to be “player’s-ish” and have some quick thoughts: TaylorMade P770 - Sharp looks. Very familiar feeling coming from the 699 Pros. Ball speed was excellent even on mishits. Spin was “playable,” but still a little low. Srixon ZX7 - Incredible feeling irons. Very muted and heavy, you can tell they are definitely solid compared to what I have in the 699s or the P770s. Ball speed was excellent, right up there with all of the “techier” irons. Better spin than the P770s. Mizuno Pro 223 - Another excellent feeling and looking iron. But nothing about the numbers wowed us. PXG 0311T Gen4 - I really wanted to like these but couldn’t get a good swing on the ball. They did not feel particularly good on the mishits. Wilson Staff CB - Beautiful irons. But no better than the ZX7s, and a slightly less satisfying feeling on a flush hit. Callaway Apex Pro - Better feel than the P770 and extremely quick. Again, “playable” but not ideal spin. Ben Hogan PTx Pro - The shocker of them all. Nice blend between a forged-ish feel with some tech. Ball speed was near the top, spin was the most ideal of all of the heads and it was extremely accurate as a result. Only gave up a yard or two carry loft-for-loft against the other heads. I ended up so enamored with the Hogan’s that I hit quite a few balls with them. So much that I didn’t even get a chance to hit the Cobra MIM Tours, but otherwise I covered almost all of what I wanted to hit. My top three irons ended up being Hogan PTx Pro, Srixon ZX7 and Callaway Apex Pro. We then moved on to lie measurement using the lie board, impact location and dynamic lie angle on Trackman. We settled on somewhere around 60 degrees in the 6 iron, which is basically two flat for most manufacturers and one degree flatter from my last fitting. Knowing I would likely purchase new irons at some point soon based on this fitting, I then asked Jake to retrofit me into my Callaway Epic Max LS head. I bought this head last year to pair with the AutoFlex, and I really didn’t want to find a new driver head if possible. Baselining the AutoFlex it became very apparent that my offseason workouts have increased my club head speed. I registered a few swings at 116+ MPH, which is probably 7-9 MPH faster than when I purchased the shaft last spring. As I had assumed, the AutoFlex was a poor match for my current swing. I struggled to get spin under 3,000 RPM even on well struck balls. My “bad” swings resulted in 4,000+ spin and a high weak flight landing at about 250 yards. I told Jake I wanted to start with the Fujikura Ventus line and work from there. We started with the Ventus TR 6X, moved to the Blue 6X and finally made it to the Black 7X. All three showed dramatic improvements in spin rate and distance, but the Black 7X was the best in my opinion. I suggested the Fujikura Motore X F1 and Jake agreed it would likely be a good fit as well. I’m glad we tried it as I immediately reeled off a few 285+ yard carry shots. We tried a few shafts after that, from Accra, LAGP and the new Fujikura Speeder line, but came back to the Motore X F1 and found similar success. Most importantly, my “misses” were now carrying 270+ and closer to the centerline. I already have this one en route from eBay . I was sufficiently tired by this point. I hit my Epic Flash 4 hybrid, Cobra 4 Utility and Callaway Super Hybrid to confirm they all were decent fits for me. They are. No changes needed here for now. We discussed wedge options and agreed something mid-bounce throughout the wedges would be ideal with my delivery and playing conditions. Jake recommended either keeping the i125s throughout the wedges or going with a stiff KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 which comes in the same 125 gram weight. I did hit the Edel wedges which looked nice, but the winner of ugliest but great feeling club goes to the MOD1 iron/wedge: I am browsing for the PTx Pros now, and I probably will go through with a purchase if I can find the right used set. Unfortunately, Ben Hogan will not sell heads only. I’ll be trolling eBay or other used club sites unless I want to pay full retail and pull the shafts. Mini Club Champion Review I had a pre-existing relationship with my fitter, who I fit with before, and he also knows my instructor well. For me, being comfortable with him was a big benefit. I clearly outlined the top priority of my fitting were my irons and then the second priority was driver shaft. Jake stuck to that script well. I also wanted to stay in graphite iron shafts, which limited my options, but also made it easier to find a shaft I really liked from what seems like an infinite selection on the wall. I am not scared of spending money on golf, but I am also frugal. To be honest, I cringed a little when we started with the P770s because of the cost of both new and used sets. I had scoured eBay/2nd Swing/Callaway Pre-Owned over the past few days and found new sets of ZX7s and good condition Apex Pros that were more in my price range. I suspect I would have not gotten to try the Hogan’s by default, but after finding the SteelFibers I literally walked the wall of heads and grabbed everything I wanted to try. I think it is imperative to have a basic understanding of golf equipment before going to Club Champion. I understand their business model, and I feel like I may have been steered towards certain shafts or brands had I not specifically requested things during my fitting. It helps I understand my tendencies and was able to suggest heads and shafts (especially during the driver fitting) that would jive well with my delivery. I happily paid the $325 for the fitting as I know I would not have gotten this experience anywhere else within 30 minutes. I’d be looking at nearly 3 hours in a car to find anything similar. I did nearly purchase the Motore X F1 through Jake, but chose to instead think on it and found an excellent deal online. While I never told Jake outright that I would not be purchasing anything today, he understood what my goals and reasoning for visiting were. He did not seem too surprised when I walked out with nothing more than the fitting. Overall, I am very pleased with my experience and will definitely consider going back to Club Champion the next time I am wanting a quality fitting.

I'm the oldest and shortest hitter in any group I play with. I got fed up to the point where I thought about quitting the game. I simply announced, and continue to announce when playing with anyone for the first time that I play a forward tee. I then select whatever is closest to (without going over, sort of like "The Price Is Right") 5500 yards. No one has ever objected, no one has ever called me names in a serious way. When/if I get ribbed I simply say, "you're more than welcome to join me, come on up." On some courses that have black/white/yellow/red I'll be using the yellow tees. On a three tee box course I'm happily at the forward tee. Once I accepted "who I am" as a golfer the game became fun again. Except for those damned three putts...

New flat stick and have to keep it forever

Why do people come to any of the major golf sites: 1. Testing opportunities 2. Early pics of to-be-released equipment 3. Info on newly-released equipment 4. Reviews on newly released equipment to gauge whether one feels it might be a club, or clubs, they should try 5. Online banter in forums on information one seeks to gain related to golf 6. Selling equipment Pretty much the top ones I can think of. Why did I come here, specifically? And what kept me here? 1. Another forum’s owner is a douche, and their HQ had their hands on everything. (WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!) Our owner isn’t a douche, by any means, Adam is great, but HQ intervening here when they never have before hasn’t been good for the forum… 2. I ALWAYS came to MGS to see Spy Pics!!! I rarely posted or participated, I just wanted to see the new equipment. 3. Forum testing opportunities with a smaller group of potential candidates. I knew with the smaller number of folks here at the time over 10 years ago I’d have a better chance of getting selected to test. I think Srixon MTB was my first opportunity. 4. Small numbers, great forum interaction. Because we weren’t so big, forum interaction was better than where I had been. More tightly knit group of guys, more of a friendly atmosphere that didn’t feel like HQ would butt-in and start intervening. 5. Developed a good reputation over time because of the small community. I come to MGS multiple times a day. I may not always post, but it’s where I go and have made good friendships that moved from virtual to real-life. I haven’t been selected for a club review in over four years. Never a major OEM too, but I’m still here and participate because of this tight-knit group, my friends, and the banter. I’m one of the ones that’s been here from the start and it has been a great place for me, I just hope the quest for “numbers” slows at some point. ”New members” due to advertising testing opportunities aren’t REALLY new members… Members are folks who come to the forum, participate, and stay. The relationship of members who stay and testing opportunities, I would agree, is very important! If folks see there aren’t testing opportunities long-run, they’ll leave. HQ needs to step-back and let the mods run things again if they want REAL membership numbers to increase, and our mods need to continue to be honest with us as well. Can’t hide behind the computer screen. Gotta give the good with the bad, and listen… It’s what GREAT companies/people do. Thanks for trying to help this be a better place for another 10+ years for me!!!

New irons are in the bag! I picked up a set of Mizuno JPX921 Forged irons from fellow forum member @rkj427. It's a set that runs 4-GW with Modus 105 R flex shafts and Golf Pride MCC+4 grips. I've had a fascination with Mizuno for a couple of years and I can say that they do not disappoint. I took a trip to Golf HQ last weekend to try them out before committing and they performed well for me. I saw some gains in distance and they were surprisingly forgiving for a players distance iron. They are gorgeous! The best part of the experience was the communication between Robert and I. I think that's something that gets overlooked in the BST thread, the personal interaction between members. I enjoyed talking about golf and life with him this past week and though we've never met, I am thankful to this forum for giving us a means to know each other better. There's rain in the forecast most of the week, so it'll be closer to the weekend before I get a chance to hit these beauties. I can't wait to get out and have some fun with them!

"Well Buddy, you get exactly what you paid for" comes to mind. Now, if he's consistently standing in the middle of the fairways, waiting for the group to make their second shots, I might ask where he got it .

Nothing like kicking off Masters week with one of our MGS Major Pool Contests. There still time to do your homework and get you picks in. Just click on the link below to enter the contest. Please enter with your Forum Name, to make it easier to track and communicate with the winner. Can't wait for this and the actual Masters to get rolling. MGS Forum Staff CORDIALLY INVITES YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A GOLF POOL LIKE NO OTHER MGS MASTERS POOL -- for the -- 2022 MASTERS TOURNAMENT HOW IT WORKS Everyone picks a team of 6 golfers. Add your best 4 of 6 golfers scores to form your team score. The best team score wins the pool. Cut golfers (and anyone who doesn’t finish 4 rounds) get 80 for any rounds not completed. Playoff holes do not count. To Insure the winner is a member of the fourm, the winer will be annoucned in this thead and contacted via PM to claim prize. HOW TO JOIN THE POOL Pick your team of golfers here: http://www.easyofficepools.com/join/?p=190352&e=jhux LIVE LEADERBOARD Follow the action live http://www.easyofficepools.com/leaderboard/?p=190352 The winner will receive the always popular and never disappoints

Have to love the Internet. It did not take long to find a near-mint of set of Hogan PTx Pros for an insanely good price. There's no way these were hit more than a few times (very minor bag chatter visible): Seller even threw in two Hogan golf towels as well. Assuming I can get a little cash for the shafts (Recoil ES 780 F4 taper tips) that came with them, I will be able to build a completely custom 5-PW set with the SteelFibers and new Star Sidewinder grips for less than what it would have cost to order a new set from Hogan direct. I'll take that any day!

... MGS Ball Testing says Titleist ProV1 sets the standard for quality and performance and I doubt anyone can find any fault with that claim. After playing about 10 rounds with Maxfli Tour balls, I put some ProV1's into play for 5 rounds then went back to Maxfli Tours for another 10. At my level of play, I just can't tell much difference if any at all. The Maxfli Tour is just so good at everything and the only difference I might have seen is the ProV1 is just a little more durable. I bought 2 dozen Maxfli Tours for $60 after MGS gave them such high marks and then went back and took advantage of the 4 dozen for $104 deal. That's 4 dozen Maxfli Tour for the cost of 2 dozen ProV1's so for non tour players that don't get balls for free, if you play 5 times a week and even once a week that is a substantial savings for balls that I can honestly not tell apart. ... I also always use the CG alignment on the tee and on the greens but do not "line up putts", I just make sure it is pretty much in the direction I am hitting/putting. I really can't say if it makes any difference but if Maxfli went through the trouble to find the CG, I figure why not use it. At the moment I think it is the best ball deal going.

Please welcome and congratulate our testers for the new Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x White Box golf balls! We have 10 of them and are very excited to get their feedback on how they perform! @yungkory @CarlH @JerryB @daviddvm @mikeanthony @vandyland @ZMendle10 @RichL85 @PeterHenric @Mr. Mushball

When I pulled-in I wasn’t sure I was at the right location because the front of the building is so unassuming and there’s no huge “PING” signage anywhere!!! So when I parked, and started walking to the front, I wasn’t exactly sure I was in the right place. I was relieved to finally see the Ping name behind the receptionist as I came through the front door. There’s no grand foyer, no statues or trophies, just a small waiting room and a front desk receptionist. Unassuming Ping, just as I should’ve expected! I signed-in, signed the NDA, and then started the tour of the facility, guided by Brian Botha, and Julyen Cass. Good gracious. Impressive. Again, simple and unassuming, but when folks say Ping is an “engineering company, not a marketing company”, it’s legit. Most all of the machines in the place were designed by Ping engineers. The way that club components go from the “warehouse” at one end, through one of 7 production lines, and finish at shipping on the far end is unreal. Bar codes, “birth certificate” guiding ALL of the steps in the process of building clubs. So cool to watch it all go from one end to the other. A couple notes here, folks only work at their station for 3 hours at-a-time before rotating to another station. The plastic pieces that go into the construction of the clubs and bags are made ON-CAMPUS by Ping! That little dampener that goes into the back of the i230 now? Yep, saw it made, and touched it as it came out of the machine! The little tiny plastic cover that goes over the tip of the club before going into the head? Yep. Made at Ping HQ. The plastic top and base to the Hoofer? Yep, those too! Unreal. Anyway, I watched sets of clubs be built, got to see bags made, watched the plastics production, even got to see the milling in-process for putters. So. Stinking. Cool. All along the way I was taught the history of Ping, of Karsten and his beginnings at GE and his development of rabbit ears for tvs, how he made putters on the side at the start, his wife’s contribution to it all, and how it became Ping of today! Cool tidbit… “Karsten would not be happy with the appearance of our clubs now. He wanted them as ugly as possible to show the engineering, the thought that went into them!” Remember how Ping irons never had ferrules until recently? Karsten didn’t want them because HE knew how to construct a machine to get the shaft into the hosel perfectly without the need for ferrules! He did it to show others it COULD be done. He’d be upset that Ping uses ferrules now! Ha! So, I got to see it all. 50 acres, many buildings, and many employees I met who’d been there 20+ years, one over FORTY years! I drank the Ping Kool Aid… A lot of it! So impressive. Where did we finish the tour? Yep, the VAULT! Un. REAL! I saw the very first gold plated putter, saw any putter I wanted to see from any player that had won, and I even got to hit a putt inside the Vault with the gold plated Ping One putter, Karsten’s first, the one that made the “ping” noise that gave the company their name. I asked to see Tiger’s putter from the Ams, Jack’s stuff, Seve’s, Hovland’s, Freddie’s, etc. Too many to choose from. I even saw the “kids” putter that a pro won with as well! Unreal to stand in there, look around, AND to hit a putt!!!! So cool. Brian Botha, and Julyen Cass were GREAT hosts! I thoroughly enjoyed my time with them, and felt like family due to their attention and personalities. Great guys!!! After my tour I ran down the street to grab a bite to eat (Double-double meal and shake from In-N-Out) and then came back to start my fitting process that started at 1pm. Pat Abshire was my fitter for the day and I was taken into the special fitting lounge/locker area. Pretty cool because this is where their whole PGA/LPGA/LIV staff come to use a locker, grab a snack and a drink, AND gloves and hats! Yep. Boxes of gloves, and all kinds of hats separated by fitted/adjustable/color in cubbies. I put my valuable in a locker (wooden like a country club), grabbed a Ping glove, and headed to the Putter Lab. I had heard about the Putter Lab… The granite “table”, the cameras, etc. Here I was, 45’ long elevated putting surface made from 2 pieces of granite, that was made level to 1/1000th of an inch. It weighed over 17 tons, and sits atop a support that goes 5 feet into the ground so that the level-“ness” of the table isn’t affected by OUTSIDE TRAFFIC ON THE STREET OVER TIME! Seriously! (Pat on the left. Taken from a video online) Pat took my static measurements, explained the Ping fitting app, the cradle, etc. I was then told about the various putters from which I could choose, and then we talked a bit about head-shape influence from my time in Eden fittings. I started with the 2022 Prime Tyne 4 at 36” and I chose based solely on looks per his direction. What did I want to see at address. I then got on the “table” (so cool) and placed a ball directly under a laser that was overhead, placing the laser dot on the center of the top of the ball. I then stroked 5 putts to a putting disk 15’ away. Quick note, the table “stimp” runs at 12-13, pretty dang fast for a public course golfer here!!!! Sheesh! Once my 5th putt was finished we looked at the readings from the app that were displayed on a screen, and then looked at the pics that were taken from down-the-line, face-on, and of the putter head IMMEDIATELY as it passed through the laser. The Tyne was not for me… I miss putts to the right, and the Tyne did that as well due to not enough toe-hang, so I went to pick a second putter. This time I chose the PLD Milled Anser! Black head, no markings, ooooooooooooo so pretty! We saw from the pics that 36” was the perfect length as my eyes were directly over the ball, so we stayed at that length. Fiver more putts, evaluate. Yep, this was the putter. My “putting handicap” moved from 0.8, to +1.8 by just changing to the Anser, keeping the same length. So cool. I was in-love with the putter from the first moment it hit the ball. The feel, sound, distance, and I was dead-center of the putting disk 4/5 times (one bad stroke). Fitting result: PLD Anser Milled matte black, 36”, std loft and lie (3* loft, 20*/70* lie), black graphite shaft, PP58 black midsize blackout grip. (Hovland in the SAME SPOT) Now, out to the range to start the full-swing portion. The one thing I’ll say here at the beginning is we didn’t waste time. I didn’t hit 200 balls! I was working with “stock options” for the most part anyway, so we took 4-5 swings and made changes or moved-on! I was SO worried I’d be exhausted and not have enough juice for the whole bag, but I had plenty because Pat has been doing this for 25+ years and is SO efficient and experienced. Also, outside of the newly announced i230, I was not allowed to hit any of the G430 stuff. Even though there were two Pros right next to me fitting for them, I couldn’t grab them, look at them up-close, nor hit them, so just G425 stuff. The only bummer of the day… Irons first. Pat asked me right away, “What do you see yourself in? I525, i59, i230…?” I said 230. He handed me i525 to start and off we went. After about 8 shots he handed me i59. 525 were too long, spin too low, but otherwise pretty good. I59 were pretty good too, but a few misses, and spin too high, larger dispersion circle. After about 8 shots I’m in the i230. Loved the look right away, and Pat asked this about EVERY club I hit. Again, you need to like what you’re seeing at address, one can’t overcome that so it HAS to look good. Two swings in the feel and ball flight had me. He moved me to a KBS Tour 125 (?) x flex shaft and it felt pretty good. We had been hitting DG x100 in everything up to this point. I asked for the x100 back in these and it was what I really liked, also used-to over the years. He talked about how I was needing Green color code, but was going to go Blue and make a couple tweaks to get me where I needed to be. Blue head put on the x100 and we were there except for a little too much launch… Easy fix: power spec. So many think power spec is JUST for more distance. Here, Pat was using it for me to bring down my launch numbers a tad. Distance wasn’t going to be a ton longer, so it wasn’t a concern. I talked about fear of needing 5 wedges and he took that fear away. Specs: i230 power spec, +1’, 4-UW, Blue color code, DGx100, midsize grip +2 wraps. D6 swing weight. Driver. We started with LST and the stock Rogue shaft in X, but I told him after hitting it all over the place, but LONG, I have the same head at home and just can’t control it. Left once, right another. I explain to him my gamer is my Honma at 45”, heavy head, 80 stiff RIP Alpha shaft. Short and heavy. I asked could I hit the Max head if he thought we could get the spin in a decent window. Sure. Grabbed the Max head and put it on the Rogue. Good, but not great. Just felt too LONG in my hands and through the swing. Numbers were decent. He then switches to the Ping Tour 75 X shaft at 45.25”. Oooo. REALLY close, just need to bring launch and spin down a tad. So, what did he do? What was his adjustment to the head or shaft, or both????……………………………………………….. He takes the club, goes and makes a change and hands it to me. Bingo. Hosel change? Nope. Shaft change? Nope. All he did was add a strip of lead tape to the sole near the face to simulate 5g of hot melt inside, near the face. Reduced launch, reduced spin. Bam. Note to you all, and myself for future reference! Lead tape/goo can be the slight change you need! Driver done. G425 Max, Ping Tour 75X 45.25”, 5g hot melt toward the face, and same midsize grip +2. D5+ swing weight. Fairway and hybrid. Gapping came-up now and we looked at their proprietary program for it. He entered my driver and 7 iron numbers and the program kicked-out the carry and total yardages for each club to give us where we needed to be with fairway and hybrid numbers. So we were looking for a SPECIFIC carry and total number from these next 2 clubs and we’d make adjustments to achieve those numbers. Huh… Not just distance? Not just dispersion? Nope, hit a gap!!! First time ever in a fitting, and HOW REFRESHING! We talked here about how I play the Cobra King Tec hybrids in my fairway spot (17* turned down to 16), and hybrid spot. I told him that the LST I had with the Rogue shaft just didn’t work for me, and I’d been hooking all fairway woods especially the LST, and these Cobra heads were the first in years to go dead straight. He took what he learned from driver and applied it to fairway and hybrid: shorter and heavier. Honestly, I think I may have hit 15 total balls to get these two fitted because of the gapping focus. LST and hybrid both with Ping Tour 75/85 X shafts and adjustments made on loft to get us right where they needed to be. And guess what was added to the sole? Yep. Same lead tape. Five grams of goo was going in both the fairway and hybrid. Fairway wood is the 3 turned-down 1, 75X shaft, and the hybrid was the 19* turned-UP 1.5* 85X shaft, both -1/2” in length, same grips. Both D3 swing weight. (My gapping chart) Lastly, wedges. We only hit the Glide 4 and this was based-on the fact that I wanted forgiveness. We talked about lofts of my three wedges, what shaft was in them, what brand, etc. He handed me a 54* Green color code. I hit ONE shot. Nope. I turned to Pat, “This is toe-up. Can’t stand the look, no way I can hit it.” LOOKS FIRST. Don’t play what doesn’t look right!!! He asked about my wedge lofts and I explained how I play them flatter than my irons. He smiled. He plays his the same way and understood what I was seeing with the Green color code. Goes and get me Black. Bingo. Now, the issue with the wedge fitting was they didn’t have X100 shafts for wedges, which seemed odd especially after seeing a warehouse full of shafts, but it was what it was. He was going to put me in x100 anyway, we just needed to get the lie angles and lofts figured out. Again, I hit MAYBE ten balls total. He knew what to do, so we went over to the practice green and traps that were between us and the HQ building. We talked about my chipping yips and he watched me chip some. He shared with me about the grinds he’d suggest based-on playing conditions where I play, and what I face with the shaved areas around our greens. After chipping to three holes I hit bunker shots to three holes, the last just barely over the lip. He told me how to use each wedge for each of the shots, and showed me how to get close to that pin that was RIGHT THERE! Wedge fitting: 54* Glide 4 bent to 53*, Black color code, standard sole, 12* of bounce, X100 +1”, D9 swing weight, same grips. 58* Glide 4 was same color, shaft, length, 10* bounce, E0 swing weight. After that, we went back to the range to do my Ballnamic fitting. The program used a mix of my actual ball data, and then selections based-on my answers to questions. Some of the questions were confusing as to what they really meant and how they’d affect the results, but I went with it. In the end, it said my Z Star was only met 81% of my needs, but the best ball was the new AVX at 95%, and the B RX right after it… Yeah, not liking either of those so I ended-up paying for Ballnamic when I got home and entered my info. Z Star was still so low, with CSX and MTB-X being tops for me. We’ll see. We went back inside to get my things out of the locker and Pat says to me, “Go ahead and grab a couple of hats! My treat.” YES! One white/red, white/navy fitted Tour cam each, L/XL snagged! I’d have grabbed a box of gloves too, but he handed me just one of those, which was great! Got my stuff, he walked me to the front, we shook hands and I thanked him for his time, expertise, and guidance and I headed back to the hotel. I’ll tell y’all this: I was THOROUGHLY impressed by EVERYTHING. I am a Ping “homer” now, I drank a LOT of the Kool Aid. The tour guides, the employees all along the tour, the history, the fitting, etc, it was all fantastic and I can’t recommend it highly enough if you get a chance! An amazing day, and I’m so thankful to have been sponsored to go. Really, really cool, and I’ll never forget it!

There is no further update as to what may or may not be on the horizon for testing. This is somewhat of a reset year as there were many people that just came here for free stuff much like a instagram contest. The MGS forum we don't want to be know just for testing and what a lot consider giveaways or contests, especially with the community we have here. We have optimism that next year/off season we will continue to see some more testing opportunities, however the focus of this community shouldn't revolve around those tests and be more about the community and discussion itself with testing being perk. Personally I don't see us getting back to the 30 per season range, however I do hope to see an increase over the next few years. This could take some time though. The other hiccup with this is release cycles and a lot of clubs are somewhat old news, so there is the potential with some new releases we could see some of those pop up. As for missing reviews we have had several extenuating circumstances with health, shipping delays and so on that have interrupted the completion of a few. Some care a lot about the reviews and some care more about the general exposure on instagram and the sm impressions which in todays day and age have become very valuable. It is a bit of a mix bag there, but we have been given word that a schedule is being worked on and completed for next season. I know the downshift in testing has been disappointing and a shock to the system with how things had previously been. However I do hope that members don't come here just for the testing. We have such an amazing community here and there is so much knowledge, information and other product reviews to read and discuss that a bump year in testing can be just that. There is still the potential for several off season tests on training aids and that sort of thing as well. We also have some exciting forum experiences for next season in the works which should be just stellar! I also want to say I understand that testing traditionally is what drives a lot of people to the forum, but that just means we need to find other ways of getting people to the forum and to stay of the forum. So many of the testing sign ups were just that. Come for testing and leave till the next one comes around. The final thing I'll add is our focus (mods) right now are as follows - hiring new mod (to be announced Thursday), reogranize and make the forum simpler to navigate and as mods create valuable content for discussion. In the offseason we will look to tackle the testing platform on the forum and decide on its future. By that point in time we should be close to having the new testing schedule and can look forward to the upcoming season. Hope that helps a little even if it isn't the exact answer many would want, but at the moment it is all the information I have.

Well friends it finally happened: 1 under 71! My 1st under par round ever! 4 birdies, 3 bogeys: 5/14 Fir 14/18 Gir 1/3 up & down with 31 putts. Maxfli tour X golf ball…

It’s two things for me that’s kept me here. Testing and the general dialogue amongst the membership. I’ve been around for 5 years now and the opportunities are not what they were. I’ve also noticed that other forums like THP and WRX have had some tests that we were not offered to MGS. I can only assume there is a lot more to this and politics / recruiting can be a dirty game. For years there was an anticipatory PING and Callaway driver test, a Titleist driver test, an annual PING iron test a lot of putters. Keeping a competitive edge in the forums and managing not just recruitment but retention does rely heavily upon testing. If the opportunities aren’t there, people are going to start asking questions and looking elsewhere. I wanted to add this. You’d asked what is the core identity of MGS? From this side of the screen, it’s about finding the best gear for you regardless of whose name is on the sole.

Judge. I order probably $90,000 to $100,00 in equipment a year for our pro shop. I realize that’s a small amount. But it keeps me in touch weekly with every OEM. So I have a pretty good grasp on which ones have inventory issues. In addition I talk to several of them regularly for MGS duties. In which case I’m often talking to people in position to expedite product for forum testings—for all the forums. I can confidently tell you supply chain issues are not the reason forum testing is lacking this year.

I haven’t posted the updates as they came in. So in the essence of time and space. I’ll just say most of these cover the last 3 to 4 months. A lot of headcovers

Will you have a sarcasm and humor category? Asking for a friend. The only value I can bring is humor!

Hello Spies! I am announcing that I will be stepping down from my role as one of the forum moderators. I have had a blast volunteering and serving this forum community. I’ve been on several other golf forums over the past 15yrs and this one is the only one I’ve stuck with and call home. We just had one of our most valuable coworkers take an amazing new job elsewhere and myself and one other person are going to have to take up those responsibilities for the foreseeable future. As such, I cannot in good faith commit to the time needed to do this job to the level the forum deserves. I will be using the new handle “DriverBreaker” and will still be involved with the forum. I hope to play golf in the near future with some of you in the Raleigh/Durham area! Let’s make it happen! Thanks again! Hit ‘em far and straight!

Note 3/31 Signup for this is live and registrations coming in. So if interested read all the details including payment amount, method and deadline which is APRIL 6! payments accepted by following methods: paypal robert_canady@msn.com Venmo @CarolinaGolfer2 Hi Everyone..there has been ongoing talk for years about a National MGS Outing. While that is still something that is on Adam's radar and mine, I thought I'd try and start with a Regional Outing of sorts, to at least get the ball rolling then maybe it can morph into a larger one. I've done a lot of research over the past couple months and have a place targeted and have availaiblity and pricng from them. What I would like to hear from everyone is while not a 100% commitment at this point, but a true definite likely hood that you would make it. I'm including a poll for you to vote for the date that is most likely fo ryou, if you would be willing to come for either date, you can vote for both. Bassic details, more info will come if I decide the interest is enough and genuine. Location Queenstown Harbor Golf Course-20 minutes East of Annapolis MD on the Eastern Shore of MD. About 45 minutes to 1 Hour drive from BWI airport. Queenstown Harbor Golf Course Dates: Aug 5-7 Date is Confirmed! There will be two days of golf Saturday and Sunday. You can choose to play both days or either day. Two different courses, River and Lakes. The River Course is annually rated as one of the top 5 or 10 public courses in the state of Maryland. Accoodations aviable to the first 20 players will be large house on the property adjancent to the 2nd tee and a waterview. Perfect spot for the group to hang out each day and hve fun. August 5-7 Cheser Cottage (see This Link for details ) Chester Cottage – 4 bedrooms & a loft / 5 full bathrooms – 8 queen beds (2 per bedroom) and 4 twins (in the loft) – Largest of the 3 Cottages, sleeps 12-20. $1,528.52 per night including tax / we do have 2 night minimums when it comes to our in season weekends so the total for the weekend would be $3,057.04 – if you put 12 guys in there is comes to $254.75 pp. A more private but very limited availablity is one of the Bungalows. It has two bedrooms and 2 private baths and a living room/dinette area, with a large gathering area with fire pits outside. Each bungalow has 2 bedrooms, 2 queen beds and 2 full bathrooms. The full bungalow is $795 a night including tax - $1,590 for the weekend. Arrive sometime Friday-time on your own to relax or play a practice round if you'd like. We could possibly arrange a group dinner Friday night Saturday-18 holes on River Course tee time starts around 9:00 to 10:00 (possible OEM demo available afterward) Saturday night hang out Sunday-18 holes on Lakes Course tee time starts around 9:00-considering some may have afternoon flights or long drives home. The cost isn't 100% now, it will ultiately depend on how many stay overnight. We would need a minium of 8 to 10 guys to commit to a Friday/Saturday night stay. Those that don't stay overnight and only want to play one day can be accomodated as well, assuming we don't sell out the 24 spots two day overnighters. If that does happen early enough, I can always try to add more tee times on each day. So costs would be approxiametly 2 nights lodging $254 total per person based on 12 people. Golf would be $120 for the River Course and $80 for the Lakes Course So just to put it togetgher if you are staying in the cottage for 2 nights and playing golf both days-Your package price would be between aprroxiamely $455 all in, with 50% deposit due once the event is final in the next 14 days or so. I also hope to be able to provide some swag, and would love to get someone from HQ Adam or Harry to join in. So for now please select an option above, again if you really think you can make it. It's important fo rme to give them a firm count and a deposit willl be due. I do welcome any thoughts and comments inthe thread here---except for suggesions on alternate dates or location

Got 2 18’s in with my dad today. Playing another 18 tomorrow. Two beautiful courses 5 minutes apart. Was awesome. went 82/83. I struggled the second round after about 8 holes, was pretty gassed and I struggled on my second shots. the first round while it was an 82 I felt like it was my best ever chance at an even par round. I hit 10 greens and my approach play was A1 best I have ever played. Where I struggled? Putting!!!! I had multiple 3 putts and a 4!!!! I missed multiple birdie chances, including 10-14 where I had a chance every time. we got to see some wild life and was all in all a great day.

... I am probably in the minority but I generally don't care about testing/giveaways. I do really enjoy reading non professional reviews from everyday golfers of every level and sure if something is offered I am interested in, I will throw my hat in the ring and be thrilled if I am selected, but it has nothing to do with why I am here or why I stay. I am here for the camaraderie of fellow golf nuts that love the game, the equipment, the courses and the fun. I also enjoy departing some of the knowledge I have gained though the years to others and I am not too experienced to learn from anyone. I seem to learn something every day. ... My only suggestion is maintain tight control over content and posts. I have been a member of other forums that went downhill when allowing just a little latitude for aggressive posters that turned into an avalanche. I have quite a few on ignore and others I take lightly, skimming posts as they love to challenge others for no reason either than confrontation for anyone that does not share their views. You Mods do an awesome job and there is a core group of people I would consider online friends here and hope to play golf with all of them someday.

Congratulations to our winner @Brad Lee Here is his winning team! Titleist and Vokey CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO PARTICIPATE IN A VERY UNIQUE AND SPECIAL CONTEST MY GOLF SPY'S 2022 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP CONTEST SPONSORED BY TITLEIST AND VOKEY WEDGES -- for the -- 2022 PGA CHAMPIONSHIP PRIZES!!! First Place: The first Place winner will receive a set of 3 Vokey SM9 Wedges-Your choice of loft, grind and finish. Custom Stamping will be allowed as well. (Note time frame of delivery may vary depending on the exact makeup of wedges/customization. Runner Up: A Vokey Prize pack consisting of various Vokey items. Please read the 2 Rules Below, there are only two, but if they are not followed completely, your entry will be disqualified. 1) You MUST be a registered member of the Forum to win 2) Your entry MUST be your FORUM USER NAME!!! Entries will close at 6:00 AM May 19, 2022 If either of those two rules are not followed your entry will be disqualified. HOW IT WORKS Everyone picks a team of 6 golfers. Add your best 4 of 6 golfers scores to form your team score. The best team score wins the pool. Cut golfers (and anyone who doesn’t finish 4 rounds) get 80 for any rounds not completed. Playoff holes do not count. HOW TO JOIN THE POOL Pick your team of golfers here: http://www.easyofficepools.com/join/?p=202319&e=xjpn LIVE LEADERBOARD Follow the action live http://www.easyofficepools.com/leaderboard/?p=202319

Haven't post for a while but want to share. After playing the game from the age of 13, at the age of 61 I hit my first hole in one yesterday. Playing a tie at my Home course West Lothian Golf Club https://www.westlothiangc.com/course/. 18th, right in front of the club house, 135yds par 3 down hill with wind behind. A sweet hit Approach Wedge over the protecting bunker. Pitched about 2 feet from the hole and gently rolled into the hole. Got applause from the clubhouse and the Senior League team were on the 1st tee so they all congratulated me which added to the occasion More than made up for losing the tie 3&2. What made it sweeter is that I've been having problems with my irons and had the shanks up until a little work on the range on Wednesday.

I left work early today to get the windshield replaced on my car, so I decided it was a perfect day to get out and play nine. The weather was wonderful, 85 degrees and a slight wind. I did have to set up an umbrella on Johnny 5 to keep from roasting. I'm not going to say I shot well or bad, it's my first round in two months due to a loss of confidence in my game. I treated today as practice and just getting back into the rhythm of the game. My round started out rough, I had to play a different course than normal and there's no practice area. I lost three balls on the first three holds and hit a fourth OB that I found. Those first holes I started out +3, +3, and +8. That third hole was brutal, three lost balls didn't help much. At least it was pretty out. After that, I settled into a rhythm and had a run of double, double, and three bogeys. One of the highlights of my round was being 2 feet over the green on the first par five and hitting the green in regulation on the second, although I 3 putted the second one from 39 feet. In fairness, it was an uphill breaker I aimed 6 feet to the right of and just didn't hit it hard enough. Driver was horrible most of the day, but I hit my irons better than I have in a long time. The putter was really good most of the round except for a couple of 3 putts on tricky greens. On the 9th I hit my best shot of the day from 47 yards out, left of the flag into the slope and it rolled down to 11 feet. Unfortunately, it left a downhill left to right breaker I ran 13 feet past the hole. Overall, I shot a 60 with 20 putts which normally would be a little discouraging but with the way I hit my irons I'm feeling pretty good.

This arrived today. Few rolls on the putting green were very nice. Looking forward to getting it on course.