Smackey17

I played the '23 Tour (not the Tour X) today for the first time after playing the '21 Tour for the past year. The balls seemed to perform the same. Didn't notice any difference on chipping or half-pitch shots, but will look specifically for this in future rounds as I have a few '21s left over and two dozen of the '23. Overall, I think I prefer the '21 matte finish compared to the glossier '23. Also, I do like the '21's alignment aid with the three stripes. The '23 ball just has a single, thin alignment aid. I know a lot of people didn't like the '21 three stripe because the stripes made it look like a range ball, but that never really bothered me. I agree that the Maxfli Tour series is hard to beat for the money. Though I wish they were offering the '23 in yellow (if they are I've been unable to find it online or at the Dick's near me).

1. Have you purchased any golf products based on MyGolfSpy reviews? (Please list which ones.) Yes, I now use only Maxfli Tour CG and ProV1 balls after previously using Srixon Q-Star Tour balls (mainly) and a variety of other non-tour balls. After reading the recent article on LAB putters I decided to try a Toe Up putter (Odyssey 1) with a similar non-torque to the LAB. Am following the LAB testing to see if I want to pull the trigger on a new Link. Also, bought my wife a Ping Hoofer Lite bag after the recent carry bag ratings and she loves it. 2. How has MyGolfSpy changed the way you think about golf equipment? When considering any new equipment, whether its clubs, clothes or other gear, I always check to see if it's been evaluated on MGS. 3. Have these purchases lowered your scores? (List which products and how much they have lowered your scores.) Not sure yet if the balls and putter have lowered my scores, but I can say the balls perform really well and I have more confidence with the putter. 4. How have these purchases helped you enjoy the game more? How? I was always trying new golf balls and believe not using a consistent ball hurt my game. Now I feel confident that the ball will do what I want it to do without any second thoughts, which gives me more enjoyment and no second thoughts.

I had a 9-hole playing lesson on Tuesday, where we played from the red tees so that we could work on our scoring clubs (8i - SW). The session revealed what I already had been experiencing this year: my half-pitches were killing me, shots from 40-80 yards out. I had 5 such shots and I actually missed the green on two of them and left myself more that 40-foot putts on two others. The problem was a lack of commitment to the club and shot choice in those instances. So today, rather than hitting full shots I plan on working exclusively on dialing in my pitches. Based on my experience this will likely be something close to the following: 40 yards (carry) = 9 o'clock swing with my 54; 50 yards = 10'clock w/54; 60 yards = 10 o'clock w/GW; 70 yards = 10 o'clock with PW. With the exception of the 40-yard swing, I prefer to dial in distances with a consistent 10'clock swing using different clubs rather using one club and varying the swing length because I think it can be more repeatable and consistent.

I use my 54 around the green 90 percent of the time if I'm two or more paces off the fringe. If I have a good lie on or just off the fringe I will sometimes putt it. But in this scenario, given the lie, I would most likely bump and run with a 9 iron with the ball back in my stance.

Four. My pitching wedge and gap wedge are essentially my 10 and 11 irons, though I do use the pitching wedge occasionally for 50-70 yard shots. I just replaced my previous sand and lob wedges with Cleveland ZipCore CBX 54* and 60*. Love them. The 60* is very easy to hit, though I use the 54* 90% of the time around the green. I mainly used the lob when very short-sided or am in a steep bunker.

"Crunching the numbers. I tracked 75 putts from 5’ 10’ and 20’ overall and once I entered them in and compared my initial putts the DF2.1 came out swinging. My make % is higher with LAB (36made/75putts) vs 2-Ball (33/102) or Anser (5/29) nearly every metric was better with LAB." The LAB numbers look very promising. Very interested in seeing if they hold up and how the putter performs on the golf course for you.

Definitely the 5W for me. My Ping 3W was/is the most consistent club in my bag, prompting me to buy a Ping 5W, which I hit just as well as the 3, though on my home course I only have the need to hit it once or maybe twice a round. I even experimented with a 7W to replace my 4H and a 9W to replace my 5i because I tend to hit my woods better than my long irons. But in the end I felt the 4 hybrid and 5 iron gave me a better feel for approaching greens from a distance than the woods did. That said, I still do a H2H with these clubs now and again at the driving range.

Congratulations to those who were selected! I play both the Maxfli Tour and the ProV1X. Will be very interested to seeing what the testers think, especially those who are were playing ProV1 or ProV1X previously. I have my opinion on the matter, but withhold comment until the results are in.

I use the range about half the time when I play. Even when I use the range I do so only to get loose, hitting about 15-25 balls, mainly driver and pitching wedge. To be honest, I don't see a noticeable difference in on-course performance between my driving range rounds and my non-driving range rounds. I always roll a few putts and hit a few chips. For the putting, I try to make 6-8 four-footers from around the hole, then I'll hit some lags from 20, 30 and 40-feet to get a read on the speed of the green that day (assuming the practice green approximates the greens on the course).

I've tried to wean myself from watching a lot of YouTube or other golf media, especially instructional advice, because I get overloaded. At this point in my golf life I'm trying to keep in simple. I did appreciate Mark Crossfield's videos, though. I've gone with a modified Stack & Tilt swing and found Nick Taylor's videos on this to be very good--simple yet comprehensive enough to be all I needed to understand and execute the swing.

I've stayed with the same putter for about six years now, though I have experimented with others now and again. Usually, I'll have a "Putt Off" between my gamer and the challenger on the putting green. If the challenger fares about the same as my gamer I'll play it for a round or two. So far, nothing has really supplanted my regular putter. However, I just ordered a used Toe Up putter that I want to try to see if the lack of torque makes a difference. I feel like I'm missing 1-2 mid-range putts (5-10 feet) a round that I should be making. If I like the Toe Up in practice I'm going to give it a good run of at least ten rounds to see if it makes a difference.

I've heard so-called golf ball experts say that a modern ball should last 5-12 rounds without performance degrading, though I've never seen any corroborating tests. I use a urethane cover ball, which is on the softer side and will tend to scuff when hitting anything but a plush fairway or cushiony green. So typically I play a ball until it has a visible blemish or scuff, which is anywhere from one round to five or six.

I have 5 different brands in my bag. Ping driver and fairway woods (3&5), my old Nike Covert 4 hybrid, Cobra F9 speedback irons (5-GW), New Level sand wedge, Odyssey O-Works putter.

Agree on wanting to see how the new Maxfli Tour balls stack up. I played the Tour (both white and yellow) the past year and thought they played as well as any of the other tour balls I played (Pro V1 and TP5). Though this ball might be out of scope because Titleist markets it primarily in Japan, but the Titleist VG3 is being sold at two of my local golf courses and are being promoted as "10-20 yards longer." I'm skeptical to say the least, but would be interested in any data on this ball.

I thought I was going to change out my driver, but did a driver shootout with my Ping G400 Max (with shortened shaft) vs. the new G430 (full length shaft) and it was at best a push for the G430. Smash factor on the G400 was consistently higher (1.46 - 1.51), which netted better distances over the slightly higher swing speed (about 1 mph) from the G430. I keep going back and forth on my 4 hybrid and 5 iron, replacing them with a 7 wood and 9 wood, respectively, then going back to the 4h/5i. Right now I have the woods in the bag and will give them a couple of weeks more of trial on course. On the range the 7 & 9 win every time. I'm more of a sweeper so in theory they should outperform the hybrid and iron on course as well. Ongoing putter shootouts have yet to find a better solution than my Odyssey O-Works Tank.