EugeGall

Agreed, it's those extra little things that some people do that make all the difference.

They have arrived and the unboxing complete... they do look very cool in the colours chosen if I say so myself.

Cool go for a live unboxing I'm up for that I'm up for watching

many thanks to all for the birthday wishes - luckily I still break a par 60.

Double sided tape fitted and used the Pure air gun. Just had an old golf towel to what I thought would help with pulling them off. With double sided tape you can as it turned out get an air trap forming which quickly became a balloon which popped or in my head was like a small nuclear bomb going off. Single sided tape I used after this worked fine and would blow off easy. It’s just my current setup uses the double sided tape.

Forgot to add just need to find the pvc pipe to put over the grip if I use air to blow them off. When I first tried Pure grips back in the day I didn’t do this and a stuck down rubber grip blows up with a bang that wakens the dead and then it was a case of counting fingers once I cleaned up my mess. Maybe I should rethink this and just cut them off as I’m not sure my underwear can take it again.

Play not even up for debate

I change my grips every year around January time, works out about 100+ rounds if I include range time. Certainly not the 40+ Golf Pride recommend, but the again maybe they would say that.

Now as this is a grip test for me it’s going to be a full regrip test as my current ones I only put on in January so I’ll be removing them with the idea of possibly using again so I’m not cutting them off. I’ll post the removal as well.

Agree I like the orange, maybe I should have swapped the green and orange around. I like the bright colours Star Grips offer.

That’s quite interesting to know. I like the look of a wrap kinda old school

I used to play the old Lamkin Perma wrap back many years ago so yes it will be an interesting throwback. Exciting email, mine now pushed back to Friday so at least I know what I’m doing Saturday post round.

So here is what I decided on getting (well what I ordered) The Tour Star+ are going on my big dawg, woods & hybrid. Already reduced tapered so should play like my Tour Velvet Plus4 (ok more like the 2G Wrap, but not as shiny thank god). Curious about how soft these really will "feel" like. The green Sidewinder are going on my irons with build up tape (staggered on lower part) to mimic the MCC Plus4 and the orange Sidewinder on my wedges with no tape to see just how much the taper effects the results. As I said in the intro I can always blow them off and start again. Now what I'm really curious about is the no logo on any of the grips. If like me you set your grips up with all the visual aids and logos lined up, I get lazy and just place my hands on the grips using these and I know sometimes I can end up being a little open/closed faced. I'm kind of hoping the no logo makes me take a little more care with this at address.

They have a hole on the butt end of the grip for the air so the shot scope tags will happily screw in there

Thanks and yes it's a wonderful course to play. I agree the MCC do wear pretty quickly so longevity will be a good test... I'm with you on the Star as I haven't played a warp for a long time, but it's the softness that I'm interested in looking at which is why I may compare to the CPX

Hopefully getting the Tour Star (already reduced) and putting Sidewinder on irons with build up tape lower hand and maybe on wedges, although not at first

Will be doing it all myself - got the gear and used to put on Pure Grips with air, come to think of it I've done this with other brands too. It's an easy process, not sure why I went back to double sided tape and solvent. Time to dust off the compressor.

STAR GRIPS - OFFICIAL MGS FORUM REVIEW by EugeGall Introduction Howdy to my fellow Spies, I'm Eugene Gallacher so you can see I got very original with my username, well to be honest my creativity deserted me the day I joined. Firstly I'd like to thank MGS and Star Grips for giving me this opportunity to test out their range of grips. Eagerly awaiting my shipment expected this Thursday and it just happens to be my birthday, so present is on its way, woohoo!! I'm 52, married with 2 daughters and live in Brighton UK. A fun fact is I'm Scottish (Irish father), my wife is Welsh and my 2 daughters were born in England and we all have Australian citizenship. I'm an engineer by default and currently the general manager for a manufacturing company that designs instrumentation for the geotechnical, civil and structural engineering sector. Been playing golf since I was 8 (dad was a big golf nut so must be in the genes) and played all through my school years as a junior. Work got in the way back in 2012 and so had a mad hiatus from playing up to around 15 months ago, joining my current track at Singing Hills, a lovely 27 hole course with 3 distinct 9 holes (Lake, River & Valley), north of Brighton. I play every weekend, at least once and get out for 9/18 midweek, most weeks. Currently playing off 9. I do all my own club work, regripping & reshafting. Bit of tinkerer at heart. 1. How to test – blow on with air and give them a good bash both at the range and course seeing how they stack up against my current grips which I’ve used for years. Going Tour Star 360 on Driver/Woods; Sidewinder 360 with lower build up tape on Irons and Sidewinder 360 (no tape) on Wedges (can always blow off and add tape). 2. Comparisons – Up against GP Tour Velvet Plus4 on Driver and MCC Plus4 on Woods, Irons and Wedges looking at feel, durability and tackiness; how do they work wet/dry. Other than actual playing numbers will use Toptracer Range to see if they effect distance & dispersion against my gamers. Interested in the softness (Star) vs firmer (Sidewinder). 3. Will they stay after testing – unless they bomb on for the season to give them a good longevity test. 4. Why did I want to test – Big fan of Pure Grips so always curious about these, and who doesn’t like a good grip test. Was about to put on GP CPX so may compare to them as well. Also at almost half price to my current keen to see if they are value for money or just cheap. See the tight Scotsman always comes out. 5. Product knowledge – Star Grips always come up when looking just never pulled the pin. 6. Expectations - high given the current reviews, but they have to be a seamless addition to my bag. Anyway I'll keep you all posted..... fun times ahead. EugeGall. Unboxing/First Impressions (9 out of 10) Woohoo!!! They have arrived and I have to say pretty impressive delivery from Sweden given I only submitted my specific requirements a week ago. On opening the package had the gun on top then a packaging layer and then the grips themselves all contained in 2 separate clear bags for protection. Now here was the really nice personal touch, the package included a letter from the owner of Star Grips Anders Dahlen, congratulating me on being selected as one of the MGS testers, that's pretty cool!! I chose the Tour Star (Blue x4) and the Sidewinders (Green x6 and Orange x3) and I must say 1st looks I'm impressed with the colours. The Blue is a nice matt colour which I was hoping would be the case and not shiny like the GP Tour Wrap 2G. The Green and Orange are very bright which I like. Other than the obvious wrap vs the velvet like Sidewinder they both felt very similar in feel and equally soft. I was expecting the Sidewinder to be a little firmer to the touch. I like the soft touch. Both grips felt extremely tacky which I was hoping for, so big plus here. The Tour Star wrap is visibly noticeable to see and whilst you can feel it it's not too pronounced to the hands. My 1st impression was always going to be based on what they are up against. The Tour Velvet Plus4 is on my Driver, the MCC Plus4 Align on my Woods & Hybrid and the MCC Plus4 on my Irons & Wedges. The Tour Star I'm fitting to the "woods" and comparing yes they are softer as expected, with much more tack. When I held the Tour Star, butt end in my left hand and tried to slide my right hand down the grip, it just stuck. Repeating this against the above 2 GP grips I got noticeably more movement in the right hand, especially on the Tour Velvet. Star Grips claim their grips to be very tacky as used by Fred Couples and since he doesn't wear a glove they must be and my basic 1st test has me agreeing. The Tour Star comes as a reduced taper and I think this actually is more (less taper) so than the GP Plus4's. The Sidewinder I'm fitting to my irons (green plus tape) and wedges (orange no tape). Again the slide test showed a lot more grip on the Sidewinder compared to the GP grip, so all positive here. As a visual I would say it compares to the Tour Velvet, so good alternative if that's what you like. Star Grips claim a weight tolerance of +/- 1 gram so how did my package weigh out. Tour Star (blue spec 58g) - 2x grips 57g and 2x grips 59g so big tick for me. Sidewinder (green spec 49g) - 5x grips 46g 1x grip 47g. All grips within tolerance of each other but as a bit light to spec I took 1 point off here. Yes I know a bit harsh, but overall very impressed. Sidewinder (orange spec 47g) - 2x grips 48g 1x grip 47g. Again spot on. Now the weight thing got me thinking, how do they compare to my current and will this make a difference - the Tour Velvet is 53g (spec of 52g), MCC Align is 52g (spec of 53g) and the MCC is 53g (spec of 52g). Given the difference Tour Star when fitted to my woods (4-7g heavier) it would decrease SW by just over 1 point and on the Sidewinder on my irons/wedges (5-7g lighter) it would increase SW by just over 1 point. Ok I'm going to be honest and say I'm not good enough to notice, but then again it's a feel thing that I will look out for. Last, but not least as these are going to be air fitted Star Grips include their air gun which looks pretty much like the old Pure Grips one I have so as expected, but the proof will be when used...more to come. Depending on the air fittings I have on my compressor I'll use the above complete, but as the most important part for me is the blue fitment that attaches to the grip I may have to put that on my old setup until I get the correct parts. Follow up tomorrow on the big install... can't wait then off to the real testing. Final Review First Impressions (9 out of 10) Out of the box what was not to like these grips just jumped out at you, the colour was so bright I needed my shades to dial down the effect, especially on the Green and Orange. The feel was super soft and tacky and I liked that there was no logo to worry about when it would come to installing them. Now if I was to be picky the Green Sidewinder was out on Star Grips tolerance for weight were it should have been 49g they averaged 46g. All the grips were within the specified +/- 1g so big plus overall to their quality control. Aesthetics (10 out of 10) For me this was a big highlight as I like things to stand out and be a bit of a head turner. First time at the course I had others asking what they were and the obvious "man that orange is bright". The have a colour to suit everyone, but they also have that classic look of your traditional Tour Velvet or 2G Wrap. Fit and Feel (20 out of 20) The beauty of these grips is the simplicity of the install, rip of your old grips, remove the tape, build up tape if necessary and blow them on with air. Ok yes you need a compressor, but you can get away with cheap tyre inflator. Having already used this method many years ago I knew what to expect, but it was such a nice comforting feeling to be back there; no more double sided tape and solvent and the best part waiting for them to dry. Yes I did still have to use painters tape for the build up on the irons. Quick, simple and took around 30 mins from start to finish. The feel once installed was as I expected, nice and soft, but not too soft. I could give them a good swing straight away and for those who may worry about how secure they are there was no issue here. The Tour Star being reduced taper was similar in the hands to any other Plus4 grip on initial take, as was the built up Green Sidewinder. The Orange Sidewinder I fitted as is with the taper on my wedges and surprisingly it didn't feel odd, even to the point my lower hand seemed stronger with more feel. On-Course (19 out of 20) Ok they look cool and are easy to install, but do they actually work. I initially tested these at the range to bed them in and I couldn't have been more happy. I got them wet and yes they did slip a little, but nothing that a good towelling down didn't fix. I've had these on my clubs for about 6 weeks so close to 20 rounds and these Star Grips have not let me down. Yes it's only a grip, but they are the only thing you touch on a club and I'm super confident that my grip is secure. I've really enjoyed, if not somewhat surprised that I have developed a nice little 2 yard baby fade on my wedges. I have always had a baby draw on all clubs, now can I put this down to a grip change, probably not, but then again???? The only downside if I'm being harsh (and where I took the mark off) is I feel the reduced taper on the Tour Star is a little too much, quite fat for my smaller hands and yes that is more me than the grip, but I don't notice this on the Sidewinders with 4 layers on the lower section. This I thought would be similar to my previous trials on the Tour Velvet before the Plus4 was available. In play score over these 6 weeks has been on a par (hey I wish it was par) with my usual around the high 70s so I cannot complain and that for me was always going to be a deal breaker so that's a big tick in the positive column. The Good, the bad, the in-between (19 out of 20) The Good: They look cool, easy to install and they have not (even if mental) affected my play. In the same period I've changed my woods and this is were these grips and especially the installation method is a deal breaker, they arrived just before I was heading out to the course so a quick blow off the old clubs and on the new; 5 minutes tops, now that's sweet. None of the pfaff of waiting for the grips to dry. The Bad: Now this probably where I'm going to take nit-picking to the nth degree. I have Shot Scope tags fitted and for some reason, well ok the top of the grip cannot be level, but they just don't sit square or I'm worried they might fall out. My OCD just doesn't like it, but I'm learning to cope. In-between: There is none and they are just so good it outweighs my little issue. Play It or Trade It (20 out of 20) It's hands down a resounding "PLAY IT" and that could be for a very long time given Star Grips offer a 3 year warranty on them, now that's mad for a grip given I usually change mine out every season. Everything about them and the method of installation just works. Possibly the only thing is I'll look to change the Tour Star for the Sidewinder on the woods. Now what colour do I choose with so much choice. The other may be to tinker with the amount of build up tape, if any, but with air it's just a breeze to do all this. Plus and for all you tight (fellow) Scotsmen out there they only cost £7 here in the UK, which is about 50% of my normal grips - by no means are they cheap and nasty they are just great value grips. Conclusion If you are in the market for new grips and you want to brighten up your bag and don't want to pay premium dollar; want a grip that's super soft, but not squidgy plus suuuppeerr tacky and sick of the smell of solvent, move to the tapeless install of the Star Grip. The decision is a no brainer and breathe fresh air into your grip of choice. Final Score (97 out of 100) Last and by no means least, one big mahoosive shout out to Star Grips and MGS for giving me this opportunity and reawakening my love of the air install for grips.

Really cool call, especially hearing all the insights from the community. Oh and the guy from Ping was fine too - only joking Jacob Clarke was awesome, really interesting in hearing straight from the guy that not only knows what he's talking about, but active in the design.

I have both Footjoy Tour Alpha (about 14 months) in laces and boa and Adidas Codechaos (about 2 years+) in laces and boa. Come to think of it I have too many golf shoes, but that’s another story. Fit, tightness or whatever you want to call it are similar, but the boa is just simpler to use, especially mid round when I need to adjust just because my feet have got a bit off kilter (if that makes sense) - it’s a pop, pull, click and twist taking about 10 secs at most.

Beautiful place to live, visited often when lived in Melbourne, say hello to the penguins. Good luck with the test

Congrats to all. Like others haven’t played TaylorMade since the Penta, but always toyed with trying the Pix for the alignment just never got round to it simply because my gamer Seed-01 is great value and very Pro-V1 that I was using so I’ll be tuning in for the feedback.

Same setup, UA top and bottom base layers and good to go.

Wanted to just check in and give you my updated thoughts a few months in….. It”s been pretty darn cold and wet here in the UK since my last post. So how has the Galway Bay performed; coped may even be a better term. I was under no illusion that these would not keep the cold at Bay (sorry I couldn’t help myself), but given they are very lightweight they are easily layered so I’ll give them a big plus here. Main point to let you all know they really do keep the rain out. They are hands down better than any rain gear I’ve owned. You get what you pay for and yes ok I didn’t buy these, but I can honestly say I would. They wash well and don’t lose any of their protection. I’ve even used the gloves on and off and yes they work, reasonable grip, keep your hands warm in the wet and cold, although I still prefer my normal glove and mitts combo. I’ve been looking at the new line from GB just to see if these would be a good upgrade and yes they state some good plus points, you know what I’m sticking with the package I have as these are built to last. So one big shout out again to Galway Bay and MyGolfSpy for giving me this opportunity to test and own these. I’ll keep you all posted to the longevity, but honestly go get some.

Professional golf is all about bomb it off the tee and hit a wedge in, rough or not which can pretty boring to watch. Grew up watching players having to be skilful and strategic. Other than off the tee they don’t hit longer clubs in anymore. Maybe the pros don’t like the proposal because they don’t have that skill now, although I find that hard to believe. Bifurcation already exists, we don’t really play the same tech they do, manufacturers just sell that to make us spend. Just my 2 cents worth.