Jakebrent8

Love coming here for some great deals. Thank you!!🙏 @GolfSpy_APH

I am going to dropping a ton of deals for tomorrow along with a newsletter to go along with it! Keep an eye out for a Sunday specials and there are a lot of them!

Welcome to the home for all good deals and promotions which are going on around the web! Have you seen a good deal or promotion that our forum members should be sure not to miss? Toss up the link, screenshot and let us know about it. Also be sure to let us know when the promo ends! 

Let's help each other out finding great deals from all over the world for our forum community. Whether it be golf clubs, tech, shoes or whatever else be sure to post it here! If this grows we will build a whole section for it and we will also be posting the various deals the main site posts as well!

Finally got to play this weekend up on Mt. Hood with the family. Took my 5 year old out for the the front nine for his first time on the course. He loves the range and with my dad and mom and my brothers there figured it would be a good time to get him on the course. He did great! was very patient, we had his tee off on the red's then would pick up his ball and have him hit with me for the second shot, then he would putt with us. He was thrilled and I think I can do a few more 9's with him this summer. We didn't bring his smaller clubs so he was able to use some junior rentals, which were a bit too big, but he still hit it well and had a few 50 plus yard drives and drained a 20 footer that I proceeded to miss, which he was proud to report back to my wife that he made a long putt that daddy missed 🤣! I ended up with an 83, not the best but after not touching a club for 6 weeks I felt pretty good. Had one birdie and a decent 6 hole par stretch on the back. Fun to get out and got the golf juices flowing again. 
 
 

 
 

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. 
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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.
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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 
 
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

This was a really good "look behind the curtain" of how testers are selected. Thanks.

It could simply be you hitting the clubs against each other and your current clubs to see how they perform with the various shaft options.  Rotate through the clubs and shafts after a few shots to minimize swing adjustments.  Look at both distance and dispersion patterns 

not sure about other places but it was about 100 to do my iron fitting at GG, but if you buy its put towards your purchase so essentially free if you ended up buying.

Reiterate a lot that was already said on here….need to hit them to get an idea which is best. I have too many buddies that simply buy off rack and end up disappointed with their purchases. Clubs truly have become an investment. I pretty much view them like a car….a test drive is always a must.  Head to your local Dick’s or Golf Galaxy and give them a workout. Or you can utilize the Utry program via Global. A fitting will give you the best information but price is sometimes a limiter with those. 

quite like my stealth 3w.  16.5* HL version... so really a 4w?  Either way... if im more than 200 from a green.. its my go to.  Wish I had gotten to hit other stuff but I did get to hit one before I bought it.

Can't decide if I want the Stealth 2 Driver/3 wood or Cobra Aerojet combo in the off season!

I’d hit them all and see what works best.  Might even find that that the combo isn’t the best way to go.  

Give them and some others a test. Better yet get fitted.Then you can try different shafts as well.