GolfSpy Barbajo

So I've had a set of Edison wedges for about three weeks now, and have been alternating between using those and the new Cleveland ZipCore wedges. Have a few impressions to share on the Edison's - and the ZipCores, for that matter. First the Edison wedges: My set makeup is 49-53-57, as determined by Edison's WedgeFit section on their website. Had mine built 1.5 degrees flat with midsize grips and KBS Tour 105 shafts in stiff. I've probably played 4 rounds with them - enough to reach a few conclusions: 1. Feel is exceptional - I know it's not an indicator of performance, but you know it when you hit is perfectly and you know it when you don't. They do provide the feedback you need. 2. When you don't hit it perfect, you aren't overly punished. That's the real story with Edison - they're pretty forgiving. There's plenty of weight high on the face (my "miss"), and with other wedges there's a noticeable loss of both distance and spin. You'll still lose some distancer and spin with Edison, but not nearly as much. It's basically the difference between the front of the green and the front bunker. 3. These do create spin. Hit a low spinner Sunday from about 40 yards that actually felt a bit thin, but it hopped twice and then stopped dead, about 12 feet from the pin. Of course, I missed the putt. Damn wedge! 4. When it comes to full shots, I prefer these over the Cleveland's - very consistent and solid. Partial shots around the green the Edison V-sole takes some getting used to. There's no real "bounce" on them, so you do have to learn how to manipulate the club for each shot you're trying to hit. Cleveland also has a V-sole, but it's not as pronounced as Edison, making the wedge more conventional. If that's what you're used to, it may take you a while to get used to the Edison. I know a lot of Score and original Hogan TK-15 wedge users have reported similar experiences. 5. Not sure what to make of Edison's new Money-Back guaranty policy. They'll custom-build you a set of wedges, and you can play them for as long as you need to - Terry Koehler says 4 to 6 rounds should be enough - and if you see an improvement, keep them. If you don't like them, send them back and he'll refund your money. The website says the limit is 45 days, but Terry says 4 to 6 rounds, however long that takes. I'm sure there will be a little give and take, but if you're intrigued by the wedges, it's not a bad proposition at all - if you're willing to take that leap of faith. The good news is Koehler isn't some newbie to the industry - he's been around a while and does have a bit of street cred in certain circles. He has a lot of friends in the business, as well as some enemies, and he's pretty outspoken and irreverent, which can rub people the wrong way. But he does make a pretty good wedge. 6. My plan to keep them in the bag and relearn how to use the V-sole. My best short game came while playing the Hogan TK-15's, but as I recall it did take a while to get the hang of that sole around the green. It'll give me something to do for the rest of the summer. Cleveland ZipCore Impressions: 1. Feel, performance are noticeably different from the RTX-4, at least for me. RTX-4 is a really good wedge, but the feel was always a bit harsh for me. Whatever it is about ZipCore, Cleveland improved the feel considerably. 2. Full shots - acceptable, but not as acceptable as the Edison's. That could be a combination of things - maybe the shaft, maybe the CG - but the Edison's performed better on full shots. Again, I did like the ZipCore's much more than RTX-4 on full shots. 3. Around the green - ZipCore really shines. Plenty of spin, easy to manipulate the face, can hit 'em high, low, with spin or with run fairly easily. 4. It might just be the finish, but the face on the ZipCore just looks larger than the RTX face. I'm sure it's an illusion, but it was pretty startling the first time I tried them. 5. Satin finish is nice, but I'm really looking forward to the black finish they're planning for later this year. 6. Cleveland's thing is groove technology. They do Rotex milling, they have microgrooves, and they push the boundaries when it comes to depth, spacing and sharpness. There's definitely more groove tech here than with the Edison wedges, and it's noticeable on partial shots, chips and pitches. Any questions on the Edisons or the Clevelands, fire away...

Hmmm, where to start? First things first, it automatically registers your stats as you play - you don't have to do much of anything. It knows what club you hit and where you hit it from. For example - it knows you're using your driver for your tee shot, and then it knows you're using, say, you're 8-iron for your next shot, and from where you're hitting your 8-iron. From that, it knows how far you hit your driver. It basically uses the GPS to pinpoint where you're hitting from and it uses the technology in the strap and the RFID tags to know which club you're hitting and from where. On the green, since you have a tag with your putter, it knows where your first put is, and using the Pin Collect function you can tell it where the pin is and how many putts you took to hole out. The rest of the story is the actual data presentation. You get distances for each club, as well as what it calls P-Average, which basically culls out things like punch outs, half shots or really, really bad tee shots to give you an accurate idea of your "good" shots. You also get stats like proximity to the hole for approach shots with different clubs, short game and putting stats, etc. It's all presented on a personal dash board on their website and on the app. You will probably have to do a little post-round editing once you upload the data from the watch to your app or computer, but it's easy enough to do. Aside from all that, you get a pretty decent GPS watch and a way to remember bucket list rounds. Not sure if any of this helps - but to me, that's the point of this technology,.

Yeah - links have been a bit odd today. This one is correct: https://shotscope.com/us/

Blog post dropped this morning.... https://mygolfspy.com/shotscope-v3-gps/ So I've used V3 for three rounds so far. Overall, functionality is very similar to V2 - the occasional missing shots (I hit one from under a tree that somehow didn't get picked up, another one from the woods did - go figure). Editing remains very easy, and I do like the Provisional/Penalty/Lost ball feature on the watch - makes the editing easier. A note - if you've never used a shot tracking system, there WILL be post round editing. It's not hard, but plan on it for every round. As others have mentioned, the battery life is much improved - I have tried playing 36 in a day yet, but the battery level may drop to around 58-60% after a round. Haven't timed how long it takes to charge. All that aside, the size of the thing is the big plus. If you compared it to V2, it's David Spade's Richard to Chris Farley's Tommy Boy. I'm also excited for the prospects of G3 - it's basically the exact same watch, only without shot tracking capabilities. For under $200, it's going to be a winner for them. An insiders tip - if you are interested in either unit, I'd jump on it quick. I have a feeling they'll sell out by the end of the month. Just sayin....

Mentioned it in the article, but this shaft is NOT the DG Spinner. It's a brand new shaft - a joint venture by Cleveland and True Temper. I made the same assumption when talking with Brian Schielke, but it's a unique shaft and does NOT have that hourglass-looking taper in the middle. It's 128 grams - about 4 grams lighter than an S400 - has a similar step/taper profile as an S400, but with a livelier tip for more stopping power. It's official name is the Dynamic Gold Spinner Tour Issue. Been trying the 52-56-60 models in Mid sole grinds - versatile enough for what I need and easy to hit from most any lie. The higher and more toe-ward CG adds an interesting level of feel and forgiveness to a cast blade wedge. So far, I like them. I'm also trying out the new Edison Forged wedges - will add some pix and thoughts in that thread later.

I have maybe three rounds in with them - very impressed. They spin very nicely and are surprisingly forgiving for a blade-style wedge. The new shaft is pretty sweet, too...

Our blog is live - with pix! https://mygolfspy.com/cleveland-rtx-zipcore-a-new-old-fashioned-wedge/

Where they're at now is Parmatech is printing parts - the parts still need to be assembled and finished, so there's still a lot of handwork that needs to be done. They're a long way from squirting out a finished club, but they are working on getting closer. A lot will depend on what a golfer finds acceptable as a finished product.

This was a fascinating article to write, and my goodness the whole concept of clubs for lefties didn't even enter my mind! The real reason most companies have limited - to non-existent - left-handed options is because the number of left-handed golfers is so small. Making molds for lefties is just as expensive as making molds for righties, but the volume is so much lower. With 3D Metal Jet printing there are no molds, so in theory there's no added to cost to producing left-handed models of virtually anything.

Very cool experience! It's always good when a fitter listens and asks questions. I think you're gonna be very happy with the new toys. This is a fascinating business model - I think Honma is on to something. Working to schedule something with the new New England fitter soon. Will chime in when it happens!

First round with the new V3 in the books. Some thoughts... Set up and syncing with the app is WAY easier with V3 than V2 - it's a one step process. V2 you had to push a couple of buttons to get it into sync mode, then hit the sync button on the app. This is way easier - just hit the sync button on the app and away she goes. Had trouble trying to install the firmware update connected to the computer, but again, when synced to the phone app it was a piece of cake. Operation was pretty seamless, and the GPS seemed to be pretty accurate. It recorded every front 9 shot perfectly, but missed a few on the back 9. As with V2, there was some on-green manipulation needed in post round editing, but the performance was perfectly acceptable. The size difference is noticeable - and welcome. Only problem I had - and it may be because I'm doing something wrong - is to get it out of the play mode and back into watch mode I actually had to power it down and back up again. I'll check with Gavin to see if that's a thing or if there's a way to do it that I'm missing...

Mine arrived today - from an appearance standpoint, they killed it. It's WAY smaller and WAY lighter than V2, and the charger has been completely redesigned for the better. And not that it matter - or maybe it does - the packaging is way nicer, too - definitely will have shelf appeal. Hope to charge it up and try it out over the weekend. I agreed to a July 6th embargo with Shot Scope, so I won't post any pictures (my word is my bond!), but it's a very nice looking watch - about the size/weight of an Apple watch.

Terry is one of the most outspoken and interesting interviews in golf. He's made some friends and some enemies along the way (check the comments on that blog post about Edison - wow!), but he's always interesting and tells it the way he sees it. The Hogan TK-15 wedges remain among the best I've ever used (although you may have to pry the old Hogan Riviera wedges out of my cold, dead hands), and I'm anxious to try the new Edisons.

The ICONs are typical of blades in that when you hit the sweet spot, they feel fantastic and they go like crazy. Easy to shape and hit either high or low. Miss the sweet spot and you'll pay a price in both feel and distance. I'm missing a lot right now, but the good shots have been really, really good. And I can't say enough good things about the UiHi Utility. The 22-degree is my favorite club in the bag right now - that is one awesome, easy to launch club.

I have four rounds in with the combo set - with ICONs making up the 8-9-PW end of the set. Right now my game is one big dumpster fire, so it's hard to say, but the good shots I've hit with the ICONs are very good. I wouldn't call them particularly more forgiving or longer than the Ft. Worth 15s, but they do feel terrific and they're easy to flight - when I hit them well. Right now that's maybe half the shots, but that's true of pretty much every club in the bag for me right now. If this keeps up I may light the whole bag on fire...

And not for nothing, here's a like to the 2020 Wilson update (pre COVID 19) https://mygolfspy.com/wilson-staff-2020/

Here's a look at what happened to Wilson and how it went from dominant market leader to virtual non-entity. It was a long, slow slide, but it happened. https://mygolfspy.com/how-the-wilson-staff-empire-crumbled/ (Links to Parts 2 and 3 are in the blog post itself). Wilson stabilized starting in 2007 when Tim Clarke took over. One of the things I like about Tim - and Wilson - is they have a very closely knit team and they're very loyal to their people and their Pro Staff. They also own their mistakes -- the Baller Box in theory is a very good idea IMO. They screwed up the math and tried to get a little too cute, but the idea is sound. They'd have been better off going the Seed route with subscriptions - same price no matter how many you buy, set your own delivery frequency and length of subscription, cancel at any time. Their other mistake was to not come out with a standard package and a standard price at the same time. $44.99 is the standard price for a dozen premium balls - why not start there? I wrote this in another thread, but if you compare the pricing of the Baller Box - $50 with custom 40-digit player numbers or 3 lines of text and shipping included - is a bargain compared the similar offer from Titleist (two digit numbers, shipping not included - approximately $62/dozen). The lack of a standard package/price option has led to the general assumption that Wilson thinks its going to get $50/dozen for their balls when in fact, for what you're getting, it's a deal compared to Titleist. All this, of course, presumes you give a crap about customization. If you don't, then the lack of a standard option is all the more glaring. Wilson did tell me the plan was to come out with the standard option later this year. In retrospect, they'll admit that decision was a mistake. But they'll take the hit and keep moving forward. And not for nothing, it's a really good ball - I'd put it on par with anything else out there save for the new Bridgestone Tour B X. People have said to me Wilson would sell more of these if they priced them at, say, $39.99 or less. I don't think so. Most serious golfers don't bat an eye at spending $44.99 for a dozen ProV's, Tour B's or whatever your premium ball of choice is - so undercutting by $5 isn't going to get it done. If it did, Srixon would be the top-selling ball in golf. It's performance - as reported in our ball test - is every bit the equal of ProV, and they're priced to move at $39.99. If Wilson priced them at $34.99, no one would consider them premium. Pricing is a funny game. Retail pricing is the other trap - Wilson can't offer a deal online that undercuts their retail partner's pricing. It's one of the problems of dealing with retail. If someone can buy the product for less directly from the manufacturer than from a retail partner, the retail partner gets pissed. Small-ish companies like Hogan, Snell and Sub-70 can exist going to Direct To Consumer because the business is small enough to be manageable. For larger OEMs, the most cost-effective way to get their product to market is the retail route. It's not perfect, but it is what it is. If you've ever been to an OEM's facility you won't find much in the way of finished product in stock. Those that build their general stock in North America build and ship to their retailers, who will warehouse product for them. Those that have their products assembled overseas do essentially the same thing with a few minor logistical adjustments. Custom orders are built in their NA facilities and shipped directly to customers. The debate now that we're dealing with COVID 19 is will that retail channel change? In one way, OEMs use the retail channel as an extension of their warehouse. They book preorders in the late fall/early winter with retail customers, then build and ship those orders. That's the sell-in. The speed of the sell-out dictates when and how big the re-orders will be. The Big 5 aren't in any position to really change that model - if they decided to go DTC they'd have to triple their assembly team, triple their warehouse space, triple - at least - their order entry and customer service teams, triple their accounts receivable team, triple their shipping and receiving team and ultimately would wind up selling the product at close to the same price as you'd pay at Golf Galaxy. Wilson is in a similar position - it needs to be in retail shops for visibility and branding - and sales - to make its business possible. Do you see the retail model changing any time soon? I don't - it's too much a part of how we buy gear. Brand agnostic fitting centers are growing, but if you're price sensitive, those can be challenging. I do like what Honma's doing with mobile fitting vans working with club pros. They'll bring the fitting experience to you and give the club pro a commission on sales. Sorry for the lengthy and rambling response, but you caught me on a nimble finger morning. If you read the whole thing, let me know your thoughts...

Hearing through the grapevine Bridgestone will be putting the new Tour B series balls on sale starting Monday at $39.99/dozen. The sale is expected to run through Father's Day. Regular price is $44.99, and Bridgestone is running a Buy 3, Get 1 Free promo that ends on Sunday. That program will get you down to about $33.75 per dozen, so if you want to stock up on the new 'Stones, this is the weekend to do it. Otherwise, it'll be $39.99/dozen no matter how many you buy after that. Shots fired by Bridgestone, and in my book the new Tour B is THE ball story of 2020.

So, finally got a couple of rounds in this week and tried the Staff Model ball, along with last year's Bridgestone Tour B X and a new Penfold Dual ID ball. Some thoughts: In terms of distance, the Staff Model is every bit the equal of last year's Tour B X. I didn't have any of the new 'Stones in the bag so I can't compare. I will say when I've played the Tour B's, they are incredible. The Staff Model ball is very good - and I'd certainly game it. Green spin is very similar to Tour B X - Wilson says it engineered this ball for more spin around the green and its own testing shows it spins more than any ball except one (I'm guessing Bridgestone). I'd say for me the spin was about the same as the Tour B X. I didn't have a B XS to compare it to, but spin on the green was plenty adequate - on par with Bridgestone, Titleist and others I've gamed. Cover is plenty durable. No scuff marks to speak of even after dinging some trees. It doesn't like cart paths, but most balls don't. That Penfold Dual ID ball was kinda fun to play for no other reason that it's different. Penfold is an iconic British brand, but these are off the shelf balls from South Korea (production will move to Taiwan eventually. It's a 4-piece urethane ball, so it performs fine. Not the greatest ball ever made, but it's no dog either. And you can pretend you're James Bond while you play.

No - as far as I know, they contract out their work to the Taiwanese factory.

Heal up quick @BIG STU - there are MacGrogan's out there than need to be hit by someone who loves them! Enjoy the meds and get better fast!

Golf courses are finally open again in New Hampshire. Will take these out for a trial run today - hope my game is up for it. It's been a while....

There are a ton of wonderful and worthwhile causes going on in the world right now that deserve our attention. In the grand scale, this one's not at the peak, but it is aimed at people who are hurting. The PGA of America has started the Emergency Golf Relief Fund to provide short-term financial assistance to members of the workforce who've been affected by the Covid-19 shutdown - that includes everyone from groundskeepers to kitchen staff to the pro and his staff. Honma has put together some pretty cool packages - for a donation you can be entered into a raffle. For example, for a $50 donation you can be entered to win a TR20 driver and TR20 P or TR20 V iron package - it includes the driver, a full set of irons, two wedges and a Honma golf bag. There's a $25 entry donation for an XP-1, either irons, hybrids, 2 wedges and a bag or 1 driver, 1 fairway, 2 hybrids and a bag. If you're into the big money Beres line, for $100 you can center to win two different packages (driver/fw/hybrid or 7-piece iron set, hybrid and bag); or enter to win other prizes like a vintage Honma club package, a Honma Mobile Van fitting Experience - (@pmookie can tell you all about that!) or an Ultimate Honma fitting Experience ($100 entry includes airfare, hotel, fitting, equipment and golf at the Reunion Resort in Florida). Both fitting experiences include $2,500 worth of equipment. The program ends next Thursday, and I'm astonished at how few entries there are. As of right now, only one person has entered town the Reunion Fitting Experience and 6 entries have been sold for the mobile fitting experience. Anyway, checkout out if you're so inclined - if you think of it as a charity raffle, the odds are pretty good on some of these. https://honmagolf.rallyup.com/mobile-experience

Welcome to the Forum! Here's a link to last year's MyGolfSpy Golf Ball Buyer's Guide - that should get you started. https://mygolfspy.com/most-wanted-golf-ball/ The RB Tour X fared the better of the two Mizuno balls, but still scored as "Good." It did have the third best wedge spin of any ball tested. I tried a dozen of the standard RB Tour's last year - overall impression was meh. Didn't like them enough to buy any more. Hope this helps...

Blog post dropped this morning (click here). Folks have been asking for a Hogan combo set almost since the company resurrected the first time in 2015. Now that the new hybrids and utility irons are in, a combo set is doable. If the UiHi utility irons are any near as easy to hit as the older Ft. Worth Hi's are -- and Scott White says they're almost like cheating - this set should be a winner. Here's a batch of pictures for you to enjoy...