Btshiloh@yahoo.com

Rick Shiels just posted a very positive video review of the Kirkland v2 balls. He reviewed for putting, chipping, iron play, driving, and durability. He compared it favorably to the Pro-V1 in all categories. He didn't say they were as good at all things, but very close. He was within 2 yards of his normal distance, and at a 110mph clubhead speed, that amounts to no real difference for those with closer to average swing speeds. 

I'll turn 75 this Spring, so we are not that far apart age wise. My handicap is a 6 and my driver swing speed is low 100's to a high of 105 on a good day, so like you I'm not hurting for distance off the tee.  Going by what you posted, I see you are buying Prov1's for around $150 for 4 dozen, when you could be buying the Costco balls for $50 for FOUR dozen. 1/3 the price of the ProV1's. 
NOT sure as a 16 handicap golfer your would notice much if any difference between the two balls other than the price. Might be well worth the $25 it would cost you to buy 2 dozen and see if YOU can tell the difference. The vast majority of the golfers that reviewed the Costco balls did NOT see much if any difference that would make them go back to the ProV1 balls. Worth a look at least. 

I have a Honma driver....... Not snobby, or rich.
Also, the new TR20 irons are $1200 a set. That’s on par with Callaway, TaylorMade, Titleist, etc.
 
 
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I have a full PXG bag...and I would also say I am neither as well.
 
 
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My post was more i simply didn't know. My thoughts are if you can afford them go for it. No one should care , just like the guy playing a 10yr old driver who cares. Too many judge by clubs.  

What I don't understand is what all the fuss is with this new driver. I watched a few video reviews on this driver and it did NOT show any signs of "Increased" ball speed nor a distance gain over the last model. So why all the hype? NO Gain, just MORE money out of your pocket?  NOT my idea of a good idea. 

I wish people wouldn't assume what I have or have not read, and would actually read what I posted themselves.
Having a very good friend that was a patent attorney for a top golf company I have learned quite a bit.  
Can drivers get better?  Yes they can, is there some super material that could stay below the required ct mandated by the USGA and produce higher ball speeds, there very well could be. It is not here currently, in last years releases and not in this years releases.  Can they figure out how to increase ball speed on more places on the face?  Again, yes.  Can they figure out a way to make the head swing faster, again yes.  That doesn't change the smash factor multiplier to get from a CT to ballspeed.  I can also train to swing faster and increase ball speed.  THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID.  I said they have not figured out how to trick the CT measurement and produce higher ball speeds and basically get to a higher smash factor.
Can they make center strikes produce much bigger smash factors than they do currently?  If a new material is discovered or made that can fool CT and increase ball speed, sure.  That material is not in any head this year from all of the testing I have seen.  So yes ballspeed is currently maxed because there is not a material out right now that can stay below the CT and produce a big increase in ball speed.
Can they lower spin?  Again yes.  Can they do other things to make drivers better?  Sure, as I said IN MY FIRST POST, yes they can.  Please show me how the great and powerful OZ will stay below the CT and increase ball speed in some magnificent way, because until that happens yes drivers are maxed out as far as ball speed on SS hits.

Winn Dry Tec - soft, durable enough, and fantastic in the rain! 

Here are some pics from my around at Old South Golf Links. Beautiful course with pure greens, especially for February. Really cool low country look with a lot of water on holes (found a few of my balls in there 😬). Was only $75 which for this area is a good price. 

I think that it’s mostly Adam that seems to come off as less than humble no matter what the issue. I know he started MGS and should be proud of it, but he always comes off like “this is how we do it and the rest of you are wrong”  attitude in my opinion. 

MGS has been a full on Taylormade lovefest since the stealth came out.  It's as if MGS social has become the media arm of TM.  I say this as a fan of MGS.

Having just read through all this, here's my 2 cents worth.
The original comment from the generic My Golf Spy account was at best careless, and at worst a weak cheap shot. Happy for people to take exception to other peoples opinions, but at least own it, don't hide behind a semi anonymous name.
Disappointing that whoever made the initial comment hasn't owned it, and has dragged all other staffers into the furore. 
Very impressed with the general tone of the discussion, at least we seem to be able to disagree here without getting ugly about it.
Oh, and @cnosil if your Chia Pet goes missing, you can probably assume my youngest has stolen it, ticks two major boxes for her, Yoda and indoor plant😅
 

Maybe this was already mentioned but I watched the TXG review and the Stealth ball speed was about 1/2 mph slower than the SIM2 for Ian.  Carry was about 4 yards further for Stealth probably due to spin and dynamic loft differences.  Their conclusion leaned toward not replacing a SIM2 or even a SIM (also part of the review) but probably an older generation.  I don't know how many shots of each that review included as they edit footage.  That seems to be about the same message as RIck.

Saw the Rick Shiels interview before reading the MGS comment. I am new to MSG, comments like this take away the independence appeal that attracted me in the first place. I understand a crack at 2m subscribers, have also seen the TXG Stealth review and the conclusion it would not be much better than last year's models.
Surely as an industry we can do better than regenerating marketing hype? Stealth, in Australia is $300-400 more expensive than last year's models at circa $1,100. Does it have the extra value? What are the real brand value propositions when last year's purchases are discarded as inferior every time these companies promote a new "shiny toy" - golf is one of the worst at this IMO.

Mike was sitting right next to Ian Fraser and they agreed that, unless you’re hitting a driver that is three to four generations old, the Stealth is not going to provide any significant increase in performance (distance, forgiveness, etc.) Both of them agreed that it isn’t worth getting a Stealth driver if you are currently playing a SIM or SIM2 model.

I have sat behind the scenes and read all these comments and listened to what Rick Shiels said about the comment.  It is clear to me that someone from MGS got their panties in a wad over a comment indicating Rick disagreed with the the opinions of at least someone at MGS and basically replied without thinking.  It looks like their feeling was along the line of who is this guy that knows nothing and is disagreeing with our obviously superior knowledge.  It was a cheap shot and was unprofessional.  I found Ricks response to be professional and wise.  My opinion of MGS went down some due to this and mine on Rick was solidified some.  MGS should reach out to Rick, behind the scenes, and say that that comment did not represent the entire staff at MGS, assuming it does not, and let it go.  Hopefully that has or will happen

I had a coworker that had one in his bag and I got to hit it a few times. Well let's just say there isn't  one in my bag. I don’t want to be accused of not hitting it enough to give a good review.🤣
Too soon?

It read like an unnecessary, unsolicited cheap shot at Rick to me as well. But i didnt take it as a Taylormade “fan boy” post either. Just someone excited about a new product’s results. 

Obviously you didn’t watch/listen to Shiels’ entire video. He literally talks about hitting balls with the Stealth over the period of more than a week, at a number of different facilities, weather conditions, indoors off a mat, outdoors, and from a hitting bay. 
 
Besides, in the original review video Shiels did that brought this whole thing to a head, Rick hits way more than 10 shots!!!
My overarching point to all this, there is obviously enough Kool-Aid to go around. MGS doesn’t need to perform drive-by’s on others in the same arena. 

I haven't seen them all, but I would bet a good steak dinner that Crossfield, Etches, TXG, Finch, etc all do. They are professionals making money off their reviews, they want to hit that club enough that they know what they are talking about. Even the non paid reviews done on this site hit hundreds of balls. Because we all want to put out a good review, paid or not. These guys are not just hitting 10 shots and calling that a wrap. They are reviewing what 10 drivers a year? They have the time and resources to hit 100's of shots. They are all given reviews of how they like the product. MGS MW is not a review, but a test. Calling out a reviewers opinion as invalid because they don't test the way you do is silly, they aren't trying to do what MGS does and aren't claiming that they are.  
All that aside, I'll echo what Rick said on his podcast, even if he did only hit 10 shots, if this club had crazy ball speeds why didn't he see them on the first one? You only get 1 swing on a tee box(hopefully). It needs to prove itself on hit 1.  But again, that really doesn't matter. I have an issue with MGS saying that your opinion isn't valid because you didn't do things their way.  If they said that to you, anyone on this forum or anyone else in the world that doesn't sit well with me. 
 

I watch a lot of reviews on YouTube and that includes “No putts given “, Rick Shiels, James Robinson, among others. I clearly remember Rick saying MGS does true testing and he does reviews, big difference. Plus the vids we all watch are edited so more shots are taken than we see. We like watching these reviews because of the new shiny. Even extensive testing like MGS (appreciated as it is) wouldn’t change my mind without a fitting . Information from parties mentioned and others are awesome to have access to so we can try to get the best set possible for everyone’s personal needs. Even if one brand is clearly the best (unrealistic of course) there’s always someone who prefers another because performance will be better. The comment made about Rick Shiels was uncalled for, he does reviews. Don’t get on a high horse MGS, just keep up the good work and don’t worry about the reviewers.

Very disappointed in MGS. If you are going to call someone out at least have the courage to identify yourself. I respect Rick’s opinions but they would not preclude my trying something out for myself. These “everyone had speed gains”  statements don’t  mean much to me either. I do not believe any of your staffers hit the ball as poorly as I do. “Your results may differ!” Rick could have said “contrary to the OEM whores over at MGS, I saw no gains at all, don’t waste your money!” But he did not say that. Good for him. 

With two-ply you can turn it over and use the other side. 

Personally I like both MGS and Shiels but in this case, forgetting whether the allegedly independent MGS should be so defensive in support of Taylor Made, and being disrespectful to Shiels, Shiels is not the only one suggesting very little difference in performance figures as both Michael Newton and Askgolfnut say the same. The latter however does talk about little drop off for off centre hits. Basically the Stealth will be one of several I will try in the next few months as I would never buy a club based just on the word of anyone 

Subtext or not, MGS going after any other party for any reason comes across as very petty and holier than thou.
I'm not even sure what Tony's point here would be. Any of the YouTube reviews take their jobs seriously, the reviews take them days to put together. They easily hit 200-300 shots with each driver they test. If one of them doesn't see any difference after 200 shots... How many more do they need to hit? 
Also, from as many as I've watched, they do often point out that different people will get different results and that all they can do is give their own feedback and opinion on any given product. 
At least twice in the last year Rick has even mentioned that the testing protocol that MGS uses vastly exceeds anything else available and is a real test where he is giving a review. 
I'm having to separate the forums from the blog lately. The forum is still one of the best spots, if not the best, for great discussion and content. The Blog however has become increasingly an echo chamber of less data and more opinion articles. I've actually ceased getting my information on product releases from the main page. I get it, they like Titleist golf balls, TM drivers, mizuno irons and fujikura shafts.