GolfSpy MPR

Morning all! Finished my typical shot of espresso: now about to stretch and run five miles. Hoping (hoping!) to work my way up to a marathon this fall. Not particularly interested in entering an event; just want to see if I can run the distance. For us, this has been an early spring, so trying to take advantage of the extra running time.

Hmmm. This is something that worries me. Obviously, if the performance advantage is indisputable, I can deal with it. But I don't love high pitches on putters. This is something my current Edel gets exactly right: not mushy, not pingy. I'll certainly be doing some sound tests when my DF3 arrives.

Spent way too much time building this: a spreadsheet to track numbers from HackMotion, Blast, and ExPutt, to combine all of that data into a single score: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fam_m2w-Fq-EX6nDLa82TnbgRot1X5Qs2ZJOdzdTfag/edit?usp=sharing Here's my plan: this is built around the ExPutt "Analysis" feature. When you turn on Analysis in the Practice mode, it gives you a sequence of 18 random-distance straight putts. At the conclusion, it spits out a report on your distance control, face angle, and path. My intention is to strap on my HackMotion and attach the Blast sensor to whatever putter I'm testing. I'll turn on practice mode and hit 10-15 random putts, just to get in the proper feel for each putter. Then I'll turn on Analysis and start the Blast and HackMotion apps. My goal will be to avoid looking at the HM and Blast numbers while I'm doing the 18 putts, so that I'm not consciously trying to correct those numbers. I do have to keep an eye on the apps, however: the Blast will occasionally miss a putt, and the HackMotion has a tendency to add a lot of ghost reads. If all goes well, I'll plan to repeat this exercise at least five times with both my Edel and Evnroll. Given that L.A.B. is currently predicting over a month between orders being placed and the arrival of the DF3, I should be able to collect all of that data before the L.A.B. arrives. Then I will also collect at least five sessions of data with the DF3.

KABOOOOOOOM!

Plot twist: it's filled with hidden North Korean technology.

One of the commentators on Facebook voiced his regret for not cleaning his ball on a 50-foot putt, where the mud marred his L.A.B.

Just found a Facebook group for L.A.B. users/fans. One thread that I saw: a discussion of the durability of the aluminum heads. Not that they break or anything that dramatic, but that they're relatively easy to ding. I'm a diligent headcover-er, so I'm not terribly worried, but it's absolutely something we testers should note and report on.

I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious, and having anything named "shanks" sitting in my golf bag, hanging out with my wedges and irons, seems like a bad idea to me

This picture of the sole is amazing, because it shows a lot more sparkle (in the best sense) and texture than is suggested by a lot of other pictures. Looks awesome!

Very, very, very cool. Years ago, I had the XDream mallet. Didn't love the sound, but I always thought the alignment aid was on to something useful. Would love to see them license that design (I assume they have a patent) to other OEMs.

OK, so my current name finalist list (with the red [putter] head theme): Winston Weasley Conan Vincent van Gogh-in With two more suggested by my daughter: Garrett (from Dude Perfect; of the guys in the group, he's my favorite: he's pro-coffee and seems to realize that it's absurd that he's approaching middle age while filming trick shots for a living) Red Skull (which I thought was an exceedingly cool name until I read the Wikipedia entry and found he's apparently a Nazi, which ends that name idea)

Oh, I like it. How about this as a headcover:

It was shockingly dull, except for the outcome (not going to spoil it). I think I'm glad they didn't risk having announcers: that may have worked, but the odds are it would have been astonishingly cringey. My thought: Erik Anders Lang and Kyle Berkshire both used to produce course vlogs in which that would narrate the holes via voiceover in postproduction. I get that even the "entertainers" in this tournament were massively unlikely to be chatty during the round, given the stakes and opportunity in front of them. But have them watch the round a week later and capture their thoughts then, and weave that audio in. Someone on Twitter also suggested what NLU does with their Film Room series, which makes sense. The issue is that YouTube golf is awesome because it doesn't operates under the real-time constraints of broadcasting live golf. It was a weird decision to bring in a bunch of YouTube golfers (with their audiences) and then offer a product much more reminiscent of live golf (without any of the interesting features).

I'm assuming as opposed to the other, which is Left Conan? I'm laughing. And then I'm stopping, before I have to ban myself for talking politics.

The advantage of the name Conan is that I'd have a ready excuse when I gas one way past the hole: "Nuts! Wrong Conan!"

This is the key question. For that end of the bag, loft is merely a part of the rationale for including a club in the set. For me, my Gap Wedge is functionally my 11-iron. I do not use either my PW or my GW for partial shots. I use my SW for everything from 100 yards and in (including bunkers), and pull my 58° only for shots that absolutely demand height with a little roll as possible. If Sub70 made a 639CB GW, I would have absolutely considered putting it in my bag. If you use your GW sometimes for full swings, other times for partial swings, the Cleveland CBX series is a great option. Their basic advertising for it is sound: if you're playing some kind of forgiving iron, having a wedge with some forgiveness (especially in the GW slot) makes a ton of sense. If your GW is often used for partial shots, then you're likely in the market for a specialty wedge, and that's where the questions of bounce and grind start being relevant. But all that to say: start with an answer to what you want this club to do, and work from there.

This made me laugh. Not exactly the demeanor I'm trying to cultivate on the greens, but would absolutely make for a sweet headcover

I've been betrayed by putters before. But I'd rather not give it that name upfront, and I hope it doesn't earn it I could be persuaded of Winston: A bit overwrought for putting, for sure. But there are days that it feels that way.

I was also thinking about giving my putter a name. Given the color I've chosen, I'm kicking around names of famous redheads, either historical or fictional. (Just for my part, I'm going to exclude actresses, etc.) I'm also open to groan-inducing puns. Early leaders: van Gogh or Weasley. Not a huge Harry Potter fanboy myself, but Weasley just seems like a fun putter name.

This is absolutely going to have to factor into our reviews. I have a fairly well-earned reputation around here as a budget golfer. To be sure, I have a lot of gadgets, but they are almost all either from eBay or (more recently) through connections that I've developed in the online golf community that have resulted in some very generous people/companies sending our family gear that we would never plan to purchase ourselves. With the TPT shaft and counterbalance setup, my DF3 is going to have a website price over $1,000. For me, in my position, I don't know that there is ever a situation in which I would remotely consider spending that kind of money on a putter. When I've bought putters (again, most often on eBay or Callaway Pre-owned), I typically targeting a max price of $125. My Evnroll Midlock was an eBay purchase for $235; I believe that is the most I've ever spent on a putter. Here's why I think a review like this matters: there are some guys in golf for whom money seems to be no object. If the DF3 is all it seems to be, they're happy to spend $1,000 to save a stroke or three a round. And for some, it doesn't even have to save strokes: some guys just like buying toys. For my part, I'm generally grateful for those guys: without them, the secondary market wouldn't exist. In three years, they're going to want another toy, and their current putter will be on eBay or Second Swing or Facebook Marketplace. For my part, then, I want to write this review about my experience with the performance of the DF3 (counting myself incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to get a putter that would otherwise not be accessible to me). If the putter performs well, I hope there are some who read the review and go and buy a L.A.B. But then, three or four years from now, I'm hoping someone is scouring eBay for a used L.A.B., and is wondering if he should pull the trigger, and maybe he comes across this thread, and it helps him also make an informed decision.

Speaking of headcovers, for those who have a DF3 or have spent some time with it, I'm assuming it has to be a custom cover unique to the DF3? Both size and the center shaft suggests to be there's no way a standard mallet cover would work. Is that correct?

Pork belly! Fried it after it simmered a couple of hours. Put some fried pieces back in the broth with ramen, then made a sticky Chinese sauce for the rest and served with fried rice.

Not helping...

For those of us who are growing in anticipation, this won't help make the anticipation get less:

Yes. A female voice says, "Ready" with enough upward inflection that it almost feels like a question. It bugs Kirke, especially when it happens more than once before he putts. I'm waiting for the right time to drop it on him on the course this summer. I've been using practice at 5-30' for the most part; as I've written elsewhere, our greens are really tiny, and so that's the distance I really want to dial in. I will say, one of my biggest eye-openers so far has been the 9 hole mode. I don't hit a lot of greens in regulation in real life, and it's very obvious that the only reason I don't average over 2 putts per hole is that I miss greens and I'm decent with my wedges. I might start calling that mode "Scottie Scheffler mode" because you start realizing how hard it is mentally to hit every single green and have that many birdie looks, while (especially being me) making so few of them.