GolfSpy MPR

Interesting timing for us testers on this MGS blog article: https://mygolfspy.com/news-opinion/first-look/should-you-switch-to-a-counterbalanced-putter/ I know that, unless the fitter at L.A.B. actively disuades me, my intention right now is to go counterbalanced. The Edel I'm using is, I suspect, at the extreme of weighting. I do not have (unfortunately) have a swing weight scale, but just compare these numbers of two of my putters, both 34": Edel EAS 4.0, Garsen Quad Tour grip: about 585g, balance point at least a foot up from the putter head Stock Odyssey 2-Ball Ten, Stroke Lab, Odyssey oversized grip: about 540g, balance point about 7" from the putter head The Edel, compared to a lot of off-the-rack putters, feels like a sledgehammer. I don't know exactly the spec, but it has a large weight in the butt end of the shaft. For my part, I like it a lot. I have spent time using an Enroll Midlock ER11v, which I also have liked a great deal. But my hope is that, if I end up with a counterbalanced L.A.B. (at 37"), it will combine the best of both my Edel and the Evnroll Midlock.

Maybe? But possibly in a way that (at least now) I hope could be helpful. One of the things I've worked at the past couple of years is my brain state playing golf, especially when putting. Among my many golf gadgets is a device called a FocusBand; it is a strap you wrap around your head, and it's measuring brainwave frequency. Current research suggests that for a lot of athletic tasks, better performance typically coincides with low frequency brainwaves. For most of us, that means shutting down the noisy brain activity about technique, etc., when standing over a shot, especially a putt. What FocusBand recommends is (in part), looking up at the hole while holding in your mind a picture of your ball and putter at address, then looking down at your putter while holding the image of the hole location in your mind. This image-focus tends to get the brain into the right wavelengths. So all that to say: for my part, I've actually found it easier to hold the image of a putter in my mind when the putter is memorable. For example, the iconic 2-Ball is very easy to hold in mind. I'm actually hoping the DF3 works to my advantage in this regard.

Ooh. I'll definitely be interested in this. I'd go for either two or three lines on the leading edge to align the putt and one tiny line on the back flange to trigger my takeaway.

Got my intro up: https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/64035-testers-announced-lab-df3-putters/?do=findComment&comment=1051655 I may or may not be hitting refresh on my Gmail account a dozen dozen times per day right now, waiting (im)patiently for my online fitting reply from L.A.B.

My dream putter, at least today: L.A.B.'s torque balancing MLA's alignment aid Evnroll's face grooves Toulon's (Small Batch) aesthetics One of the über-stable shafts (not sure if they do anything, but if we're dreaming, let's throw it in) Garsen Quad grip

The short answer: no one is likely to overtake him until he falls back to the pack. The level he's playing at right now is about a once-every-20-years-or-so peak; the odds of another guy on any tour raising his game to the level that Scottie is at at the same time Scottie is there are ridiculously tiny. Consider the gap between Scottie and everyone else in just about every ranking system. Data Golf: TUGR: OWGR: The first two systems are more interesting to me, and both include golfers from multiple tours. In both of the SG measurements, Scottie is approaching a stroke-per-round advantage over the second-ranked golfer (in both measurements, currently Xander). He is more than a stroke per round better than Rory, in third place. Scottie is on a heater, for sure. And he's on a heater while still having a glaring liability in his game, with his substandard putting: All heaters come to an end, and in golf, they seem to be able to come more suddenly and without warning than other sports. But for now: no one is catching Scottie until he cools off.

Well, I certainly do now. And forevermore. Thank you, I think?

This is very subject to change after my I hear back from L.A.B., but right now, my plan is to go counterbalanced at 37", with the heavy headweight. I currently use (and enjoy) the Garsen Quad grip on my Edel, so I'm planning use the 17" Garsen Quad Tour option on the DF3. My clubs and bag setup tends to be black and red, so I'm going with the red head and black shaft; leaning towards the TPT version. My Edel was fitted with the two alignment lines on the base of the putter (clean top line); L.A.B. doesn't offer anything exactly parallel to that. I'm likely either to go with two on the top line (as pictured here), or the version with three lines through the first two sections and a single line on the very back.

Right now, I'm inclined to go with the same alignment you have on this DF3 for the MGS test. Can I ask: 1) what was your reason for choosing this pattern and 2) what are your early impressions of it?

Intro will be up shortly, but I'm looking forward to having an interesting angle on this. My current putter was also an MGS review: the Edel EAS. Should be fascinating to compare two giants of the torque-balanced putting world.

Introduction: I’m Michael. I like putters. My love of putters is almost certainly higher than my actual skill of putting. Putters are like quarterbacks: if your team has two, it probably doesn't have one. And if a golfer doesn’t have one putter, he’s likely not a great putter. And that’s true in my case: I have a rack of putters, a few of which typically see the course each season. This will be my second putter review for the MyGolfSpy Forum. A couple of years ago, when I was still an active moderator, I participated in the Edel EAS review. My EAS 4.0 is, as I write this preview/introduction, still my main putter. Summary of My Putting: I’m not a bad putter, but I’m not an especially good putter either. My Arccos handicap is currently 9.8 (yes, that 0.2 matters a lot to me). If I tweak the comparison benchmark until it gets to 0.0 SG:Putting, I putt at the level of 13 handicap. So I’m just slightly worse than average for my current level. But given that my goal as a golfer is to get to a solid single-figure index, I must improve my putting. What has been a lingering weakness for at least 5 years of stat tracking is my performance with “makeable” putts: those within 8’ (the 50/50 breakpoint for Tour players). Me as a Golfer: I’ll be 45 this summer; I am the pastor of a small church at the west end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, where I’ve lived for the past 12 years. My wife and I have six children, ranging in ages from 13 to a few months. Those who’ve followed me on this Forum know that my oldest son is an avid and skilled junior golfer; I play most of my golf with him and am delighted both at the time we get to spend together and the privilege of having a front-row seat to watch him play. My other son always plays on occasion, and my six-year-old daughter also enjoys playing. All three of them will participate in Drive, Chip, and Putt this year. I play almost all my rounds every year at the one course that we have locally. They offer a clergy discount, so for $320 I can play as much golf as I wish during our six(ish) months without snow on the ground. Kirke plays for free. I never have to book a tee time; I just show up and start my round. I don’t take this privilege lightly. The one factor of our course that will affect my testing: our greens are tiny. Pebble Beach is famous for (a lot of reasons, but relevant here) having the smallest greens on the PGA Tour. The average green at Pebble is around 3,500 sq. ft. The average green at Gogebic Country Club is 3,200 sq. ft. This has a couple effects on this test: I almost never have a putt of 50’ or more. I miss a lot of greens relative to my handicap, despite having a relatively decent approach skill. The disparity is captured in this Arccos graphic, which shows that my total proximity is slightly better than a 10 handicap, while I hit 2 fewer greens per round than an average 10 handicap: Thus, I’m normally hitting my first putt from much closer than an average player of my skill level. My short game (as per Arccos) is the strongest part of my game, but this is why it’s so crucial to me that I improve in the makeable putts range. Compared to a scratch golfer, here is my current performance: Testing procedure: I love data and gadgets. These will play a significant role in my testing and reporting here. In the time spent waiting for the fitting and arrival of my L.A.B. DF3, I’ll be establishing some baseline numbers with two putters from my collection: the Edel EAS 4.0 mentioned above and my Evnroll Midlock ER11v. “What numbers?” you ask. I’ll be using the Putting Stability feature of the HackMotion wrist sensor to measure lead wrist stability through the stroke. I’ll likely use the Blast Motion sensor to track face opening/closing, loft/lie angle changes, tempo, stroke time, etc. I’ll also be using the ExPutt (arriving this week, according to FedEx!) to track all the club and ball data that it measures. My intention with the ExPutt is not only to track this club and ball data, but also to pit these putters against each other in matches using the practice features in the software. Now, on to the course! First, I’ll be using Stack Putting to compare the performance of these putters in putting comps. If the weather and time permit, I’d love to do at least three Stack Putting sessions with each putter, and then be able to compare the Strokes Gained putting numbers I’m getting with each of them. Once the L.A.B. arrives, I intend for that to be my exclusive gamer for the entire testing period. I’ll be collecting stats with Arccos, and I have my baseline here from Arccos with my last 20+ rounds with the Edel. Fitting Expectations: I will be using L.A.B.’s online remote fitting option. Until my Edel test, I had never been fitted for a putter. My Edel fitting was reassuring, because my fitter (the current owner of Edel!) more or less confirmed the things I had discovered about my putting using the “fitting by eBay” method. I have settled on a 34” length for standard putters. I aim roughly 2° to the right on most putts and pull them. My stroke is ugly; having early on read Dave Pelz, I tried to ingrain a straight back/straight through stroke that ended up being “take it back outside the line and reroute to something useful.” I don’t know what lie angle L.A.B. will recommend, but I suspect it will end up being fairly upright. I’m currently eyeing getting my DF3 in a counterbalanced setup, at 37”. My Edel is quite heavy, and I find a level of comfort in that. The fact that L.A.B. offers a Garsen Quad on the counterbalanced putter is awesome, because that’s currently what I’m using on my Edel. Many of the clubs in my bag (and my whole bag and pushcart setup) have a red and black color scheme, so that’s where I’m intending to go with my DF3.

Smoked pulled pork on toasted ciabatta, shredded pepper jack, red onion, cilantro, BBQ sauce and horseradish.

We'll be watching a bit later this afternoon. But for the morning, Kirke's donning his green jacket:

One photo update: from yesterday, we made a copycat recipe for Chick-Fil-A chicken, with buttermilk biscuits. We added strips of bacon, and then maple syrup mixed with chipotle hot sauce. They were incredible!

Opening day here is likely within the next couple of weeks. Was able to stop at a course a little less than an hour away yesterday and hit balls outside for the first time this year. Took some video of Kirke but not of myself. This is from my garage last night. In general, I'm pleased with where my swing is right now as the season approaches. Would like to tweak it a touch so it's a little less laid off at the top. Two reasons: it would allow a touch more speed (bigger arc of the clubhead) and it gives a touch more time/room for shallowing in transition. PXL_20240413_011551162~2.mp4

There are several I could name, but I think topping the list will be Tales From Q School by John Feinstein. I've enjoyed everything by Feinstein that I've read, but TfQS tells what are, in my opinion, the best stories of the most dramatic pivot point in golf. So many of the guys profiled in the book are at the point of their careers in which they either make the Tour or start pursuing a different course of life. A great read.

At 8, my advice is: allow her to enjoy the game more or less the way that she wants to enjoy the game. It is, fundamentally, a game. It is entertainment. If she seems to enjoy hitting balls on the range, if that's fun for her, that's great. As a parent of a few children who enjoy the game at various levels, there may come a point, closer to high school, in which I would press a child of mine who might be able to open some doors with golf to make responsible use of his talents, but until then: enjoy the time with your child, and make things fun.

For golf nuts, the Masters is like a holiday, but one that stretches over (now) a little more than a week. I think we can say that, at the very least, Masters week now begins with the final round of the Augusta National Women's Amateur and it extends through the final round of the Masters. So the question: how would you rank all the days of Masters week+? Saturday¹: @anwagolf Final Sunday¹: @DriveChipPutt Final Monday: people arrive? Tuesday: Practice, Champions Dinner Wednesday: Par 3 contest Thursday: Ceremonial tee shots, Rims 1 Friday: Round 2 Saturday²: Round 3 Sunday²: Final round, Green jacket ceremony My ranking: 1. Sunday²: the best, for sure. Appointment viewing, enduring memories. 2. Thursday: getting up Thursday morning is like Christmas for golf. 3. Saturday¹: the first time each year we get to the see the course. 4. Sunday¹: I'm biased, because my kids participate, but I love the DCP final round 5. Wednesday: the Par 3 contest, especially with all the kids, is just a lovely thing. 6. Saturday²: moving day at the greatest golf tournament. 7. Friday: I'm watching, for sure, but not quite the same punch as the other days. 8. Tuesday: Masters on the range is fine, interviews are sometimes interesting, I like the Champions Dinner picture. 9. Monday: I'm glad people have come. So what's your ranking?

Sounds tasty, but unless you're doing some serious cooking this upcoming Sunday, this isn't quite the question of the thread. I think we've got threads about what your champions dinner would be. This is, what are you actually eating as you watch the Masters this Sunday?

Got any food plans for the upcoming weekend? For the past few years, our family has made a tradition of making things from the Masters menu for our final round viewing. Mostly, our main course has been either fried chicken sandwiches or pulled pork sandwiches. This year, our current plan is to make chicken biscuits on Saturday morning (church on Sunday makes breakfast prep less an option). So we'll start watching moving day at Augusta with our best attempt at a Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit, likely with bacon and a maple/hot sauce drizzle. To be consumed with a good mug of home-roasted, fresh ground coffee. On Sunday, we'll do pulled pork BBQ sandwiches, probably with red onion and cilantro. Side of potato chips, washed down with Georgia's own Coca-Cola. For desert, we're going to make peach ice cream sandwiches and caramel pecan popcorn. So that's our plan? What's yours? Nothing special? Ordering pizza? Buying the Taste of the Masters package?

Big, big fan of the GrooveIt, but I had the same problem. Especially for rounds when I took a cart, it would go in a pocket rather than on the magnet. But last year, I ended up buying myself the GrooveIt mini. No water spray, but the brush itself is supper tiny (and therefore doesn't weigh enough to get jarred off the magnet). It should be my go to for a long time.

This is a cousin to this golfer rule: when flying in a window seat, your goal is not only to look for golf courses, but to try to figure out the routing.

Counterbalanced at 37", with heavier headweight. ACCRA Black shaft, Garsen Quad Tour 17" grip. 69° lie angle, though I need to dig a bit more there to confirm.

I currently own both a SkyTrak+ and a Mevo+. Both companies have been very good to work with and have, in different ways, been very generous to me and our family. At some point, I intend to do a head-to-head video review of both devices. But cutting to the chase: if I were sentenced to a desert island and could only take one, I'd just flip a coin. I suspect that's a really frustrating answer, but they're both great devices, and each has strengths (and weaknesses) in ways that make having both really worthwhile. For the Mevo+ (with Pro Package and Face Impact upgrades): ALL THE DATA! I love this aspect of the Mevo+. If you know what all the data points mean and how to use them, the Mevo+ just gives you way more information than the SkyTrak+. Here are the data points that (at this moment) the SkyTrak+ gives: And here's the Pro Package, to which you can had the Face Impact location: The Mevo+ supports no-ball speed swings, including full integration to the Stack System app. The ability to swing and immediately have your speed in the app without doing anything else is a little thing that, once you have it, you'd never want to give up. The native FlightScope software is incredibly full-featured for analysis: multiple windows (on PC) with different data, swing videos, integration of force plates and FocusBand. Being able to set target ranges for specific data points is a sweet feature as well. For those with kids: having a radar-based LM that sits behind the hitting area is good for peace of mind. My SkyTrak+ has already been hit by several less-than-ideal shots (grateful for the protective case), including one that sheared a plastic screw off the case. Radar is definitely an advantage here. FS doesn't charge subscription fees! You buy the Mevo+, you have access to all the features at the level you purchased from that point forward. I love this. As for negatives: the Mevo+ is fusier to set up than the SkyTrak+. It obviously requires far more space, with 8 feet behind the ball and 12 feet of flight. When I plop the SkyTrak+ down for a session, I'm normally within about a degree or so of it being correct just setting it next to the hitting mat. The Mevo+ needs to be in the right place behind the ball, angled the correct way, with the kickstand out the right amount. It's just more tedious; almost always, if I just have a few minutes and I want to hit balls, I'm going to grab the SkyTrak+ for this reason. Putting isn't good on either device, but it's worse on Mevo+ (at least for me, at least right now). There's a bug in Mevo+/GSPro in which putts over, say, 20 feet will launch 75+ feet. A little static electricity in your sim area can really throw it off. Again, the SkyTrak+ isn't awesome for putting either (I almost always play autoputt with both devices), but it's more usable than the Mevo+. The Mevo+ is a little more finicky about picking up shots from my little kids. So while it's less likely to get hit by a stray ball, we also have a lot of "oh, it didn't pick that one up, try again" moments. The SkyTrak+ seems to be more friendly about those poorly struck little shots. For the SkyTrak+, obviously some of these are already suggested above: Having face and path data makes it a massive upgrade over the OG SkyTrak if you're trying to improve your game. The native SkyTrak app is much more user-friendly and simple than the FS app. If you subscribe (more on that), the range easily lets you define a target green and then randomize how far away it is with a range of distances. I probably do this more than any other one thing in my garage: set the SkyTrak+ down, correct, ask for greens from 25-100 yards, and practice partial wedges. The simple competitive games (closest to the pin, target golf, long drive) are easy enough. The skills assessment is also a staple of my practice, and the bag mapping and wedge matrix are also well-executed. The depth of the FS software isn't there, but the simplicity and polish is very good. As I mentioned above, the SkyTrak+ seems to work better picking up shots from my youngest children. For me, this is a big plus: I like when they're having fun. Again as mentioned above, putting on SkyTrak+ is better than Mevo+. I think it gets the speed right almost all the time. Occasionally, it reads really odd pulls or pushes; we have some mini golf putting courses in an app (Creative Golf/Golfissimo), and they would be a little more fun without these idiosyncrasies. On the negatives, I don't love subscription models, though I understand the benefit. For the SkyTrak+, you're going to want to plunk down the $130/year for the package that unlocks all the features of the ST software; otherwise, all you can do is hit balls on the range and see the results (no sim software, no movable targets, no skills test, etc.). So there's (at least) some of my thoughts on these two devices. If you have any specific comparison questions, ask away. I think they're both great devices, and I recognize that it's a crazy privilege to own both, and I'm grateful for it.

After an uncharacteristic patch of warm weather up here, winter came back from the last few weeks. So today, with the temperature up near 50°, I took the opportunity to get into the garage to get in a bunch of practice. I started like I normally do: setting up SkyTrak+ with random yardages, 25-100 yards. It's my favorite warmup, and keeps my wedge game as the best part of my game. Eventually, my 6-year old daughter joined me, and she's really developing a nice swing: After she got in some swings, Kirke joined me for nine holes of a pitch and putt course. I finished the back nine (after he went to play basketball) on a tear, shooting nine under for nine holes (auto-putting, which obviously makes a huge difference). I then did my Stack session for the day, which ended up being pretty meh. Just wasn't feeling it; dropped from a Stack speed of 110 and 108 in the past two sessions to 103. Probably should have called it at that point, but decided to try some driver (no ball) swings to see if I could find some speed. I did: this is Mevo+ recording my fastest ever swing with a driver: The key feel I ended up finding: getting my hands much, much higher in the backswing. Wrapped up my practice hitting some balls on the Mevo+, wanting to see if that backswing would translate to a normal golf swing. Took a few attempts to get everything together, but then hit one of the sweetest SW shots I've ever hit: The forecast around here is looking promising: highs around 50° for the foreseeable future. Really looking forward to getting in a bunch of practice the next few weeks before opening day up here.