Testers ANNOUNCED: Golf Pride Grips
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Golfspy_CG2, in TESTERS WANTED
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By mr.hicksta
Vessel Player 2.0 14-Way Stand Bag
G410 Plus 9º (45") | ACCRA TZ5 65 M4 (70g, tipped 1/2", D2)
G410 3W 14.5º (43") | ACCRA TZ5 75 M4 (78g, tipped 1 1/2", D2)
G410 2H 18.5º (40.75") | ACCRA TZ5 95H M4 (95g, tipped 1 1/2", D2)
G410 4 Crossover 23º (39.25") | ACCRA TZ5 95H M4 (95g, tipped 1 1/2", D3)
Epon AF-505 5-PW | Nippon Pro Modus3 Tour130 S (124g, Hard Stepped, 5-9 D3, PW D4)
RTX 4 50••, 54••, 58•• | Nippon Pro Modus3 Tour130 X (129g, Soft Stepped, D4, D5, D6)
PXG Bat Attack Gen2 (34") | KBS CT Tour Putter | Grips Aware Tour
Pro V1x #13
Accessories: Bushnell Pro XE, Golf Pride Tour Velvet/Tour Velvet 360 grips, Tour and Sport Gloves, Robert Mark Golf and Dormie Workshop headcovers/putter cover, Club Glove pocket towel, Cayce Golf caddy towel and custom Epoch S3 tees.
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By GolfSpy Dave
Introducing the UN series. A hybrid grip with the signature velvety sticky touch of NO1 Grip.
This grip combines a sticky, solid feel in the upper hand area, and a delicate softer feel in the lower hand area, which provides an unmatched sense of stability and confidence. UN series promotes light and consistent grip pressure, which leads to a smoother swing, improved distance, and control.
Available Round Material: Elastomer Weight: UN series 50g (±1g) UN Light 44g (±1g) Pink, Shocking pink Men's Standard
My Third Shot at NO1
It was way back in 2011 when I first ran a set of NO1 Model 48 grips through the old GolfSpy Dave review process. It’s fun to look back at my early reviews to see how the golf industry has changed over time. One of the coolest things about the Model 48 grips was that they came in lots of colors. Such a spectrum selection would not move the needle as much these days, but as many of you remember, there was a time not too long ago when your choice of grip color consisted of black or black.
I took my next spin with NO1 grips in 2015 when they released the Model 50 Pro grips. At the time, I considered the Model 50 Pro to be one of the best grips that I had ever put on a club. It had a great shape, tackiness, and overall feel in my hands. I could tell right away they it was also a durability upgrade over the Model 48. I really thought that the Model 50 Pro grips would last a while.
As it turns out, I was not wrong. I played last week with a friend who was using the set of irons that I had gripped with the NO1 Model 50 Pros, and those grips were still in use, and looking damn near perfect. As one who regrips about once a year, I was amazed that he still had those grips on from 2015. All he did was occasionally clean them with dish soap and water. Unbelievable.
And so today we take a look at a third model of NO1 grip, the newly released UN series. I’ve slapped them on my Srixons, and am ready to share with you what the UN is all about.
A New Decade of Dominance
Golf Pride’s New Decade Multi-Compound grips have impacted the golf grip industry perhaps more than any other grip. I'm going to go out on a ledge of craziness and call the NDMC the Anser of modern grips.
Yep, that just happened. Sorry Tour Velvet...
Keep the torches untorched for a second and hear me out. When we look at putter companies, nearly all of them make some kind of Anser variant. It’s really a necessity, as the consumer wants that head shape, and should a company want to sell putters, they had better provide the customer with what they want. Think about the upcoming Scotty Cameron Tel3 rerelease. You have two Anser Newport heads, and a cool flow-neck mallet. I’ll give you one guess as to why the Newports are there and not a Laguna and a Del Mar 2.
Like the Anser, Golf Pride’s NDMC grips have become iconic, and highly desirable to the playing public. Like the Anser with putter companies, grip companies have paid attention to this consumer trend, and now most companies feature some kind of NDMC-ish grip where the upper and lower portions of the grip feature different materials and textures. These new grips are typically not just copies, as like with the Anser situation, these companies are also taking the original New Decade design and putting their own spin on it.
“Adopting” and improving on a working design may be the most prevalent product plan in the golf industry, be it putters, drivers, gloves, or grips. Wheels get tweaked far more often than re-invented…
With all of that in mind, I bet you can guess the general design of NO1’s new UN series grip. Yep, you’ll find different tactile situations at the top and the bottom of the grip, and like the Anser making putter shops not named PING, NO1 has put their own spin on the design, perhaps even improving on the original concept.
A Tale of Two Textures
One thing that the UN series grip is not is a multi-compound grip. The entire grip is made out of the same elastomer material. Elastomer is rubber for those of you out there without Google.
What NO1 has done is make the UN grip more of a multi-texture grip, and in doing so, they were able to achieve the firmer upper/softer lower composition that we associate with the more traditional multi-compound grips.
Those of you who spent points for ranks in putter face milling knowledge will immediately get how NO1 has accomplished this feat. When a putter face is deep milled, the amount of metal that actually contacts the ball at impact is reduced. This interaction will be perceived by the person putting as a softer impact experience when compared to a putter without the deep milling.
When you look at the texture patterns on the NO1 UN series grip, you should notice that the texture on the lower section is far more aggressive than the top, with the holes being deeper and wider on the lower half.
Think again about the putter and the milling. If you have larger holes on the bottom section, you will actually have less rubber touching the (typically) right hand, and thus it will feel softer. Crazy parallel there, huh?
In addition to a less prolific texture pattern, NO1 has also added an additional layer of elastomer on the top section which increases overall firmness as well.
It’s grip wizardry. One material, but two different tactile experiences.
Playing The UN Series
I love sharing the technical side of these with you, but at $16 a grip, what you really need to know about is how they play. With that goal in mind, I went grips-ons with the Srixons and went to the course. While all of the following is, of course, subjective, I did have a few key observations worth sharing.
Comfy, Comfy, Comfy
I love the feel of these grips. As a point of reference, prior to installing these, my irons were gripped with Lamkin 3GEN Ace grips.
With that in mind, I definitely found the NO1 UN series to feel softer overall, with the lower region giving a nice bit of squish. It’s a welcome squish with these grips, at no point do they feel too soft. They are soft enough to mesh in with the fingers, but not so soft that you’d get waves of wiggle with the club.
The great thing about my game these days is that I get to take all kinds of shots from all places on the course. Admittedly, that’s not so great for scoring, but it is great for testing grips on a variety of shots. Under all conditions, these grips felt great and performed as needed.
Grip performance is absolutely a tough thing to measure. Outside of falling off the club, or spinning in the hand, it’s tough for a grip to have an immediate failure. In this situation, I measured subtle performance in two ways.
First, these did not promote finger damage like I will sometimes get with the 3GENs and even NDMC. No bandaids needed to play that second 18, just the usual Advil and alcohol.
Second, and most telling, is that I basically forgot that I was playing with new grips about two holes into the round. I don’t know if there is a higher compliment that I can give these grips than that. For me, they were so comfortable, and functional, that they just vanished into my subconscious while I played.
A grip that rubs roughly, or suddenly slips, is not a grip that you would ignore during play. The UN grips were totally un-obtrusive and un-der my radar during play.
Fancy Colors Rule
You have a bunch of choices when you are shopping for the UN Series grips. While the lower hand will likely be navy, you can get a number of bright colors on the top hand. Of the samples received, I really liked the light blue, and would probably game the white or yellow as well. I’m a colored grip guy. I’d actually like to see some of the more esoteric color combinations that NO1 has on their Series 48 and Series 50 grips. If these came in purple/white, I’d probably buy a case of them.
Should you prefer a more reserved grip palette, you can go with the mundane navy on navy combo, or the actually-very-badass all black design.
Longevity
I’ve only had a few rounds and some range time with these, but they are wear-free so far. Hopefully, they hold up like the 50 Pro grips. I’ll circle back to this section over the next few months and add photos should any wear issues develop. For now, all seems solid.
Thumbs Up for UN
Overall, I’m quite impressed with these grips. They are able to give you that upper/lower hand tactile difference that you look for in a multi-compound grip, without using multiple compounds. Folks who play without a glove, but don’t like the chord roughness in typical multi-compounds should definitely check these out.
The vanish-from-consciousness nature of these grips was especially welcome. That’s one less thing for me to think about when I am playing. I don’t want to think about the alternator when I am driving, I just want the alternator to do its job under the hood while I drive.
The NO1 UN Series grips have been UN-believably good so far.
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By Golfspy_CG2
The Number one Grip in Golf and the most used brand on tour sent out a few different models of grips to My Golf Spy forum member to be tested and reported back on.
This thread will serve as the review thread for the following testers and grips.
MCC Plus 4 ALIGN
@romeopapazulu Stage 1 Stage 2
@knightsofnii Stage 1 Stage 2
Golf Pride Tour SNSR Contour Pro Putter Grips
@chemclub Stage 1 Stage 2
@BigtazzGolf Stage 1 Stage 2
@JDHolmes Stage 1 Stage 2
@gchester33 Stage 1 Stage 2
Z Grip ALIGN
@LeftyHawk Stage 1 Stage 2
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By RWankles8
RW's one word review - FIRM
Hopefully you like calluses!
I've been playing the Lamkin UTx Midsize Reminder for the last season or so, and wanted to see how the Golf Pride Z Grip Align's compare. My biggest issue with the UTx is the loss of tackiness and grip texture mid round. I've realized I must have extremely dirty hands because to keep them tacky, I have to clean the grips during my round. I play in the south, so the necessity for a cord grip is a must. Hence my gravitation to the Z Grip. Golf Pride hails the Z Grip as the firmest grip model with "heavy cord texture and moisture management." And indeed it is firm. I mean really firm, like don't hit one thin. Ever.
Its also noticeably thinner than the UTx Midsize. My 6 iron was gripped first with no additional wraps, and that's when I noticed the size difference. Not to make the same mistake twice, my Fairway Metal was wrapped with 3 additional wraps of tape. These additional wraps made the grip closest to the size of the UTx Midsize.
Reminder grips have been around forever, and in Golf Pride's eyes, what's old is new right? I enjoy a reminder. I've had grip issues forever, and they help me place my hands where they should be. Does the Align tech help - Yes. Is it any better than a standard reminder grip - No. One downside to reminder grips is they really shouldn't be played with wedges in my opinion. If you open the club face at all the "Align strip" gets all out of whack and really throws your "align"ment off. (Currently waiting on the Lamkin Players Cord to come in)
Final Thoughts
The Golf Pride Z Cord Align is a great grip if you enjoy a firm feel and need to be "reminded" where your hands go. I'll play these until the wear out, or want something new, but will not be purchasing again.
3 out of 5
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By JonMUSC08
I am going out on a stretch with this one...
When we all buy new golf clubs or are in the market for a new club (testing), we head over to our local shop (Dicks Sports, Edwin Watts, PGA Superstore, etc) and request to try the clubs out in the bay with the launch monitors. Of course, how well is the new club going to compare to our existing club. In my personal experience, the employees in the shops always seem annoyed when you ask to try out clubs in the bays; more so if you are a lefty such as myself. That means they have to move the launch monitor sensor to the other side of the mat 🤬. Those of us not on tour or living in the 1% wealth do not have the ability to own a Trackman or GC Quad BUT would still like to utilize those products to test equipment and learn to gap our clubs. Do these 8 new drivers really give me 20 more yards and are much more straight than my existing driver... who knows, but the golf shop guy does not want me spending 3 hours testing all his equipment. Yet he wonders why i do not buy anything after i try one driver and dont get results. Don't be annoyed with me if i ask to try a different driver.
Here is the dream... A driving range with 2-4 bays rigged with launch monitors. Having top of the line monitors may be quite expensive but something to at least provide sufficient data to help the average or better golfer. By allowing players to learn their yardages and make adjustments will in essence speed up rounds as well. With the popularity of the technology AT the range, players would need to schedule times and pay fees for equipment use. The Arccos system is a great tool to help gap and determine club lengths BUT it takes quite a few rounds to determine all your clubs. Now i can hit 20 shots with each club and get solid data on EACH club. In addition, i can borrow or rent multiple clubs if i am in the market for a new driver, iron set, etc. IDEALLY having newly released equipment AT the range would be perfect.
My Golf Spy Community, lets make this happen!
Make this the new Top Golf or get me in touch with a Top Golf guy to integrate this!
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