Golfing News & Blog Articles

There‘s a lot of cool gear in the golf world that doesn’t always fit into Most Wanted Tests or Buyer’s Guides. You still want to know how it performs. In our We Tried It series, we put gear to the test and let you know if it works as advertised.

What We Tried

Attending the first round of LIV Nashville, a 54-hole tournament organized by LIV Golf.

Your Reviewer

Sean Fairholm, a longtime golf journalist who genuinely tried to come into the day with an open mind.

We Tried It: Attending A LIV Event

If you’ve been reading MyGolfSpy for the past six months, you will know that I’ve been critical of the divide in professional golf. In my opinion, the game is not big enough to be fractured and still have success over the long haul.

I’ve voiced my displeasure with LIV for multiple reasons, but the overarching frustration is that the product appears to be a watered-down version of PGA Tour golf. LIV has created a league of 54-hole exhibition events that the masses don’t seem to gravitate to, as evidenced by minuscule TV ratings. I have probably watched no more than 30 minutes of LIV coverage over the past two years. I have no emotional connection to the tournaments, results or most of the players—so I haven’t made it far with my viewing experience.

Last year, the MyGolfSpy Forum ran a member test with the prior generation of rain gear from Galway Bay. The results were very positive and, with the exception of a few sizing comments, testers really enjoyed the rain gear and its performance.

This season, Galway Bay released a new series that aimed to enhance a few key areas. One is the waterproof rating. The prior generation already boasted an impressive waterproof rating of 15,000. The new Renvyle Jacket and Claddagh Chino Rain Pant doubled to 30,000. What does this mean? Simply put, the garments are able to better resist rain over more time while being able to breathe and not overheat. Another key improvement was the addition of a high collar for added protection.

About Galway Bay

Galway Bay is well known for its wet weather performance gear and has had succes in MyGolfSpy testing, both on the Forum and in Most Wanted tests. Their standout features include rain pants that are meant to fit like regular pants versus bulky pullover rain pants. They also have a three-layer fabric to block wind and rain. Finally, they make concerted efforts to have rain gear that looks good on and off the course.

The Testing Opportunity

We selected four golfers to test, review and keep a Renvyle Jacket and Claddagh Chino Rain Pant. These testers were tasked with challenging the worst conditions to see how the rain gear performed. Critically, we also wanted feedback on the fit and feel of the gear to compare with prior tests.

What Testers Said: First Impressions

As with any piece of clothing, the initial fit and feel can create lasting impressions. So let’s see what our testers had to say.

Major winner Justin Thomas shares 3 tips every golfer needs to know to dial in wedge shots from under 100 yards.

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These driver offerings have a special combination that's worth exploring if you're in the market for a new big stick.

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Lexi Thompson's bizarre Sunday plus Rory McIlroy forensics, U.S. Open insights, one dumb graphic and more in the Monday Finish.

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Qualification for the Women's Olympics Golf competition went down to the wire during the third major of the season. Here's the field.

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Top 100 Teacher John Dunigan shares the mental tricks he used to help a high-school player calm her golf anxiety and make her school's team.

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Fujikura is building on the success of the 2024 Ventus VeloCore+ with the addition of two new profiles to help fit golfers better.

The post Fujikura completes 2024 Ventus shaft line with new Red and Black profiles appeared first on Golf.

Scottie Scheffler can't win this week because he's not in the field at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Here's our choice to take the title.

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In today's edition of Play Smart, we look at a video from a Top 100 Teacher that shows why shaft lean is important for ball striking.

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If you’re hearing about Fujikura’s VENTUS VeloCore+ lineup for the first time, it’s likely because the first shaft in the updated lineup, the VENTUS Blue VeloCore+, launched relatively quietly during the 2024 PGA Show.

Actually, pretty much every shaft launch is quiet by comparison to, say, RocketBallz 2 or JetSpeed.

I mean that sincerely. Releases were big time back in the day.

Unlike VENTUS TR, which was an extension of the original VENTUS family, VeloCore+ is a replacement for the original. It’s fair to say the new models have some big shoes (or perhaps tip adapters) to fill. It’s not even the slightest stretch to call the original VENTUS the most successful graphite shaft of all time.

Before we get into the particulars, it’s worth noting that Fujikura has made a slight adjustment to the name, emphasizing the use of VeloCore technology. This serves to differentiate the new models from TaylorMade’s VeloCore-less stock offerings while the addition of “+” draws the distinction between this new VENTUS and the original.

Earlier this year, we introduced you to Snell Golf’s PRIME family of golf balls. While each of the three has its audience, the PRIME 2.0 is the most interesting, if for no other reason than it’s a bit of a golf ball unicorn.

About the Snell Prime 2.0

While it may not be accurate to say that the Snell Prime 2.0 is the only two-piece urethane golf ball in the marketplace, it’s certainly the only one (at least right now) that’s likely to be played by a MyGolfSpy reader.

Historically, two-piece urethane balls have been a challenge to make. On the positive side, manufacturers were able to generate more greenside spin because of the urethane cover. The trade-off was that the high-spin properties carried through the bag, leaving you with a ball that was slow, spinny and ultimately short off the driver.

Cool.

According to Dean Snell, relatively recent advances in core technology have made two-piece urethane viable and, with that, created a unique opportunity in the market that Snell Golf is more than happy to fill.

The Costco golf ball is not worth your money. Honestly, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your membership is probably better used on a rental car discount, a couple gallons of Mayo, or even their four pack of gloves. After we ran these through our quality ball lab, the KSig scored a whopping 45 out of a hundred on the chart.

That’s the third lowest scoring ball in all of MyGolfSpy history. And we’ve been at this for a while. Compression scored 93 out of a hundred on the scale. Which is actually a little bit firmer than your regular Pro V1. And not to mention The Kirkland Signature golf ball, it’s one of the spinniest balls, yes that’s a word, that we’ve ever tested. And I mean ever.

Look, I totally get it. You’re on the hunt for a deal. I would be too. But it’s hard for me to recommend the Kirkland ball to really anybody, scoring 45 out of 100 on the scale. So if you want to avoid losing anywhere from 6 to 10 strokes on your game, or, who knows, possibly slicing the s*** out of the ball, I’d avoid the Kirkland altogether.

Read the full report on the Kirkland Signature golf ball.

Not sure which golf ball is right for you? Check out our comprehensive golf ball test.

Last week, while I was hitting balls at the range, I noticed something rather peculiar.

It stopped me in my tracks. I knew immediately that I had to write about it.

I was on the range at the same time as a bunch of high-level junior golfers who were there for an event. As someone that makes “sneaker” contact before eye contact, I took note of their footwear.

What I saw shocked me.

One pair of FootJoy. One pair of adidas. The rest? A whole lot of NIKE and Jordan. The vast majority of the junior golfers next to me were rocking NIKE or Jordan golf shoes. Or, in golf nerd terms: I saw a lot of “casual” golf shoes and very few “performance” golf shoes.

Amy Yang, 34, won the KMPG Women's PGA Championship by 3 strokes, becoming the oldest major winner on the LPGA Tour since 2018.

Golf can be a lonely game. Pro golfers can be a solitary bunch. But as Amy Yang came up the 18th at Sahalee, a group of golfers gathered.

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What does Phil Mickelson think his legacy will be? On the Fairway to Heaven podcast, he said he hopes it’s one thing.

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Tyrrell Hatton won the inaugural LIV Golf Nashville event Sunday, easily holding off Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.

Six people came out of the crowd and sprayed white and red powder on the 18th green at TPC River Highlands, leaving stains on the grass before Scottie Scheffler, Tom Kim and Akshay Bhatia finished their rounds at the Travelers on Sunday.