Golfing News & Blog Articles

Calling All Golfers! Testers Wanted for ODIN Golf Balls

The direct-to-consumer (DTC) market has experienced an explosion of new brands in recent years, offering golfers a plethora of choices.

One such brand that caught the attention of our Forum members, although not featured in our primary golf ball test of 2023, is ODIN Golf. Who is ODIN Golf and what, if anything, sets them apart in the competitive DTC golf ball market?

About ODIN Golf

According to ODIN Golf, their mission is to make golf more accessible, affordable and streamlined for everyday golfers.

ODIN Golf aims to deliver a golf ball experience equal to or better than traditional brands without breaking the bank. An additional enticing feature is their unique cashback program, offering a 20-percent return on every dozen purchased (applied to a future purchase), providing golfers with savings on subsequent ODIN orders.

Emphasizing their commitment to the everyday golfer, they distance themselves from the allure of tour pros, saying, “we’re not excited about the pros. We’re excited about you!” They aim for their community to directly benefit from and engage in the value they bring as a company, extending beyond merely reloading on more golf balls.

Another struggle on the closing stretch left Tiger Woods 10 shots behind co-leaders Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth at the Hero World Challenge.

Tiger Woods, who joined the PGA Tour's policy board in August, says "hypothetically," he would be surprised if rumors of several big-name players, including Jon Rahm, signing with LIV Golf prove to be true.

L.A.B. Golf putters might have the most notable uptick in the golf industry recently. The results speak for themselves:

Lucas Glover – 2009 U.S. Open champion who became a footnote on the PGA TOUR and to golf fans. Resurrected his career this year with wins in back-to-back weeks.Camilo Villegas – A previous winner on the PGA TOUR who snapped a nine-year slump to finally break through at this year’s Butterfield Bermuda Championship.Adam Scott – A Masters champion, a former world No. 1-ranked player, but the anchoring ban in 2016 certainly impacted him. The future looks promising though as he placed in the top 10 four times in 2023. In each of those finishes, he had a +1> strokes gained for putting.

What do these three have in common? L.A.B Golf putters.

There is a clear performance difference between pros and amateurs. However, if there is a single golf club that can help improve any golfer’s performance, the argument can be made – it is generally the putter.

The Relevancy is Here to Stay

More and more golfers are using L.A.B. Golf putters. Even some of our staff members have one in their golf bag—Chris Nickel, Connor Lindeman, Jamie Danbrook and me, Phillip Bishop.

Why? We’ve seen the performance benefits personally and they reflect the results of L.A.B. Golf putters in our Most Wanted Mallet Putter Test. The L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Max placed second overall in our 2023 test.

Experiencing a little Déjà vu? Me too.

The highly-touted Tiger Woods ’13 has stormed back into the limelight (and onto store shelves).

In this, the shoe’s 10 year anniversary, NIKE is pulling out all of the stops. This includes bringing back fan-favorite colorways and cult-classic designs. The result? You and I get to experience the joy of rediscovering colorways and styles that once had the golf world by a chokehold.

A true blast from the past!

Join me in wishing a warm welcome (back) to the Masters Edition of the NIKE TW ’13 golf shoes. This nostalgic golf shoe just dropped at NIKE, a few days before its general release at stores like DICK’s and PGA Tour Superstore.

Ran Fiennes, considered the greatest living explorer, kind of nailed it when he said “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.” Sage advice whether you’re scaling mountains or being a bit less extreme and venturing out to play some fall or winter golf. The maxim holds true in both cases. 

For the lucky few who live in temperate climates year-round, layering for golf is probably a low priority or perhaps alien entirely. But for the vast majority of the golf population who relish year-round play, it can be a massive unlock when you consider the effects a cold body has on performance. 

Why Layering Matters

We all know what being cold feels like but you may not be aware of just what level of havoc it can wreak on your body and golf game. In the cold, the body is dealing with a number of things we may not necessarily be aware of, like: 

Reduced Flexibility and Range of Motion: Cold temperatures cause muscles to tighten, limiting flexibility and, in turn, your range of motion. The length and fluidity of your swing take the hit. So, in addition to the shorter ball flight associated with the cold, you could be giving up additional yards if you’re not keeping your golf muscles warm and primed.

Loss of Power: Similarly, cold muscles are less efficient and, combined with reduced flexibility, can sap your power creating even greater power leaks.

Tiger Woods said he was sore and that his play was "squirrely" in his return to the PGA Tour at the Hero World Challenge after a seven-month absence.

Woods, a five-time Hero World Challenge winner, hasn't played in the tournament since 2019.

PGA Tour member Jason Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner, is among the 73 players who are in the field for next month's LIV Golf League Promotions event in Abu Dhabi, the league announced Thursday.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan hopes to reach a potential alliance with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and a deal with at least one other investor before the end of the year.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly 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:

The PUTTR Smart Putting Green. This interactive putting green connects with your smartphone or tablet to enhance (and gamify) your practice.

Who Tried It:

Connor. Director of Soft Goods Testing and resident sneakerhead. I believe golf is better with a pair of cool shoes and comfortable joggers. I’m of the belief that making practice fun is the best way to improve. Can PUTTR fix my hideous stroke?

Quick Facts

Retails for $599Premium PUTTR Club membership is an additional $19.99 per month (or $199.99 for the year)Connect to the PUTTR app (IOS or Android)27 different tees to putt fromMagnetic ball returnPacked size is 2′ x 1′ x 1.5’ for easy storage

What is PUTTR?

PUTTR ain’t your everyday putting mat. No, this thing is much more than a slice of green carpet that’s only purpose is to putt a few balls between business calls.

The PUTTR Smart Putting Green is essentially a putting simulator in a (metal) box. Setting up the PUTTR takes seconds. Once you’ve opened the “oven” door and unrolled the mat, the magnetic golf ball return can be easily snapped into place.

There is a lot of cool gear in the golf equipment world that doesn’t always fit neatly 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

The Lag Shot Lady 7-iron and Lag Shot Lady Driver. These training aid were designed specifically for women.

Who Tried It:

Britt Olizarowicz- MyGolfSpy writer and scratch golfer. I love training aids built specifically for women golfers. When I found out that Lag Shot offers a women-specific variant of their popular swing trainers, I had to give them a go!

A Little Backstory

I’ve tried a lot of training aids and gadgets, some for my own game and some for students I’ve worked with. There are very few (good) training aids and feedback tools explicitly built for female golfers.

I took the Lag Shot Lady driver and 7-iron to the driving range along with my Foresight GC3 launch monitor. My goal was to compare how I’m hitting the ball currently with how I performed after a session with Lag Shot Lady.

Tiger Woods' net worth sits at a staggering amount thanks to PGA Tour earnings, endorsements and business ventures. Here's Tiger's net worth.

The post Tiger Woods’ net worth: Here’s how much money Tiger has made in his career appeared first on Golf.

Lining up your shot is critical for your success in golf. Unfortunately, too many golfers are too casual about their approach in getting the best line up for the shot and the swing that they should be taking. Deciding on the right swing for draw or fade and then setting up your line-up both contribute to your success.

Success in golf depends on hitting more fairways and greens in regulation. If it was easy to hit every shot straight with every club, then this game would be much easier. If you played golf with a pool cue instead of clubs which swing around your body, then straight shots would be easy. In golf you have no choice but to plan for the draw or fade before you line up every shot. Controlling the direction of the face of your club at impact and the direction of your swing will both determine the direction of your ball.

You will never be a great golfer until you control your draw or fade as well as choosing the right direction in order to choose the point where you want your ball to land.
1/ It’s up to you to practice creating a draw or fade for the shot that you want. Because your club is swinging around your body, your best opportunity to add distance, is to aim to the right side of your target (for right-handed golfers) and slightly close the face of your club to add draw to your ball flight.

2/ I like Jack Nicklaus’ approach to line up shots. Stand behind the ball, choose your target line and then pick a point in the grass about 2 or 3 feet in front of your ball along your target line. [In the photo above he also used his club to line up his shoulders square to his target line.]
3/ Move forward to line up your feet parallel to your target line and then take a practice swing with your chosen club for the shot that you want to make. [Some recommend taking your practice swing before you move forward to your ball but this spoils your chance to line up and feel the swing for the shot on the line that you want to take.]
4/ Move forward to you ball and take a final look up along your target line to the point where you want your ball to land. Visualize your shot and then trace back to your ball to execute your perfect swing to a balanced finish.

Practice with GOLFSTR for every shot in your game but make sure that you FEEL your swing on the line that you chose before you execute your shot. Buy one today at www.GOLFSTR.com

Luke Donald is staying on as Europe's Ryder Cup captain for its title defense in 2025 at Bethpage Black.

Seven-time Olympic champion sprinter Allyson Felix and seven-time golf major winner Inbee Park are among the 32 candidates for the IOC Athletes' Commission.

Tiger is front and center in the Bahamas, but Will Zalatoris is also making his return to competitive golf, and other players are getting back to full health.

Tiger Woods played 9 holes Wednesday in the pro-am at the Hero World Challenge.

PGA Tour policy board member Jordan Spieth believes the Player Impact Program bonus pool will be eliminated sometime in the future.