In last year’s Holiday Gift Guide, I fretted about prices increasing. According to The Budget Lab at Yale University, the concern was warranted. The lab’s research shows that leather products, wearing apparel, and metal products – categories central to the golf industry – are three of the top four that have been hit hardest by tariffs.
But hey, if little Cindy-Lou Who taught us anything, it’s to not let the Grinch steal your holiday spirit. So let’s circle around the 18th green, join hands, sing a joyful song, and dream of a feast of roast beast.
Srixon Ryder Cup Golf Balls
Ok, sure. The U.S. Ryder Cup Team once again double-bogeyed. But something good came out of it: The Keegan Bradley Signature Series Z-Star Diamond Ball ($50/doz.). I’ve been playing these since I received a dozen just before the Ryder Cup teed off. They perform beautifully, and to be honest, the somewhat campy logo of Captain Bradley in profile (porn-stache and all) makes them super-easy to identify, even in neighboring fairways (where I often find myself).
Maxfli Tour Golf Balls
One of the surprises in the golf ball market in recent years has been the consistently high ratings earned by the Maxfli Tour family of golf balls. The 2023 models were widely praised when they first came out, and the 2025 versions have for the most part maintained the adulation. I’ve enjoyed playing the Maxfli Tour balls, but the Maxfli Tour X balls tend to receive the highest ratings of the three available models, often ranking near the top of distance and quality measures by multiple testing labs. The best part, perhaps, is the pricepoint: if you buy a few dozen at Dick’s Sporting Goods, you can get them for as low as $30/doz.
TRUE Linkswear
If you’re never heard of TRUE Linkswear, you’re missing out. I have five pairs of TRUE golf shoes, and I get more compliments on them than any shoes I’ve ever worn (golf or otherwise). The combination of styling, attention to detail, and comfort are tough to beat. All of them have excellent padding and, importantly, a nice, wide toe-box. Prices range from low $100s to low $300s. TRUE Linkswear also offers a large line of polos, hoodies, shorts, pants – pretty much any accessory you need to look like a Tour pro on the course, no matter how you play.
Bushnell
The Bushnell A1-Slope Laser Rangefinder ($300), which debuted in February 2025, embodies the precision and quality one associates with the name “Bushnell.” It is by far the smallest and lightest rangefinder I have ever used. Pinseeker and JOLT technology provides instant tactile feedback when the target is locked, the slope yardage is easy to see and read, and the BITE magnetic skin is great if you don’t want to take it in and out of the sturdy case. A final innovation that is rare in the market is the rechargeable battery (cord included), though one charge has carried me through an entire golf season(!). This might be the last rangefinder I ever use.
Sub70 Golf JB Sugar Skull Wedges
The Sycamore, Illinois-based boutique clubmaker Sub70 Golf is without question one of golf’s most-respected companies. Sub70 doesn’t release any new clubs or lines without ensuring through scrupulous testing that the new clubs are improvements over their previous models. They don’t pay any tour pros to play their sticks, but several pros do. Sub70 also offers free fittings at their homey HQ in Sycamore. (They’ll even mix you a cocktail!) And if the fitting results show your clubs work as well or better than theirs for your swing, they tell you that. Integrity, honest, quality – what more could you ask for?
The Sub70 JB line of wedges ($125) include the iconic Sugar Skull wedge. Designed for golfers with a variety of techniques and who play in a range of conditions, the Sugar Skull maximizes versatility and feel. Finishes include black and “natural,” and lofts run from 46 to 64 degrees. Laser engraving is available, which can be customized if you don’t want the original Sugar Skull. But if you do, you can also get a matching Sugar Skull cap ($35).
L.A.B. OZ.1i HS Putter
L.A.B. Putters have taken golf by storm, from the PGA Tour all the way to your local muni. If you aren’t familiar with the name, you have nonetheless likely seen their large, rather unconventional putter heads and wondered what the big deal is. What sets L.A.B. Putters apart is their balancing. Putters can be “balanced” several ways. If you balance your putter on your finger, lying the shaft perpendicular across your outstretched digit, you can determine its weighting scheme. If the face points upward, it’s “face-balanced.” If the toe hangs straight down, it’s “toe-balanced.” If the toe hangs down at an angle, there is some degree of “toe-hang.” L.A.B. stands for Lie Angle Balanced. Company founder and L.A.B. inventor, Bill Presse, was a mini-tour player who wanted to simplify his putting stroke. He reasoned that lie-angle balancing would most easily allow the putter to balance such that the face is dead-square with the target line, promoting a consistently square face at impact.
The first L.A.B. models were all center-shafted, which can take some getting used to. In 2025, they came out with the OZ.1i HS, the first heal-shafted L.A.B. offering. At $499, this putter is not for the budget-conscious golfer. But when I began playing it and rolling the rock exactly where I was aimed over and over again, the value became immediately clear. If you can, you NEED to give a L.A.B. putter a try!
REVL Grips by SuperStroke
The off-season is a great time to get your clubs re-gripped. And when you re-grip, there’s some big news in the equipment world that you should consider: SuperStroke, the maker of the most widely-used putter grips on Tour, purchased the legendary Lamkin Grips in May of 2024. In 2025, they combined SuperStroke’s Tour-proven design principles with Lamkin’s tried-and-true engineering to produce the REVL line of grips. You may have seen commercials for these grips during recent golf broadcasts. Let me say that the hype is completely well-deserved. I regripped my entire set with the REVL Comfort, one of three distinct models in the flagship line, half-way through the 2025 season. The Comfort is an all-rubber, quasi-wrap design that seems to just guide me to putting my hands in the right positions. This is the first time I’ve had the same grips on all my clubs at the same time in maybe 30 years, and I carded more sub-80 rounds with them than ever before. I don’t know if it’s the grips, or if by some miracle I’ve figured something out about my swing. But either way, I have never felt more confident when I take my grip and stance, so I don’t foresee playing any other grips in the near future.
Fuzzy’s Ultra-Premium Vodka
The day before Thanksgiving, we lost 2-time major champion and all-time character Fuzzy Zoeller. He was just 74 years old. In 1979 Fuzzy Zoeller burst onto the scene with his surprise win at the Masters. He won the U.S. Open in 1984. If you feel like reminiscing about Fuzzy, you could give his eponymous Fuzzy’s Vodka a taste. It is made from 100% American corn, five times distilled and ten times filtered, and a portion of each batch is rested in new American oak barrels. The result is crisp, smooth, and incredibly clean – far better in my view than any Russian vodka. (Get Russia out of Ukraine and out of your liquor cabinet!)
Not gonna lie – 2025 has been challenging in many ways. But let’s try to make Cindy-Lou Who proud and find some joy and brotherhood this holiday season. Giving the gift of golf always makes me feel better. I hope some of the items above will help you feel better, too. Happy Holidays, and bring on the roast beast!
Midwestern Golf 