- 2022 Masters Gift Guide
For over a decade, I’ve been writing a Valentine’s Day Golf Gift Guide. But realisticly, that’s not a day for golf gifts. What should be a holiday though, at least for those of us with green running through our veins and visions of birdies dancing through our heads, is Masters Week. If you live inContinue reading “2022 Masters Gift Guide” - Cleveland Launcher XL Driver: If you like “long and straight”
Cleveland Golf is historically known for its wedges and putters. Recent Cleveland driver offerings have also been extremely strong, however. In 2021, Cleveland’s Launcher Driver line literally expanded Cleveland’s august reputation with the Launcher XL. The Cleveland Launcher XL ($399) lives up to its moniker. The driver head is 6.7% deeper front to back, whichContinue reading “Cleveland Launcher XL Driver: If you like “long and straight”” - Holiday Gift Guide 2021: Feed your golf habit
Routines are powerful. In golf, routines are especially valued. How many times have you heard top players talk about the importance of maintaining their pre-shot routine, or their practice routine, or their fitness routine? For amateurs, just working regular play into your routine is key to improvement. You’re not going to lower your handicap playingContinue reading “Holiday Gift Guide 2021: Feed your golf habit” - Kohler is more than Whistling Straits (But The Straits Course IS awesome)
Let’s be very clear: There is MUCH more to The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin, than The Straits Course at Whistling Straits. This iconic and unique resort offers four Pet Dye courses, not to mention the Kohler Waters Spa (try the Rain Man or Woodsman Massage treatments), one of the best restaurants in the MidwestContinue reading “Kohler is more than Whistling Straits (But The Straits Course IS awesome)” - The General rules over The North and The South at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa
The General at Eagle Ridge Resort is the centerpiece of the Eagle Ridge Resort. The 6,820-yard Roger Packard and Andy North design is the newest of the four golf courses at the sprawling four-season resort just outside the historic town of Galena, and it’s the track that guests plan their golf vacations around. The resort’sContinue reading “The General rules over The North and The South at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa” - Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa: The original Illinois golf resort
In the early to mid-1800s, Galena, Ill., was the most prosperous and important city in “the West” – much more so than a quiet lakeshore trading post 170 miles to the east named Chicago. Galena was a bustling riverboat and lead mining city, with 14,000 inhabitants, famous for its related, often scandalous, industries: alcohol (RedContinue reading “Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa: The original Illinois golf resort” - Mistwood Golf Club: Private club experience, public course rates
“O Romeoville, Romeoville, where the hell art thou Romeoville?” That’s how I tried to identify a route to Mistwood Golf Club on my phone. Siri, however, just got confused. “Artificial intelligence,” my ass. Anyway, once I got the directions sorted, I headed north to an area I perhaps unfairly associate with over-crowded, expensive courses with a pace ofContinue reading “Mistwood Golf Club: Private club experience, public course rates” - Stoatin Brae at Gull Lake View Resort in Augusta, Michigan: One of the best in the nation
The year was 1963. Darl Scott, the golf course superintendent at Gull Lake Country Club in Kalamazoo, Michigan, decided to build his own public access course, the West Course at what would grow to become Gull Lake View Resort. Over the ensuing decade, the Scott family would build their East Course, followed by the StonehedgeContinue reading “Stoatin Brae at Gull Lake View Resort in Augusta, Michigan: One of the best in the nation” - How Golf Can Save a City: Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor Michigan
The idyllic Lake Michigan shoreline town of Benton Harbor, Michigan, became a major industrial site during WWII, when hometown Whirlpool and other manufacturers were enlisted by FDR to make parts for fighter planes. In the 1950s and 1960s, these same companies produced many of the home appliances and auto parts that fueled America’s post-war boom.Continue reading “How Golf Can Save a City: Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor Michigan” - Honma TR20 460cc Driver is a “forgiving” “beast”
Japan is home to dozens of high-end, high-quality golf club manufacturers, only a few of which have most Americans ever heard of. Honma has been in the golf club business for over 60 years now, but they remain largely unknown to most American recreational golfers. That’s too bad, given that Honma produces some very impressiveContinue reading “Honma TR20 460cc Driver is a “forgiving” “beast”” - Golf Gifts for Father’s Day 2021: Vax-up & gear-up
Father’s Day 2021 feels much more hopeful than Father’s Day 2020. We have vaccines, and we now know that outdoor activities – like golf – are extremely safe. So the best thing you can do for Old Dad this Father’s Day is make sure he’s fully vaccinated. The second-best thing you can do for himContinue reading “Golf Gifts for Father’s Day 2021: Vax-up & gear-up” - Srixon ZX5 Driver: Balancing power, forgiveness, and control
Here’s why I don’t completely believe golf simulators or launch monitors: it’s really easy for recreational players to get wrapped up in the numbers. Any avid, average golfer has read about how the pros try to optimize “low spin, high launch” in their drivers. Then they get on one of these high-tech machines and flailContinue reading “Srixon ZX5 Driver: Balancing power, forgiveness, and control” - Mother’s Day Gifts 2021: Honoring Mom, Mother Earth, and Golf
When COVID-19 is said and done—hopefully sooner rather than later—one of the unexpected beneficiaries of a mostly tragic event could be golf. As an outdoor activity that naturally allows for social distancing, golf has become an outlet for people who only played once or twice a year in the before times. And at my localContinue reading “Mother’s Day Gifts 2021: Honoring Mom, Mother Earth, and Golf” - Titleist TSi woods and hybrids: Terminate the golf ball
Remember the Terminator movies? Skynet was the artificial neural network-based conscious group mind and artificial general super-intelligence system that built the Terminators. And the Terminators were nigh-indestructible metal killing machines. Imagine if Skynet made golf clubs instead of cybernetic monsters, and the only killing was the murdering of golf balls. Oh, what a wonderful (future)Continue reading “Titleist TSi woods and hybrids: Terminate the golf ball” - Cleveland Golf Frontline ISO Putter: Straight back and straight into the hole
I think have played with literally every conceivable putter style: blade, Anser, half-mallet, mallet, plumber’s neck, single-bend, double-bend, straight, center-shafted, heel-shafted, face-balanced, toe-hang of all degrees, 33” to broomstick, belly-anchored, sternum-anchored, side-saddle-armpit-anchored, steel face, aluminum face, inserts from honeycombed nickel to polymer. Heck, I’ve even played with a putter whose shaft was wrapped with aContinue reading “Cleveland Golf Frontline ISO Putter: Straight back and straight into the hole” - All you need is love: Valentine’s Day Golf Gift Guide
You know what’s sustained me through this pandemic? Love. I love my family and friends. I love my job. And I love golf. Without all three of these loves, it would be very difficult to maintain my equilibrium. Winter is tough where I live. Some years, we can squeeze in a round every month. OtherContinue reading “All you need is love: Valentine’s Day Golf Gift Guide” - Panic in the pandemic: Last-minute holiday golf gift guide
Listen up duffers and duffettes – Christmas 2020 is just one week away (and Hanukkah is already over!). If you haven’t secured gifts for the golfers on your list by now, you’re going to need to hit the shot of the year. Seriously, this is the holiday equivalent of stepping onto the 18th tee dormie:Continue reading “Panic in the pandemic: Last-minute holiday golf gift guide” - Stay home, but send great golf gifts: Holiday Gift Guide 2020
If ever there was a holiday season for online shopping, it’s 2020. Most of us have been shopping online since March, but now we’ve hit the big time. This is The Show, baby! So step up to the tee and let the big dog eat! Here’s a list of my favorite golf gifts this year.Continue reading “Stay home, but send great golf gifts: Holiday Gift Guide 2020”
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