Ross Hamilton
Writes on putting, the short game and the gear that quietly saves shots. A reformed blade loyalist.
Latest by Ross
PuttOut vs Perfect Practice: one of these mats has no hole in it, the other has two and a ball return
Both are sold as putting mats and they are not the same product. One has no hole in it. The other has two, and neither of them is the size of a golf hole.
By Ross Hamilton
Autumn dew kills a cabretta glove by the fourth tee: swap to a synthetic at the turn
The rotation everyone recommends has a glove for hot, a glove for wet and a glove for freezing. It has no glove for a September eight o'clock tee time where the grass is soaked and the sky is clear, which is most of the next two months.
By Ross Hamilton
Bridgestone Tour B RX vs Callaway Chrome Soft: one is fitted to your swing speed, the other to your taste
Two premium urethane balls sold on softness, from two brands that decide what soft means in completely different ways. One asks how fast you swing. The other asks what you like.
By Ross Hamilton
43 of the 50 tour bags we track stop at exactly 60 degrees. Tour Edge's new wedge line stops there too
There is a 64-degree wedge on the rack in most golf shops. Across the tour bags we maintain, the highest club is a 60 in the overwhelming majority, the three that go higher do it by a degree and a half at most, and nothing in the set carries a 62, 64 or 66.
By Ross Hamilton
Wet turf wants more bounce, wet sand wants less: the autumn wedge fix that isn't a fourth wedge
The low-bounce wedge that was perfect on firm July turf digs in November, and the 56 you rarely reach for is suddenly the better club. Most golfers buy bounce once and never revisit it, so here is what to actually do about it, short of buying a fourth wedge.
By Ross Hamilton
Speed, putting and strength: the three bits of winter practice that survive the walk back onto grass
The clocks go back, the mat and the net come out of the garage, and four months later almost nobody is any better. The work that survives the walk back onto grass has one thing in common, and most indoor practice fails the test.
By Ross Hamilton
Odyssey White Hot OG Rossie vs Tri-Hot 5K Double Wide: a face insert from 2000 against tungsten in the sole
Two Odyssey putters sit on the same rail for almost the same money and answer opposite questions. One is built around a face insert from the year 2000, the other around tungsten in the sole. The tiebreaker is not your stroke arc.
By Ross Hamilton
37 of the 51 tour bags we track play the firmer ball. Scheffler and McIlroy don't.
Almost every tour ball ships as a pair, and the model name tells you which half you are holding. Across the bags we maintain the split runs close to three to one — and the exceptions are the two best players in the world.
By Ross Hamilton
Tour players don't buy wedges as a set. In 32 of the 53 bags we track, they end up with one model anyway
TaylorMade has just relaunched Hi-Toe with five sole grinds, a bet that golfers want one brand for every slot. Our own bag data suggests the tour got there first.
By Ross Hamilton
Evnroll EZPZ vs L.A.B. DF3: delete the torque, or control it?
Two putters, two opposite answers to the same problem. The DF3 removes face rotation entirely; the EZPZ slows it down and keeps a normal putter's look. Your stroke decides which is right.
By Ross Hamilton
The 34-inch putter isn't a fitting recommendation. It's a stocking decision, and it is probably costing you putts
Length is the most commonly mis-fitted spec in golf and the cheapest one to fix, and almost nobody checks it. Here is what a putter that is too long does to your eyes, your start line and your pace control.
By Ross Hamilton
You don't have to pay tour-ball prices to play a tour ball, and these 2 win the argument on completely different grounds
One undercuts the premium tier on price and feel, the other beats it at its own game and happens to cost a little less. The right answer depends on whether you want to spend less or play the same ball a tour winner does.
By Ross Hamilton
Your greens are about to be hollow-cored. Here's how not to lose six weeks of putting to it
Late August and September is aeration season across most of the northern hemisphere, and it does something to golfers that nobody warns them about: it quietly teaches you a bad stroke.
By Ross Hamilton
Orange Whip vs Lag Shot: two flexible shafts that teach completely different things
They look like the same idea — a bendy shaft that forces you to swing in sequence. One is a warm-up tool you'll use for a decade, the other is a training club that changes what you do with a golf ball.
By Ross Hamilton
The golf ball market quietly split in two, and the cheap half got genuinely good
A small Irish maker selling direct and a warehouse club selling urethane at a price that shouldn't be possible are attacking tour-ball pricing from opposite ends — and the thing that decides between them isn't performance at all.
By Ross Hamilton
Vokey SM11 vs TaylorMade MG5: grind range against spin that lasts
These are the two default wedges in golf and they're sold on genuinely different premises. One gives you more ways to match your turf; the other keeps its spin longer. Which matters depends entirely on where you practise.
By Ross Hamilton
Everyone spent two years chasing zero torque. Evnroll just went the other way
The EZPZ Reverse Torque putter goes on sale today with a premise that sounds like a typo: torque in a putter isn't the enemy, and removing all of it was never the point.
By Ross Hamilton
Golfers replace wedges more than any other club — and almost nobody can tell you why theirs stopped working
A survey of 391 golfers this year put wedges among the highest-turnover clubs in the bag. The odd part is that the thing being replaced usually isn't the thing that's broken.
By Ross Hamilton
Your glove died three rounds ago and it's costing you the club face
A dead glove doesn't feel like broken kit, it feels like a swing fault. The tell is a shiny heel pad, not a hole — and it shows up about 3 rounds before most golfers notice.
By Ross Hamilton
Tour putters quietly got enormous while club golfers kept buying blades
The best strikers alive putt with the most forgiving heads in golf. The golfer who actually needs the forgiveness buys a slim blade because it looks right at address. That is backwards, it isn't really a taste question, and in 2026 there is no good reason left for it.
By Ross Hamilton
August turf quietly changed your golf ball's job, and almost nobody adjusts
Firm summer fairways hand you roll you never had to buy, and firm greens refuse to hold. The 38-compression ball you sensibly chose in April is now optimised for the half of the shot the ground is already doing for you.
By Ross Hamilton
Should You Play Blades? The Honest Answer, and Why the Usual One Is Wrong
Almost certainly not — but not because you are not a good enough ball striker. The real cost of a blade is where your misses finish, and it is not sideways.
By Ross Hamilton
Is a milled putter worth it? What the milling actually buys you
Milling buys you feel, sound, tolerance and a putter that will outlive you. It does not buy you accuracy, and the 2026 data points somewhere else entirely.
By Ross Hamilton
Wedge Spin Rate Is the Worst Number to Buy a Wedge On
A 20-wedge spin test separated third place from tenth by about 200 RPM, and put two brands most golfers have never heard of above the entire major-brand field. Here is what to shop on instead.
By Ross Hamilton
The 2026 golf ball launches, decoded — does the new tech actually change anything?
Callaway's refreshed the Chrome Tour, XXIO's chasing easy speed, and every brand claims a breakthrough. The honest answer-first version: the year-on-year gains are tiny, and picking the right ball for your game matters far more than the model year.
By Ross Hamilton
Bridgestone Tour B XS review: the soft-feel tour ball for fast swingers
A three-piece urethane tour ball built around Bridgestone's fastest staffers, at the soft, spinny end of the line. Who should play it over a Pro V1 or TP5?
By Ross Hamilton
TaylorMade TP5x review: the faster, firmer sibling — and who it's really for
Same five-layer tour pedigree as the TP5, tuned for speed and a flatter flight. The question isn't whether it's good — it's whether you're the swing it was built for.
By Ross Hamilton
Wilson DUO Soft review: how soft is too soft?
At 37 compression it's about the softest ball you can buy. But soft isn't a performance stat, it's a feel — so here's what that daft-low compression actually does for your game, and what it quietly costs you.
By Ross Hamilton
Srixon Soft Feel review: the ball to play if you lose more than one a round
Premium urethane balls are brilliant and, for most amateurs, quietly the wrong purchase. The Soft Feel is soft, genuinely long at real-world swing speeds, and cheap enough that you swing without flinching. Here's who it's right for and who should still pay up.
By Ross Hamilton
Callaway REVA review: the golf ball that admits the game is hard
Every other ball on the shelf promises you tour performance. Callaway's women's ball promises something rarer — that the game gets friendlier while you find your swing. It keeps that promise, with caveats.
By Ross Hamilton
Titleist Pro V1 vs TaylorMade TP5: which tour ball actually fits your game?
The two balls tour players genuinely cross-shop, and the difference isn't distance — off the tee they're within a yard of each other. It's feel, flight and greenside spin, and most golfers pick on the badge instead. Here's how to choose on the thing that matters.
By Ross Hamilton
48 golf balls are headed for a robot — and the marketing should be nervous
MyGolfSpy is prepping its 2026 ball test: 48 models, one swing robot, every distance and spin claim on trial. Before the data lands, here's what published robot testing keeps agreeing on year after year — and the one buying mistake to avoid until the results drop.
By Ross Hamilton
The Open starts today — and it'll be won with the club you practise least
By Sunday, Royal Birkdale's trophy won't go to whoever bombs it furthest. It'll go to whoever controls the ball on and around firm, wind-scoured greens. Links golf is a short-game championship — and it's a live rebuke to every amateur grinding the driving range.
By Ross Hamilton
Watch the Open this week and unlearn everything American golf taught you
The best players on earth arrive at Royal Birkdale and immediately start playing a different sport. High-spin everything, fly-it-to-the-flag wedges and a soft ball that balloons in wind — the parkland setup most of us default to is exactly the wrong kit for links, and Open week is the free tutorial.
By Ross Hamilton
Your golf umbrella is probably a toy — here's the real thing
The freebie brolly that inverts on the 3rd is not an umbrella; it's a liability. A genuine storm-proof golf umbrella is a piece of performance equipment, and the difference is measured in ribs, vents and inches of span. With The Open back on the Lancashire coast, this is the week to learn it.
By Ross Hamilton
Vice Pro Plus vs Bridgestone Tour B XS: the tour ball you won't find in the pro shop
Two urethane tour balls for fast swingers, built on opposite bets — and most golfers never even consider one of them. Vice skips the shop to sell tour spin for less; the 2026 Bridgestone Tour B XS chases soft feel and biting wedge spin for swings over 105 mph. Here's which one is actually right for your game.
By Ross Hamilton
The buggy is quietly making your golf worse. Walk.
Ride-everywhere culture has convinced a generation of golfers that a cart is a convenience rather than a compromise. It's costing you rhythm, course feel and the low-grade fitness that keeps you sharp over eighteen holes — and the modern push cart that fixes it is nothing like the clattering trolley you're picturing.
By Ross Hamilton
Callaway Chrome Tour review: the longest premium ball just got faster
For a fast-swing player who wants maximum distance without giving up greenside control, the Chrome Tour is the premium ball to beat — it topped a major robot test for distance, and the latest version adds ball speed without softening its short game. The one thing to check is the firm feel.
By Ross Hamilton
Royal Birkdale will humble them — and that's exactly why you should watch
One week from now the 154th Open begins in Southport, and the most optimised power golfers in history will spend four days negotiating with wind, firm turf and pot bunkers. It's the best golf-watching week of the year — and the gear lessons for the rest of us are hiding in plain sight.
By Ross Hamilton
Srixon Z-Star review: the tour ball that out-spun the Pro V1 — for less
Most golfers default to the two obvious names and never try the Z-Star. That's a mistake: it's a genuine three-piece urethane tour ball with elite greenside spin, a softer feel than almost anything at the top, and a lower price. Here's who should be playing it.
By Ross Hamilton
Stewart Q Follow vs PowaKaddy RX1 GPS: follow-me or remote-control?
The robot-caddie era has quietly arrived, and it has split into two philosophies: a trolley that follows you down the fairway on its own, and a trolley you drive from a handset with a GPS brain bolted on. Here's which robot deserves your money — and the honest case for buying neither.
By Ross Hamilton
Golf gave up on the handheld GPS. Golf was wrong.
Watches won on convenience, lasers won on precision, and the humble handheld got left in the cup holder — where, inconveniently for the narrative, it still does things neither rival can: a full-hole map you can actually strategise from, battery life measured in rounds, and nothing buzzing on your wrist mid-swing.
By Ross Hamilton
Why tour pros wear sunglasses all day — then take them off to putt
Golf lenses genuinely work: contrast tints pull the ball out of the sky and lift the slopes out of a green. But depth perception is personal, which is why some very good players pocket their glasses over the ball. The honest buying rule: treat sunglasses as health kit first, performance kit second — and buy the pair you'll actually keep on for five hours.
By Ross Hamilton
Florida golf trip guide: the winter-sun capital, decoded
A Florida golf trip is the winter-sun capital for Americans and Brits alike: huge density, easy logistics and family-friendly resorts. Here's where to play, when to go, and why you pack a waterproof even in the sun.
By Ross Hamilton
Golf in Dubai: the winter-sun trip guide
Golf in Dubai is the premium winter-sun escape: immaculate desert courses, five-star hospitality and an easy long-haul hop. Here's when to go, what to expect on the course, and exactly what to pack for the heat.
By Ross Hamilton
Costa del Sol golf holiday guide: the Costa del Golf, decoded
Southern Spain's Costa del Sol packs so many courses into the strip from Marbella to Sotogrande that it's earned a nickname: the Costa del Golf. Here's where to base yourself, when to go, and how to plan a trip around the warm climate and long season.
By Ross Hamilton
Golf in the Algarve: the complete trip guide
The Algarve is Europe's golf-holiday heartland: reliable sun, a dense cluster of quality resort courses on Portugal's south coast, and short flights with easy transfers. Here's when to go, where to base yourself, and how to plan a week.
By Ross Hamilton
Sneaking a round into a work trip: the minimalist golf kit
A spare afternoon on a business trip is a round waiting to happen — if you've packed light and smart. Here's the minimalist kit and the low-stress way to fit golf around work.
By Ross Hamilton
Bushnell Wingman Mini review: the speaker that made music on the course respectable
Music on the golf course went from etiquette scandal to default in about five years, and this is the device that did it — a pocket-size speaker that clips to a bag, snaps to a cart frame, and reads out your yardages on demand. For cart and buddies golf, it's the one to get.
By Ross Hamilton
The cotton polo is why you play badly in the cold
Most golfers ruin a winter round before the first tee by dressing for warmth instead of movement. The fix is counterintuitive: fewer, thinner layers — and never the one fabric almost everyone reaches for.
By Ross Hamilton
Match the ball to your game: spin, feel, and what your shots are telling you
A simple decision framework for choosing a golf ball based on your speed and your misses, not on what the tour plays.
By Ross Hamilton
Women's golf gear grew up in 2026 — here's what's actually worth it
This year brought a real expansion of women's lineups, but the gear that genuinely helps a smoother swing has less to do with the label than the spec.
By Ross Hamilton
The summer practice kit that actually lowers your scores
Long evenings are the cheapest strokes you'll ever buy, but only if your practice tools turn range time into feedback instead of repetition.
By Ross Hamilton
The hot-weather golf holiday survival kit
A golf holiday somewhere hot is a different physical test from a round at home. Here's the kit that keeps you swinging well when it's 35 degrees and glaring.
By Ross Hamilton
The 36-hole day: how to play (and survive) a marathon golf trip
Golf trips tempt you into dawn-till-dusk doubles. Done wrong, the second round falls apart and you're wrecked for the week. Here's how to last the distance.
By Ross Hamilton
L.A.B. DF3 review: the putter the tour keeps switching to
The zero-torque putter that won a US Open and rewrote the category. We score the most talked-about flat stick in golf — and tell you who should skip it.
By Ross Hamilton
A slower swing isn't a problem — it's a spec sheet most golfers get wrong
If your driver speed is under 90 mph, almost everything golf marketing sells you is built for someone else. Four cheap, counterintuitive changes hand back the yards you thought you'd lost for good.
By Ross Hamilton
Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond review: distance for the faster swing
A low-spin head built for golfers with the speed to use it — not the forgiving all-rounder, and it's not pretending to be.
By Ross Hamilton
PING Hoofer 14 review: still the stand bag to beat
Not the lightest, not the flashiest — but the most sensible carry bag in golf, and the one we keep recommending over everything else.
By Ross Hamilton
TaylorMade Spider ZT review: the zero-torque putter for Spider loyalists
The first zero-torque mallet from a major brand, with a Tour win already on the board. Is it the most natural way into 2026's biggest putting trend?
By Ross Hamilton
TaylorMade MG5 review: the wedge that keeps spinning when it matters
Fresh grooves bite hard out of the box — but the real win is how long that spin survives the wet, the rough and the range.
By Ross Hamilton
What is a mini driver — and do you actually need one?
Suddenly they're everywhere on tour. Here's what a mini driver really is, who it genuinely helps, and why most amateurs are better served by a club they already understand.
By Ross Hamilton
Zero-torque putters: golf's fastest-spreading idea
Tour bags are quietly being rebuilt around a putter that won't twist. Here's why — and where it started.
By Ross Hamilton
Vokey's SM11 wedges rethink how spin gets made
Titleist's flagship wedge gets a standardised centre of gravity and a new three-part 'Spin System' — the short-game launch of the year.
By Ross Hamilton
Read your divots: the cheap board that fixes ball-striking
It's all over golf TikTok for a reason — instant, brutally honest feedback on where your club actually bottoms out.
By Ross Hamilton
Titleist Pro V1 review: still the ball the whole game is measured against
The most-played ball in golf, full stop. Here's who should actually play it — and who's quietly wasting their money.
By Ross Hamilton
TruFeel vs Supersoft: the best value-ball face-off
The two value balls smart golfers actually play. Both are a fraction of tour-ball money — here's how to pick between them.
By Ross Hamilton
Spider ZT vs Odyssey Jailbird: two routes into zero-torque
The big brands' answers to the zero-torque craze, head to head — and which one suits how you actually putt.
By Ross Hamilton
Zero-torque putters have officially taken over
What started as one cult brand's idea is now in every major manufacturer's range. Here's why the most stubborn club in the bag is suddenly changing.
By Ross Hamilton
Wedge bounce and grind, explained
The two numbers that decide whether your wedge digs, glides or skips — in plain English, with how to pick yours.
By Ross Hamilton
Most golfers play the wrong ball — and it's the expensive one
Compression charts, dimple counts, fitting flowcharts: noise. The ball you pick comes down to one honest question, and for most amateurs the right answer costs a third of what they're spending now.
By Ross Hamilton
Do expensive golf balls actually make a difference?
Yes — but probably not the difference you think, and probably not for you. The no-marketing answer, with the robot-test data to back it.
By Ross Hamilton
Mallet vs blade putter: which suits your stroke?
It's not about looks — it's about how your stroke moves and where you miss. The plain-English guide to choosing the right head.
By Ross Hamilton
Scotty Cameron Phantom review: the mallet that justifies the obsession
The most coveted putter brand in golf, in its most forgiving form. Is the Phantom worth the premium, or are you paying for the script on the sole?
By Ross Hamilton
PuttOut Pressure Putt Trainer review: the cheap aid that actually gets used
Most training aids end up in the garage. This little ramp is the rare one that earns a permanent spot — here's why it works.
By Ross Hamilton
Titleist Vokey SM11 review: the wedge that wins scorecards
The most-played wedge in golf gets a consistency-first redesign. Here's why getting it fitted matters more than the badge.
By Ross Hamilton
How many wedges do you actually need? (Wedge gapping made simple)
Three? Four? And what lofts? The simple way to set up your scoring clubs so there are no awkward in-between yardages.
By Ross Hamilton
Pro V1 vs Pro V1x: which Titleist is actually your ball?
Same family, two different balls — and most golfers pick wrong out of habit. How to choose between the two best-sellers in golf.
By Ross Hamilton
How to practise putting at home (and actually get better)
You hole more putts than you think on the carpet and fewer than you'd like on the course. Here's how to make home practice that transfers.
By Ross Hamilton
Golf ball compression explained (and why it matters less than you think)
Low compression, high compression, swing speed — there's a lot of myth here. The plain-English truth about what compression does for your game.
By Ross Hamilton
How long do golf balls last? (And when to actually bin one)
That ball in your bag from 2019 is probably fine. The scuffed one you played last week probably isn't. The honest guide to golf-ball lifespan.
By Ross Hamilton
