Clubs
Drivers, irons, wedges and putters — what actually adds distance, dials in your approach play and holes more putts.
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
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
Tour Edge Hot Launch Max D vs TaylorMade Qi Max HL: the test winner against the set in every fitting bay
One of these sets won MyGolfSpy's 2026 Most Wanted title in super game-improvement irons. The other one is on the rack forty minutes from you, in a bay you can book for Saturday morning. Both of those are real reasons to buy, and only one of them is about the iron.
By Jordan Hale
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
TaylorMade P770 vs PING i240: one of these is a set, the other is two clubs
Both are compact, both are aimed at good ball strikers, and both turn up in Solheim Cup bags this week. But the tour usage says they are not competing for the same slot in your bag at all.
By Jordan Hale
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
The word forged now covers five ways of building an iron, including one printed from metal powder
Forged, cast, multi-material, hollow-bodied with a forged face, and now printed from powder with a lattice inside. The word on the box has quietly stopped predicting anything about how the club plays.
By Jordan Hale
Ping G440 K vs Titleist GTS2: only one of these is actually sold in a slower-swing build
Both get handed to the same golfer across the same counter, and they solve opposite problems. The tell is not the head, it is the shaft weight on the order form.
By Jordan Hale
Eight hosel settings, a sliding weight and a torque wrench: what adjustability is worth on a driver
Eight hosel positions, a sliding weight, a torque wrench in a little pouch. Sold as personalisation, bought as insurance, and left on the factory setting by almost everyone who owns one.
By Ben Marsden
Cobra 3DP MB vs Srixon Z-Forged II: one of these blades starts as metal powder
Two musclebacks aimed at the same golfer, made in ways that have nothing in common. One is hammered out of soft carbon steel. The other is printed, lattice and all, and costs roughly twice as much for fewer clubs.
By Jordan Hale
Titleist T100 irons review: the most-played iron in the bags we track
Eight of the 53 tour setups we maintain carry them — double the next model. At around {{price}}, here's the honest read on who that actually makes them right for.
By Jordan Hale
Titleist GT3 driver review: the adjustable one, for players who actually adjust
The compact, lower-spin half of the GT pair, and the most adjustable driver Titleist had made. Worth it only if you will use the track — here's how to tell.
By Jordan Hale
PING S259 review: the wedge that finally stopped being a Ping-owner's default
PING's 2026 wedge builds on the tour-winning S159 with a groove strategy that changes by loft and six sole grinds across 46 to 62 degrees. The question is whether that is enough to move anyone off a Vokey.
By Ben Marsden
Graphite iron shafts aren't a concession. 6 of the 8 LPGA bags we track run them, against 2 of 45 men's
Graphite in irons is still sold to club golfers as a concession — the thing you move to when you slow down. Our own bag data says that framing is simply wrong. Eight bags is a small sample and we say so, but the split is not close.
By Jordan Hale
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
Mizuno Pro M-15 vs Titleist T100: one of these is a tour iron and the other is forgiveness you'd rather not admit you need
Two irons good players cross-shop hardest this year, and they are not two grades of the same club. One asks you to strike it. The other quietly covers for you.
By Jordan Hale
Hi-Toe 5 vs Vokey SM11: the tall wedge finally gets a grind range
TaylorMade's first forged Hi-Toe arrives with five sole grinds, which is TaylorMade competing on Titleist's own ground for the first time. It still won't look like a Vokey at address, and that decides more than you'd think.
By Jordan Hale
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
Mizuno Pro M-15 review: the distance iron for people who don't want a distance iron
Mizuno's Modern Series finally makes a players' distance iron a good ball-striker will look at twice. The catch is where the extra yardage actually turns up.
By Ben Marsden
Evnroll EZPZ review: the putter for everyone who tried zero torque and put it straight back
Guerin Rife watched the industry spend two years chasing zero torque and has shipped the opposite idea. It looks normal at address, which is the entire point.
By Ben Marsden
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
Half the price, or the ball flight you have been missing
One of these iron sets costs roughly half what the other does. That is not the reason to choose between them, and treating it as the reason is how golfers end up with the wrong set.
By Jordan Hale
One of these drivers expects you to book a fitting. The other assumes you never will.
Two 2026 flagships built on opposite theories of where a driver gets dialled in — in a fitting bay, or in the factory. Which one suits you depends far more on that than on head shape or launch numbers.
By Jordan Hale
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
Titleist GT2 vs Ping G440 Max: speed against the miss you actually hit
Two of the most-fitted drivers in golf, and the choice between them comes down to a question most golfers answer dishonestly.
By Jordan Hale
TaylorMade Qi Max HL: the irons for golfers who've been told to swing faster for twenty years
High-launch irons get written about as a compromise for people who've lost something. That framing is wrong, and it's kept a lot of golfers playing clubs that don't work for them.
By Jordan Hale
Titleist T100 vs Ping i240: two players' irons, and one of them is lying to you about your handicap
Both are beautiful, both are fitted, both are aimed at the same golfer on paper. The difference shows up on the strikes you'd rather not talk about.
By Jordan Hale
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
Every driver on tour has a named shaft in it. Yours probably came in the box
We checked the shaft in all 49 tour drivers we track. Every single one lists a premium branded shaft, and not one lists a generic stock option. That gap is where most amateur driver money goes wrong.
By Ben Marsden
Callaway Opus SP review: the wedge in four tour bags while everyone buys Vokey
Callaway's Spin Pocket wedge lands a lower, spinnier flight for about the same money as a Vokey. It is the one I would buy for firm turf and full shots, and the wrong call if your short game lives in soft sand.
By Ben Marsden
Ten of the sixteen Scotty Camerons on tour are putters you can't buy
We counted the putters in 49 current tour bags. The gap between what the best players use and what the shop will sell you is real, it is much bigger for some brands than others, and it should change how you shop.
By Ben Marsden
Titleist GTS2 vs Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond: two 2026 flagships betting on opposite golfers
One is built around maximum stability, the other around a compact 450cc low-spin head that asks you to find the middle. Golfers cross-shop them on brand loyalty every week, and roughly half of them walk out with the wrong one.
By Jordan Hale
Three of golf's biggest YouTubers own the iron brand they play. None of the 49 tour bags we track has it
Takomo made Grant Horvat and both Bryan brothers shareholders, not just ambassadors. That's a smarter deal than sponsorship and a harder one to read as a viewer — so here is what the number actually supports, and what it doesn't.
By Ben Marsden
Titleist T100 vs Srixon ZXi7: one costs 27% more and the difference is not what you think
Neither of these goes further than the other. The honest split is turf interaction, shaping and whose fitting cart you can actually get into — and a lot of buyers at this tier are paying for a head when they never made a shaft decision.
By Jordan Hale
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
Most golfers pick the wrong PING G440: stop buying the low-spin head
Three heads, three completely different owners. The tell is your spin rate and your start line, not your handicap — and the head most golfers buy aspirationally is the one that suits them least.
By Dan Mercer
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
TaylorMade R7 Quad Mini vs Callaway Ai Smoke Ti 340: which club are you actually replacing?
Mini drivers have gone from curiosity to a permanent slot in the range. These are the two most credible ways in, and they solve two completely different problems.
By Jordan Hale
Tour Bags Are Now a Year Ahead of the Shop, and That Is the Point
Ryan Fox won the Open with a driver you cannot buy, at any price, on any date. Days later Srixon put more unreleased gear into play. The gap between the tour truck and the pro shop has stopped being an accident.
By Dan Mercer
The 200-yard 7-iron just landed, and it's the most overrated number in golf
Across 81 irons tested this year, one 7-iron carried 202.2 yards and finished about 10 yards clear of the field. That is a marketing triumph and a scoring problem, and the reason is stamped on the sole.
By Jordan Hale
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
TaylorMade Qi4D vs PING G440 Max: the 2026 driver decision most golfers get backwards
Two of the year's biggest drivers, cross-shopped in every fitting bay — and most players walk in chasing the wrong thing. One wins the robot test outright; the other quietly saves more rounds. Here's which head actually belongs in your bag, and why the answer probably isn't the one you'd guess.
By Jordan Hale
You're playing the wrong driver loft — and it's costing you the easiest distance in golf
Most amateurs play too little loft, chasing tour spin numbers they physically can't produce, and leave yards on the tee for it. The launch data says the opposite of the range-buddy wisdom: the average golfer needs more loft than they think — and firm summer fairways move the target again.
By Jordan Hale
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
New, last year's, or used: how to buy golf gear smart in 2026
With a flood of new launches this year, here is a money-savvy framework for when full price is worth it and when it absolutely isn't.
By Dan Mercer
The mid-handicapper's gear guide: what actually helps, and what's a waste
For the 10-to-20 handicap improver, here is where new equipment genuinely lowers scores and where the money quietly disappears.
By Jordan Hale
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
One round, three budgets: a full golf setup for less, for more, and no limits
Three coherent setups at three very different spending levels, and the honest case for stopping at the first one.
By Tom Whitaker
What the 'longest driver of 2026' number won't tell you
Every year a chart crowns one driver the longest, and every year thousands of golfers buy the wrong club because of it.
By Dan Mercer
Five gear trends that defined golf in 2026 (and which deserve your money)
Mini drivers, zero-torque putters, sub-grand launch monitors — the shifts that actually reached your bag this year, ranked by whether they're worth it.
By Jordan Hale
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
The most overrated gear in golf (and what to buy instead)
Golf is spectacularly good at selling you the wrong thing. Here's where the money quietly leaks out of your bag — and the unglamorous stuff that actually drops shots.
By Dan Mercer
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
How long do golf clubs actually last? Longer than the marketing wants you to think
Drivers and irons stay competitive for years. Wedge grooves are the real wear item, and grips are the cheap refresh almost everyone neglects. Here's the honest timeline.
By Jordan Hale
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
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
Odyssey Ai-ONE Jailbird review: the value pick of the zero-torque boom
Reviewers keep calling it the most stable zero-torque putter they have tested — at roughly half the price of the big names. Is it the smart buy?
By Jordan Hale
What shaft flex do you actually need? Most golfers play too stiff
If your driver swing is under about 95 mph, you almost certainly want regular, not stiff — and playing stiff is quietly costing you distance and height.
By Jordan Hale
A fitting won't add 20 yards — and that's exactly why it's worth it
The marketing sells fittings as free distance. The honest case is better: it's the one golf spend that reliably pays for itself by stopping you buying the wrong club. Here's who gains, and who's wasting their money.
By Jordan Hale
Your 60-degree wedge is costing you shots
The club you grab to look like a tour pro is quietly wrecking your short game. For most golfers it should rarely leave the bag.
By Jordan Hale
Buy last year's driver — it's the smartest club purchase in golf
The new flagship is a few yards and a big premium away from the one it replaced. Let someone else pay for the newness.
By Dan Mercer
Steel vs graphite iron shafts: which one is actually for you
The old 'steel for good players, graphite for everyone else' rule is dead. Here's the honest way to choose.
By Jordan Hale
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
PING i240 review: forgiveness you can feel, feedback you can trust
A compact cavity-back that flatters mishits without numbing the good ones — the set most mid-handicaps should actually be playing.
By Jordan Hale
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
You don't need a new driver. You need a fitting.
Every January the longest driver ever arrives, again. The gains are tiny, the real yards are in a fitting bay, and the industry itself has started admitting it.
By Ben Marsden
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
TaylorMade is ditching the annual driver — and that's good news for your wallet
The biggest name in drivers is moving to a two-year release cycle, with no new model in 2027. The end of the yearly upgrade treadmill is overdue.
By Jordan Hale
TaylorMade Qi4D driver review: forgiveness you can feel, speed you have to earn
The driver TaylorMade is keeping in the bag through 2027 — the first time since 2001 they've skipped an annual release. Here's whether it's the one to settle on.
By Jordan Hale
Titleist takes the wraps off its GTS driver range
Three heads — GTS2, GTS3 and GTS4 — span from forgiving and high-launching to a low-spin head built for the fast-swing brigade.
By Jordan Hale
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
What actually adds driver distance (and what doesn't)
Spin, speed, strike and fit — the four things that move the needle, and the marketing claims that don't. In plain English.
By Tom Whitaker
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
Zero-torque putters: hype or help? (And the cheaper alternatives)
Golf's hottest putter category, decoded. It's genuinely useful if your short putts miss left and right — and you no longer have to spend L.A.B. money to get it.
By Dan Mercer
PING G440 Max review: the forgiveness benchmark, quietly brilliant
If you slice, spray it, or just want to stop losing balls off the tee, this is the 2026 driver to buy — the most forgiving big-stick going, and a genuine buy-once club.
By Jordan Hale
Takomo 101 MKII review: the irons quietly embarrassing the big brands
Half the price of a name-brand set, and good enough that you'll feel a bit silly for not trying them sooner. The direct-to-consumer irons reviewed.
By Jordan Hale
Blades vs cavity-back irons: which should you actually play?
One looks the part; the other saves your scores. The honest guide to picking the right iron for your game, not your ego.
By Jordan Hale
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
Direct-to-consumer irons are the smartest buy in golf right now
You're paying a brand tax on irons and the independent data has finally called the bluff. Here's the case for buying DTC — and the one catch to manage.
By Dan Mercer
Titleist GT2 driver review: the easy-launching all-rounder most golfers should hit
The forgiving heart of Titleist's GT range — now the previous generation, and roughly 30% cheaper for it. Here's who it's really for.
By Jordan Hale
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
You're not good enough for blades — and that's completely fine
Blades look incredible in the bag and cost you shots on the course. A loving intervention for the ego-buyer.
By Dan Mercer
Takomo vs PING: are direct-to-consumer irons really as good?
A value upstart against an iron-making institution. The honest verdict on whether skipping the big brand costs you anything.
By Jordan Hale
Adjustable drivers: what all those settings actually do
Loft sleeves, movable weights, lie adjustments — most golfers never touch them, and the few who fiddle often make things worse. The plain guide.
By Jordan Hale
Get a putter fitting before you get a driver fitting
You use it on nearly half your shots and almost nobody fits it. The most neglected, highest-value fitting in golf.
By Dan Mercer
