Tried, tested & explained
Every review, head-to-head, explainer and opinion piece we've written — honest, plain-English, and gear-led. Looking for a category round-up instead? Those are our buying guides.
Review
Single products, tested and scored.
Review
7.7/10Tour Edge Exotics Milled Wedge review: three bounce letters instead of the grind alphabet
On sale today, at roughly half what a Vokey costs, with a milled face and a KBS shaft. The clever part is not the price. It is that the whole line is sold on three bounce profiles rather than a wall of grind letters nobody can decode.
Review
8.4/10FootJoy Pro/SLX review: the chassis is what you are paying for, not the waterproofing
It looks like the wet-weather version of the shoe more tour pros wear than any other. It is not, because that shoe is already warrantied waterproof. What the extra money buys is structure, and the trade is weight.
Review
7.8/10SportScreen Vanish review: the sim enclosure that rolls into the ceiling and hands the garage back
A retractable screen, side baffles and all, that winches up into a ceiling housing and leaves the floor clear for a car. It is the first enclosure built for the reason most people never build a simulator — and it does not solve your ceiling height.
Review
Mizuno Wave Hazard Pro Boa review: the grown-up waterproof I'd buy, and it isn't the one on the FootJoy wall
Full-grain leather, a Boa dial and the same Enerzy foam Mizuno puts in its running shoes. It undercuts the classic leather waterproofs by a long way, and there is one line in the small print that explains most of the gap.
Review
7.5/10Exputt RG review: the putting simulator whose 44-inch mat decides what it can teach
A putting-only simulator that nobody in the gear press takes seriously, aimed at the part of the game that quietly falls apart between October and April. What it measures, what it only pretends to, and the mat dimension that explains both.
Review
8.8/10TaylorMade Qi10 fairway review: the 3-wood the best players never replaced
It is the most-played fairway in the 53 bags we track — and it is two generations old. Scheffler and McIlroy both still carry one. Here's why that matters more than the release date.
Review
9.0/10Titleist 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.
Review
8.7/10Titleist 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.
Review
9.1/10Titleist Pro V1x review: the tour ball more of them actually play
Everyone calls the Pro V1 the tour ball. In the 53 bags we track, the V1x outnumbers it more than two to one. Here's who that flight actually suits.
Review
8.1/10PXG Lightning fairway wood review: six lofts, eight hosel settings, and an un-PXG price
Six lofts, an eight-way hosel and three movable weights, from the brand that used to price itself out of the conversation. It went on sale in December, and the price is still the most interesting thing about it.
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8.7/10PING 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.
Review
7.8/10FlightScope i4 review: the smartest yardage in golf, and you'll be switching it off
A launch monitor company built a rangefinder that tells you what the shot plays as, not what it measures. The adjusted number is also not tournament legal, which decides who should buy it.
Review
7.9/10TruGolf APOGEE review: the sim unit that gives you your floor back
TruGolf's overhead unit clears the hitting bay completely and replays your impact in slow motion after every shot. The catch is a ceiling you have to drill into and a software list with one name on it.
Review
8.6/10Mizuno 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.
Review
8.3/10Evnroll 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.
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8.4/10The Motocaddy I would actually buy is the one in the middle
The screen is the bit you pay extra for. Downhill control is the bit that earns its money, and on this model it costs less than the trolley above it.
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8.5/10Foresight made real accuracy a garage purchase. The no-subscription pitch has one asterisk.
Three cameras reading the ball directly, close enough to a GCQuad that most amateurs will never find the gap, and no fee to keep using the hardware. The room it needs and the software it talks to are what decide whether it fits your build.
Review
PAYNTR Eighty Seven SC: the shoe brand that came from cricket and is out-scoring companies fifty times its size
A 2026 study of 391 golfers found PAYNTR posting favourability alongside the majors. That's a strange result for a company most golfers still can't pronounce — and the reason is in the sole.
Review
7.6/10Bushnell built the device that ends the two-gadget dance. Almost nobody buys it.
A laser and a GPS in the same viewfinder, so you look once instead of twice. The category has never really sold, and the reason is not the one golfers give.
Review
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.
Review
The bag that only holds eight clubs is the most interesting thing in golf retail
Small carry bags started as a nine-hole novelty and quietly became a statement about how much of your bag you actually use. The gear is good now — the argument underneath it is better.
Review
7.9/10Full Swing KIT review: the tape measure decides this, not Tiger
Tour pedigree, TGL on ESPN, and radar good enough to be checked against a Trackman outdoors. It also wants eighteen to twenty feet of room, which rules out most of the garages people buy it for.
Review
8.4/10Callaway 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.
Review
8.8/10Trackman iO review: the launch monitor you buy once, and the four reasons most people shouldn't
The most expensive thing in our catalogue, and it earns the badge. But there are 4 honest reasons it isn't the right buy for most home sim rooms — and the rung below gets a lot of people most of the way.
Review
8.3/10MGI Zip Navigator AT review: the remote trolley that finally stopped being a gimmick
At around $1,700 the Zip Navigator AT pairs full-directional remote control with all-terrain drive. On a hilly course that combination is the point. On a flat parkland course it is a very expensive way to walk.
Review
8.2/10Mileseey GenePro G1 review: the rangefinder that swallowed a GPS watch
A laser with a full touchscreen GPS bolted to the side. Absurd on paper, genuinely clever in the hand, and let down by its own app.
Review
8.8/10Bushnell Launch Pro review: the unit that dragged fitting-grade data into the garage
Foresight Sports measurement for roughly a third of a GCQuad, indoors or out. The hardware is close to unimpeachable — the thing you need to think hard about is which subscription tier you'll actually live on.
Review
8.3/10Bridgestone 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?
Review
8.0/10Under Armour HOVR Drive 2 Wide review: the golf shoe wide feet have been waiting for
A spiked, waterproof shoe built on a genuine wide last, at a value price. For broad feet, it solves a problem the big brands mostly ignore.
Review
8.4/10TaylorMade 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.
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8.0/10Skechers GO GOLF Elite 6 review: is 'most comfortable shoe in golf' enough?
Skechers keeps winning the comfort argument on golf shoes. Whether that's the shoe you should buy depends entirely on how — and where — you play.
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8.4/10TRUE Linkswear LUX Pro review: the cult walking shoe that plays 18 then goes to the pub
A premium leather spikeless shoe built around walking comfort rather than a tour athlete's swing — for the golfer who walks and hates changing shoes afterwards, it's a revelation.
Review
8.3/10Square Golf launch monitor review: the camera unit that undercuts the radar crowd
A newer camera-based monitor that reads club data the budget radar crowd can't — and never charges a subscription. Here's honestly where it fits in a home sim.
Review
8.0/10Wilson 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.
Review
8.0/10Bushnell Phantom 3 review: the no-faff GPS that costs less than a wedge
No watch on your wrist, no laser to aim, no subscription — just big, glanceable yardages and slope in your pocket. For a lot of golfers that's the whole job, done, for the price of a decent round.
Review
7.6/10Callaway 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.
Review
8.6/10Srixon 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.
Review
8.4/10Shot Scope V5 review: the golf watch that tracks your whole game for free
Most game-tracking systems hand you tour-level stats and then charge you monthly to keep them. The V5 gives you strokes gained and 100-plus stats on your own game with no subscription, ever — and that changes the maths entirely.
Review
FootJoy just wrapped a golf shoe in the only fabric with its own act of parliament
The FJ x Harris Tweed Premiere Series Packard landed on July 14 — the third and final drop of FootJoy's 2026 Legends Series, seeded to tour feet before the 154th Open. Here's what the fabric actually is, what's genuinely new underneath, and who should chase a pair before it's gone.
Review
8.5/10HackMotion Core review: the wrist sensor that shows you why you slice
Clubface control is the hidden cause of most slices, and until now it was invisible. HackMotion straps a sensor to your lead wrist, measures what your hands are doing 800 times a second, and beeps when you square the face. For the improver obsessed with ball-striking, it's genuinely revealing tech.
Review
8.6/10Sunday Golf El Camino review: the featherweight bag that made walking cool again
At 1.8kg the El Camino weighs less than two dozen balls, yet it still carries ten-plus clubs, keeps two cans cold and stands rock-steady on the tee. For the walking golfer who's cut back to a half-set, it's close to perfect — as long as you're not trying to lug a full 14.
Review
8.7/10Garmin Approach S50 review: the golf watch most people should actually buy
The S50 takes nearly everything that made Garmin's flagship special — the gorgeous AMOLED screen, slope-adjusted distances, shot tracking, wrist heart rate and Garmin Pay — and sells it for a lot less than double. For most golfers, this is the sweet spot.
Review
8.9/10Callaway 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.
Review
9.0/10Srixon 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.
Review
8.7/10FlightScope Mevo+ review: the launch monitor home simulators are actually built around
While the internet argues about budget camera units and the Garmin R10, the Mevo+ quietly became the default brain of the serious home sim — tour-grade radar heritage, full ball and club data, and out-of-the-box simulator connectivity. It needs room to breathe, and the add-ons push the real cost up.
Review
8.8/10Precision Pro NX10 review: the laser that makes Bushnell money hard to justify
The NX10 is the first sub-flagship laser in years that genuinely rivals a top Bushnell — perfect-scoring accuracy, fast pin-lock and switchable slope for roughly half the money. Here's what you give up, and who should still spend more.
Review
8.6/10Wilson Staff Model X review: America's oldest golf company makes the ball nobody plays
Wilson has been making golf equipment in Chicago since 1914 and claims more majors have been won with its irons than any other brand's — yet its tour ball is invisible next to the wall of Titleist. The Staff Model X won a major 2026 robot test outright, costs meaningfully less than the big premiums, and deserves far better than obscurity.
Review
8.3/10Bushnell 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.
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8.2/10Shot Scope LM1 review: has the launch monitor finally got cheap enough?
The LM1 drags personal launch-monitor pricing down to impulse-buy territory, and for most golfers chasing a real carry number, that is the whole story.
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8.8/10L.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.
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8.4/10Garmin Approach Z30 review: the connected laser, if you're already a Garmin golfer
Garmin's first new rangefinder in years beams the pin number to your watch. Whether that's worth the money depends entirely on what's on your wrist.
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8.4/10Callaway 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.
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8.5/10Galvin Green Dixon INSULA review: the half-zip you'll wear nine months a year
Thin but deceptively warm, and stretchy enough to swing in — the mid-layer that earns its place from October to April.
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8.7/10Bushnell Tour V7 Shift review: the rangefinder most golfers should buy
Fast, confident lock-on, switchable slope and Bushnell's reliability — the all-rounder that tops the lists, and the one we recommend by default.
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8.5/10FootJoy StaSof review: the premium glove tour pros have trusted for decades
The best feel and grip money can buy in a glove — as long as you accept that premium Cabretta leather wears faster than synthetic.
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8.6/10Sun Mountain C-130 review: the cart bag with a place for everything
Cavernous, brilliantly organised and built to lock onto a trolley — if you ride or push every round, this is the one.
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8.9/10Galvin Green GORE-TEX jacket review: the waterproof that ends the search
Expensive, yes — but it keeps you genuinely dry, lets you swing freely, and lasts the decade. For golfers who play through real weather, it's the one.
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8.8/10PING 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.
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8.5/10PowaKaddy CT8 GPS review: the compact trolley with GPS baked into the handle
It folds smaller than almost anything in its class and puts a colour touchscreen GPS on the handle. Is the integrated screen worth the premium?
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8.4/10adidas Tour360 25 review: the classic golf shoe with trainer comfort
Twenty years of adidas's flagship, now with BOOST cushioning and proper waterproof leather. Is it the best blend of tradition and tech yet?
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8.6/10Odyssey 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?
Review
8.7/10TaylorMade 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?
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8.4/10Garmin Approach R50 review: the all-in-one launch monitor with the screen built in
Three cameras and a 10-inch touchscreen in one box, so you can run a full sim session with no laptop, phone or projector wired in. Convenient — at a serious price, and with a few rough edges.
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8.4/10Vessel Player V Pro review: the carry bag that feels like a luxury good
Stupidly nice to own, genuinely good to carry — if you can stomach the price, almost nothing else feels like this.
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8.7/10TaylorMade TP5 review: the tour ball that asks less of your swing
Five layers chasing one promise — premium greenside spin without punishing you for moderate speed. It mostly delivers.
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8.5/10TaylorMade 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.
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8.6/10PING 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.
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9.1/10Bushnell Pro X3+ review: the laser other lasers are measured against
It's the rangefinder you see in more tour bags than any other. Here's whether the premium price holds up.
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8.7/10Zero-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.
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8.4/10The launch monitor that broke the price floor
Personal launch monitors used to start in the thousands. This one moved the floor — and dropped the subscription.
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8.8/10Garmin Approach S70 review: the GPS watch that does almost everything
A gorgeous AMOLED screen, full course maps and a battery that lasts. Is this the only piece of distance tech most golfers need?
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9.2/10Titleist 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.
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8.2/10Read 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.
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9.0/10FootJoy Pro SL review: still the spikeless shoe to beat
The most-worn spikeless shoe on tour, and the one the rest of the field is measured against. Here's why it keeps winning — and the one golfer who should look elsewhere.
Review
8.8/10TaylorMade 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.
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8.7/10SkyTrak+ review: the home-sim launch monitor that earns its price
Near sim-grade accuracy without the five-figure outlay. If you're building a serious garage setup, this is where the numbers get real.
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8.7/10Garmin Approach R10 review: it will tell you your 150 club carries 138
Pocket radar, app simulator and on-course tracking for the price of a good rangefinder. Still the best-value way to find out what your game actually does.
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8.9/10PING 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.
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8.8/10Takomo 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.
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8.5/10Kirkland Signature golf ball review: the ball that embarrasses the big brands
Three-piece urethane for about a third of tour-ball money, and robot tests keep putting it near the top of the value pile. The hard part is finding it.
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8.9/10Scotty 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?
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8.8/10PuttOut 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.
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8.9/10Titleist 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.
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8.6/10Rapsodo MLM2 Pro review: the camera-and-radar unit that punches above its price
Video, real numbers and simulator play for the price of a posh rangefinder. The step-up launch monitor, honestly assessed.
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9.0/10Titleist 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.
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8.8/10Nikon Coolshot Pro II review: the laser for anyone whose hands aren't steady
The best glass in the mid-tier and stabilisation that genuinely works. The smart-money laser if you play in dull light or your hands aren't rock steady.
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8.7/10ECCO Biom C5 review: the comfort benchmark, with a price to match
ECCO makes the leather and the shoe, and walks the comfort everyone else chases. Is the premium worth it?
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8.8/10Motocaddy M5 GPS review: the electric trolley that does the thinking
GPS course maps, downhill control and a battery that shrugs off 36 holes — the do-it-all electric trolley most walkers should buy first.
Versus
Head-to-heads — two contenders, one verdict.
Versus
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.
Versus
TheStack vs SuperSpeed: only one of these needs a launch monitor to work at all
Two speed systems that disagree about method. One hands you a fixed ladder of three sticks and gets out of the way. The other builds you a personal prescription and cannot run a single session until something is measuring your swing.
Versus
Blue Tees Captain Pro vs SkyCaddie LX5: the subscription brand is the one with nothing to pay for three years
A challenger laser that also does GPS against the watch from the brand everyone associates with annual fees. Run both bills to year three and the labels swap over.
Versus
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.
Versus
Stewart Q Follow vs MGI Zip Navigator AT: follow mode is a fair-weather feature, and the drive decides autumn
One trolley walks behind you with the handset in your pocket. The other goes exactly where your thumb sends it. On dry, open ground that is a preference. From October it becomes a question about traction, weight and how often you were reaching for the handset anyway.
Versus
SportScreen Vanish vs Carl's Place Pro: the retractable one is cheaper, and the room's other job decides it
One rolls up into a ceiling housing so the garage goes back to being a garage. The other is a fixed, framed room you can order to the exact size of your wall. As we list them, the retractable is the cheaper of the two, and the pipes are not in the Carl's box.
Versus
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.
Versus
Fiberbuilt Player Preferred vs Studio Grass: same turf, and the cheaper one fixes something the flagship never will
Both mats stand on the same grass-blade turf, so feel isn't the difference. What you are actually paying for is a vibration layer rated at 94 per cent on one and a centre hitting strip on the other, and only one of those solves a problem that otherwise costs thousands.
Versus
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.
Versus
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.
Versus
PXG Lightning vs Ping G440 Max: six lofts and three movable weights against the fairway wood you can hit this afternoon
One of these is a custom build with a loft for every hole in your bag. The other is sitting in a fitting bay ten minutes from your house. That, and not ball speed, is the whole decision.
Versus
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.
Versus
Ben Sayers Lithium vs Motocaddy QB2: is the cheapest electric trolley a false economy?
Every electric trolley conversation on this site has been held at the expensive end. Here is the one most club golfers are actually having, between a budget lithium trolley and the best compact push cart in the shop.
Versus
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.
Versus
BenQ LK936ST vs Optoma GT2100HDR: the projector decision is about your room, not your budget
Two short-throw laser projectors for a golf simulator, separated by roughly threefold on price. The right answer is set by the light in your room and the distance you actually have, not by the lumen number.
Versus
PAYNTR Eighty Seven SC vs FootJoy Pro/SL: the cricket outsider against the tour default
One is the shoe more tour pros wear than any other, rebuilt from the ground up for 2026. The other came out of cricket and is out-scoring companies fifty times its size. They are not solving the same problem.
Versus
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.
Versus
Uneekor EYE MINI vs Bushnell Launch Pro: over three years the subscription box is still the cheaper one
Two photometric units, two completely different bargains. Add up three years of ownership and the cheaper box is still the cheaper box, which changes what the EYE MINI premium is really for.
Versus
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.
Versus
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.
Versus
ProTee VX vs Trackman iO: the iO costs 77 per cent more, and that gap only pays if the bay earns money
Two ceiling-mounted launch monitors, one clear hitting bay, and a price gap of roughly 77 per cent. The decision is less about accuracy than most buyers assume.
Versus
Most of an enclosure's price is the screen. Most buyers don't realise that, and it settles this argument
The SIG10 arrives at well under half the Carl's Place Pro's ask with a screen that has already beaten the category favourite in independent testing. The Pro is answering a different question, and it is a question about your walls.
Versus
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.
Versus
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.
Versus
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.
Versus
Arccos Air vs Shot Scope V5: the subscription decides this one too
Both track every shot you hit and tell you where your strokes go. One asks for a payment every year forever, and over five seasons that gap is bigger than the hardware.
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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.
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Trackman iO vs Uneekor EYE XO2: the year-one trap
Both mount overhead, both want ten feet of ceiling, and about $3,000 separates them on the shelf. Then Trackman's included first year runs out, and the gap starts growing by $1,100 a year.
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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.
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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.
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Uneekor EYE XO2 vs Foresight GC3: ceiling or floor?
About $4,000 separates them, but they're not really rivals — one lives in your ceiling forever, the other sits on the floor and travels. The cheaper one is also the one with no subscription.
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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.
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Launch Pro vs SkyTrak ST MAX: the subscription decides it
Two of the most-recommended home-sim units, about $1,000 apart on the sticker. Run the software costs for three years and the gap gets much wider — in one specific direction.
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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.
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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.
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Carl's Place DIY vs Pro enclosure: the real question is whether you own a mitre saw
The $2,900 gap between the two Carl's Place kits buys exactly two things: framing you don't have to build, and a screen matched to your room's light. Here's the honest test for which side of it you belong on, and why a DIY build quietly keeps costing more than the receipt says.
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Push trolley vs electric trolley: is the extra money worth it?
One asks you to push your own clubs up the hill. The other does it for you, for nearly three times the price. How to tell which one you actually need.
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Arccos Air vs Gen 4 Sensors: the same data, two very different asks
One wants a sensor in every grip and your phone in your pocket. The other is a single clip that infers what you swung. The trade you're making isn't price — it's setup effort against how often it gets the club right.
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Launch Pro vs Foresight GC3: I did the subscription maths and it says the opposite of what everyone tells you
Same measurement technology, $4,000 apart, and one of them bills you every year. The received wisdom is that the no-subscription unit wins over time. Run the actual numbers and it only wins if you'd have picked the expensive plan.
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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.
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Nikon Coolshot Pro II vs Precision Pro NX10: how much rangefinder do you need?
One buys you the best optics and a gyro-stabilised picture; the other gives you most of the experience for a little over half the outlay. Which is the smarter buy?
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GoGoGo Vpro vs Bushnell Tour V7 Shift: do you really need to spend 5x?
A budget-laser icon against the tour-caddie standard — one costs roughly five times the other, and only one specific golfer actually needs the expensive one.
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Garmin Approach S50 vs Shot Scope V5: slick watch or free game data?
Two very different GPS watches at two very different prices — one is the polished all-rounder, the other quietly tells you where you actually lose shots.
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SkyTrak+ vs FlightScope Mevo+: your room decides this one, not your budget
Both are now outgoing models on run-out prices, which makes this more useful rather than less — the successors inherit the same trade-off. And it isn't the spec sheet. It's how much space you actually have.
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Rapsodo MLM2 Pro vs Shot Scope LM1: measured spin and sim golf, or just the number?
Two launch monitors golfers cross-shop constantly, sitting either side of the same question — how much do you actually need? One films your swing, measures spin and plays sim courses all winter. The other strips the whole idea down to a carry number on a screen.
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Kirkland Signature vs Titleist Pro V1: is the Costco ball really 90% of the Pro V1 for a third of the price?
The cult Costco ball has become the internet's favourite way to call out premium-ball pricing. The robot data says it's genuinely close — closer than the price gap has any right to allow. Here's exactly where it matches the Pro V1, where it doesn't, and who should stop paying full whack.
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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.
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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.
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Radar vs camera launch monitors: the home-sim decision nobody explains
Two completely different technologies hide behind the words launch monitor, and picking the wrong one for your room is the most expensive mistake in home golf.
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The only three projectors worth buying for a golf simulator
Forget the spec-sheet rabbit hole. For a golf sim the projector decision comes down to two things — your room's light and your budget — and it lands on one of three.
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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.
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Titleist Players 4 Plus vs Sun Mountain 2.5+: the tour default takes on the walking specialist
The walking revival has made the ultralight stand bag the most competitive category in golf, and this is its classic head-to-head: Titleist's do-everything carry bag against the featherweight from the company that invented the modern stand bag. One wins on storage and looks, the other on your shoulders after ten thousand steps.
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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.
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Bushnell Tour V6 Shift vs Shot Scope Pro L2: do you really need the badge?
Two of the best value lasers in golf, from opposite ends of the value argument. The Shot Scope is the giant-killer on pure accuracy-per-pound; the Bushnell sells trust, optics and that famous pin-lock. Here's which one actually deserves your money.
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Garmin R50 vs SkyTrak+: which premium home-sim brain should you buy?
The big home-simulator decision. One does everything in a single box; the other gives you sharper numbers for far less. Here's how to choose.
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Motocaddy M5 GPS vs PowaKaddy CT8: the electric trolley to buy
The two brands that own the fairway, head to head — it comes down to the screen, the fold and how your course slopes.
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Bushnell Pro X3+ vs Garmin Z82: which premium rangefinder wins?
Two flagship lasers, two philosophies — the purist's tool versus the do-everything device. Here's who should buy which.
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GPS watch vs laser rangefinder: which should you buy first?
They solve the distance problem in opposite ways. Most golfers only need one to start — here's how to choose.
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Push vs electric trolley: which is actually worth it?
One saves your back for not much money; the other saves your legs for rather more. How to spend wisely on carrying nothing.
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Stand bag vs cart bag: which one's right for you?
Buy the wrong one and you'll fight it every round. The choice is simpler than the wall of bags suggests — it's about how you get round.
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Pro V1 vs Chrome Tour: the premium ball question
The two balls most good players agonise over. They're closer than the tribalism suggests — here's how to actually choose.
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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.
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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.
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Garmin R10 vs Shot Scope LM1: the budget launch-monitor face-off
Two ways to get real numbers without remortgaging — which one fits how you'll actually use it.
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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.
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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.
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Garmin R10 vs Rapsodo MLM2 Pro: which budget launch monitor wins?
The two devices most home-data golfers agonise over. They're closer than the spec sheets suggest — here's how to choose.
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Spikeless face-off: adidas S2G SL vs FootJoy Pro SL
Two of the best spikeless shoes in golf, head to head. Both brilliant — here's which suits your feet and your wallet.
Explained
Plain-English guides to choosing well.
Explained
10 of the 15 Presidents Cup bags we track blend two or three iron models. Only five play a matching set
Medinah No. 3 is 7,564 yards and par 72, which asks a lot of the top of the bag. That is exactly where the sets of the players arriving to play it stop matching.
Explained
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.
Explained
Golf bag waterproofing splits two ways: rain hoods keep the clubs dry, welded seams keep the bag dry
Every bag in the shop claims some version of weather protection, and the claims describe two completely different products. One protects your grips for four hours. The other stops the bag itself turning into a sponge until March.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Thirteen woods and hybrids between them, and not one iron longer than a 4: inside the Solheim Cup bags we track
Nelly Korda, Rose Zhang, Charley Hull and Leona Maguire were four of the twenty-four players at Bernardus, where Europe took the Cup back 15-13. They are also four of the fifty-three bags we maintain, and the top of those bags is where the whole argument is.
Explained
Hand warmers, cart mittens and a GPS speaker: six bits of kit that make October golf bearable
Nothing here will fix your slice. All of it makes the difference between a raw, dark, wet October round being a slog and being the best golf of the year.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Rain gloves come in pairs, and the grip underneath does half the work
The counterintuitive bit is well known. The bit almost nobody works out is that your gloved hand was never the problem, and the grip under it is doing half the job badly.
Explained
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.
Explained
BenQ publishes a zero-degree floor for its sim projector. No launch monitor maker publishes one at all
Most home sims live in an unheated garage, shed or loft, and winter is the entire point of owning one. Cold does not throw an error message. It quietly changes the room, the kit and every number you are given.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
23 of the 52 tour bags we track run the same iron shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold
Driver shafts get a broadcast graphic. Iron shafts get silence, even though the two lists inside the same bags barely overlap. Here is what our own tour-bag data shows, and what it changes when you buy irons.
Explained
Two of the three autumn local rules aren't Rules of Golf at all — they're your club's call
Preferred lies, temporary greens and the plugged ball. Two of the three are decisions your club made rather than Rules of Golf, and almost nobody reads the card that tells them which.
Explained
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.
Explained
Nobody checks what a cart bag weighs, and the car park is where you find out
Pocket count is the number every shopper reads. Empty weight, and whether the base actually locks to the trolley it will live on, is the number that decides whether you like the bag.
Explained
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.
Explained
TaylorMade fairway woods are in 23 of the 50 tour bags we track that carry one. No other brand is close
The gear press has been calling TaylorMade's fairway-wood run the trend of the season. We ran it against our own dated bag records, and the concentration is bigger than the headlines suggest.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Callaway just invented the "scoring wood". Across the 53 tour bags we track, nobody plays the club it's built around
The Quantum Mini Spinner launches today in 21, 24 and 27 degrees. We keep dated records of 53 professional bags — the 7-wood is in 17 of them, the 9-wood in three, and the 11-wood in none at all.
Explained
Your launch monitor isn't the most important thing you'll plug in, and the bill nobody budgets for proves it
Every home sim budget on the internet lists the sensor, the screen, the mat and the projector. Two line items decide whether the room is actually good, and neither one is on the list.
Explained
Three drops club golfers get wrong every weekend, and two of them are costing you shots
Nobody in your fourball is cheating. They are guessing, and the guesses run in the same three directions: the wrong reference point in a penalty area, the forgotten option on an unplayable ball, and the nearest nice bit of grass instead of the nearest point of complete relief.
Explained
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.
Explained
The 14-way divider is the most oversold feature in golf, and it's quietly wrecking your grips
A slot for every club sounds like the end of the tangle. It isn't — what actually matters is whether those 14 dividers run to the base, and most shoppers never check.
Explained
Your spikeless shoes lost their grip months ago and they still look brand new
A spiked shoe tells you when it is finished: you can see the worn cleat and replace it for pennies. A spikeless outsole never does. The lugs quietly round off somewhere around 50 to 80 rounds, the upper keeps looking immaculate, and you start blaming your swing for a slip that is actually your left shoe.
Explained
Uneekor's cheapest way in saves you nearly 40% — here's exactly what you're giving up
The EYE MINI LITE undercuts the EYE MINI by roughly $1,750 and gives up exactly one thing: the ability to leave the room. Most home-sim buyers are paying for portability they will use twice.
Explained
Your impact screen colour and your projector are one decision, not two
Grey screens absorb around 40% more ambient light, which is why they look so much better in a garage. They also swallow your projector's output — so choosing grey and then buying a mid-brightness projector gives you a worse picture than white would have.
Explained
The launch monitor price ladder: what each jump in price actually buys
Seven rungs, seventy-fold price range, and only two of the jumps genuinely change how much you improve. A plain map of where the money goes — including the annual fees that don't appear on any price tag.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Six golf gadgets that quietly make the round better
No launch monitors, no swing sensors, no subscriptions. Just six small things that make a Saturday morning less annoying, one of which exists purely for the laugh.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
You're upgrading your golf sim in the wrong order
The most common home-sim regret isn't a launch monitor's accuracy. It's a room you flinch in and a picture you can't see in daylight — and both get budgeted last.
Explained
The 7-wood takeover: how to replace the long iron you can't hit
Tour bags and better amateur bags have quietly deleted the 3- and 4-iron. The hard part isn't the deletion, it's choosing between the three very different clubs fighting over the empty slot.
Explained
New drivers, wedges and putters just dropped for 2026 — should you actually upgrade?
Titleist's GTS drivers, Ping's S259 wedges, TaylorMade's Qi Max HL irons and fresh Scotty Cameron mallets have all landed. The answer-first truth: for most golfers the honest answer is 'not yet' — here's the short list of when it's genuinely worth it.
Explained
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.
Explained
How to get a golf handicap (and why it's cheaper and easier than you think)
You no longer need a pricey club membership or a stack of medal cards. Here's the fastest route to an official Handicap Index in 2026 — and the everyday rounds that now count towards it.
Explained
Your launch monitor has a second price tag — and the box won't show it
More golf tech now ships with its real cost hidden in an app: simulator rounds behind memberships, stats behind annual plans, features that switch off when you stop paying. Here's the honest map of who charges what — and the brands quietly winning by charging nothing.
Explained
5 tiny upgrades that never leave a golfer's bag — unlike most of what you buy
No swing promises, no subscriptions — just 5 small, cheap bits of kit that each solve one genuine on-course annoyance so well they stay in the bag for years. The list, and exactly what each one fixes.
Explained
Golf GPS in 2026: what's actually worth buying now
Golf GPS had a big year — laser-and-GPS hybrids, connected rangefinders and slope displays that finally earn their keep. Here's the landscape: what's worth your money now, and the new arrivals worth knowing about.
Explained
The four home golf simulators: what each budget threshold actually unlocks
Spend twice as much and you don't get twice the simulator — you cross into a different kind of room. Here's what genuinely changes at each tier, and the exact point where more money stops buying you more golf.
Explained
The golf glove is the cheapest upgrade in golf — and most golfers get it wrong
A glove touches every full swing you make, costs less than a sleeve of premium balls, and most golfers play the wrong one for the conditions. Here's the small rotation of gloves that keeps your grip locked in — dry, wet, cold and sweltering — for the price of one premium dozen.
Explained
You're told to buy 15 things to start golf. You need about 6.
The golf industry loves a beginner with a credit card. But most of the starter shopping list exists to sell you gear, not to get you playing — and half of it will actively slow your progress. Here's the honest list of what a new golfer actually needs, and the expensive stuff you should absolutely not buy yet.
Explained
Age steals 20 yards off your tee — and a new driver isn't how you get them back
The decline is real and it's measurable, but the industry's answer — buy the newest driver every two years — targets the smallest lever. The three that actually move the needle are recoverable clubhead speed, a ball matched to your slower swing, and the weight you're carrying up the fairway.
Explained
The best golf GPS watch is the one you'll actually wear
Golf watches now range from a simple yardage display to a rugged solar computer that tracks every shot. The trick isn't buying the most features — it's matching the watch to how you actually play and what you'll genuinely use. Here's how to pick the right tier.
Explained
Beyond 'shrink it and pink it': what's actually engineered for women golfers now
For decades 'women's' golf gear meant a smaller men's product in a pastel colourway. That's finally changing — and the difference between real engineering and a marketing paint job is now worth knowing.
Explained
Where to spend and where to save: the dollar-per-stroke map of a golf bag
The golf industry has trained you to spend your money in exactly the wrong order. The driver and the tour ball give you the least improvement per dollar; the boring middle of the bag gives you the most. Here's the map, category by category.
Explained
You'll spend five hours under peak UV today. Your kit is treating it as a rounding error.
The cost of playing golf in a baking sun isn't a red neck at the halfway house — it's cumulative skin damage over a lifetime of Saturdays, and a back nine played by a golfer whose head has been cooking since the turn. Here's what actually helps, and what's just fabric with a marketing tag.
Explained
The cheapest edge in golf is the one nobody wears
Golfers will drop a mortgage payment on a driver that adds a spreadsheet's-width of distance, then spend four hours a round squinting into glare that flattens every green they try to read. Proper polarised sunglasses fix a real problem for coffee money — with one honest catch the marketing never mentions.
Explained
July is the smartest month to buy golf waterproofs. Yes, really
Nobody shops for rain gear in a heatwave — which is precisely the point. Last season's stock is being cleared, the new ranges land at full price in September, and Open week is about to remind everyone that the best golfers on Earth carry waterproofs in high summer. Here's how to buy once and buy right.
Explained
The best putters on Earth practise with cheap plastic — and you keep buying putters
Walk any tour practice green and it's covered in mirrors, gates, string lines and chalk — a full putting station for less than a dozen premium balls. Meanwhile amateurs respond to missed putts by buying a new putter. Here's how to decode the tour putting station, and which pieces actually move your handicap.
Explained
Your yardages are fiction — and millions of tracked shots prove it
Ask a golfer how far he hits his 7-iron and you'll get a number. Ask a shot-tracking database and you'll get a different, shorter, truer one. The gap between the two is costing you more strokes than your swing is — and the fix costs a month of honesty, not a new set of irons.
Explained
How good are cheap rangefinders now? Good enough to embarrass a Bushnell
The gap between a pocket-money laser and a flagship one has quietly collapsed. For most golfers a value rangefinder now does the whole job — here's the ladder from dirt-cheap to feature-loaded, and exactly where the extra money still buys you something real.
Explained
Your back-nine collapse isn't fatigue — it's dehydration, and it's costing you strokes
Sports science puts the threshold at around two per cent of body mass: lose that much to sweat and your fine motor control and decision-making measurably degrade. A four-hour round in July heat gets you there easily if you drink on autopilot. Here's the protocol — and the gear that makes it effortless.
Explained
The five most underpriced things in golf
Golf is famous for charging you three figures for a fractional gain. So here's the inversion: the five pieces of kit that cost less than a nice lunch and protect the most expensive technology in your bag. Tees, a towel, a brush, a divot tool and a pouch — the best value-per-stroke money in the game.
Explained
Swing speed training, explained: distance stopped being something you buy
MyGolfSpy's 2026 Most Wanted test hit 20,580 shots with 42 drivers and found the gaps between them are tiny. The gap between swing speeds is enormous — and overspeed training is the one proven way to move yours. Here's how speed sticks actually work, what they cost you in time, and who should skip them.
Explained
The best short-game facility in town might be your backyard
America just played one of its busiest golf weekends of the year — and most of those strokes were lost inside 60 yards, not off the tee. A chipping net, a bag of foam balls and a putting mat turn a garden and a long July evening into the practice station that actually moves your handicap. Bonus: it's how kids and partners get into the game without ever facing a range.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Your polo has a spec sheet now: inside golf's cooling arms race
A January 2026 LifeLabs study found 84 percent of golfers now put cooling technology first when they buy apparel — cooling is the new waterproofing. Here's how to decode the fabric weights, ventilation zones and wicking claims, and why the cheapest tricks in the bag still beat any polo at 95 degrees.
Explained
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.
Explained
Belek golf holiday guide: Turkey's value golf capital
Planning a Belek golf holiday? Here's why Turkey's Antalya coast is Europe's standout value destination, when to go, how the all-inclusive resort golf works, and what to pack for the heat.
Explained
Myrtle Beach golf trip guide: America's golf-trip capital
Planning a Myrtle Beach golf trip? Here's why the Grand Strand is America's buddies-trip capital, when to go, how many courses you can play in a week, and what to pack for warm, humid golf.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Ireland golf trip guide: links, legends and where to base yourself
An honest Ireland golf trip guide: the great links of the Southwest, North and East, touring versus basing yourself, when to go, and what to pack for the weather.
Explained
Scotland golf trip guide: where to play, when to go, what to pack
Planning a Scotland golf trip? Here's where to play, when to go, how the Old Course ballot works in general terms, and exactly what to pack for links weather.
Explained
The best golf trip destinations: where to play for every kind of golfer
A no-fluff guide to the best golf trip destinations worldwide, what kind of golfer each one suits, when to go, and the kit that travels anywhere.
Explained
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.
Explained
The only part of the club you touch is the part you never replace
Golf Pride just launched a whole new grip geometry out of Pinehurst, which is a good moment for an awkward question: when did you last change yours? Worn grips force tighter grip pressure, which quietly wrecks face control — and fixing it costs about a dozen premium balls.
Explained
Should you rent clubs abroad or take your own?
Renting clubs on arrival or hauling your own across the world is one of golf travel's recurring dilemmas. Here's the honest answer, and the kit you should pack either way.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
How to choose a golf bag: cart, stand, or carry for how you actually play
The right bag is decided by how you get round the course — so match it to your real golf, not the bag the pros carry.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Flying with your golf clubs: how to protect your bag (and what it costs)
Airlines are hard on golf bags. A little planning — and a few quid of protection — is the difference between your clubs arriving ready to play and arriving in pieces.
Explained
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.
Explained
What to pack for a golf trip: the kit that actually matters
The difference between a smooth golf getaway and a stressful one is mostly in what you pack. Here's the away-day checklist that earns its place in the bag.
Explained
Playing links golf for the first time: what's different, and what to pack
A links trip to the coast is golf's great rite of passage — and it punishes the unprepared. Here's what changes, and the kit that makes it playable.
Explained
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.
Explained
Starting golf? The gear that matters — and the gear that doesn't
New golfers waste the most money on the wrong things. Where your first spend actually buys progress — and what to ignore until you're properly hooked.
Explained
How to plan a golf trip with your mates (without it falling apart)
The golf is the easy part. Organising a group of adults to actually turn up, pay and play is where trips live or die — here's how to run one well.
Explained
Resort, links or desert: which kind of golf trip is right for you?
Not all golf holidays are the same sport. Picking the type of trip that suits your game and your group matters more than the brochure — here's how to choose.
Explained
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.
Explained
Shoulder-season golf trips: better courses, smaller crowds, lower prices
The same course costs a fraction in May or October as it does in peak summer — and plays better, with fewer people on it. Here's how to time a trip right.
Explained
AI swing apps and smart wearables in 2026: worth it?
App coaching and swing sensors can genuinely help — but only if you'll do the reps. The honest take on what moves your scores and what's just expensive data.
Explained
Are lake balls worth it? The honest answer
Grade-A lake balls give you most of a premium ball for a fraction of the cost — if you buy the right grade. Here's how to tell recovered from refinished, and who should bother.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Why golf is quietly happening indoors now
Simulators, bays and bright-lit ranges have pulled millions into the game without a tee time in sight. Here's what the off-course boom means for the gear you buy.
Explained
Will your golf ball be banned in 2030? No — and here's the 5-yard truth
The headlines want you scared into buying something. The reality: a tour-level rule that costs you about five yards no sooner than 2030, that keeps slipping, and that over 30% of today's balls already pass anyway.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Is a slope rangefinder worth it? (And is it legal?)
Yes for practice and casual rounds — it makes you a smarter club-picker. No for competition, where it's illegal unless you can switch it off.
Explained
The guy grooving 60 straight 7-irons is wasting his afternoon
Most range time never touches your scorecard — it's mindless bucket-bashing that feels like practice and transfers to nothing. The fix is counterintuitive and cheap: practise what you can measure, then practise the way you actually play.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Launch monitors explained: what your money actually buys
Radar vs photometric, the numbers that matter, and where to jump in at every budget — in plain English.
Explained
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.
Explained
What 'waterproof' actually means in golf kit
Water-resistant, waterproof, breathable, taped seams — the labels hide more than they reveal. Here's what to actually look for.
Explained
Spikeless vs spiked golf shoes: how to choose
Grip, comfort, versatility and weather — what actually matters in 2026, and which type fits your golf.
Explained
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.
Explained
How much should you spend on a rangefinder?
They all measure the same yardage. Here's what your money actually buys above the basics — and where it stops mattering.
Explained
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.
Explained
GPS watch vs phone app vs handheld: how should you get your distances?
Three ways to know how far it is, and they suit very different golfers. The honest pros and cons of each.
Explained
Do golf gloves matter — and how many do you actually need?
It's the cheapest bit of kit you touch every swing, and most golfers treat it as an afterthought. Here's what actually matters.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
How to dress for winter golf (and actually enjoy it)
The golfers who keep playing through winter aren't tougher — they're dressed better. The layering system that keeps you warm, dry and swinging freely.
Explained
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.
Explained
How to build a garage golf simulator on a budget
Year-round golf in your garage is more achievable than you think. The honest shopping list, what to spend on, and where to save.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
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.
Explained
Is a rangefinder legal in competition? (The slope rule, simply)
Yes — usually — but one setting can disqualify you. The plain-English guide to using distance gear within the rules.
Opinion
Our take — argued, honest, occasionally spiky.
Opinion
The sim room gets built in September: a made-to-order enclosure can take a calendar month
The room that gets used all winter is the one where the screen is hanging before the clocks change. The one ordered in December is a box in a hallway in February, and the reason is not money.
Opinion
Tour Edge won MyGolfSpy's 2026 Most Wanted iron test. Our 400-plus product catalogue had zero Tour Edge in it
The Hot Launch Max D took the accuracy crown in super game-improvement irons and finished top three for distance and forgiveness. Tour Edge buys no tour staff bags, gets almost no rack space and does not run the ad pages, which is why it took an independent test for anyone to look at it. Us included.
Opinion
The Solheim Cup is where 24 women get clubs built to spec. The rest get a colour and a flex letter
A Solheim Cup team is about the only place in golf where two dozen women are all built clubs to their own measurements. Walk into a shop and the same industry will sell you a paint job and a flex grade that means nothing.
Opinion
The home simulator wins the five-year sum against a club membership. Most of the saving is rounds you didn't play
Every simulator comparison in this category is a simulator against another simulator. The thing it is actually competing with is the renewal letter on your kitchen table, and the honest arithmetic has a twist in it.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Three devices, one yardage: pick the one that answers your question and commit to it
A watch, a laser and an app answer three different questions, which is why their numbers never quite agree. Cross-checking the disagreement turns a decision into an audit.
Opinion
Players' distance irons won on feel, not distance: the hollow head stopped clicking
The category nobody would admit to owning is now the one the whole iron market bends toward. Not because the clubs got longer. Because they stopped sounding like a letterbox.
Opinion
September beats January for a swing change: playable turf, evening light and nothing on the card
Everyone starts working on their game in January, in the dark, off a mat, with four months until it counts. September has better light, better turf and the one condition a swing change actually needs.
Opinion
Softer, wider trolley tyres are the free winter upgrade, and the turf is what you're saving
A narrow, hard, over-inflated tyre on saturated turf is how ruts start, and ruts are how carry-only days start. Almost all of the fix costs nothing.
Opinion
Waterproof is the wrong first question for an autumn shoe: the ground changes before the sky does
Most golfers replace a summer spikeless shoe with a waterproof one and think the job is done. The thing that changes in autumn isn't the sky, it's the ground.
Opinion
You bought half a waterproof, and it was the half people can see
Golfers spend serious money on a rain jacket and then walk eighteen holes in ordinary trousers. Legs are the biggest wet surface on a walking golfer, and no shell in the world covers for that.
Opinion
The challenger brands caught Bushnell years ago. Here is the only part of the premium still worth paying
The challenger brands now match the incumbent on every line of the spec sheet and cost noticeably less. After a few seasons of that being true, it's worth being precise about what the premium still buys.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Eight in ten golfers now mix brands. The matched set is a shop-window idea nobody actually lives by
A survey of 391 golfers this year found brand loyalty has essentially collapsed as a purchase driver. That's not disloyalty — it's golfers finally buying the way the equipment actually works.
Opinion
70% of golfers used a simulator last year. 6% own one — and the reason isn't money
A survey of 391 golfers found the number one barrier to owning a home setup is space, not cost. I've been writing about this category the wrong way round, and so has everyone else.
Opinion
Golf's cult brands aren't selling you better gear. They're selling you a decision somebody actually made
A study this year found small brands scoring favourability alongside companies fifty times their size. That's worth understanding properly, because "cult" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Your waterproof jacket gets the credit, but the midlayer under it decides whether you're warm
A shell has exactly 2 jobs, and neither of them is warmth. Spend the money the other way round and you'll be more comfortable in October than the bloke in the premium jacket and a cotton hoodie.
Opinion
August is the worst month to play links golf and the best month to book it
Peak season sells you the calmest, busiest, priciest version of a course built entirely around wind. The golf those places were designed for arrives in the 6 weeks after the schools go back — and the tee times are being handed out right now.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Your golf bag is too big
Fourteen clubs is a limit, not a target, and you bought a bag sized for the target. If you walk, weight beats storage. If you ride, ignore every word.
Opinion
Golf's new AI rangefinders are genuinely clever, and you'll be switching them off
A new tier of laser promises yardages adjusted for the wind you're actually standing in. The technology is real. The bit nobody prints on the box is that you can't use it in anything played to a card.
Opinion
Your garage practice doesn't die in February because you lost motivation
It dies because of a small, stupid, entirely fixable thing: bending down. Twenty minutes of home practice contains about four minutes of golf and sixteen of picking balls up — and that ratio, not your willpower, is what kills the habit.
Opinion
The most useful data in golf doesn't come from a launch monitor
Home sims measure the shots you choose to hit, in a room with no wind, no lie and no consequences. The numbers that actually tell you where your handicap is leaking cost about $250 and screw into the end of your grips.
Opinion
Overhead or beside the ball? The home-sim decision nobody explains until you've already bought
Every premium launch monitor guide ranks units by accuracy. Almost none of them tell you that where the thing physically sits will change your sim room more than the spec sheet will — and that one of these choices is permanent.
Opinion
The Golf Model Year Is Broken, and Buying New Is Now the Worst Value in the Cycle
Tour seeding has run so far ahead of retail that clubs look obsolete on television months before they get discounted in a shop. Stop shopping by model year.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
The ball rollback just got kicked to 2030 — and the USGA admitted it isn't enough
On 17 June the R&A and USGA backed off the distance rollback and pushed it to 2030 at the earliest. The delay is defensible. What replaces it should worry you more than the original rule ever did.
Opinion
The smartest time to buy a golf simulator is the middle of summer
Nobody is thinking about indoor golf in July — which is exactly why the golfer who builds now plays all winter while everyone else is fighting over stock in November.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
A scarf in July: golf's majors have become merch drops
At least 10 limited-edition products landed around Open week from four brands — a polo dearer than most wedges, a winter beanie in a heatwave, a headcover styled after the venue. Golf marketing has gone full drop culture. Here's what's actually being sold, and the only two buyers it makes sense for.
Opinion
Garmin built a GPS watch just for juniors — and it's smarter than it sounds
The Approach J1 is the first golf GPS watch designed specifically for kids. It sounds like a gimmick — it isn't. Here's what it actually does, who it's really for, and where it fits.
Opinion
The fastest-selling golf clothes of 2026 may never see a golf course
Retailers say the pieces flying out of golf shops this year are the ones that work everywhere else too. That's not a fashion footnote — it's the clearest sign yet of who's actually joining the game.
Opinion
You learned golf on a simulator. Here's where the grass disagrees
Roughly half the people swinging in sim bays have never played a hole outdoors. If you're about to change that, your numbers, your ball and your feet are in for some news.
Opinion
The mat is the one part of a home sim your body pays for — don't cheap out on it
Everyone agonises over the launch monitor and grabs the cheapest mat to save a few quid. It's backwards: the mat is the only component you physically feel on every single swing.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
How to watch The Open like someone who actually knows gear
The 154th Open tees off tomorrow at Royal Birkdale, and the broadcast will spend four days telling you about grit and destiny. The real drama is in the bag. Here are the equipment storylines that actually decide links golf — and which bits of tour tech are worth buying and which are pure theatre.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
"Golf isn't a sport" is a dead argument. The players adding distance already know it.
The modern game is an athletic, speed-obsessed pursuit, and the amateurs actually gaining yards are the ones treating their bodies like athletes do. The gap almost nobody works on isn't swing reps — it's recovery and mobility, the cheapest speed you're leaving on the table.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Golf shoes stopped looking like golf shoes — and got better for it
The saddle-shoe uniform is dead. The best-selling golf shoes of 2026 look like running shoes and lifestyle sneakers, the upstarts that forced the change came from cricket and the minimalist-comfort school, and the real spec now is whether you can wear them home. That's progress, not decline.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Golf's smartest gadget doesn't measure your swing — it fixes the thing swinging the club
Massage guns, heat-and-vibration patches and guided mobility work went from tour physio trucks to mainstream in five years, and July is when they earn it: heat, 36-hole trips, back-to-back weekend rounds. Our position: a recovery routine adds more playable golf per season than any club purchase — because you can't turn through what you can't stretch.
Opinion
The push cart won America — riding should be the exception now
Walking golf boomed in 2020 out of necessity and never receded: a walked round is roughly five miles and comfortably north of a thousand calories, the old trolley stigma is dead, and the courses that banned push carts have quietly given up. On the busiest golf weekend of America's year, here's the case for making the cart the exception.
Opinion
America turns 250 on Saturday — and golf owns the long weekend
The semiquincentennial lands on a Saturday, the tee sheets are already carnage, and the smart play is a two-act day: the dawn round before the heat, then the backyard 19th hole for the barbecue-and-fireworks hours. Here's the full battle plan.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Stop buying premium balls if you lose three a round
The Pro V1 is a magnificent golf ball. It is also a waste of your money if it spends half its life in the trees. The honest maths.
Opinion
Spikeless won. Stop arguing about it.
The 'spikes for grip' line is a decade out of date. For the golf most of us play, spikeless is simply the better shoe — and it's not close.
Opinion
A cheap launch monitor will help your game more than any club you buy this year
We'll happily spend $650 on a driver we guessed at, but flinch at $190 of data that would tell us what to actually practise. That's backwards.
Opinion
Slope is the most overhyped feature on your rangefinder
It's the headline selling point on every laser — and the one feature you legally can't use when it matters most. Here's the honest take.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
Stop buying alignment sticks you'll never use — the only 3 training aids worth it
Your garage is a graveyard of gadgets. Here are the three that actually earn their place, and why everything else is clutter.
Opinion
An electric trolley is the best money I've spent on golf
Not the clubs, not the gadgets. The thing that made me enjoy walking 18 again was the least glamorous purchase in the bag.
Opinion
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.
Opinion
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.