Wilson, once a giant in the golf industry has been through a lot over the last 20+ years. When I was growing up in the 80s, Wilson along with MacGregor, and Ben Hogan were the irons to have. In fact my first set of Irons were a set of Wilson 1200 Jrs back in the 80s. What was cool when you were a kid always holds a spot in your heart, particularly when you get older. I have been tempted to go back, particularly with a set of Ci5s back in 2009, but never took the leap. They make really good looking clubs, particularly their blades and player distance irons. While you don’t see a bunch of Wilson’s out in the wild, they have maintained a presence on tour, including major winners Padraig Harrington and Gary Woodland. So needless to say, when I was approached with the opportunity to test out the new D7 Forged Irons, I jumped at the chance. 

We have all heard the phrase, “it’s not the club, it’s the golfer”. While there is certainly a lot of merit in this philosophy, there is clearly an argument to be made that a better set of golf clubs can make you a better golfer. I think this is particularly true for the mid handicapper who is not blessed with a repeatable swing. Personally, I have tested a dozen different irons during real course conditions but it was not until I got fitted for my current set of clubs that I came to fully understand how critical it is to get fitted before you purchase a set of irons.

For the past few years I have been playing the TaylorMade RSi2 irons. I really liked the clubs and felt that I was having some of my best seasons playing with them. Then in February 2018 I was convinced to get a real fitting.

Holy shit, that was the biggest game changing 45 minutes in my golf career. If you have never been to a real fitting (not a Golf Galaxy Golf fitting), then you need to drop everything and schedule one. Let me say this again, DO NOT buy clubs without getting fit.

Historically, the best golfers have always been admired not for their technical skill but for their creativity. While we applaud the 350 yard drive, what really gets fans going are shots like Bubba’s massive hook out of the trees to win the Masters, Mickelson’s ability to see shots no one else could imagine or Roy McAvoy’s persistence to never lay up.

At the 2016 Masters, Bryson DeChambeau took the golf world by storm as an amateur via his stellar play and unique set of irons… all the same length. Cobra clearly liked DeChambeau’s style, throwing a huge endorsement deal his way and doubling down by launching their own line of single length clubs – the King F7 ONE Length irons and the KING Forged ONE Length irons.

$99 for Three Bombtech Wedges?

Seriously, when Bombtech offered to send me their new wedges I was more than a bit skeptical. I am no math major but it is hard for me to figure out how you make money on a $33 wedge that has an ounce of quality in it. I am not picking on Bombtech either, I feel the same about a burger, fries and a drink for $1.50. At some point, low pricing becomes a signal of low quality.

Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what is Heaven for? – Robert Browning

…we wanted a cool place for our buddies and customers just to hang out, talk golf, watch golf, roll putts and tinker with putters. – Neal Rohrbach

Where does he get those wonderful toys? – The Joker

It’s probably best for us all that the reach of the founders of Strokes Gained Putters exceeds their grasp for now, or they might still be lounging inside Strokes Gained’s luxurious putting studio cum world headquarters. And who could blame them?

A couple of years ago I ended up having dinner and drinks with the founder of My Golf Spy and one of his writers. Among the many topics we spent time talking about was the rise of the boutique putter market. For years the putter market was dominated only by the major brands like Ping and Callaway. However, with the increased popularity of Scotty Cameron, brands like Edel and Piretti got more attention from people looking for some putter bling.

The idea of putter bling obviously flies in the face of what MGS stands for, since they obsess with being “datacratic”. In other words, they were having none of my argument that looks matter.

Anyone remember this?

I remember it, and it was nasty. Watching the highlights when they first ran back in March, I couldn’t help but notice that the sole of his driver also looked pretty damn sharp. Good looks, 410 yard bombs… I had to have one.

The original Star Wars premiered in theaters on May 25, 1977. That’s 39 years ago next month. When it came out, my cousin and I went to see it in the theater. Four times. In a row. We made lightsabers out of the bamboo that grew in front of our grandmother’s house and bashed each other with them until they splintered, then made new ones and did it again. I’m not sure how we managed not to put each other’s eyes out, but nearly 40 years later we do, in fact, need both of the lenses in the reading glasses that we each keep close to hand (although I still say I could totally rock a monocle.)

TaylorMade has caught its fair share of heat over the years for promises such as “17 yards longer”. I guess all the jokes left a little sting because you won’t find any such claims for the new M1 and M2 drivers, yet this may be the first driver that I actually think goes farther than most.

Recently, I’ve been catching up with a lot of my high school classmates on Facebook. I didn’t really intend to, but I found my childhood best friend, and he was friends with a lot of our classmates. One thing led to another, and the next thing I know we’re having ourselves a class reunion, right there in cyberspace.

A few months ago I had a revelation. After carrying the Tour Exotics 4 hybrid in my bag for a little over year and easily declaring it the best club in my bag, I decided that maybe I could change my life for the better by getting as many Tour Exotics clubs in my arsenal as possible. But this wasn’t just all about me, I promise. I was also dying to get to the bottom of the Tour Exotics, well, mystery. Let me explain:

In a bygone era, there were many things that simply weren’t discussed in polite society. Children were to be seen and not heard, women weren’t allowed to be pregnant in public, and nobody was a raging alcoholic, they just “liked to tie one on.” In those days when your love of tying one on started to interfere with the rest of your life, perhaps after you’d wrecked a couple of cars or peed yourself after a 5 Martini lunch and cost Sterling Cooper that big account, you went (or more likely were sent) to “a quiet place in the country” where you “took the cure.”

Ricky Johnson Custom Putters may not be a name you routinely come across when perusing the WITB articles on a Monday morning after a PGA event, but that hasn’t stopped them from creating a remarkable putter.