Are Your Pants On Fire?

Golfers are liars.  Yup, I said it.  This game, which is supposed to be all about honor and integrity, is filled with liars.

Let’s back up a bit.  When we here at MyGolfSpy were kicking around ideas for our next MGS Labs article, we came upon the question, “How far does the average guy think he hits it (vs) how far does he really hit it?”  Through my experience as a club fitter and golf instructor, I felt that I had a pretty darned good idea what the answer was, but, being the data-driven types, we went out to get the numbers.

Testing Procedure

Our study looked like this: We asked 10 golfers of varying ability levels how far they hit their driver (total distance), 5 iron, 7 iron, and pitching wedge (carry only).  Then we had each golfer hit 5 shots with each of those clubs on a launch monitor.  The data appears below.

Interesting Observations:

• 100%…yes ALL testers lied about how far they hit the ball (vs) how far they really hit the driver.
• The longer the club the bigger the lie was.
• 90% of the testers lied about how far they hit the 5-iron.
• Out of 200 shots, 116 (58%) were hit outside of 5 yards within their estimate .
• There is a definite correlation between handicap and knowing/hitting your distances.  Our lowest handicap test subject hit 18/20 shots within 5 yards of his estimate.  Our highest handicapper missed his driver estimate by an astounding 86 yards!
• There were 11 sets out of 40 where a test subject hit zero shots within 5 yards of their estimate.  Surprisingly, the driver had as many as the PW and 7I: two each.  The 5I saw five subjects achieve this “feat.”
• Our test subjects averaged almost as many shots within 5 yards of their estimate with the 5 iron as with the driver (1.4 vs. 1.3)

So…What Does All This Data Tell Us?

Your Average – Is Not Your Longest Drive

First of all, the average golfer has no concept of what “average” means.  Ask a golfer how far they hit their driver “on average,” and you’re going to be told how far their best drives go.  Golfers seem to have no recollection of all the drives that sail high and right, only the ones that go long and straight.  While Bob Rotella may approve of this from a golf psychology perspective, I think that this self-delusion ultimately does the golfer a disservice.

If you don’t have an honest assessment of how far (and what direction) your ball goes, how can you expect to improve?

For 7-Iron & PW, Golfers Are Pretty Accurate

Second, most golfers were quite successful with their 7 iron and PW.  If we look at the pitching wedge data, we see that 8 of our 10 testers hit at least 3 shots within 5 yards of their estimate.  In fact, if we remove Dan and Danny, our testers, as a group, underestimated their pitching wedge yardage.  If we turn to the 7 iron and remove Dan and Danny again (sorry, guys), the difference between the estimates and actual distances shrinks to a mere four yards.  That’s good golf.

Shocking 5-Iron Numbers

Third, the average golfer needs to get rid of his long irons, which seems to include the 5 iron.  (Mini rant: Big thanks to the OEMs for the jacked up lofts.  You’re really helping the average guy enjoy the game more.  (And yes, that’s sarcasm, folks.)  Only our 4 lowest handicap players had an average within 10 yards of their estimate, the other 6 hit a COMBINED TOTAL of 1 shot within 5 yards of their estimate.   Even if we exclude the two…characters…who missed their estimates by an average of 46 and 47 yards, we’re looking at an average miss of 16.5 yards.  That can be the difference between being on the green and giving your ball a bath.  You can attribute it to bad technique, lack of club head speed, too-strong lofts, or all of the above, but your average golfer does not hit their 5 iron with enough consistency to take it to the course.  What’s worse, the super strong lofts let these guys hit the ball a mile, once in a blue moon, and create the expectation that a 5 iron should always go that far.

Course Management

Fourth, given all that we’ve said above, the average golfer needs to think long and hard about their tee box selection.  If we accept the that the average drive is roughly 216 yards and the average 5 iron is 160 (both numbers that are driven up by our low handicappers, but we’ll leave that be), then the average golfer probably should not be choosing tee boxes that put them more than 370 yards away for the average par 4.  Similarly, you should be looking at the par 3 lengths.  If they’re much longer than 160, what are you going to hit?  200+ yard par 3’s are increasingly common, but that doesn’t mean that they make sense.  Is hitting 3W into a par 3 fun?

This information also has a lot of implications for course management.  If I know that I’m going to hit my 7 iron the right distance over half the time, and my pitching wedge the right distance almost 75% of the time, I want to play to my short irons.  Now, I know it’s not manly to lay up.  Top Flite even had an ad campaign ridiculing it.  But if the object of the game is to get the ball in the hole with fewer strokes, we have to consider that hitting a long iron into a well-protected green is not a great play for most golfers.

Moral: Be Honest With Yourself

Ultimately, what we’d like you to take away from this “Lab” report is the following: be honest with yourself.  Go to the range, or, even better, get on a launch monitor, and find out how far your clubs actually go.  Not “how far they went that one time when it was downhill, downwind during the drought of ’89,” but how far you hit an AVERAGE shot.  And build your game around that.  Or get some professional instruction so that you can hit it better.  Or get your clubs fit.  Just don’t be a liar.

Want To Read More “MGS Labs” Articles? - CLICK HERE

Shaft Review – Mitsubishi Rayon Kuro Kage

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) Mitsubishi Rayon claims that a new technological breakthrough has allowed them to produce the Kuro Kage: a family of shafts which package top notch performance and trademark smooth feel with a (relatively) low price.  Does the Kuro Kage live up to these bold statements?  Read on to find out.

Notes, Feel,  Price, and Miscellaneous

Gotta start with this: Kuro Kage, or Black Shadow, is an awesome name.  It sounds like a comic book hero.  With a name that cool, I think the graphics are, frankly, disappointing.  The grey butt section fades to black through some square graphics around the logo.  Kinda dull, and a missed opportunity, in my opinion.  Oh well.

Mistubishi says that the Kuro Kage follows their “Smooth” profile, meaning that the shaft is softest in the tip, softer in the mid section, and stiffest in the butt.  I have also heard it described as being similar to a Blue Board, but with a softer tip.  This softer tip is balanced out by a “High Density Pre-preg” in the tip that creates more stability.

How does all that technical stuff translate to feel, you ask?  In my opinion, the Kuro Kage feels like a Kaili with a stiffer tip.  It has a nice kick in the midsection of the shaft on a good swing.  What’s interesting is that on a less-than-good swing, there is very little kick or feel.  This sentiment was echoed by a small group of other people who demoed the Kuro Kage with me.  However, as always, that’s just what my hands tell me.  You can read another MGSer’s thoughts here.

With regard to the hybrid shaft, I unequivocally love the feel.  Smooth, easy to load, with a nice firm tip.  And, as you’ll see below, the performance was excellent.

As I said at the beginning, the Kuro Kage is being offered at a much lower price than Mitsubishi’s Diamana series.  The wood shafts can be purchased for $175, and the hybrid shafts retail for $80.

For this review, I tested both the wood shaft and the hybrid shaft.  The wood shaft was a 70 gram stiff, and the hybrid shaft was a 90 gram stiff.  The wood shafts are offered in 50, 60, 70, and 80 grams with flexes ranging from ladies flex to X-flex.  The hybrid shafts range weigh 80, 90, or 100 grams and come in regular, stiff, and X-flex.

Performance – Driver

As usual, I’ve broken the Performance section into two pieces: Data (launch monitor testing) and Real World (range and course).  For the launch monitor testing, I put the Kuro Kage up against my Matrix RUL, both in an R9 460 9.5 head.  I hit 10 “good” shots with each shaft, changing frequently so that fatigue was not an issue, nor did I get grooved with one shaft to the detriment of fairness.  I went through this process three times and averaged the sets of data.

For anyone interested in the swing that produces these numbers: my club head speed is usually between 100MPH and 110MPH, my swing is fairly flat, and my misses are blocks and hooks, depending on which side of the bed I get out on.

DRIVER DATA

*For dispersion, the results are listed with an (L) for left of target, and (R) for right of target.

**The new launch monitor software that I’m using seems to really exaggerate roll, especially on low spinning shots.  This is why my pedestrian ball speed ends up with LM readings of 300 yards.

DATA

ANALYSIS

I’ll start out by saying, once again, that it’s not fair to say that the Kuro Kage isn’t good because it didn’t beat the RUL.  I’ve tried dozens of shafts, and the RUL is simply a great fit for me.  The only reason I include the comparison is to make the data a little more meaningful.

That said, the Kuro Kage performed very well for me.  You can see that it’s pretty much a mid-launch, mid-spin shaft like the RUL, with just a bit more spin.  Truthfully, it reminded me a lot of the Kaili that I played for quite a while last year.  If you like the Kaili, or if you want to try one without dropping $300+, the Kuro Kage is something worth testing.

REAL WORLD RESULTS

On the range, the Kuro Kage was difficult to distinguish from the RUL.  Based on the numbers, this shouldn’t be hard to believe.  The ballflight was very consistent from swing to swing, and it performed well into the wind.

Performance – Hybrid

For the hybrid shaft, I tested the Kuro Kage against the Alida RIP hybrid shaft in a 22* TaylorMade Rescue 11.  The testing procedure was the same for the hybrid as it was for the driver.

HYBRID DATA

*For dispersion, the results are listed with an (L) for left of target, and (R) for right of target.

DATA

ANALYSIS

The area where the Kuro Kage impressed me most was dispersion.  There were a number of shots where I felt that the result was much better than the swing deserved.  As you can see in the numbers, the Kuro Kage was slightly tighter on both the left and right side compared to the RIP.  The Kuro Kage did launch slightly higher than the RIP, but spun slightly less.

REAL WORLD RESULTS

On the range, I feel that the discrepancy between the Kuro Kage and the RIP was much greater than the numbers show.  For some reason, I had a very hard time getting a consistent shot pattern out of the RIP: I hit shots high, low, left, and right.  The Kuro Kage was much more consistent in producing medium-high shots that were generally straight.

VISIT WEBSITE: http://www.mitsubishirayongolf.com

2012 – Nike Method Midnight Putters

We got a glimpse of the rumored Nike Method Midnight Putters a couple months ago.  Although today we wanted to share some in-hand pics of the soon to be released models.  Now it’s no real surprise that Nike has decided to keep the “Method” putter in its future line-up.  Especially after its almost immediate success on tour and with consumers.  The Method models (with their polymetal groove technology put Nike putters on the map.  And today you get to see the “dark side” of their franchise flatsticks.

3 - New Models Available

There are 3 new models in the Method Midnight series (006, 007 & 008).  The putters will retail for $269, and will be available June 15, 2012 in all three models. The Method Midnight 006 will also be available in a left-handed version.

Nike Method Midnight 006

Nike Method Midnight 007

Nike Method Midnight 008

More Pics

Cobra AMP Driver

(Written By: @GolfSpy T) Knock Knock! Who’s there you say? Orange. Orange who? Knock Knock!…ah hell, I think we can all see where this is going. We’ve associated Cobra-PUMA with the color orange ever since Rickie Fowler’s Sunday digs replaced Tiger’s Sunday red as the most talked about apparel topic on tour. Granted Rickie’s star on the course hasn’t always been as bright as his Sunday best (I’ve always wondered if he spent his cut-missed Sundays lounging on his couch dressed like a cumquat), but his talent has never been in question, and over the last couple of weeks, Rickie (and his whimsical mustache) have been nothing short of the hottest thing in golf.

Now sure, Rickie didn’t actually win “The Players Championship”, but T2 isn’t bad (especially coming off the heels of his first Tour victory), and one could make a rational and believable argument that if not for one pushed putt and a horrific lie at the edge of a bunker, we’d have seen Rickie, orange and all, in a playoff. Point is, if the last couple of weeks are any indication, orange is the new red, and while the networks and the golf media as a whole might lament such things (they’ve become so spoiled by the Tiger era they’ve forgotten how to write about most anything else), Rickie with his orange pants and monoline cap have the best chance to attract young golfers and grow the game. Embrace it, hell, celebrate it people. Begun the Rickie Fowler era has…maybe.

All of this is of course just a hopefully clever segue into our review of Rickie’s driver (and an excuse for me to use the word “cumquat”). Well technically it’s not actually Rickie’s driver. His has a real whiteboard shaft, our review samples have SpeedTuned Aldila RIPs, but mostly it’s the same. Given our mostly outstanding history with Cobra drivers we weren’t going to let a couple of questionable things (like orange grips and silver heads) prevent us from checking out what, as it turns out, could very well be the best Cobra driver we’ve ever had in for review. So let’s get on with it, shall we?

The Marketing Angle

Because we’re not big on rehashing press releases, here is the abbreviated version of what Cobra wants you to know about the AMP Driver:

• E9 FACE TECHNOLOGY WITH DUAL ROLL A 30% Larger Sweet Zone and a new approach to bulge and roll design delivers distance and accuracy.
• ADJUSTABLE FLIGHT TECHNOLOGY™ Three simple face-angle settings (Open, Neutral and Closed) optimize ball flight for increased distance and improved accuracy.
• ADVANCED MATERIAL PLACEMENT Sophisticated computer modelling and simulation allow designers to thin walls to save weight and re-distribute up to 15 grams of mass deep and back in the clubhead, to maximize distance through optimized launch conditions.

Cobra AMP Specifications

Head Material: Titanium 6-4 head with semi-forged, milled titanium face.

How We Tested

For our test of the Cobra AMP driver  we collected detailed performance data from 4 testers who were asked to hit a series of shots on our 3Track Equipped simulators from aboutGolf.  As usual, testing was done at Tark’s Indoor Golf, a state of the art indoor golf facility located in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Detailed data for each and every shot for which we collected data is viewable just below the performance section of this review. This data serves as the foundation for our final performance score.  Our testers were also asked to rate the Cobra AMP Driver and provide feedback in our subjective categories (looks, sound & feel, perceived forgiveness, and LOP (likelihood of purchase).  This information is used as the foundation for our total subjective score.  Testing was done using 9.5°, 10.5°, and 11.5° drivers in Light (senior), regular, and Stiff flex. Drivers were outfitted with Aldila Speed Tuned (Cobra) shafts – 50g (A), and 55g (R,S).

Some quick notes before we get into the data: 1) We have two new testers taking part in this review. Brian is our new high HCP golfer. His ball flight can be a little bit unpredictable, but as you’ll see by the numbers, he hits the damn ball so hard it sheds tears. Sid replaces Dan on the low end of the HCP scale. He doesn’t hit it quite as far as Dan, but he’s as steady as they come. 2) Yours truly has been working on some swing changes with the driver (actually, the swing hasn’t changed much, just the setup). So far, so good. As you’ll see launch numbers are WAY up, and those 4000K+ spin numbers might just be a thing of the past.

Our 6 testers combined to average 254.66 yards of total distance. Of that, 244.26 was carry. Just so you get familiar with what we’re dealing with, our new high HCP tester averaged 290 yards total and posted 3 drives of over 300 yards. Quite honestly, we weren’t equipped to handle him, and I’m as certain as I can be that he’d be better off in an 8.5°, X-flex driver.

When we remove our shortest hitter from the equation averages improve to 262.54 yards of total distance with carry accounting for 254.08 yards of it.

When I posted our original pics of the AMP driver in our forum we had a reader basically go off about the lousy “weak” stock shaft in the Cobra AMP. Like the majority of stock shaft offerings, the Speed Tuned RIP certainly falls on the high launch, high spin end of the spectrum (the majority of golfers need help getting the ball in the air…and they need help keeping it there, which is why “stock” is what it so often is).

Looking at the launch numbers, however; I’d be inclined to suggest that Cobra’s “watered down” and “weak” made for RIP is actually a fairly strong performer.

Let’s toss out Brian for a moment (from a driver launch perspective, he’s as close to Bubba Watson as we’ve ever had test for us), as we simply didn’t have the right head for him. For the rest of our testers, the combo actually produced launch angles close to the ideal range. That rarely happens with stock shafts we test, and it’s rarer still that our testers miss to the high end of things.

I won’t tell you that the stock shaft is a great fit for everyone, and I do wish that Cobra did a better job advertising zero cost  low and mid launch/spin options, but the numbers suggest the stock RIP doesn’t play nearly as weak as some may think, and all things considered is probably going to be a better fit for more golfers than a healthy percentage of the stock offerings we see.

As a group our Cobra AMP testers missed the center line by an average of 17.22 yards (that’s pretty good). That number includes our least accurate tester who missed by an astounding 31.74 yards on average (that’s not good, actually it totally sucks). When we remove him from the equation group accuracy improves to 14.32 yards (that’s excellent). What’s worth mentioning is that the solid accuracy number isn’t skewed by a single tester who posted a redonkulous number. Each of the remaining 5 testes averaged between 13.16 and 15.80 yards offline. That’s as universally consistent as it gets.

Getting back to the issue of the shaft…it’s safe to say that a stock Cobra AMP isn’t going to cut spin like a Bridgestone J40 or a PING i20. Those are both drivers targeted at better players, while the AMP is very much an every man’s club. The reasonable expectation is that it will produce more spin. That said, given my history, I figured 4000 RPM might actually happen. Instead I averaged 3303.72 (one of my lowest totals to date). And while some of that can definitely be attributed to the changes I’m working on, having two of our testers post sub-3000K averages, and everyone else posting below 3500K suggests that the AMP driver along with its stock SpeedTuned RIP might not be the runaway spin machine that some have suggested it could be.

I’m certainly not suggesting that anyone should go buy a Cobra AMP off-the-rack. None of you should be buying much of anything off-the-rack. However, I’m not naive enough to believe that some of you aren’t going to do just that. So…if you are inclined to blindly buy without getting properly fit, then our numbers suggest you could do a lot worse than the Cobra AMP. And if you are one of the increasing number of golfers who understands that custom fitting is one of the best ways to improve your game, well…the Cobra AMP isn’t a half-bad place to start either.

The Interactive Data

The charts below show the individual and group averages (black dotted line) for each shot our golfers took during our test of the Cobra AMP Driver. If you click on the “Cobra AMP – Test Range tab, you can see where each shot came to rest on our virtual driving range. Hovering over any point will give you all the details of that particular shot. You can use the filters on the right-hand side to show and hide individual golfer based on handicap and clubhead speed. Clicking on the “Cobra AMP – Raw Data” tab will show you the individual numbers and group averages for our testers.

While saying that Cobra-PUMA is making a strong marketing push towards younger golfers is a fact only slightly less obvious than my bold assertion that Rickie Fowler is never going to win a mustache fight (not so long as Johnson Wagner and Andres Gonzales have Tour cards), we…and we’ve said this before…wonder what impact all this orange is going to have on a legion of senior golfers who have sworn by the Cobra brand since before their grandkids could walk. Fortunately we’ve enlisted one of those “old guys” to test for us. Actually, we didn’t enlist him so much as we found him wandering aimlessly through the isles at Piggly Wiggly, and so we brought him back to our test center to hit some balls. So far nobody has reported him missing. None of that is true (except the part about having a senior tester)…I don’t know why I said that. We don’t even have Piggly Wiggly where I live. We have Price Choppers and Hannafords. I really wish we had a Wegmans. I digress.

Let’s start with the good. I actually really like the bright orange grip (same Lamkin REL 3-GEL that come stock on the AMP irons). Side note…this appears to be a custom color made exclusively for Cobra. The off-the-shelf Orange Lamkins aren’t nearly as vivid (bummer). Cobra also did an outstanding job with the shaft graphics, which provide a visually appealing transition from the orange grip to the silver crown.

That’s right, in case you somehow missed it, the crown is silver. More specifically it’s a brushed silver with a glossy overcoat. And as you might expect, not everyone loved it. Somewhat surprisingly, not a single one of our testers absolutely panned the design. My expectation was that a couple of testers might actually circle 4, or 3, or perhaps even 2 (gasp!) on their surveys. Instead, not a single tester rated it less than 7 (average).

Truth be told, I don’t hate…don’t love it either (though I will say the brushed finish works pretty well considering), so 7 actually sounds about right to me. Quite frankly, I think our lowest handicap golfer summed it up best:

“Silver head is questionable” – Sid C.

Of course Sid and I aren’t the only ones who get a vote in the matter, and as it turns out, not only did our highest handicap golfer really like it, but so did Lou (senior tester of Piggly Wiggly fame):

“From the pictures I had seen of the club I didn’t think I would like the looks, but seeing the real thing, I found it to look fine – better than those white head drivers” – Lou Y.

When we crunched the numbers, depending on your perspective, the low guys either dragged down the high, or the highs elevated the lows. As a group our testers basically said, “it looks ok”.

MGS Looks Score: 83.85

As you may or may not know the AMP series basically replaced 3 generations worth of S-Series drivers from Cobra. My perception of things is that the S2 was (and remains) one of the best sounding and feeling drivers we’ve ever had in for testing. The S3 was perhaps a modest step backwards in that respect, while the new AMP is (in just one guy’s opinion) the best of the bunch.

While the notion of feel is about as subjective as it gets, I found the AMP to have the slightly soft feel of the S2, but with more of a tingy pop to it. Perhaps its the byproduct of the old school-ish silver head, but something about the AMP looks like it should be harsh on the hands and unpleasant on the ears (like one of those old and busted range clubs), but it’s absolute neither. It’s one of those rare drivers that I could hit all day and never stop enjoying.

MGS Sound & Feel Score: 94.60

Not too shocking, with the AMP driver our highest handicap golfer struggled more than Rickie Fowler in a mustache fight (yeah…I used that one again, and I might not be done yet). Considering he (our tester, not Rickie Fowler) missed the fairway by more than 30 yards on average, it’s fairly easy to understand why he might not find the AMP to be the most forgiving driver on the market today. Of course, he’s just one guy. What did the other’s think?

On the negative end of things our 2nd to lowest handicap golfer told us that while he actually liked the driver, he just couldn’t find a loft/flex combination that gave him any sort of consistency. He’s a little bit of a weird fit anyway, and though we tried several combinations, we couldn’t find anything that really worked for him.

On a more positive note, our lowest handicap tester, while a consistently hitter struggles with moving the ball left to right more than he’d like (push hooks instead of tight draws). On the day we tested, he hit several different drivers, but only the AMP was able to consistently produce the kind of ball flight he’s looking for. That’s not to say he didn’t put a few more left than he would have liked, but comparatively speaking, things look pretty damn good.

Tester Perceived Forgiveness Score: 92.45

Of our 6 testers, 2 told us they would absolutely consider purchasing the Cobra AMP Driver (perfect 10s). To put some context around that, one of those two is a bit of what you might call a Cobra guy (S2 driver in his bag, until very recently played S2 forged irons). The other, however, prior to becoming a tester, told me that he “hates Cobra clubs”. Now when I pinned him down and tried to flush out why he admitted that he hadn’t actually hit a Cobra club in over 10 years.

You can draw two conclusions from that…the 1st is that the Cobra AMP is a rock solid driver; good enough to make a convert out of a confessed snake-hater. The 2nd (and this is more for the OEMs out there), golfers form opinions, and hold on to them like Tiger Woods clings to his belief that his latest swing change is actually working. Once a golfer forms his opinion about a brand, changing that perception can be next to impossible.

Back to LOP…so yeah…we had a couple of perfect scores, and a couple of other really solid ratings. Toss out the low, and the consensus says the Cobra AMP is a driver you should be looking at (assuming you don’t mind looking at silver…and orange).

Tester LOP Score: 94.60

I’ve said all along that I like the Orange. And from grip to sole, Cobra did a solid job of making the entire package look good (nothing rhymes with orange, and nothing much goes with it either). And yeah…if I’m being honest, this was a club I honestly thought I was going to hate…and maybe I wanted to hate it (as much as my wife hate’s Rickie Fowler’s mustache – ok…I’m done), but truth be told, like most of my testers, without regard for the actual numbers (that’s why we have a performance section), I really like the Cobra AMP driver.  And again…silver paint (and for some of you orange highlights) notwithstanding, I think it’s a driver most of you will really like as well.

While I might be wrong, I suspect that the Cobra AMP driver is going to be one of those polarizing clubs. Golfers are either going to love it, or they’re going to hate it (mostly because of the orange/silver combo). Either way, you’re probably not going to find much in the way of ambivalence out there. And while I might be wrong again, my suspicion is Cobra is just fine with that.

Look, you don’t pop on orange grips, and paint orange accents on the sole of a silver crowned driver and expect to win over the middle When you do that, you’re basically picking a side, or in Cobra’s case, targeting a very specific demographic (the Rickie Fowler crowd), and going all-in.

I love the marketing strategy (I’d basically love a root canal if it involves Blair O’Neal), and I love the youth movement; even if I am perhaps well-past the wrong side of 30 to fit squarely in Cobra’s wheelhouse, I know it’s good for the game. Of course, that’s the thing about what Cobra’s doing. It’s invigorating. If you’re young, it’s you. If you’re getting older, but still feel young at heart you’re not excluded  (I’m not afraid to rock the PUMA warez). Hell, even the old guys can get on-board. My senior tester it trying hard to grow a silvery Rickie-stache (and having less success with it than Rickie), but at least he’s trying (I made that up too).

What I didn’t make up (another seamless segue) is that the Cobra AMP driver is perhaps the biggest surprise of the season for me. My fear was that Cobra had gotten so wrapped up in this whole orange movement that they might have lost a little bit of  focus on the equipment side of things. Maybe some of that comes from an anti-silver bias I never knew I had, but whatever, I’m over it now – as are most of my testers, some of whom would tell you that Cobra’s AMP driver, which was good enough to Win the Wells Fargo, and finish 2nd at The Players, is among their favorite new drivers of 2012. Think what you will about the new distinctive style of Cobra-PUMA, I promise you their R&D and Engineering is as strong as it has ever been.

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HURRY UP & ENTER!

Tomorrow we will be selecting the winner of the  BOBBY GRACE ARTIST SERIES – 2012 DAMASCUS SNIPER (Valued at $1,150!). So your going to want to definitely make sure you get your entry in today.  You know what they say you can’t win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket.  To be entered simply enter your name and email address in the blue box on the right hand side  → of the site that says, “Win This Putter!” We will be updating this post with the winners name tomorrow.

PRIZE DETAILS:

Bobby Grace has been making putters for over 20 years now, and his designs have won over 160 tournaments worldwide.   So when I spoke to him a couple weeks ago and he told me his new Sniper was the most incredible putter he had ever designed he had my attention. Then when he told me he was going to be giving one away to a MyGolfSpy reader I knew it would get your attention as well.

(From: Bobby Grace) This is latest Artist Series for 2012 we named the “SNIPER“ because its looks are deadly perfect!!! To get these faces to this shape and to put overspin on every putt is incredible.  But to blend ornamental (Artistry in Blacksmithing) with the Radial face technology is something that I did not even think that we could pull off.  I have engraved the hammer and anvil logo to showcase the prestige of the Damascus forged steel. I am even throwing in a custom embroidered head cover to make sure your 2012 Sniper stays as gorgeous as the day you bought it. (Very Limited Supply)

Introduction

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) I know what you’re thinking, fellow spies.  “Another putting trainer?  Ugh.  And this one doesn’t even look cool: no fancy lights or complicated set up…boring.”  Well, friends, I’ll tell you what’s boring: missing putts.  I know putting isn’t sexy.  Putting is to driving what your Aunt Ethel is to Brooklyn Decker.  That said, let’s look at two scenarios:

#1: I buy a new driver.  I get 17 more yards (and I’m so excited that I get a fancy new haircut).  Now, if I hit the fairway (a big if), I have a shorter club into the green, so I hit it to 8 feet.  But, I stink at putting, so I two putt from 8 feet.  Par.

#2: I keep my old driver but I become a great putter.  I have to hit a longer club into the green, so I only hit it to 15 feet.  But, being a great putter, I jar my 15 footer.  Birdie.

Which one would you rather be?  I’ll be the second guy every day of the week, which is why I was excited to test out the Putting Fork.  Will it make you into a birdie machine?  Read on to find out…

Ease of Use/Set Up

Setting up the Putting Fork is pretty simple: lay it down on the putting green, anchor it with tees, and then set a pair of tees to your chosen level of difficulty.  There is some fine tuning required to get the height of the “gate” tees correct: if the tees are too high or too low, it will make the gate wider than it should be.  There will also be a little extra set up time required if you want to get the Putting Fork aimed precisely at a hole, but, aside from gaining the positive feedback of hearing the ball fall in the cup, this is unnecessary (more on this later).

The Putting Fork can also be used indoors: simply put two tees through the front holes upside down (see picture).  The only problem with indoor use is that the difficulty is not really adjustable unless you use tees that taper differently.

Overall, setting up the Putting Fork probably won’t take you more than a minute or two once you know the difficulty setting that you want.

Score: 9/10

Effectiveness

So you’ve bought your Putting Fork, set it up on maximum difficulty (because as golfers, we’re inherently masochistic)…now what?  Well, unless you’re Brad Faxon, you probably start by watching your putts bang off the tees and skitter away from your target.  The Putting Fork is an unforgiving training aid…AND THIS IS A GOOD THING.  Hang on, let me qualify that: it’s not a good thing if you want to be patted on the back and told that you’re a great putter.  However, if you want to actually BE a great putter, it’s a very good thing.

One of the best features of the Putting Fork is that it can show you your tendencies with different length putts.  What I have found out is that I am best at hitting 10 foot putts straight.  I have discovered that for putts longer than 10 feet, I tend to leave the face a bit open.  What I found more interesting is that on short putts, I am not great at putting straight.  I consider myself an excellent short putter, but the Putting Fork has shown me that I have simply been living within the margin for error.  Now that I have the Putting Fork, I am not only making my short putts, but pouring them in the center.

Beyond the simple concept of “roll the ball straight,” the Putting Fork is a great tool for working on alignment.  Many training aids can teach you to stand square to the target, but not many help you to square up the most important piece of the puzzle: the putter face.  Through the “T” shaped cut out, the Putting Fork allows the golfer to set the putter face perfectly square to the line before they make their stroke.  Based on watching dozens of golfers putt every day, I can confidently say that this alone can change the game for at least half the golfers out there.

Finally, the Putting Fork can be a great tool for learning to read greens.  The majority of golfers push or pull their putts, particularly breaking putts, so they never get a true idea of how much a putt breaks.  If you set up the Putting Fork on the slope of the green and putt through the tees, you can start to develop a sense of how much break there truly is.

If I have one criticism of the Putting Fork, it’s that there are two models.  To my mind, this is totally unnecessary.  In the picture below, you can see the widest, most forgiving setting on the Pro model.  If you can’t putt through that gap…buy a bowling ball.  What you lose when you opt for the Standard model is the opportunity to truly push yourself to be great.  If you’re going to buy a Putting Fork, and you have the desire to be better, buy the Pro Model.

Score: 30/30

Longevity

Has anyone out there permanently mastered putting?  If not, you’re going to be practicing putting for the rest of your golfing career.  And if you’re going to practice, you may as well get solid feedback so you get the most out of your time.

The feedback that the Putting Fork gives has become addictive to me.  What the Tour Striker is to my full swing, the Putting Fork is to my putting: it’s a way for me to know that I’m actually performing well, not just stealing good results from a mediocre swing.  This feedback is why I’d rather use the Putting Fork than putt to a hole most of the time.

With regard to the longevity of the device itself, the Putting Fork should last forever: it’s a solid piece of stainless steel.

Score: 20/20

Value

Deciding on a Value score is always one of the toughest things for me, and it was tougher than usual with the Putting Fork.  I’ve discussed the value with a dozen different people and got a wide variety of strong reactions.  Here’s what I came to:

There are two models of the Putting Fork, the standard model costs $90 and the Pro costs $100.  I’m going to ignore the standard model for reasons outlined earlier, so we’re talking about a training aid that costs $100 which I believe represents a fairly average price for a training aid. Since I think it is above average in terms of effectiveness and longevity, it should receive a strong value score.

So, while one side of my brain is saying, “This is a good training aid at an average price,” the other side is saying, “It’s a piece of sheet metal!” which is, no doubt, the same reaction some of you are having.

Ultimately, what I concluded was that the Putting Fork should not be punished for its simplicity.  Could the manufacturers have overbuilt it, added lights and whistles?  Sure.  Would it be a better training aid?  No.  They are charging a price that is reasonable, given the market, for an above average product.

Finally, I know that there are some among you who are saying, “I can do the same thing with ______.”  I know that, and that’s fine.  There are some people who are bound and determined to build their own everything, and that’s fine.  In my opinion, just as the simplicity of this device does not take away from its value, neither does the fact that you can practice without it.  (For what it’s worth, I don’t think you can replicate all the elements of the Putting Fork without two chalk lines, a pair of tees, and more patience than I possess).

At the end of the day, the Putting Fork is an average priced training aid that delivers above average results.  To me, this makes it a good value.

Score: 19/20

The Peanut Gallery

The Putting Fork produced what might be this year’s funniest Peanut Gallery reaction: after hitting one putt squarely into one of the tees, the putter loudly announced, “This thing tells me that I suck.”

Comical reactions aside, the Putting Fork definitely tested the patience of The Peanut Gallery.  Even one of our PGA Pros kept banging putts off the tees and eventually decided that she’d had enough (more accurately, she decided, “This thing is broken”).

As I stated earlier, the Putting Fork can be unforgiving, and many of our Peanut Gallery folks admitted that they did not have the patience for it.  That said, most appreciated the harsh feedback and said that it was preferable to a “too easy” trainer.

**Full disclosure: The Peanut Gallery tested the Pro model indoors, which is a pretty stringent test of putting.  I think they may have had more fun with it outdoors where the difficulty could have been adjusted.

Unsurprisingly, the Putting Fork lost most of them on price.  As we’ve seen in the past with putting trainers, it was our better players who saw more value in the Putting Fork.  While I would suggest that our “average” players would probably see more immediate benefit from the Putting Fork than anyone else, I don’t get to tell them what to think.

Score: 17/20

Final Thoughts

In a year when I’ve already reviewed a number of putting trainers, the Putting Fork has eclipsed them all.

It’s really this simple: if you want to putt better, the Putting Fork can help you.  It won’t try to change your stroke, but it will tell you, in no uncertain terms, whether or not you can hit a putt straight.  When you can dominate the Putting Fork at all different distances, getting the ball in the cup will seem like child’s play.

Score: 95/100

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Adams Idea Black CB3 Irons

(Written By: GolfSpy T) When our contact at Adams dropped me a message to let me know we had some demos of the new Idea Black CB3 irons on the way I jumped to the conclusion that they would fall between the MB2s and the Idea Pro a12s the Adams lineup. Even after unpacking the irons it didn’t occur to me to double-check those initial impressions. Hell…even when I was going back and forth with TaylorMade discussing what their acquisition of Adams would mean for the better player irons in the Adams lineup; I actually used the Adams CB3 as an example.

Fortunately, before I got golf balls deep into this review I decided to get confirmation on the placement of the irons from Adams. It turns out I was wrong. They fooled me, Jerry!

The reality of the situation is that within the current Adams lineup the Idea Black CB3 falls between the Idea Pro a12 (what I call a transitional iron), and the SGI Idea a12 OS (most definitely super (duper) game-improvement. Sure…if I had initially taken the time to look the CB3′s over, I would have been able to piece it all together, but at a quick glance, it was an easy mistake to make. As you’ll learn time and time again throughout the course of this review, while the Idea Pro Black CB3 might qualify as a game-improvement iron, it barely looks the part, and that perhaps is what makes it so damn appealing.

The Marketing Angle

Adams is billing the Idea Black CB3 Irons as having Better Looks, Better Feel, and Better Playability. Here’s the short story of what makes that possible:

• Forged 8620 carbon steel – triple milled (cavity, face and grooves)
• Black Ni/Cr PVD finish with a glass beaded face to produce an exceptional look at address.
• Engineered with progressive sole widths that allow for easier to hit long irons and deadly accurate scoring clubs.
• Scoring clubs designed with improved bounce and camber to reduce turf interaction for more workability and control.
  

How We Tested

To find out more about how we test our irons: CLICK HERE

Radius-Based Scoring

For more information on our “Radius Based Scoring System”: CLICK HERE

Our test sets included 4-GW with KBS Tour 90 shafts in both stiff and regular flex.

PERFORMANCE SCORING

Short Iron Performance

While not quite the 44° model we saw withe the Wilson Ci11 irons we tested, for the CB3, Adams too has gone with a strongly lofted pitching wedge. Of course, strongly lofted is a matter of opinion, and for better or worse, 45° is quickly becoming standard for game improvement sets as the 3-iron disappears, and the gap wedge ingrains itself as fixture in the modern iron set. As you might expect, shafts too have been lengthened (again, compared to a traditional pitching wedge), with the PW playing at standard 9-iron length, and the gap wedge measuring standard for most pitching wedges. All of this makes perfect sense. When you factor in loft and length, the pitching wedge is basically a 9-iron anyway.

Would anybody be surprised if I told you that most of our testers found the entire set 1 or more clubs longer than what many have in their bags right now?

Looking at the actual data we found that our testers missed the pin by an average of 26.57 feet. That’s within our average range, and is perhaps higher than it might otherwise have been. One simply didn’t hit the CB3s well across the board. The 2nd normally plays irons bent 2° flat, so that certain could also impact accuracy (we’ll be moving to more of a custom fit model for testing, which should help mitigate these sorts of fitting issues).

When we adjust the average by removing our least accurate tester from the equation, distance from the pin improves to 23.43 feet, placing the CB3 right in the middle of all the irons we’ve tested under the new system.

As you can see from the chart, misses tended to favor the left side. Perhaps most surprising is that more of the misses to that side fell short. Generally speaking golfers will miss short right and long left.

Looking simply at our tester’s ability to hit the short irons straight, we see that our testers missed the center of the target line by an average of 19.03 feet. When we adjust the average, accuracy improves to 15.88 feet, which suggests our testers weren’t quite as straight as they’ve been with some of the other irons we’ve tested.

When we look at our testers ability to reach the target distance (regardless of left/right orientation), we see that our golfers missed the distance by an average of 14.95 feet. With the least consistent tester removed, distance control improves to 13.93 feet, which is above average for the irons we’ve tested to date.

Finally, when we look more closely for birdie opportunities we find that our group of testers as a whole managed 6 shots (from (3 different testers) inside of 10 feet. Bumped out to 15 feet, the number of birdie opportunities jump to 15.

In general we saw some bigger misses than we generally see with short irons, and that may be due to the CB3s very un-game-improvement take on game-improvement, however, the best shots were also generally tighter to the pin than we normally see from clubs in this category.

Short Iron Performance Score 89.39

Middle Iron Performance

With middle irons (defined in this test as 6-8 irons), our testers missed the pin by an average of 29.54 feet. As it always does, the average improved to 27.60 feet when our least accurate tester was removed. While it’s not a stellar number, it’s squarely middle of the pack for the irons tested to date.

Looking at our golfer’s ability to hit the ball straight, we find that our testers missed the center line by an average of 19.76 feet. When we eliminate the golfer least able to avoid spraying like a graffiti artist crystal meth, left/right dispersion improves to 17.98 feet.

Distance control played out similarly to left/right accuracy with our testers missing the distance by an average of 18.27 feet. With our least consistent golfer eliminated, the adjust average improves to 17.36 feet.

Looking at what matters most (legitimate birdie opportunities), we find that our testers were able to place 10 shots (at least one from all 6 testers) inside of 15 feet. If we’re feeling good about our putting and define birdie range as 20 feet, the overall number of reasonable one-putt chances increases to 17.

Middle Iron Performance Score: 91.58

Long Iron Performance

Not surprisingly, the majority of our long irons shots with the Adams Idea Black CB3 landed short and right of the target line (a fact in which played a substantial role in its creation).

On average our testers missed the pin by an average of 44.15 feet. With our least accurate tester removed, the group average improves to 39.59 feet, which like most of the accuracy numbers our testers posted for the CB3, is squarely in the middle of the pack.

Looking at proximity to the center line, we see that our testers missed the mark by an average of 33.91 feet, and 28.31 feet adjusted.

Looking at our tester’s ability to get the distance, we find that our testers missed their target distance by an average of 20.65 feet. When the least consistent tester is removed, accuracy improves to 17.89 feet, which makes the Adams Idea Black CB3 (as of the time of this writing) #1 overall for long iron distance control.

Looking at birdie chances (inside 20 feet) we find only 5 shots from 3 different testers. If we’re feeling generous and bump the distance out to 25 feet, the number of one-putt opportunities increases to 13.

Long Iron Performance Score: 89.99

Performance Notes

Overall the Adams Idea Black CB3 proved to be a very solid game-improvement iron. This is one of those cases where I feel like the scores came back a bit lower than what I personally think the iron is capable of producing. Given that we had two first time testers, and one of our other testers clearly didn’t have his absolute best stuff, it’s reasonable to think there may be a few more points out there, but lines must be drawn, and this is that.

MGS OVERALL PERFORMANCE SCORE: 90.31

The Interactive Data

The charts below show the individual and group averages (black dotted line) for each shot our golfers took during our test of the Adams Idea Black CB3 Irons. You can click on each of 3 tabs (Adams CB3 – Short Irons, Adams CB3 – Mid Irons, Adams CB – Long Irons) you can see where each shot came to rest on our virtual driving range, and the raw data (averages) for each of our testers. Hovering over any point will give you all the details of that particular shot. You can use the filters on the right-hand side to show and hide individual golfer based on handicap and proximity to the pin. At your whimsy you can drag the Distance from Hole slider around to show you how many shots fell within the area you specify.

SUBJECTIVE SCORING

Looks

What really stands out to me is what ultimately could be the downfall of the CB3 in the marketplace. The damn thing doesn’t really look like a game-improvement iron. In many respects, the CB3 is simply a larger, potentially more forgiving version of the Pro a12 iron. The entire iron is basically done in gray scale; from the black nickel PVD finish, to the silver badge to the black ABS frame. It’s an absolutely beautiful game improvement iron, but the total lack of color (save the red on the KBS label) might turn off some GI guys who are accustomed to more than a splash of color in their irons.

While the topline is thick, it’s not intrusive (or offensive). Yes, soles are wider, but certainly narrower than what we see  in most game-improvement designs (which suggests the CB3 might not be solidly in the GI category). There is a generous amount of offset, but the guys at Adams did a pretty solid job of blending it such that the hosel doesn’t look like its sitting well in front of the face.

While not as compact as a player’s cavity-back, the face is relatively compact, though is certainly taller than what I have in my bag now. The bottom line is that game-improvement designs have developed a bit of a reputation for being “shovels”. If you’re a fan of shovels, the CB3 may not be for you.

“The looks…reminded me of Titleist irons” – Lou Y. (how often do you hear that about a GI club?)

One other noteworthy aspect of the looks of the Adams CB3 irons, is the inclusion of what Adams calls progressive sole widths. Essentially, as the clubs get longer the soles get wider. Interestingly, this is the opposite of what Cobra did with their AMP Irons (as the clubs get longer, the soles get more narrow). The result of what Adams has done are short irons that look and play more like player’s cavity-back designs, long irons that look a bit more like, and play closer to traditional game-improvement irons, and middle irons that bridge the gap between the two. Effectively Adams has created one of the first true “combo sets” for mid to mid-high handicap golfers. How cool is that? Don’t answer…I’ll just tell you…it’s really, really cool.

While in many respects they play like a game-improvement iron, the Idea Black CB3 iron barely looks the part…and that’s good thing.

MGS Looks Score: 93.53

Sound & Feel

Whether you want to chalk it up to being forged, or simply the subjective impact that the idea of forged irons have, our testers mostly loved the feel of the Idea Black CB3 irons. While one of our testers told us that the middle irons felt lighter than the short irons, he still found the nebulous concept of feel to be outstanding at impact.

Truth be told, game-improvement irons have come a long way in just the last couple of years (where feel is concerned), so it’s not the surprise it used to be when we receive a great feeling game-improvement club.

Worth mentioning…I don’t think we can discount the shaft entirely in the feel equation. Irons that feature KBS shafts generally score better than those with most anything else in the feel category. The pattern suggests (as most would assume to be true anyway), the shaft definitely plays a role in the feel equation.

MGS Feel Score: 92.45

Perceived Forgiveness

Our surveys came back with some interesting results for forgiveness. Not surprisingly, the tester who struggled across the board didn’t find the CB3 to be a very forgiving club. The same is true of our senior tester (despite posting some of his highest performance scores to date). The CB3 more or less does what I’d expect a game-improvement iron to do. They produce mostly straight shots, and do a better job than most at keeping you out of trouble.

If there’s a knock it’s that the CB3 might be a bit more penal on shots hit high on the face compared to some of the other GI irons we’ve tested, but overall, it rates above average for forgiveness.

Tester Perceived Forgiveness Score: 91.38

Likelihood of Purchase

LOP scores broke down along the same lines as forgiveness scores. Several of our testers rated the club extremely high (and much higher than I’d expect from any game-improvement club), while our least accurate, and our most senior tester basically told us there’s no chance at all they’d purchase the CB3s. That’s going to happen with most any club, but what I find most telling is that a group of guys, many of whom habitually rate Game-Improvement irons low for likelihood of purchase told us that if they were going to purchase a more forgiving club than what they currently play, the Adams Idea Black CB3 would likely be the one.

Tester Likelihood of Purchase: 86.00

Just one guy’s opinion here, but when it comes to designing a game-improvement iron that might actually appeal to guys like (guys who thumb their noses at anything bigger than an Idea a12 pro iron for example) Adams basically did everything right. It’s a stunning iron that offers outstanding feel, and can easily make you forget your holding what is probably a game-improvement iron. If you love the idea of a game-improvement iron, but aren’t a fan of the aesthetic sacrifices often made to increase performance, we may have just found the iron for you.

TOTAL SUBJECTIVE SCORE: 81.38

CONCLUSION

I’ve talked in the past about the concept of a transitional iron…something between a game-improvement iron, and a players iron. While there are clearly several design elements that could squarely classify the CB3 as a GI iron, Adams doesn’t want to pigeonhole it into that category, and based on my experience, and what I saw from my testers, I can understand why. The CB3 is a bit of a unique offering. While we humans love our taxonomies, the CB3 isn’t an iron that fits comfortably into any of the categories we like to use. In my estimation, it sits somewhere between a transitional club, and a modern game-improvement iron. It offers the playability of the latter, but has the aesthetic appeal of the former.

As I said earlier, the Adams Black CB3 is in some respects a combo set for mid to mid-high handicap golfers. Those of you out there who want a more traditional look in your scoring clubs, but aren’t willing to sacrifice the forgiveness of your game-improvement long irons, finally have a set that truly offers the best of both worlds.

I don’t say this often when it comes to GI clubs, and I certainly don’t say it lightly; the Adams Idea Pro Black is solidly at the top of an extremely short list of game-improvement clubs (if you want to call it that), that I (and some of my testers) would actually consider putting in their bags.

MGS TOTAL SCORE: 89.38

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Introduction

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) Callaway introduced their 2012 golf ball line up with a bang: Phil Mickelson credited the Hex Black Tour’s performance as a major part of his victory at Pebble Beach.  Will the Callaway Hex Black Tour or the Callaway Hex Chrome lead your game to the winner’s circle this year?  Read on to find out…

* Note: We’ve enhanced our ball review system to include feedback from multiple players.  What you’ll see in most sections are my thoughts followed by the thoughts of our test group.  When it comes to the performance elements, I will share my data then the test group’s impressions based on their experience playing these balls.

Feel

I always start my “Feel” testing with the putter.  In this case, that led to a very long process as I really struggled to find a tangible difference between the two balls.  Both are, in my opinion, medium soft.  I was finally able to discern a clear difference after trying a number of different putters: I found the Hex Black Tour to have a deeper pitch off the putter, the Hex Chrome was more of a click.  Depending on what putter you use, you may find a small difference between the two or you may find them to be interchangeable.

Off of wedges and other clubs, the difference between these two balls is more pronounced: the Callaway Hex Black Tour is decidedly firmer and more “click-y,” the Callaway Hex Chrome is a bit softer.  I think that this can be attributed to the Hex Chrome being a lower compression ball.

// TEST GROUP: Generally speaking, it seems that the test group saw eye-to-eye with me on the feel of these two balls.  In every category (putter, irons, wedges, driver), the test group rated the Chrome and the Black very close on feel.  There was one exception: one tester felt that the Chrome was significantly softer in every facet of the game compared to the Black.

Durability

Durability on both balls was excellent: I was once again able to use one sleeve of balls for all the test shots.    The only thing that I noticed was that the Callaway Hex Black Tour got “fuzzy” after the final round of half wedges.  It wasn’t cut, and there weren’t chunks taken out of the cover, but it was as if the ball was covered very lightly in cover shavings.  The Callaway Hex Chrome was totally unscathed.

// TEST GROUP: The test group was also impressed with the durability of both the Chrome and Black.  With one exception (same guy…makes me wonder), everyone rated the durability of these balls at an 8 out of 10 or higher.

Performance

Once again, I found that launch angle did not change in any significant way between balls.  Also, with one exception, ball speed was identical.  The only real performance difference (and it was slight) was spin.

Driver Performance

Both balls offered low driver spin.  The one difference between the two was the ballspeed: the Callaway Hex Black Tour consistently gave me 3MPH more than the The Callaway Hex Chrome. This makes sense since the Chrome is advertised as being for players with “moderate swing speed.”  While I certainly don’t have overwhelming clubhead speed, I did get better returns from the Hex Black Tour.

// TEST GROUP: Our test group seemed to have similar findings: two testers rated the Chrome and Black exactly the same for driver performance.  Another felt that the Chrome was longer, which may be a reflection on it being a better fit for his swing speed.

4 Iron & 7I Performance

Performance with a 4 Iron and 7 Iron was identical for the Hex Chrome and Hex Black Tour.  I’m starting to see a pattern of balls behaving more similarly with the clubs in the middle of the set whether they are hard, soft, tour, distance, etc.  It will be interesting to see if this trend continues.

// TEST GROUP: Our test group did seem to differ with me on this point.  Everyone in the group found that both balls offered above-average distance, but, to a man, they said that the Black spun more than the Chrome.  While I’m not downplaying their perceptions, it is important to note that their ratings are based on their perceptions, not launch monitor data.  My hunch is that since the Black is the “tour” ball in the line-up, there were some preconceived notions that it would spin more.

Pitching Wedge Performance

Nearly identical launch monitor performance again.  The Hex Black Tour averaged 200 RPMs more spin than the Hex Chrome, which is hardly significant.

// TEST GROUP: Our test group, however, felt that the Black spun more than the Chrome.

60* Performance – Half Swing

Again, the two balls were very very close.  The Hex Black Tour averaged 425 RPMs more backspin than the Hex Chrome. While I know there are some who want every last bit of spin, I don’t expect that this will be the difference between backing a ball up and watching it run through the back of the green.

// TEST GROUP: The test group, once again, had different findings.  While the gap was not large (1 to 2 points), everyone rated the Black as having more wedge spin than the Chrome.

Value

The Callaway Hex Black Tour retails for $45.99/dozen and the The Callaway Hex Chrome retails for $35.99.  Given that they perform so similarly, it’s hard to argue against the value of the Hex Chrome.  The only caveat is that players with higher swing speeds will probably get more ballspeed from the Hex Black Tour, so, for them, it might be worth the extra $10.

// TEST GROUP: Our testers were generally in agreement: the Black was frequently rated a 5 out of 10, an average value since it’s priced the same as other tour balls.  The Chrome was seen as being a 7 since it delivered solid performance for less money.

Player Profile

As you can see from the Performance section, I found these balls to be nearly identical.  They both offer tour-level performance throughout the bag.  The only substantial difference I was able to discern was the ballspeed with the driver.  If you are a higher swing speed player (100MPH+), you will probably get more ballspeed out of the Hex Black Tour.  Players with slower swing speeds might get more distance from the Hex Chrome.

// TEST GROUP: Our test group did perceive that the Black also offered more spin with the irons and wedges, so if you are looking for every bit of spin, you may want to test a sleeve of each and see which performs better around the greens for you.

Final Thoughts

For 2012, Callaway has introduced two excellent tour-level golf balls.  While I applaud the move to offer a tour-level ball at a sub-$40 price point, I am left curious as to why the players with higher swing speeds are left to pay a premium for a ball that will give them maximum ballspeed.  Regardless, with both the Callaway Hex Chrome and the Callaway Hex Black Tour, Callaway has rolled low driver spin and high wedge spin into one excellent golf ball.

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Congratulations!

MyGolfSpy would like to congratulate April 2012′s “MyGolfSpy Forum Member of the Month”, JMiller065.

It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to pick a winner as more and more of you are actively participating in our forums. We appreciate everyone whose contributions help grow our community, but there can only be one winner.

From the entire staff at MyGolfSpy, Thank You, JMiller065, for helping us grow our community.

About the Forum Member of the Month

The Forum Member of the Month isn’t simply given to the forum member who starts the most topics, or comments on the most posts. It’s given to a reader we feel has done an outstanding  job of eliciting conversation, contribution to the discussion, and ultimately helping grow the MyGolfSpy Community.

As the name suggests, each and every month we will select a new winner, and while there will be some overlap, every month’s prize package will be unique. So if you haven’t become a member of the MyGolfSpy forum yet…now is a perfect time to start. The MyGolfSpy Forum now has over 12,600 members and over 57,500 golf posts…so you are sure to find fellow golfers who share your passion for the game…and now you can win some kick-ass prizes as well.

Join the MyGolfSpy Forum Today

THE APRIL PRIZE PACKAGE

Once again, please join me in congratulating April 2012′s MyGolfSpy Forum Member of the Month, JMiller065

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Putter Tested: Ping Nome

(Written By: GolfSpy Matt) Ping’s newest putter, the Nome, got the kind of pre-launch buzz that you simply can’t buy: it was used by Hunter Mahan in victories at the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship and the Shell Houston Open.  In addition to being a two-time Tour winner, this putter is very unique in that Ping has a version of it that will work for every stroke: straight-back-straight-through, slight arc, or strong arc.

The standard length Nome weighs 355 grams and can be ordered to your specification for length and lie.  The Ping Nome is also available as an adjustable-length belly putter.  The belly model weighs 405 grams.  The stock grip is a midsized pistol Winn grip.

Putter Features:

• Aluminum
• 355 grams (405 grams for the belly model)
• Three Offset and Toe Hang Configurations Available (Straight, Slight Arc, Strong Arc)
• Winn Grip

BALL USED: Titleist Pro V1

FEEL

The feel of the ball ricocheting off of the Nome’s milled aluminum face was described by our test group as a dull thud.  It is neither a hard, clicky feel, nor is it soft and buttery.

One aspect of the Ping Nome’s feel that was appreciated by our testers was its feedback: unlike many high MOI mallets, you can actually tell when you mishit a putt.  The sound of impact increases as you move out from the center of the face, shifting from a thud to a more staccato clang.  What’s particularly nice is that even though you can hear the mishit, the ball rarely rolls as if it were mishit.

LOOKS

One thing I’ve learned over the course of the last two putter reviews is that mallet people can appreciate the beauty of a blade, but there are not a lot of traditionalists who appreciate a beautiful mallet.  This was made apparent to me when one of our newest testers told me that the Nome looks like, “A spaceship on a stick.”

Personal taste aside, the Ping Nome is an interesting blend of traditional and futuristic.  While it’s definitely on the larger side, the shape itself is not terribly unusual.  Where it gets funky is in its multi-colored, multi-piece design.  When looking down on it, the Nome shows off its depth via the cutaway under the black alignment aid.

Overall, half of our testers really loved the Nome, half were lukewarm.  It basically split along lines of traditionalists versus those who embrace newer designs. While you might expect that I was in the traditionalist camp, I actually love the looks of the Nome.  There’s just something interesting and unique about the Nome that makes it hard to put down.

SET-UP & ALIGNMENT

Much like its milled-aluminum predecessor, the Sydney, the Nome features what Ping calls “Optigraphic” alignment.  I’m not sure how Ping defines it, but, to me, it seems to mean that there’s a single sight line on top of a larger “sight bar.”

I can’t exactly figure out why, but for some reason the sight bar made all of our “no alignment aids” testers forget about the sight line.  It seems that in this case, more was less…which was better.  That’s not to say that those who like a sight line found it hard to aim because, in fact, they liked it too.  Even those who didn’t find the Nome aesthetically appealing agreed that it was easy to aim.  Ping definitely seems to be on to something with regard to the alignment aids on their new mallets.

One final note on the Ping Nome’s set-up: if you look closely at the pictures, you will notice that the topline of the putter is actually curved.  To my eye, this makes the putter face seem slightly concave, as if you could hit a putt on the heel or toe and it would still roll to the target.  This was not widely noticed by our testers, but, to my eye, it’s a definite confidence booster at address.

PERFORMANCE

Performance testing was done by 7 golfers.  The testers were given the putter and asked to hit putts of all lengths (3 to 20 feet).  They were then asked to rate the putter from 1-10 in each of the following categories:

• Distance Control = 9.1
• Accuracy = 9.4
• Sound & Feel = 8.6
• Appearance = 8.3
• Alignment = 9.6
• OVERALL = 90

FIT FOR STROKE™

Don’t change your stroke. Change your putter.

The (FIT FOR STROKE™) concept was developed by PING, yet another genius fitting system they have developed for golfers.  It works hand-in-hand with the iPING Putter App which is highly suggest everyone getting (IT’S FREE!).  You might be surprised to find out that the stroke you think you have isn’t the stroke you actually have.

This addition to the MGS reviews will allow you to become a more consistent putter by matching you with models that better fit your stroke type.  They will be broken down into three categories: (1) Straight – for face balance putters  (2) Slight Arc – for mid toe hang putters  (3) Strong Arc – for toe down putters

“Results from hundreds of player and robot tests at PING offer overwhelming scientific support for the effectiveness of fitting for stroke. In recent years more diagnostic tools and testing equipment have become available, and the results prove that a golfer’s consistency improves when their putter balance matches their stroke type. It was interesting to observe that golfers putt more consistently with stroke-appropriate models, but they also show a personal preference for these models, too. Prior to putting with them, golfers are drawn to models that fit their eye, even before they fit their stroke.” says PING.

The Ping Nome fits all strokes – (just check the sticker)

OVERALL

Though it clearly won’t fit everyone’s personal taste aesthetically, there was little dispute among our testers about the Ping Nome’s ability to perform: mishits traveled nearly the same distance as center hits and they held the line well.

By varying the amount of offset and the bend in the shaft, Ping has created a putter that fits all strokes.  While its retail price of $249 isn’t exactly cheap, I think that Ping will find many new fans among players who prefer mallets but don’t want a putter that is built for a straight-back-straight-through stroke.