The Year in Review
We know that even our biggest fans sometimes miss an article or two (or three or four). So just like we did last year, we thought it would be cool to round up what we think is some of our best work for the year and put it all in one place. It’s a great chance for you guys to get caught up, or maybe reread some of your favorite articles. It’s also a great chance for new readers to find out what we’re all about. Finally, it’s a great excuse for the staff at MyGolfSpy to reflect on the year that was.
Our selections include some of biggest and best reviews of the year, live event coverage, our most epic April Fool’s prank to date, and plenty of the commentary that illustrates exactly what it is that separates MyGolfSpy’s from the pack. We think these articles are some of our best work of the year.
ICYMI (For those not keeping up, that means “In case you mised it”), these are MyGolfSpy’s Top 13 posts of 2013.
Which Was Your Favorite?
TaylorMade CEO Mark King Delivers An Uppercut To USGA
Think there needs to be a second set of rules for amateur golfers? It’s a controversial topic for sure…and one that has been debated for years. But if you thought it was controversial before…just wait until you see what two of the top heavyweights in the game had to say.
What Taylormade Golf’s CEO (Mark King) told Score Golf’s Rick Young is potentially the biggest story to come out of this year’s PGA Show. In a nutshell King basically said that in 10 years the USGA would be a “non-entity” and also that they have become “obsolete”. Titleist CEO Wally Uihlein also weighed in with his point of view. We discuss both sides of the discussion and GolfSpy T tells you how he feels on the topic as well.
MyGolfSpy Labs: The Worst Kept Secret in Golf
What loft is your driver? Is it a 9.5°…maybe 10.5?
What if I told you that what you thought was a 9.5° was actually a 12°? Paying attention now? Whatever loft is written on the sole of your driver is probably wrong. To be more exact, in our study we found that 92% of the time it’s wrong!
Shocked? You shouldn’t be: the fact that most OEM drivers are stamped inaccurately is one of the worst kept secrets in golf. But why? We went straight to the biggest names in golf and asked, so check into the “MyGolfSpy Lab” to learn why your 9.5* is probably an 11*…and why that might not be a bad thing.
The New Callaway Golf – Things Are Different Now
Callaway Golf screwed me. I had specific expectations. That was my mistake.
Callaway wasn’t talking about making golf easy and fun, becoming the most desirable, or overthrowing The Kingdom. Instead, the Callaway guys…the ball guy, the club guy, even the PR guy – to a man they all fell back on a single word: Performance…and nothing but.
Bleh. And each and every time that word came up the confident team at Callaway spoke as if performance is the only thing that matters. They’re not new at this. They must know different, right? Maybe not.
The Fairway Wood is Dead
The fairway wood isn’t dead yet…but it sure as hell looks like it’s dying.
Yes, I’ve heard of RocketBallz, but in this case, Stage 2 means terminal. Never mind Speedline, Adams should call their next fairway wood the Flatline. Why call them fairway woods at all? Calling them panda woods seems more appropriate. Extinction is all but certain.
So how did we reach a point in time where the once mighty fairway wood is slowly going the way of the jigger? The way I see it, you can’t point the finger 3 places; neglect, hybrids, and the PGA Tour.
Callaway Golf Announces Revolutionary Versa Driver
CARLSBAD, Calif., April 1, 2013 — Callaway Golf Company (NYSE: ELY) today announced worldwide availability of the new Versa Driver. Originally codenamed “Oreo Smash” because of the distinctive black and white crown graphics and sledgehammer-like feel, the revolutionary Versa driver is designed for easy alignment, incredible control, and precise positioning at all points of the golf swing.
2013 “Golf’s Most Wanted” – BEST OVERALL
We’ve arrived at the moment you’ve been waiting for. After teasing you with the Longest Driver of 2013, and the Most Accurate Driver of 2013, it’s time to reveal MyGolfSpy’s Most Wanted Driver of 2013. Simply put, the #1 Club on this list, is the Best Driver of 2013. Period.
Tiger Woods is Killing Nike Golf
2013 should be a banner year for Nike. Most of the world has moved on from the scandal, Josyln James, and whatever mostly nameless Perkins waitress you want to throw in the mix. The Sergio mess aside, Tiger is healthy, he seems happy (as happy as Tiger ever seems), and most importantly for Nike, he’s not only winning again, one could make a legitimate argument that he’s playing the best golf of his life.
In any other sport this kind of success would be a slam dunk for the company in Nike’s position, but this isn’t any other sport, it’s golf, and while I’m hard-pressed to explain exactly how it’s different, I’m certain that it is.
If Nike is serious about becoming the #1 Company in Golf, and they’ve told me as much on a few occasions now, they need to realize they’ve outgrown Tiger Woods. He’s not only taken them as far as any one man could have, the company’s apparent continued reliance on him to take them even further is killing Nike Golf.
TaylorMade vs. Callaway: The Fight for #1 Gets Dirty
Golf companies make one ridiculous claim after another 10 more yards, 17 more yards. If even half of it were true we’d all be driving the ball 400 yards. Where’s Ralph Nadar when you need him?
Why do they even bother to put a number on it, they might as well just say “we’ve got the longest driver in golf” and be done with it.
That’s basically what Callaway did last November when they kicked off their Tweet to Unleash campaign. At the time, and for most of the spring, Callaway billed the RAZR Fit Xtreme as the longest driver in golf. They even had a hashtag (#LongestDriverinGolf).
Not surprisingly, TaylorMade had a really big problem with this…even the Twitter part.
Rather than take their dispute to court, TaylorMade filed a complaint with the National Advertising Division. The results of the action could change the future of how golf clubs are marketed.
2013 Swing Trainers – {Buyer’s Guide}
Last year I said that the Swing Trainer Shootout was The #1 Most Requested Review, even more than Rocketballz, and that may have been a stretch. This year, it is not a stretch to say that theSwing Trainer Buyer’s Guide is the single most in-demand review that MyGolfSpy has done. Since the PGA Show in January, not a week has gone by that I haven’t gotten a comment, email, forum post, or tweet asking when it would be done. And now, it’s finally here.
Last year we tested Golf Sense, Swing Byte, and Swing Smart. This year, the field has more than doubled to include: Swing Smart, Swing Byte, Golf Sense, SwingTIP, Noitom MySwing,SkyPro, and 3Bays GSA PUTT.
Which of this swing trainers is the best fit for you?
Results You Can Trust – The Best Way to Test Golf Clubs
Can You Really Have the Best Golf Club Testing System Without Using Robots?
It has been our goal from day 1 at MyGolfSpy to create the best golf club review process on the planet. We thought if we use a range of handicaps, swing speeds, and swing types, provide more data, more detail, and be more analytic than anyone else, we could do just that.
I believe we have.
Using humans, imperfect as most of you are, to test golf clubs was a no-brainer for us. We’ve put hundreds of hours into developing, tweaking, and refining our review process. We spent hours on the phone with designers, engineers, performance specialists and club fitters trying to make our process even better. At every step of the way we were certain that, despite a total lack of consistency (even the best players in the world can’t touch a robot for repeatable precision), golf clubs that are played by humans need to be tested by humans
Smashing the Box – TaylorMade to Buck the USGA Through Non-Conformity
The equipment world, might never be the same from this point forward.
Reputable sources are telling us in no uncertain terms that TaylorMade is planning to launch a line of non-conforming golf clubs.
That’s right. Non-conforming clubs from the #1 Company in Golf…or at least from one of the brands under the TaylorMade-adidas umbrella.
If it proves true, I don’t think it’s overstating to say that TaylorMade would be poised to flip the entire equipment industry ass-end-up, while setting up what could be a very tense showdown with the USGA over its governance of the recreational game.
This is potentially nothing less than the biggest equipment story since…well…maybe ever.
“2013 GOLF’S MOST WANTED – BLADE PUTTER”
Yesterday in Day 1 of the “Golf’s Most Wanted!” – Blade Test, we met the 28 competitors and also reemphasized that accuracy is the ultimate factor that matters when we have our putter on the course. Reviewing our trial conditions, we had each tester take five putts at distances of 5, 10, and 20 feet. 15 putts per putter with each tester, gives us a total of 150 putts per putter.
Once the distances from the edge of the cup were adjusted for the five and ten foot putt, the scores from all of the testers were combined to generate a total accuracy score for each putter. “Golf’s Most Wanted!” Blade Putter, should be the most accurate, regardless of the person swinging the stick.
Nike Golf Innovation Unleashed – Live Coverage
Nike held last year’s Non-Stop Innovation event was casual, informative, and for me anyway, really set the tone for Nike Golf’s 2013 equipment season. Fortunately, it also proved to be the most tweetable event anyone in the golf equipment industry put on all year.
At this years event, “Innovation Unleashed” (Nike HQ – Beaverton, Oregon), my expectation is that we’ll get our first real look at the Covert 2.0 metalwood lineup, the 3rd generation RZN golf ball, and since this is Nike, a healthy dose of 2014 footwear and apparel as well. Once again, we’ll be covering it live. Check back often to see what we’re seeing pretty much as we see it.
Perhaps this may seem like a strange choice for our Top 13 list, but live event coverage is most definitely a big part of our future plans, and it’s only going to get better.
As Always…There’s More to Come
We hope you enjoyed our 2013 reviews, commentary, and event coverage. We have even bigger things (HUGE things) planned for 2014.
Stay Tuned…
hckymeyer
10 years ago
I miss the MGS Labs…