Day 3 of my 7 straight days of reviews:
It’s hard to write a 2000 word “review” on a ball repair tool. It’s equally as hard to write a 2000 word review on a belt. So this won’t be the world’s longest review either.
Green Friendly makes belts for men and women. Yeah, whatever. Right? There are zillions of belt companies out there. But Green Friendly’s belts stand apart from any other.
Built into the tip of each Green Friendly belt is an awesome green repair tool and magnetic ball marker! No digging around in your pocket, dropping tees on the ground and pulling your pocket inside out looking for your ball marker or repair tool.
I have several GF belts and they’re great. They’re convenient, useful and they look very nice.
Customize
Want to make your belt even more special or put company logo on there? No problem. GF can engrave your artwork right onto the tip of the belt!
Take care of pop
Father’s Day is just around the corner. Check out the awesome Father’s Day belt package in the pic below.
You can get a Green Friendly golf belt for free! Click here to find out how.
I have to say this was a tough review. When I got my MP T Black Nickel wedge from Mizuno my wedge game was in disarray. I didn’t know if I was going to fat a shot 3 feet or blade a 30 yard shot 73 yards over the green.
My short game has finally come around enough to get this review completed, which is good.
Looks & feel
The MP T BN is very easy on the eyes. It’s a beautiful club. The teardrop shaped head gives you confidence that this club is going to be able to produce the shot you need.
The Black Nickel finish is very nice. It was a shame to even hit the club and mess with the finish. Fortunately I took some pictures of mine before I did.
The weighting of this club is wonderful. It almost feels as good as a nicely balanced putter. The club wants to travel right on the correct line in a full swing or even in delicate little green side shots.
Technology
How much technology can a simple wedge have? Apparently plenty.
Mizuno employs “grain flow forging” which “enhances the flow and tightness of the grains in the metal, maximizing the strength of the clubhead without sacrificing the soft feel, and ensuring greater consistency from club to club and set to set.” Woa. If you want to see the grain flow forge process in action, click here.
The black nickel finish reduces glare and increases durability. But really, it just looks cool.
U Grooves: A quick look at the grooves and I just assumed they were square. But these grooves are actually a “U” shape. The grooves are milled out of the face by computer driven milling machines. These grooves give you spin… Major spin. I can verify that.
On the course
A wedge can be a real “go to” or make or break club for a player. This wedge is becoming a “go to” club for me the more I get used to it. I had some adjustment “issues” because I’m coming from a different wedge with 6 degrees bounce and this one has 8 degrees.
I can take a full swing with the MP T and have great accuracy and distance control. My 60 degree is good for about 100 yards and in. Just today I had a downhill shot from 104 which I flew 103 and stopped it on a dime to about 2 feet.
De-lofted runners or punch shots are great with the MP. You can easily hit one of those bounce 2-3 times and check up type shots. If you close the face down you can it more of a running shot with over spin.
Flop shots with the MP T are quite easy from tight lies or the rough. You have precise control over the ball flight and spin.
I’ve used the MP T out of green side bunkers a few times when I need to get the ball up quick. I prefer my normal 56 degree sand wedge though most other times.
Major spin
The U Grooves on this club impart an amazing amount of spin on the ball. I hit a 70 yard 3/4 shot which landed in the middle of the green and spun completely off the front with a TM TP Red ball. I’ve even flown a shot completely over a green and spun the ball back onto the green from the rough!
Specs and options
The MP T Black Nicked wedges are available in lofts from 51° to 60° with varying bounces depending on the loft.
Sorry lefties but this baby is only available in right hand configuration.
The stock shaft is a True Temper Dynamic Gold with “wedge” flex. Other custom shaft options are available upon request.
The grip is a very nice feeling Golf Pride Tour Velvet 58 Round.
Critic’s corner
There’s only one problem with this wedge. It is a ball eater. The grooves on this wedge absolutely shred golf balls. I often have to take a tee and scrape out the cover shavings from the grooves.
I’ve used this wedge with ProV1’s, Taylormade TP Black & Red, Loco and Loco Tour D, Bridgestone e5 & e6 etc. If I need to hit 4-5 full 90-100 yard shots with this wedge, the TP and Bridgestones completely shred and actually have shavings sticking out. Mark your ball and scrape off the shavings before you putt because they’re big enough to knock the ball off line on the putting green.
This club even shreds range balls. Today I practiced full shots with my 60. I didn’t exactly shag my range balls to look at them but there were pretty major shavings in the grooves of the club.
Conclusion
This club is definitely a “player’s” club. The MP T’s good looks are only rivaled by it’s performance on the course. You can manufacture any shot you can imagine with this club from runners to flops.
If you want that “Phil Mickelson” super spin, the “U Grooves” will get it for you. Careful though! If you get that super spin, you may need to replace your ball on the next hole!
Yesterday I posted the Mark Mender review. I’m posting this post now to, in a sense, give myself a kick in the butt to get some reviews done. I’m getting so much cool gear in now that my backlog of gear to review is getting almost overwhelming.
So I’ve decided that with the review yesterday I’m doing 7 straight days of product reviews. Review #2 will be posted tonight.
I’d do the review earlier but I’m playing 36 holes today! 18 here, and 18 here.
For the good of the game and as courtesy to the other players you really should fix your ball marks. It only takes a few seconds. I fix mine (if I hit the green that is), and usually 4-5 others on every green.
One problem with standard fork shaped ball mark tools is that they are used incorrectly. Most people stick the fork in and pull up the middle of the mark. All that does is tear the root structure, leaving a brown spot that can take weeks to heal.
The proper way to use the forked too is to pull the edges in from the sides. When done correctly the mark will not leave a brown spot and it will only take a day or two for the mark to heal.
Clearly the best golf tool out there for doing this process right and helping out the greens is the “Mark Mender” from www.markmender.com.
The Mark Mender is a spring loaded dual fork repair tool which fixes marks the right way, from the sides. The forks aren’t long enough to really damage the root structure, just long enough to pull the edges in. And since the action is from two sides, the repair is very even and uniform.
When not in use the mender closes tightly to fit comfortably in your pocket.
Included with your Mark Mender is also a magnetic ball marker. Mark Mender can even do custom print with your logo in the ball marker for you for promotional items or sales at the course.
You can buy a set of two Mark Menders for $19.99 at their web site. Not the cheapest repair tool around but it will be the only one you’ll need or want to use.
More pictures:
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Hmmm. My posts lately are very sexually oriented. I wonder why…. OK I know why. Never mind.
Yesterday, during a terrible round in a tournament I heard a very funny story.
The group I was playing in was to be a 4-some. I didn’t know any of the guys in the group. When we teed off the group was a 3-some. Later on in the round I found out why player #4 didn’t make it.
Player #3 was a buddy of player #4 and got the story on his cell phone. Apparently player #3 and #4 had been out late the night before at what my friends and I affectionately call “the ballet” (a strip club). Player #4 had apparently brought his girlfriend with him to the ballet. Now I’m not extremely dumb, but isn’t bringing your GF to a strip club like bringing a sack lunch to a buffet?
During the course of the night player #4 got into a fight with his girlfriend. Gee I wonder why. His girlfriend leaves and he meets a new girlfriend.
When girlfriend #1 finds out that player #4 went home with someone else, she took his golf clubs and threw them in a dumpster somewhere. Player #4 couldn’t play because he had no clubs.
Moral to the story
If you’re going to sleep around on your wife/girlfriend, make sure your clubs are in a safe place.
Stay tuned for part two of my story about yesterday: The “Pipe” putter is now The ” ” putter.
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