This is interesting. There are many GPS units on the market. I’ve reviewed a ton of them. Some are stand alone and some are watches. Most are bulky and expensive. The TLink (pictured below) is neither bulky or expensive.
The TLink unit saves space by utilizing the GPS in one’s smartphone. The unit can be worn as a watch with the included band, or clamped onto a belt or pocket via the included clip. TLink connects via bluetooth to an Android phone or iPhone and uses the phone’s GPS location for yardages, front, back and middle. TLink comes with 30,000 courses built in. You can see if your course of choice is on the list here.
The unit also is a pedometer, like a FitBit. It will track your steps (hopefully walking the golf course), distance walked, and calories burned. It will even keep the records for later comparison. So you can see how you did on your home course versus last week’s round. I wish I would have had this when I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago.
The app is free with the unit, for yardages and pedometer functions. An extra in-app purchase can open up a full statistics capability in the unit (pictured below). Users can track scoring, fairways, putting, driving accuracy and so forth:
The folks at T-Link reached out to me to do a product review. That’s now in process. They also asked if I would like to offer a discount to HOG readers. Well, of course. I’d love to reward HOG readers with a deal whenever possible. Follow this link to the TLink web store and use the discount coupon code hooked at checkout to knock the price down from $99 to $89.
I’m charging up my unit for the first time. I’ll be doing my first round of testing this week. Stay tuned.
I have a new favorite kind of crisps (known as chips here in the USA). Yes, on my recent Scotland trip I enjoyed some haggis and cracked black pepper flavored potato crisps!
For those who don’t know what haggis is:
Haggis is a pudding containing sheep’s pluck (heart, liver and lungs); minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, traditionally encased in the animal’s stomach.
It has taken a few weeks to process my experience at French Lick Resort’s Pete Dye Course. I was also slightly sidetracked by a little trip to Scotland in that timeframe. The dust in my golf cranium has settled. I’m ready to try and tackle this big review of a big golf course.
French Lick Location
First off, let’s get the location figured out. French Lick Resort is in Larry Bird country, the towns of French Lick and West Baden Springs in southern Indiana. The closest major city and airport is Louisville, Kentucky. Next would be Cincinnati and Indianapolis. The resort sits on a large and historic estate which dates back to 1845.
The Dye Course is a 5-10 minute drive from the West Baden Springs Hotel and the French Lick Hotel and Casino. The course lies on one of the highest points of elevation in Indiana, producing a 40 mile panoramic view.
Pete Dye Course Key Facts
First off, one must know who Pete Dye is. Pete Dye is a Hall of Fame golf course architect who has built some of the most famous courses in the world. Some of Pete Dye’s most notable courses include Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Harbour Town Golf Links, TPC Sawgrass Stadium (home of THE PLAYERS), Whistling Straits, and PGA West.
Pete Dye and me
The Pete Dye Course at French Lick is certainly one of the most difficult courses in the USA, if not the world. The course rating from the tips is an unheard of 80.0. The slope is a massive 148. It’s hard to translate those numbers for those who don’t understand rating and slope. A skilled professional on average would shoot an 80 on this course, on a good day.
The course plays to a par value of 72. The total yardage is 8,102. Amongst that hefty yardage is par-3 16th hole which measures 305 yards. If the length isn’t tough enough, there’s water down the entire right side.
Tee
The views presented to the golfer from the tees are tremendous, challenging, and worthy of not only a solid tee shot, but a solid shutter release of a nice DSLR camera.
1st Tee – The sliver of fairway in line with the cart path is the target
Where to aim from the tee on the Pete Dye course is a tough call on nearly every hole. Visually the landing areas look extremely narrow and seem like they’re miles away. Wait a sec… that’s because they are extremely narrow and miles away. One must know how far they hit their drives or layup shots, exactly. Then execute a near perfect shot to hit that precise spot to keep a ball in the fairway. And I’m talking about the par-3’s! I kid. I kid. Sort of.
Say hello to the Miura Series 1957 Limited Edition Small Blade Irons. I’ve been “working” on this review for a some time now. It has been a rough go, playing one of the world’s best irons and such. Yes, being at the top of the golf blog heap can be difficult. I’m up to the task though.
Miura Series 1957 Small Blade Irons
About Miura
Before we look at the Series 1957 Limited Edition Small Blades by Miura, we should talk about who Miura is for those who may be unfamiliar. Miura is a family-owned Japanese club manufacturer, founded by Katsuhiro Miura. Mr. Miura is a master club-maker who has been making clubs for over 50 years. The company is located in Jimeji, central Japan.
Miura has made primarily forged irons and wedges, though they are now producing other clubs like drivers and hybrids. Miura is known as one of the world’s best makers of irons. Miura uses the highest quality Japanese steel, know for its performance and feel.
Many PGA Tour pros who are endorsed by some of the popular golf manufacturers actually play Miuras, despite being paid by their sponsors. The pros simply tape over the Miura name so fans can’t easily see the real manufacturer. Keen eyed golf club aficionados are not fooled.
Series 1957 Limited Edition Small Blade Irons
The Miura 1957 Small Blade Irons are the highest performing irons made by Miura, according to the man himself, Katsuhiro Miura.
When a company whose products are such high performance states that a particular product is their best, there’s nothing much on planet earth that will outperform it. I concur. Let’s look at the specs of the Small Blades.
Material
The Small Blades are made from low-carbon, premium Japanese steel. Japanese steel is widely known for its quality worldwide. The irons are specially forged in Miura’s own forge in Himeji, Japan. These irons are not made in China.
Finish
My set is the satin nickel chrome. The satin finish is beautiful and does not produce distracting glare in the sun.
The irons are also available in Black Boron finish, limited quantities.
Technical Specifications (more on this later in the review)
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
PW
Loft (degrees)
21
24
27
30
34
38
42
47
Lie (degrees)
59.0
59.5
60.0
60.5
61.0
61.5
62.0
62.5
Offset (inches)
0.11
0.10
0.10
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.07
0.06
Finished Length (inches)
38.75
38.25
37.75
37.25
36.75
36.25
35.75
35.5
Size
The Small Blades are 15% smaller than Miura’s regular “tour” blades. Blade irons are typically known as “hard to hit” by the average golfer. Mr. Miura says, “I have a special pride in this club. That’s because it’s so easy to hit.” Once again, I concur. More in my “on the course” commentary.
Blade-a-licious! Could you hit this?
On The Course
I lit up the first time I hit one of these irons. It was the 7-iron. The feel was so amazing and the ball launched high and straight. I just thought I got “lucky” and was sure the hard-to-hit nature of blades would catch up to me. I was sure I’d hit one of those mis-hits which would sting, or make my fingers numb, or hurt. I’ve been waiting for that to happen for months. There’s something about these blades which is different. The feel is so buttery that even off-center shots feel good. I have a lot of experience with those too. A lot.
I’ve found these irons to be very easy to hit, regardless of their blade nature. In fact, they are easier to hit than several “game improvement” clubs which I’ve tried out. I realize that sounds odd. You’ll have to trust me on that.
With blades this incredible, the type of shots and ball flight a player wants to hit are all on him/her. These irons respond tremendously when I have to manufacture some kind of shot or work the ball in a particular direction. If I put the right swing on a shot, the iron will produce exactly what I’m asking it to. I can hit them low (usually as a result of being in the trees off the tee), high (to go over the same trees), or fade/draw as needed. Truly amazing.
Critique
The one critique I have is with the lofts of these irons. Across the board these are more “standard” blade lofts from years ago. These irons are not “strong” lofts. Most of the irons are at least one degree weaker than most modern irons. Many of the irons are two degrees weaker.
This can be a slight hit to the player’s confidence level as the irons will go shorter. I’ve had to adjust my numbers to make up for the lofts. Where I used to hit an 8-iron, I’m hitting 7-iron, and so on.
Once adjusted, the accuracy and confidence I have with these irons is the best of any iron I’ve played, and I’ve played far more than the average golfer ever will.
That said about the lofts… I think no irons should have numbers on them, just lofts.
Hello Turf, Nice to Know You
The way the club interacts with the turf is tremendous. Whether the lie is tight and hard or in long rough, the club’s grind and small head size produce very little resistance and interference from the turf.
#love
The small design makes sense. Less surface area produces less resistance. Plus Mr. Miura has tweaked the edges and corners of the club ever so slightly. Those slight grinds and angles help prevent unwanted interaction with the ground and keep the club’s path and angle of attack where the player is delivering it.
Simplicity
A look at the iron photo above tells a big story. Part of what makes these Miura irons so great is their simplicity. There are no funky patterns, paint jobs, dumb names, logos, or mysterious weight-looking “things” that don’t do really anything…
Shafts
Miura will shaft the irons with shafts from any of nine “recommended” shaft makers including Aerotech, KBS Tour, True Temper, Project X and more.
Final Thoughts
Miuras are not for everyone. They are not inexpensive. It’s sort of a “if you have to ask how much they are, they’re too expensive,” proposition. The market for these clubs is not the mass-sales model of the big name brands, where you find their clubs in every pro shop and big box store on the planet. The clubs are painstakingly forged in Japan, by hand. These are not cheapo mass-produced Chinese-made clubs.
Playing these Miuras is a joy. They’re tremendous. Any player who wants the highest performance and feel a golf club can produce, should look strongly at the Miura Series 1957 Limited Edition Small Blade Irons.
The Lads of Scotland (my golf buddies who converge in Scotland biannually) have a very fun tradition we’ve indulged in each of the (now) three times we’ve golfed in Scotland, midnight putting. The event usually follows 36 holes of golf, dinner, a few dozen wee pints, cigars, and a wee bottle of scotch.
The first two Scotland trips The Lads did the midnight putting event on the Himalayas, the putt-putt green next to the Old Course, and the 18th hole of the Old Course itself. I’m proud to have made a bogey on the 18th at The Old with my putter, in the dark, at 1 a.m.
This year we changed it up and had our midnight putting event on the beautiful 4th hole at Cruden Bay in northeastern Scotland. The 4th at Cruden provides some great drama with a gigantic false front, false right, and 14 foot grass bunker wall behind. Enjoy the video:
Lovely how the moon rose over the course. Yes, we raked the bunker when we were done…
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