Is Grounding Your Beer in a Water Hazard a Penalty?

Written by: Tony Korologos | Friday, April 17th, 2015
Categories: Boneheads • Golf Videos • LPGA Tour • Miscellaneous

Golf is hard. Watching golf drunk is even harder.

Is grounding your beer in a water hazard a penalty?

Vision ProSoft Golf Ball Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, April 16th, 2015
Categories: Golf Balls • Golf Equipment • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: Vision Golf Balls

I recently learned a new lesson: don’t judge a golf ball by its cover. Typically I can tell if I will like a golf ball by simply feeling the cover. I can feel if the cover is soft and tacky, and if I can dig a fingernail into it a bit I know I’ll usually like it. When the Vision ProSoft golf balls came in for review they almost went to the giveaway pile because the cover didn’t feel soft. Almost.

The covers on the ProSoft are not as tacky or soft feeling to the hand, but then again you don’t hit golf balls with your hands. I’m glad I gave these a shot, so to speak. This is definitely a ball worth taking a closer look at.

Down Under

Vision Golf Balls are originally from Australia. They’re fairly new to North America. They make all sorts of highly visible balls in a few different colors, thus the “vision” name.

Construction

Typical “tour” balls, the higher-end balls with more spin, have urethane covers. The cover on this ball is what Vision calls “durathane.” As in durable. I have a ball which has gone 45 holes and it looks like new, so yes these are very durable.

The core or center of the ball uses similar technology found in golf clubs, perimeter weighting. Moving the weight more toward the outside of the ball and away from the center reduces driver spin and increases distance.

The dimple pattern of the ball provides aerodynamic qualities to the flight, carry, dispersion, and helps with distance.

Hands On

I’ve felt no drop in performance after switching from a large brand’s best “tour” ball to the Vision ProSoft. I’ve gained a ball that lasts longer as the durability of the ProSoft is remarkable.

I love the feel of this ball off of about every club in the bag, putter included. The ball compresses well on the driver, providing some great feedback. You know when it is launched. Chipping and pitching the ProSoft around the greens is nice as well.

This ball is as long as any I’ve played. Last Sunday I had a record 400 yard drive on the par-4 10th hole at Valley View with the ProSoft… Pin high in one. Yes, the ground was hard and the shot was slightly downhill, but still. 400 is 400 no matter how you slice it. No I’m not that long. No I don’t hit them 400 every time. My average is 289.

One last and cool thing: The logo and numbers on this ball are large in size and unique color/style. This ball is very easy to identify, even from a distance. “Mine’s the long one in the middle of the fairway, Bob.”

Can Vision Compete?

This ball is more durable than any tour quality ball I can think of, and the performance is not compromised as is usual with more durable golf balls. Performance-wise this ball can compete with or beat any performance ball from Titleist, Bridgestone, Srixon, Callaway or TaylorMade.

Whether the company can compete for shelf space in an already flooded golf ball market is unknown. I hope they can. At $39.99 a dozen their price point might be a little too high for regular golfers to be willing to take that chance.

Today is National Golf Day, But I Will Not Be Golfing

Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, April 15th, 2015
Categories: Golf

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas… this morning's commute. pic.twitter.com/iuIhWR8vUj

— Tony Korologos (@TheGolfSpace) April 15, 2015

Mizuno Golf MP-T5 5610 Wedge Review

Written by: Tony Korologos | Tuesday, April 14th, 2015
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Golf For Women • Golf Gear • Reviews
Tags: golf wedge • Mizuno • Mizuno Golf • Sand Wedge

I’ve started the first sentence of this review then deleted it several times, trying to find a witty way saying I have a new gamer 56 degree (sand) wedge. I don’t want to sound like every hack golf writer/blogger who has a new gamer every week. You know the ones: “this is the best (insert golf club here) I’ve ever hit!” Then next week they write a review about another one and say the same thing. My previous 56 degree wedge has been in my bag since 2006. Yes TWO THOUSAND AND SIX. That’s nine years for those of you counting at home. What’s even more remarkable is the number of wedges which have had the opportunity to dethrone it. I’ll be doing a WITG piece on those who didn’t make the cut soon: “what’s in the garage?”

So what is the new wedge which has been able to take a position in my bag that at least a dozen others have not been able to achieve? It is the new Mizuno MP-T5 5610. The 56 in 5610 is the number of degrees. The 10 in 5610 represents the degrees of bounce on the sole of the club.

Mizuno Golf MP-T5 5610 Wedge – click to zoom

Specs

The MP-T5 wedges are “grain flow forged.” Forging is the most popular process for higher end clubs, and clubs which have more feel to them. The other process is casting, which in my opinion produces clubs which have no feel, or basically feel the same on every shot. The metal used in the forging of this wedge is 1025 E pure select mild carbon steel. This is a soft steel, if there is such a thing. The softness gives the player control and feel.

The grooves in the MP-T5 are “quad cut,” milled out of the face with a CNC milling machine. This produces a lot of surface area on the face, giving the wedge more biting power and therefore more control via more spin.

Mizuno provides all sorts of options when they custom build the wedge for their players (at no extra charge I might add). There are 25 loft/bounce options for every possible swing style and condition.

Mizuno offers a True Temper Dynamic Gold “Wedge” flex shaft as its stock option and that’s the shaft in my test unit. There are roughly 15 other custom shaft options available.

Looks

This wedge combines a white satin finish with some great artwork and a very classy shape. The white satin to me is more of a matte-silver finish, which I really like. No distracting glare from the sun.

Mizuno MP-T5 Wedge

I don’t have the Black Ion Steel unit so I cant speak much about it, other than it looks fantastic.

Feel

I would never switch out a sand wedge which has been in my bag for NINE years to one which doesn’t have great feel. I adjusted to the wonderful feel of this wedge much quicker than I thought I would. I can tell exactly where I’ve made contact on the club face via the club’s “feedback” sound and feel.

On the Course

If you’re looking for computerized Iron Byron testing results with a TrackMan and exact spin rates, launch angles… check another site. My reviews are all hands-on, on the course. I can’t help wondering when that Iron Byron guy will finally find the right club for his perfect swing anyway. I don’t hit it perfect every time, and neither does anyone else, except Iron Byron.

Technical stuff and looks aside, the on-the-course performance is the most important factor. The first shot I hit, and no I didn’t bother hitting the range first, was a thrill. I was 96 yards from a front pin on the 10th hole at my home course Bonneville. The green is elevated (the right green for those of you who know the course) and anything short is in long rough. Oddly, this particular green has no fringe.

My shot hit right next to the pin, dead on line. It bounced a few feet past and spun back to about two feet. I made the ticklish birdie putt. I have hit many similar triumphant shots with the MP-T5 wedge. I find my accuracy around 100-110 is quite good.

Check out the milling on the face…

The real game changer for me (and “game changer” is a phrase that I really don’t like using) is in chipping. I’ve been using my 60 degree wedge for chipping around the greens, but thought I would try this 56 instead. The contact I’m getting is so much better. I think the added bounce is making a big difference as my 60 is very low bounce. The chipping has been much improved. Not great, but much improved. I’ll still use the lob for flops.

Finally, in the sand I’ve had some great results. My previous 56 was very good out of the sand and I wasn’t sure I’d ever find another wedge as good. The jury is still out as I haven’t hit enough green-side bunkers to really know, but so far so good.

Conclusion

The $129.99 retail Mizuno MP-T5 5610 is a fantastic sand wedge. Whether I’m hitting full shots from 100-110, sand shots, or chipping around the green, it performs as good or better than any other 56 I’ve tried. And I’ve tried more than a few. Just look in my garage.

First Look: TaylorMade Golf Project (a) Golf Balls

Written by: Tony Korologos | Monday, April 13th, 2015
Categories: Golf Balls • Golf Equipment • Golf For Women • Golf Gear
Tags: Golf Balls • TaylorMade

Man do I have a lot of golf balls to review! I may do another “HOG Golf Ball Week” soon to cover them all. The latest in the large and growing golf ball review queue is the TaylorMade Project (a).

TaylorMade Project (a) Golf Ball

I’ve been hearing about these TaylorMade Project (a) golf balls. The (a) is for amateur, which is the target player for this ball. Just how they do that I have yet to discover, but my guesses would first be a lower compression and more spin around the greens.

I’ll be putting these into play soon and doing a full compliment of test rounds before my review. Stay tuned.

Regarding the photo above: I swear I almost have as much fun capturing cool images of golf equipment as I do playing it…

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