Nexbelt Men’s Golf Belt
After a few weeks of successfully not having my shorts fall down, I’m ready for my Nexbelt review. Yes, reviewing golf gear can be very challenging at times.
Nexbelt Overview
Nexbelt makes dozens of belts for golf and other applications, for both men and women. Many styles and sizes are offered, including customization. I’d really like to get a customized HOG belt. I’ll work on that for another review.
Ratchet System
Nexbelts are unique in that they use a ratchet system to tighten and secure the belt, rather than the old style holed belts. Therefore their belts look nicer without holes which can wear and look shabby over time.
Because of the same ratchet system, the belts are sold as one size and cut down by the wearer to a custom fit. Since the teeth of the ratchet are so much closer together than the sizing holes of a regular belt, the tightness can be adjusted easily. For me this is great. I like to loosen my belt when sitting at the office writing golf blog posts, and perhaps have it set to a medium or stronger tightness on the golf course. A couple of ticks of the ratchet make that size tweaking easy. This simply cannot be done with a standard belt.
Custom fitting by Nexbelt
On The Course
The golf specific belts are very cool. I have a great looking green belt and the lovely bride has a white women’s version.
Along with the benefits of a stylish looking belt which is perfectly fitted for my ever changing waistline, is a neat James Bond 007 feature. The buckle doubles as a hidden door which opens from top to bottom. Hidden inside is a golf ball marker which is held in place magnetically. The ladies’ version of this setup includes a ball marker with plenty of bling. So cool.
Bling ball marker inside hidden door (women’s version)
Conclusion
Nexbelts’ golf belts are stylish, perfectly fitted to each individual, and have a neat hidden door with ball marker inside. Best of all, they keep my shorts from falling down, like a good belt should.
Related Links
HOG Nexbelt photo gallery.
Nexbelt website.
The other day my lovely wife told me to get a grip. I one-upped her and got 13 of them, the Golf Pride CP2 Wraps to be exact…
My gamer set grip setup was a total hack job done by my local pro shop. I’d given them a set of grips to install and they ruined most of them. So they put a hodge podge of random grips on my clubs. Yes I shouldn’t have put up with that, but they did it for free. I guess you get what you pay for. I finally now have the same grips across the set, barring the putter, the CP2 Wraps.
Golf Pride CP2 Wrap
CP2 Wrap Overview
The CP2 Wrap is a tacky grip engineered for comfort, control, and performance. Inside the grip is Golf Pride’s “Control Core” technology, which stabilizes and reduces torque.
The taper of the grip is designed to result in even grip pressure in both hands, very important for accuracy and power.
Sizes
The CP2 Wrap is available in standard (my choice), Midsize, and Jumbo.
Golf Pride CP2 Wrap
On The Course
I changed out my grips exactly one week before a local amateur tournament which is the biggest and most important to me, the Salt Lake City Amateur. Would that be a wise move?
During my 4 pre-tournament rounds I found the grips to be a tad harder than what I’m used to and what I prefer, though Golf Pride’s description for them touts softness. I got used to the difference quickly though, and it has not been an issue since.
The tackiness of the grips is fantastic. There’s almost no chance of any slippage. With a solid connection to the club the power of the swing, feel, and control are all at peak performance.
By the time the tournament came around, I was not thinking about the grips at all. They’d just become part of the tools I’d need for getting the job done, and boy did they ever. After the first round I was tied for 3rd in my flight. I hit many solid drives and irons, fully benefiting from the control the grips provided.
Conditions on the 2nd day were tough for all and despite thinking I could have played better, I climbed up a spot to finish the two-day event tied for 2nd place. That’s the best finish I’ve ever had in the event which means so much to me. The grips were certainly a key component, along with the clubs, ball, and of course keeping my spastic swing under control.
Conclusion
Grips are the player’s connection to the golf club. Great grips help promote great distance control, increased power, better accuracy, and better scores.
The Golf Pride CP2 Wrap was a big part of my best-ever performance in the tournament which is most important to me, and the highest payout in prize money I’ve ever collected.
Bonneville 12th Green
Coming into the 2nd and final round of the Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake City Amateur tournament I was in a tie for 3rd place in my flight with a fairly solid first round score. I was three shots behind the leader. The only bad mistake in that round was a triple-bogey from one bad swing on the tough 485 yard par-4 18th hole, my 9th hole of the day.
The 2nd round proved to be much more difficult on several levels. First, the pins were tucked in extremely tough places. Getting approach shots close enough for good shots at birdie putts was very hard. I did manage two birdies, half my birdie total of the first round. I had 2-3 other good birdie chances inside 10 feet, but the subtle breaks around the holes and insane speed of the greens made those tough.
After the par-5 5th hole in the 2nd round, I was even par on the day. On the tee of the par-3 6th a rather unexpected hosel-rocket came off my 7-iron. Can’t believe it, but I shanked one. Right of that elevated tee is basically forest. I knew there was no way I wanted to find that ball because if I did, I’d have to play it. I had to re-tee and hope for a double-bogey five at worst. I hit the green and nearly made a great four, but logged the first double of the day. Still no problem, only +2 on the round.
From that point I was quite jittery. My nerves were getting to me. It is hard to explain what it is like. Imagine the feeling of drinking about 10 shots of espresso and how you’d have a high heart rate and trouble breathing. That’s what the nerves are like. I had some squirrely shots here and there, but also managed to recover and still putt well. On the 11th tee I hit one of those nervous squirrelly shots, pulling my hybrid to the treeline left. The ball was on grass but I had no swing. I had to bunt it to the fairway. From there I then missed the green from 125 and ended up carding the second double bogey of the day. Two bad swings at the wrong places where there’s no way to recover from them.
I played as tough as I could, trying not to leak too much oil. I did make a great birdie putt on the par-5 12th, an up-then-down looping putt of about 18 feet.
I had a birdie chance on the par-3 17th, but got too aggressive with the attempt. On these lightning fast greens that aggression left me with a tricky six-footer to save par which I missed. That was my first and only 3-putt of the tournament.
At the end of my round I felt like I kept it together somewhat, hoping I had not shot myself out of the money. I was disappointed in those unforced errors which resulted in two doubles. But I was apparently not the only one who struggled in the final round. Nearly all the players who were in contention in my flight after the first round except one, shot a higher score in the second round. Somehow my “disappointing” round moved me up one spot on the leaderboard! I moved from T3 to T2 with one other player. I finished three shots behind the champion.
Before the 2014 Salt Lake City Amateur Tournament started I would have been thrilled to finish in a tie for 2nd place in my flight. Part of me is thrilled at my highest finish and highest tournament payout ever. At only three shots behind the winner I can’t help but kick myself for the three really bad swings I made over the 36 holes. Those three swings accounted for seven wasted shots. If I don’t make those mistakes, I’m not tied for second.. If I don’t make those mistakes, I win the damn thing by four shots.
I’m probably being tough on myself. Out of 60 players in my flight, only one shot a better score than I did.
It is nice to be close. I’m happy about the final results. Hope to learn from the experience. I can’t wait for next year and my chance to clean up those loose shots and maybe even claim a victory.
I’m quite happy with my first round of the 2014 Salt Lake City Amateur, in moderate to strong winds. I had one bad hole, my 9th (the 485 yard par-4 18th hole as my group started on the back nine). Pulled my tee shot into trees and never found it. Made bogey on the provisional ball for a triple-bogey 7. Right after that though I reached the par-5 first with an iron and two-putted for a birdie. Then made birdie on the short par-4 2nd. Four birdies, four bogeys, one triple, 75. In A-Flight, my flight, I’m sitting at T3. One player shot 72 and a couple others shot 74. Here’s my crazy scorecard. Notice the four hole stretch of birdie, triple, birdie, birdie.
My first round scorecard…
The course conditioning at Bonneville Golf Club is fantastic. The greens are amazingly fast and smooth, just the way I like them. The putter responded. Not only did I make four birdies, but some of those pars included some solid par saves, like hole 8 from about 15 feet.
Before today’s round I need to go to the practice green and work on some chips that cost me strokes. The rough is very deep and thick. Two of my bogeys were a result of chips from that that thick stuff which did not even make the green! Thick.
Feeling good. Can’t wait for today’s round two in 2.5 hours.
Time for my yearly golf blogging about competing in the best amateur tournament in Utah, the Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake City Amateur. The tournament is a two day, 36-hole event at one of my home courses called Bonneville. Bonneville is well known for some of the best quality greens in Utah, which can take some serious reading skills and touch.
Bonneville Golf Course as captured by my aerial photo/video drone
What makes this tournament so great? It is very well put together and the golf course is always set up brilliantly, like Utah’s version of the U.S. Open. Perhaps best of all, this is a gross-only event within flights. The flights are very small and tight, with the maximum handicap of the tournament being a 10. If you are a 16 handicap and want to compete, you can, but you come in as a 10 and play gross only. This setup completely eliminates sandbaggers or as I prefer to call them, cheaters.
This tournament is very important to me, and I spend the whole spring shaking off winter rust and trying to get my game in good enough shape to be competitive.
For a long time my goal in the RCK was to simply break into the money, meaning play well enough to win some prize money. That’s was when I was playing in the scratch flight against the best players in the state, including college scholarship players. I’m a decent amateur player at times, but my best round ever is a 68. I’m not going to beat the college players who will shoot two 67’s and hit their drivers 100 yards past me.
My handicap has gone up one point in the last couple of years, enough for me to move to the A flight in the tournament. That’s sort of good and bad. It is bad because I’m no longer in Champ flight, but good because I’m in the A flight (handicap 3-6) and can definitely make money if I play two okay rounds. The last couple of years I’ve managed well on the ledger.
Expectations?
This year is a strange one coming into this event. I normally hold myself to high expectations at this time, and that can add pressure to my psyche. This year I’m not doing that to myself. At this point in the season my driving is as good as it has been in years. Somehow I’ve gained some serious distance without losing any accuracy. I’m hitting it 20 yards longer than last year. After switching back to my Hogan irons I feel like my ball striking is much better as well. This spring I’ve added a fantastic Cobra hybrid to the bag which makes long shots of 220-250 much easier. A new 3-wood is also in play which is great (review soon). The short game has been improving and I’ve been practicing it quite a bit. All those positives lead me to feel good about my game at this point, but the scores on the scorecard don’t reflect it. That’s the kicker. Despite feeling good and solid ball striking, the lower scores and birdies haven’t shown up yet. That’s why I won’t pressure myself with high expectations.
Perhaps the birdies and lower scores will make their debut 2014 appearance this weekend.
« Previous
1
…
253
254
255
256
257
…
1,163
Next »
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
