I’m now testing out the new Bushnell Phantom GPS Rangefinder for my full review here at Hooked on Golf Blog. I reviewed its predecessor, the Bushnell NEO a couple of years ago.
My first round of testing the Phantom was today, with great results already. I just have to get used to the very powerful magnet on the device. More on that later. Here are a few teaser shots of the Phantom, in action and in retail packaging.
Phantom showing yardages to center, front, back.
Below is the retail packaging.
And here’s the course list which pops up when you power the unit up and hit the play golf button. My course was automatically selected.
Below shows a little accuracy test. Within two yards either way works for me.
I’ll be posting my review after I have a a fair amount of rounds in the books, but so far I’m digging the Bushnell Phantom GPS. I can already tell this would make a great golf Father’s Day gift.
Related
Bushnell NEO Ghost Pocket Golf GPS Review
2017 Golf Accessory Product of the Year – Bushnell Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder
Bushnell Golf Pro X2 Laser Rangefinder Review
I’ve had some requests for advise for the best courses to pick in the Phoenix/Scottsdale Arizona area for a golf buddy trip. I thought this would be a fun topic, and I plan on doing a few others too, like Nevada, Michigan, Oregon, Utah and so on. For now here are the Hooked on Golf Blog Phoenix/Scottsdale Golf Buddy trip recommendations below. Arizona is a great golf destination with great weather nearly all year round. If you can handle the very high summer temperatures, golf can be very inexpensive.
Troon North
Troon North features two courses, the Monument course by Tom Weiskopf and Jay Morrish, and the Pinnacle Course by Tom Weiskopf. The Monument is rated the #1 public golf course in Arizona. Both courses epitomize Arizona/desert target golf. The Pinnacle course is rated the 3rd best course in Arizona.
Here’s a shot below of the Pinnacle course from the last time the HOG World Tour visited:
Troon North Pinnacle Course – Click for more images
Grayhawk
Grayhawk also boasts 36 holes of fantastic Arizona desert golf in the Talon and Raptor courses. The Raptor course was designed by famed golf architect Tom Fazio and features large fairways and highly undulating greens. The errant approaches at the Raptor are often met by deep bunkering. The Talon Course was designed by David Graham and Gary Pranks. The Talon is ranked as one of the “Top 100 in You Can Play U.S.” Tee shots are very challenging at the Talon, especially in the back nine which features many holes in box canyons.
Grayhawk Talon Course
Grayhawk is also known as Phil Mickelson’s home course in Arizona.
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club
We-Ko-Pa Golf Club offers 36 holes of highly popular and challenging Arizona golf in the Cholla and Saguaro courses. We-Ko-Pa is located on Indian land and the natural terrain is the foreground to views of the area’s mountains in the distance. No homes on the courses.
Cholla is designed by Scott Miller and provides a tough test with narrow fairways and thick desert to eat up errant shots. The Saguaro is the newest course, designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore. “Crenshaw and Coore” are two of the top modern golf architects whose style tremendously routes their courses through natural, rugged styling.
Boulders Golf Resort
The Boulders Golf Resort offers fantastic golf and resort accommodations, renowned as one of the best in the U.S.A. Boulders features 36 holes of golf, the North Course and South Course.
The North Course was designed by Jay Morish and features dramatic panoramas as it winds through huge boulder formations. The South Course, also Jay Morrish, is slightly more challenging than the North. The South requires more accuracy off the tee and better course management.
Quintero Golf Club
Quintero is a par-72 Rees Jones design roughly a 45 minute drive from Scottsdale. Rees Jones is the son of one of golf’s all-time greatest golf architects, Robert Trent Jones.
Quintero 9th Hole
Quintero is a mountainside course featuring challenging and scenic elevation changes. The fairways are generous but strategic bunker placement puts a premium on accuracy.
Final Thoughts
Golf in Phoenix/Arizona is some of the funnest, most challenging, and certainly most scenic golf in the U.S.A. Desert target golf is extremely fun. Check here for great Arizona Golf Packages.
Did you know Zero Friction makes golf products other than their Zero Friction golf tees?
Below is one of the Zero Friction Supertubes. This is a very cool package with three golf balls, a hand full of matching Zero Friction tees, and a glove.
Another golf ball offering from Zero Friction is the Spectra golf ball. It is a two-piece distance ball which comes in six cool colors. They make a 4-pack which also includes a ZFTMAXX tee. Below is the matte white version, which has a very interesting look.
These fun golf packs make some interesting golf gift ideas for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays, Christmas and so on.
In for review is the new Cobra Golf King F8 driver. I’ve been watching all the great press this driver has been receiving, perhaps more than any other driver in 2018. Here are a few teaser pics.
The F8 is features an adjustable hosel for loft and face angle, as well as moveable weights for manipulating the center of gravity to promote draw, neutral, high trajectories. See below, where mine is set for 10.5 degrees of loft.
The F8 also includes Cobra Connect by Arccos, a shot tracking system. Below you can see the sensor in the end of the grip.
But perhaps the most talked about feature in the F8 is the milled face. See below.
Image tweaked to accentuate the face milling…
I’m excited to begin testing the King F8 this week. I will post my full review mostly likely toward the end of June, 2018. I won’t post any review before its time.
Stay tuned.
Back in June of 2014 I reviewed the Bombtech Golf Grenade Driver. It became my gamer driver until my dad confiscated it from me and refused to give it back after trying it. At 82, he’s still killing that driver and it even has a stiff shaft. Four years later I’ve now gotten my hands on the 2nd iteration of the Grenade, the Grenade2. I’ve got the Grenade2 Driver as part of a current combo on the Bombtech website which includes a free 3-wood. Let’s take a look at the Grenade2 Driver. Pull the pin.
Grenade2 Driver
While the first version of the driver is an excellent driver, version 2 improves in the area of weighting and aerodynamics.
The Grenade2 driver features a dual cavity design in the club head. This design shifts the weighting to the center and perimeter, and helps with aerodynamics, reducing drag. The more deeper and lower the center of gravity is, the better the driver can launch the ball with lower spin.
The hitting area of the club face is very large, which helps on those “off” center shots. Let’s face it. Every club out there will produce a great result if the impact point is in the sweet spot. It’s how good the club performs on non-sweet spot shots is more important for most golfers, myself included.
Specs
The face material is Ti-1188 hardened titanium. The head weighs in at 199 grams. The head is 450cc’s, 10cc’s lower than the maximum allowed by golf’s governing bodies.
The lie is 59* while the face of the club is closed 1 degree. One degree closed is typical of most drivers for amateurs. Length: 45.75 inches.
No, the head is not adjustable.
The shaft is a custom Grenade branded model with a mid kick point and a mid-high launch. My shaft of choice is stiff.
The grip is a custom grip with a grenade on the end of the handle.
Head Cover
The zippered head cover is nice, with some great graphics. Here is the head cover combo:
3-wood and Grenade2 driver with covers
3-Wood
This review is primarily the Grenade2 driver, but I will mention the 3-wood here since I got it as part of the special combo. The 3-wood matches the driver with the dual cavity. The look and style are also right in line with the driver. It’s a solid 3-wood!
Grenade 3-wood
On The Course
I’ve been testing the Grenade2 Driver for about six weeks now at 3+ rounds and 2-3 range sessions per week. I was surprised at how easily I could hit the Grenade2, from the first ball I hit. The club sets up nice visually and despite the fact that I had a 9 degree, it didn’t look too steep or unforgiving.
I was worried about not hitting the Grenade2 high enough, but that concern ended with the first couple of shots. It did take me a while to figure out ball position, probably due to the shaft more than the club head. Because of the kick and launch angle, I found that I had to tee the ball up fairly low. I thought with a 9 I’d have to tee it higher. Even with the 9 teed lower, I still launch it as high or higher than my previous 10.5 degree driver.
The sound and feel off the face is terrific, and it produces a very lively and hot feel with high ball speed. The ball explodes off the face while the feedback through feel and sound is rewarding.
Off-center shots still go very far and are not too far off line.
Final Thoughts
The performance of the Grenade2 driver equals or betters big brand name drivers and does it at 50%-60% of the cost. Did I mention that includes a free 3-wood? Pull the pin. BOOM!
« Previous
1
…
59
60
61
62
63
…
1,163
Next »
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
