Windage Wind Tester
Written by: Tony Korologos | Sunday, July 29th, 2007
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Categories: Golf Accessories • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Have you ever thought there might be a better way to test the wind than throwing grass in the air or licking your finger and sticking it up in the air? If so, the Windage golf wind tester may be your answer.
The Windage essentially a small squeezable golf ball shaped device which shoots dust into the air. The dust looks like baby powder and I’m guessing that is what you’d refill it with.
On The Course
I tried it. It seemed to work OK. You can squeeze it too hard and shoot out a thick stream of the powder. You need to do a quick short squeeze for it to work best.
It’s a lot of work to go through, grabbing the Windage off your golf bag or out of a pocket of your bag when all you need to do is reach down and grab some grass to test the wind.
Conclusion
The Windage works and it’s kind of fun playing with it. Just don’t do it when your face is down wind! I don’t think it is going to replace throwing grass in the air for me though.
The Windage wind tester would be a good father’s day gift or corporate goody bag gift.
To watch a video of the Windage in action, click here.
The Windage is only $5.99 at Edwin Watts Golf.
Natalie Gulbis gets her first win
Congrats to Natalie Gulbis.
I think it’s cool that Natalie has a win now since winning the Evian Masters in a playoff over Jang Jeong. She birdied the first playoff hole for the win.
Hey you gotta market yourself and make money however you see fit, but now she’s no longer just a bikini model who plays on the LPGA Tour.
Wie
Oh, and “prodigy” Michelle Wie, after making the cut went 84-76 on the weekend to finish. She finished tied for 69th place at 16-over. I have some amazing stats on her which I’ll be posting soon. Yes I love Wie bashing.
17 year old “prodigy” female golfer breaks par. zzzzz
Would you believe that a 17 year old golfer who hasn’t broken par in roughly a year, gets to play on the LPGA Tour AND the PGA Tour? It amazes me. That “prodigy” (at least that’s what Fox Sports calls her) just broke par for the first time in her last 24 rounds at the Evian Masters.
“I’m very happy. That’s my first round under par this year. It’s a bit of a breakthrough.”
Pardon me, but breaking par is a breakthrough for hacks like me who shoot in the mid to low 70’s and fire an occasional 71. Breaking par for the “female version of Tiger Woods,” or “prodigy,” or “phenom” should be old hat.
Can we stop with the idiotic descriptions like this until said prodigy wins something? A game of tic-tac-toe perhaps?
GEL Putter Review
Written by: Tony Korologos | Thursday, July 26th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
I’m constantly amazed at the quality of equipment coming out these days from relatively smaller companies than the Titleists and TaylorMades of the world. GEL is no different. GEL is short for “Groove Equipment Limited” and they’re makers of a current offering of six different putter models. This review is of the GEL “Emerald” model putter.
GEL Emerald
The Emerald is a face-balanced putter. It is essentially a blade putter with a heavy, centered back weight section. It really looks like a cross between a blade and a mallet due to the back weight section.
Technology
The Emerald is a little heavier than standard putters at 400g. The extra weight and balancing help you produce a smooth stroke. It’s hard to jerk the putter back too fast and start the down-stroke too fast. These are places where you can really get off line. The weight and balance improves the MOI (moment of inertia), helping keep the putter on line as well, preventing pulls and pushes.
Like all of the GEL putters, The Emerald has an aluminum face insert with milled grooves. The grooves of the insert impart a spin on the putts which help the ball start rolling better, much better than a putter which doesn’t have them. Putters without these grooves often start the ball out more airborne and the ball skids along the ground for a while before starting to roll. Skidding like this can make it harder to get your putt distances dialed in and can even cause issues with line as the ball is skidding and not rolling on the line of the break.
Looks & Feel
The first time I stroked the Emerald (as I do with most putters), I wanted to see if the putter “wanted” to travel on the target line and stay square to the line. The Emerald really does.
The nice, soft Winn grip allows me to grip the club light yet firm and I get a very good feel of the stroke and the contact.
The contact you make with a ball feels extremely soft. The aluminum insert produces a feel like no other. I feel like I can sense how long the ball is on the putter face and I swear I can feel the ball “mushing” into the face. It sort of feels like putting an old balata ball and a soft insert. This feel is the same no matter if you’re hitting a two-piece rock distance ball, or a performance ball with a soft cover.
The black nickel finish of the Emerald is very aesthetically pleasing. There’s no glare from the Sun when putting. The back weight section gives me a great visual of the line and the stroke path. The arrows give a subconscious influence on the stroke line as well.
If you’re a golf apparel yuppie like some these days, you can have a matching hat with the same color scheme as the putter, head cover and grip!
Head Cover
The head cover is magnetic seal. I prefer magnetic head covers over Velcro because Velcro wears out and gets shabby looking over time.
The head cover doesn’t quite cover the putter enough for my taste. The corners of the blade are still exposed, which could result in dinging of the putter when putting it in your bag. With a putter this nice, I want it (and my other clubs for that matter) protected.
On The Course
The first putt I had was about a 50 foot eagle putt on my first hole. Though I didn’t drain that bomb, I left myself with a tap-in one-footer uphill. I hadn’t made one putt on the course or the practice green with the Emerald, I just put it in play (baptism by fire) and had a great feel for the distance immediately. On the next hole I needed to drain a dainty downhill right-to-left breaking 12 footer to save par. Draino.
The Emerald loves to stay on line and I’m deadly with this thing, especially on 10-20 foot putts. Just yesterday my pal Dave said “I wish I could do that” when I drained about a 15 footer for a sand save.
After each putt I still can’t believe the soft feel the aluminum insert produces. I really like that feel.
Critiques
My main critique of the Emerald is the head cover. It needs to cover the corners of the blade better.
Conclusion
I think I can make anything under 25 feet with the GEL Emerald putter. All my putts look like they’re going to go in. It’s great to have that kind of confidence in the flat stick.
The wonderful feel and roll the aluminum insert produces gives you great feedback and results.
For more images, click here for the Hooked On Golf Blog GEL Photo Gallery.
Fat Bastard Driver
Written by: Tony Korologos | Wednesday, July 25th, 2007
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Categories: Golf Clubs • Golf Equipment • Reviews
Fat Bastard
No this isn’t a commentary on my physical condition. This is a review of the Fat Bastard Driver…
Illegal? 500cc’s baby! So what?
Yes this driver is illegal. It’s a mammoth 500cc’s. Hitting this thing for a while makes my regular 460cc drivers look like 3-woods.
Why would someone want to play an illegal club?
To hit the ball farther. To have a larger sweet spot. To enjoy the game more. Because it has a funny name, good for the 19th hole. And NOT to play in any tournaments. The majority of amateur golfers don’t play in tournaments. So Fat Bastard is saying “Forget the rules. Tee up a Fat Bastard and have fun.”
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