For any golfer who wants to play great golf
Review
Golf Course Review: Richter Park Golf Course
Jun 14th
Richter Park is nestled in the hills of Danbury, CT. It is within driving distance of New York City, but more likely played by the residents of Danbury, Fairfield County, and Westchester County. A 6,744 yard layout from the back blue tees, Richter Park is not a monster in terms of length. It is however, 6700 yards of great golf. As the course winds around the hills it’s laid out on, elevation changes make club selection a somewhat tricky task. Combine that with lightning fast, undulated greens (sometimes severely) and you get a fair but solid test of golf. The slope of 133 seems low, as the course can certainly play more difficult than that.
Driving up Aunt Hack road toward the course, you pass the 9th hole on your right, then head into the parking lot. The modest restaurant/bar and pro shop building set a welcome that can lull you into a sense of calm. You’ll need that calm for the course as it it can quickly punish or reward you. The course does lack a driving range which is it’s biggest drawback, as you need to have your A game if you want to score well here. The practice putting green does however begin to prepare you for the test ahead. It is fast and runs pretty close to the greens on the course. It lacks many of the severe undulations you’ll face but you can at least get a sense of the speeds. Richter Park has some of the fastest greens I’ve played in any public course Connecticut. It’s not unusual to have your putt end off the green if you’re unlucky enough to leave yourself a speedy downhill putt. On this course it is a must to leave your approach shots below the hole.
Review: Tifosi Golf Sunglasses
May 17th
I needed to get a new pair of golf sunglasses. I was looking for stylish frames with lenses that perform. I also wanted to be able to wear them away from the golf course and still look good. I found a pair I liked at my local golf shop and decided to purchase them.
I bought the Tifosi Ventoux in the gunmetal color. These sunglasses come with a hard case, a soft case and 3 sets of interchangeable lenses. The hard case was important to me as I might keep them in the golf bag and didn’t want them to break. The hard case is nice and light, but still sturdy enough to give me peace of mind that they won’t break while in there.
The sunglasses came with 3 interchangeable lenses: The GT (golf and tennis) lens, the EC (extreme contrast) and the AC (All Conditions Red). So far I’ve only worn them with the golf and tennis lenses but I am quite impressed with the quality of the lenses and the frame.
I wear these sunglasses all the time playing golf, even when it’s not as bright. They cut down on the glare and really help me saw the ball better off the club face and in the air. The enhanced contrast is great for reading greens.
A must read: “Straight down the middle” by Josh Karp
May 5th
Like many golfers I have my library of golf books. I’ve split my library into instructional books, mental game, and other. Although this book falls into the category of other, I relate to its message because Josh’s journey through golf, in many ways, chronicles my journey.
It is amazing how golf connects to and reminds of every day life. I know people who will play golf with potential business partners to see how they handle themselves on the course, as it is often a reflection of how they deal with adversity in life.
But the journey of improving your golf game can also have an impact on improving your life in general. My life has changed as a result of playing golf. I’m reminded of a quote “Whoever said golf and life are similar was wrong. Golf is harder.”
Josh’s journey in which he learns to stop worrying and love his swing is a journey filled with ups and downs, meeting fascinating people, and making connections to things that on the surface seem unrelated to golf. But Zen and other disciplines have many similarities. For me I always understood Zen to be about letting go. It was about letting your body do what it does, instead of trying to control it with your conscious mind. After all, a warrior who has to control his muscles consciously won’t last very long. He will quickly be defeated by a foe with flow.
Review: Georgia Peach (Augusta National) golf course for Dancin’ Dogg Optishot
Apr 8th
Well the Masters coverage seems to be everywhere. It kicks off the official Golf season for most of the country and it should be a very exciting event.
Most of us will never get a chance to play at Augusta National. I heard a story that President Bill Clinton was in Augusta, GA one time, and decided he wanted to play the course. So he drove out there, and somehow got on, but he quickly taken off the course and he wasn’t allowed to finish. I don’t know if this story is true, but I do know that it’s near impossible to get on the course to play it. That and Cypress Point are probably two courses that golfers dream of playing due to their exclusivity and history. I’ve personally dreamed of playing it every since I started to play golf.
Well, if you can’t play it for real, at least you can play it virtually. The first Premium course for the Dancin’ Dogg golf simulator (read my review here), Georgia Peach has been released. It is a faithful (as far as I can tell, since I’ve never been there) reproduction of Augusta National. So now you can play the course from the back tees and play your own Masters tournament with up to 3 friends.
The course looks beautiful. Below are some screen shots. It is a full reproduction with all 18 holes and it is a joy to play.
Review: Penta TP Golf Ball
Mar 19th
Today I had the chance to play the Penta TP. I bought two sleeves and headed out to meet some friends at Great River Golf Club in Milford, CT.
The Penta has 5 layers (thus the name), and each layer is supposed to make the ball react properly.
Layer 1: Feel
This layer is the urethane cover for high spin from shots of 100 and in. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Divot Mat
Mar 8th
The DivotMat is an excellent practice/training aid. It identifies your impact characteristics in a unique way for indoor or outdoor use.
The Divot Mat consists of a few key pieces. 1) The Divot Mat Sheets, 2) The Divot Pad (Lie Board), 3) The Divot Mat, a soft mat on which to put the Divot Pad including velcro strips to fasten it securely to the mat, 4) 2 DVDs with instructional information.
The Divot Mat sheets have 9 golf balls printed on them that serve as the focal point for your shot. When you swing and hit the mat, your club leaves a trail mark on the Divot Mat. This trail shows where the club first hit the mat, how long the divot is, and the direction of the divot. These 3 things enable you to see whether you are hitting the ball fat, thin or just right, and whether you have an inside-out swing, outside-in, or straight swing path. Read the rest of this entry »
Review: Thumb Caddy – stop regripping the club
Feb 19th
The Thumb Caddy is a clever golf training aid. It’s main purpose is to help players stop regripping the golf club. I know that I have been guilty of this in the past.
I’m not sure what causes the regrip, but I think in my case it was a quest for more distance. I think that when I regripped, I felt like I could come into the ball faster. What it created though was uncertainty and inconsistency. How in the world can you hit the ball consistently if you’re changing your grip midway through the swing?
The thumb caddy is easy enough to slip on to the club. You open it slightly and get the club into it near the hosel where the shaft is narrow. You then slide it up toward and onto the grip.
Using it simple. The thumb on your upper hand goes into the Thumb Caddy and stays there nice and secure throughout your swing. If you’re used to regripping, the sensation of having your thumb stay in the same place will feel a little strange. Because your hands are your connection to the golf club, regripping mid swing can have major consequences on the flight of the ball and the consistency of your shots.
Review: Project X Graphite Driver Shaft
Feb 16th
The Project X Graphite shaft is designed to provide lower spin, longer carry and a laser guided trajectory.
I got a chance to review this because I won a Project X shaft in a twitter contest that the company had. Once I won the contest, I needed to pick out which version I wanted sent to me.
I talked to a few friends in golf, asked their opinions, than headed out to the driving range at Sterling Farms Golf Course. They have a beautiful trackman setup in their Callaway Fitting center. I would highly recommend going there if you are near Stamford, CT.
I tried the 6.5 shaft in a number of heads and noticed a few things.
Review: Dura Launcher Practice System
Feb 7th
Hitting golf ball at your local range can be a frustrating experience. Most ranges do not have adjustable height tees, and the ones that do offer it, may have other issues with the tees. Typically in order to switch from hitting driver to you have to manually remove the tee, go find a smaller one and install it. The driver tee may be at a different height than you are used to, and the fairway tee may be too high as well. In short, you can’t hit balls off the tee at the height that you do on the course.
The Dura Launcher Practice System addresses this problem. It consists of 2 pieces, a rubber base and a special tee. The rubber base is designed to go into any golf mat as it is a standard size. I have tested it on the Country Club Elite Mat as well as the Birdie Turf Mat. It provides an adjustable height tee.
Adjusting the height of the tee is as simple as pulling up on it, or pushing down on it. What could be simpler?
In practice it works very well. I was able to easily adjust the tee height. I could tee the driver high, or tee it low. I could even tee it up a little bit for iron shots too. The neat thing is that the way it’s designed, the tee won’t fly out of the base. It is a very well thought out system. Your level of adjustability though, depends on the thickness of the mat. The CCE mat is a thick mat and so it allows the tee height tee be good for an iron, up to about a medium driver. On the thinner Birdie Turf Mat it doesn’t work so well for irons or fairway woods, but it does allow for a low driver tee, up to a very high driver tee.
Review: Trackman: The Game
Feb 5th
On tour, PGA Tour players get to test equipment and practice with a trackman setup that gives them their launch conditions like club head speed, angle of attack, ballspeed etc. Imagine being able to practice like a tour pro at your local range. That and more is the promise of Trackman: The Game.
I feel that calling it Trackman: The Game, is a bit of a misnomer. It is simply a great practice tool, although one of its best applications is the multiplayer games. Above you can see my actual stats, ball flight and score for one short session of Trackman: The Game. Click on each thumbnail to open a larger image.
