Ah look at the incredible beauty of the white spheroid below. Tremendous.
Majestic…
The ball above was personalized by my new best friends at GolfBalls.com. GolfBalls.com sells golf balls of course, and also offers full color customization on them as well. In addition to golf balls, they also sell golf clubs, apparel, shoes, bags, accessories, and team logo merchandise. Many of their products can be personalized.
The basic process for creating a customized golf ball could not be much easier. Simply pick the ball you want to customize, upload an image or create the text you want imprinted on it, pay. Within a very short time your custom golf balls arrive.
The following golf ball brands can be personalized by GolfBalls.com:
Ben Hogan
Bridgestone
Callaway Golf
Chromax
Golfballs.com
Nike
Pinnacle
Precept
Rife
Saintnine
Srixon
TABASCO Brand
TaylorMade
Titleist
U.S. Kids
V Golf
Vice
Volvik
Wilson
Wilson Staff
Final Thoughts
Christmas is coming up. A great Christmas golf gift for the hard-to-shop-for golfer on your list would be a box of custom printed golf balls. Slap your favorite golfer’s logo, photo, or favorite saying on a dozen balls and the golfer on your list will forever be thankful. That joy will spread to other golfers as well, when they find your golfer’s lost custom balls in the bushes!
Monsta Golf Balls
Boy am I thrilled to be able to play golf without wincing in pain on every shot. Eight days ago I got a cortisone shot on the right tennis elbow. Yesterday marked the first pain-free round I’ve had in 1.5 months.
Finally I had the chance to begin testing the new Monsta Golf balls, another premium golf ball offering from a small manufacturer. This one can certainly compete with the big boys in terms of feel, performance, and durability.
I had intended to take a snap of the Monsta ball I played with yesterday, but now I can’t find the damn thing! I played 18 holes with it, then lost it in my garage! You’ll have to take my word for it. The ball has almost NO sign of wear from 73 shots. Ok sure, I don’t typically scuff golf balls with my putter, but you get the point.
More testing to go before I can post my review but initial results and impressions are that this is a great golf ball. My +1 score of 73 would back that opinion up nicely.
By popular demand I’m posting the official “what’s in the bag” for my 2014 club championship at Sandy, Utah’s splendid River Oaks Golf Club. It took me a while to get the photo because I needed it to be “official,” thus having the Golf WRX watermark on it. The photogs at WRX are so busy shooting every golf club and golf bag on the planet and putting their watermarks on them, that it took me a while to get this photo. As you can see, this photo is true and authentic since it has that WRX watermark. Enough about high end photography and on to the meat of this journalistic brilliance.
I’m very happy to have won the 2014 club championship at River Oaks. I’ve been a member of the club for many years and won my first championship there in 2005. This year’s championship seemed to fall in my lap as the field was narrowed down to a few left standing, and I managed to outscore the closest competitor by 13 shots. Yes, 13 shots. In the land of bogeys, the par man is king.
WITB – Tony Korologos 2014 River Oaks Club Champion
Let’s take a look at the winning sticks and the other crucial script items…
Driver: Cobra Amp Cell
3-Metal: Tour Edge Exotics XCG7 Beta
Hybrid: 19 degree Cobra Baffler XL
Irons (4-PW): Hogan Apex Edge Pro, circa 2002
Shafts: KBS Tour 90
52 and 56 degree wedges: Eidolon V-Sole
60 degree lob wedge: Vokey Spin Milled
Putter: Dornoch Putters Bird Dog 1, handmade in Scotland by Grant MacKay
Bag: Nike Sport Lite
Ball: Bridgestone B330
Head Cover: Sumi-G with custom Black Mesa Golf Club embroidered logo
GPS: Golf Buddy VS4 talking golf watch GPS
Laser Rangefinder: Callaway (Nikon)
Club Brush: Frogger BrushPro
Golf Accessory Accessory: Snap Hookz
Golf Polo: Bobby Jones XH20 Aero
Golf Shorts: Tattoo Golf shorts
Golf Socks: Kentwool Tour
Golf Shoes: FootJoy DNA
Underwear: Dunning
Cigar: Gurkha Centurian
Green repair tool: Champ Flix
Toothpaste: Crest with mint sparkles
Aftershave: Clubman
Hat: Pukkha custom Hooked on Golf Blog/The Golf Space hat
Glove: Don’t wear a glove, but for the sweaty shots it was the Asher skull glove (RIP James)
Tee: Tornado Tee
Grips: Golf Pride CP2
Sunglasses: Under Armour Phenom Sunglasses
Rain Jacket: Nike Hyperadapt Storm-FIT
Push Cart: Sun Mountain Micro Cart Sport
Ball marking device: Tin Cup Utah Utes stencil
Beer: Slammin Sam Snead Premium Lager
Spikes: Champ Scorpion Stinger
Travel bag: Sun Mountain ClubGlider Journey
Belt: Switch Belt rubber custom
Towel: Frogger Amphibian
Backup Bag
Driver: Bombtech Golf Grenade
3-Fairway: Nike VR-S
Hybrid: Bobby Jones
Irons: Bridgestone J40 Dual Pocket Cavity
Wedges: SCOR, Miura
Putter: Ping Scottsdale ZB S
Bag: Datrek Go-Lite
Ball: 3UP
Shoes: Ecco Golf Shoes
Belt: Sumi-G
Tee: Champ Zarma Fly Tee
THE BALL
Lately there are small golf ball companies popping up which compete directly with the big boys. One great example is THE BALL.
THE BALL is a new golf ball which can be found at www.ineedtheball.com. This golf ball stands toe-to-toe with any premium golf ball on the market with regards to distance and short game control.
Technology
THE BALL is a three piece (three layer) golf ball. Each layer features materials and properties which contribute to the ball’s performance.
The core is the first layer. The core is the largest layer, in the center of the ball. This layer contains Tungsten, chemical element 74, a hard steel-gray metal. The core is primarily responsible for the distance and compression of the ball.
Layer two is the mantle layer. The mantle layer construction promotes high initial velocity (ball speed) and a low launch angle with lower spin. The low launch angle and lower spin promote longer distance off the driver.
The outer layer is known as the cover. The cover of THE BALL is made from cast urethane, the same material found on the cover of 90% of the premium golf balls on the market. The cover is responsible for the spin of the ball and the control it has in the short game.
THE BALL – Layers
There are 318 dimples on the cover of the ball. The dimples promote lift and help the ball carry farther and straighter.
Specs
Driver spin is 2745 revolutions per minute (RPM), lower than the leading brand (they say “leading brand.” I’d guess they mean the Titleist ProV1), which his 3022. Lower driver spin is good.
Carry for THE BALL is 266 yards compared to 263.
Carry + Rollout for THE BALL is 277 compared to 272 for the leading brand.
Short game spin with the ball is 7410 RPM’s compared to 7500.
On The Course
Specs and techie stuff aside, how is this ball on the course, where performance really counts? I’ve played every premium ball known to man and this ball has no weaknesses compared to any of them. In fact, it outshines many premium brands for my game in the distance department.
Two weeks ago (before it snowed) I played a couple of rounds in some very cold and wet conditions. We’re talking low 40’s and even upper 30’s toward the end of the round. In these cold conditions golf balls go much shorter as the ball does not compress easily. That was not the case for me and THE BALL. In fact, I was pleasantly amazed that I was out-driving my regular distances by 20 to even 40 yards!
Case in point was the 468 yard 2nd hole at my home course, the toughest hole on the course. Normally my drives end up around the 200 yard marker, give or take 10 yards. My yearly average approach is about 275. With a nice solid drive I found THE BALL way up the fairway at the 160 mark. Ding ding ding! Winner. Much more fun to hit 8-iron into a green than a 4-iron.
The Ball – click to zoom
300+ yard drive in the cold? I couldn’t believe it. But by the time the round was done, I believed it. Same case on the 15th hole, the hardest hole on the back. Normally once again I’m looking at a 5-6 iron approach on this tough hole. Instead, I was at the 150 marker debating a 9 or 8-iron.
Distance isn’t the only strong point of THE BALL. I found the feel to be fantastic around the greens, even for my very mediocre short game. I had nice control on short shots inside 100 yards and especially chipping and pitching. THE BALL feels great off the putter too, easy to control distance.
Conclusion
At a retail price of $34.99, THE BALL clocks in at $10-20 less than premium brand name golf balls.
THE BALL is golf’s equivalent to a car that costs as much as a Honda, but outperforms a Porsche.
Little Tikes Golf Set
Having blogged about golf since before people knew what blogs were, and having reviewed 100’s of different golf clubs, I have to say this review was one of the funnest. I have never encountered such a great minimalistic set of clubs which was also so useful and versatile, until now. Testing out the clubs has been great. Working on the review along side my one-year-old Seve was fabulous. Let’s take a look at the Little Tikes Golf Set.
Little Tikes Golf Set Overview
The Little Tikes Golf Set is a beginner’s set of clubs which comes complete with an iron, putter, putting green, three balls, golf hole and even a tee. Though the set is designed for beginners, even low single digit handicappers like myself can benefit from the forgiveness, feel and versatility of these clubs.
Iron
The Little Tikes iron is groundbreaking. This is two clubs in one, at least. There is a club face on each side of the head, meaning the club could be played right or left-handed. From a business perspective this is great. The manufacturer doesn’t need to spend a bunch of money and time building two sets of irons, right and left-handed. From a player perspective the versatility is great. Think of all those times you’ve had to turn over your 7-iron to hit a backward shot. No need now.
Iron plays both ways…
The control I have with the iron is great. I’m able to produce low or high shots and working the ball either direction is a breeze.
Putter
Like a Bull’s Eye putter, the Little Tikes is a straight blade which can be played right or left-handed. The shorter shaft is great. It helps me get set properly with my eyes over the ball. I can really see the line well in that position, mostly because my face is about 18 inches from the ground.
Putter at address…
The way this putter rolls the rock is fantastic. The ball rolls true, even on shag carpet.
The feel of this putter is like butter while the audible feedback the putter produces helps with feel and confidence.
Balls
The golf balls included with the Little Tikes give the Titleist ProV1 a run for its money. These are two layer balls but they feel so soft you’d think they were a 3-5 layer.
The core of the ball is made up primarily of oxygen (since it is hollow), which helps increase distance with the long clubs but still gives a soft feel in the short game. The hollow core also helps increase the golf ball’s “moment of inertia” or MOI. This helps the ball fly truer and straighter. The dimple pattern helps give the ball lift while reducing side-spin and increasing accuracy.
Despite having such great distance, the ball produces a TON of backspin with the iron. When hitting full iron shots from the TV room to the guest room, I’ve actually backed it up several times. It is like having Phil Micklespin. I do find that I need to be careful. Sometimes I can produce too much backspin and the ball sucks away from the target. 3/4 shots work well, or I’ll just fly it past the pin and suck it back.
Green
The included green and tee with the Little Tikes Golf Set provides a nice practice area which is also portable. That portability comes in handy when taking Seve to grandpa’s house or moving the course from the TV room to his bedroom.
Tee
The tee, built into the green, is a bit high for my taste. I find sometimes I pop up my shots. Seve doesn’t have a problem with the tee height though. He’s able to tee it high and let it fly.
Little Tikes Golf Set
Critiques
In my reviews I try to play devil’s advocate and point out some areas which could be improved.
As I mentioned above, the tee is a little high for me. An adjustable tee would be great.
I have found the durability of the balls to be a little on the soft side. After a few solid short iron shots I can see areas in the golf ball’s cover which are showing signs of wear. I do realize though, that in order to produce such high spin and short game performance, the cover needs to be soft. It is a tradeoff and I’m fine with giving up a little durablity for performance.
Conclusion
If you’re shopping for a beginner golf set, and I mean BEGINNER, the Little Tikes Golf Set is a great option. The clubs and balls are solid offerings which are very versatile and work for righties or lefties, or little kids who we’re not exactly sure which one they are.
Related Links
Check out the Hooked On Golf Blog Little Tikes Golf Set photo album.
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