Ever lose your focus or have an energy crash on the back nine? DriveForce, a newly formed sports nutrition company specializing in creating functional health products, is proud to introduce DF-18 – a premium pre-round performance blend that sustains a golfer’s focus, hydration, and stamina for hours while playing golf. The innovative powdered formula, available in single-serving packets, contains no added sugar or caffeine, but rather a multitude of health promoting ingredients designed to be mixed with a bottle of water and consumed before a round.
Old Trapper has been a staple in my golf bag for a while. I like to eat something when playing golf to maintain energy and replenish lost nutrients, and on hot summer days in Florida you sweat a lot, so the salty, low fat, protein filled beef sticks and jerky from Old Trapper are the perfect snack to keep you going strong. Beef jerky is a great golf course snack also because it’s not messy, keeps for a long time and comes in a resealable package you can stuff in your golf bag. Give Old Trapper a try! I believe they make the best store-bought jerky you can get. I get the variety packs on Amazon to save money and get it faster with Prime.
I have had my Flightscope MEVO for a few years and use it all the time on the range to see how newer clubs stack up against older ones, and to see how much club head speed I’ve lost over the years from getting old and fat. All kidding aside, a Flightscope MEVO or MEVO+ is an invaluable tool to get much of the same launch data you get from the super expensive versions you see out on the tour and professional fitting studios, without the huge price tag. The MEVO+ adds a golf simulator feature for indoor use and measures even more data parameters for serious golf enthusiasts and club fitters. Check out their website now for holiday specials, or get the MEVO+ on Amazon here!
There probably isn’t one piece of golf gear that I use more than my Perfect Practice Putting Mat. I use it almost every day, rolling putts, trying different putters, stances and grips, searching for the right combination that will help me make more putts and shoot lower scores. The alignment lines are hugely helpful and ensure I’m aiming properly, and rolling putts on the mat helps build muscle memory. For $139.98 on Amazon you can’t really get better value for a golf training aid.
The Big Max Blade IP is simply the best manual push cart on the market today in my opinion. The Austrian company doesn’t skimp on quality, and the Blade IP is built like a tank, but the clever engineering allows it to fold up nice and flat for easy storage. The process to open and close the Blade IP takes only a few seconds, and the Quick Fix mounting points allow the attachment of and easy access to popular accessories like a rangefinder, smartphone, umbrella and more. Priced at $349, the Big Max Golf Blade IP isn’t the cheapest push cart on the market, but I think the value is there for a solid trolley that won’t let you down.
The Precision Pro R1 rangefinder is the next step in smart rangefinder technology. By pairing to your phone via Bluetooth and the Precision Pro App, the R1 can access real time weather data to tell you wind strength and direction, access GPS distances and a new feature called MySlope that combines a player’s unique ball data with environmental variables. like launch angle, spin rate, altitude, ball speed, temperature & humidity to provide more accurate information to the golfer. Perhaps the best feature you hope to never use, the app also helps you locate your rangefinder if it ever gets lost. Combine all this technology for around $300 and you have a winning combination!
Bushnell’s Wingman speaker has been a smash hit since its introduction a few years ago. A powerful magnet allows it to be attached to any metal surface, like the supports on a golf cart, push cart, even in your garage. It’s also a great tailgate option because of the powerful sound and compact size. The Bushnell app lets you play around with some snarky voice-to-text and get GPS distances spoken through the speaker at the push of a button. It’s quite simply the perfect multipurpose Bluetooth speaker on the market.
Handheld percussion massagers have become all the rage lately and there are dozens out there on sites like Amazon, but it’s hard to tell which are quality made and which are cheap knockoffs. PowerPlate’s Mini+ massage gun is one of the good ones! It weighs just under 1 pound and is very portable. It’s easy to bring it to the gym, golf course or even the office. I use one to greatly reduce warm up time at the golf course by massaging my shoulders and arms to increase blood flow and get my body ready to play. I also use it after playing to speed recovery and relieve pain and soreness. AT $179. it’s also one of the more affordable massage guns out there.
Look, when your company is called Ballsy, you are expected to make products that have provocative names. Men’s grooming products don’t have to be taken so seriously, right? With taglines like “We’ve got your sack” and “Keep your jewels jolly” clearly they’re not taking themselves too seriously. But they do take their cleaning products seriously. From head to toe they’ve got men covered with products like Ballwash (shower gel), Nut Rub (solid cologne), Sack Spray (deodorant spray) and Ball Balm (soothing cream). Having tested their products on my own [clears throat] jewels, I can say they have a winning collection! Take a look for yourselves and save 20% with the special promo code on their website!
2020 hasn’t been the best year for humans so far, with the COVID-19 pandemic throwing our daily lives into a tailspin. Fortunately, summer is almost here and golf is starting to get going again. Let’s face it – The golf course is arguably a safer place than a grocery store these days! In the US, over 97% of golf courses are open, so it’s time to get ready for summer and grab some of the hottest accessories available.
For years Bushnell has made some of the very best laser rangefinders in golf, and the new Pro XE rangefinder is no exception. Packed with cool features and innovative technology, Bushnell’s flagship Pro XE model (pictured above) includes Slope with Elements which adds temperature and barometric pressure to the slope technology to provide accurate, compensated distances. The BITE magnetic cart mount is a welcome new feature as well. Available direct at bushnellgolf.com
Like it or not, playing music on the golf course is here to stay. Streaming music services and bluetooth speakers are everywhere, so it’s only logical that the casual weekend golfer would want to play music on the course while they play. I’m not interested in talking about the why, but the how. To that end, the hottest new speaker for golf is the Bushnell Wingman. Not only does it sound great, but it has a powerful magnetic mount and a built-in GPS remote that speaks front, middle & back distances from over 36,000 courses worldwide using the Bushnell Golf App on your phone. Available direct from bushnellgolf.com.
Launch Monitors – Most of the world’s best players have them, why don’t you? Well, for starters they cost as much as a nice car. Until now that is. Flightscope has taken some of their industry leading Doppler radar technology and shrunk it down to a pocket-sized personal launch monitor that everyone can afford. The Flightscope MEVO costs only $499 and measures 8 performance data parameters like carry distance, club head speed, smash factor, apex height, flight time, ball speed, spin rate and launch angle. I use mine all the time. It’s invaluable for testing clubs and measuring my swing performance. https://www.flightscopemevo.com/
If you watch the pros play on TV, you’ll notice they are always looking at their yardage books, especially around the greens. For years they have had access to professional green books that detail all the slopes, humps and bumps on the greens of the course they are playing. Wouldn’t it be nice to have access to that kind of information for your home course? Now you can! One of the leading golf GPS apps – GolfLogix – is now taking their industry leading digital Putt Breaks technology and offering it in highly detailed, full color green books complete with heat maps. More than 14,000 courses have already been detailed, with more to come! To check for your home course, just go here: https://store.golflogix.com/
I don’t know about you, but I struggle with ball mark repair tools. I love the switchblade style, but I can’t seem to keep them in good working order. For some reason they are always breaking. I use this style of divot repair tool because it won’t poke me in the leg or tear a hole in my shorts, but the spring loaded mechanism never lasts very long. But now there’s Tanto USA with their overengineered divot tools! Their stainless steel bladed, titanium powder coated tools are heavy and solid, like an expensive pocket knife. I’m looking forward to many years of repairing ball marks with this tool. To get yours, just visit: https://www.tantousa.com/
Tattoo Golf has been one of my favorite golf apparel brands for years. You may not have heard of them until now, but you’ll be glad you did. Their youthful designs are colorful and fun, and the modern technical fabrics perform well even in the humidity of a hot Florida summer. While many of their designs feature a variation of their ubiquitous skull and “crossclubs” logo, you can also get golf shirts with cool Hawaiian style floral patterns. They make shirts, shorts, pants, hats and accessories for men and women and run frequent sales through their website where you can save up to 20% or more. Check them out today at https://www.tattoogolf.com/
While some of us have used golf as a form of therapy through all this COVID-19 business, in an effort to practice social distancing many golf courses have adopted a single rider per cart policy or encouraged walking the course. The physiological benefits of walking on the golf course are well known and cannot be understated, so it’s no surprise that the golf push cart market has blown up recently! For those that demand quality craftsmanship in a classic design with some modern engineering and materials, Walker Trolley’s Cape Model premium golf push cart might be right what the doctor ordered. Made with anodized aluminum, waxed canvas and and leather, Walker Trolleys have built a sturdy, functional push cart that seems to be imported from a bygone era where walking was the only option. To get one of your own, pre-orders are being accepted now: https://walkertrolleys.com/products/walker-trolley
These days, walking nine or 18 holes may be the safest way to enjoy a round of golf. It’s a good thing we can still burn some calories in the process. Walker Trolleys recently introduced its new Cape Model pushcart available for pre-order with delivery targeted for spring.
The engineering behind Walker Trolleys’ pushcarts is sophisticated, belying its outwardly streamlined, minimalist appearance. However, the mission is simple: make walking golf cool, again.
“The game is so pure when you’re walking, you take the time to really see the golf course from tee to green and appreciate the architecture and strategy behind it,” says Walker Trolleys founder and CEO Brad Payne. “And then there’s the health and wellness aspect. Walking with a push cart can burn up to 1,000 calories over 18 holes and lead to better scores versus carrying.”
Payne, formerly with Apple, debuted Walker Trolleys at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida, back in January. Through social media and word-of-mouth, he, his wife Julie and principal designer Bryce Gibson generated enough buzz to catch Golf Channel’s attention.
The Walker Trolley was featured on the channel’s popular “Morning Drive” as one of the PGA Show’s best products of opening day. Media and PGA Professionals in attendance were duly impressed with the push cart’s high-end look and feel.
This is not your typical push cart. They use premium materials – including aluminum, waxed canvas and handcrafted leather – to create a unique and elegant appearance that wouldn’t be out of place on the great links courses of Scotland during the time of Old and Young Tom Morris.
A convenient one-fold handle makes collapsing and unfolding the trolley easier than any other push cart on the market. The patent pending central hub enables the handle and legs to bend on two separate axes, allowing for a compact fold.
The storage unit, made of water-resistant waxed canvas, provides an endless number of ways for golfers to customize their trolley, and the company is working with a well-known soft goods company to realize these designs.
Payne says a non-folding line of Walker Trolleys made with the same materials will be offered directly to courses, clubs and resorts as a rental option. The push carts nest for easy and quick storage in units and premium soft good options can be customized with logos and other branding elements.
Walker Trolleys Cape model will be available this spring, and a limited number of push carts will be available for preorder for $399 at www.walkertrolleys.com.
I won’t get into the debate on economics of golf cart rentals and health benefits of walking, but it’s estimated that roughly 70% of golf rounds in the USA are played in golf carts, and that number seems to be growing. Part of the reason is that many courses are forcing people to rent a cart when they play. This is simply a way to generate more revenue and is the unfortunate reality of golf in places like Florida where I live. But walking is not dead!
If you prefer to walk when you play golf, then Sun Mountain is a company you’ll probably be familiar with. The innovators from Missoula, Montana make some of the best stand & carry bags, push carts and related accessories available anywhere. Why wouldn’t they? They only invented the stand bag back in 1986… A great example of this innovation is present in the new 4.5 LS carry bag and the Micro-Cart GT push cart.
The Sun Mountain 4.5 LS stand/carry bag has one of the best combinations of features and light weight I’ve seen in a carry bag. It’s one of the bigger bags in their line and has room for everything you’ll need to walk 18. It has eight pockets (one of which is a full length pocket for clothes or rain gear), several accessory pockets including a water resistant pocket and a velour-lined pocket for valuables. The carry straps are very well cushioned and adjustable for a perfect fit. The 4.5 LS is also golf cart friendly, because they understand that even walkers sometimes ride. For example, the bag has a cart strap pass through to allow for unhindered access to the pockets on a cart, and the bottom is designed to fit on a golf cart without popping the legs out like many carry bags do.
The 4.5 LS has a nine inch opening and an 4-way divider system for easy access to your clubs. You won’t have issues with 3 other clubs coming up when you try to retrieve your 8-iron like on some other bags. There is also a 14-way model available for those who prefer each club to have its own individual slot, and yet another model with an adjustable waist strap to help take the load off your shoulders when walking.
The Sun Mountain 4.5 LS stand/carry bag has all the aforementioned features, yet still comes in at a scant 4.5 pounds.
Designed to work perfectly with Sun Mountain’s stand bags, the Micro-Cart GT is a light weight, easy to deploy and very stable push cart. Coming in at just under 17 pounds and folding up to a compact 27″ x 17″ x 13″ the Micro-Cart GT is easy to fit in the trunk of almost any car. The redesigned upper bag bracket is shaped to accept stand bags, and this model includes plenty of storage space for a scorecard, tees, balls rangefinders and more.
The four wheel design is something new for me, but the lower profile and extra wheel make the cart much more stable than standard 3-wheeled carts. The extendable front axle expands the wheelbase by an extra 2 inches for even more stability and helps accommodate larger golf bags. I upgraded to the Sun Mountain Micro-Cart GT from my first generation Clic Gear cart and love the extra space and stability. I can push around a huge, heavy staff bag on this thing, but paired with the lightweight Sun Mountain 4.5 LS carry bag it’s a breeze to walk the course.
Suggested retail price for the 4.5 LS stand bag is $209.99 and the MSRP for the Micro-Cart GT is $199.99. I love the combination of these two products to deliver a walking setup that is both light weight and has plenty of useful features and storage room when walking the course. Now, if I could only find a course down here that will let me walk…