When playing a Miura iron, there’s a unique buttery smooth feel on contact, a vibration free tactile sensation akin to the churned milk spread both literally and in the classic SNL Coffee Talk sketch catchall sense.
Well, Vice Golf, has got the antidote. In collaboration with solo sobriquet
artist “Hektor” has created a limited edition set of golf balls, with caricatures of the key players in the competition drawn on them. So even if you miss a phenomenal Neymar header, bendy Messi rocket that hits nothing but mesh, or small and lovely deek move by Shakira’s boyfriend Gerard Piqué, you can compress your clubface against their mugs off the tee. Feel free to yell an overlong “Goooooaaaaaaal” after your par putts drain to keep the football vibe going during your round. The word on his inspiration from the artist who ever cheeky Vice Golf claims is a fox describes himself as a keen fan of Schalke 04, a Bundesliga team who won the UEFA Europa cup in 1997. "I simply cannot ignore a soccer world championship. For this reason I have designed an exclusive collection of golfballs. Having been raised in Bottrop-Kirchhellen, Postwegmoore – in the direct vicinity of Golf Club Schwarze Heide – I have developed a deep attachment to those small, pearl white balls – how fondly I remember the times when we used to steal golf balls from the fairway as fox kits!” Get them fast, Vice has capped the run on the SELEÇÃO series at 500 dozen. If insects played interspecies golf, betting on the praying mantis in the field would be a sound strategy. Tasked with a par-5 their powerful lunch snaring front legs could deliver a monster drive and if other bugs started to show them up on the leaderboard the Mantis could easily paralyze them with a quick neck nibble and get away with it too. Officials wouldn’t even see the infraction thanks to a Mantis’ innate camouflage ability.
What does this flight of fancy have to do with a new putter? Surprisingly plenty. The design element that sets Mantis apart is the fact that it is grass blade green which forces golfers to keep their eye on the ball and not their putter, a common performance hampering faux pas that leads to more three-putts. Think about it, when is the last time you heard a golf pro say, “keep your eye on the club?” With Mantis your putter blends into the turf and your eyes key onto the ball. Over the years we’ve seen white putters, gold putters, and even a red putter but whereas these color flourishes were flashy sartorial choices with Mantis the colour is the concept. The putter blends into the background putting the spotlight on the ball. After spending a couple hours getting to the know the Mantis ‘B’ on the putting green I found that my visual acuity was sharpened increasing my accuracy and lessening my miss distance from the hole on longer putts. Putter aficionados feeling a tingling sense of déjà vu may recall Nike’s green foray a few years back with their IC flat stick. But the Swooshters opted for a much more muted shade so the invisibility effect was less pronounced. When it’s a little nippy outside balls don’t perform up to snuff. Golf spheres’ equivalent of shrinkage is yardage loss and for scratch studs that can be just as embarrassing.
What’s that red golf cart accessory that could double as a dangerous weapon in the hands of a skilled ninja? It’s Puma’s Soundchuck new bluetooth speaker for new school golfers who prefer swing music to cricket chirping silence.
Puma’s pro stable standouts Dick F Dick Fowler P.I. (AKA. Rickie), Lexi Thompson, and Jonas Blixt apparently now pump tunes while they practice. The water-resistant portable speakers have magnets making it easy to clip’em onto your golf bag or whatever else you’re toting. The rechargeable battery has six hours of playback and you can take and answer calls on the built-in mic if you want to yodel into your chuck. Spent some time testing out Innnovations Golf's ClearBlade putter. Check out my review or click below for the video version. Sure, on-course sartorial choices can make a statement but a golfer’s swagger is often personified by their head cover choice. You can stay serious by sticking with factory club-snugglers or you can let your freak flag fly just a hair by finding one that will keeps your clubs just as comfy and protected but speaks to you on a deeper level than a yawn inducing TaylorMade or Adams standard. Fred (pictured) fit my 460cc head driver like a champ and also helped me hone my aim game on the practice green subbing in for a drab flag.
Vancouver’s Creative covers for golf can transform pictures into a plush custom golf cover anything from Arby’s curly fries to a pink shankopotomus. They also have a slew of widely known licenses, everything from Kiss and Alice Cooper to the Flintstones and Scooby-Doo. Check out Creativecoversforgolf.com to scope out their lineup. Spent some time testing out Bombtech Golf's dual cavity driver. Check out my AmongMen.com review for the whole spiel on this green shafted monster! Any golfer who has ever suffered the embarrassment of slipping and winding up on their posterior, knows that the relationship between balance and ball striking is key. Smart Body Golf’s line of exercise gear is aimed at improving your equilibrium by increasing your flexibility and body stability from the beginning of your backswing through your follow through. The performance pack includes center cut leverage discs built to optimize swing footwork, a handled exercise ball targeting rotational speed and Inside 80, a resistance training system for increasing flexibility and synchronization in your golf swing.
Katsuhiro Miura, the meticulous master metal shaper, has been hand-forging golf clubs for over fifty years in his factory Himeji Japan. The city is renowned for exquisite craftsmanship, it’s where katanas—the blades samurai warriors wielded centuries back and also Uma Thurman’s weapon of choice during her revenge rampage in the Kill Bill flicks—were pounded from hot steel into swords. Himeji’s renowned forging legacy lingers thanks to Miura’s proprietary 14-step process that each of his vaunted irons must painstakingly go through till the clubs are good to go. The ball striking nirvana of hitting a Miura has often been described as velvety smooth because of the vibration free sensation of swinging one of his creations as Jose Maria Olazabal and Retief Goosen who toted Miura irons in their bag during major championship victories can attest. K.J. Choi’s also a firm believer. We waxed philosophical with Mirua-san about everything from wabi-sabi to living up to his sky high “Hands of God” nickname.
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Mike Dojc
When Mike isn't repairing impossibly large divots or alphabetizing his impressive ball marker collection, he’s slinging copy for a diverse range of editorial and corporate entities. Clients have included Nike, AAA, Maxim, Esquire.com, Metro, Inside Fitness, Sharp, Huffington Post + tons more. Reach Mike at dojcster@gmail.com Archives
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