Categories
GOLF

TRUE GOLF FIT by My Golf Spy Review

WHAT MY GOLF SPY CLAIMS


TRUEGolfFit is the first service in the golf industry to use a scientific compatibility matching system to find the best equipment configuration for your unique swing


We compare your swing information with our database of over 45,000 swings and 10,000,000 data points to find your TRUE Fit.


Longer. Straighter. Lower. Guaranteed.  Know the clubs that perform best for you BEFORE you buy. TRUEGolfFit the world leader in golf club fit prediction. 

DOES IT WORK?

I decided to put the My Golf Spy True Golf Fit system to the test. First of all I love the idea of taking all of the data that My Golf Spy has collected and making it relevant to the individual golfer. Unlike their Most Wanted tests that determine which clubs are best for the majority of golfers. The True Golf Fit system is designed to predict what works for you specifically.

In order for their system to determine what’s right for you. You must answer a few questions first so that their software can match you up with club testers of a similar ability. It begins with your Handicap, then your Swing Speed, then your Angle of Attack, and lastly your Swing Tempo. Based on these parameters it will match you to the two best clubs they’ve tested.

I already knew going in that their software wouldn’t work for me. In order to achieve a correct Driver fitting for a golfer like myself there’s one more question that should have been asked. WHAT IS YOUR SHOT SHAPE? If you follow me on my Cobe Life YouTube channel. You would already know that my natural shot shape is a heavy Draw. A bad shot becomes a slice. Having tested many Drivers over the last three years I already knew that anything other than a specifically Draw biased Driver wouldn’t perform as well. Even an adjustable Driver with movable weights, and a Draw biased hosel setting won’t work as well. It only costs $7 to see their results so I did it anyway.

MY RESULTS

TOP PICK BY TRUE GOLF FIT
SECOND BEST PICK BY TRUE GOLF FIT

ON TO THE SIMULATOR

In order to be totally fair about my presumptions I headed straight to my local Golf Town and had them tape up those two Drivers. I also had them tape up a couple of specifically Draw biased Drivers as well. Can you guess which Drivers consistenyly performed better for me? If you guessed the Draw biased Drivers then you would be correct.

I hit an average of 18 yards further with the Draw biased Drivers, and was an average of 14 yards closer to center with a far tighter dispersion. Something else that isn’t factored into their equation is the set up of your current gamer. Although it wouldn’t have affected my fitting process. A friend of mine tried out their True Golf Fit system as well, and it definitely affected his results.

He currently games a Callaway XR16 Driver with a Regular Flex Fujikura Speeder Evolution 565 shaft that has been cut down an inch. He routinely swings that particular Driver at around 96mph. This places him in the Medium Swing Speed category. He also generates far more Spin than he would like because he has a Downward Attack Angle. The True Fit System selected the Ping G400 LST as his number 1 choice. The idea of testing a Low Spin Driver had never occured to him before because I don’t suggest Low Spin Drivers to anyone who swings below 105mph. We were still intrigued by the idea because we figured that the Low Spin might counteract his high Spin swing, the way a Draw biased Driver counters my Fade. Well that just wasn’t the case. He was unable to swing that particular club at anything more than 92mph. At that speed the ball just falls out of the sky with the LST. He tried a few other Drivers including a Taylormade M2 and was able to swing those at 97mph quite easily.

CONCLUSION

Obviously the My Golf Spy True Golf Fit system isn’t for everyone. If you hit your drives anything but straight your results won’t be precise. If you have been professionally Fit for your current Driver than your numbers might tell an inaccurate story to the My Golf Spy True Golf Fit software. I’m hoping that over time their software will be updated and appeal to a larger number of golfers. I’m a fan of what My Golf Spy is about, and their goal to get the best equipment for you in to your bag. A lot of what I do is for that exact same reason, only I am more focused on the Beginner Golfer. For that reason the True Golf Fit system isn’t something I would suggest you put your trust in until you have a typically straight and consistently repeatable swing.

Categories
COBE LIFE CUP GOLF

Southern Ontario Amateur Golf Tour – Cobe Life Cup

An Introduction to the Cobe Life Cup.

https://youtu.be/ldcgqCTM5tY

For Players in the Southern Ontario area, and neighbouring states.
Matches are played from the Whites for men and Reds for women.
Opponents keep each others scores.

Match Play 1 vs 1 9 Hole
1 mulligan each
Higher handicap gets an additional mulligan for each 6 shots difference round up.
Tie goes to the last hole won

Stroke Play 18
1 mulligan each
Higher handicap gets an additional mulligan for each 6 shots difference round up.
Tie goes to the Player with fewer Points, then higher handicap.

Point play 18
Eagle + 3 pts, Birdie + 2 pts, Par + 1 pt Bogey 0 pts Double Bogey or worse -1 pt.
1 mulligan each
Higher handicap gets an additional mulligan for each 6 shots difference round up.
Tie goes to the Player with the most Eagles, then Birdies, then Pars. If there’s still a tie use Stroke Play Ties.

Can accommodate any number of Players. In order for an event to count at least two Registered Players must be present. Each Player can only play 1 match each week. Match results must be posted by all participants within 48 hours of completion.

Season begins May 1rst. There will be 4 Major Tournaments. Last Week of June, July, August, and September. The Tour Championship will be in October. The number of entrants may be limited by Rank.

Season Points
Each Player begins the Season with 100 points.

  • 3 points for each person you beat
  • 2 points for beating a higher ranked player
  • 1 point for beating a player with a lower handicap
  • 1 point lost for losing to a lower ranked player
  • 1 point lost for losing to a player with a higher handicap

REGISTRATION FEE

$65 per person : To Register Subscribe to this website then use the contact us page to send us your Name, Handicap, Course you play most often, and preferred contact email. If you would like to register multiple players then send us everyone’s information. Four or more registrants receive the group entry discount. You will receive a bill payable through PayPal shortly after.

Good Luck this Season!

Categories
Uncategorized

Looking forward to Cobe Life in 2019

There is much more on the way!

2018 was a great year for Cobe Life. It saw the official launch of Cobe Life on YouTube. The Cobe Life Golf page on Facebook has grown quite rapidly. Cobesports on Instagram has garnered some serious interest as well. As I’ve developed new and more advanced video and sound editing techniques, the quality of the Cobe Life videos have improved significantly. All of this has encouraged me to take on far greater projects in 2019.

For those of you that have shown increased interest in my Sports predictions, product and course reviews, and Beginner Tips you needn’t worry about losing any of that in 2019. I will continue to produce quality content that’s similar to what you’ve come to expect. What I’m most excited about, and hopefully you will be too, is the new content that’s on the way.

A few of the new additions you can expect to see in 2019 are:

  • FULL GOLF COURSE HOLE BY HOLE VIDEO AND BLOG REVIEWS
  • THE COBE LIFE CUP AMATEUR GOLF TOUR
  • THE FIRST SEASON OF THE YOUTUBE BIRDIES & BOGEYS WEB SERIES
  • THE SEASON LONG TAYLORMADE PROJECT A BALL REVIEW
  • THE SEASON LONG WEDGE VS CHIPPER CHALLENGE
  • THE GTA FISHING DAY SERIES
  • THE WEEKLY COBE LIFE SPORTS TOP 8

2019 is a pivotal year

When I made the decision to make Cobe Life my primary endeavor back in June 2017. I gave myself a 3 year window to turn it into something substantial. Now although the Cobe Life platforms have grown, they aren’t at a level that gets significant interest from sponsors or advertisers yet. It’s because of this that 2019 will also see the launch of the Cobe Life Patreon website. In order to continue to bring you the quality content you’ve come to expect I’m going to have to make some of it exclusive to my most loyal supporters. The largest project I will be undertaking this year is the Birdies & Bogeys web series. Now my plans are to make each episode free to watch on the Cobe Life YouTube channel. Outtakes, behind the scenes content, bloopers, and how each episode was made will most likely appear on the Patreon site. My top tips for each Fantasy Football week will be reserved for the Patreon site as well. I will also have special product giveaways that only Patreon supporters will qualify for. Of course the content you have already come to expect across the various platforms won’t change. In fact, with enough support through the Patreon site I’m hoping that my regular content will improve.

Categories
Uncategorized

It’s Simulator Season! Beginner’s Guide to Golf

THE GOOD

So there are some of you that believe that simulators are only good for testing the distance and spin of golf clubs.  The only time you even use a simulator is when you are at your local golf store testing to see if the newest Driver will help you hit longer off the tee.  Now for those of you that are lucky enough to live where golf can be played year round.  Well I can understand why you might not be interested in simulator play.  Although there are benefits to using one every now and then.  

I’ll begin with the obvious, which is to figure out your distances with each club.  What many beginner golfers might not realize is that it’s important to know two distances with each club.  If I were to ask you how far you hit your 7 Iron.  Your answer might be, roughly 140 yards.  What your answer should be is, I carry it about 135 yards, and average 140 yards total distance.  It’s just as important to know your carry distance.  On the course it isn’t enough to know the total distance to the Pin.  What if the total distance is 175 yards, and that’s how far you hit your 4 Hybrid.  In order to get there though you have to carry a pond that’s 165 yards to the opposite edge. Sounds doable right?  It would be except your actual carry distance with your 4 Hybrid is only 163 yards.  So unless you hit it perfect you are likely to end up in the water.  The great thing about Simulators is that they are better at measuring Carry distance than total distance.  While playing on the course it’s easy for you to figure out total distance if you use a GPS or Rangefinder.  Carry distance, not so much.

How often do you find yourself on the course with a difficult to execute shot, and decide against trying it because it could result in a lost ball, and big number on the scorecard?  Then of course you wonder later if you could have made it. Well those are exactly the type of shots you can learn to make in a simulator.  Punch shots, high flops, controlled draws or fades.  You can try them out during a simulated round of golf and see if you are able to make them.  Pretty soon shots you might have been nervous about will begin to seem relatively easy.  That confidence will then carry over on to the course.  There is nothing more important than your degree of confidence when standing over a shot.  Simulators can help give you that.

THE BAD

Is playing a round of golf in a simulator comparable to real world golf?  In a word NO.  In the real world I’m a 22 handicap.  If I actually calculated my Simulator handicap I would be about a 11 handicap.  How often do you get a perfect lie on the course, on perfectly even ground?  The correct answer is never, with the odd tee box as an exception.  Fatigue plays a role in every round of golf as well.  I would be lying if I said that I didn’t experience a bit of fatigue while playing a simulated round.  It’s nothing compared to the level of fatigue I experience over the course of a real round of golf though.  On an actual course I usually find myself clubbing up over the last few holes because I am unable to swing as hard accurately.  In a simulator I play the appropriate club all the way until the end.  

Another thing a simulator can’t recreate is weather conditions.  Now this could also be considered a bonus because nobody enjoys playing in the rain or high winds.  Sure you can simulate how it will affect ball flight, but it doesn’t affect how your swing would change if you were wet and the grips on your clubs had become slippery. 

LETS NOT FORGET FUN

The problem most golfers have with Simulators is that they instinctively compare the experience to actual golf.  What you should really be doing is seeing it as an entirely different thing.  Consider it to be more of an extremely high tech video game.  You don’t see football players complaining about the lack of realism in Madden.  Car buffs can’t wait to get a video gaming race seat to play Gran Turismo in.  Both of those examples aren’t remotely close to the level of realism golfers get to experience in a Simulator.  Maybe it’s because the current technology has come so close to feeling like the real thing that we forget that deep down it’s still just a game.  A game that fortunately for us can help us improve our ability to play the real thing.

Categories
FANTASY

Why I love Keeper Leagues – Sports Fanatics play Fantasy SF-49

Player Appreciation

I’ve been playing Fantasy Football from the very beginning of it’s development.  I always enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until the advent of Keeper Leagues that it became a true love of mine.  Being a part of a league that allows you to retain a couple players from season to season provides you with a small taste of what it feels like to be a general manager in the NFL.  How long do you continue to keep that Star Player that’s done so well for you year after year?  When is it time to let go, and grab a young hungry player with talent looking to make a name for themselves?  What if your Star Player gets hurt and misses the second half of the season?  Do you trust that he will come back healthy, or do you trade him while there’s still some Managers willing to gamble?  These are all questions that you will have to answer at some point if you are in a Keeper League.

Draft Pick Value

Another key aspect to Keeper Leagues that make them far more appealing to me is the ability to trade Draft Picks.  Each year leading up to the Fantasy Football Season you can find loads of information on the perceived Draft Value of each Player.  What you won’t find is how much each of your future Draft Picks could be worth during the Regular Season.  This makes understanding how many Star Players are about to enter the NFL at each Fantasy relevant position next Season.  It’s also important to know how many top level Fantasy Football Players there are in the League.  To make it easier to understand why I’ll provide you with an example.

Lets assume that there will be one Star rookie Running Back, and one Star rookie Wide Receiver entering the league.  Currently there are 30 Top level Fantasy Football Players in the NFL already.  There are also 2 Star Players returning from injury.  Now assume that you are in a 12 team league that allows you to keep 2 Players.  That would mean that 24 of the Top 32 projected Stars are already spoken for.  Depending on how much you trust Players returning from injury.  It would only leave a possible 10 Star Players remaining.  Once those Players have been selected the remaining Players available are Second level Players, and you estimate that there are at least 30 of them.  This means that your 2nd Round Pick has a similar value to your 3rd, and maybe even your 4th Round Pick.  It also means that the last two Picks in the first Round actually only have a 2nd or 3rd Round value to them.   

Now what does this mean to a Manager in a Keeper League?  Well if you have already secured a Playoff spot in this League, but 1 or 2 more wins will guarantee you a First Round Bye.  It might be worth it to trade your 1rst Round Pick and a Player off your bench for a 3rd Round Pick and a Star Player.  Provided you make the Final in this League your 1rst Round Pick will be one of the last two.  In other words the 11th or 12th.  This means that it’s actual value isn’t much better than a 3rd Round Pick anyways.  If you don’t trust Players returning from injury than you could get knocked out in the Semifinals, and still feel good about your trade.  It also provides you with one more option of who to keep for next Season.

Division Rivalry

It’s possible to develop rivalries in Redraft Leagues.  It’s just not the same as having Divisional  Rivalries in Keeper Leagues though.  In a Redraft League it wouldn’t bother me to make a fair trade with a Manager that defeated me last Season.  In my Keeper Leagues though I’m wary of trading a potentially dangerous Player to a Manager in my division.  I’ve actually accepted worse offers from Managers playing against my Rivals in order to hopefully provide them with a win over my divisional opponent.  If a Star Player on a Rival’s team gets injured.  I check the waiver wire to see how many decent replacement Players are available.  If there’s only 1 or 2 I’ll try to snatch them up.  That way my Rival is forced to either make a trade from a position of weakness, or accept having a very weak spot on their team.  No way I go to that extent in Redraft Leagues.

Bragging Rights

There’s nothing worse than joining a Redraft League when there are only 4 ridiculously obvious Fantasy Football studs and you unfortunately get the 5th Pick.  Ultimately when one of the Managers who were lucky enough to get a pick in the first four wins.  They can’t resist bragging about how much of a Fantasy genius they are.  Well in Keeper Leagues winning requires a lot more than luck.  Your draft position is determined by the Season before.  You had better have made the necessary moves to ensure your next Season isn’t a losing one.  That could mean trading for a fantastic young Player to fill a Keeper position for years.  It could mean trading out of the first or second Round to get more middle Round Picks in order to build a team with a lot of depth.  If you really want to be successful in a Keeper League, moves must be made.  If that’s not your thing?  By all means join a Redraft League.

Categories
FANTASY Uncategorized

54-51 Monday Night Madness – Sports Fanatics play Fantasy SF-48

Offensive Explosion

A decade of subtle changes have lead to this.  Touchbacks being brought out to the 25 yard line.  Adding rule after rule to effectively build an iron cage around quarterbacks.  Eliminating those bang-bang plays that saw safeties knock wide receivers right out of the game.  Every year the game gets a little easier for offences, and a little more difficult for defenses.  It was only a matter of time before we began to see teams make the adjustment to teams that are totally dedicated to offense.

Offense wins games, but Defense wins Championships

This was the old adage that defined NFL football.  Does it still hold true?  I’d have to say that I seriously doubt it.  We may have seen that last Defensive juggernaut to win a Superbowl with the Denver Broncos.  I expect the majority of Superbowls going forward to be offensive shootouts, or total blowouts.  My prediction goes way beyond the recent rule changes.  You have to also factor in the number of new super stadiums that have been built, or are in development.  Chances are you won’t see any more Superbowls in adverse weather conditions.  Which brings up another question.  What about all the NFL performance records?

Should new records count?

I don’t know how many times I’ve had this argument.  When people ask me who the greatest Quarterback of all time was I don’t choose Tom Brady.  They get this stunned look on their faces, and ask me why not.  There are three distinct reasons why I don’t believe that Tom Brady is the G.O.A.T.  Reason number 1: he doesn’t have the physical skills of some of the other greats.  This is the most minor of my three reasons but it does factor in.  Reason number 2: he has had the pleasure to play in not only the weakest conference, but the weakest division in that conference for a decade.  Now you might argue that this is by no means any fault of his.  Still having the luxury of knowing you will win your division every year with ease, and essentially beginning every season with 6 automatic wins helps inflate your numbers.  How many more Superbowls would some of the other great quarterbacks have if their division was a total joke?  Reason number 3: he has played in an era that has done everything save making quarterbacks completely untouchable.  This is the biggest reason of all in my opinion.  How many more years could Steve Young, Joe Montana, or John Elway have played if the league had decided to protect them as well?  In the new NFL Tom Brady is so well protected that he could play until he’s 50 if he so pleases.  Of course people will point to the rings, and his impressive numbers.  Well I’ve already covered the rings by explaining how easy his division has been, but what about the passing numbers?

The end of the workhorse Running Back

With all of the recent changes that have been made to protect Quarterbacks and Wide Receivers.  There hasn’t been any real changes to protect Running Backs.  In fact one of the most recent changes actually makes their job even harder potentially.  According to one of the new rules it is a penalty to lead with the helmet whether you are attempting to tackle the ball carrier or as the ball carrier himself.  So gone are the days where a Running Back would put his head down and plow through the line in order to get that much needed first down.  If this rule had been applied years ago.  Some of your favourite Running Backs would have had Ho-Hum careers.  Another reason workhorse backs are becoming a rare commodity is because they just aren’t needed.  Having a solid Running game was necessary before because it was one of the only ways to keep Safeties honest.  Throw the ball too often, and you were likely going to get one of your Wide Receivers killed.  Team owners new that every pass across the middle came with significant risk, so they generally invested in only one top level Wide Receiver, and a couple secondary options.  The money you saved went into a workhorse back.  Why do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t interested in making a long term deal with Le’Veon Bell?  The main reason is that this has become an increasingly pass friendly league.  As great as Le’Veon Bell is, the future of the Steelers is with Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Which brings me back to Brady’s passing numbers.  Given the state of the league, those numbers are obviously inflated as a result.  If the other great Quarterbacks were playing now they’d statistically be throwing 15 to 20% more passes.  Average that across their careers, and the numbers become far more appealing.  Every passing or receiving record that falls now should have an asterisk beside it because of how difficult those records were to set originally.

Fantasy has Won

So why did the league end up this way?  Was it the pressure they felt after concealing the inherent dangers of playing football finally came out?  Was it the increasing popularity of Fantasy Football, and it’s newfound hold on sports betting?  Was it just the fan friendly appeal of higher scoring big play games?  Most likely it was the continuous decrease in market share to the NBA that made them react.  Why do you think endzone celebrations came back.

Categories
GOLF Uncategorized

My 2018 Golf Season – Beginner’s Guide to Golf

The Year that was…

For those of you that follow my blog.  First of all Thank you.  I know it’s been a bit since my last post, and I apologize for making you wait.  Things have been a bit hectic lately.  On top of all the usual things life burdens you with, there have been a few extra issues to deal with as well as a new edition to the Cobe Life family.  Before some of you get too excited, no we didn’t have a baby.  We did however bring a puppy home.  I don’t know how many of you have raised a puppy before but for those of you that haven’t it means getting up around four times a night to take him out to do his business.  Sleep has become a distant memory.  I look like an extra on the Walking Dead these days.

So it probably wouldn’t surprise you when I say that I haven’t done anything of particular note lately.  Instead I will take this opportunity to evaluate how my season went.  What goals I managed to achieve, and where I fell short.  Plus a few moments that really stood out to me.

Why goals are important in golf

Unlike many other sports, setting goals in golf is critical to improving your game.  Having said that I’m sure a number of you are already thinking that goals are important in all sports.  Of course they are.  It’s just that in golf there are so many different aspects to the game, that without setting specific goals you won’t actually know how you are improving.  If you still think what I’m saying is nonsense.  It might help you understand what my goals were.

Average less than 2 putts per hole.

GOAL ACHIEVED!  I finished the season with an average of 1.7 putts per hole.  This is actually better than I had hoped.  Essentially what this means is that I rarely 3 putt, and quite often I require only one putt to hole out.  What it doesn’t tell you is how long my average putt was.  This brings up an important aspect of understanding your progress in Golf.  Quite a number of your statistics can be affected by other aspects of your game.  Which brings me to my next goal.

Average less than 1 chip per hole.

GOAL FAILED!  I finished the season with an average of 1.3 chips per hole.  This tells me two things.  First of all I’m not hitting too many greens on approach shots so my accuracy is off with my Irons.  Secondly if I’m forced to chip that often, and I know that my chipping ability is quite good.  Then I’m probably leaving myself a lot of easy putts.  That’s partially why my putting numbers are so good.  Which leads me to my next goal.

33% or better Green in Regulation average.

GOAL FAILED!  Verifying what I safely assumed was the case.  I didn’t hit too many greens with my approach shots this season.  My average was a paltry 13.3%.  Obviously my accuracy with my Irons needs major improvement.  Of course that might not be the only concern.  It’s possible to be deadly accurate at the Golf Range, then trouble taking aim on the course.  Hitting your targets becomes a lot more difficult when you aren’t hitting off a perfect surface.  Which brings me to my next goal.

50% or better in Fairways Hit.

GOAL ACHIEVED!  Coming into this season my fairways hit percentage was around 50%.  I was hoping to maintain that average while choosing to play more aggressively off the tee.  I finished the season with a 65.5% average.  Far better than what I had hoped for, and proof that all the practice I put in with my Driver is working.  What this also tells me is that my accuracy with my Irons are an issue because the majority of my approach shots are from the Fairway.  Which brings me to my final goal.

Lower my handicap to 18 or better.

GOAL FAILED!  I was really hoping to finish the season as a bogey golfer but unfortunately that didn’t happen.  My current handicap is 21.9.  Close but no celebratory cigar.  My handicap did go down by 7 strokes so that should be seen as a success.  More importantly I have a good understanding of what I need to work on to lower my handicap next Season.  First and foremost is my Iron accuracy.  A few trips to the Simulator practicing in closest to the pin mode should help.  With that goal in mind I should probably work on my longer putts because I should hit more greens.  In order to make my approach shots easier I should probably work on my Driver distance as well.

Possible goals for next season

Less than 1.9 putts per hole

Less than 1 chip per hole

33% or better Greens in Regulation

66% Fairways Hit

16 or better handicap

Understanding where my game is at, and what specifically needs improvement makes those goals realistic.  Most other sports aren’t like that.  For the most part you just practice in order to get better.  You don’t necessarily isolate one particular part of your game that will end up improving your overall performance.

I’m already excited for next year, and hope you continue to enjoy the journey right along with me.

 

Categories
GOLF Uncategorized

GIGAGOLF TRX Powerslot Irons – Cobe Life Ongoing Review Final

It’s been a great Season

I will get to the GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons in a moment.  First a little bit of information about my Season.

I started this golf season with high expectations.  I was looking to reduce my handicap by 9 strokes, shoot a few sub 90 Rounds, and have confidence off the Tee.  Well I have reduced my handicap by 6 strokes, shot a few Rounds in the low 90s, and consider my Driver to be one of my best weapons.

Not everything I was hoping for, but there are some very good reasons for that.  I played so many new courses this Season that going low in a Round wasn’t easy.  The majority of these new courses were of much greater difficulty than I’m used to.  My swing had gone through another change early in the Season, and coupled with new clubs in the bag that took some getting used to as well.

Which brings me to the real topic of this Post.  How do I feel about the GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons after a full Season of use?

Absolutely great!

I’ve already gone over my initial impressions of the clubs, how they have affected my performance, and how durable they have been.  Well in this Ongoing Review final post I’m going to provide you with my personal opinion based entirely on my satisfaction.

These Irons have been great.  So great that I’m hesitant to replace them in the Off Season in order to do an Ongoing Review of another set of Irons next Season.  To be honest I’ll probably stick with the GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons for at least another Season.  They have had such a positive impact on my game that switching to something else would be absolute folly.  I’ve never attacked Greens with this much confidence before.  There’s enough spring off the bottom of the face that I’m unafraid of catching the ball thin with these Irons.  The fitting adjustments that were made through the GigaGolf E-Fit system has made the amount of strain I feel throughout a Round of Golf minimal.  Plus my quality of strike has greatly improved.  Those of you that follow my Blog, Cobe Life Golf on Facebook, or Cobe Life on YouTube know full well that I’m a high handicapper.  Not all of my swings are a thing of beauty.  Some of them are downright ugly.  Plus I do make the occasional hack through deep rough, or punch out of the woods.  The True Temper steel shafts that came standard with the GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons have put up with all of it.  I’m far from gentle with my Irons, and these Irons have handled everything I’ve put them through.  Something that has really surprised me is how well the grooves have held up.  Now keep in my that I clean my clubs after every Round of golf.  I some people are guilty of only cleaning their clubs during a Round but not after.  Still the grooves on my Irons feel as sharp as the day I received them.  No wonder I keep shredding balls during a Round.

Confidence is everything

Where these Irons have made the greatest improvement in my game is in the amount of confidence they have given me when it comes to hitting a particular target.  I first noticed it on the range.  Whenever I was at the Range practicing with friends we would take turns taking aim at targets.  In previous seasons I was extremely lucky if I happened to land a ball closer than my competitors.  This Season any target from about 90 yards to 150 yards was fair game for me.  To be honest I expected to land it closest.  Even against golfers with significantly lower handicaps than I.  Of course hitting off a mat can seriously help to equalize the playing field.  On the course the confidence these GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons give me has totally changed the way I play.  Being able to confidently land within 5 yards of your target from up to 160 yards away is a huge advantage on the course.  I used to lay up short of Greens, and rely on my Wedge game to help me save par because I didn’t trust where my 7 Iron might land.   When attacking Greens with bunker protection I would have to aim a good 10 yards away from the bunker in order to feel safe.  So depending on the size of the Green that meant I would have to aim off the Green at times.  This Season with the GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons I knew that as long as I took aim at the center of a Green I would be fine provided I didn’t miss hit it.

In the end that’s all we really want from our clubs right!  The confidence to know that when we strike the ball well; Our clubs are going to deliver the ball to where we expect it to go.  The GigaGolf TRX Powerslot Irons have done just that, and in my experience have done it better than most.

Categories
GOLF Uncategorized

UL International Crown Results

 Korean dominance

The UL International Crown has been played three times and the Republic of Korea has been represented in all three tournaments.  They’ve always entered the tournament as one of the favourites.  Finally this time on home soil they came out victorious.  They won the 2018 UL International Crown in dominant fashion.  A full four points clear of their closest competition the teams from England and the United States.  This really shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone that follows the LPGA because all four team members have been ranked in the Rolex World Rankings Top 10 this Season.  Truth be told the Republic of Korea could have fielded multiple teams if the tournament allowed it.  Despite their dominance on tour the casual LPGA fan might be unfamiliar with most of their players outside of their very best because until recently their haven’t been many events for them to showcase their skills.  That’s just one of the reasons I’m so pleased with the development of the UL International Crown.

Player development

The UL International Crown pits the top 4 players from the top 8 nations based on their combined Rolex World rankings.  In the three tournaments that have been held since it’s inception the nations that have competed haven’t changed much.  6 nations have been in every tournament.  They are the Republic of Korea, United States of America, Japan, Thailand, Australia, and Chinese Taipei.  Spain has only been in one tournament, but they took full advantage and won the inaugural event.  Sweden and England have both competed in two tournaments.  The only other nation that has competed is China.  This won’t always be the case.  I believe that the inaugural event win by Spain demonstrates how a slightly weaker team can win the UL International Crown.  The 10 points earned by Thailand in this year’s event further demonstrates how it only takes a couple of emerging players to really compete.  The motivation a tournament like this provides to younger players hoping to one day represent their country can only help increase interest in the LPGA.  Having a player the caliber of Brooke Henderson has me hoping to witness the emergence of another star Canadian player by 2020 so that our nation has a chance to compete.  Unlike the currently more popular Solheim Cup which is the LPGA version of the PGA Ryder Cup.  The UL International Crown is open to all nations, and in the case of the LPGA a better representation of the actual players on tour.

Looking forward

The Koreans have without a doubt established themselves as the team to beat.  Although they will have to keep developing new talent like Jin Young Ko to keep the other countries at bay.  The young team from England briefly gave the Koreans a scare this year before they faced each other in the third Round.  Similar to the youth movement in the PGA.  The LPGA developmental tours are doing an excellent job of getting the rookies prepared to win from day 1.  Current stars aren’t assured a spot on their nation’s team if they qualify either.  Unlike the other international tournaments in the PGA and LPGA, their aren’t any coaches selections in the UL International Crown.  The top 4 ranked players qualify, period.  So you won’t see a selection based purely on former greatness or out of pity like the Phil Mickelson pick at this year’s Ryder Cup.  You have to earn your spot, or some young upstart could slip in with a key win, and steal the spotlight.

 

Categories
GOLF Uncategorized

Thankfully it’s a Ryder Cup year!

Day 1 is already a success!

So Day 1 is in the books and already this tournament is a success.  Why would I say that?  If you can think back to last year, and remember how  competitive the President’s Cup was?  What I should be saying is how competitive the President’s Cup wasn’t.  Then you will understand why I’m thrilled that this is a Ryder Cup year.  Even though the Americans entered this tournament as heavy favourites.  They find themselves two games back after Day 1.  Now that doesn’t mean that they still aren’t favourites to win, cause I believe that they still are.  What it simply illustrates is that on their continent, the Europeans remain difficult to beat.  Unless you are a fan or both the PGA tour, and Euro tour you wouldn’t necessarily understand.  The courses each tour frequents are generally quite different from one another.  The largely American PGA tour favours Parkland, Stadium, and long hitter tracks.  Whereas the European tour favours Links, Precision Ball striking, and Weather condition tracks.  One of the primary reasons so many PGA tour, and specifically American Players rise to the top of the World rankings is because it’s easier to adapt their game to shorter precision courses, than it is for the Euro tour Players to suddenly start bombing it off the tee.  The President’s Cup doesn’t share the same course advantages for the International players because depending on where you are from the style of golf you’re accustomed to playing might be similar to your opponents or wildly different from your own teammates.  So whether the event is held in the United States or somewhere else.  The advantage will always remain with the higher ranked team.

I told you so

At the beginning of the year Oliver and I briefly discussed (on the Cobe Life YouTube channel) what we felt Team Europe’s chances were.  Keep in mind that this was just a few months removed from the President’s Cup drubbing.  The majority of Golf analysts thought that the same dominance was going to be on display at the Ryder Cup.  We didn’t think that would be the case.  The Americans rarely beat the Europeans on their turf.  Even though this might be the strongest American team ever assembled.  They still have to beat a very skilled team made up of mostly young Ryder Cup rookies looking to establish themselves on the world stage in front of their fans.  Although many of them aren’t familiar names on the PGA tour, they are superstars in Europe.  Tommy Fleetwood, Thorbjorn Olesen, and Alex Noren are sure to leave a lasting impression by the time it’s all done.

What to expect Days 2 & 3

Even though the Le Golf National course is set up to be as unfriendly to the Americans as possible.  The individual matches are sure to favour the Americans.  Which means the Europeans have to hope that Day 2 finishes a lot like Day 1.  The Americans are actually quite fortunate to be only down by 2 games.  If it wasn’t for an extremely lucky bounce for Tony Finau on the 16th, and some sloppy play by a couple of the European teams on the back nine they could have easily been up by another game.  In order for the Europeans to win I believe that they will need to be ahead by at least 3 points going into the final day.  If they enter Day 3 tied or trailing it’s as good as over.  It will be interesting to see how well they play tomorrow when they are no longer perceived as huge underdogs.  Should be another great day of golf.  Too bad I have to get up at 2:30am to watch it.