Enter Dry Glove.  Dry Glove is a product that states that it will help to minimize your hands from sweating and therefore keep your golf glove from getting ruined longer.  An interesting claim.

Actually, an interesting claim that’s true!

The nice thing about Dry Glove is that it’s more of a lotion rather than a paste or having a thick salve-like texture. It applies very easily; just a dab in the hands, rub them together and it dries in about 30 seconds.  I applied it right after I got my bag out of my car and about 10 minutes later put my gloves on.  The gloves slid on as usual which was a small but pleasant surprise.  I was expecting a bit of friction or, I don’t know, some kind of resistance.  Never happened.

Here’s a bonus.  During these troublesome times of Covid, I also wear a glove on my right hand to reduce exposure from what others may have contacted; the flagstick, the cart, reaching in the hole for my ball, blah blah blah.  I know that this may sound extreme to some but, as I and most of you reading SeniorGolfDigest.com are of the age of risk, why take a chance?

There was also no need to reapply until the turn, about 2 hours later, which was convenient also.  I was able to keep my gloves on through the first nine  without them looking like a wet rag or having to change them out.  When the round was over, my gloves looked almost as good as when I first put them on, maybe a little damp, but not soaked like they usually were and for me that is a first after playing in 90 plus degree heat and humidity.  I’m expecting that Dry Glove will extend my glove’s lifespan by at least three times.  And that, my friends, will save me some shekels every year.

I’ve also tried Dry Glove under my work gloves and under the latex gloves that I wear if I go to a large store.  Same results.  So, thanks to Dry Glove for letting me review their product and I have made this one of the accessories that will stay in my bag.  I think that you should too.  

Reach out to them or better yet, ask your local pro shop to bring some in.

Stay safe and play well,

Joe

I find it really interesting watching the practice swing.   Some have a nice smooth swing, good rhythm and an effortless appearance.  Some, due to age or physical ability, go about halfway in the back swing and the follow through.  Some, well I just can’t figure out what they’re  doing. Others don’t take a practice swing at all.  They just step up to the ball and let rip. 

The biggest common denominator among almost all of them is that they seem to hit their drives with a swing that resembles nothing what their practice swing looked like!  I mean, what happened?  That smooth practice swing with the nice high follow through?  That turned into a scene resembling a lumberjack trying to remove a tree stump.  The half swinger?  Now he’s decided to take a step backwards after his quarter swing.  The ones that were doing who knows what in their practice swing?  Well actually they’re my favorites.  I always seem to find a ball or two in my yard at least once a week and I do believe that they constitute a high percentage of the donors.  The best ones?  The ones who were older or physically limited seem to be the most consistent.

So, this has really been a wake up call for me personally by making me aware of my own setup and swing process.  I now attempt to make my practice swings very focused as opposed to just using them to loosen up before the ‘real swing’.  I also take the time to check my stance and alignment with every shot.  Has it helped?  I believe that it has.  I noticed that the consistency in the distance, trajectory and aim of my shots (except for that flippin’ 5 iron!) has improved.

Now what about you?  Do you have a consistent pre-shot routine?  Do you focus on your practice swing?   And more importantly, do you bring it to the actual shot (or will you start to)?

Join in and let us know your routine!

Stay safe and Play well,

Roseann

When Volvik was looking for media to review the new XT Soft ball I figured, ‘Well, why not?’  The Volvik line was always of interest to me for their novelty balls and bright or matte finishes.  And, of course, as we age and watch our swing speed decrease, we are always looking for any advantage we can find.  So let’s see what another lower compression ball can do for us.

The Volvik XT Soft is quite a game changer in the arena of lower compression balls.  The ball is a three piece with a Vu-X Urethane cover with a VAS alignment guide and what Volvik calls their Extreme Power Core for the interior.  Suggested swing speed for this ball is from 75 to 85.  So, now that I basically read the back of the box to you let’s take it to the course and see how it performs in the real world.

The first thing that I liked about the ball is the color and the Volvik Alignment System (VAS) on the cover.  The unique shade of green really stands out well against the grass.  Also, I like to line my ball up to my target from the tee.  This where the VAS comes into play.  The VAS is a visual key of three parallel lines on the ball instead of just one.  The center line is bold and the two outside lines are doubled.  I found it exceptionally easy to line up my tee shot and to have the depth of field due to the color.  This made the ball easy to hit with the center of the clubface.

With the driver, the Volvik XT Soft feels great off the tee.  I’ve tried some ‘soft balls’ that felt like I was hitting either marshmallows or a Superball.  It’s hard to describe but this ball just felt right.  In fact, it not only felt right but it sounded right too.  It didn’t sound dead or clicky.  And if I can find a ball that both feels and sounds right from the tee, the confidence level goes up.

The ball flew on target well, although I would have liked a bit more in the way of trajectory but that can be a personal issue.  It was also extremely easy to track through the air.  Another big win for me who has actually lost balls that I know I hit in the fairway!  The biggest thing however, is that I averaged a 6 yard gain on my drives throughout my round!

Irons worked the Volvik XT Soft well also.  Again, the color combined with the feel and sound of the ball just seemed to inspire confidence for me.  The long irons flew true and when I had the mishit into the rough, the ball was easily found.  In fact I ended up finding three other balls that day while hawking mine.  That tells you something right there about the ability to track the XT Soft through the air.

Short irons and wedges were where the ball shined best for me.  I rely heavily on my short game and the ability to control the spin on this ball was second to none.  Whether using a 60 degree or a nine iron, I was able to not only get the ball on the green but to keep it there.  Both in pitching and chipping, I was able to stop the ball when struck well (needless to say that I overshot the green or topped it a few times).  How about the sand you ask?  I reply, it reacted really well.  I even hit it a few extra times from different lies in the bunkers.  Whether it was sitting on top or if I stepped on it to really plug it, the Volvik XT Soft not only found its way out of the trap but behaved rather well when it landed.

On the greens the VAS came in to play beautifully.  Lining up the ball was a simple matter and again, the way the lines on the ball stand out against the color made it easy to see.  Now if Volvik can only figure out a way to make the ball go in the cup in two putts instead of three.

So, now that we did the whole driver, fairway, iron, putter analysis, let’s give this ball the ending that it deserves and cut it open!

 As you can see the symmetry of the interior is spot one.  I’ve checked some ‘tour’ balls in the past that looked like an egg inside.  Not here.  You can clearly see the three layers and the quality that went into the manufacture of  this ball.  I do believe that quality is what translated into the consistency of play with the XT Soft.  Also, I actually finished the round with the same ball that I started with.  Another testament to the color and finish that made it easy to track and therefore easy to find.

To add it all up, the Volvik XT Soft looks great, sounds great, performs well around the greens and adds distance off the tee and stood up well to some purposeful abuse as you can see in the pic below.. 

If there was any criticism it would be that I didn’t notice any considerable distance improvement with my long and mid irons.  But as I said before, that can very well be a personal problem.  The only thing that I can say is that it’s obvious why it received the Gold Medal on the 2020 Golf Digest Hot List.  Well deserved and I have now removed the other manufacturer’s ‘Tour Soft’ balls from my bag and replaced them with the Volvik XT Soft.  Go to their site at www.Volvik.com (I’ve added a cap and the Marvel Golf Umbrella to my Christmas list!) and check out what they have to offer. 

Stay safe and play well,

Joe

As you may have read in the last RZN MS-TOUR review, the old Nike faithful ball is back under the new label of RZN.  The nice thing about the RZN DISTANCE ball is that it shares some of the upgraded technology of the MS-TOUR while still distinguishing itself in a category all its own.

Similarities are the bigger alignment visuals which really help in aiming the ball to the target; Speed Lock technology which binds the layers for better energy transference and the Micro Dimple Technology which helps the ball with better contact to the club face and reduces air drag.

Here’s where the RZN Distance comes into its own.  First, RZN has used an ionomer cover rather than urethane.  Ionomer is harder and more durable than urethane and will help the ball fly true off the tee hence promoting distance.  The big difference will be in the feel of the ball.  If you’re looking for a lower compression but still want that classic ‘click’ when you take you’re shot, than the cover on the RZN Distance will feel right for you.  Better players say that the cover causes the ball not to stop as well on the greens due to spin rate but, unless you’re a scratch or single digit handicapper, you may not notice that big of a difference.

The construction of the ball is obviously different.  When you look at the inside of the ball you can see an obvious difference over the MS-TOUR.  This is to be expected.  After all, this ball is designed to fly.  So let’s bring these puppies to the course and see how they perform in the real world.

Off the tee, just as expected, the ball is easy to line up to the target via the bigger alignment lines.  This is great for us aging golfers with glasses or bifocals.  Easy to read means that you don’t have to adjust the angle of your head at setup.  A big plus right there!  When struck the ball has a resounding sound which is more like a higher compression ball.  The ball flew rather straight when I wanted it to and, of course, sliced a few times but surprisingly not that far off line as some other balls seem to (notice that I put the fault on the balls and not on me!).  

From the grass or rough the ball gripped the club face well and seemed to come out the tall stuff pretty nicely.  Seems to have been a slight loss of trajectory but nothing that really impeded my game.  The Micro Dimple Technology on the ball also seemed to help when I got into the damper areas again giving a very controlled feel on my shots.  The sand shots showed the same results and from the fairway bunkers I really didn’t get the sense that there was any difference over most of my other bunker shots.  The ball performed well but nothing that could I say was a noticeable improvement.

Wedge shots to the green were uneventful but that’s actually a good thing.  I know that some say the ionomer cover makes it harder to control spin and stopping ability on the greens but I guess I just don’t have that kind of prowess to find any noticeable difference.  Then again, I am a mid-handicapper so one more thing that is a constant work in progress.

Putting was on point with the bigger alignment lines coming into play once again.  There’s just something that exudes confidence for me to look down, see an accurate point of contact and watch my putt head towards where I lined it up.

Overall the RZN DISTANCE golf ball performed handsomely.  It was definitely an improvement off the tee and was pretty much as expected the rest of the way.  And, at a price of under $20.00, it is definitely a value when you look at the performance and durability of the ball.  I would highly recommend that you try a dozen with one of your golf buddies and compare them to what you’re using now.  Reach out to them at www.RZNgolf.com and check out the specs and see which ball would fit your game.  You’ll be happy that you did!

Stay safe and play well,

Joe

When I received the opportunity to review the RZN MS-TOUR golf balls I thought that the name rang a bell for some reason.  Then I remembered, Nike!  When Nike left the golf hard goods arena they left a lot of golfers bemoaning the loss of one of their favorite balls, the RZN.  Well the good news is that RZN is back!

RZN is now manufacturing the balls under their own label and they haven’t forgotten about us aging golfers with slower swing speeds in the process.  Enter the RZN MS-Tour.

First off, thanks to Joe Wieczorek of The Media Group, Inc for sending us the balls for review.

So, you can go to the website or look at the image on the back of the box and get the tech info.  I say, let’s bring the MS-Tour ball to Disney World Golf and see how it performs.

Let’s go for a drive!  I have to say that off the tee the MS-Tour behaves just as well as any other ‘soft’ tour ball out there.  In fact, even better in some instances.  By this I mean that when I used the driver there was really no noticeable difference in flight or trajectory, but I did pick up an extra couple of yards over another ‘pro soft’ ball that I used.  The real improvement happened on the par three holes where I used a 7 or 5 iron.  First off, the alignment stripes printed on the ball really aided in aiming the tee shot.  Second, I easily gained 5 to 6 yards off the tee with the irons!  This is great when you play a course that has elevated greens due to the simple fact that you can go right at it without worrying about overshooting the target.  Another bonus is that the confidence level goes way up when you know that even when you don’t get all of it on your swing, you still have a few extra yards built in to compensate.

From the fairways the ball shot straight and true when I needed it too.  I really believe that this is  due to the micro-dimples and anti slip urethane cover.  Again, a great confidence builder not only from the fairways, but from the rough also.  It’s nice to know that RZN has built in to the ball a way for it to basically ‘grip’ the grooves of your club.  Wedges performed just as well with the ability to stop the ball when you wanted it to; or to use a 7 iron to hit and run it across the green.  The MS-Tour is very easy to control.

On the putting surface the parallel triple lines allowed me to easily line up my putts.  There is something about the multi alignment lines that gives me a feeling of accuracy.  So, even though I had my share of three putts throughout the round, I did get the ball closer to the cup each time.  I also liked the sound of the ball off the putter.  There was a distinctive ‘click’ that you usually don’t get with other soft balls.  Let’s you know that you either struck it well or didn’t.

Now that we have a ball that has treated us well throughout the round, let’s do right by it and cut it open!

As you can see, the layers are distinctive and well balanced with good symmetry.  The RZN MS-Tour also uses a technology called ‘3D Speedlock’.  This basically allows the mantle to grab onto the urethane cover without slipping or shifting resulting in a purer transfer of energy throughout the ball.  I don’t have the camera capability to show you the micro-dimples but you can see them when you look at the ball.

In conclusion, the RZN MS-Tour is everything that you would expect from a tour quality softer ball.  Great fight and trajectory from the tee; an excellent response with fairway woods and long irons;  control around the greens and out of the bunkers; an alignment system that inspires confident putting and a great overall sound and feel from a ball that easily wurpasses the other ‘tour soft’ ball that I was playing.  Nike may have gone the way of the Do-do in the golf ball business but RZN has picked up the mantle and even surpassed it with the new technology that they infused into the RZN MS-TOUR.  

For more info and tech specs go to www.RZNgolf.com  I highly recommend that you pick up a dozen and try them out for yourself.

Stay safe and play well,

Joe

No, we’re not talking about how high the fairway grass should be or the amount of sand that should be in the bunker.  We’re talking about how you’re playing your game and maybe even how to cut a stroke or three.  How, you ask?  I reply, by playing the hole in reverse!  That, my friends, is the idea behind course management.

Here’s a simple example.  Let’s say that you’re playing a par 4 hole that’s 260 yards.  You know that you can hit a drive somewhere between 190 and 210 yards depending on certain variables.  You also know that your high percentage go to club is your pitching wedge which you can hit 90 yards with a great trajectory and fairly on target all day long.  So then, subtract 90 from 260.  That leaves you with 170 yards.  Why then would you hit it 200 and then go for the next 60 with a club that may not give you the same confidence (real or imagined) as your pitching wedge?

It’s not only okay, but also wise, to break out let’s say a 3 wood and tee it off from there.  You end up around the 170 mark and, Bingo! you pull old faithful out of the bag, step up to the ball with the confidence that you have already established with that shot, and watch it fly high and plop down on the green.  Make sense?  Yes, there will be those in your group that can drive the ball and get it within ten or fifteen yards of the green.  But, have they developed the confidence to flop shot it 10 yards and land it soft enough not to run to the other side?   Even if they do, you both got there in two.  Once again, the short game is the great equalizer.

On average a Champions Tour player hits their drive around 268 yards depending on which study you reference.  On average I hit my drive around 195 yards give or take 5 yards or so (unless I really skull it and hit a worm burner 40 yards!).  Yes, I’m basically a short hitter and I’m fine with that.  I almost always get out driven but, more often than not, I’m usually in the fairway or pretty close to it.  This means that the above example is pretty much how I play my game.  It also means that I may need three shots to get to the green instead of two for the simple reason that I like to take the high percentage shot.  Remember, as someone once told me, ‘the woods are full of long hitters!’

So where else does the course management concept come into play?  How about knowing whether to lay up or try to make it over the stream?  Or maybe how to avoid the bunkers by hitting right before it instead of trying to clear it and then aiming for the spot from where you can have the confidence to hit the green?  Maybe to set up the correct angle to the pin on a dogleg?  I’m sure that you can think of a specific hole or two that you may be able to cut a stroke on by looking at it from the reverse.  Start at the hole, work out how far you need to come back in order to use your best club, then back it up to the tee taking into consideration any hazards or obstacles between you and that money shot.

If you haven’t played this way before let me tell you, it’s not easy.  If you’re used to stepping up and letting it rip every shot or if you see someone in your group make a shot that you ‘think’ you can duplicate; then this will be a slow process.  But that’s okay!  Just start by trying it on one hole and see how it turns out.  Even if it only works once, well, that’s one less stroke on your scorecard isn’t it?  

Make sure to share with us how you already, or are going to, apply course management to your round!

Play well,

Roseann 

While on the course today I reached down to replace my divot that I took.  As I went to replace it, I noticed that it really didn’t fit the hole.  I then looked to my right and saw another divot mark and lo and behold…..this one fit.  As I looked further up from my position I saw another loose  patch of grass; then another and another.  I finally found my divot and did my best to replace the other two I found along the way.  Then my OCD kicked in.  

You know how when you’re looking to make a purchase on, let’s say a car, you suddenly notice every model of that car that you never noticed before?  Or you want to paint your front door a different color and you start looking at every door within a six block radius?  Well, that’s what happened to me.  I started to see all these divots on the fairway that I just plain overlooked before.  I think I counted and replaced or poured sand into nine just from the 150 yard marker to the green.  The worst part is that some of them were at least a day old by the way that the grass on them was dried out.  

What is going on here?  It can’t be that they didn’t notice what had happened.  I mean, one of them was the size of a trout.  Could it possibly be that their caddies were lazy?  No, this course is for carts only so no caddy necessary.  Perhaps there were no sand bottles on their carts?  I got it!  No one ever told them that it is not only poor etiquette and ill-mannered, but it also leaves the course in bad shape for the players following them.  Well, let’s be clear…..I’M TELLING YOU NOW….REPAIR YOUR DIVOTS!!!!!  

No, not you.  The other golfer.

I’d like to have a tee shirt made with that on it but, since I can’t wear a tee shirt on the golf course, that makes it a moot point.  Maybe I’ll just yell it out to the foursome ahead of me.  No, that won’t work either because I’ll just sound like a crotchety old man and if they’re younger than me then that could lead to an altercation that I will definitely not come out on the winning side of.  I guess that I just have to show how it’s done.

As golfers of a certain age, we need to lead by example when we’re on the course.  Replace or repair our own divots and, if possible, replace or repair someone else’s too.  Just say, “Don’t worry I got it.”, and hopefully they’ll get the hint for the next time.  This great game of golf is coming under fire lately and if we can show that there are rules and etiquette, and can help fellow golfers follow them by example and encouragement, then I think that we can all be enjoying this ‘game that can never be won, just played’ (quoted by Bagger Vance himself), for a long time to come.

Oh, and don’t get me started on the ball marks left on the greens.

Play well,

Dan

I must admit that when I first saw the Martini Golf Tee I thought that it was just a novelty and brushed it off.  I mean, how can something that looks like a martini glass for a woodland fairy be of any real use?  And what about the price, around six bucks or so for a pack of five?  Seemed ridiculous!  Well, now I’m here to tell you how wrong I was.  I think that these tees are one of the best ones out there, especially for aging golfers or those with physical challenges.  ‘Why?’, you ask.  I reply.

As we get older not only does our speed and reflexes slow down, but also our steadiness,  Sad, but true.  Towards the end of a round it sometimes seems that the consistency that is oh so important is harder to maintain.  Even something as minor as teeing up the ball can be a struggle.  You either don’t maintain the same tee height or even worse, you don’t place the tee upright enough and the ball starts falling off the tee.  Face it, it happens.

This is where the Martini Tee shines.  Not only does the tee come in different lengths, but you can also get tees with a stop feature.  This will guarantee that each and every time that you tee up, the ball will be at the same height.  Need to tee up a little lower due to wind conditions?  Try the 2 ¾”.  Short par three and using an iron?  Use the 2” tee and press it in until the cup rests on the ground.  Like to ‘tee it high and watch it fly’’, or going long with a driver that has a head the size of a horse?  Use the 3 ¼” tee with a stop and tee it up the exact height each and every time.  No more teeing the ball too low and wondering what happened to your loft that you had six holes ago.    

Another handy trait of the cup shape is that it will hold the ball.  According to Martini Tees, the ball will stay in the cup up to a 20 degree angle of the tee.  That’s one less time that I have to bend over to reset the ball on the tee. Also, this gives you the flexibility to tilt the tee towards the hole allowing for better alignment and possibly even more roll.  Try that with a standard tee.

 Add to that the durability of a tee made of a proprietary polymer resin and you have a tool that lasts for multiple rounds without snapping or bending out of shape.  This I can attest to after smacking the tee instead of the ball on more than one occasion!  Plus you have a choice of colors to choose from and sometimes, with aging eyes, certain colors make it easier to focus and to see the contrast against the turf.

In case you’re wondering, they also conform to USGA and R&A Rules of Golf and are made in the USA!  So, keep those old wooden tees for cleaning your grooves or for practice and try Martini Golf Tees by the pack or by the shaker full.  Chances are you’ll get used to them real quick! 

You can reach out to them at www.Martinigolftees.com and don’t forget to let them know that you found them at SeniorGolfDigest.com.

Stay safe and play well,

Dan

After watching the pros play recently without their caddies, I noticed something they do that I don’t do nearly enough and I wonder if you do also.  No, not shooting constant birdies, but cleaning the grooves on the clubs, especially the wedges.

Watching them play without their caddies were a real eye-opener.  Not only seeing them hump their own bags around (except for Phil and Tiger) and choosing their own clubs for the shot; but I noticed that after their shots they looked down at their clubface, reached in their pocket, pulled out a tee and…….wait for it…..cleaned the grooves on the club.

That was a real eye-opener for me.  The pros clean (or have their caddies clean) the grooves of their clubs because they know how important it is to have clean contact each and every time they make contact with the ball.  The grooves serve a purpose and keeping them clean throughout your round will help you perform better.  And let’s face it, we all want any edge that we can get.

Look at it this way; try to imagine hitting a shot with one of your irons without any grooves at all.  Nope, not a single one on the clubface.  This means that whenever you strike your ball, the possibility of it sliding up the face is greater.  Hence putting the grooves on the clubface.  Now, what effect do you think that you get when your grooves are all filled with dirt, sand, grass, or any other cosmic debris?  That’s right, you have basically reduced the effectiveness of the whole design of the club’s loft and distance.

Now, we’re not talking rocket science here or the need for any special equipment.  In fact, just a towel and a golf tee will do just fine.  Make sure that you bring a towel with you, any kind will do actually, and wet one end of it before your round.  You can use the restroom before or during play, or use that bottle of water that’s been in your bag since last year (face it, it’s most likely undrinkable anyway).  After a shot just use the wet end of the towel, give the clubface a good rub with the rough side of the towel and follow it up with the dry side.  There, that took what….four seconds?  If there is anything that looks really embedded, that’s when you use the tee.  A word of advice, use a wooden or plastic tee if possible.  You don’t want to damage the grooves by using metal or anything too harsh.

Yes, you can also invest in a golf brush.  Or, me being the frugal golfer that I am, just go to the Dollar Store and in the hardware, aisle get a pack of mini wire brushes.  Now, here’s the secret to using these brushes; find the brass and soft bristle brush and put them to the side.  Take the stiff wire on and either put it in your toolbox or throw it away!  Remember what I just said about not using anything too harsh on your clubs?  That steel brush can really cause some damage.  So, use the brass brush on your irons and use the soft bristles on your woods or any club with a smooth face and very shallow grooves.  

Again, wet towel; tee or brush; dry towel.  Or maybe you can be a real rebel and use the tee or brush first and then the towel.   Whew!  I’m exhausted just thinking about that process.

                           Wet Towel End                                              Dry Towel End

                           Tee for the grit                                      Much better and ready for play!

So, keep it clean, hit it pure and let us know if this little bit of encouragement helped your round.

Play well,

Joe

Another great product found at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show was the NoSweat Hat Liners.  A big thanks to those guys for supplying the liners for this review!

It seems that as we get older (after all, that’s why you’re reading this, right?) we seem to sweat a bit more.  In my case, I have what I call corrosive sweat.  In other words, the collars of my shirts basically stain and eventually disintegrate; I replace my guitar strings more than the average home player does; and my hats?  Well, let’s just say that I usually needed a new one every two to three months or so due to the sweat and salt stains from the Central Florida heat and humidity.  That is, until I came upon these little beauties!

The NoSweat Disposable Hat Liner is soooooo simple and yet effective.  Just peel off the backing, attach it to the inside of your hat and you are done.  No more salt lines or discoloration.  No more sweat running down into my eyes when I look down to address the ball. When it looks like it’s effectiveness is waning; just peel it off and apply a new one.  And best of all, I can finally get presents other than golf caps for my birthday, Christmas and Father’s Day! 

Go to their website www.NoSweatCo.com and give them a try.  Then reach out to them and let them know what a great product they have.  They also have one for visors and one for helmets.

Don’t forget to mention SeniorGolfDigest.com and of course, let us know what you think.

Play well,

Joe