birdie golf magazine - pilot issue

DOWN & DIRTY WITH

THE PINGG30

B I R D I ET E S T E D O N T H E C O U R S E . T E S T E D B Y Y O U .

GOLF BALL 101 - Half a dozen under the Birdie spotlight

SPINBACK Callaway Mack

Daddy 2 wedges make a welcome

return.

ON COURSE PLAYER

REVIEWS! Golfers, like you, give their opinions on

the latest equipment, tested under game conditions.

HATS OFF! 14 of the best looking noggin protectors on, and off, the course.

T H I N G S W E L I K EP L AY E R R E V I E W S

P L AY E R R E V I E W S

P L AY E R R E V I E W S

CORE BLIMEY!Journey to the centre of the golf ball.

ROOKIEISSUE

C O N T E N T S

P RO D U C T

Golf hats. Tons of ‘em! - p6

O N C O U R S E T E S T I N G

Ping G30 driver - p10

Taylormade Speedblade irons - p18

Callaway Mack Daddy 2 wedges - p32

Ping Ketsch putter - p40

I N N OVAT I O N

Biion golf shoes. One-piece comfort - p16

O F F T H E G R E E N

Journey to the centre of the golf ball - p26P h o t o g r a P h y b y J i m F r i e d m a n

W H I M S Y

The lure of the do-over - p35b y J o h n h a r r i s

G O L F C O U R S E R E V I E W

Deer Creek Golf and Banqueting - p46

B I RD I E G O L F M AG . CO M | 3

Birdie Golf Magazine is a golf buyer’s guide. Readers review equipment on the course, then we collate their opinions to produce a digital magazine with accompanying videos.

We believe that the best place to review a golf club is where you play – on the golf course. Wind, differing lies, humidity levels and alternating clubs all create unique playing conditions that are best experienced in live play.

All reviews are entirely independent. We create fair reviews of golf equipment, by real users, without bias – the way it should be.

If you like what Birdie is doing, please let friends, family, and anyone else that loves golf, know about this project by sharing content and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

A B O U T U S

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OAKLEYS I L I C O N B A R K T RU C K E R 3 . 0OA K L E Y.C O M

BRIDGESTONE GOLFB O O N I E H ATB R I D G E S TO N E G O L F.C O M

T U R B U L AT O R

ON COURSE TESTING

A L L A B I L I T I E S

Bubba’s longest weapon, the Ping G30 driver, is a forgiving, long-hitting beast, at least that’s the promise. We put the club through its paces out on the golf course.

R E V I E W S • D R I V E R S

1 0 | B I RD I E G O L F M AG . CO M

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LO O K S : “It actually looks pretty good because

of the non-glossy finish. The turbulators may be

something to get used to.”

F E E L : “Just like any driver that is 460cc, it feels

hollow, though at the same time plays good.”

P L AY: “I was hitting the ball well even though it

didn’t feel the best.”

F O RG I V E N E S S : “It’s forgiving so I can’t

complain about all the other things that I just

mentioned. A good driver, actually goes pretty

far and pretty straight.”

8.5O V E R A L L S C O R ELOOKS

FEEL

PLAY

FORGIVENESS

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CHRIS ‘CJ’Registered NurseAge: 34Handicap: 10Current: Callaway Optiforce 440

“Pretty far and pretty straight.”Chris ‘CJ’

DONGraphic DesignerAge: 60 Handicap: 28Current: Ping G25

LO O K S : “Good looking club. Super-matte finish -

nothing distracting on the top.”

F E E L : “Feels quite light when you’re taking a few

waggles with it.”

P L AY: “Played well. Very light, but I found that it

sounded a bit “tinny” off the face compared to, say,

the G25.”

F O RG I V E N E S S : “Because of the depth of the face

it’s a pretty forgiving club.”


FEEL

PLAY

FORGIVENESS

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Ping G30 in the wind tunnel.

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“Played well, very light.”Don

Ping G30 in the wind tunnel.

B I RD I E G O L F M AG . CO M | 1 3

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O U R P I C K

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NI N N O VA T I O N

Made from ultra-lightweight

molded rubber, Biion’s one-piece

anti-bacterial golf shoes are not

for the faint of heart. These

attention grabbing offerings

from golf shoe manufacturer

Biion will certainly get you

noticed on the first tee.

More info from

www.biionfootwear.com

T H E N E E DF O R S P E E D



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R E V I E W S • I R O N S





I can’t deny it, I’m a fan. But how did Chris and Don make out with Taylormade’s Speedblade irons? Read on to find out...

B R O N Z E

B I R D I E

IRONSON COURSE TESTING

I N T E R M E D I AT E

These were a silver award for me. I found them light, long and straight - Editor.


LO O K S : “Grey, silverish, blue colours, which are

actually pretty neat. A little thicker on the top.”

F E E L : “On address, you can see a little bit of the

slot. The feel of it comes off pretty soft, softer than I

thought it would be.”

P L AY: “Pretty straight and forgiving.”

F O RG I V E N E S S : “A forgiving club. Very surprising

and actually really, really good irons.”


FEEL

PLAY

FORGIVENESS

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CHRIS ‘CJ’Registered NurseAge: 34Handicap: 10Current: Mizuno MP-53

“A long, long, long club.”

Chris ‘CJ’

R E V I E W S • I R O N SP

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TaylorMade explain their Speed Pocket tech

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DONGraphic DesignerAge: 60 Handicap: 28Current: Mizuno JPX EZ Forged

LO O K S : “Matte finish. Camouflaged top-line.”

F E E L : “Played nice, surprisingly well... a little

lighter than I thought it would be for an

improvement iron.”

P L AY: “I think the slot technology and the

weighting in the back has really helped the ball get

up in the air quite well.”

F O RG I V E N E S S : “The middle irons were

impressively well hit which is an improvement

for me!”


FEEL

PLAY

FORGIVENESS

8 . 5

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“A little lighter than I thought.”

Don


R E V I E W S • I R O N S

HOVER & CLICK LINK

TO WATCH THIS VIDEO

JOURNEY TO THE

CENTRE OF THE GOLF

BALL

Photographer Jim Friedman sliced his golf ball collection in half to discover an intergalactic cornucopia of colour and texture.

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF JAMESFRIEDMANPHOTOGRAPHER .COM


Visit jamesfriedmanphotographer.com to see more of James’ inspiring photography

RETURN of the

MACK

ON COURSE TESTING


Following the wild success of the original wedge, the new Callaway Mack Daddy 2 Tour

Grind wedges are a great looking update. Birdie takes them out for a spin.

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WEDGES



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LO O K S : “Pretty sharp looking, it’s got a funky

yellow lettering that matches with the grip which is

actually pretty nice. It has a gritty face to it.”

F E E L : “Felt pretty good... the grooves were gripping

on the ball.”

P L AY: “Played well from different lies, from the

rough, from the fairway and from the bunker. A

really, really nice wedge.”

S P I N : “It felt almost like sandpaper. It made the ball

spin a little bit more, and added a little more check

to it.”


FEEL

PLAY

SPIN

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CHRIS ‘CJ’Registered NurseAge: 34Handicap: 10Current: Mizuno MP T-11

“...almost like sandpaper.”

Chris ‘CJ’

DONGraphic DesignerAge: 60 Handicap: 28Current: Srixon WG 504

LO O K S : “Bright satin finish... it’s been dampened.

They’ve added this funky fluorescent colour to add

some character to it.”

F E E L : “These clubs are forged which really adds

to the feel. They’re super-soft. A lot of feel around

the greens.”

P L AY: “Interesting, they’ve cut the soles back to lay

down the club pretty flat.”

S P I N : “Pretty impressive. Pretty well stops on the

green more than most wedges I’ve played.”


FEEL

PLAY

SPIN

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“A lot of feel around the greens.”

Don


R E V I E W S • W E D G E

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Roger Cleveland takes us through the Tour grind for the Mac Daddy 2.


T H E

L U R E

O F T H E

D O -

O V E R

B Y J O H N H A R R I S

W H I M S Y

However, it might be of some interest to those who are losing some distance and finesse with age, or to those who are interested in understanding the mental game a little better. It’s also worth noting that I didn’t play according to the Rules of Golf, not even close.

Pre-game BS: Schmoozing with pro-shop James (who admits to 56 years old) prior to my round, I find myself monologuing about the effects of age (I’m 66) on my once-fabulous golfing skills. Like any sensible person, James suggests moving up a set of tee blocks. But I already did that two years ago, I say, to which he answers “so do it again.” This inspires nothing but stubbornness and adolescent rebellion in me.

I’m not liking the conversation at all, so I go play. Alone. From my usual white tees.

T H E

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O F T H E

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Disclaimer: the following is

almost entirely self-indulgent,

extremely long, and may be

of little interest to many...

Hole 2, white, 327 yds, par 4 An unexpected lawnmower starts up during my backswing, resulting in him cutting grass and me hitting a fat shot that barely gets over the creek. It went slightly farther than my divot, but still only about halfway there. “Screw it.” I say. “It was the damned lawnmower going off ”. I drop another ball and try again. Result is not great, but not fat and quite acceptable – about what I expected the first time. It occurs to me that golf is a lot easier when it doesn’t matter.

Hole 7, white, 115 yds, par 3 Pin is front right, and I drop an 8 iron just short of the green but on line. Pretty good shot actually, but I’m left with having to semi-flop a shot onto the first flat area of the green and letting it roll the remaining 10ft or so to the cup. Margin of error is minuscule; if I land short it’ll roll back at me, long will go 10ft past, and a skull shot will end up in 6 inch high, gnarly rough. So I land it short, of course, no more than 3 inches short but... short. “Screw it.” I say out loud, “I can do this”. I drop another ball and execute perfectly, ending up 1 inch short of the hole, dead on line. Proving once again that it’s easier when it doesn’t matter.


W H I M S Y

Hole 15, gold, 428 yds, par 4 Even from the white tees, on this hole I might reach the green once in 10 tries, regardless of how good my tee shot was. I consider bogey acceptable, and par exceptional.

At this point in the round, headed for my usual 90-95 with occasional moments of mediocrity, pro-shop James’ words come back to me. Since no one is looking and fewer care, I give in to the reality of creeping decrepitude and move up to the gold tees.

Boom. Nice tee shot but I’m still a bunch away from the green. I hope this doesn’t mean I have to move up to the green tees. With all this in mind, I smother-hook my approach, ending up about 100 yds short left, semi-stymied by a tree branch. What I need to do is punch a pitching wedge under the branch and hope the backspin stops it on the green. Good plan, except I shank it into the pond on the right. You may have guessed by now that I said, “Screw it I can do this.” By now I’m saying it without the period. I drop another, execute the originally intended PW punch, and the ball ends up 1 foot from the hole. One foot. Did I mention golf is way easier when it doesn’t matter?

Hole 16, gold, 132 yds, par 3I see where they put the gold tees (two clubs closer to the green than what I’m used to) and think this’ll be way too easy, especially for a golfer of my calibre. My usual miss from the white tees is a big high block to the right (having hooked so many into the woods/pond to the left back in the day), but I figure with the higher-lofted club that’ll be unlikely. Astute readers will now correctly guess that I then hit a big high block to the right with the higher-lofted club. The ball had good hang-time but dropped right into the pond, vertically, ker-freaking-plunk. My “screw-this-I-can-do-it” shot is not great but serviceable – inside 15ft and makeable (by a good putter). But guess what? It was easy.

Hole 17, gold, 432 yds, par 5Third shot hits the green pin high but rolls into the bunker on the left. I’m shortsided with maybe 6ft of green to work with. Difficult but not impossible. I baby-blast a lob wedge to a landing spot that was, unfortunately, about 6 inches short of what I wanted. “Screw it.” I said, dropped another, and holed it. By “holed it” I mean it went in the hole. This game’s easy. (To be fair, and in case any golf gods are reading, it’s even easier when you don’t shortside yourself into greenside bunkers.)


W H I M S Y

Hole 18, gold, 340 yds, par 4By now I’m a dedicated gold-tee lover and I stripe one down the middle. I’m left with an 8 iron, much less club than I’m used to. I’m conscious that this may turn out to be my last shot of the year, but wary about attaching any particular significance to it. After all, I’ve seen on three occasions today how pretending it doesn’t matter, well, matters. On the other hand it’d be nice to end well, wouldn’t it? Two maintenance guys are on the green but clear to the side when they see me. My 8 iron goes high and handsome with a 5ft-10ft draw, just the way I like it. The ball hits and checks, then rolls toward the pin. The maintenance guys start whooping it up and I figure it’s going in. Okay, it turns out it didn’t, but it almost did. It was a foot past the hole.

In summary, on four holes I either holed it or put it a foot away. Unfortunately only the last one counted. If only I could bottle this “doesn’t matter” attitude and take a sip as needed.

N I C EK E T S C H

ON COURSE TESTING


Ping have always been known for their classic putters but the Ketsch

is a new direction. Popular on the Tour, Ping have created a new breed

of classic.

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R E V I E W S • P U T T E R

N I C EK E T S C H B R O N Z E

B I R D I E

PUT TER

LO O K S : “Fairly large, it’s almost the size of my

palm. The face is pretty interesting... it’s just a bunch

of grooves.”

F E E L : “Pretty good putter, I usually use a mallet

myself. [the ball] came off the face pretty soft

probably because of the insert and the material.

Ping went with a thicker grip... it helped it a little bit.

The thing I didn’t like, was more so, the weight.”

A L I G N M E N T: “Three alignment lines... one

long one and two shorter ones. It was pretty easy

to align.”

C O N T RO L : “Nothing to worry about if you

actually hit off-centre. It was easy to gauge the

distance. The grooves were all the same depth. I

found my strokes were just straight back and forth”


FEEL

ALIGNMENT

CONTROL

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CHRIS ‘CJ’Registered NurseAge: 34Handicap: 10Current: Mizuno MP T-105


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“Alignment is quite the strong point for this putter.” Don


Due to the lighter weight of this

putter, it certainly needs to be

hit a little firmer, which will suit

some players more than others.

The long grooves help on mis-hits.


DONGraphic DesignerAge: 60 Handicap: 28Current: Ping B60

LO O K S : “Matte black finish. Ping have added

a new grip... last year’s was a cord, this one has a

flat contour.”

F E E L : “I found this putter a bit light. The ball comes

off very soft on the stroke.”

A L I G N M E N T: “Alignment is quite the strong point

for this putter.”

C O N T RO L : “Its forgiveness is good because of the

true-roll technology on the insert.”


FEEL

ALIGNMENT

CONTROL

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“Alignment is quite the strong point for this putter.” Don

R E V I E W S • G O L F C O U R S E

Now in its 25th year, Deer Creek Golf is celebrating. Chris and Don put the course

through its paces to discover a tough challenge set in the beautiful

Ontario landscape.

DEER CREEK


S I L V E R

B I R D I E

GOLF COURSE

9.1O V E R A L L S C O R ELAYOUT

CONDITIONS

GREENS

FACILITIES

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CHRIS ‘CJ’Registered NurseAge: 34Handicap: 10

L AYO U T: “A very difficult layout, you have to be

smart about it, it is more of a shotmaker’s course.

I found the Ruby and Diamond courses were not

particularly too, too long but at the same time

you have to think about where you’re putting

your shots.”

C O N D I T I O N S : “Overall, the North Course was in

great shape. You can see people upkeeping the

course. A really nice place.”

G R E E N S : “The greens were rolling very well, cut

very well.”

FAC I L I T I E S : “Really great facilities. The driving

range, which is about five minutes drive away, is

huge. Alongside, they have a par three course. The

pro shop is good, the staff very friendly.”



There really are

deer here!

HOVER & CLICK LINK

TO WATCH THIS VIDEO

DONGraphic DesignerAge: 60 Handicap: 28

L AYO U T: “A tough course, a shotmaker’s course.”

C O N D I T I O N S : “All day we’ve seen people

working on the grounds, maintenance staff all over

the place, so they obviously take pride in what

they’re doing.”

G R E E N S : “The greens, in good shape.”

FAC I L I T I E S : “Seriously, I’m blown away at how big

this place is, It’s enormous! The banquet facilities

here and the main building itself... it’s quite a

showcase, actually.”

9.1O V E R A L L S C O R ELAYOUT

CONDITIONS

GREENS

FACILITIES

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Name: Deer Creek Golf & Banquet

Address: 2700 Audley Road North, Ajax, Ontario, Canada L1Z 1T7.

Phone: +1 905 427 7737

Email: [email protected]

Web: golfdeercreek.com

Holes: 45

Length: North: 4944 – 6620 yards. South: 4886 – 6045 yards

Course Architect: Rene Muylaert & Jerry Coughlan

Facilities: Driving range, executive course, lessons, restaurant, patio, locker room, banquet/conference rooms, electric carts, proshop.

C O U R S E D E TA I L S


This Issue of Birdie Golf Magazine could not have been created without the help of...

Nino Azurin - Photography/Videography.

Don and Chris - Reviewers/Testers.

Mark Saunders - Online.

Francis Tanaka at Greenfield Golf.

Josie Naccaratto at Deer Creek Golf.

Tom Arnott at Deer Creek Golf.

Lending me their ear - Geoff Burpee,

Hugo Croft-Levesque, Nino Di Cara, Ryan

McCambridge, Marcus Vichert, David Zivot.

Photos and videos of products are the copyright of the manufacturers.

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily the views of Birdie Golf Magazine.

© 2015 Flying Divot Media. No part of this magazine should be reproduced without permission from Flying Divot Media.


Published by

Flying Divot Media, Toronto, Canada.

Design by HandsDesign.ca

If you have a golf related product that you

would like us to review on a golf course,

please contact Kerrin Hands at

[email protected].

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birdie golf magazine - pilot issue

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