The US Open returns to Shinnecock Hills on June 18. Course management data, the four key storylines, and what the course historically asks of its winners.
Independent verdicts on the gear that matters, built from manufacturer data and the weight of published testing.
Plain-English explainers on technique, equipment, and the numbers behind a better game.
Buying decisions made simple, with clear picks for every budget and level of play.
Step-by-step drills and fixes you can take straight to the range or the course.
The TripAdvisor score belongs to the bistro. The golf is ranked #34 nationally and #91 overall alongside private clubs. AUD$89 to $99 per round with cart.
A genuine forgiveness upgrade for mid-handicappers, but only if you buy the Max, and only if you buy used.
Best-documented consistent premium golf ball: a strong choice for mid-handicappers with 85+ mph swing speed and low ball loss rate.
Vokey SM10 is #1 for accuracy in MyGolfSpy's 2024 test. James Whitfield breaks down spin data, grinds, and whether SM9 owners should upgrade.
A genuine forgiveness upgrade for mid-handicappers, but only if you buy the Max, and only if you buy used.
Best-documented consistent premium golf ball: a strong choice for mid-handicappers with 85+ mph swing speed and low ball loss rate.
Most golfers pick a ball the way they pick a gas station snack: whatever's in front of them, or whatever's on sale. A dozen Pro V1s went on clearance at the pro shop. Someone left a sleeve of Callaway Supersoft in the cart. The ball selection
Strokes gained appears on Arccos dashboards, Shot Scope summaries, and Garmin Golf reports. Most golfers glance at it, don't fully understand what it's measuring, and move on. That's a mistake, because strokes gained is probably the single most useful piece of data an amateur
The most common advice for breaking 100 is swing instruction. Fix your grip, fix your takeaway, fix your impact position, and then you'll finally get there. The problem is that the gap between 105 and 99 is almost never a mechanics gap. Strokes gained research on amateur golfers
The launch monitor total cost guide on this site lays out the five-year TCO for every major device on the market. A predictable follow-up question arrives: what if I bought used? The honest answer is that it depends almost entirely on how the device handles subscriptions. A used GC3 is
There are two things most golfers believe about custom fittings that aren't quite right. The first is that fitting is something you earn: you need to be a certain level of player before it's worth your time or money. This is backwards. A higher handicapper playing
If you've spent any time with a launch monitor, you've seen the number. Smash factor sits there alongside ball speed and club head speed, gets glanced at, and then gets ignored in favor of carry distance. That's a mistake, and a correctable one: smash
The price you see on the product page isn't the price you'll pay over five years. For most launch monitors in this comparison, hardware accounts for 80% or more of the total five-year cost. The remaining 20% arrives in layers: annual platform subscriptions, sim software licenses
Spin rate controls height, carry, and stopping power. Here's what the number means, what the benchmarks are by club and handicap, and how to fix it.
Club path and face angle explain every shot shape. Face angle controls 85% of start direction. Here's how to read both on your launch monitor.
Smash factor is ball speed divided by club head speed. The average 14.5 handicap sits at 1.44. Moving to 1.48 at 100 mph adds 12 yards (11m) of carry.
The questions we hear most, answered directly.
A launch monitor is a device that measures the physics of your golf swing and ball flight, including club head speed, ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, and carry distance. It gives you accurate, objective data about your game instead of estimates.
No, but having one makes your practice more efficient. Without data, you are guessing whether a swing change is working. With a launch monitor, you can see exactly what changed and whether it moved in the right direction.
James Whitfield synthesizes published data from independent testing labs (MyGolfSpy robot testing, Golf Digest equipment labs), verified club fitter and instructor assessments, and long-term ownership reports. He does not run his own launch monitor sessions. Every performance claim is attributed to a named source with a date.
MyGolfSpy's best-under-$1K launch monitor for 2025 is the MLM2PRO. James Whitfield breaks down four options and the real 12-month cost.
Read moreGSPro at $250/year, E6 Connect at $450/year, or TGC 2019 at $999 once: the compatibility matrix and honest verdict on which golf sim software is worth it.
Read moreWhat does a home golf simulator actually cost? James Whitfield breaks down room dimensions, component costs, the three budget tiers, and the consumable ball expense nobody talks about.
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