Author: Sean Ogle

As the Founder of Breaking Eighty Sean has spent the last 10+ years reviewing the best golf products and golf courses in the world. He prides himself on only writing about products and courses he's experienced first hand, and helping others find exactly what they need to enhance their enjoyment of the game we all love so much.

“GPS” gets thrown around on the golf course like it means one thing. It doesn’t. It can mean a watch on your wrist. A laser rangefinder that also happens to talk to satellites. A handheld the size of an old iPod that lives on your cart. A shot tracking system that’s quietly building a stats profile of your entire game. Or just an app sitting on the phone that’s already in your pocket. I’ve tested pretty much all of it at this point. And the honest answer to “what’s the best golf GPS device” is: it depends entirely on how…

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I’ll start with the part that nobody, at least nobody I’ve talked to, argues about. The Stack works. Commit to it for a few weeks, and you will swing faster. The company has a database full of golfers who’ve done exactly that. This isn’t one of those reviews where I keep you in suspense about whether the thing does what it says. It does the thing. So this is less a review about whether the Stack delivers and more one about how it does it, how well it’s built and designed, and whether it’s the right buy for you. And…

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This is the guide I wish existed every time somebody emails me asking whether the PlayBetter SimStudio is worth buying. There’s surprisingly little written about these, and a lot of you are shopping for exactly this setup right now. So I dug into what they include and where this option makes sense. This is the complete breakdown of what you’re getting and what you should expect. Every indoor golf simulator setup comes down to three jobs. Something has to read your shot. Something has to run the software. And something has to show you the result. Reading your shot is…

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Every year around this time, some brands start acting like summer’s basically over. Back-to-school ads show up in July, retailers start pushing fall gear, and it’s like everyone’s in a rush to close the book on the season. Golf Galaxy’s doing the opposite this year, and I’m into it. They just kicked off a campaign called “Summer Is Still in Play,” and the whole idea is simple: you’ve still got a ton of good golf left in you. It runs from July 19th through Labor Day (September 7th), and there’s a handful of promotions and in-store stuff worth knowing about,…

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Two of the most interesting launch monitors in this price range. Two completely different approaches to solving the same problem. The FlightScope Mevo Gen 2 is my current pick for best overall launch monitor. Doppler radar, professional-level software, no subscription, and the flexibility to grow into full club data whenever you’re ready. The Square Omni came in with more hype than almost any product I’ve ever reviewed. Four cameras, shockingly accurate indoors, no subscription. I had low expectations going in. These two aren’t the same device. They have different strengths, different weaknesses, and a pretty different ideal buyer. So instead…

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There are exclusive golf courses, and then there’s Canyata. For most of its existence, this course hidden in the cornfields outside Marshall, Illinois, had no members. It wasn’t part of a resort, and it wasn’t a traditional private club where knowing the right person might eventually earn you an invitation. It was essentially one man’s extraordinarily elaborate backyard golf course. A handful of guests would be granted access each month. You’d reach out, hope for an invitation, and if you were fortunate enough to get one, chances are you’d be the only group on the entire property. The pro shop…

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So you’ve decided to get serious about a launch monitor, you’ve got somewhere in the $2,500 to $3,000 range to spend, and you’ve narrowed it down to two of the biggest names in the category: the Bushnell Launch Pro and the SkyTrak ST MAX. Good news: you’ve already done the hard part. Both of these are excellent. I’ve spent the last two years using the Launch Pro as my reference launch monitor for every launch monitor review I do (it’s the most accurate one I’ve got). And I’ve spent considerable time with the ST MAX figuring out exactly who SkyTrak’s…

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9.0
Golf Bags

I’ll just say it. The Sun Mountain Matchplay Ballistic might be the best-looking bag in golf right now. But what’s crazy is, you hardly ever see anyone actually using one. That’s the whole story of this bag. It’s stunning. It’s built like nothing else in the category. And for some reason, it flies under the radar. Which is pretty cool, actually, if you’re looking for a bag that not everyone else is already carrying. But is it worth $425? Or would you be better off with something different and maybe even something less expensive? We’re going to tackle all of…

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I said something in a recent Payntr video that I’ll stand by here: a lot of their newer shoes are starting to look like each other. That’s kind of always been Payntr’s thing though. There’s the old era, all their original X-series shoes, and then the new era that kicked off with the Eighty Seven SC. Since then, every release out of this Classic Collection has leaned into the same clean, low-profile silhouette. More attractive shoes across the board, but harder to tell apart at a glance. The Jones x Payntr RS is very much part of that new era.…

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So you’ve decided to get serious about a launch monitor. Not a little radar unit that sits behind you and makes its best guess. A real, professional-level, camera-based device that sits next to the ball and measures what actually happened. Which means you’ve almost certainly come across these two: the Bushnell Launch Pro and the Uneekor Eye Mini. I’ve spent years with both of them. The Launch Pro has been my reference launch monitor for every launch monitor review I do (not to spoil too much, but it’s the most accurate one I’ve got). And the Eye Mini gave me…

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