Recently, my wife and daughter spent three nights at the wonderful Brasada Ranch in Central Oregon. The Brasada Canyons course is one of the friendlier (and more scenic) central Oregon golf courses for newer players, so it felt like the perfect place to actually take my wife and 4-year-old out for a round. My wife plays golf occasionally but has been using a decade-old set of ill-fitting Nike Slingshot clubs. So for our two rounds on the course, I set her up with the new Stix × Nicklaus women’s set, and was excited to see how they performed for her.…
Author: Sean Ogle
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.
There’s something deeply satisfying about hitting a pure iron shot. The kind that launches on a rope, climbs with intent, and comes down like a dart. I got that feeling often during the 6 years I gamed the Mizuno JPX-900s. Those irons were lethal when I was on my game. Not the most forgiving clubs I’ve ever used, but when I was swinging confidently, they felt like an extension of my body. Fast forward to today, and I’ve been testing something entirely different: the brand new Mizuno Pro S-1 irons. These are not game improvement clubs. They’re not even “player’s…
Let me start with this: I didn’t expect to find one of the most memorable rounds of golf I’ve played in the last five years in Vietnam. But here we are. Hoiana Shores Golf Club is tucked away on the coast just outside of Hoi An—a ridiculously charming town that looks like it was pulled straight out of a travel magazine spread. Think lantern-lit streets, banh mi that puts every sandwich you’ve ever had to shame, and the kind of beachy, laid-back energy that makes you want to forget you ever had inboxes to clear. But we’re here to talk…
Over the past few months, there hasn’t been a single product that more people have requested for me to review than the Square Golf Launch Monitor. Everybody, it seems, wants to know: Can a $699 launch monitor and simulator actually be any good? Well, finally, I’ve had my chance to put this device to the test, and I’ve definitely got thoughts to share. It’s no mystery as to why the Square has been generating so much buzz. It’s the only optical golf launch monitor under $1,000 that I know of. That’s a very big deal when you consider that all…
The putter is golf’s great equalizer. For all of the intimidation of a brutally long hole, a forced carry over water into the wind, or a short-sided chip shot, more often than not it’s the final few feet on the putting green that have the biggest impact on a golfer’s scorecard. An otherwise skilled player can be rendered entirely noncompetitive if they can’t putt. And conversely, a golfer who plods around the course hitting nothing but duffs and wormburners but who regularly catches fire with the flatstick can score far better than the eye test would ever predict. There’s a…
When it comes to the world of golf technology, I’m not sure there’s a single product segment that has evolved further in the last five years than launch monitors. It wasn’t long ago that the only options for a launch monitor were Trackman and competing products that held price tags well into the five figures. But now in 2025? There are golf launch monitors available at just about every price point, all the way down to a couple hundred dollars. And you know what’s even more surprising than that? Many of them are good. Very good. So before, when the only times…
A solar-powered phone charger. A built-in filming station for your swing. A custom, hand-painted design option. Bluetooth speaker compatibility. You can’t accuse the new MNML MR2 golf bag of being boring. In fact, it’s got features — a number of them — that I’ve never seen in any other bag. But is all that innovation actually useful when you get it out on the course? Or are we venturing into gimmicky territory here? The MR2 is a seriously interesting golf bag. But at $319, the question needs to be asked: Is it actually worth buying? Now having had the chance…
Let’s face it: golf push carts have come a long way. From the two-wheeled pull cart trolleys you still occasionally see at your local muni, to full-on remote control caddies that whisk your clubs across the course – there are a lot of options out there. I’ll be honest, I’m an unabashed push cart user. I have no shame in it, either. There was a time when you might get mocked by your friends for using one, but at least from my perspective, those days are mostly gone. Junior players, teens, middle-agers, and yes, older golfers, are all getting in on the…
By now, you’ve almost certainly tried a golf simulator. And, even more likely than that, you’ve dreamed of owning your own. Not long ago, a home golf simulator felt like a pipe dream. Now, it’s becoming an increasingly common reality for more and more golfers. Why? First, it’s because today’s golf launch monitors are incredibly accurate and capable of producing shot data so good that it can be used to play very realistic simulator golf. And second, it’s because the affordability of these products has gotten to the point where you now have multiple options for legitimately great golf launch…