Update November 2017: My concerns below still hold true, but now that the Bushnell Tour V4 is selling for $249? It’s worth considering, as the feel, optics, and build quality are a couple steps above similarly priced products (though still lacking behind the X2). Update July 2017: I’ve revised my review on this, because frankly after a year of using it, I’ve found some of the initial quality issues that popped up have creeped their way back in. Difficulty locking onto the target and what often felt like inaccurate readings have left me a little disappointed with the V4. If…
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.
I get offered stuff all the time to review here on Breaking Eighty. And much of the time it’s gimmicky, and I have no interest in it. When the glasses company Jins got ahold of me to tell me about their new golf specific lenses, I initially had a little bit of skepticism. The basic concept is that the lenses are tinted green, to help provide more contrast and depth perception when reading greens – thus making it easier to see the breaks. If you’ve ever seen me on a putting green, you know I need all the help I…
Let’s not beat around the bush. When it comes to high end performance golf apparel, no one really does it better than Galvin Green. Last year I reviewed their Ace waterproof shell, and I’m still just as in love with it now as I was then. I’ve taken it through veritable monsoons, and it has still kept me nice and dry. Sure it’s pricey at about triple the cost of my Nike rain suit – but if you’re playing in adverse conditions often, there’s nothing better. However, outside of that jacket I haven’t experienced much of Galvin Green’s other products…
As I sit here and write this, it has been nearly as year since I did a proper course writeup. When I first began this site I was extremely diligent in writing about every top course I played (and even many not-so-top courses). The reality is, between the writing, photo editing, and promotion – each post takes a lot of time to put together, and frankly as much as I love golf, I have a business to run as well. However as April has turned into May, the weather begins to turn and I just received my copy of “How…
Grab Adidas Ultimate Golf Shorts on Amazon You’ve gotta hand it to Adidas lately, they’ve really been stepping up their golf game. Watching the Masters earlier this month, I couldn’t help but cringe every time they showed Jordan Spieth in his super basic, and at times ugly (did you see those shoes?) Under Armor gear. Nike is stepping it up, Rory looked a heck of a lot better than he played – but I’ve always been a huge fan of their stuff. However, the biggest surprise over the last year for me has been Adidas. Jason Day looks awesome, and their boost golf…
Even though the name of this site is “breaking eighty” this is the one post I never thought I’d write. Why? Because during the rare occasions I have broken 80 since starting back in 2013 (it’s happened 4 times now), I never felt like I was a good enough golfer to actually give advice on how to do it. I just chalked it up to a fluke. However last week, that changed a bit when I played the best round of my life. Note: I’m just using iphone/Instagram photos for this post. At some point I’ll do a proper review…
Grab the Taylormade M2 fairway wood on Amazon here. I was sitting in the 11th fairway of the Witch Hollow golf course in Portland, Oregon when I found myself wondering “is this Taylormade M2 3 wood really all it’s cracked up to be?” I was about 245 out, and with my old Nike VR 3 wood, I’d usually hit it about 220 under good conditions, sometimes farther if I really connect. I’d played a few rounds with the Taylormade M2 and spent some time with it on the range, and so far had been really impressed. But this would be the…
Over the last couple years my good friend Dan Jarvis has traveled all over the world to play golf with me. He’s the one guy I can call up on a moments notice and say “hey, wanna go to Scotland in 10 days?” And his response will be “just tell me when and where and I’ll book the car and hotels.” So needless to say throughout our time traveling all over the place, we’ve developed our fair share of inside jokes. One of the most common recurring ones is the story of the world’s best pair of golf pants. It…
For the last three or so years I’ve been rocking a Nike SQ golf bag. It was a mediocre bag when I got it, and it’s even more mediocre compared to what’s out there today. It also may be the most universally hated bag by caddies around the globe due to hits extremely heavy weight. I know this, because I’ve had no less than three of them tell me that. So, as a self-respecting (well usually), golf blogger, I knew the time had come to make some changes. While there are a ton of different bag companies out there, my…
For the last year or so, I’ve been playing without a rangefinder in my bag. On numerous occasions people in my group have asked me to shoot a distance, only to hear me say, “sorry, I can’t!” “But you’re a golf blogger! How on earth can you not have a rangefinder?” To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why this is the case, but recently I set out to make a change. My selection? The Golf Buddy LR5s. I knew Golf Buddy as more of a GPS and wearable’s company, but I was intrigued by the LR5S for it’s slope capabilities, compact…