Traditionally, if you wanted to get a distance on the golf course, your best bet is to have a laser rangefinder. But there is, of course, another option for getting your distances. And we’re not talking sprinkler heads. Golf watches are the stealthy, practical alternative to rangefinders, and many golfers find them to be preferable. Why? The best golf watches include comfort, performance, simplicity, and even style – and some of them can even cost less than your typical rangefinder. For some golfers, GPS golf watches beat the cumbersome and time-consuming routine of pulling out a rangefinder each time you want a…
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.
Over the years I’ve struggled to find a pair of golf pants that I truly loved. Most often I’ve found myself leaning towards versatile pants that I can use both on the course and off. I’ve worn the Bluffworks Ascender for years, and more recently I’ve been a fan of the TRUE Linkswear All Day pants. And those are great. But I’ve got a new love: the G/FORE Tour 5 Pocket pants. I’ve written in other reviews about my reluctance to embrace G/FORE. The brand seemed a little too fashion-forward for me, and if I’m honest, a lot of their branding and…
Updated in January 2024 to add Uneekor Eye Mini and a video version of this post. 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 2024? 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…
Updated January 2024 to add reviews for both the SL2 MIY and SL2 Air Walker, as well as a video review. Stitch Golf makes some of the most beautiful golf bags on the market. Whether you’re looking to buy a golf bag for yourself, or as a gift for another golfer in your life – few bags are as special as those from Stitch. Stitch has been kind enough to hook up Breaking Eighty readers with a Stitch Golf coupon code for 20% off any purchase on the site. Use the code “BE20” to save 20% on anything you want,…
Updated October 2023 to make direct comparisons to the Epix line of watches to help you better decide which Garmin golf watch is right for you. When I first reviewed the Garmin Approach S62, I declared it the best GPS golf watch on the market. And that’s been the case ever since. Any GPS golf watch will give you accurate distances to the green, but few provided the level of detail and functionality of Garmin’s flagship S62. But it wasn’t perfect. If you’re used to an Apple Watch the screen quality is a noticeable downgrade on the S62, and it’s…
Five years ago, if you saw a guy walking around town in golf shoes you’d probably laugh at him. It’s just not something you do. But these days, that’s all changed. There’s a handful of companies that have embraced the idea of the “all day” golf shoe. These are shoes that perform well enough to wear on the course, but look and feel more like regular street shoes. https://youtu.be/Uq3ExgaYteI?si=l4UXSwWXfk5G2o1u They still represent a pretty small niche in the world of golf, but for the right person, having a pair of all day shoes in your golf (and street) wardrobe can…
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…
Before arriving at the Santa Lucia Preserve outside of Carmel, I’d heard nothing but wonderful things. Every person I’d talked to before the trip said things like: “You’re going to The Preserve? You’re going to love it.” “It’s such a special place…” “It’s unlike any club I’ve ever been to…” Naturally, when you hear these things over and over, your expectations begin to rise. After being intrigued by both the golf and the property in general for years, I recently had the chance to visit the Santa Lucia Preserve for the first time. I stayed at the Hacienda on the property…
This G/FORE MG4+ review was updated in March 2024 to add a new G/Fore buying guide for 2024. Over the years of reviewing golf products, I’ve always kind of admired G/FORE from afar. Being a very fashion-forward brand, some of their products have always just been a little too in-your-face for me. I’m not the guy that’s going to be wearing a bright purple golf glove, or super loud prints on my polos. Even the racing stripes on these G/FORE shorts I reviewed a while back, felt like too much for me. But if you start looking at G/FORE’s offerings,…
Oregon is home to some of the most diverse golf in the entire country. You have the closest thing to golfing in Scotland when you visit the world-class resort, Bandon Dunes. Travel a few hours to Bend, and you have high desert golf and a collection of some wonderfully unique golf courses and resorts. Then up and down the Willamette Valley, you have a bunch of great parkland layouts. You could make the argument that Oregon is one of the best states for public golf considering it has 5 of the top 100 golf courses in the world – all publicly accessible…