This Week In Golf
Michael Brennan Explains Titleist's Prototype 3-Wood
Baycurrent Classic winner Michael Brennan used a Titleist GTS 3W Prototype while leading the field in driving accuracy and gaining more than seven strokes off the tee. Brennan says the head produces more consistent spin on heel and toe strikes, while a slight right bias lets him swing aggressively without fearing a left miss. The useful product lesson is that a Tour prototype earns trust by narrowing the cost of imperfect contact.
Read full story ↗Could Your Golf Shoes Be Costing You Speed?
A FootJoy fitting showed how footwear can influence the swing rather than merely complete an outfit. Moving to a better-supported fit and dropping half a size reduced unwanted movement, added roughly two miles per hour of swing speed, and produced about three extra yards of carry. Golf.club should treat shoes as performance equipment whose size, structure, and connection to the ground can be tested.
Read full story ↗Five Iron Golf Launches a Lounge Licensing Platform
Five Iron Lounge packages the company's technology and guest experience for hotels, casinos, resorts, restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues that want golf without operating a full Five Iron location. The smaller-footprint model is designed for third-party operators, with BrewDog named as the inaugural partner for a Las Vegas opening. It is a meaningful signal that indoor golf is becoming licensable hospitality infrastructure.
Read full story ↗A PGA Tour Caddie Quits Mid-Tournament Again
David Lipsky began the final round of the Baycurrent Classic with a replacement on the bag after his caddie, Darren Woolard, ended the partnership following 54 holes. The split was the second mid-event caddie departure on the PGA Tour in roughly a month. Beyond the spectacle, it shows how player-caddie communication and role clarity can become immediate performance risks when pressure exposes a failing operating relationship.
Read full story ↗LIV Golf Circles the Drain as Brian Rolapp Weighs Hardball Against Moneyball
Eamon Lynch frames PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp's strategic choice as LIV Golf weakens: maintain a punitive posture toward defectors or pursue a financially disciplined route for selected players to return. The column's larger point is that the Tour's strongest position may come from controlling access and setting rational terms rather than paying for reconciliation at any cost.
Read full story ↗The Obscure Swedish Golf Game That Hooked the Internet
Executive Golf is a simple browser game built around a three-meter shot mechanic, approachable physics, and customizable tournaments. A group of golf friends turned it into the SlackGA Tour, while the wider game now draws hundreds of daily players and a larger weekly audience. Its appeal comes from low friction plus social structure: easy entry, shared competition, and enough organization to make players return.
Read full story ↗Fairway Wood or Hybrid? Robot Testing Finds the Real Variable
Robot testing at two swing speeds found that club category mattered less than loft and delivery. The 3-wood and 3-hybrid lost carry as the attack angle became steeper, while higher-lofted options gained carry and the 9-wood improved the most. Golfers should fit the required carry gap to their strike and delivery rather than assume a wood or hybrid is automatically the correct answer.
Read full story ↗Can a 3-Handicap Break Par From Rory McIlroy's Drives?
Joel Tadman replayed a course from positions based on Rory McIlroy's 2026 driving average and statistical fairway pattern. Starting roughly 330 yards from each tee produced four birdies and made under-par golf feel unusually accessible, but it also exposed a weakness in wedge practice. Distance created the opportunity; approach conversion determined how much of the advantage reached the scorecard.
Read full story ↗Five Lessons From 40 Years of Golf
Fergus Bisset distills four decades in the game into beauty, tolerance, patience, acceptance, and gratitude. His lessons recognize imperfect rounds, difficult partners, unlucky breaks, and the rare shot that can redeem an afternoon. The piece is a useful editorial counterweight to optimization: golf's lasting value includes friendship, perspective, and a reason to appreciate the chance to play.
Read full story ↗The Three Numbers to See Before Buying an Iron
The three numbers are carry distance, carry consistency, and descent angle. MyGolfSpy uses the contrast between the longer PING i540 and the higher-rated Wilson DYNAPWR Forged to show why raw distance can lose to a more complete accuracy-and-forgiveness profile. The framework is compact enough to become a standard Golf.club comparison card for iron decisions.
Read full story ↗Five Tour Stars Who Abandoned Equipment Changes in 2026
Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Matt Fitzpatrick, Cameron Young, and Collin Morikawa all provide versions of the same lesson: a promising new club does not automatically survive tournament pressure. Several returned to familiar heads, shapes, or setups after testing alternatives. Golfers should compare new and trusted equipment across multiple sessions and value repeatability above novelty.
Read full story ↗LIV Players and the DP World Tour Discuss an Exit-Path Deal
Today's Golfer reports advanced discussions around exit arrangements that could provide 2027 DP World Tour opportunities to players who decline LIV Golf 2.0. Nonmembers could receive invitations, although immediate access to the biggest Rolex Series events would not be guaranteed. The story adds a practical route to the wider policy debate: the Tour may pair a harder membership boundary with selective re-entry terms.
Read full story ↗From Military Intelligence to Golf Course Design
Architect Mike Koprowski explains his transition from military intelligence into golf, his design debut at Broomsedge with Kyle Franz, and his work on a new course at South Carolina's developing Candyroot Lodge destination. The story is a useful reminder that design careers often begin with transferable skills—observation, terrain reading, systems thinking, and disciplined execution—before they become visible in the finished course.
Read full story ↗Meet the 20 Pros Who Earned 2027 PGA Tour Cards
The season-ending Korn Ferry Tour points list promoted 20 players, led by two-time winner Ross Steelman. Austin Hitt rose to sixth after winning the finale, while 19-year-old Blades Brown became the youngest card holder in Tour history. With a two-track PGA Tour system approaching in 2028, the class enters 2027 with unusually high stakes and a valuable head start.
Read full story ↗Austin Hitt Wins the Korn Ferry Tour Championship
Hitt began the final week 22nd on the points list and needed to climb into the top 20. A closing 66 produced a two-shot victory, his first Korn Ferry Tour title, and a jump to sixth in the final standings. His week shows how a player can solve both the tournament and the season-long status problem in one performance.
Read full story ↗Grant Forrest Secures His Masters Debut
Forrest arrived at the Spanish Open after missing nine of his previous 12 cuts, then won by one stroke to earn his first Masters invitation and a place in his third Open Championship. The turnaround illustrates why national opens now matter as major pathways as well as standalone titles.
Read full story ↗Every Winning Putter on the PGA Tour in 2026
Golf Digest's running inventory pairs each Tour winner's putter with a performance statistic from the week. Michael Brennan's Baycurrent victory gave Scotty Cameron its 10th win of the season, while TaylorMade led with 14; Ping had six, Odyssey five, Bettinardi three, and L.A.B. two. The spread argues against a single universal answer and for fitting equipment to stroke and setup.
Read full story ↗The Best Golf Balls for Seniors in 2026
GolfLink tested 43 balls with human swings and a launch monitor, then weighted distance, accuracy, wedge control, and value for senior players. The resulting recommendations span budget and tour-level models because swing speed, launch, sidespin, feel, and short-game needs vary widely. The useful lesson is fit: age alone does not identify the right ball.
Read full story ↗Tyler McCumber Accepts a Two-Stroke Ball-Marker Penalty
McCumber moved his marker one putter head to clear a playing partner's line, then became unsure whether he had returned it to the correct position. Video was inconclusive, but he chose the two-stroke penalty for playing from the wrong place and signed for a third-round 76. The incident makes integrity visible precisely because certainty was unavailable.
Read full story ↗The Best Golf Course Under $75 in Every State
The list requires a standard 18-hole rate of $75 or less during the normal season and a Google rating of at least 4.5, excluding promotional, resident, twilight, and package pricing. It finds value in architecture and character rather than price alone; Arizona's Aguila, for example, pairs a $39 standard fee with strategic desert golf and South Mountain views.
Read full story ↗Change Bunker-Shot Distances Without Changing Your Swing
Teacher David Armitage combines three wedges with three face positions to create nine greenside-bunker distances from one repeatable swing. The method shifts complexity into setup and club choice while reminding players that sand firmness affects launch and spin. It is a strong model for instruction that reduces variables instead of adding motion.
Read full story ↗The Top 10 Golf Courses in Texas
Whispering Pines leads a list that moves from Dallas National's limestone canyons and Colonial's history to Bluejack National, Austin Golf Club, and the links-like Trinity Forest. The selections show how Texas golf draws identity from pinewoods, Hill Country limestone, restored classics, strategic minimalism, and bold modern construction rather than one regional style.
Read full story ↗Reagan Zibilski Reaches the LPGA in 11 Professional Starts
The former Arkansas player closed the Epson Tour Championship with a 62 and completed a rapid promotion to the LPGA after only 11 starts on the qualifying circuit. Her rise adds a women's pathway case to a week dominated by men's Tour-card coverage and shows how a short run of elite results can compress the development timeline.
Read full story ↗Five Mulligan Rules to Set Before the Round
Mulligans are not recognized by the Rules of Golf; replaying from the prior spot carries a penalty. The practical guidance is to avoid them in handicap rounds, competition, money games, and milestone scores, while agreeing on any casual-round convention before the opening tee shot. The distinction protects both fun and score credibility.
Read full story ↗Arccos Air Tests Sensor-Free Shot Tracking
Arccos Air uses a pocket device, GPS, and a model trained on more than 1.5 billion swings instead of individual club sensors. A summer-long test found roughly 60 to 70 percent club-identification accuracy, improvement as more rounds were logged, and five to 10 minutes of post-round editing. The tradeoff is clear: less hardware friction in exchange for some cleanup, with detailed analysis as the reward.
Read full story ↗Kirkland vs. Vokey SM11 in a $67 Wedge Test
MyGolfSpy's 2026 wedge test covered 15 models, 240 hours, and 11,400 shots across full swings and dry and wet 50-yard shots. Kirkland's Gen 3 scored 9.1 overall against 8.9 for the Vokey SM11, with equal spin scores and a large price gap: three Kirkland wedges cost about the same as one Vokey. The result makes value measurable rather than rhetorical.
Read full story ↗The Best Public Golf States, Ranked 1-50
The ranking scores states on top-tier quality, accessibility and cost, depth, destination appeal, and variety. Michigan finished first with a 9.4 for its mix of destination courses, reasonable prices, and statewide depth; Wisconsin followed at 8.7. Arizona and Texas tied at 7.9, illustrating how premium quality can be offset by peak pricing, travel distance, or access friction.
Read full story ↗Best Properties for a Golf and Hunting Trip
Quail season across much of the South overlaps with cooler weather and lighter midweek resort demand, creating a natural window for trips that pair golf with field sports. The idea extends beyond quail to pheasant, sporting clays, elk, and deer in destinations where golf is part of a broader outdoor itinerary. For Golf.club, the larger opportunity is packaging seasonal travel around complementary experiences rather than treating the course as the entire product.
Read full story ↗Michael Brennan Earns His Third Tour Win in 33 Starts
Brennan closed with a three-under 68 at Yokohama Country Club to finish 16 under and beat Jacob Bridgeman and Keith Mitchell by one. He steadied himself after a bogey at the 10th, made consecutive birdies, and protected the lead with six closing pars. The victory is his second of the season and third in 33 PGA Tour starts, reinforcing how quickly comfort under pressure can compound into a career advantage.
Read full story ↗Blades Brown Storms into the Korn Ferry Tour Championship Lead
Brown shot a 10-under 61 to take a one-stroke lead at 13 under in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. The 19-year-old entered the week safely inside the card line and could become the youngest player to earn PGA Tour status through the circuit, surpassing Jason Day’s age mark. His season shows why development coverage should connect raw talent to the competitive pathway that turns promise into status.
Read full story ↗Can Handicap Committees Do More to Detect Manipulation?
The article asks how club handicap committees should respond when golfers manipulate scoring records and whether existing oversight is strong enough to identify abuse. The issue sits at the center of recreational golf’s trust system: a handicap is useful only when peers believe the inputs are honest. Golf.club could make the topic practical by clarifying committee tools, warning signs, due process, and member education.
Read full story ↗Titleist’s 2027 Pro V1 Line Gets Its First Tour Reviews
Titleist seeded its 2027 Pro V1 and Pro V1x models on tour, with 12 players using the new Pro V1 in Japan. Early feedback centered on tighter spin windows, less curvature in crosswinds, and lower-launching pitch shots with useful short-game spin. The signal is promising but still early, making this a strong case for tracking adoption and performance before turning tour comments into broad consumer conclusions.
Read full story ↗R&A Chief Defends the Rise in Open Ticket Prices
R&A chief executive Mark Darbon pointed to demand as the central reason for rising Open prices. More than one million people entered the ballot for Royal Birkdale, while 306,000 ultimately attended, and the next championship at St Andrews is carrying materially higher final-round pricing than in 2022. The tension is clear: scarcity supports the economics, but long-term loyalty depends on keeping the experience within reach of more than the highest bidders.
Read full story ↗Pacific Dunes Turns 25
Tom Doak’s Pacific Dunes has reached its 25th anniversary with its reputation as a modern classic firmly established. The milestone is a reminder that course culture compounds over time: design creates the foundation, but repeated play, shared memory, and a clear sense of place turn a young course into an institution. Golf.club can use anniversaries like this to connect architecture history with practical destination planning.
Read full story ↗Baycurrent Points, Payouts, and the Value of a Win
Brennan earned $1.44 million from an $8 million purse, while Bridgeman and Mitchell each collected $704,000 for finishing one stroke back. Because Brennan was already inside the top 50, the winner’s 500 FedExCup points were not distributed to him, but the victory secured a 2027 major exemption he did not receive with his previous win. The story shows why prize money alone never captures the full career value of a result.
Read full story ↗Adam Hadwin’s Rules Error Complicates His Tour-Card Bid
Hadwin self-reported playing from the wrong spot after using a club-length of preferred-lie relief when only a scorecard length was permitted. The two-shot penalty changed a par to a double bogey during a week in which he needed a victory to regain his PGA Tour card. The episode is a precise lesson in how tournament-specific conditions and a player’s integrity can intersect with enormous competitive stakes.
Read full story ↗How Often Do Amateurs Reach a Par 5 in Two?
The analysis tests golfers’ optimism against handicap-based performance data and asks how realistic a two-shot par-5 strategy is for different players. Its value is not merely statistical; probability should influence target selection, acceptable miss patterns, and whether chasing the green is actually the lowest-risk route to a good score. Golf.club can turn this format into repeatable strategy guidance grounded in real outcomes.
Read full story ↗Omni Barton Creek Makes the Case for the Four-Course Buddies’ Trip
The Austin-area resort combines four courses from Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Arnold Palmer, and Tom Fazio with food, drink, and a Texas Hill Country setting. Its Fazio Canyons course will also host the 2026 Austin Championship, giving traveling golfers a connection to tour competition as well as architectural variety. The property illustrates how course depth reduces logistical friction and lets a group build a complete trip around one home base.
Read full story ↗More Players Follow Jon Rahm Toward the LIV Exit
The report says additional players are moving toward the LIV exit after Rahm’s departure, extending questions about roster stability and the league’s next competitive model. Each move carries consequences beyond the individual: fields change, qualification routes reopen or narrow, and rival tours gain new decisions about eligibility. Golf.club should maintain a consequence map that connects every move to the competitive opportunities that follow.
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