The Sunny Side of Golf

Are sunglasses really equipment? Well, the next time you launch a drive into the setting sun and realize you have no idea where it went, I think you’ll say yes. Ask any pilot, downhill skier and a lot of touring golf pros and they will emphatically say yes. This month, we turn from typical equipment to focus on sunglasses – the other equipment that must fit as much as any other equipment you take to the course.

The two main considerations in a pair of sunglasses are the frame style and the lenses. Frames are pretty easy to figure out. If you like the way they look, then you are on the right track. Next, check out how they fit your face. Make sure they sit level, hug the nose, and don’t let too much light in from the top, sides, or below. If they do, sometimes that can add glare to the “inside” of the lens and your vision will be compromised unless you wear a bucket hat or otherwise shade your face. Finally, you want to be sure they have rubber temples and nose pieces to keep them on when you perspire.

Lenses are more difficult. Besides the material of the lens, the tint and light transmission is also important. In the middle of summer or on that desert golf trip, you want maximum protection and a darker lens. On a cloudy day, you want an amber-tinted lens that lets a lot of light through. All other times, something lighter like a brown lens will work. Interchangeable lenses let you to match the lens to the day, but most of us tend to be a little too lazy to change them out (or we forget where we put the other lenses). Regardless of your lens-changing work ethic, interchangeable lenses do give you options to try and see what works for you under most conditions.

Finally, the biggest thing we check out when picking a pair of golf sunglasses is the contrast level of the lens. Lenses labeled “high contrast” filter out certain light spectrums and help illuminate objects like a white golf ball. That means the golf ball can literally “pop” against the sky and grass, making it far easier to track a long drive in almost any set of conditions than with the naked eye. A good way to quickly test glasses is to look at some clouds against a blue sky. If the clouds look brighter and the wispy edges have more definition, then you will likely see the ball better with them on.

With all that said, the last thing to think about, besides lenses and frames, is how much you want to spend. Perhaps you want a high-end pair that provides the best optics or maybe you want a very good, workable pair that you won’t cry when you accidentally sit on them or drop them from a moving cart (I’ve done both).

High-End Glasses typically run around $100 or more, and if you ask any of the players at this end of the market why their sunglasses cost so much, the answer is always because of their superior optics. That might include anything from a lack of distortion to anti-static coatings that keep dust and lint away.

PeakVision is a Kansas City area company making huge waves in the golfing industry. Just tune in to the Golf Channel and you are bound to run into one of their ads. Their answer to the predicament of choosing which lens to use is to give you two levels of filtration in one lens. A grey upper portion filters the sun’s strong rays and protects your eyes against glare. The lens transitions smoothly into an amber, high-contrast lower portion that enhances your ability to see contours and other subtleties. Now the trade off between maximum sun protection and maximum contrast is neutralized in one pair of sunglasses. During testing, the dual zones really kicked into gear on the course and we immediately saw why these glasses are so popular. Look up and the upper lens portion keeps the sun at bay. Look down to read your line, and the green surface is clear and bright, even with flat light. Additionally, PeakVision glasses also have virtually no distortion across the lens or at any contact points, giving you a better view all around. We tested the popular XR4 design, which is a metal frame that was a bit heavier than other models, but was still comfortable with spring-loaded rubber temples. You know how they say to hold the club like a baby bird – firm enough to keep it from getting away, but loose enough to keep it comfortable? Well, that’s what these frames felt like. Visit www.peakvisionsports.com for more.

Bolle is another great Kansas City company (parent Bushnell is in Overland Park) which must make our town the mecca of golfing eyewear. Their EagleVision2 Dark lenses are meant specifically for golf and are a great all-around dark brown lens that enhance contrast. This makes a white golf ball look bigger and brighter as it tracks against the sky while offering the right amount of sun protection. The Warrant style of frame we checked out comes with interchangeable lenses, which gives the wearer options, although we found options were not needed when it came to the EagleVision 2 Dark lens. We tested the Warrant and found it comfortable and light. No golfer could go wrong with the lens we tried out, although you should check out a number of styles to get the right fit. Of all the glasses we tested, the Bolle pair was the best all-around and the first that someone grabbed for a casual round after the testing was completed (www.bolle.com).

Oakley has long been synonymous with sporting sunglasses and golf is no exception. We tried on a couple of their top frame styles in the Flak Jacket XLJ with popular G30 lenses and the Radar Path with Slate lenses. These and most Oakleys tend to have an aggressive look while remaining comfortable and light. The allure of Oakley sunglasses, besides the name, is evident in their distortion-free High Definition Optics and their Hydrophobic lens coating. Hydrophobic doesn’t mean your glasses are scared of water, but that they repel water and other moisture. Oakleys are also anti-static to keep away dust and dirt. Water, smudges, sweat, dust, and dirt are typical in any round of golf – and our testing confirmed Oakley’s claims. The G30 lens was great – we could see the ball well and got medium protection from glare. The Slate lens is darker and better bright days (www.oakley.com).

Maui Jim sunglasses are cool, but the ones we tested were not only cool, but great golf equipment too. Both pairs we tried came with high-contrast bronze lenses. The Makaha sunglasses have a very lightweight plastic frame that is so light you forget you have them on. The other pair, the Moku, was even lighter and featured Maui Jim’s new Evolution lens. The Moku frame is made from Grilamid (no hinges, just very flexible, springy plastic arms that come off the sides of the lenses and spring back to shape no matter how you bend or twist them). Both pairs are more casual-looking than sporty, making them something you can wear to the course, on the course, and then to the beach (or pool) afterwards. One tester previously owned a pair of the sportier Turtle Bay, but in their darker grey lens. He immediately took to the bronze lens and has made it his choice for golfing. Besides what we tested, there are plenty of options – check them all out at www.mauijim.com.

Vedalo sunglasses have been traditionally targeted to pilots, but now their sunglasses are targeted to golfers with their HDL-3C lenses in copper-rose. We tested a pair of their Como and Torino glasses in the copper-rose and green lenses. Both are built with their HDL-3C technology, which uses filters vs. tints or coatings. What that means, they claim, is that they spend far more in manufacturing to deliver enhanced color sensitivity and contrast. We felt the Como, with its metal frame, was a bit heavy for our liking and the green lenses would not be our first choice for golf. The copper-rose lens, though, was excellent. A ball in flight looked huge and we could see green undulations and other details with clarity. Wearing them was like watching your buddies play golf in HD. The Torino frame was much more sporty and lightweight. It seemed to fit our expectation of a golf sunglass much better (www.vedalohd.com).

While all of the above are nice – sometimes what you really need is a great, functional pair of Mid-Level Glasses that run around $40-$65.

Tifosi was one of our favorite mid-level sunglasses. The Slip model we tested comes with a trio of interchangeable lenses. The GT lens is what Tifosi recommends for golf and is what we used most of the time to review the glasses. The AC Red (all conditions, red) lens allows slightly more light transmission and is not explicitly a golf lens, although at least one of our testers preferred it. Finally, the EC (extreme contrast) lens allows a lot of light to pass through but creates extreme contrast for low light or variable light conditions on the golf course. This set of lenses seemed perfect for any day and any set of conditions. The coolest feature of the glasses were the hydrophilic (fancy word for bendable) rubber temples. We could keep them straight and have them wrap and hold our head or curve them around our ears for a tighter fit – whatever we wanted or needed. The best part is you can modify the fit to change contact points or get a different feel if the wind kicks up. For the price, this is one excellent set of eyewear (www.tifosioptics.com).

Live Eyewear’s Polar Eyes line of sunglasses was another top performer in this segment. We tried their Islay model. It was comfortable, and the copper lenses helped us see and track the ball in flight. Islay sunglasses also come with flexible temples, which, as noted, is a major comfort feature allowing you to customize how they fit. Our testers said the Islay was light and comfortable – that the good-looking frames and lightweight polycarbonate lenses would let you forget you even had them on. There isn’t a lot of high tech going on in these glasses, but for the price and their lifetime warranty they are hard to beat (www.polareyes.com).

Sundog has long been a mainstay in golf – just ask Paula Creamer or Hunter Mahan. Targeted to golfers, Sundog has become almost synonymous with golf eyewear. Sundog glasses come with additional hydrophobic treatments to repel water and oil (recall the same with Oakleys above). We tried their Spin glasses with smoke lenses, but we would have liked to try their other lenses for golf. The glasses were comfortable, but they didn’t do much for visual contrast. These were good sunglasses, but you should try some of their other lenses for golf (www.sundogeyewear.com).

We hope that helps you find what you need in sunglasses. Again – think of them as equipment: Make the right kind of investment, and you’ll be much more comfortable on the course.

—Tim Carrigan

Iron It Out This Year

Irons are perhaps the most-used and least-replaced portion of your golf bag. A bad day of putting results in immediate replacement of the flat-stick. When your buddy finds a little more distance, we quickly jump to the newest, coolest driver in the quest for more length. But it’s those irons that stand the test of time. Sure, you might have kicked the 3-iron to the curb in order to get a fancy new hybrid in your bag, but for most golfers, the 4-PW (half our bagful of clubs) have stood the test of time – perhaps for too long.

If you haven’t checked out the new irons on the market in a while, then it’s time. With a lot of new product introductions last year and already a few more this year, there is a lot to see and try out at your favorite local golf shop. With advances in materials and club-making technology, irons coming out today have hotter faces, feature bigger sweet spots and even feel better to hit. As always, I cannot go into every iron out there, but some of the more notable manufacturers, as well as some of the coolest innovations are discussed below. Whatever you do – get fitted. Even if you got fitted for your last set eight years ago, you should do it again. You might be taller, stronger, older, better, thinner and, yes, maybe even wider than you were when you bought the old Pings.

TaylorMade last year came out with their new R7 irons featuring a lot of new innovations like their inverted cone technology and thin-face engineering to provide more distance and forgiveness, along with an innovative shock-absorbing web that is plastered to the back of the club to improve feel. Performance tests have supported the distance and forgiveness claims, and my own testing validates the claims about feel.

R7 irons come in three styles: R7, R7 Draw, R7 TP and the brand new for 2008, R7 CGB Max. The standard R7 is a game-improvement iron that should appeal to the majority of golfers. The Draw version is just that: draw-biased with a generous amount of heel-weighting to help slicers keep the ball online. Finally, the TP version (stands for Tour Preferred) has a slightly smaller clubhead, a thinner sole and a thinner topline to appeal to better players. All that said, the R7 TP is still a long ways from being considered a “player’s blade” with plenty of forgiveness built in. The new R7 CGB Max offers even more forgiveness and reduces overall club weight to help players swing with more speed.

The last iron from TaylorMade worth mentioning is their Burner XD iron. Like R7 CGB irons and the driver carrying the same Burner name, these irons are very light overall to promote speed. They are oversized and incorporate the same inverted cone technology seen throughout the TaylorMade lineup. Need more info? Check out www.taylormadegolf.com.

Callaway continues to bring great products to the market, building on their history of building clubs that combine maximum forgiveness while retaining the playability and shot-making capabilities that better players demand. Their newest introduction is an extension of their FT (Fusion Technology) lineup. The new FT i-brid irons are just what they sound like – a hybrid iron set built with multiple materials that allow Callaway engineers to place weight where they want it in the clubhead. In this case, it’s a lightweight titanium face surrounded by Tunite (a heavier, Tungsten blend they created) to create maximum perimeter weighting for forgiveness and distance. The back cavity is filled in with a polymer material to improve the feel and sound of the club. These hybrid irons complement their existing and slightly improved FT irons, and will be available this month.

The other mainstay in the Callaway line has long been the X-series of irons. Last year, they introduced the X-20 and X-20 Tour, along with a new X-Forged iron. The X-20 and X-20 Tour resemble the great heel-toe and perimeter-weighted irons of years past while the X-Forged is a step into the world of forged irons with a smaller clubhead and thinner lines created from 1020
carbon steel. The X-Forged offers a little less forgiveness, but has incredible feel and maintains great distance off every club. It also has a more solid sound at impact that some players may prefer over the X-20 series of irons. After hitting all of Callaway’s products, I loved the X-Forged because it hit just as easy but felt and sounded great. Don’t just take my word for it; check www.callawaygolf.com for more details on these products.

Mizuno finally stepped into the middle! They traditionally had their set of MP for better golfers that, quite frankly, never deviated from being true blades (read that as really easy to miss-hit). Then they added the MX line, which offered maximum forgiveness, including hybrid sets and other extreme perimeter-weighted models. But where did that leave all of us looking for something in the middle?

Finally, they introduced their new MP-57 irons late last year. These are a true cavity-backed iron crafted using their “grain-flow” forging, but built to combine forgiveness and playability. Plus, they look fantastic with classic nickel chrome plating and no overdone colors or graphics. If you want something that dazzles the eye like Las Vegas on a RedBull, then look elsewhere. All you get from Mizuno is the latest technology and exceptional feel in a classy look. Mizuno’s tend to run a bit pricey, so I’ll warn you not to check out their lineup if you can’t afford them. You are likely to forget your budget and buy them anyway – proceed with caution.

Like I alluded to earlier, Mizuno has plenty of other options for more forgiveness and more playability in their MX and MP lines, respectively. All of their irons are grain-flow forged, a process they highly tout to deliver exceptional feel. Their clubs all certainly look great and deserve a look. For a sneak peek before you head to the golf shop, log on to www.mizunousa.com.

Ping introduced their latest G10 and i10 irons at the end of last golf season. The G10 irons are the most player-friendly and feature their new Custom Tuning Port, which is placed low on the back of the clubface to stabilize it (similar to TaylorMade’s Inverted Cone) while adding weight low and away from the hitting area. The G10’s are thick across the sole and the top-line, while featuring some cool fire-orange graphics for a unique look. The i10 looks similar with its graphics but is much more of a players’ iron. It still features a fairly deep cavity-back on a smaller clubhead with thinner (although not close to blade-thin) top-line and sole. It too has the Customer Tuning Port to provide the same benefits to go with the versatility built into the club.

Ping still has their Rapture line, along with the G5, i5 and the true players’ iron, the S58. All are excellent clubs for different types of golfers. If you’re a Ping player, you should check them all out and pick what works for you. Their website is www.pinggolf.com.

As always, there are many more irons and many more manufacturers than we have space for. Notables include Adams, Cleveland, Cobra, Nike and Titleist, among others. In fact, as of this writing, some of the equipment companies still haven’t released their newest sets for 2008 yet. While they may be available by the time this article prints, right now the word on the street is Titleist is finally releasing two new sets of irons to appeal to those of us who don’t (or can’t) hit blades or clubs that closely resemble blades. Their AP1 and AP2 have a much deeper cavity and include a blend of materials including tungsten nickel to help add perimeter weighting. The AP1 is the more forgiving of the two and is cast stainless steel while the AP2 will be a forged offering, in keeping with the feel and playability expected of Titleist irons. I can hardly wait to check them out. If they turn out like I think they will, don’t be surprised to see them in my bag later this spring.

—Tim Carrigan