By John K. Darling
September 12, 2003
I was recently surfing golf equipment testing companies on the Internet and came across www.golftestusa.com. I was very impressed with the site and thought you might be as well.
The thing I like best about the testing criteria the site presents is that it is numerical and unbiased. There is no narrative to help you form your own opinion about specific golf equipment. In the "test menu" there are 18 specific categories in alphabetical order from golf accessories, bags, and balls to wedges and Women's clubs.
Let's take "wedges" for instance. These clubs are rated from one to ten for control, accuracy, appearance, and feel. If you look at "irons" there is one additional measure, which is distance. There were 46 wedges tested. The one www.SeniorFriendlyGolf.com gives FREE to not only its new members, but also any golfer going to the SFG site, is the Giant Golf lob wedge. This club rated 8.9 and was ahead of the Taylor Made Tour and Calloway X-12 (both rated 8.6) and the Adams Faldo (8.4) and the Nicklaus Pro Nickel (8.2).
Another thing I like about the ratings is that at the bottom of the page there is a link to get to manufacturer links. Wow, probably every golf manufacturer in the world is available there through the Internet.
The GolfTestUSA site provides more than just tests. You will find the following as well: Joke of the Week, Handicap Tracker, Message Board, Hole-in-ones, Ask the Pro, News Releases, Request a Test, Tip of the Week, Golf Rules, Tools of the Trade and the Pro Shop.
About the Pro Shop. All proceeds go to the Integra Youth Golf Foundation, which has the objective of helping to make sure that youths of America, no matter what their economic status, have golf club sets to learn and participate in the great sport of golf. Another thing is that the price is right. I recently bought a Nike driver at Sam's Club for about $176 only to find it in the GolfTestUSA Pro Shop for $149. If you care to donate to the program, you can find out more by going to www.golftestusa.com/integrat_foundation.html.