Equipment Review: ClicGear Rovic RV2L Push Cart

For most of my playing career, I’ve sort of chuckled at people that used push carts. I mean, if you have to put so much stuff in your bag that you can’t handle it, should you really be playing golf? Now that I’m a few year’s wiser and more than a few years older, I have come to realize that it’s not about the weight of the bag, it’s the strain that said bag puts on you during the round that these genius people were avoiding. To make a long story short, I began looking at the price of a quality cart, you know the ones that are priced upwards of $200+ and started looking for alternatives that would work just as well as the higher priced models. I settled on the Rovic RV2L by ClicGear.  This cart is considered an ultralight model, but for my smaller bag, I knew I didn’t need much more.
The Rovic RV2L features a three wheeled design with two full size wheels in the back and one “half” size wheel in front. The front wheel is a fixed wheel, so it does not swivel to help you change directions, but honestly, the Rovic RV2L is so light and easy to maneuver that I think a swivel wheel would be a bit overkill. Before I get too far into the details of the Rovic RV2L, let me get back to the day I unboxed it, becuase there is something worth noting here. Upon arrival, the box for the  Rovic RV2L looked pretty large for a compact cart to come in. I figured it would be a nightmare of part A and tab B and missing screws, but it was anything but. I opened the box, removed on plastic wrapped bag from the box, opened it and pulled on the gray unlock handle to see my cart unfold in front of me. It was literally the easiest thing in the universe to get setup.

Now, once again, before we go too in-depth, I want to remind everyone that the Rovic RV2L is a lightweight model, not something designed to carry a tour bag or a ton of extra accessories. It’s a very simple cart system that is perfect for those on a budget that don’t need to carry too much in the way of accessories with them. The cart does have a few frills attached to it, even if they are the most basic ones. The Rovic RV2L comes standard with a umbrella holder and a water bottle holder built in. It also features one additional ClicGear accessory port on the handle to attach an add-on for just about anything you can imagine. I’ve outfitted mine with the GPS/Phone holder that will allow me quick access to my GolfPad GPS app. There is also a well placed scorecard holder with an accessory bag located right below it. The mesh pocket doesn’t seem like it is built for the long haul, so I only used it to hold my photo phone and an extra ball during my round. It seemed like a great solution for smaller items, but it’s definitely not build for any substantial use.
Having all the extras on a cart in this price range is great, but what it really comes down to is how the Rovic RV2L performed on course. All of those magical gadgets and gizmos are great, but if it doesn’t hold a bag or if it doesn’t have a decent brake, it’s not going to perform well and isn’t worth the investment. Fortunately, the Rovic RV2L performed better than I expected based off the online reviews I read. The cart was setup in seconds after I arrived at the course. Just a pull of the quick release lever and it was unfolded and ready to roll. I did notice that the bag straps require a bit of work to get setup (should have checked this out before the round) but I quickly found a way to make it work. On the course itself, I pushed the Rovic RV2L through almost everything imaginable and the three wheels handled it with ease. What I was concerned the most about was thicker rough with the smaller front wheel. Now, I do have a lighter “carry style” bag, so possibly this has something to do with the fact that the cart handled just fine for me, or perhaps that I know that when you get to crazy bad terrain, you need to lift the front wheel slightly (I grew up in the era of 2 wheeled PULL cars, so this was a no-brainier for me) but the Rovic RV2L performed absolutely solid the entire round for me. I will say that it took me a few holes to understand completely how the brake worked, which led to a few freak out moments – for the record, you press the brake down, let the cart stop moving, then let go of it = but that was it as far as negative feedback goes. For me and my money, I’d say this was a complete and total win on the course.
The next positive was the after the round breakdown. While the size at first was amazing to me, these new super-fold-up carts really aren’t that much smaller than their olden day two-wheeled counterparts. They are just more, trunk sized, than the old ones. Still, when I arrived back at the car, un-clip the bag, pulled on the same quick release lever and the Rovic RV2L was folded up perfectly and ready to head home. It was beyond easy and the rubberized compound on the wheels wasn’t even dirty. I did notice that if you set the adjustment strut to the wide open position the cart can have some issues folding completely, but again, with my smaller bag, this wasn’t an issue I had to deal with. It could present a problem for some larger bags though, so I feel it’s worth mentioning. Other than that, my first round with the Rovic RV2L was a complete and total success and that was with plenty of time to critique the cart during a horrendously long three and a half hour 9 hole round.

That brings me to my final thoughts on the Rovic RV2L and if it’s a good investment for the average golfer or not. This is always hard, because you may be relying on my opinion about this as a justification for spending your hard earned money on a golf cart. With that being the case, I have to honestly say that the Rovic RV2L is a great cart for the money, but depending on your budget, there may be others that fit better. While that may sound bad, if you are like me and carry a smaller bag and like the quality of Clicgear products, than the Rovic RV2L may be the perfect fit for you. I figure with the $140 cost of the cart, I have invested about a $1 a round in it by the time I will need to look at repairs or replacement of it. For me, that means more walking again without the sore back, fatigue or wear and tear on the bag straps that come with carrying it. When I factor everything in, the Rovic RV2L seems like one of the best deals around for me, and it could be for you too. If you are an Amazon shopper, you can pick up the Rovic RV2L with Free Shipping and you can also find it at many retailers as well. Keep in mind that the Rovic RV2L is about $40-50 cheaper than many of the other models and that is the primary reason I chose to highlight it for this blog. It’s a name brand that will be around to cover the warranty, it’s built with solid components, and most of all, for many, it can make golf more enjoyable and less expensive than renting a ride on cart or pull cart every time you hit the course. If you’re ready to save your bag, your back and some cash, check out the Rovic RV2L and see what you think of it. I know I’m impressed with mine and I’m pretty sure you will be as well.

Update: 11/11/19 - The Black Version is the only one currently left in stock and the links in the article were update to go to this version.


Free Shipping - Rovic RV2L by ClicGear

reblog: My Golf Spy–Precision Pro NX7 Pro Testers Wanted

reblog from - https://mygolfspy.com/6-testers-wanted-precision-pro-nx7-pro-laser-rangefinder/

So how much do you have to spend to get a top performing laser rangefinder?

Well, you can spend an arm, a leg and most of your uvula for one of the big names, and it'll work great. But what would you get with, for lack of a better word, a value-priced unit?

According to this year's MyGolfSpy Best Rangefinder ranking, quite a bit. While the usual big-ticket suspects copped the top honors, the Cincinnati-based Precision Pro was named Best Value, with high-level performance and a $199.00 price tag and a lifetime free battery replacement program.

No matter how you slice it, that ain't bad.

<continued>

Originally published by John Barba - June 22nd 2018 .at My Golf Spy.

The US Open: My Two Cents, Not That It Is Worth Anything…

Image Credit: https://media.nbcnewyork.com/images/1200*834/Brooks+Koepka+US+Open+Trophy.JPG

So, the US Open has ended but everyone refuses to let it go. Brooks Koepka won despite the best efforts of everyone around him to take the title away from him. Still, even with Tommy Fleetwood blowing away the field with a 63 on Sunday, the complaints about the course, the conditions and the players couldn’t stop. Sure, Shinnecock played too hard for some of the players. You didn’t see Jordan, Rory or Tiger in contention. You didn’t see a miraculous comeback from a tour pro from west Texas. You didn’t see anything except for some of the greatest golf that the best players in the world could play – and it was done on a stage worthy of calling itself the US Open. Still, the complaints flew, mainly from those that weren’t around for the weekend. The pin placements weren’t right. The rough was too long. The blah, blah blah… You know what guys, this is the second biggest tournament in the US, perhaps you need to get out more and play some courses that are really unfair and then come back to this one. Courses like our local municipal courses that have more divots than grass. Courses with greens that are so inconsistent that it’s impossible to judge the speed of any putt, much less hit it online with the break. Courses that have more mud than sand in their bunkers. Heck, maybe even take away those guys that find their balls for them (even with the aid of a TV crew) and see how they fair. Sure, they may drive a few par 4’s, but the 5 putts that ensued would make for great TV viewing. Enough about stuff that will never happen though, let’s talk about the great (and not so great) moments of this Open.

Image Credit: https://mediaassets.abc15.com/photo/2018/06/16/knxv%20phil%20mickelson_1529174543477.jpg_90020698_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

Don’t tap that ball Phil… If Mickleson had any clue what was going to happen when he struck that moving ball, I can guarantee you that he never would have touched it. His reaction during the ensuing press conference didn’t help matters, but honestly, this was about as big of non-issue event as ever in golf. Was he right, no. Was he wrong, probably not. All he did was take a two stroke penalty on a very frustrating hole and the world kept moving. Had he been in the top 10 when this happened, that’s another story. He wasn’t, and this isn’t worth talking much more about. The poor guy has been an ambassador of the game for so long and done so much right, let’s give the dude a pass for not wanting to Els’ this green.

Image Credit: http://www.ligaolahraga.com/storage/images/news/2018/06/18/tommy-fleetwood-nyaris-menangkan-us-open-2018.jpg

Tommy… I’m really not sure how I feel about writing about Tommy Fleetwood's charge up the leaderboard. Part of me wants to praise the round and part of me wants to strangle him for not making one more birdie on the way in. While Koepka deserves to win the US Open, Fleetwood’s final round deserved it even more. His masterful destruction of a course that many said was unplayable was a round of golf that shouldn’t ever be forgotten. Just one more birdie or one little slip from the winner and we would all be talking about the greatest comeback in the US Open ever. Fleetwood’s round should be an inspiration to young golfers everywhere, that anything is possible in golf, even in the toughest settings. So, Tommy (and I’m going to call you that because you are half my age) – thank you. Thank you for behaving like a professional, and for playing like one too. I was never a huge follower of yours, but you, sir, have my attention and I can’t wait for you to start taking down majors like you took down that course.

Image Credit: https://www.yourgolfdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/dj-wins-kapalua.jpg

Dustin didn’t win… There’s something about a being a humble golf pro that just makes everyone happy. DJ is one of those players. Johnson led, then didn’t lead, then finished the tournament with class and a tip of the cap to the fans that rooted for him through thick and thin. His play was good enough to win this open, it just wasn’t good enough to beat Koepka and Fleetwood on Sunday. It was a well played tournament for Johnson and when you mention the words, grow the game, Johnson is a perfect person to summon to the podium.

Image Credit: https://media.wfmz.com/mara-wfmz-media-us-east-1/photo/2018/06/12/fans%20watch%202018%20US%20Open%20practice%20round%20at%20Shinnecock%20Hills.jpg_11875131_ver1.0_640_360.jpg

Next time, leave the beer at home folks… The disparaging remarks made by the crowds at this year’s open were the true low point of the tournament. From calling a tour player chubby to openly talking about relations on national TV, the fan behavior at this US Open was terrible. It is 100% apparent that there are more marshals needed all over the crowd and a code of conduct book needs to be signed by everyone coming in. Growing the game of golf does not mean that selling tickets to the rudest people in the universe is a good thing. I have an idea, how about we NOT let them in and give those tickets to kids instead. Just a thought.

So, to wrap this up, it was a great US Open this year. Sure there were some stupid moments – Phil. There were also great ones – Brooks, Dustin, Tommy, etc… Let’s not forget that the GREAT moments will outlive the stupid ones by a long shot. I mean we all remember Tiger’s Masters chip that hung on the hold just long enough for that Nike Swoosh to be seen, but we hardly talk about Els’s putting issue at all. Let’s just call it like it was… It was a great day and a great tournament for golf. It was a true US Open. It was hard. It was challenging. It was the perfect venue to crown the perfect champion, for this year.

Is It Time For New Clubs Or More Playing?

Every year, about this time, I start looking at all the new gear that comes out and I realize that I am still really playing with 30 year old technology in my irons. Sure, they have moved weight around and cut the sole differently and even laser etched the grooves, but a blade is a blade and they haven't changed much since the 1970's. As the season wears on, and the scores stay stagnant, I start to wonder if it could be that I need a bit more help with my swing than I used to. As the thoughts race through my head over which clubs I want to hit and which clubs I SHOULD hit, I always come back tone simple thought – I should just play more golf and keep my swing in better shape. Taking the “easy” route on this topic is simple – spend some cash and get clubs that I don’t have to be so “good” to hit well – but that leads to the inevitable issue of how much do you spend and then that becomes how often do you need to spend it? For example, I could make a major “side-grade” to my set by purchasing a clearance set of the Wilson C200 irons right now. But with the C300’s already on the shelves at retailers, getting custom fit for a set of C200’s will be impossible. Worse yet, getting custom fit for a set of C300’s will cost me about $1000.

To put that in perspective, I could play 40 rounds of golf at Blue Boy West for what new clubs would cost me. I could play 30 rounds at Echo Falls on their twilight deal for that $1000. I could even play 20 rounds and pick up 80 large buckets of balls to work my swing the entire year (that’s about 2 buckets a week) for that $1000. Is a new set of irons what I really need or really even want or is it more about getting out and playing more and working hard on my game. Sure, getting new sticks is great and there are many times I look at my bag and wonder if I am playing the right ones for me right now, but then I pull out my 6 iron and hit a frozen rope on a perfect draw, up the hill to 15 feet and realize that the clubs are fine, I just need to get out more. This means budgeting in a number of ways, but most of all, sticking with that equipment that works perfectly well and won’t require me to ‘upgrade’ anything else.

Balls are a dime a dozen to try and I have found some amazing products from companies like Aris Golf (www.arisgolf.com), Snell (www.snellgolf.com), Vice (www.vicegolf.com) and a few others. I’ve had stellar performance from a Wilson ball that costs just $0.86 a ball (the Wilson Zip) and even found some deals on balls that make them even better values, but again, staying consistent is the most important thing, as is being consistent at playing. What I realized this season, as disappointing as the competition side has been, is that if I do not play consistently, I won’t ever play consistently. It all comes down to personal goals, and this season I have failed in making my goals happen. Sure, there was some adversity and, for the most part, it was met and overcome, but there can only be so many excuses or reasons why things didn’t happen the way I wanted them to. As I look back on the first third of the golfing season (in the Seattle area, it’s pretty much May through September if we’re lucky) things haven’t gone really well, but that’s not the fault of the clubs.

My bag is solid. It’s a great performer. It has a driver that I can hit pretty well with a number of shaft combinations that fit just about any conditions I may face. The offseason additions of the 3 hybrids has me not fearing tight holes any longer, nor the extra long ones that I didn’t have a shot at reaching in two without a miracle. My irons from the 5 iron down almost never fail me, so from 200 yards in, I have a chance at a birdie. I can work the ball either direction and have pretty good control of everything from the 7 iron down (the 5 and 6 can still be a bit “wonky” if I try to do too much with them) and my wedges just need more practice time. Overall, from top to bottom, I don’t think I could make a better bag at the moment. It’s more about just getting things dialed back in to where they were during the winter months. Of course, I wouldn’t be a golfer if I wasn’t looking over my shoulder at what was new and what it offered, but in the spirit of “Golfing For Less” I have to keep in mind that money won’t buy me a better game, it will just buy me newer clubs that I can’t afford to play with.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on equipment costs verses playing costs. Post up in the comments below or email backinthefairway@gmail.com with your thoughts!

Playing A Round: My First 9 - Blue Boy West–Monroe, WA

It’s bee a slow summer. In fact, I am actually writing this post almost 2 weeks after this round was played. This isn’t turning out to be the competitive summer schedule that I was hoping for this year, but with the leg feeling stronger and stronger every week, it’s starting to fee like progress is getting made. Even if it’s not competitive play, at least getting out is nice. That said, with a bit of consistency in my play, I could go from shooting some OK scores, to really ripping apart a few courses here and there. A great example of this was my round at Blue Boy West in Monroe. The par 66 course isn’t especially difficult, but with it’s small, target style greens, it plays much tougher than some of the longer courses around. So, let’s start with the round and see how I ended up playing this short little course this time around.

The first hole is a short, dog leg right, par 4. On the 321 yard par 4 first hole, I was tempted to play my 17° hybrid from the tee, but with the left to right movement of the hole, I opted for the shorter 5 iron cut instead. It was a good move as the ball tracked to the corner, then continued to turn around the corner and down into the middle of the fairway. It was about as good of shot as one could play on the hole without taking a shot at the green. I followed that up with a solid 51° wedge to the left edge of the fringe and a two putt for par. The second hole plays a bit funny at Blue Boy as the green has a giant plant in the center of it. It breaks the larger green apart into two sections. Playing about 145 yards today, the pin was tucked left of the planter and about half way back on the green. A solid pitching wedge held up a bit in the wind and caught the front edge of the green. Another two putt par kept the round rolling nicely early. The par 3 third hole was up next. I fell victim to the same wind that caught my ball on the 2nd in reverse on the 3rd. My 125 yard 51° wedge flew the green by 25 yards when the wind came up and took it on a ride. Another 51 ° wedge from under the trees rolled out nicely to about 2 feet and I managed to make a par out of the situation, but this was turning into a scrambling round very quickly.

The uphill, par 4 fourth hole plays much tougher than it looks on paper. In fact, on paper, some may consider the 200 yard hold a long par three, but with the defenses built into this hole, it can be a very tough four. Fortunately, the hole was playing closer to 190 today from the blue tees, which made the 6 iron my club of choice for the tee. It’s not often that I hit the ball “exactly” where I was aiming it, but this was one of those cases. My Wilson Golf FG100 6 iron (total club plug!) flew dead on yardage wise with a slight draw right at the green. It landed perfectly about 4 yards to the right (with the line to actually hit the green, this shot would have ended up in the mound in front of the green had it moved 3 more yards to the left. A 60° wedge bumped the flagstick, but failed to drop for eagle, resulting in a tap in birdie. At one under par, I was about to enter the ‘beast’ run on the course. Back to back to back par 4’s, while not difficult, they do require a bit of strategy to navigate well. I decided that I was playing sketchy and aggressive already today, so I pulled the driver for the short par 4. It was the wrong move. I pulled the tee shot left, into and fortunately almost through the trees. My 60° wedge found the back edge of the green, even though my yardages showed the distance being better to the front than the back. A 2 putt par allowed me to escape my bad driving hole and move on to the 6th. Given the horrendous drive on the last hole, I opted for my 17° hybrid on the 300 yard sixth hole. It turns slightly left about 190 yards out, so this selection made sense on so many levels. The ball started a bit further right than I wanted, but it was drawing nicely and just barely clipped a tree about 200 yards off the tee. Not ideal, but it would still leave me a 60° wedge into the green, which was just fine. My wedge came up about 25 feet short of the flag, leaving me a challenging downhill birdie putt. I managed to run the first putt about 10 feet past, which caused me to miss the comebacker for par. I left with my first bogey of the round and didn’t even play the hole that poorly.

I moved to the par 4 seventh at even par, hoping to make a mini-comeback of sorts. Having missed the last two fairways and knowing that there was trouble in the fairway past about 215 yards, I pulled my 5 iron for another cut on the tee box. The iron was almost perfect off the tee, coming to rest about 80 yards short of the green. Another poor approach was my undoing on this hole as well. My 60° wedge found the middle of the green, but on the left side, which had a pretty good slope towards the back. I managed to scrape out a two putt par and was happy to run to the next tee box still even par for the day. The 8th hole played almost as much fun as the 6th did for me. A decent 20° hybrid found the left edge of the rough, though the rough is more like crazy grass here, not the lush stuff that is found at many courses, so playing from it was more like hitting from hardpan. I caught my wedge clean, but it headed left and missed the green. I chipped for the first time in I don’t know how long, and it didn’t work out well for me. My 7 iron chip ran 20 feet past the hole, even though it looked great coming off the face. My par putt came up 2 feet short, and I left the 8th with a bogey. That brought me to my arch-nemesis, the 9th hole. I love to hate this hole. It plays about 132 yards, uphill and it’s just nasty. It isn’t a hard hole, but it just doesn’t fit my game, or my yardages. The tees were once again up on this hole, which created the perfect gap for clubs. The last two times I played the hole, I flew the green, so today, I underclubbed. My 56° never had a chance of getting to the hole, but it did hold the fringe at the front of the green. A very poor first putt led me to take two additional putts on the hole, or translated a bit differently, a bogey to close out my 9.

It wasn’t a pretty nine holes, but I was set to make the turn and start up anther nine after grabbing a drink and mentally recovering from my streak of bogey golf. My 35 on the outward nine was not a good score, but I honestly felt like I played far worse than that, but scored better early on. With the exception of the drive on 4, I wasn’t finding much to cheer about in the long game. My approach wedges were adequate at best and my putting was atrocious. Overall, I was happy to escape with a birdie and three bogeys. I managed to hit 50% of my fairways, and 67% of the greens. Now something else that I didn’t mention up to this point in time is that I was actually ball testing while this round was happening as well. I had the opportunity to take the Aris Golf trio of balls out for a spin while all this was playing out. Could that have had something to do with the inconsistencies in my game, probably not, but you never know. For the record, head on over to www.airsgolf.com and check out their offerings. The Scout is an incredible distance ball. It’s a two-piece design that is actually spinny around the greens – not like Pro V1 spinny, but not bad – where as their Hero ball is a tour ball through and through. In the middle is the Captain, a blend of the two, which makes for a nice performance ball. The Aris balls are all exceptional performers in their own right, and each of them is available at a price that not only makes them a deal, but practically a steal.

My only issue with the entire line is that the urethane covers that are used tend to ‘rip’ up a bit after a few decent shots. Now, I compress and spin my wedges pretty hard, so this may not be an issue for all players, but it was for me. It’s not that I couldn’t keep playing them, but the fact that I could grind the cover off the ball in one shot (the photo above is a Hero after one full 90 yard 60° wedge) made me worried about the long term wear that the cover may take on. Again, this was a non-issue with the Scout and wasn’t as bad with the Captain, so if you are needing a distance ball, or maybe arn’t so hard on compressing them, please head over to www.arisgolf.com and try out a dozen of them that will best fit your game. With that shameless plug out of the way, it’s time to finish this wrap up. Overall, I played fairly poorly, but managed to get a decent score put up there. The repeat of the back nine was up next, and I was feeling like making a comeback and getting myself back to even. Stay tuned to see what happens next.

Equipment Preview: Aris Golf Balls And How Brilliant Their Company Is

There seems to be new blood popping up in the Golf Ball industry all over the place right now. From Vice Golf to Snell and OnCore to Costco, everyone wants in on the most consumable golf commodity on the market today. While competition is great, the more small manufacturers climb into the game, the more difficult it may be for them to stick around. What is missing from most of these new upstarts (and I use the term new – like in the last 10 years) is that they have no guarantee or deals for us to stick around long term with them. For example, Vice Golf has a great deal on multipack balls, as does Snell Golf. So I may hop online and buy 6 dozen balls that will last me a year and then move to something new after that. Sure, they made their $150 sale to me, but what happens next?

Step into the brilliant minds of Aris Golf. I haven’t been this excited to test out a ball since the Wilson FG Tour, but this is for an entirely different reason. Aris, based in Salt Lake City not only makes what appears to be a full range of golf balls, but they market them in a way that not only make sense, but makes it easy for everyone to have top notch balls all year long. Priced from $1.50 a ball for their distance “Scout” line to $2.33 a ball for their tour quality “Hero” line, finding the right ball pretty simple and keeping the right ball in your bag is even easier. To simplify the process of keeping their ball in your bat, Aris offers a special bonus – free shipping – when you subscribe to their ball. Yes, I said, “Subscribe to their ball.” Their ball subscription program lets you pick up a dozen balls every month, 2 months or even 6 months and pay nothing for shipping and handling. Since most shops and manufacturers charge $5-10 for shipping (that works out to be $0.41 to $0.82 per ball extra) unless you order multiple dozens at a time, you end up paying far more per ball than you would for a decent quality ball at a local golf shop.

About that quality… I will have a full review of all three balls as soon as I can get them on the course, but based off some chipping and putting practice, the Scout looks great and feels better than most of the competitors in the $1.50 a ball range. The Captain is positioned exactly in the middle, a bit more check on chip shots, and a bit softer feel while putting. The Hero, well, it out spun the TP5 and ProV1x that I had to compare it to without much of an issue at all and felt like butter off the putter face. I’d rank it up there with the Snell MTB in short game performance right off the bat, and that’s saying quite a lot in my opinion. I also wanted to compliment Aris on the finish of the Scout line. This is by far the best “lime green” color I have seen on a ball to date. It’s just a smidge different than most of the others and the matte coloring is fantastic. I’ll be out on the course with them tomorrow – weather permitting – so stay tuned for a full review coming soon!

For more on Aris Golf Balls visit www.arisgolf.com