Happy Friday, folks. Hope you're enjoying the US Open! To accompany your weekend of watching professional golfers hack it out of thick rough, we've put together 82 minutes of two 'professional' journalists trying to hack their way through an interview with former Tour pro and now broadcaster Nick Dougherty. Joe has some history with Nick from their junior days, and it's safe to say Joe was and is a big fan...perhaps too big. Once Joe stops fanboying at the start of our interview, Nick offers us some brilliant insights into the equipment he loved during his playing days, as well as some insights into the

But before all of that, Joe takes us on a bit of a history and science lesson about Balata golf balls. What actually is Balata, and what was the moment in history when they started to fall out of favour? Spoiler, it has something to do with Tiger Woods... Chapters: 0:00:00 Hello! 0:02:55 What were Balata golf balls? 0:07:21 Liquid centres in golf balls... 0:10:28 Tiger Woods' early 2000s ball change 0:25:05 Ask The Pod - Should I use lead tape? 0:36:46 Cool Board - poker chip ball markers, custom ferrules & marking balls with initials 0:50:50 Fujikura competition! 0:54:03 Nick Dougherty interview

Also this week, we have an Ask The Podder keen to understand how to best utilise lead tape on their clubs, while The Cool Board sees poker chip ball markers, custom ferrules and initials on golf balls.

Happy Friday Kick Pointers (Joe's newly appointed name for our viewers and listeners). In this week's episode, Joe revisits one of the most notable and hotly anticipated driver releases of 2025 - Bryson Dechambeau's LA Golf Driver. A fascinating concept that involved different bulge and roll profiles depending on swing speed, Joe talks us through his thoughts on the product as well as the less-than-optimal online fitting service currently offered by LA Golf.

Speaking of Bryson, our friends at Golf Clubs 4 Cash have kindly sponsored this week's WITB segment, where we dive deep into the bag for DeChambeau's dominant US Open win at Winged Foot in 2020. The Cool Board also returns, with mini drivers, AimPoint, and Castle Tees under consideration this week. There are also stories of recent holes in one (neither of which were for Dan or Joe) and Dan's dalliances with a daredevil pigeon - enjoy!

Link to the Fujikura competition: https://www.fujikuragolf.com/battle-at-bethpage

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and 'Ask The Pod' via our email: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com

Sign up for the weekly Kick Point newsletter, released every Friday: https://www.golfmonthly.com/newsletter

Get three issues of the Golf Monthly magazine delivered to your door for just £5 at https://www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Watch us in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf

Chapters: 0:00:00 Intro and nonsense 0:05:03 Hole-in-one news and stories 0:11:56 LA Golf driver review 0:32:07 The Cool Board - Mini Drivers, AimPoint & Castle Tees 0:53:38 Fujikura giveaway! 0:59:28 Bryson DeChambeau's 2020 US Open WITB

We've got loads to get stuck into this week, so thanks for joining us! Joe is in something of a golf purgatory. Should he resign his PGA membership to become a full-time vibesman on the golf course? And, should he start playing clubs he thinks look cool, rather than have any function? After that, we take a brief look at the Tour's take-up of zero torque putters. What has been the reaction from Tour players to this growing trend, and is the argument for zero torque putters starting to win more people over?

Ask The Pod wants to understand why iron shafts are getting longer and longer. Are manufacturers just trying to sneak a bit more clubhead speed and distance under our noses, or is there something physiological contributing to longer 'standard' length clubs?

Finally, we're delighted to welcome recent DP World Tour winner and Staffordshire's finest, Richard Mansell, onto the show. We met up with Richard at the launch of the new Adidas Originals clothing line, and he offered some brilliant insights about his time as an equipment free agent and his current work as a full-time Titleist staffer.

Link to the Fujikura competition (opens June 2nd): https://www.fujikuragolf.com/battle-at-bethpage Chapters: 0:00:00 Intro, waffle and new bits on set 0:06:44 Joe's quandry - should he give up his PGA and be a full-time vibesman? 0:18:30 Is anyone on Tour using zero torque putters? And Joe rants about the future of putting... 0:35:41 Ask The Pod - why are irons trending longer? 0:53:59 Fujikura competition! 1:00:22 Richard Mansell WITB interview

Happy Friday, thanks for downloading another bumper episode! We start this week with the Cool Board. Where will golf speakers, groove cleaners and Sunday bags find their way onto the board? The Explainer this week sees us dive into aftermarket shafts. What exactly is different about an aftermarket shaft versus a stock shaft? And, is the investment in an aftermarket shaft really worth it? Joe explains all.

Ask The Pod this week wants to know if anyone really needs a 60° wedge. If someone like Dan Grieve only uses his for emergencies, are we wasting a slot in the bag with a club that rarely makes an appearance and is hard to hit?

Finally, this week's WITB sees us investigate the clubs of Phil Mickelson. Joe was due to interview golf's great left-hander earlier this year in Singapore, but sadly that got cancelled. Even so, Joe managed to have a little root around Phil's bag, so he has some brilliant insights into his current equipment. We also take a brief trip into Phil's equipment history - did you know he's the only player to have won a major with no drivers, one driver and two drivers in his bag? Get in touch with Dan and Joe and 'Ask The Pod' via our email: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com

Sign up for the weekly Kick Point newsletter, released every Friday: https://www.golfmonthly.com/newsletter

Get three issues of the Golf Monthly magazine delivered to your door for just £5 at https://www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Watch us in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf

Chapters:

0:00:00 Intro and waffle 0:02:38 The Cool Board - golf speakers, groove cleans and Sunday bags 0:14:50 What is an aftermarket shaft, and do I need one? 0:28:42 Ask The Pod - Do I really need my 60° wedge? 0:39:37 Phil Mickelson What's In The Bag

Happy Friday, Happy Kick Point Day. With the leaderboard at the PGA Championship looking more like a Sunday at the 3M Open than one of professional golf's premier weekends, hopefully, we can act as an area of respite from the less-than-exciting leaderboard in Charlotte.

First up this week, Joe's got something he needs to get off his chest- why is there such little consensus in golf equipment? Where one fitter might tell you swing weight is the most important aspect of a club fitting, another might tell you it's swing weight. Why is there no standardisation in measuring shaft torque? Or in shaft flex? Why, after all these years, is the so much disagreement in the equipment industry? We try our hardest to figure out why and offer a solution....

The Cool Board see rope caps, 7-woods and animal headcovers in the limelight - where will these three pieces of golf paraphernalia find their way onto the board? Finally, we're off to the kitchen to investigate the tools of Chef Min Woo Lee. A Callaway ambassador, Min Woo has some of the most tour-exclusive equipment Callaway has to offer, as well as potentially the grippiest grips that have ever gripped!

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and 'Ask The Pod' via our email: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com

Sign up for the weekly Kick Point newsletter, released every Friday: https://www.golfmonthly.com/newsletter

Get three issues of the Golf Monthly magazine delivered to your door for just £5 at https://www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Watch us in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf

Chapters: 0:00:00 Intro and new sponsor! 0:06:08 Joe's rant - Why is there no consensus in the equipment industry? 0:27:44 The Cool Board - rope caps, 7-woods & animal headcovers 0:41:26 Min Woo Lee's What's In The Bag

Happy Friday! We've got another bumper episode for you this week, so thanks for downloading.

Ask The Pod this week wants to know what the best and worst club builds and purchases we've made are, and The Cool Board is back for a second week, too. Heading somewhere on the board this week are black irons, 14-way dividers on stand bags and bag tags. Finally, with the PGA Championship starting next Thursday, we thought we'd take a trip down memory lane to 2015 to take a look at what Jason Day had in the bag for his first (and only) Major championship victory. Day was repping a full bag of TaylorMade equipment in 2015, an era where TaylorMade had some mixed results with its hardware and golf balls. So, what did Day use to conquer Whistling Straits ten years ago? Get in touch with Dan and Joe and 'Ask The Pod' via our email: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com

Sign up for the weekly Kick Point newsletter, released every Friday: https://www.golfmonthly.com/newsletter

Get three issues of the Golf Monthly magazine delivered to your door for just £5 at https://www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Watch us in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf

It's Friday, it's Kick Point, you know the drill. Thanks for downloading this week's episode. We really do appreciate you supporting and enjoying the show! As always, there's plenty of waffle to start this week, including Joe's Easter adventures in a renovated bus, Dan's trip to HobbyCraft and some of your correspondence on which golf equipment best suits which brand of car.

Onto the actual equipment chat, we've got a review of the latest mini driver to hit shelves, the TaylorMade R7 Quad mini. Does it do much to move the category on from last year's Brnr Copper Mini or is it just a nice excuse for TaylorMade to wheel out some good old-fashioned nostalgia?

We're also introducing a shiny new segment to the show, the Cool Board. Those of you who watched Top Gear may recognise what we've done here, but we must stress that the Cool Board is an entirely different and unrelated premise to Top Gear's Cool Wall. Each week, we'll place a few pieces of golf equipment and brands into one of five categories on our newly designed Cool Board. You'll hear the full rules on the show, but we want you as involved as possible in this, so listen out for how you can get involved.

Finally, we get stuck into the Grand Slam-winning bag of Rory McIlroy. The story this year has been more about what hasn't changed in Rory's bag than what has, so we dive into why he hasn't switched into Qi35 woods and how the chance decision to change golf balls may have been the key to his stunning 2025 so far. Get in touch with Dan and Joe and 'Ask The Pod' via our email: kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com

Sign up for the weekly Kick Point newsletter, released every Friday: https://www.golfmonthly.com/newsletter

Get three issues of the Golf Monthly magazine delivered to your door for just £5 at https://www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Watch us in full on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf Chapters: 0:00:00 Intro, waffling and your correspondence 0:13:55 TaylorMade R7 Quad mini driver review 0:23:40 Introducing 'The Cool Board' 0:30:55 The Cool Board: L.A.B. putters, Malbon and more... 0:54:13 Rory McIlroy What's In The Bag

Happy Friday, and thanks for downloading the show! Settle in for a bumper episode. After Joe's #banthebutler campaign was picked up by No Laying Up last month, we thought it would be fun to think of more special, one-off events that could be run on the PGA Tour. What would happen if players had to play an event using a persimmon driver, 3-SW blade irons and a ballata ball? Who would fare best, and who would fare worst? Joe also answers whether shaft weight or shaft flex is more important in a club fitting. While the answer is (spoiler alert) overwhelmingly shaft weight, he explains why this aspect is so important to get right so your equipment works better for you.

Finally, we welcome short game guru Dan Grieve onto the show for a what's in the bag special. He delves into his newfound love for 7-woods and mallet putters while also detailing exactly why he picks the wedges he uses to chip and pitch so beautifully around the greens.