Opinion & Analysis

The Frost Delay: Setting up an indoor hitting area

Published

14 years ago

Nov 26, 2012

This is Part Two of Gedman’s Series, “The Frost Delay: A Winter Golf Survival Plan.” Click here to read Part 1.

When I was in high school I used to carry an old Wilson Staff 4 wood with a ridiculously whippy aluminum shaft. I loved it because I could hit a big, high 215-yard fade that would check in a couple feet or a low bullet hook that would often roll out north of 250 yards (that was a big poke in the days of the Maxfli HT). Looking back, I might have been way ahead of the curve on this whole hybrid thing, but I digress.

The actual point of this anecdote is what this 4 wood did to the ceiling of my childhood bedroom. I’m not sure if this was just the club I always grabbed when I was working on my swing or if the Staff’s black paint just left the most convincing marks, but my ceiling looked like pit row at a NASCAR track. In fact, I still blame my tendency to go flat on my parent’s lack of foresight in not building 9 foot ceilings into my childhood bedroom, which brings us neatly to the first thing I learned when trying to put my indoor hitting area together.

Make sure you have enough space to do it.

After a couple dings and mild cussings from my normally lovely wife, I swiftly realized that there is no place in my current house that I can safely swing anything longer than a wedge. On to plan B. My business is headquartered in an old barrel building in downtown Kansas City with 20 foot ceilings. We have a 5000 square foot room we use for video production, making it the perfect candidate for my range. But using shared space came with its on batch of problems: I needed a net that was large enough to catch any ball fired at it (the last thing I need is a drunk intern shanking an 8 iron off a 25K camera lens) and portable enough that I can bag it in five minutes.

I started by shopping at my usual local haunts (Golf Galaxy, Edwin Watts and Golfsmith), and both had a pretty limited selection in-store. After taking my search online I quickly landed on something called the Izzo Giant Hitting net on ebay.

This thing is, in fact, giant. I’m not sure that I needed to go this big (the poles are easily 20 feet before you bend them to shape), but like I said, while space wasn’t a limitation, catching moron shanks was. It goes up and down in under 5, so all in all, the net felt like a win. When it arrived via UPS we were in the middle of an Indian Summer, so I set it up in my driveway. I quickly ran to Target to grab a mat (for $15) and grabbed a wedge to hit a couple warm up shots. It took me two balls (and the resulting pain they sent up my tendinitis-prone elbow) to realize that a mat from Target wasn’t even a short-term solution.

Assuming that I wasn’t the first person to find this a problem, I popped on the old internets in an attempt to dig a bit deeper into hitting mats. Truth be told, I had never even considered the fact that there were different kind of mats — I thought it was a one-size fits all kind of thing. Wow, was I ever wrong. Nets go from $15 on ebay to thousands of dollars from several specialty manufacturers. Some are large enough to take over a backyard, some are as little as the strip I bought from target.

My research told me that I need something sturdy enough so that it wouldn’t move when I hit it, soft enough that it wouldn’t destroy my joints and engineered well enough that I’d get realistic feedback on fat shots. In addition, I knew that I needed it to be portable (and not $500).

I settled in on a two-mat system from a company called Birdie Ball. By all accounts, their birdieturf mat system met all my needs and was available on Amazon for $100. It arrived a couple days ago and it’s almost perfect. My only complaint is its interaction with 8-PW — it’s a bit on the firm side. It was an easy problem to fix, though.

While searching for mats, I had previously come across the Real Feel Country Club Elite mats. As a single solution, they didn’t quite work for me (not super portable and they were a bit out of my price range), but after digging down on the page, I noticed that they sell 10-inch by 30-inch hitting strips for $46. This worked out as a perfect solution for two reasons: First off, the interaction with the turf on this mat with wedges is significantly more realistic, and second, by setting this on the inside of the dual mat Birdieturf setup, I can move through my golf bag without ever having to move the foot mat. All in all, I’m extremely happy with the setup, and after some clever shopping came it at under $250 (without shipping).

Now I’m just waiting for it to cool down again as I’m binging on as much fall golf as I can right now. I’m hitting the ball better than I have in years, and I’m finally seeing the results of my swing changes translate to better scoring. My last two rounds have been a respectable 77 and 78 with plenty of shots left out on the course.

Next column: Developing a golf-specific workout for a dude that hates working out.

Click here for more discussion in the “Golf Talk” forum.

Opinion & Analysis

5 Things We Learned: Thursday at the PGA Championship

Published

2 weeks ago

May 15, 2026

Ronald Montesano

Aronimink is not a storied club, but when Donald Ross himself proclaimed it to be as good as he can design and build, one had to take notice. Jay Sigel was the pre-eminent male amateur golfer from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He might have called any number of Philadelphia clubs home, but he chose Aronimink. It served him well. Gary Player won a PGA Championship here in 1962, and was followed by the 1993 winner … nobody. Aronimink gave that event away to Inverness, for reasons of which it is certainly not proud. So be it. We had to wait sixty-four years for the PGA to return to Newtown Square, but here we are. Aronimink has been neo-restored by Gil Hanse and team, to return Ross features with an eye toward defense against the dark arts, errrr, high-tech equipment.

Day one saw Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau dig big holes, to the tune of plus-four and plus-six, respectively. Since the first-round lead will be minus-three at worst, many shots will need to be made up for the power couple to reach contention. By nightfall, seven golfers held the day-one lead at three-under par 67. Shots and sticks caught our attention, and we are proud to present Five Things We Learned on Tech Thursday at the 2026 PGA Championship. Thanks to InsideTourGolfer, Today’s Golfer, and GolfWRX for initial equipment research.

First, meet Min Woo Lee

Min Woo Lee, aka Dr. Chipinski, has once again thrust himself into the conversation of Can he, will he, when will he? Lee has so much talent, wins not nearly as often as we believe that he should, and has no major near-misses (much less titles) on his wiki. The young Aussie is getting older and wiser, but is he able to avoid the scarring that holds the older and wiser back from breaking through? Philadelphia offers another opportunity. Min Woo signed for five birdies and two bogeys on day one, and grabbed a share of the opening-day lead at Aronimink. Winners transcend history and the moment, and Lee will need that sort of ascent to lift the Wannamaker on Sunday.

Second, meet Aldrich Potgeiter

The young South African golfer can rip driver with the best of them. Aronimink tips out at nearly 7400 yards, but beyond the fairway bunkers that ensnare only the mortals, Potgeiter can take his chances with wedge from the rough. On Thursday, he spent plenty of time in the spinach. Like Popeye, he used his muscles to gouge and thrash and dig his way out. Six birdies against three bogeys on the card brought AP in a three deep.

Third, meet Martin Kaymer

Not a major event takes place without a where’s he been throwback moment. We know that Martin Kaymer left the PGA and DP World tours for LIV golf, but the two-time (US Open and PGA) major winner has a lifetime exemption into at least one major event, and he seizes the opportunity each May. Kaymer joined the six-seven brigade with four birdies and a solitary bogey on day one. Kaymer was never a long hitter, and the years are kind to no golfer. The German champion will need to uncork every bottle of guile and strategy in his cabinet to remain in contention. For today, though, he occupies a rung on the ladder of Tour Tech.

Fourth, meet Scottie Scheffler

Let’s see, he’s the defending champion at the PGA, and he found his way back to the top tier with five birdies against two bogeys. To be a favorite and then play up to that stature and expectation is quite difficult. Just ask Rory, Bryson, and some of the other pre-tournament heartthrobs. Scheffler’s game is complete, and to knock him off the OWGR #1 pedestal, one needs to defeat him at the majors. Aronimink is the sort of course that fits Scheffler’s game. Better yet, it unfits the game of many of his challengers. Don’t expect Scheffler to go away anytime soon. Come Sunday, he’ll be around.

Fifth, meet Stephan Jaeger

Clocking in for the unheralded players shift are Ryo Hisatsune and Stephan Jaeger. Hisatsune logged seven birdies on day one, but gave most of them back with four bogeys. Still, he’s tied at the top for a time. Jaeger pitched five birdies against two bogeys, including a run of three consecutive, from holes four through six. Odds are that one of the two will hang around through 36 holes. Odds also suggest that both will be gone by Saturday evening. Still, the PGA Championship has historically been the major most likely to be won by an under-known. Both Hisatsune and Jaeger feature on that list, so good luck, lads!

Club Junkie

Club Junkie’s Titleist GTS driver fitting results!

Published

2 weeks ago

May 14, 2026

Brian Knudson

On this episode of the Club Junkie Podcast, I head to the Titleist Performance Institute for a full driver fitting with the new Titleist GTS lineup. We dive into the fitting process, talk about what made the biggest difference in performance, and break down how the different GTS heads and shaft combinations compare on the launch monitor. If you are thinking about a new driver setup for this season, there is a lot to take away from this one.

I also get into Brooks Koepka and the gear setup he brought to the PGA Championship, including the putters that caught my eye during the week. There are some interesting equipment trends showing up at the highest level right now and we break down what stands out.

To wrap things up, I talk about reshafting a few wedges, what I learned during the process, and swapping an adaptor onto a new shaft for another build project in the shop. A gear packed episode from start to finish for anyone who loves golf equipment and club building.

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Club Junkie

Club Junkie WITB, week 16: New Titleist GTS woods!

Published

2 weeks ago

May 14, 2026

Brian Knudson

Excited for this week’s WITB as we get to add the new Titleist GTS woods to the bag! I was fit at Titleist’s TPI facility in Oceanside California a few weeks ago and my new clubs just showed up. I am also adding a cool set of irons that I built last year some wild custom wedges into a new golf bag. Speaking of the bag I have a new Ghost Anyday Black Ops stand bag that I will be using on my Motocaddy Remote M7 electric cart.

Driver: Titleist GTS3 (11 degrees @ 10.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6s

3-wood: Titleist GT1 3Tour (14.5 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD CQ-7s

5-wood: Titleist GTS (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

9-wood: Titleist GT1 (24 degress)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7s

Irons: Bettinardi CB24 (5-PW)
Shafts: KBS C-Taper Lite 110 stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (50-09 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (56-12 SB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Wedge: TaylorMade MG5 (60-08 LB)
Shaft: Mitsubishi MMT 125 Stiff

Putter: Dan Carraher ZT Proto

Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour

Bag: Ghost Anyday Black Ops Stand Bag