It's the last Friday before Christmas and we were feeling the perfect mixture of festive and silly to bring you the first annual Pointy Awards (see what we did there?) to commemorate the year in equipment. Awards handed out include: Most Innovative/Disruptive Release, Best Equipment Change, Most Innovative Use Of A Golf-Specific Product Off The Golf Course, Best Costume Design & The Rising Star. Enjoy the episode and Merry Christmas from Dan, Joe and the whole Kick Point team!

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

We're now on YouTube! Watch full episodes at: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf We're also now on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kickpointgolf/?hl=en

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Cobra's newest family of drivers, fairways, hybrids and irons are here, and we're here to break down everything you need to know about DS-Adapt! From all the new tech to the results of Joe's extensive testing, it's all here this week. We've dedicated the whole episode to the new range as Dan and Joe dive into all of the technical details and their opinions on the performance of the new clubs as we herald the start of driver launch season.

We're now on YouTube! Watch full episodes at: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf We're also now on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kickpointgolf/?hl=en

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Further reading:

https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/drivers/cobra-ds-adapt-ls-driver-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/drivers/cobra-ds-adapt-max-k-driver-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/drivers/cobra-ds-adapt-max-d-driver-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/drivers/cobra-ds-adapt-x-driver-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/fairways/cobra-ds-adapt-x-fairway-wood-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/fairways/cobra-ds-adapt-ls-titanium-fairway-wood-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/fairways/cobra-ds-adapt-max-fairway-wood-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/cobra-ds-adapt-iron-review

We're now on YouTube! Watch full episodes at: https://www.youtube.com/@KickPointGolf We're also now on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kickpointgolf/?hl=en

Brace yourselves for the biggest (and best?) episode of Kick Point to date. It's a bumper episode, so settle in for the ride. Building on last week's head-to-head versus old and new driver generations, we've put three different brands head-to-head in the ultra-competitive compact distance iron category. It's an epic three-way pitting the TaylorMade P770, Callaway Apex Pro and Mizuno Pro 245 against each other. Joe has tested all of them and gives his verdict on each iron across multiple categories and Dan comes up with a new scoring system that we'll politely call 'ad-hoc' for now.

This week's Ask The Pod is likely the most philosophical question we've received as a listener enquires whether he should buy a set of blades despite his 18 handicap ability - what do we buy golf clubs for if not to enjoy them? Then, YouTuber James Robinson joins us for a What's In The Bag special. As a content creator who reviews pretty much every club there is to be reviewed, what does a man with the ultimate choice decide put into his bag? He joins Joe for a conversation about his equipment and spends some time discussing wider equipment topics.

Thanks to James for joining us! You can find him on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JamesRobinsonGolf Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesrobbogolf/?hl=en

Further reading:

https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/taylormade-2024-p770-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/mizuno-pro-245-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/callaway-2024-apex-pro-iron-review

With the Titleist GT range being the newest driver family currently on the market (more to come on this in January...) we thought it would be a good time to compare it to its older sibling, the TSR. How much, if any, gains were made in Titleist's newest driver offering and what changes were made in the new design?

The Ask The Pod wanted to know what our favourite clubs we've ever used are. While Dan only has one club he's got much affinity for, Joe has used so many in his long career that he runs us through a whole bag of his favourites - stick around for a particular story about a trip to Orlando... Finally, we get stuck into another retro What's In The Bag and dive into the clubs Sir Nick Faldo used to win the 1996 Masters.

While we remain in the equipment Twilight Zone, Joe has decided once again to get all philosophical about golf equipment. He's questioning everything about how the golf bag is set up. Why don't we carry two drivers? Why do we use so many irons? This week, he gives some out-of-the-box suggestions for how we should think about making the most of all 14 clubs in the bag.

This week's Ask The Pod is seeking buying advice. As a 10 handicapper looking to get down into single figures, what are the best irons on the market right now? Joe offers up some options to help whittle down the search. Finally, though we're in equipment purgatory, we're confident that Billy Horschel's clubs will be locked in place for at least the next few months, so we thought it would be a good time to investigate the goings-on in his equipment. Broadly a Titleist man, he switched to the new GT driver at the end of the summer - but what else lurks in the former Florida Gator's bag?

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and Ask The Pod via our email kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com You can also WATCH every episode in full at www.golfmonthly.com/features/kick-point-the-golf-gear-show-every-single-episode

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Further reading: https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/ping-i530-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/mizuno-pro-245-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/titleist-t150-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/irons/callaway-2024-apex-pro-iron-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/best-golf-deals/mid-handicap-irons-96139 https://www.golfmonthly.com/best-golf-deals/best-irons-for-low-handicappers-213078

We’ve got something a little different for you on this week’s episode - our first retro WITB. As we’re entering a period with new equipment being seeded into players' bags (which we can't talk about until embargoes lift), we thought we’d pause the modern WITBs and dive into some retro ones - and where better to start than with Tiger Woods? Joe focuses specifically on the clubs he used to win the 1997 Masters, a tournament he won by 12 shots with no less than four different manufacturers in the bag.

We're also popping Tested This Week on the back burner for the next few episodes as we can’t quite reveal to you what we’re currently testing, so Joe decided to lead a history lesson on some of the best and worst equipment switches in modern history. Think Justin Rose's move to Honma, the Pro V1's first every victory and Mickelson's pre-Ryder Cup club switch. Finally, this week's Ask The Pod seeks advice on trying different grip sizes and types and Joe thinks he has the solution...

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and Ask The Pod via our email kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com You can also WATCH every episode in full at www.golfmonthly.com/features/kick-point-the-golf-gear-show-every-single-episode

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

It's a mega episode for you this week as we dive into Adam Scott's bag. Though he's now known for being one of the biggest tinkerers in the game, there was a time when he didn't change a single club in the bag for years at a time. Joe examines each club in the Australian's bag (at the time of recording) and the story of when and why he finally started to change clubs.

Before all of that, we've got an explainer on compression in golf balls while the Tested This Week looks at PXG's latest Xtreme range of golf balls, a new bag from Big Max and a golf shoe described by Joe as the lovechild of a Nike Air Force 1 and a Croc. Finally, this week's Ask The Pod features some of our favourite products of the year that aren't golf clubs, including rangefinders, shoes and apparel we've been enjoying in 2024.

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and Ask The Pod via our email kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com You can also WATCH every episode in full at www.golfmonthly.com/features/kick-point-the-golf-gear-show-every-single-episode

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint

Further reading: https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/balls/pxg-xtreme-golf-ball-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/laser/voice-caddie-laser-fit-rangefinder-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/shoes/ecco-street-720-golf-shoe-review https://www.golfmonthly.com/reviews/balls/taylormade-2024-tp5x-golf-ball-review

Get in touch with Dan and Joe and Ask The Pod via our email kickpointpodcast@futurenet.com You can also WATCH every episode in full at www.golfmonthly.com/features/kick-point-the-golf-gear-show-every-single-episode

After seeing the Cobra Limit3d irons secure their first win on Tour in the bag of Angel Hidalgo, we start this week's episode with a slightly unplanned chat about innovation in golf club manufacturing. With the emergence of the PXG Allan zero torque putter and multiple manufacturers launching 10k MOI drivers at the start of 2024 we ask, is it okay that golf club manufacturers end up going down the same path of innovation whether they came up with the idea or not?

Meanwhile, Joe's been testing Fujikura's latest invention. It's a potential 'difficult second album' for a product that has been almost universally well-received and Joe gives his verdict on the sequel. He then gets stuck into this week's explainer, which is all about putter necks and what each style does to a putter's characteristics.

Finally, Joe dives into the bag of Lydia Ko, current AIG Women's Open champion and Olympic Gold Medalist. After we chatted about the differences between professional men's and women's club specs last week, we thought it would be a good idea to take a proper look inside the bag of one of the best golfers in the game.

Get three issues of Golf Monthly magazine for just £5 at www.magazinesdirect.com/kickpoint