About Chasing Pins

Who the editor is

Chasing Pins has one editor: a former professional golfer, a state amateur champion and a college golfer with 20+ years of competitive tournament golf. The byline is the brand rather than a name — deliberately. What matters here is not who is talking but the standard the work is held to, and that standard was set in tournament golf, where equipment either performs under pressure or costs you shots you never get back.

Why this site exists

Most gear coverage is written for beginners, or recycled from manufacturer press releases. The golfer who practices seriously at home — launch monitor in the garage, a card in hand on the weekend — is left to stitch together forum posts and marketing copy. Chasing Pins exists for that player. We research gear the way careful buyers should: manufacturer specifications, independent measurements, long-term owner reports and the total cost of ownership — then say plainly what is worth the money and what is not. No manufacturer pays for a ranking here — ever.

How gear is evaluated

Every product in The Lab is weighed against the same criteria:

• Measured dispersion. Shot patterns, not best balls. A launch monitor, net or training aid is judged on the spread it produces across ordinary swings, not the one perfect strike in the brochure.
• Carry and gapping consistency. Numbers you can trust when a shot has to fly a number — repeatable carry distances and honest gaps between clubs matter more than a headline ball-speed figure.
• Durability. Home gear takes thousands of impacts. Mats, nets, screens and sensors are rated for repeat use over seasons, not first impressions out of the box.
• Value per dollar. The sticker price is the start of the cost, not the cost — subscriptions, required accessories and replacement parts are counted before anything is recommended.

Manufacturer specifications are treated as claims to verify, not facts to repeat. Where a spec cannot be checked against independent measurement or long-term owner evidence, the guide says so. And behind every criterion sits the question competitive golf teaches you to ask: would this hold up on the 72nd hole, tired, with something on the line? Gear that only works on a perfect day does not get recommended here.