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Review: FlightScope Mevo

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In 100 Words

The Mevo is a useful practice tool for amateur golfers and represents a step forward from previous offerings on the market. It allows golfers to practice indoors or outdoors and provides club speed, ball speed, smash factor, launch angle, spin rate, carry distance and flight time.

It also has a video capture mode that will overlay swing videos with the swing data of a specific swing. It is limited in its capabilities and its accuracy, though, which golfers should expect at this price point. All in all, it’s well worth the $499 price tag if you understand what you’re getting.

The Full Review

The FlightScope Mevo is a launch monitor powered by 3D Doppler radar. With a retail price of $499, it is obviously aimed to reach the end consumer as opposed to PGA professionals and club fitters.

The Mevo device itself is tiny. Like, really tiny. It measures 3.5-inches wide, 2.8-inches tall and 1.2-inches deep. In terms of everyday products, it’s roughly the size of an Altoids tin. It’s very easy to find room for it in your golf bag, and the vast majority of people at the range you may be practicing at won’t even notice it’s there. Apart from the Mevo itself, in the box you get a quick start guide, a charging cable, a carrying pouch, and some metallic stickers… more on those later. It has a rechargeable internal battery that reaches a full charge in about two hours and lasts for about four hours when fully charged.

As far as software goes, the Mevo pairs with the Mevo Golf app on your iOS or Android device. The app is free to download and does not require any subscription fees (unless you want to store and view videos of your swing online as opposed to using the memory on your device). The app is very easy to use even for those who aren’t tech savvy. Make sure you’re using the most current version of the firmware for the best results, though (I did experience some glitches at first until I did so). The settings menu does have an option to manually force firmware writing, but updates should happen automatically when you start using the device.

Moving through the menus, beginning sessions, editing shots (good for adding notes on things like strike location or wind) are all very easy. Video mode did give me fits the first time I used it, though, as it was impossible to maintain my connection between my phone and the Mevo while having the phone in the right location to capture video properly. The only way I could achieve this was by setting the Mevo as far back from strike location as the device would allow. Just something to keep in mind if you find you’re having troubles with video mode.

Screenshot of video capture mode with the FlightScope Mevo

Using the Mevo

When setting up the Mevo, it needs to be placed between 4-7 feet behind the golf ball, level with the playing surface and pointed down the target line. The distance you place the Mevo behind the ball does need to be entered into the settings menu before starting your session. While we’re on that subject, before hitting balls, you do need to select between indoor, outdoor, and pitching (ball flight less than 20 yards) modes, input your altitude and select video or data mode depending on if you want to pair your data with videos of each swing or just see the data by itself. You can also edit the available clubs to be monitored, as you will have to tell the Mevo which club you’re using at any point in time to get the best results. Once you get that far, you’re pretty much off to the races.

Testing the Mevo

I tested the FlightScope Mevo with Brad Bachand at Man O’ War Golf Center in Lexington, Kentucky. Brad is a member of the PGA and has received numerous awards for golf instruction and club fitting. I wanted to put the Mevo against the best device FlightScope has to offer and, luckily, Brad does use his $15,000 FlightScope X3 daily. We had both the FlightScope Mevo and Brad’s FlightScope X3 set up simultaneously, so the numbers gathered from the two devices were generated from the exact same strikes. Brad also set up the two devices and did all of the ball striking just to maximize our chances for success.

The day of our outdoor session was roughly 22 degrees Fahrenheit. There was some wind on that day (mostly right to left), but it wasn’t a major factor. Our setup is pictured below.

Outdoor testing setup with FlightScope X3 (foreground) and Mevo

The results of our outdoor testing are shown below. The testing was conducted with range balls, and we did use the metallic stickers. The range balls used across all the testing were all consistently the same brand. Man O’ War buys all new range balls once a year and these had been used all throughout 2017.  The 2018 batch had not yet been purchased at the time that testing was conducted.

Raw outdoor data captured with range balls including metallic stickers. Mevo data (blue) and X3 data (orange) were both generated from the same exact shots.

You’ll notice some peculiar data in the sand wedge spin category. To be honest, I don’t fully know what contributed to the X3 measuring such low values. While the Mevo’s sand wedge spin numbers seem more believable, you could visibly see that the X3 was much more accurate on carry distance. Below is a quick summary of the percent differences between each of the parameters as presented by the Mevo and the X3 in our outdoor session when separated out for each club. As previously mentioned, though, take sand wedge spin with a grain of salt.

Table showing the percent difference of each parameter between Mevo and X3 grouped by club (outdoor testing).

The first thing we noticed was that the Mevo displays its numbers while the golf ball is still in midair, so it was clear that it wasn’t watching the golf ball the entire time like the X3. According to the Mevo website, carry distance, height and flight time are all calculated while club speed, ball speed, launch angle and spin rate are measured. As for the accuracy of the measured parameters, the Mevo’s strength is ball speed. The accuracy of the other measured ball parameters (launch angle and spin rate) is questionable depending on certain factors (quality of strike, moisture on the clubface and ball, quality of ball, etc). I would say it ranges between “good” or “very good” and “disappointing” with most strikes being categorized as “just okay.”

As for the calculated parameters of carry distance, height and time, those vary a decent amount. Obviously, when the measurements of the three inputs become less accurate, the three outputs will become less accurate as a result. Furthermore, according to FlightScope, the Mevo’s calculations are not accounting for things like temperature, humidity, and wind. The company has also stated, though, that future updates will likely adjust for these parameters by using location services through the app.

Now, let’s talk about those metallic stickers. According to the quick start guide, the Mevo needs a sticker on every golf ball you hit, and before you hit each ball, the ball needs to be placed such that the sticker is facing the target. It goes without saying that it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun to spend time putting those stickers on every ball, let alone balls that will never come back to you if you’re at a public driving range. Obviously, people are going to want to avoid using the stickers if they can, so do they really matter? Below is a table of data showing the percent difference between the Mevo’s data and the X3’s data of what we collected outdoors with a driver and range balls with and without the use of the stickers.

Table showing how the percent difference of each parameter changes between Mevo and X3 when you use the metallic stickers and when you don’t

The FlightScope website says that the metallic stickers “are needed in order for the Mevo to accurately measure ball spin.” We observed pretty much the same as shown in the table above. The website also states they are working on alternative solutions to stickers (possibly a metallic sharpie), which I think is wise.

Another thing we thought would be worth testing is the impact of different golf balls. Below is a table of data showing the percent difference between the Mevo’s data and the X3’s data of what we collected outdoors with a driver and range balls as compared to Pro V1’s. All of this data was collected using the metallic stickers.

Table showing how the percent difference of each parameter changes between Mevo and X3 when you switch from range balls to Pro V1’s

As shown above, the data gets much closer virtually across the board when you use better quality golf balls. Just something else to keep in mind when using the Mevo.

Indoor testing requires 8 feet of ball flight (impact zone to hitting net), which was no problem for us. Our setup is pictured below. All of the indoor testing was conducted with Titleist Pro V1 golf balls using the metallic stickers.

Indoor testing setup with FlightScope X3 (foreground) and Mevo

The results of our indoor session are shown below.

Raw indoor data captured with Pro V1’s including metallic stickers. Mevo data (blue) and X3 data (orange) were both generated from the same exact shots.

Below is a quick summary of the percent differences between each of the parameters as presented by the Mevo and the X3 in our indoor session when separated out for each club.

Table showing the percent difference of each parameter between Mevo and X3 grouped by club (indoor testing)

On the whole, the data got much closer together between the two devices in our indoor session. I would think a lot of that can be attributed to the use of quality golf balls and to removing outdoor factors like wind and temperature (tying into my previous comment above).

As far as overall observations between all sessions, the most striking thing was that the Mevo consistently gets more accurate when you hit really good, straight shots. When you hit bad shots, or if you hit a fade or a draw, it gets less and less accurate.

The last parameter to address is club speed, which came in around 5 percent different on average between the Mevo and X3 based on all of the shots recorded. The Mevo was most accurate with the driver at 2.1 percent different from the X3 over all strikes and it was the least accurate with sand wedge by far. Obviously, smash factor accuracy will follow club speed for the most part since ball speed is quite accurate. Over every shot we observed, the percent difference on ball speed was 1.2 percent on average between the Mevo and the X3. Again, the Mevo was least accurate with sand wedges. If I remove all sand wedge shots from the data, the average percent difference changes from 1.2 percent to 0.7 percent, which is very, very respectable.

When it comes to the different clubs used, the Mevo was by far most accurate with mid irons. I confirmed this with on-course testing on a relatively flat 170-yard par-3 as well. Carry distances in that case were within 1-2 yards on most shots (mostly related to quality of strike). With the driver, the Mevo was reasonably close, but I would also describe it as generous. It almost always missed by telling me that launch angle was higher, spin rate was lower and carry distance was farther than the X3. Generally speaking, the Mevo overestimated our driver carries by about 5 percent. Lastly, the Mevo really did not like sand wedges at all. Especially considering those shots were short enough that you could visibly see how far off the Mevo was with its carry distance. Being 10 yards off on a 90 yard shot was disappointing.

Conclusion

The Mevo is a really good product if you understand what you’re getting when you buy it. Although the data isn’t good enough for a PGA professional, it’s still a useful tool that gives amateurs reasonable feedback while practicing. It’s also a fair amount more accurate than similar products in its price range, and I think it could become even better with firmware updates as Flightscope improves upon its product.

This is a much welcomed and very promising step forward in consumer launch monitors, and the Mevo is definitely worth a look if you’re in the market for one.

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Peter Schmitt is an avid golfer trying to get better every day, the definition of which changes relatively frequently. He believes that first and foremost, golf should be an enjoyable experience. Always. Peter is a former Marine and a full-time mechanical engineer (outside of the golf industry). He lives in Lexington, KY with his wife and two young kids. "What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive." -Arnold Palmer

40 Comments

40 Comments

  1. Don

    Mar 8, 2018 at 1:02 pm

    Was FlightScope engaged before doing this trial? I’ve heard using two Doppler radar systems in parallel could throw off each others’ readings. Appreciate the effort to show the same strike on both machines simultaneously, but wonder if the SW and other oddities would resolve if one radar was used at a time. This introduces variability in reproducing the same strike, but well within bounds of the average golfer hitting that 90 yard SW, etc.

    Thanks, good read

  2. MT

    Mar 7, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    They lost me at metallic stickers on every ball fir best accuracy.

    What is the cost of those sticker again?

  3. GolfCodeWeekly.com

    Feb 25, 2018 at 7:13 pm

    Sorry, i cannot get past the line

    The day of our outdoor testing was 22f

    WHO plays golf in 22f!!!!!!

    I am in Italy and 65f means a wearing a sweater

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 26, 2018 at 9:57 am

      Haha. Virtually no one plays golf in 22 deg F temps except people with a product to review. I had to take what mother nature gave me, unfortunately.

  4. alanp

    Feb 24, 2018 at 8:59 pm

    thanks for the review, definitely wont be picking one of these guys up but fun to see the numbers

  5. Trevor

    Feb 23, 2018 at 3:11 pm

    Peter,
    Thank you for your thorough testing. I am interested in this device, but what troubles me as a mid handicapper is your following statement:

    “the most striking thing was that the Mevo consistently gets more accurate when you hit really good, straight shots. When you hit bad shots, or if you hit a fade or a draw, it gets less and less accurate.”

    As a mid handicapper, more than half of my shots are not going to be good, so Mevo would probably misread them. Would you recommend this device to better players only then?

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 23, 2018 at 4:19 pm

      Good question Trevor. I think, ultimately, if you’re a mid handicapper who is getting some instruction and has recently been custom fit for clubs and you still have $500 to spare, the Mevo is a great choice as opposed to buying yet another new driver. Having that instant feedback, even if it isn’t completely perfect, is going to help you improve. You just need to go into it with an understanding of how the Mevo is going to “miss”, if you will, so that you’ll be able to translate it to what’s going to happen when you go to a real golf course.

  6. Craig Green

    Feb 23, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    Curious if anyone has any experience using the App with Android?
    Interested in purchasing one but would like to use my phone, not Ipad.

    • Andrew

      Mar 7, 2018 at 12:44 pm

      I have used it with Android and apple. When I first got it 12 months ago, the android app was brutal, and kept disonnecting and crashing.
      12 months later, its about as flawless as the apple version.
      Hope this helps.

  7. Radim Pavlicek

    Feb 23, 2018 at 12:42 pm

    I have a Mevo since September and the product is awesome. Now and then it show some shots way off, but overall it’s a great product. Gapping, optimizing smash factor or simply trying swing changes – the Mevo gives you enough information for it. What I am missing right now is some gamification, and improve the web version. E.g. there is no possibility to search the last session when I tested 3 wood. I have to go through all of my sessions and look at it.

    • PJS

      Feb 23, 2018 at 1:30 pm

      I also have the product (1.4 index) and love it. Agree with everything in the column and have done some similar testing with the trackman and found similar results. Radim, your sessions should be listed on the website by date, so I don’t understand the trouble you are having. Maybe I don’t understand what you mean by “searching”.

      • Radim Pavlicek

        Feb 26, 2018 at 1:02 am

        Well I have roughly 100 sessions, so is it possible to get only those sessions where I hit 3 wood? No, you have to first select the session and then see the shots. You can’t list all shots from all sessions and group them by club.

      • Dave C

        Nov 26, 2018 at 6:47 pm

        Hi PJS,

        Where are you logging into the site? I’m a new user and I don’t see any log-in on Mevo’s site.

  8. Toby

    Feb 23, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    I think any launch monitor that does not show sidespin or at least how far offline you are is not worth its money.

    • barry barns

      Feb 23, 2018 at 12:19 pm

      My thoughts exactly if side spin and backspin measured separately I would have bought one already…back to deciding whether to invest $2k on a skytrak I guess.

  9. Stuart Keen

    Feb 23, 2018 at 11:57 am

    I have one, and I agree with the summaries given in this review. I primarily bought it to measure for gap testing and launch data. Strike does really effect the readings. Good strikes are pretty accurate, poor ones are exaggerated by the Mevo. All in all, for the price point it’s a great device. Being able to video your swing and get the performance data for that swing is great for working on the range. Also, for the on course vloggers out there, the video capture saves a lot of editing!!

  10. HDTVMAN

    Feb 23, 2018 at 11:40 am

    I do like this, but the club speed differences are questionable. I’d like to see it compared to another system, possibly Trackman, just to compare the numbers.

  11. Peter Schmitt

    Feb 23, 2018 at 10:09 am

    Lots of comments directed at the validity of the X3, so I’ll do my best to address them all at once. Ultimately, that’s Brad’s X3, so I can’t comment to when it was last calibrated, updated, etc. He uses it daily for lessons and club fitting and he’s a respected professional in that area, so ultimately, I have to trust it and him. Yes, outdoor sand wedge spin rates looked incorrect. Yes, there was a weird shot or two elsewhere. Brad and I both noticed them. Instead of getting lost in the minutiae, though, I chose to use what was in front of me to arrive at an overall point. Ultimately, Brad was kind enough to donate his time and his X3 for the test and I need to be respectful of that. I can’t tie him and his equipment up for days just so the data looks impeccable. Golf isn’t impeccable anyway ;-). Sure, I’d love to have my own X3/GC Quad/Trackman and control my own destiny, but that’s just not in the cards I’m afraid. Thanks for reading, folks!

  12. 3 putt

    Feb 22, 2018 at 10:15 pm

    I find it odd there were differences in club head speed accuracy between stickers/no stickers and range ball/prov 1. The stickers or ball would have no effect at all on club head speed, so I would expect them to be off by the same amount.

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 23, 2018 at 6:06 am

      I think what you’re seeing there was related to quality of strike. Mevo really deviates when you don’t strike the ball well. If we had days to collect data and had hundreds of data points where all of that normalized out, it probably would’ve looked a little more clean.

  13. TV

    Feb 22, 2018 at 9:35 pm

    I’d be worried that the X3, a $15K machine, is so totally off on some readings – and not the other way around.

  14. Peter Schmitt

    Feb 22, 2018 at 8:08 am

    Thanks for the comments, folks, and I hope you enjoyed the review. Let me know your thoughts on the content, format, etc. and if there’s a push for more or less of something (data, on course validation, etc.), I’ll definitely keep that in mind going forward. Cheers!

    • Jack

      Feb 22, 2018 at 10:10 am

      You don’t think it’s weird that for second sw shot indoor for the x3 the club head speed is way low yet the ball speed is still 82? Some basic due diligence would show that maybe the x3 needs some calibrating too, especially the outdoor wedge spin rates.

      • Peter Schmitt

        Feb 22, 2018 at 11:02 am

        Sure, there are always peculiarities in any data set. Ultimately, though, I can’t get stuck in the weeds in overanalyzing every single data point when the overall trend is already there. I don’t like the sand wedge results and I personally wouldn’t use the Mevo for sand wedges. FWIW, I would argue the vast majority of golfers in the market for this device are not going to be analyzing their club head speed with a sand wedge.

  15. jack

    Feb 22, 2018 at 1:06 am

    104.6 club head speed will equal 250 carry max….not 270 …

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 23, 2018 at 8:27 am

      FWIW, since that shot was on the golf course, I had the ability to measure it. I used that feature on a Golf Buddy GPS and that shot was 258 yds to the pitch mark (it was very wet that day). Again, I’d plan on Mevo overestimating drives by roughly 5%.

      • PJS

        Feb 23, 2018 at 1:32 pm

        I have never had luck measuring Drivers or wedges. Everything in the middle seems to be picked up well though.

  16. Danny

    Feb 21, 2018 at 4:52 pm

    I believe it was actually 99 words.

  17. The dude

    Feb 21, 2018 at 4:01 pm

    It’s not for me…I’m way to good …

  18. MIKEYP

    Feb 21, 2018 at 3:55 pm

    Is it just me or was anyone else surprised and concerned about the discrepancies between the two launch monitors? In some cases on some hits, the difference was 6-8 yards and 2k spin revolutions. It also seemed like there where a lot of variable that affected the results.

    • AndLab403

      Feb 21, 2018 at 7:40 pm

      Surprised and Concerned? Considering the price gap, I’m surprised and concerned that you obviously expected the differences to be minute. With the Mevo coming in at $500 and the X3 being 30x more expensive, one could assume the differences would be exponentially different. Taking in to account the % differences being averaged out around 10% across ALL categories (when using the stickers, as recommended by Flightscope) if this review were comparing the performance of a $500k super car and a $16k family sedan and you were surprised and concerned over the discrepancies seen on performance, you would be laughed off of this forum. With price comes greater performance and accuracy.

      “All in all, it’s well worth the $499 price tag if you understand what you’re getting”

      • James

        Feb 22, 2018 at 8:17 am

        I don’t think that is a fair comparison. I expect the Speedo and other instruments on the cheap car to be just as accurate as the expensive one…

      • MWolverine1969

        Mar 26, 2018 at 12:38 pm

        Well said!

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 22, 2018 at 9:35 am

      I’ll chime in and submit that, overall, one should expect some discrepancy between values. The only one that genuinely had me puzzled was sand wedges (spin rate in particular, but really all sand wedge data). Apart from that, the data goes to show the tradeoff you make when you go from X3 to Mevo. X3 is $15,000 and is the weapon of choice for Bryson DeChambeau, who is likely the most analytical person in golf. Mevo is $500 and is aimed at the weekend golfer whose club distances are probably educated guesses in a lot of cases. Two different classes of machines for two different classes of golfers.

    • john flavia

      Feb 22, 2018 at 10:47 am

      Just curious, but one of the comments was something to the effect that although the two launch monitors were ‘close’, the more expensive one was much more accurate. Uhm, is that just an assumption, or did someone actually go out and measure the golf ball distances? (yea, I know, “do you think the $15k one will be less accurate than the $0.5k model?, but just saying….it wasn’t measured, just assumed?).

  19. Rich

    Feb 21, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    Cost is out of the avg golfer..

  20. dat

    Feb 21, 2018 at 2:26 pm

    Mevo is an awesome product, but I can’t help from wondering when the Mevo 2.0 will be out. Surely they can address some of the more pressing issues with a new release. That said, this thing is a game changer for sure. (no pun intended GCQuad owners)

    • Peter Schmitt

      Feb 22, 2018 at 9:41 am

      True, but personally, I think there’s a lot of improvements to be had through software/firmware updates with the existing hardware. It’s a very promising platform for amateurs.

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Accessory Reviews

Insider photos from Tiger Woods’ launch event for his new “Sun Day Red” apparel line

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On Monday evening, inside the swanky, second-story “Coach House” event center in the Palisades Village, just minutes down the road from the 2024 Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club, Tiger Woods and TaylorMade officially announced their new apparel/footwear/accessory line, called “Sun Day Red.”

The Sun Day Red website officially launched on Monday night during the event, and the products are set to go on sale starting May 1.

The “Sun Day Red,” or “SDR” name will be self-explanatory for most golf fans, since he’s been wearing a victory-red shirt on Sunday’s for his entire professional career, but Woods explained the meaning of Sun Day Red at the launch event:

“It started with mom. Mom thought – being a Capricorn – that my power color was red, so I wore red as a junior golfer and I won some tournaments. Lo and behold, I go to a university that is red; Stanford is red. We wore red on the final day of every single tournament, and then every single tournament I’ve played as a professional I’ve worn red. It’s just become synonymous with me.”

The Sunday Red outfit has worked to perfection for his 82 PGA Tour victories, including 15 majors, so why not make an entire apparel line based on the career-long superstition?

As I learned at Monday’s launch event, the new Sun Day Red line includes much more than just clothing. To go along with a slew of different golf shirt designs and colorways, there were also windbreakers, hoodies, shoes, hats, headcovers, ball markers and gloves on display.

The upscale event was hosted by sports media personality Erin Andrews, with special guests David Abeles (CEO of TaylorMade) and Tiger Woods himself.

As explained by Abeles, the Sun Day Red brand is an independently-run business under the TaylorMade umbrella, and is based in San Clemente, California (rather than Carlsbad, where TaylorMade headquarters is located), and it’s run by a newly-formed, independent group. Brad Blackinship, formerly of Quiksilver and RVCA, is the appointed president of the new brand.

As for the logo itself, obviously, it’s made to look like a Tiger (the animal), and is comprised of 15 tiger stripes, which correspond with Woods’ 15 major championships. While the logo may need a 16th stripe if Woods adds a major trophy to his collection, it makes perfect sense for the time being.

The golf/lifestyle line is meant to combine premium precision and athletic comfort, while still having plenty of wearability and style off the course. Like Woods said on stage at the event, he wants to be able to go right from the course to dinner wearing Sun Day Red, and that was exactly the aesthetic on display at the event on Monday.

Following the official announcement from Woods and Abeles, they revealed multiple pieces of clothing, accessories and footwear for the event-goers to ogle (and photograph). Check out a selection of product/event photos below, or head over to our @GolfWRX Instagram page for video coverage…OR, head into our GolfWRX Forums for even more photos and member discussion.

Enjoy this exclusive look at Tiger Woods’ new Sun Day Red apparel lineup below.

See more photos from the Sun Day Red launch event here

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Accessory Reviews

GolfWRX Spotlight: Motocaddy M7 Remote and M5 GPS DHC electric cart review

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I have been thinking about electric golf push carts, or trollies, ever since I started playing in my league seven years ago.

Motocaddy has been making high-quality electric, and non-electric, carts since 2004 and has a couple of great options for the golfer who loves to walk. Motocaddy was nice enough to get their M7 Remote and M5 GPS DHC in my hands to try out on the course for a few weeks.

I have had a lot of people stop me to ask about the carts, and the one thing I keep telling them is that these carts are just flat out fun to use on the course.

Motocaddy M7 Remote

The M7 Remote was very easy to get set up right out of the box. All you have to do is charge the battery, install the wheels, and you are pretty much ready to go. The M7 folds up pretty small, just a little larger than the 3-wheel pushcart that I had been using for years. Getting it to the course should be no problem with just about any trunk space. Now, the one downside to an electric cart is the weight when moving it around, and both carts come in at around 35 pounds each. Even with that extra weight, I didn’t have much trouble lifting them in and out of the back of a pickup.

The M7 unfolds quickly with the flick of two levers and extends the front wheels automatically. Once unfolded, you drop in the battery, plug it in, and secure your bag. If you own a Motocaddy bag, they have developed a really nice system called EasiLock that involves two metal studs that fit into the bottom of the cart. This system also includes a molded base that prevents the bag from rotating at all, even on the roughest terrain. You can still use the M7 with almost any other golf bag as it includes elastic straps that wrap around the top and bottom of the bag.

As soon as you plug in the battery the LCD screen comes to life and you are ready to go. You can use the M7 without the remote by using the dial on the handle to control the starting, stopping, and speed. But the M7 has a remote that is activated by a simple press of the power button to get going. The remote is very simple with just five buttons to control where the M7 goes.

Getting a feel for the M7 takes no time at all and by the time you drive it from your car to the 1st tee you will be in complete, and confident, control of the cart. You simply press the “+” button to start moving forward and the cart takes off gently without any rattling of your clubs, and you can press that same button again to increase the speed. The cart will go from a slow crawl, for bumpy or tight areas, too, as fast as I could run with just a few presses of the button. The big red “stop” button in the center stops the cart immediately, and when stopped it is locked in place, even on steep hills. You don’t have to worry about remembering to set the brakes or anything because it is done automatically.

Steering is just as easy: simply press the right or left button to turn the cart. Small, quick presses will just slightly adjust the cart as it moves down the fairway while a long hold of the button can make it turn on a dime to the right or left.

Almost everyone asked me how stable the cart was and if it would tip over. I can proudly say that it has stayed upright even on some unseen bumps at maximum speed. Side hills, ruts, and even curbs are handled with ease with the help of the small rear wheel.

I really enjoy strolling down the fairway with nothing but the M7’s remote in my hand — it just makes golfing more fun!

Motocaddy M5 GPS DHC

After using the M7 and its fancy remote, I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t like not having it. But to be honest the M5 was just as fun to use, but for a different reason.

As the name suggests, the M5 has a built-in GPS with 40,000 courses preloaded into it. The screen is a good size, pretty responsive to the touch, and easy to read in direct sunlight. Having the GPS directly on the cart is great, you drive up to your ball and immediately have yardage to the front, back, and center of the green as well as bunkers and hazards. You can easily toggle between screens on the GPS and it offers a couple of different views to help navigate the hole. The M5 can also keep score and let you know shot distances right on the screen. Motocaddy even includes nice little touches like a screen protecter kit to ensure durability.

Driving the M5 is just as easy as the M7 with using the dial on the handle. And speaking of the handle, the grips have a great tacky rubber that grips well even in hot and humid conditions. To start the M5 you just press the dial down and the cart will gently start down the fairway. You can turn the dial to increase or decrease the speed — I found between 5-6 to be the most comfortable for me. But the speed can go up to a very fast pace if you are looking to set a record for fastest round of the day.

As you walk down the fairway, or rough, stopping the cart is as simple as pressing he dial again. When stopped the M5 engages a parking brake automatically so you don’t have to worry about it running down a hill without your approval. The M5 has tons of power to go up just about any hill and the Down Hill Control (DHC) keeps the speed consistent even when going down a steep decent.

Since the M5 has so much power, and it is a little heavy, I thought steering would be a little bit of a challenge. It wasn’t, at all. Guiding the M5 took very little effort and slight adjustments going down the fairway were very easy. Really tight turns took a slight bit more effort as the torque can want to go forward a little more than turn. Again, once you get the M5 from the car to the first tee, you will be a master at driving it.

Overall, Motocaddy has created two great carts that provide additional enjoyment to walking your favorite 9 or 18. Having the ability to walk without carrying or pushing your bag, clubs, and whatever else goes with you. I like them so much that it is going to be hard to get the M7’s remote out of my hands when I go play!

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Accessory Reviews

GolfWRX Spotlight: Crossrope weighted jump rope & app

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An 18-hole round of golf averages out to just under five miles of walking, which on its own is a good workout. Once you throw in some potential uphill trekking you get some serious cardio too, but if you all looking for a quick workout between rounds of golf look no further than Crossrope.

Crossrope – The details

Crossrope is a system of the weighted jump rope that allows you to quickly switch the weight of the ropes you are using to boost your workout—they range from 1/4 lbs all the way up to 2 lbs depending on the kit you start out with. There is an accompanying app that helps you go through multiple workout routines and is available free, or you can upgrade to the entire library of workout routines along with more workout tracking options.

This is NOT your middle school jump rope

The handles are heavy duty and feature precision bearings to allow the rope to move smoothly around as you go through a routine. They are also ergonomic and fit into your hand naturally, which making gripping easy, something that is really nice when you’re swinging a 2 lbs coated steel cable around. The handles also come with a fast clip system to make changing cables depending on your selected workout easier too.

The ropes themselves are made from braided steel and are almost impossible to tangle, allowing them to be easily transported and stored when not in use. All in you are getting a premium piece of workout equipment that is effective and easy to store—hard to same the same thing about a treadmill.

When it comes to a workout, skipping rope is one of the most effective cardio workouts you can do, and with Crossrope, you can get both cardio and low impact weight training when using the heaviest ropes, and follow along with the guided workouts.

As someone that hadn’t used a jump rope in over a decade, starting out lighter was a nice way to ease in before moving up, and I was pleasantly surprised how easy and fun some of the workouts in the app were. If you are looking for a fun way to add something to your workouts, or you just want to try something new to get you into golf course walking shape, this could be right up your alley. To learn more check out crossrope.com

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