Tin-Cup Golf Ball Marker

Grade: A+
Teacher’s Comments: This would make a great Father’s Day gift. There are so many neat designs, I’m tempted to collect them.

The Tin-Cup golf ball marker is a simple idea, elegantly executed.

I’m not sure why the site bills it as a “golf ball marker,” though. A marker is a writing tool. The Tin-Cup is a stencil. Tin Cup Golf Ball Stencil. There.

The cup looks to me quite a bit like a WWI Tommy’s helmet—a round cup with a wide flange. The stencil design is in the center. You just pop the ball into the center, then use an ultra fine Sharpie in your favorite color to fill in the shape.

Tin-Cups come in dozens of designs, from martini glasses, to dogs, flags and playing card suits. They also have a limited number of college logos. West Virginia wasn’t among them, so I went with the “Chesapeake” crab design (I was born and raised in Maryland). The company also will do custom logos.

As you can see from the photo, the design looks really good on the ball. It also only takes a couple of seconds to fill in.

The Tin-Cup has a hole in the flange to facilitate hanging it from your golf bag. I’ve got a spare carabiner, but need to find a chain or ring small enough, but with a big enough diameter to fit into the hole and clear the flange.

A few suggestions for the Tin-Cup people: 1) Do a Raven design. I’ll buy it.  2) Expand the Collegiate Designs 3) Offer limited edition designs—perhaps to commemorate Majors (a jacket design you could color green, or a big cup).

You can get them at the Tin-Cup site, or for a little cheaper at Amazon.

Hot Hands Heated Golf Mittens

These mittens are designed to hold those chemical handwarmers in place in a pouch on the palm side of the glove. That’s a neat idea. Put these on between swings and keep your phalanges from freezing.

I need a pair of these. Last spring, I got a case of frostnip on one of my fingers while playing a round.

Chief’s Face Wash
Grade: A
Teachers’ Comments: Works like a cuppa joe for your face.

I first ran across Chiefs Face Wash on—of all places—a site called Lovely Package. I am inexplicably interested in package design and have that site’s feed linked to my Google reader.

At any rate, the package photos interested me enough to make me visit Chiefs’ site, and from there I was sufficiently intrigued to order a tube.

I’ve been using the product for four months now, and love it. Chiefs Face Wash is a manly, invigorating clean designed to wake you up in the morning like a double shot of espresso. A dime sized spot gets my face tingling and clean. (A little goes a long ways. It’s worth noting that with daily use, I’ve been on the same tube for four months. )

In spite of its active nature, Chiefs is very kind to my skin. It doesn’t dry it out, and doesn’t leave an oily finish like some of those “moisturizing” face washes. The key ingredients in Chiefs are ginseng, methol, peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary. The first three are the pick-me-ups, with the ginseng working on the circulation. Eucalyptus offers antiseptic properties. Rosemary is what gives the gel its “woody undertones.” Thats perfume speak for manly. It smells herby, not sweet. Even so, the one thing I’d try to improve is the smell. While I like it, what I’d really like is this product in a Bay Rum. Recommended.

I want a Rolex for Christmas. But what real man doesn’t?

If your budget is bigger than mine, you might want to use the link below, and the coupon codes at this Thursday through Monday for Rolex deals.

CYBERCJ500 for $500 off any Rolex President watch

CYBERCJ250 for $250 off any Rolex Datejust watch

CYBERCJ1000 for $1000 off any Rolex Super President watch

68” Golf Umbrella Navy with “President’s Cup” Logo

In case you’re really, REALLY psyched about the President’s Cup.

Gorilla Gold Golf Grip Enhancer

Grade: A+
Teacher’s Comments: It’s found a permanent place in my bag.

The first time I used the Gorilla Gold Grip Enhancer, I shot my lowest score of the summer on a very difficult course. As is the nature of golf, I haven’t exactly duplicated that performance, but I do feel as though the Gorilla Gold has had a positive effect on my game.

Gorilla Gold is a cheese-cloth like material impregnated with beeswax. Rubbing the cloth on your grips (hands, gloves) transfers the material, increasing the tackiness significantly. It’s just this side of sticky, enhancing the grip without feeling gross.

The Gorilla Gold’s obvious use is to keep the club from slipping when your hands are wet from sweat or precipitation. I found, however, that it has benefits even on a cool, dry day. Playing bare handed with a Gorilla Gold coating on my grips (that transfers quickly to the hands), I feel as though I can grasp the club much more lightly than usual, with no feeling of a loss of control. A lighter grip means less tension, and less tension results in longer, straighter shots.

The product literature says that the tacky effect last for several hours, but I found it works best for me if I run the cloth through my hands every other hole or so.

An interesting side effect: the beeswax kept my hands from drying out. my hands have skin issues and keep a tube of lotion near me at all times—including in my bag for application a couple of times a round. This stuff is nearly as effective, without the negative slipperiness.

One thing I feared that hasn’t materialized: sand sticking to my hands. I play out of my share of bunkers, and thought the Gorilla Gold would give me a sandpaper coating. It just hasn’t happened. The key may be that it’s tacky, but not sticky. Of course, I haven’t dipped my tacked-up hands in the trap as an experiment, either.

I’ve had the Gorilla Gold for a month now, and keeping it in a ziplock has kept it from drying out. I think, however, that the average golfer probably would go through a couple of these a season. At around $5 a package, though, that’s not much of an expense for the benefits you could reap.

Recommended. Highly.

VISTA DESIGN STUDIOS NFL Magnetic Headcover

More to kick off the 2011 NFL season.