Not that you need reminding, but Father’s Day is June 15th. And if your pops is a golfer, you’ve come to the right place. GolfWRX presents its annual Father’s Day Gift Guide with options for every budget.
If pops isn’t a golfer, may we make a recommendation? Get your dad a lesson from a PGA professional. It’s never too late to start chasing the little white ball, and there’s nothing better on Father’s Day than playing 18 with your paternal unit.
Here’s our suggestions for your Father’s Day shopping list in three price ranges.
Gifts on a Budget: $50 and Under
It’s never the cost of the gift, but the thought that counts, particularly on Father’s Day. Thankfully, you won’t have to spend much to give dad an awesome gift this year. What’s better than a great book, a premium pair of socks, a fresh shirt and an instructional DVD from one of golf’s greatest players? OK, maybe a new set of irons might be better, but this stuff is pretty darn cool for what it costs.
His Ownself: A Semi-Memoir by Dan Jenkins ($20.50)
The best golf writer of the last half century’s (semi-) memoir is one of the finest golf books in recent memory. Attendee of 63-consecutive Masters, Jenkins book is marketed as a “colorful, sentimental, hilarious, and cantankerous memoir about his lifelong journey through the world of sports.”
Buy His Ownself
Kentwool Socks ($19.95)
If your budget is limited, do yourself a favor and buy dad what just might be the best golf socks on the market. The USA Golf Socks (shown above) highlight the fact that all of Kentwool’s socks are made in the U.S. The company’s golf performance socks, which are available in a variety of lengths, sizes and styles, combine superfine Merino wool with Kentwool’s WINDspun technology for guaranteed blister-free performance.
Buy Kentwool socks
adidas ClimaLite Heathered Short Sleeve Polo ($34.98)
Here’s a value: Adidas ClimaLite polos are 41 percent off at Golfsmith. They’re great shirts with seven solid colors available.
Buy Adidas Climalite
Tom Watson’s Lessons of a Lifetime II ($49.95)
Our Andrew Tursky wrote about about this excellent DVD at length. If you’re looking for something for pops to play on his big screen, look no further than this three-disc set.
Buy Lessons of a Lifetime II
Middle of the Road: $50 to $500
Now we’re talking. In this category, you can really wow pops with a high-quality, personalized gift like an Illiac headcover or some custom Pro V1′s. You can even get him a club like TaylorMade’s SLDR driver, Ping’s Rapture Driving Iron or one of Odyssey’s Tank Cruiser putters.
Whatever you choose, keep in mind that the best gift could end up being on the cheaper end of this category: a round of golf with dad where you smile though his stories. Nothing is cooler on Father’s Day than that.
A round with dad
This may be the best gift of them all: Take pops out to play 18 at the place he loves the most, or a place he’s always wanted to play. It might not be Augusta, where father and son Craig and Kevin Stadler shared a practice round this year before the Masters, but it’s sure to be memorable, and hopefully for the right reasons.
If you two are betting men, you don’t have to let him win; although you might want to use your winnings to buy him a nice post-round meal.
BogeyBox (prices vary)
Create a custom profile on the company’s website, and they’ll send your dad a box full of apparel, equipment, training aids, lifestyle products and golf-bag snacks for Father’s Day and then once a month for whatever period of time you like. [2 ($90), 4 ($175), or 6 ($250) month membership]
Go to bogeyboxgolf.com
Personalized Titleist Golf Balls (prices vary)
Block lettering, a logo, or even a photo of the two of you. Titleist custom printing can do it all. Your dad might not splurge on a dozen ProV1 or Pro V1X’s for himself, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t love a few sleeves of the No. 1 ball in golf.
Customize Titleist golf balls
Iliac Golf headcovers (From $58)
If you’d like to get dad some classic headcovers with modern flair, iliac Golf by Bert LaMar is the way to go.
Buy Illiac headcovers
Titleist Vokey TVD-K wedge (From $160)
The 58- and 60-degree are played by Jason Dufner and Adam Scott, respectively. Let your dad know that as you hand him one of the finest wedges on the market. He’ll appreciate its clean look as much as he will it all-around playability, with a wide, cambered sole that makes bunker shots and pitches a breeze.
For the first time, the TVD-K Grind is now available in a 54-degree model, which offers all the versatility of the K-Grind in a mid-lofted wedge.
Build Dad’s TVD-K wedge on Vokey.com
Ashworth Encinitas wing tip ($200)
Classy, comfy, and playable. If your dad has an office job, he’ll be able to sport these and look stylish without turning heads there too.
The Encinitas have a high-traction spikeless outsole that adds to the plush feel of these shoes, as well as a rich leather upper and listing that’s reminiscent of quality spiked models from golf’s past. Their PU sockliner is soft enough to allow dad to go sockless like Freddy Couples if he’s feeling that cool, too.
Buy the Encinitas
Ping Rapture D.I.: ($199.99)
Ping Rapture D.I. (Driving Iron) is a 2-iron that pops might actually be able to hit. Internal tungsten weighting makes it forgiving, and Ping maintained the club’s classic looks that will allow your dad to boast to his buddies about having a duece his bag.
The Rapture D.I. is only available in one loft (18 degrees) and comes stock with the company’s TFC 949 shaft that’s available in regular, stiff and x-stiff flexes.
Learn more about the Rapture D.I.
Oakley Factory Lite Golf Bag ($199)
Oakley is a newcomer to the golf market, but the young golf brand has been on a tear thanks to the exposure of brand ambassadors Bubba Watson and Zach Johnson, who have taken the company’s ellipse logo to the winner’s circle four times since 2013.
The Factory Lite embodies Oakley’s commitment to disrupting the golf market. It’s a true walker bag that weighs only 2.8 pounds thanks to its carbon fiber legs, saving dad’s back if he likes to walk. Its straps are constructed from a EVA material that you might expect to see in a lightweight sneaker, which are not only lighter than most strap systems, but really gentle on the shoulders as well.
Buy the Factory Lite
Odyssey Tank Cruiser ($249.99)
Odyssey’s Tank Cruiser putters combine Odyssey’s most popular head shapes with a slick counterweighting system and a 15-inch SuperStroke 2.0 grip. They’re perfect if dad has been complaining about “those pesky 3-footers,” or wants to add the latest putter technology to his collection.
Keep in mind that counterbalanced putters are most effective when they are gripped a few inches below the end of the grip. So if dad uses a 35-inch putter, buy him the 38-inch model. If he uses a 33-inch putter, go with the 35-inch model. If he plays a 34-inch putter, he could go either way.
Our favorite model is Odyssey’s #7, which has been a favorite of several top PGA Tour players over the years.
Buy a Tank Cruiser #7
TaylorMade SLDR 460 Driver ($399)
When properly fit, TaylorMade’s SLDR driver might just be the longest driver in golf thanks to its extremely low-spin performance, which can add carry and roll to dad’s drives (click here to read our full review). The SLDR 460 is the No. 1 driver on the PGA Tour, and is available with a limited-edition matte, white crown, as well as in a lower-spinning SLDR 430 model.
If dad’s not going to adjust his driver, the slightly less expensive SLDR S driver could be a better choice, as its lack of an adjustable hosel can actually offer a little better performance than the SLDR 460, and its available in senior-friendly lofts of 14 and 16 degrees. Keep in mind that most golfers end up with at least 10.5 degrees, if not 12 degrees of loft in a SLDR driver when they are fit by a professional.
Buy the SLDR Driver
Big Spender: More than $500
What’s better than getting dad his own launch monitor, FlightScope’s Xi, for practice? Not a whole lot if dad has a little GolfWRXer in him.
But maybe the latest in golf tech isn’t for him, so let me introduce you to three of GolfWRX’s most-recommended new irons sets for 2014: Adams’ XTD, Callaway’s Apex and Nike’s Covert Forged. These irons are unbelievably long and forgiving, meaning dad might be able to hit these 7 irons as far as he used to hit a 7 iron in his prime. Now that’s a Father’s Day gift!
FlightScope Xi ($2500)
Ever wonder when a company would make a Doppler radar launch monitor that was small enough to fit in a golf bag? That’s exactly what FlightScope did with the Xi, which is the smallest and lightest 3D Doppler tracking radar system on the market. It uses the same technology as FlightScope’s X2 to give golfers accurate carry distance, roll distance, total distance, ball speed and dispersion, as well as club head speed and smash factor results.
The Xi also has auto-leveling feet, and a battery that lasts about 3 hours on a full charge. Golfers looking for more club and ball data might want to look into the company’s Xi+ launch monitor, which adds vertical and horizontal launch data, as well as spin axis, spin rate, angle of attack and spin loft.
Learn more about the Xi and Xi+ at FlightScope.com
Adams XTD irons (699.99)
Adams’ XTD irons get their performance from extremely thin, 450-stainless-steel faces that combine with Adams’ Cut-Thru Slot technology to provide top-notch balls speeds and a very high launch.
The irons also borrow in design from the company’s popular hybrids, using a hybrid-like center of gravity that is positioned deep in the head to help mishits fly farther and straighter. At $699, the XTD’s are little cheaper than the other irons on this list, and that’s might be their biggest selling point. While their price is less, their performance is not.
Buy the XTD irons
Callaway Apex ($1099)
If dad’s been golfing for a few decades, he probably has a soft spot for Ben Hogan’s Apex irons, and we think that Callaway’s Apex irons are a fitting tribute to those world-beating models.
The Apex irons are the smallest, most workable irons on this list, but still offer enough size to boost dad’s confidence at address. The Apex’s combine a forged framework with the company’s extremely thin 455 carpenter forged steel faces to deliver big distance and a solid forged feel. Their design also features a deep undercut behind the irons’ faces that improve ball speed and forgiveness on off-center hits.
The Apex irons come stock with True Temper’s well-received XP95 steel shafts, as well as UST Mamiya’s Recoil 660 or 680 graphite shafts.
Buy the Apex irons
Nike VRS Covert Forged irons ($1099)
If your dad wants to play forged irons but probably shouldn’t be, these are probably the ones that should be in his bag.
Nike milled deep into the cavities of the VRS Covert Forged irons to move their center of gravity low and deep in the head, a design that when combined with their NexCOR faces creates long, high-flying iron shots that soar with the consistency you’d expect from forged irons. The clubs also have Nike’s aggressive X3X grooves, and come stock with Nippon’s popular 950GH lightweight steel shafts that help create more clubhead speed for even longer iron shots.
Buy the VRS Covert Forged irons
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