Look, feel and play better during and after your round of golf

There's something satisfying about a perfect strike off the tee with a 3 wood.

You're intentionally gearing down a bit on a shorter or narrower par 4, more concerned with finding the fairway than with maximizing distance. But you absolutely nail the ball and it takes off like a rocket with a slightly flatter ball-flight than you're used to with your driver. Maybe even with a slight draw. The ball skips down the fairway and rolls out not too far short of where a good drive would have ended up anyway.

Because fairway wood heads are so much smaller than driver heads nowadays, there's a special sort of satisfaction that comes from a great fairway wood shot off a tee. PING's latest new golf club announcement is for golfers seeking that feeling: the G430 LST 3 wood. This new club highlights the selections in our June 2023 GolfPass Gear Report that should help you look, feel and play better before and after your round.

Following on their release of the G430 line of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons earlier this year, PING's new 15-degree LST wood is a bit of a boutique release, as the majority of golfers are likely to find the G430 MAX fairway woods most suitable. But for those with higher swing speeds and a tendency to over-spin other fairway woods, the LST may be the best option. It's all about the interplay of three materials here: carbon fiber, titanium and tungsten. PING's Carbonfly crown saves considerable weight at the top of the clubhead, which enables their engineers to fine-tune the tungsten sole plate, which in the G430 LST weighs 80 grams. A 2041 Beta-titanium face and 8-1-1 titanium body keep things lightweight but strong, with PING's Spinsistency face-roll scheme helping to bolster ball speed on mishits.

With PING's adjustable-lie and -loft hosel (+/- up to 1.5 degrees) and a selection of both PING-engineered and aftermarket shafts, the G430 LST 3 wood is available with an MSRP of $600.

The makers of the popular Theragun family of percussion massagers recently debuted a pair of sleeves - one for your arm, one for your calf - each with arrays of small pulsing massage motors, with the goal of helping ease soreness and promoting strong circulation. As someone who experiences intermittend "golfer's elbow" soreness, especially on my right side, I found a brief session with the RecoveryPulse Arm unit to be soothing, not just after a round or a practice session but after a long period of typing, too. The RecoveryPulse Calf sleeve could come in handy after a walking round, too. The rechargable lithium battery that mounts into each sleeve lasts up to 45 minutes. $149 each or $249 for a pair.

Beckett Simonon Reid and Garcia Sneakers aren't like any other golf shoes in your closet. They're stylish, premium Italian-leather products that are built to last and created with care for the planet and the golfer wearing them. All products are made-to-order by artisans from Argentinian and Italian tanneries who are intent on maximizing uniqueness and comfort. The brand, which moved into the golf space in 2022, is committed to providing safe and ethical working conditions for these artisans, including fair wages, paid vacations, insurance and more. Each insole is made from dual-density EVA, allowing it to adapt to your footprint and create a custom-like footbed over time. The outer soles feature Vibram’s Cityplus compound, providing excellent sensitivity, grip and traction on-course that is also soft and flexible for everyday life. Each shoemaker writes a handwritten note thanking customers for the purchase and supporting their livelihood. It's a nice human touch in a world that's increasingly going corporate.  $169

If you played golf in the 1990s and early 2000s, chances are you owned at least a couple of shirts by Ashworth Golf. Chances are they were cotton and prone to sweat stains on hot days, but were otherwise indestructible. After years of dormancy and change in ownership, Ashworth is back making shirts, shorts and pullovers with a similarly laid-back look to the olden days. Even Fred Couples, who repped the brand back in the day, is on board, sporting Ashworth's kitschy "Golfman" logo. Polos $88-$108 | Shorts $98-$108