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Which clubs should you be playing? Why are wedge grinds important? What the hell is Smash Factor and why does it matter? There's a lot to unpack in each of these questions. And Ryan Barath, Skratch's resident Gear Czar, has the answer. Every other week, Barath will be answering a selection of the hundreds of real reader questions he gets each week on Instagram, talking to the leading innovators in the gear space, and delivering the need-to-know information that can turn any dedicated golf fan into a bona fide gear head.
32 Episodes
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Ryan dives into The PLAYERS Championship and the "off-menu" hybrid in Cam Young's bag that helped him win, and how it can help you too.Then he chats with Cleveland's Tour Engineering Manager Patrick Ripp about wedge design, working with players and the process of bringing products from concept to testing and retail.
Ryan is fresh from a few days at TPC Sawgrass ahead of THE PLAYERS Championship talking about the gear changes tour pros made ahead of the tournament, visiting all the tour trucks, the surprising reason Justin Thomas put some old clubs in the bag and more.
On this week's episode, Ryan sits down with Callaway Golf's Jacob Davidson, VP of Global Tours, and Brian Williams, VP of R&D to chat about driver face technology, Chrome Tour golf balls, developing protypes, and how they're leaning into equipment that can help golfers blend their bags.Ryan also dives into the announcement of McLaren Golf, including the big names from the industry that are involved.Presented by Callaway Golf.
Vokey Director of Wedge Development Kevin Tassistro joins this week's episode of Gear Smart to chat about their new SM11s, the process of designing wedges, how they're constantly improving their technology and more.Ryan also talks about Jacob Bridgeman's win at the Genesis Invitational, the unique gear set up he has in his bag, and the Spider putter's hot streak on TOUR.
There were some big gear changes at Pebble Beach last week that proved successful. Ryan breaks down Collin Morikawa's winning new putter, Min Woo Lee's swap to a TRTL and more.Then he dives into the new Blackout collection from Srixon, LA Golf's direct-to-consumer rumors, and other gear news of the week.
Coming off his switch to cavity back irons, Rory McIlroy is back in blades at Pebble Beach. Ryan breaks down what it means and what the biggest differences are for Rory.Then he chats about more new mini drivers and answers a controversial Q&A from the gear Hotline.
Ryan breaks down Justin Rose's equipment free-agent win at Torrey Pines, previews gear changes ahead of WM Phoenix Open and shares more about week testing new clubs of 2026.Then he's joined by Andy Hennis of New Level Golf, to talk about club design, their player-driven design philosophy, forged wedges and more.
Ahead of Brooks Koepka =PGA TOUR return this week, Ryan breaks down what he's got in his bag–including a very old Nike club. Then Ryan chats about Scottie Scheffler's 20th PGA TOUR win, including why he keeps going back to an old reliable driver.And big news this week–TaylorMade has sued Callaway about a video using UV light to show disparities between golf balls. Ryan shares what you need to know.
It's PGA Show week, so Ryan breaks down all the new gear that's dropping, including the Titleist SM11s, and chats about Chris Gotterup's win in Hawaii using the new Bridgestone ball.Then Rob Hogan aka Speed Golf Rob joins Ryan to talk about his journey into the game, trying to play professionally, the differences in walking golf and speed golf, putting together a speed golf bag, and how it changed his game forever.
Ryan is diving into more equipment hitting the USGA conforming list, including a new PING mini driver. Then he breaks down Cobra's new OPTM line, the PXG Gen 8 irons, and fresh equipment contracts in play at the Sony Open before answering a question from the Gear Smart Hotline.Have a question for Ryan? Give him a call at 747-224-1868.
Ryan breaks down the fresh 2026 launches of the week, including Mizuno irons, drivers, and putters, TaylorMade's Qi4D driver, and the Titleist ProV1x Left Dash.Then he brings back Ryan's bargain bin, and answers questions from the listener hot line.If you have a gear question for Ryan, leave him a message at 747-224-1868 ☎️
Ryan wraps up gear news in 2025 and answers YOUR questions from our new listener hot line! Do you have a gear question for Ryan? Give him a call at 747-224-1868 ☎️
Gear heads, rejoice! Ryan is joined this week by the Club Junkie himself, Brian Knudson of GolfWRX to chat about the year's new clubs, trends on TOUR, and more.Have a gear question for Ryan? Our Gear Smart hotline is now open! Give him a call at 747-224-1868 and he might answer your question on the next episode!
Ryan breaks down new equipment at the Australian Open and Hero World Challenge then dives into new drivers that hit the conforming list, PXG's Lightning Series launch and explains why club technology is so important.
We're going back-to-back weeks to talk about all the latest in golf equipment as brands are dropping gift-friendly items. Then Ryan breaks down the gear of the year and shares a fun new toy he's got in the workshop.
The new 2026 releases are slowing starting to appear in the bags of players. Ryan breaks down new TaylorMade and Ping drivers spotted in Abu Dhabi and the latest in equipment drops.
Ryan dives into the equipment implications of The Sentry's cancellation, the latest gear releases from this past week, and an epic haul of used clubs from his trip to the desert.
Ryan dives into the details of the latest drops in golf gear and answers your questions.
Ryan is joined by Fujikura tour rep Marshall Thompson to chat about the Ventus line, product development, their major success this year and more.
Ryan Barath is joined by St Andrew's only independent club fitter Adam Legg to talk about how he got into the industry, the expectations people should have for putter fittings, why he went from club building to fittings, and the time he almost burned down the St Andrews workshop.
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