Category: Gift Guides

This summer, I had a golf trip planned with my dad to play a course significantly nicer than my golf game had any business being on.

Naturally, I decided that the best way to prepare was to spend the better part of two months consuming an absolutely unreasonable amount of golf content.

Swing tutorials, equipment reviews, training aids, Reddit threads debating things I didn’t even know existed three weeks earlier. You name it.

All because I was determined not to spend a small fortune on a round of golf just to embarrass myself in front of my father.

Did this turn me into a scratch golfer? Absolutely not.

Did I develop some incredibly strong opinions about golf accessories along the way? You bet your ass.

And that brings me to golf gifts.

Buying gifts for golfers is a dangerous game. We tend to be particular about our equipment, and there’s an entire industry dedicated to selling people stupid golf-themed merchandise that nobody actually wants.

I’m looking at you, novelty golf ball whiskey glasses (I hope my mother-in-law is not reading this).

So here are three things I actually own and use that I’d be genuinely happy to receive as a gift.

1. Magnetic Golf Cart Phone Holder

For the golfer who has reluctantly accepted that technology has invaded the golf course.

Golf used to be a way to disconnect from the world for three to five hours. Enjoy nature, drink some ice-cold beers, and attempt to hit a tiny white ball with a stick.

Those days are apparently over.

Technology has infiltrated practically every aspect of golf. We’ve got GPS apps, digital scorecards, swing trackers, rangefinders, and Bluetooth speakers.

And yet, somehow, golf carts are still living in 1997.

If you’re anything like me, the routine between shots involves grabbing your phone, checking your score, looking up the distance to the green, changing the song on the speaker, maybe responding to an email because you should technically be working.

Then you toss your phone into the abyss that is the golf cart storage cubby.

A mysterious compartment filled with broken pencils, scorecards from 2016, and approximately three pounds of miscellaneous sand.

And every time you make a sharp turn looking for your ball in the woods, you hope your phone doesn’t launch itself into another dimension.

Enter the magnetic golf cart phone holder.

It’s such an incredibly simple solution that I’m genuinely annoyed I didn’t buy one sooner.

It attaches to compatible metal surfaces on the cart and keeps your phone right where you need it. Suddenly your GPS app becomes significantly more useful because you can actually see it without digging through the cart every 30 seconds.

It’s small, portable, and doesn’t take up valuable real estate in your golf bag.

Which is important.

That space is reserved for beer.

Who’s it for? Golfers who use GPS apps, keep score on their phones, or enjoy having their phone accessible between shots.

Skip it if: They’re strict about keeping their phone away during a round. Also, check compatibility with their phone and golf cart before buying.

Check out the Magnetic Golf Cart Phone Holder on Amazon

2. GolFix TempoFix Swing Trainer

For the golfer who practices their swing everywhere except the driving range.

Can someone explain why golfers are physically incapable of standing in an open space without taking an imaginary practice swing?

Waiting for the microwave? Practice swing.

Walking through the living room? Practice swing.

Standing in line at the grocery store? Little takeaway, check the wrist angle, imaginary follow-through.

It’s like a nervous tic that only develops after you’ve spent enough money on golf equipment.

I’m guilty of it myself.

The problem is that taking imaginary swings isn’t necessarily accomplishing anything. And while we all tell ourselves we’re going to spend an hour at the range working on drills, we all know that’s not happening nearly as often as it should.

That’s where the TempoFix comes in.

It’s a compact swing trainer that gives you something to actually swing without needing a full-length golf club.

The weighted mechanism provides a click as feedback during the swing, helping you work on tempo and timing.

The biggest benefit for me is convenience.

I can pick it up, take a few swings, and put it down. No range balls. No driving somewhere. No convincing myself I have enough time for a proper practice session.

And because it’s compact, I’m considerably less likely to put a seven-iron-shaped hole in my living room ceiling.

Not impossible, mind you. I’m sure I could find a way.

Is this going to magically fix your golf swing? Of course not. If a $55 training aid could do that, golf instructors would be unemployed.

But it gives you a practical way to work on something between rounds, and for someone who spends way too much time thinking about their golf swing, I appreciate that.

Who’s it for? Golfers who enjoy practicing, tinkering with their swing, or working on their tempo at home.

Skip it if: They have absolutely no interest in practice or expect a gadget to replace actual instruction.

Check out the GolFix TempoFix Swing Trainer

3. Kirkland Signature V3.0 Golf Balls — 24 Pack

For the golfer who enjoys nice equipment but also spends an unreasonable amount of time looking for lost balls.

Okay. I know.

Putting golf balls on a list of golf gifts that golfers actually want is a controversial decision.

Hear me out.

No, Mom, I do not want the 15-pack of Spalding golf balls you found at Marshalls while waiting in line to check out.

First of all, since when does Spalding even make golf balls?

Second, golfers tend to have very particular opinions about their golf balls.

Unfortunately, I’m also not nearly good enough to confidently tell you the performance difference between a Pro V1 and a Chrome Soft.

What I am good enough at is losing them.

Which brings me to Kirkland.

Ten years ago, if you told me I’d be recommending Costco golf balls to people, I probably would’ve laughed at you.

But let’s be real. Costco is having a moment.

It’s cool to wear Costco merchandise now. Hell, I own a Costco hoodie myself.

And Kirkland has developed a reputation for producing surprisingly legitimate alternatives to expensive name-brand products.

So naturally, after doing an unreasonable amount of research into the best golf ball for my money, I landed on the Kirkland Signature V3.0.

They’re three-piece balls with a urethane cover, sold in packs of 24.

For me, that’s the sweet spot.

I’m not paying premium-ball prices, but I’m also not playing with whatever unidentified piece of rubber I found buried next to the cart path.

And as someone who occasionally sends a perfectly good golf ball approximately 75 yards into the woods for absolutely no reason, buying 24 at a time is a substantial benefit.

Losing a ball still sucks.

It just sucks a little less when you’re not mentally calculating how much money you donated to the local wildlife.

Who’s it for? Recreational golfers who want a solid value and don’t feel the need to play a premium-priced ball.

Skip it if: The golfer is fiercely loyal to a particular ball. Some golfers take their ball selection very seriously, and buying them something different might be a declaration of war.

Check out the Kirkland Signature V3.0 Golf Balls at Costco

---

The Bottom Line

Here’s the thing about buying gifts for golfers.

You don’t need to buy us something that has the word “GOLF” printed on it.

We know we golf.

We’re reminded of it every time we spend four hours outside questioning our athletic abilities.

Get us something that makes the experience more enjoyable, more convenient, or slightly less expensive.

And if all else fails, ask what golf balls we use.

Just please, for the love of God, stop buying us novelty golf mugs.

We’ve got enough mugs.

Disclosure: The product links above are currently ordinary retailer links, not affiliate links. If that changes, this disclosure will be updated.

I have a problem.

I have an incredible ability to become completely obsessed with something, research it to an unreasonable degree, spend money on equipment I suddenly cannot live without, and then move on to something entirely different.

The thing is, sometimes the purchases actually turn out to be worth it.

I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff over the years. Some of it was a complete waste of money. Some of it has made such a ridiculous improvement to my everyday life that I now feel obligated to tell other people about it.

So here’s a list of five things I genuinely love. Not five things an algorithm thinks a 35-year-old man might enjoy. Five things I actually own and have developed unnecessarily strong feelings about.

Some are affordable. Some are absolutely not. All five have earned my affection.

1. RYOBI 40V Cordless Leaf Blower

For the guy who finds yard work strangely satisfying.

I fucking love my leaf blower.

There. I said it.

I don’t consider myself an exceptionally tidy person. I certainly don’t enjoy cleaning. But give me this thing and suddenly I’m looking for stuff to clean.

Leaves on the patio? Gone. Pine needles around the pool? See ya.

I’ve even used it to deal with the mountain of Cheerios my children have deposited in my car. Why spend 20 minutes painstakingly vacuuming individual pieces of cereal when you can send them flying out the window?

Is it the most conventional way to clean a car? Absolutely not. Was it satisfying? Unbelievably.

The thing is powerful, relatively quiet compared with a gas blower, and I’ve never come close to exhausting the battery during my typical cleanup sessions.

It’s one of those tools that takes something I otherwise wouldn’t want to do and makes me actively look forward to doing it.

Which, frankly, is a pretty remarkable achievement for something designed to move leaves.

Who’s it for? Homeowners, backyard enthusiasts, and anyone who would appreciate a shortcut to a cleaner patio.

Skip it if: They don’t have an outdoor space or a real use for a leaf blower. This is a tool, not a personality trait.

Check out the RYOBI 40V Leaf Blower at Home Depot

2. Ember Mug 2 — Temperature-Control Smart Mug

For someone who drinks coffee at the pace of a distracted parent.

The Ember Mug 2 has genuinely ruined coffee for me.

I cannot enjoy a regular cup of coffee outside my home anymore. It’s a problem.

There is something about having every single sip of coffee at exactly the temperature you want that feels like the absolute height of luxury.

Before having kids, drinking a cup of coffee was a fairly straightforward activity. You made coffee. You drank coffee. Sometimes you made another coffee.

Now drinking coffee is a multi-stage process interrupted by requests for snacks, disputes over toys, and the occasional emergency extraction of Play-Doh from someone’s hair.

I haven’t had five consecutive uninterrupted minutes to myself in years.

With the Ember, I can put my coffee down, disappear into a completely unrelated domestic crisis, and return five minutes later to find it exactly as hot as I left it.

It’s glorious.

Is a temperature-controlled coffee mug an unnecessary luxury? Probably.

Do I now consider it an essential household appliance? Absolutely.

Who’s it for? Coffee drinkers, parents, people who work at desks, and anyone who consistently forgets about their drink.

Skip it if: They finish their coffee in three minutes or don’t care what temperature it is.

See the Ember Mug 2

3. ThermoMaven Electric Salt and Pepper Grinders

For someone who wants to feel unnecessarily sophisticated while seasoning dinner.

I was firmly against electric salt and pepper grinders.

There are certain things that do not need technological advancements. Turning a knob to grind pepper seemed like one of them.

Then one day I fumbled my trusty salt shaker, which proceeded to explode all over my kitchen floor.

Naturally, the solution was to purchase a rechargeable electronic device to replace an object that previously required no electricity whatsoever.

And I’ll be damned if I don’t love these things.

First of all, they look great. There’s something tremendously satisfying about pressing a button and watching freshly ground seasoning rain down onto your food like you’re operating some sort of precision culinary instrument.

But the real benefit is control. You can adjust the grind coarseness, which gives you much more consistency than blindly attacking your mashed potatoes with a traditional salt shaker.

Not that you can actually ruin mashed potatoes. They’re mashed potatoes.

Do I need an electric motor to distribute salt? No.

Am I going back? Also no.

Who’s it for? Home cooks, gadget enthusiasts, or someone who enjoys making ordinary kitchen tasks feel slightly more expensive.

Skip it if: They prefer simple manual grinders or have no desire to charge another kitchen appliance.

See the ThermoMaven Electric Grinder Set on Amazon

4. LG C5 OLED Television

For someone who’s been convincing themselves their current TV is perfectly fine.

Historically, I’ve been pretty cheap when it comes to televisions.

I’m a tech guy, but I’m also the kind of person who wants to squeeze every possible dollar of performance out of a purchase.

Most of my previous TVs were in the $500–$700 range. I would research them extensively, convince myself I’d found the greatest bargain in consumer electronics, and call it a day.

Then we moved into a new house.

And naturally, after spending an obscene amount of money upgrading our entire living arrangement, I somehow convinced myself that spending even more money on a television was the financially responsible decision.

After an extensive amount of research and some truly impressive mental gymnastics, I landed on the LG C5 OLED.

My god.

I’ve had this television for almost a year and I still regularly look at my wife and say, “Damn, this thing is sick.”

The picture quality is unlike anything I’ve personally owned before. The contrast, the colors, the way everything just looks better.

I’m sure there are people who can tell you exactly how many nits of brightness it produces or debate the intricacies of OLED panel technology.

All I know is that I turn it on and continue to be impressed by the fact that I own it.

That’s not something I can say about many purchases this expensive.

Who’s it for? Movie lovers, gamers, home theater enthusiasts, or someone considering a major television upgrade.

Skip it if: Their existing television makes them perfectly happy. This is a substantial purchase, not something to buy just because a guy on the internet is excited about his TV.

See the LG C5 OLED on Amazon

5. Betta SE Plus Robotic Pool Skimmer (a.k.a. Whalebot)

For the pool owner who would prefer to enjoy the pool instead of constantly cleaning it.

I’d like to take a moment to recognize an important member of my family.

Whalebot.

Named by my daughter, Whalebot is a solar-powered robotic pool skimmer that has arguably brought me more joy than any piece of pool equipment has a right to.

My pool gets absolutely manhandled by pine needles. They fall constantly, they get everywhere, and keeping up with them used to be a miserable experience.

Enter Whalebot.

This little bastard just cruises around the surface of the pool all day collecting leaves, pine needles, and whatever other nonsense the surrounding trees decide to deposit into my water.

It eats debris for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

And the best part? I barely have to do anything.

It runs essentially around the clock during pool season, powered by sunlight, and I typically empty the collection basket about once a week.

My pool went from requiring constant attention to looking like something you’d find at a five-star resort.

Obviously, it doesn’t scrub the pool floor or replace every cleaning task. But by grabbing so much debris before it sinks, it’s drastically reduced how often I need to vacuum.

Which is why I find myself looking at the $1,500 Dolphin pool robot I bought last year and questioning several of my financial decisions.

Pool season is over here in New York, and I genuinely miss watching this thing work.

That’s how much I love Whalebot.

Who’s it for? Someone with a pool, particularly one surrounded by trees.

Skip it if: They don’t have a pool. Obviously. Or if their main problem is dirt and algae on the pool floor rather than floating debris.

Meet the Betta SE Plus on Amazon

---

The Bottom Line

I realize this is a strange collection of products.

A leaf blower, an overpriced coffee mug, electronic salt grinders, a television, and a robotic pool skimmer.

But that’s kind of the point.

I’m not particularly interested in recommending products because they fit neatly into some arbitrary category of things men are supposed to enjoy.

I like things that work. I like things that solve annoying problems. And apparently, I really like things that perform mundane household chores with an unnecessary amount of technology.

If I’m going to spend hours researching something before I buy it, I might as well share the results.

Maybe it’ll save you some time.

Or maybe you’ll end up spending $150 on a coffee mug.

Either way, welcome to Briefly Obsessed.