Club Ho'ing

I got rid of my last ping eye 2. A 2 iron becu orange dot ping grip mint zz lite shaft. Bought the 8.5 r9 head plus 20 Winning!!

Patrick Sweaney Every hour is a dollar gone.

That would be a "exclusive design for srixon" daimana 68 x kp-mid r flex. Guessing halfassed blueboard. Made for shaft but for me it works. Listening to Comfort Eagle by Cake. I know but that's the kind of mood I'm in. Just came from a chile cookoff at the local muni. Live music, half priced drinks and 8 different varieties to taste. Helps the club.

Had a great round today and I'm really excited about something I discovered. First, though, I'd like to share my experience with testing out some new equipment:

1) Taylormade Rossa Corza Monza putter. The easiest putter to line up that I've used. I felt like I could make everything inside 20 feet with this thing. I didn't make everything, of course, but the point is that it gave me a huge jolt of confidence when lining up the putt.

2) Callaway Diablo Edge Tour 8.5 with Aldila NV 75 Stiff. Awesome. I love this driver. It's so easy to hit a nice power fade that rolls out at the end.

3) Titleist 762 Irons with Graphite Design G.A.T Stiff shafts. Very nice but like most graphite clubs a tad muted at impact. I hit some great shots with them today.

What I'm truly excited about is the swing change I made. I was reading my latest subscription edition of Golf Digest and there's an article written by Bubba Watson about his swing and the fact that he ranks 2nd in GIR on tour. What I really like about his swing is that he has a lot of moving parts and has a big turn with his legs and hips.

I tried this on the course today. I decided to use my legs and feet more in my swing by concentrating on lifting my left foot off the ground and turning it inward on the backswing. This forced me to turn more and also created a steeper plane in my backswing. I wasn't laying it off as much. I experienced positive results from this change including:

1. Improved Distance. I was hitting my driver long again.
2. Better timing
3. Easier to work the ball left or right.

But, overall, it just feels more athletic and is much less stressful on my back. I actually wanted to play another 18 holes because I was so excited about what I had discovered.

It's odd but it appears that the more I move all parts of my body in the swing, the more control I have.

That's funny because I've been working hard on a swing that eliminates as much extraneous movement as possible. Think Steve Stricker. The diametrical opposite to Bubba. I got so frustrated hitting fat iron shots and went through all sorts of gyarations with different irons and shafts and shaft flexes and lengths and realized that all that crap didn't mean squanto with a bad swing. So I reshafted my Mizuno MX 20's with some steel shafts I have around double soft-stepping them twice and cutting them to Mizuno spec which is probably measured minus the grip so that my 5 iron is 37.75" instead of the 38.5" I had it with the graphites and the steels before. I figure I will lose maybe 10 yards per iron but if I am more consistent, I don't care.

jt1135 wrote:That would be a "exclusive design for srixon" daimana 68 x kp-mid r flex. Guessing halfassed blueboard. Made for shaft but for me it works. Listening to Comfort Eagle by Cake. I know but that's the kind of mood I'm in. Just came from a chile cookoff at the local muni. Live music, half priced drinks and 8 different varieties to taste. Helps the club.

I struggled with that shaft in stiff. I wanted it to work, and it may have in regular flex.
Everything leaked a little right. I had my stance unnaturally closed, and hooked a couple. Went back to a more normal stance, and gentle fades that seemed longer than normal followed.
For me that usually means I'm playing to stiff a shaft, and I have played several Diamana shafts in drivers over the years with similar results.
I have had the same problem with a 757 speeder in an R7 and an Ozik x7m2ltd both in stiff.
There's just some shafts I'm not meant to play. That seemed to be one. Good looking club though. I just wished I had found one in regular now. I'd probably still have it.

Costco is now offering a wide range of products at their stores. I was there the other day and saw the following:

1) Callaway cart bag. Very nice in three different color arrangements for $89.
2) Callaway golf gloves, cabretta leather. 3 for $15.99. I tried one on and it's a top of the line glove.
3) HX Control balls for $29.99 for 2 dozen. I'm pretty sure this is the same as the HX Chrome or last years Tour i(s). Sure felt like it. It had that tacky surface feel to it that you don't experience with a distance ball.
4) HX Pro balls for $24.99/dozen. I think this is the same as the Tour i(z) or Hex Black Tour.
5) Callaway shoes, either white or black, for $49.99. I own last year's pair and use them every time I golf. Awesome.
6) Odyssey 2 ball putter (the XG series that came out a few years ago) for $79.

They also have a full set of X-24 irons, driver, etc. for $599 but that's more for the beginner.

I'm going to buy 3 of the glove packages and try out the HX Control balls. Can't go wrong.

They also have Greg Norman golf shirts (top of the line quality) for $19.99 and golf shorts for the same price. Puma shirts for $19.99. I own one.








I put those Nike balls into play; the ones the Nike rep gave out for trying out their POS Nike Covert driver. I have to say I like them. Nice spin around the greens, soft for putting and good distance. Too bad they cost $45 brand new.

I went Ho'in today with a friend, looking for a 3W for him. Hit the 2nd Golfsmith near me and I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought. I was slammin' every ball as far as my 3W, but easier to hit and alot tighter dispersion. Looks like I found my new fairway favorite!

Experience has taught me to hold any exuberance for a new club from putter to wedge to hybrid to fairway wood until the club has been battle-tested on the course. I played 18 this morning in dreary damp cold weather on a muni whose fairways were gnarly and almost frozen with dormant grass interspersed with baked mud patches and we were playing an event so no winter rules. I'd holed a Cleveland Launcher Titanium 19* 5 wood awhile ago and had hit it off rubber mats at the range--maybe 10-15 balls total. It felt OK but was stock length from the factory at 43" which is freaking 3 wood standard length so I lopped almost two inches off the butt and re-gripped. On one of the long far 4 holes, I decided to hit it from a bit over 200 yards out and damned if I didn't catch it pretty clean in a down lie and knocked it to about 10 feet from the front of the green. This club has passed The Test and has earned a spot in The Bag. Even if it sucked, it was only $15 anyway.

jmtbkr wrote:I went Ho'in today with a friend, looking for a 3W for him. Hit the 2nd Golfsmith near me and I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought. I was slammin' every ball as far as my 3W, but easier to hit and alot tighter dispersion. Looks like I found my new fairway favorite!

Prove it to yourself... I bet U could not hit a 2H as far as your favorite 3W... at best it's close to your favorite 5W

Pky6471 wrote:

jmtbkr wrote:I went Ho'in today with a friend, looking for a 3W for him. Hit the 2nd Golfsmith near me and I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought. I was slammin' every ball as far as my 3W, but easier to hit and alot tighter dispersion. Looks like I found my new fairway favorite!

Prove it to yourself... I bet U could not hit a 2H as far as your favorite 3W... at best it's close to your favorite 5W

I'd take that bet. I have a 16* cobra baffler pro with red board stiff shaft in it that is a bullet. It comes off low and hot. Great for a dry course or in the wind. On my best shots it's probably 5 yards behind my 3 wood but on average the hybrid outperforms my 3w. If the course is wet, 8 months out of the year, I'll play the 3 wood because it has a longer carry. There's only 1* difference in loft and about an inch in shaft length between the hybrid and the 3 wood.

Poe4soul wrote:

Pky6471 wrote:

jmtbkr wrote:I went Ho'in today with a friend, looking for a 3W for him. Hit the 2nd Golfsmith near me and I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought. I was slammin' every ball as far as my 3W, but easier to hit and alot tighter dispersion. Looks like I found my new fairway favorite!

Prove it to yourself... I bet U could not hit a 2H as far as your favorite 3W... at best it's close to your favorite 5W

I'd take that bet. I have a 16* cobra baffler pro with red board stiff shaft in it that is a bullet. It comes off low and hot. Great for a dry course or in the wind. On my best shots it's probably 5 yards behind my 3 wood but on average the hybrid outperforms my 3w. If the course is wet, 8 months out of the year, I'll play the 3 wood because it has a longer carry. There's only 1* difference in loft and about an inch in shaft length between the hybrid and the 3 wood.

Now you are changing your own story... U said that "I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25[/b]. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought." , Are U comparing 18* 2H with your 16* 3W ? now U said only 1* difference in loft?

Callaway Diablo Edge Tour 8.5 with Aldila NV 75 stiff. Used it today and had one of my best driving and iron rounds in a long time. I shot a 71.

This driver is fantastic. Perfect trajectory and very easy to fade. I hit some long ones today.

The Titleist 762 irons are staying in the bag. I was hitting lasers at flags and hit a beautiful 4 iron from 180 to about 20 feet.

I've made a conscious effort to use my legs and turn my hips more in the back swing and it's made all the difference. I feel like I'm getting the club more into the slot on the backswing and it's easier to hit through the ball. My left foot now comes off the ground and turns inward on the backswing.

Also, I'm liking the Taylormade Rossa Monza Corza putter.

If I ever shot a 71, you can believe whatever was in my bag for that round would stay there. What graphite shafts are in your Tit irons?

Mostly German wrote:If I ever shot a 71, you can believe whatever was in my bag for that round would stay there. What graphite shafts are in your Tit irons?

It's rare I shoot under par or even one or two over par. But, there is no doubt that the driver/irons combo this time made a big difference.

The Titleist 762 have Graphite Design GAT Stiff flex graphite shafts. It was one of the options when the irons came out new. The idea behind this particular graphite shaft is that it is supposed to have all the feel characteristics of a steel shaft but still be lighter and more forgiving on the joints. To me, it definitely feels different than other graphite irons I've tested. It's heavier and provides for more of a penetrating trajectory.

I have to say I really like it. I don't like the Lamkin grips, though.

Pky6471 wrote:

[size=18][b]Poe4soul[/b][/size] wrote:

Pky6471 wrote:

jmtbkr wrote:I went Ho'in today with a friend, looking for a 3W for him. Hit the 2nd Golfsmith near me and I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought. I was slammin' every ball as far as my 3W, but easier to hit and alot tighter dispersion. Looks like I found my new fairway favorite!

Prove it to yourself... I bet U could not hit a 2H as far as your favorite 3W... at best it's close to your favorite 5W

I'd take that bet. I have a 16* cobra baffler pro with red board stiff shaft in it that is a bullet. It comes off low and hot. Great for a dry course or in the wind. On my best shots it's probably 5 yards behind my 3 wood but on average the hybrid outperforms my 3w. If the course is wet, 8 months out of the year, I'll play the 3 wood because it has a longer carry. There's only 1* difference in loft and about an inch in shaft length between the hybrid and the 3 wood.

Now you are changing your own story... U said that "I came away with a Cally 2H 18* for $25[/b]. Took it to the launch monitor and I was just killin' it!!! So we then hit up the heated outdoor range and this club is one of the best things I ever bought." , Are U comparing 18* 2H with your 16* 3W ? now U said only 1* difference in loft?

That was Poe's response.
I said I was hitting as gfar as my #W. COnsider the fact I am not a big hitter and the differences between my 3W and 2H are very small. I felt I was in alot more control of where I hit the ball with the 2H.
From now on I am going to be using it in the fairway while the 3W will be relagated to hitting off the tee on narrow fairways.

jmtbkr wrote:That was Poe's response.
I said I was hitting as gfar as my #W. COnsider the fact I am not a big hitter and the differences between my 3W and 2H are very small. I felt I was in alot more control of where I hit the ball with the 2H.
From now on I am going to be using it in the fairway while the 3W will be relagated to hitting off the tee on narrow fairways.

Sorry jmt... just because U 2 look alike
in general 3W is 15* or 16* and longer shaft than a 2H (my Adams Tech OS 2H is 17*). In addition, gaybrid is designed to hit a ball high so at best I could hit my 2H almost the same distance is my favorite Cally FT-iSquareway 5W (18*). If you could hit your 2H almost the same distance as 3W then more power to you... I bought a cleveland Hi-bore 1H gaybrid (I believe it's 16*) to do just like your strategy but I could hit my 3W Cally FT-i Squareway club way better than the cleveland 1H so I sold it on eBay for a small profit... Go figure

Since the introduction of the hybrid club I have found myself predisposed to those models that fly similar distances to their iron counterparts. Is that not the purpose of the hybrid club - to be easier to hit and fly a similar distance to the iron it replaces but at a higher trajectory? I own two hybrids-Cobra Baffler DWS 18 and 24 degree models. The 24 degree replaces my 3 iron (it travels 190 to 200 yards) and the 18 degree replaces a 2 iron, flying 205 to 215.

I have no desire to hit a hybrid club 230 yards as I have a 3 wood for that very purpose.

I have often pondered why some golfers eschew hybrid clubs in favor of long irons. I can only conclude they are beleaguered by that age old character defect known as pride. Their notion is that a long iron played badly is better than a hybrid played well, regardless of the score at the end of the day.

Amongst their circle of friends, these men are not considered the brightest of the bunch.

That is all.

You hit the nail on the head, FD. Hybrids are just easier to hit. period. Less effort. I let the clubhead to the work. For me, they are a game saver. I'm now using 18*, 24* and 30*, so now all I bag is 7 thru lob.
My regular bud is a hold out. He's a bit older than me and can still clock a 3i, but refuses to change it out for a hybrid. Everytime he uses one of mine, it goes just as far, if not furthur than the iron. Eventually I will bring him over to the dark side!

I wonder how our new member, Player, feels about long irons vs. hybrids.

For me, irons are straighter when hit well, but less consistent.
Hybrids almost always get up in the air and go a long way, but they certainly aren't as accurate as an iron.

If I absolutely had to hit a green, I'd have more confidence with the long iron. If I wanted to make sure I'm close to the green or carry a hazard, I'd be better off hitting the hybrid.

Horseballs wrote:I wonder how our new member, Player, feels about long irons vs. hybrids.

For me, irons are straighter when hit well, but less consistent.
Hybrids almost always get up in the air and go a long way, but they certainly aren't as accurate as an iron.

If I absolutely had to hit a green, I'd have more confidence with the long iron. If I wanted to make sure I'm close to the green or carry a hazard, I'd be better off hitting the hybrid.

For me it depends on the situation at hand. If I'm 200 yards from the green and there is a lake right next to the green, there is no way I'm hitting a hybrid. Instead, I would take my 3 or 4 iron and aim at the side of the green that is furthest from the lake and maybe draw or fade it in. I typically don't use a hybrid for that many shots into the green from the fairway. I normally use them out of the rough, for layups on Par 5s and for long Par 3s. I might tee off with one of them on a short Par 4.

I also won't hit hybrid when there is trouble long. Sometimes my hybrid will go 20 yards further than normal, for seemingly no reason at all. It's very rare for my 4 iron to do that.
I use it similarly to you, for the most part.

FamousDavis wrote:

Mostly German wrote:If I ever shot a 71, you can believe whatever was in my bag for that round would stay there. What graphite shafts are in your Tit irons?

It's rare I shoot under par or even one or two over par. But, there is no doubt that the driver/irons combo this time made a big difference.

The Titleist 762 have Graphite Design GAT Stiff flex graphite shafts. It was one of the options when the irons came out new. The idea behind this particular graphite shaft is that it is supposed to have all the feel characteristics of a steel shaft but still be lighter and more forgiving on the joints. To me, it definitely feels different than other graphite irons I've tested. It's heavier and provides for more of a penetrating trajectory.

I have to say I really like it. I don't like the Lamkin grips, though.

Damn U FD... U are too young for graphite shafts ... Just leave those to me and Mongrel... Maybe just me, not to the guy from Baltimore

Pky6471 wrote:

FamousDavis wrote:

Mostly German wrote:If I ever shot a 71, you can believe whatever was in my bag for that round would stay there. What graphite shafts are in your Tit irons?

It's rare I shoot under par or even one or two over par. But, there is no doubt that the driver/irons combo this time made a big difference.

The Titleist 762 have Graphite Design GAT Stiff flex graphite shafts. It was one of the options when the irons came out new. The idea behind this particular graphite shaft is that it is supposed to have all the feel characteristics of a steel shaft but still be lighter and more forgiving on the joints. To me, it definitely feels different than other graphite irons I've tested. It's heavier and provides for more of a penetrating trajectory.

I have to say I really like it. I don't like the Lamkin grips, though.

Damn U FD... U are too young for graphite shafts ... Just leave those to me and Mongrel... Maybe just me, not to the guy from Baltimore

Did you read my whole post? I clearly explained that this particular graphite shaft is made of a special alloy that performs like steel but feels like graphite. I'm pretty sure all of the R&D that went into the production of this specific graphite shaft was hush-hush and on the down low. That being said, I like playing these graphite shafts. They feel great and are much easier on the body than steel. Plus, when you're firing laser guided missles at flagsticks for 18 holes straight you really can't get too concerned over judging your manhood by what shaft you use. I'll leave that to that joker who plays Powerbilt paddles.

Since this thread has gravitated towards hybrids, I feel I should enter a recent acquisition; a Ping G20 23 degree hybrid. I didn't buy this for myself; my son got it for me as a Xmas gift. It is, without a doubt, the ugliest club I have ever owned, and I was going to pedal it until I hit about six balls with it, and each shot dropped exactly on target. I brought it out a few more times to the range thinking that it had to be a fluke; nothing this ugly could be consistently that good, but got the same results each time. Not only that, it has the feel and sound of a well struck forged iron (well, maybe not Mizuno, but damn good).

Took it to Florida, played one round with it, and was so impressed with it I immediately ho'd a 20 degree version, and won a brand new one for $66 shipped.

Took them both to Gulf Shores and played three rounds with them in the bag, and I don't see myself ever using a long iron ever again. I hit some shot's that I haven't been able to hit with a long iron in a very long time, including drawing the ball around a tree to a tight left side pin to 10 feet, and a faded shot (yes a fade with a hybrid) with the same results.

These G20 hybrids are more iron like than any hybrid i have tried before (and i have tried dozens), and just purely easy to use. Although they are ugly at first glance (i immediately dismissed trying them when Ping came out with these, and the G15's before them), I am not too proud to say that a 27 and a 31 are next.