Club Ho'ing

Kiwigolfer wrote:Fallen off the wagon FD? I'm sorry to hear that.  

Don't forget the GR Twelve Step Programme. We are here to help.

1. We admitted we were powerless over ho'ing - that our ho'ing had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that the power of the GR Forum could restore us to golfing sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our golf game over to the care of the Golfing Gods - new clubs are not the answer.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of our golf club collection.
5. Admitted to GR, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our ho'ings.
6. Were entirely ready to have GR assist to remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked GR to identify steps to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had outbid on Ebay and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such ho's wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or other ho's.
10. Continued to take inventory and when we were asked if we really need six drivers and five sets of irons promptly admitted that we didn't.
11. Sought through posts, discussion and polls to improve our contact with GR hoping only for knowledge of the forums will for us and the power to carry that out.
12 Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other ho's and to practice these principles in all our golf equipment purchases.

Well done, Kiwi! So true.

I tried a couple of Taylormade Speedblade irons in the launch monitor. They had KBS tour stiff shafts and the feel was great. I've changed my swing a bit so that I keep my right arm close to my side on the backswing and coming into the ball. Yes, I know, this is something I should have been doing all along. It's amazing how you will try something new in golf after 35 years of playing and it's like "why didn't I try that before".

Have any of you ever gone to 4GEA.com? There is this really great guy named Club Champ who's pretty funny.

FD, don't fall for the KBS Tours again. They may feel great, but they are terrible.

I had an hour to kill yesterday so I went to a golf store. I don't like anything TM is doing. Titleist is the only one making woods that appeal to my eye. The Nike stuff is pretty weird. Although it hasn't been released yet, Hogan is coming back with 2 iron styles and wedges. The irons will be made in every degree of loft and will only be stamped with the degree (i.e. 48 instead of PW). The old Nifty was looking this and his frustrating failure most certainly led to his death. TBH, that is very appealing to me (not Nifty's death). It's ridiculous what is happening with loft. I saw some pictures of the new Srixon irons and thought they looked sweet enough to research them. The PW is 44 degrees!

A lot of reasonable people can avoid club hoing. But very few serious skiers can avoid ski hoing.

With golf you generally play one set at a time. Sets of clubs are pretty much intended to do the same thing.  In skiing I have four sets for racing, two pair for hardpack other than racing, a fat deep snow ski and a bump/all conditions ski. And every year technology continues to evolve and graphics change.  Also, a set of skis typically lasts only 60–100 days.  

Right now the largest industry trade show is going on in Denver and I'm getting reports on next year's skis. There are at least a couple of pair I'll need (want). For skiers like me that get in 90+ days per year I don't even reach ho status. You should see what some of these guys have.

The bag is set for this year.

Driver: Callaway Big Bertha 10.5 stock Fubuki R flex
3 &4 hybrid: Bridgestone J40 SteelFibre R Flex
4-PW: Srixon I-701 Project X 5.5
GW: 50 Cleveland CG14 Project X 5.5
SW & LW: 54 & 58 Mizuno MP-T11 DG Spinner Wedge Flex
Putter: Bettinardi SB-5+ center shaft

Can't get to a par 5 in 2 anyway so going for consistant gapping and control.

I'm now playing a set of Ping i10 irons with AWT regular flex steel shafts. The feel great and not too whippy. Perfect actually. I'm also playing two Ping G20 hybrids. Oh, and I've purchased a SLDR 460 TP with 6.3 shaft at 9.5 degrees. This thing is a bomber. First noticeably longer driver that I have tried.

After my accident which kind of phucked up my shoulder, sold the srixon's (got my money back even after reshafting with the PX 5.5s) after having them for three years and bought a set of jpx 825's with steelfiber I70 shafts. Love the feel of the shaft as it takes a lot of the vibration on shots out of the swing. On windless days nice flight and they would just stick the green and end up within a few feet of the ball mark. But when into the wind was losing considerable distance. Found a good deal for a set of bridgestone j15 cast with ns pro 950's near the end of the season and really liked em.

This winters project is reshafting the bstones with steelfibers. Going with the I95 soft stepped once. It should be the same swingweight as the steel shafts but a lot better on the joints. The j15s get up in the air but with the ns pro's don't get enough spin on the ball to stop em like I did with the steelfibers. So softstepping them once hopefully will work.

Gives me something to do still spring anyways.

... 13* / Mature shaft this yr and I honestly don't know what that is but I hit straighter and longer with this driver... Well, in a way science has proved that 13* WILL reduce side spins so ball goes straighter, the addition of mature shaft (nice way of saying for older men) helps also.

I got a 21* 5W from the same family, will test it at Deerfield tomorrow... Can't wait

I'm pretty sure that my latest bag is my final bag as a recreational linkster.   I've watched my index go from the 8s to the 10s to the 12s, all in recent times, and how delusional would I have to be to think that it's going to get better instead of worse?  

I've been trying to buy a game since I bought my first new set in late summer / early autumn of 1959 after scrubbing pans in my grandfather's bakery all summer to do it.   There's a popular saying these days that the definition of insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing expecting a different result each time.  That's probably more of a symptom than an actual definition, but that's the psychotic thing that I've done and I don't even want to think of the money that I've wasted doing it.  The bags just add up lining the perimeter of my man cave.  Like a broken clock, the asshat Larry was probably having one of his twice daily cogent moments when he mocked me on that.

I've got a really good set of clubs right now, and I'm not presently planning to spend another  penny on golf clubs ever.  When a dog bite shortened my season this year, I got to thinking about how much longer I would have to play.  I'm a first-wave boomer--1946--and in 2016, fates willing, I will be on the course as a seventy year old player.  I need another set of clubs like I need another rectum. (Of course, if we were talking bladders, any man my age could use a second one of those to help out.)

What I've got is what I will have. If I need a change, I'll just go vintage into the collection.

About a year behind you since I will be 69 in little more than three months if I make it. Played my first golf hole in 1955 and used my father's cut-down clubs until he gave me a set of full-size men's sticks when I was 15. Blades of some sort, maybe Mac's, and persimmon Mac woods. And, of course, a Bullseye putter. He must have had 15 of those damn things in the carriage house garage. I took lessons from a young assistant pro at one of the old man's clubs when I was 15 and the guy got me to where I could hit 170 yard 5 irons. Then it mostly went to shit when all I could think about was getting my driving license and getting p#ssy.

My bag is complete save for a regular shaft for my 18* Taylor UDI driving iron. The only choices left are what balls and what glove to use. I bought one of those bionic gloves when I found one in black last summer and like it a lot except that the thumb stitching tore out but I still use it for practice.

At my age, when I can take an adequate shit in the morning before I play golf, Ford is in his flivver.

Mongrel wrote:About a year behind you since I will be 69 in little more than three months if I make it. Played my first golf hole in 1955 and used my father's cut-down clubs until he gave me a set of full-size men's sticks when I was 15. Blades of some sort, maybe Mac's, and persimmon Mac woods. And, of course, a Bullseye putter. He must have had 15 of those damn things in the carriage house garage. I took lessons from a young assistant pro at one of the old man's clubs when I was 15 and the guy got me to where I could hit 170 yard 5 irons. Then it mostly went to shit when all I could think about was getting my driving license and getting p#ssy.

My bag is complete save for a regular shaft for my 18* Taylor UDI driving iron. The only choices left are what balls and what glove to use. I bought one of those bionic gloves when I found one in black last summer and like it a lot except that the thumb stitching tore out but I still use it for practice.

At my age, when I can take an adequate shit in the morning before I play golf, Ford is in his flivver.

Sh$$$$tttt 5i=175 yds... those days are long gone for me. I don't even carry a 6i , my 7i = 130 in summer, my gaybrids are doing OK

Pky, with the new set of irons I got off Ebay awhile ago, I am carrying the 5 iron 2008 Tour Burner between 170 and 175 yards with dead range balls off beat up rubber mats. With a dead center strike with the 4 iron, it carries 180-190. The best part is when I hit one of these irons thin and the carry is just a little short but the roll makes up for it.

Mongrel wrote:Pky, with the new set of irons I got off Ebay awhile ago, I am carrying the 5 iron 2008 Tour Burner between 170 and 175 yards with dead range balls off beat up rubber mats. With a dead center strike with the 4 iron, it carries 180-190. The best part is when I hit one of these irons thin and the carry is just a little short but the roll makes up for it.

Mongrel ; I have the AM t-time tomorrow 12/27 at Deerfield GC, I will carry my Mizuno 23 irons which I have not played them in a long time. they say 65F+ and cloudy... well, as long as I don't get wet I am OK. I will enjoy being out there no matter what

It is now AM on 12/27 and I hope you find weather conditions favourable to your game of golf and the Mizuno 23's aiding the effort. I still have a few 23's. Four through seven irons. Except that they are just heads. I went all ISIS on them except at least I will sometimes re-attach a head to the rest of the being. I have way too many heads lying around from a multitude of generations of Titleist driver heads to a herd of various Mizuno, Cobra and Titleist iron heads. I need to get rid of most of them but am too lazy to reassemble them in saleable condition.

I've been thinking about maybe taking a few iron heads and making wind chimes out of them. I have oodles of steel shafts and maybe a combo of pieces of shafts and a few heads could be melodic. The key would be to select those pieces that would sound like the chorus from the Caddyshack theme "I'm Allright". That would be a money-maker.

If you sell your stuff, Mongrel, you won't have a collection.

There's no serious money in old gear, so isn't it better to horde it?

We're pretty much in our second childhood now, and we're going to need toys.

Course is still open, nobody around to play, but some guys are still banging balls on the practice tee.

Went back to try that old 983K that we used to talk about. I normally prefer "tour spoon" type drivers over the big ones, but this 365cc beast, for reasons I've never really figured out, has always been semi-hittable for me. In late December, although a reasonably warm one, and with range balls, although we have decent ones, I'm getting 225+ CARRY, sometimes a little more, with that old mother. With UST 65, it's roughly 44" long. I like at absolute minimum 12º on the tee, and this thing is stamped only eleven point five. But I'm thinking that this old stick can make the opening day lineup.

11.5* 983K with a 65 gram UST shaft is a great club. I tried to find one of those heads but they are rare. For years I swore I would never bag a 460cc driver but eventually caved and now the Ping G15 I carry looks normal and is just as, if not more, solid than the best 983K I ever had which was the first one I bought (used, of course, since the fuckers were like five hundred bucks new) and it had the Prolite 3.5 stiff shaft. I played it for awhile and realized that the shaft was a bit stiff for me and gave it to my son who was about 17 at the time. The first hole we played after I gave it to him was a 420 yard par 4 and he hit that driver about 325 into the left rough. Damn.

225 is a good carry for guys our age.

Collecting/hoarding is cool but I'm running out of room. At least the old lady hasn't given me too much shit about it since she is sort of a hoarder of photographs. She also takes, prints, mats and sells her photos and the upstairs of our house is just littered with photos. Many of them are pretty good. She get to go to a photo tour of Cuba early next year and if so, I want lots of shots of the old American cars from the 40's and 50's--- the stuff I was used to when I was a kid. Also some of the grand old buildings that were hotels and casinos. My old man used to go there with his country club paisans when The Families still ran things.

For the last 6 months or so I've been playing a set of Nike Forged Pro Combo irons, 3-PW, with the stock Nike shafts. The shafts feel sort of like a Dynalite Gold or just Dynalite. I'm hitting these irons great and the feel is second to none. The odd thing is that my distance has increased. I can hit the 7 iron 155 and the 5 iron 175. The 3 iron has changed my game from 190 to 200 yards out. I've hit some incredible shots with it. I think I only paid $69 for them at Golf Galaxy.

I also purchased a Callaway Razr Fit with stock Aldila NV Stiff and it's a great driver. $29 and it looks new.

Putter: Odyssey Metal X 7 with a super stroke mid-slim 2.0 grip. I like it.

I've also started using a BagBoy push cart. It's only beneficial on flat courses. i find it easier to carry the bag on hilly courses.

My putting has been bad lately. My handicap has gone from 5.2 index to around 8.4, the highest I've been in 20 years. I haven't lost any distance but I just seem to have double-bogey holes and can't seem to make enough putts. I've been pushing everything or 3 putting.

One of the boys from Down Under really liked the Pro Combos as I recall from the former forum. The local Golfsmith has had a set of them for months asking just under $300 for 4-PW. Guess that's why they are still for sale.

As far as putting, I always liked the head shape of the Odyssey #7's. I bought one used last summer with the White Hot Pro insert and put one of those super stroker grips on it. Played maybe 6 rounds with it and it sucked big time. Went back to the Rife 2 Bar and it was better but still too many putts. I finally realized that I am not a straight back straight through kind of guy. I started out as a kid with a Bullseye and had my best putting run at the private clubs in the 1980's and early 90's with a Titleist 8802 clone with a slight arcing stroke. So I got a used Taylor Daytona with the surlyn insert and slant neck shaft. It is one of those "'79 anniversary" models with the black heads. I liked the white headed equivalents I tried in the stores but all you have to do is look at one and the white paint chips off. Some of the ones you see on Ebay have obvious touch ups with White Out.

Have not played it yet but on the practice greens with a slight arc stroke, it is worlds better than the #7 and all the other bastards in my basement.

Ciao.

I'm still playing the Nike Pro Combo irons that I purchased back in late 2015. Simply the best irons I've ever purchased. The shaft is the key with these irons. I have the stock steel shaft in stiff but it has this great kick when you come into the ball. I'm playing the Taylormade SLDR white driver, 10.5 loft (adjusted down to probably 9.5) with the TP 6.3 stiff shaft. The SLDR is the only driver I've tried that actually gets the spin rate down and provides a more penetrating flight with greater distance. My putter is a Plop Joystick purchased on the bay for around $25. I've only been playing about once per month. My driver game and irons are about the same but putting...forget it. I have several 3 putts per round and can't seem to make any birdie putts. Chipping is off as well but that's to be expected.

I picked up a Ping G30 driver off Ebay since I wanted to try something newer than my i20, which I still love. I only play a couple of times a year, so I can't justify spending $600 on a new G400.
Hopefully I hit the G30 well, when the snow melts and the courses open.

finally gave up the old Cleveland HiBore XL soup bowl on the V2 X flex shaft. Swung it for 12 years, great for awhile but getting old, diminishing results. Bagging a Taylor Made M4 now, down to a stiff from X. Seems to have added ten yards and hits more fairways.

Other than that, I finally put away the Nike blades and put the Adams paddles back in. Replaced the four iron with a Cleveland gaybrid, making a total of three. Bag looks like a raffle prize now with all the not-iron club heads in there... or a "beginner's complete set" at Walmart. But the gaybrids are too good to put away.

I'm down about ten yards on the irons these days... not because I"m old, but because I'm down to 6'3" from my youthful 6' 4 1/2". Shorter swing arc. It's physics. :-)