Golf gurus - need help updating my bag

The Coffee Shop
1

Pretty much haven’t golfed “seriously” in 5-6 years. Just 3-4 rounds per year with folks from work. Prior to that…wasn’t a pro, but not a hacker (USGA - 7).

Having a week long (business) trip to Vegas where golf is pretty much the main attraction. I figure I need to update the bag. I haven’t carried a driver in 5 years because my shaft broke and I really wasn’t in enough good form to be hitting a driver anyways. 3 wood has suited me fine as all my other drivers are really old.

So, I need some help.

  1. Driver. They are HUGE now. Is it still all about the shaft or are there large differences b/w driver heads? Thoughts?
  2. Driving iron/trouble clubs. Back in my day, you were a sissy to for using these. Are they now “politically correct”? If so, what clubs are you replacing? My bag is 1/3 woods, 2 thru pw, sw and putter (I believe that is one over the limit, btw).
  3. Balls. I still my box fulls of Precept EV extra spin. Obsolete now? What is the best control/distance ball…with the tie going to control?
2

If you haven’t golfed much in a few years, I would go to a good shop and get fitted for a standard set of clubs. Usually the fitting is free if you buy a new set, and it makes a lot of difference. It’s kind of like Tri. You really don’t NEED all the specialized stuff unless you’re pretty good. So, a standard PW-3 Iron set plus probably a 5, 3 and 1 wood and a Sand Wedge and Putter and you should be fine. For me, I can’t use a driver with some of the larger heads. It’s like swinging a punpkin on a toothpick, and if you’re not used to hitting the driver already, you probably don’t want to jump right into one of those.

Just my 2cents.

3

I’m all set with irons. You can’t pry my custom blades away from me.

I did stop in a shop last night…thus my questions. 5 years ago, it was ALL about shaft and custom fit. It appears it’s back to standard lengths.

4

You can always (well almost always) get your clubs fit for you. I took my old Big Bertha in last year and had it reshafted and the guy did the whole fit thing over for me.

5

Rescue clubs are no longer for girly men. Lots of good golfers I know carry them to replace their 3, 4 and even 5 irons. For most people they are easier to hit and control than long irons and they are not politically correct so you don’t have to worry about using them.

6

  1. Taylor Made drivers are hot now, but the big thing are the square head drivers. I have a Taylor Made R7, love it.

  2. Don’t use them.

  3. Depends on how much you want to spend. For distance and control, Pro V1 or the new Callaway HX Tour. Both are very pricey. For a medium priced ball, I play the Titelist NXT.

7

Sounds like you are pretty well set for irons. Hybrid clubs are personal preference. The only time I really appreciate them is hitting out of thicker rough as they have more mass to get through without twisting too much. I would, however, take a look at some of the newer (last 3-4 years) wedges. Play around with those and find a SW, LW and Gap wedge (or some combination of those). You’ll save more strokes with those dialed in anyway. As far as balls, if you are a 7 hdcp, I’m assuming you aren’t losing a huge amount of balls, so any of the “premium” balls should be a pretty solid choice. My personal preference has always been Pro V1x, but I put a ton of spin on my irons. The regular Pro V1, the Callaway HX and the Nike Ones are all pretty playable, too.

Damn, just when I had come to terms with putting my clubs away for a little while to get back in shape and race, you have to remind me how much I miss playing golf! :wink:

Mike

8

If I where you, and I wish I was, I would purchase a custom fit set of Mizuno blades. Hard to play with but once you get them down you’ll be shaping shots that would make Tiger cry.

9

I did very much the same as you but it was a longer layoff. From 1996 to 2006 I didn’t play much at all. I came back into the game and even my tees were obsolete…

Big driver heads are more forgiving and will offer the most distance through technology by optimizing launch angle and spin rates. I still had my original big bertha driver in 2006, it’s smaller than a lot of 3 woods today. I resisted the big drivers but you’re giving up a lot of performance if you’re not at least somewhere close to 400 cc (460 is the legal limit and what most upper tier drivers from all of the big manufacturers are now).

Hybrids (rescue clubs) 2-irons are obsolete now. You’ll still see the occasional person with one but that’s almost always out of stubborn resistance than a reflection on performance. They are easier to hit and control under almost all circumstances. Very windy places/days would be a possible exception for the highly skilled player (index under 5) to prefer a 2-iron. 3 iron is prett much the same story but you will see more of those still around. I resisted this too, now I’m kicking myself for holding out. (FYI, I’ve always been a good long iron player and used a 1-iron effectively for a long time).

Ball–Titleist is king of the market. Lots of good premium balls out there. Callaway, Nike, Srixon, Brigestone, and others all make a ball that is “the best” for somebody.

Irons; Sounds like you’re set in this category. Blades are dying. They are beautiful and working the ball is pretty, but if you’re after the best score, a cavity back is much more forgiving and will allow you to score better when the swing isn’t “on”. Lots of good player cavity backs. They’re not all game improvement now. There’s a reason that blades are not in the majority of the bags on tour anymore. The cavity backs will work the ball but with current clubs/courses, bomb and gouge definitely favors a straight ball.

FWIW

10

Thanks. Very helpful.

Trying to locate a shop which will allow me to take some clubs out to a “real” range (with grass). It would be interesting to ditch my 2/3 iron.

11

I currently play off about 10 but do so infrequently, I used to be a low single figure but no longer have the time or the interest.

Clubs wise though I retruned after a long break of nearly 10 years and play Nike Pro Forged Combo irons which are unbelievably consistent off the club face, allow you to work the ball but are not to punitive when it all goes wrong.

I play a 460cc Adams Driver and played every single driver out there before I settled on it.

Distance wise it never really did a huge amount for me, I was a big hitter before, the most significant difference is that I achieve the same distance and accuracy with less effort but I cant say that its dramatically increased my driving distance by 15 or 20%. Short of a 475 yard par 4 I never had a problem getting home with driver mid iron before and thats not really changed.

My current 3 wood is about the same size as my old driver, the one thing that is noticeable is that with the drivers and woods the ball travels much straighter. It is also much easier to get up off the fairway.

Prior to purchasing the woods I hit every driver from Taylor Made, Adams, Nike, Callaway, Ping and so on and so forth.

Some of them I was simply unable to get comfortable with, there is no question that they are all more forgiving but I think the trick with them is to test them all.

Ball wise I play Nike One’s. I’m not really concerned about losing them as it happens fairly infrequently so I am quite happy to pay a premium for ones with good feel off the club facce.

However, setting all this aside the single best thing I’ve bought since I came back was good wedges, sacrificed 3 clubs at the bottom end of the bag and got three forged Mizuno wedges.

These are without doubt the best investment I made.

The funny thing with all the developments in club technology is that scores for amateurs have not really gone down and amateurs are not really playing courses that are longer today than they were 10 years ago. For Pro’s there are enormouse differences in the courses but for the rest of us, I’ve not really noticed it so much.

12

I just got a new driver, the taylor made R7. I have been hitting my Calloway Big Bertha Warbird for about 10 years now and I was very happy with that. That being said the R7 is kind of like cheating. I easily get 10 - 15 more yards off it, and even mis hits are in the fairway.

I also like the Nike Sumo (square head) but I just couldn’t get over the look of it. I also hit it too straight, if you can believe that.

For balls, I almost exclusively play Pro V-1 from Titleist. However I also never pay for them, as I can expense a few dozen a year, plus I won 3 dozen at a scramble last week. So I have 6 dozen in my garage right now.

13

For a less expensive “custom” club option try: gigagolf.com

I bought the Nike Sumo knock-off drivers and really like 'em.