New Equipment

Happend across this article on the PGA site, and it mentions Rory was using a prototype driver. Now, I don't think they mean prototype in the traditional sense - i.e. knocked together in the workshop and looking a bit Heath Robinson, but I thought it was still interesting that a top pro would put something into the bag so soon before a major (he played it at the Irish open. I was also amazed that it was giving him an additional 15 yards in calm conditions, but that's another matter). What was equally interesting was the article said he'd had the same 5 wood in his bag since turning pro. What? The same model or the actual same one?

I know amateurs at my club who change their equipment every year (we call them Marley's as in "more gear than Bob Marley"), so how frequently do you upgrade or buy new clubs?

About every 25 years! Been forced to mess with driver due to rule changes and still not as comfortable as Id wish.If money wasnt an issue Id be trying stuff no doubt

I renewed just about every club in the bag last year. I set out to buy new irons, won a new 4 wood, and towards the end of the year had a fitting for a new shaft in my driver to get the ball flight down. I also played around with my putter, first having my old Ping Pal cut down from 36" to 33" and then, because I had a voucher and they were offering 20% off I bought a Rife Aruba from Direct Golf (in part at least because Poulter had wielded one so nicely). It was initially a case of 'it's a bargain, may as well give it a whirl' but it's turned out to be a great investment for me. Don't necessarily take fewer putts overall but I do get a much better roll.

Wedges were only a year old, so will probably be replaced next year. Driver may well get replaced if the kinds of yardage gain promised by the various manufacturers really are achievable. I've had a Titleist 907D2 since 2008, so 5 years seems a reasonable lifetime for one club. The irons I replaced were about 8 years old, and the fairways probably 3. The Pal had been in my bag since I bought it second hand in the late 80s.

this may sound like a very stupid question... but.....
if you get putter cut down how easy is it to restore to original length? would you need a whole new shaft?

hend085 wrote:this may sound like a very stupid question... but.....
if you get putter cut down how easy is it to restore to original length? would you need a whole new shaft?

Depends how much you got it cut by, but in general, they can re-lengthen the shaft. There are extension pieces that fit down into the orignal shaft, and as long as the join is covered by the grip, it's usually not a problem on a putter.

hend

Just chop of the bottom few inches of your legs.

Rarely change mine but been fiddling with different drivers for some time as my driving is not the same standard as the rest of my game. Must be the club(s)...obviously...

Of course it is Navy....

I actually adjusted my driver last night to a fade setting. I think it will help me take some of the left side out of play which my draw/hook brings into play.

Will be testing it out early on Saturday before the knockout rounds of the club championships. I'll have the wrench at the ready to change it back if it doesn't do what I expect.

1GrumpyGolfer wrote:Of course it is Navy....

I actually adjusted my driver last night to a fade setting. I think it will help me take some of the left side out of play which my draw/hook brings into play.

Will be testing it out early on Saturday before the knockout rounds of the club championships. I'll have the wrench at the ready to change it back if it doesn't do what I expect.

Am I right in thinking you're not allowed to change it mid round (in a competition)? In a 36 hole competition, can you adjust it between rounds?

I have the same clubs for 10 years plus. I am not a good enough player for clubs to make any difference, so why waste money?

Bob, you're right, you can't adjust it once you start however, you can put it back into the state it was if a weight comes loose for example. Mickelson needed to do this at The Masters this year.

You can change it between rounds, it's treated just the same as swapping clubs etc.

In my post above I'm talking about changing it back before I start if I don't like how the testing goes beforehand

I got new irons last year, my driver is about 4 years old, my putter is about 6 years old, my fairway woods are about 10 years old, my wedges are about 20 years old.

I sharpen the grooves on my wedges, and they work fine, so I don't see any need to change them. I only hit my fairway woods a couple of times per round, so they aren't a priority. I've tried a r11s driver (to replace my r7) this year, but but I don't think the extra 4 yards is really worth the £300 price tag.

So that leaves my putter, which is the innocent party in the hideous tragedy which my putting has become in the last few years.

So I might change some clubs at some point in the future, or if I win the Euromillions lottery tonight, then maybe tomorrow.

All my stuff except one of my fairway woods has been in my possession for at least two years now. That might not seem a long time but all are old models except my irons. I have:

TaylorMade R7 driver
Titleist 980F fairway woods
Cobra Baffler hybrid
Wishon MC560 irons
Callaway X forged wedge
TaylorMade RAC wedges
Odyssey Whitehot Sabretooth putter

They all seem to work for me so I'm unlikely to change them and there's nothing I covet either.

Is it easy to maintain legal groove depth etc when sharpening grooves? My wedges are starting to wear a little but i don't really want to change them just yet.

Last time I bought new clubs was a few weeks ago after somebody nicked my sand wedge and pitching wedge from the back of the 18th green where I had foolishly dropped them. After all the times I've found and handed in clubs, clubhead covers, mobile phones, etc, I was a little miffed that the favour wasn't returned !

Unless you really gouge out a load of metal (which isn't easy to do) then a groove sharpener is a good solution to tired wedges.

Groove sharpeners are intended to push away the metal burrs that develop on the edge of the grooves, so there's a defined edge to the groove. They aren't intended to make the grooves deeper, and they certainly aren't intended to make the edge of the grooves illegally sharp.

So in answer to your question, it's probably not illegal to use a groove sharpener provided that you don't overuse it.

That's crappy Plunky. I've always handed stuff I find out on the course in. I'm glad there are like minded souls around because I have managed to get towels back that I have dropped out on the course.

Just don't pick up any towels left on the course by Tarka!

Not good to hear Plunky, I have happily retrieved dropped clubs from the pro shop many times. Although once at quite a large junior tournament I left my clubs outside the clubhouse and went out to find someone had taken my wedges.


As for new equipment I have only ever had three sets of irons in 15 years of playing the game. One set of junior clubs and two real sets. I have had my current irons for about ten years. I change drivers a bit more often but thats probably because I cant drive.

Also had my putter around 8-9 years, keep meaning to change it as i dont really like it but just never got round to it.

BlueCoverman wrote:Just don't pick up any towels left on the course by Tarka!

Having played with blades all my playing life, decided it was a time for change, having priced all the new sets of blades decided to go for a muscle back iron, only played about a dozen rounds with them so far, so to soon to decide if they will stay in my bag.

BlueCoverman wrote:Just don't pick up any towels left on the course by Tarka!

Blue, never, ever pick up anything left by Tarka

The towel story is probably the most I have ever laughed at work.

Does anyone know if any equipment manufacturers send prototypes out to "normal" punters as well as their tour guys to test/provide feedback on new developments/prototypes?

I assume there must be something they do with club golfers as I guess the majority of golfers won't be buying the "tour" model with the japanuzi straightex 32g megashaft (or real world equivalent). Or is it all just computers doing all the modelling of the off the shelf products we see?

Just got an RBZ three wood, and it's a revelation. Carrying 250 with it, and more importantly dead dead straight.

The only way I could carry a ball 250 yards would be in my pocket as I am walking to hit my third shot.

super_realist wrote:Just got an RBZ three wood, and it's a revelation. Carrying 250 with it, and more importantly dead dead straight.

Oh balls. You're about the 4th person I've heard this from in the last week. So either you're all marketing gurus in league with the devil, or I'm going to have to go and try one out.

Bob - Exactly the same sentiments!

I'm hiring some in Spain next month, if they are a revelation I can feel the purchase of some new, shiny bats.

Sorry - not shiny. The white head reduces glare and aids alignment (arg - I'm now in league with the devil too...)

Strange thing is bob, I took the stiff stock shaft out and couldn't keep it on the fairway, swallowed my pride, tried the regular and I'm happier than Mac in a primary school playground.

Amazingly consistent and probably every bit as long as my driver.

RBZ 3 wood is a phenomenal club. Bought it about 2 months ago and love it. Does exactly what Super Realist says. Bought the 5 wood and I can hit that so straight and longer than some of my playing partners 3 woods.

Thought about buying the driver but love my R11S too much and hit some crazy long drives yesterday.

super_realist wrote:Just got an RBZ three wood, and it's a revelation. Carrying 250 with it, and more importantly dead dead straight.

Interesting. Tried one of these and it was awful. Felt terrible, ball flight like a dieing quail. Rubbish. Have heard it said that it's more than useful to get fit for the right shaft and the stock options play stiffer to stated flex but can't see me splashing the cash on one of these. Would have to be exceptional anyway with a name like "RocketBallz" - what were they thinking?

Horses for courses, one mans meat etc.

I know what you mean though because I couldn't hit the stiff shaft for toffee.

Rocketballz is a terrible name though, some redneck yank had to have thought of that one.

super_realist wrote:Strange thing is bob, I took the stiff stock shaft out and couldn't keep it on the fairway, swallowed my pride, tried the regular and I'm happier than Mac in a primary school playground.

Amazingly consistent and probably every bit as long as my driver.

Interesting - I've got a mate who is a local retailer and expert with the added bonus that he gives excellent impartial advice (he's talked be into cheaper stuff in the past because the more expensive wasn't right for me). I've been thinking of a new 3 wood anyway, so I'll go and see him and give it a try.

Did you happen to try the equivalent RBZ driver?

Bob, I was actually fitted for the RBZ driver at Linlithgow and ended up with a RBZ tour 9 deg with a fubuki stiff shaft.

It's good, but it's not in the same class as the 3 wood which is more reliable and only a little bit shorter.

Is it not a bit odd that the shafts are different flex in your driver and 3 wood? Anyway.. now on my agenda to try these out.

Wasn't fitted for my three wood Bob, just tried a couple off the shelf, however I've tried the regualr shaft in my driver and it doesn't work too well.

Just the peculiarities of fitting. Small changes make big differences.

super_realist wrote:

Rocketballz is a terrible name though, some redneck yank had to have thought of that one.

Dustin Johnson, apparently.

SmithersJones wrote:

super_realist wrote:

Rocketballz is a terrible name though, some redneck yank had to have thought of that one.

Dustin Johnson, apparently.

Why doesn't that surprise me?

You have to give credit to the genius marketing guys at TM. People like me, who think it's a stupid name, will still buy the club if it performs. I don't care what it's called... if it works for me it gets a place in the bag. However, the kind of people who buy a club purely based on what it's called are the type of morons who think rocketballz sounds cool. All bases covered.

I bought a new driver in May... Tried a lot of different drivers on a launch monitor and the RBZ was the longest, almost 5mph more club head speed which equated to about 15 yards with the standard stiff shaft further than anything else. Only problem was the dispersion... 30 yards more distance than my old driver but equally 30 yards to the left or right. Went for the Titleist D2 in the end as this was the most consistent, even though that meant giving up 15 yards on the RBZ.

http://www.mygolfspy.com/mygolfspy-labs-wrong-shaft-flex/

Interesting article on shaft flex which given how much better a regular shafted three wood is for me than the stiff shaft I would expect to be suited too is interesting reading.

Good read.

So .. in short.. get fitted, or try out clubs and variations a lot, because there are very few, if any, golden rules.

One of the drawbacks of fitting is that you seem to be pigeonholed on your ability. So as a low handicapper I was automatically fitted for stiff shafts, never even got to try the regular ones out even though this reports (and my own experience) shows that in some clubs, it might have been the best flex.

Dont forget colour coordination ! Was at the practice day of the Barclays yesterday and saw Ian poulter using a driver with a red head to match his trousers and visor. Curious to see if he has a driver to match each outfit !

Based in Long Island.. but knows how to spell colour? Ex-pat?

Poulter is a funny one - I vacillate between thinking he's a great golfer and a show pony who pays too much attention to other things.

That is an interesting link from Super. I must confess I had always erred with the conventional "wisdom".

Not sure if it's targeted advertising on that website, but the advert was for a long drive shaft manufacturer (Harrison) which I thought odd marketing on an article against conventional wisdom in respect of shafts.

I got my irons fitted a couple of years ago (Project X Flighted 6.0) but didn't fit the woods. Was merely told by the fitter that the Aldila Voodoo stiff shaft I had in my driver 909 D2 was a good one. I enquired about fitting my then 3 and hybrid with matching shafts and was quoted £320 just for the shafts. Just bought the matching 909 clubs with matching factory fit shafts for about £180 total. Never sure whether that's a genuine saving or a loss of £180!

Toying with wood/fairway/hybrid upgrade soonish and think I'll plumb for fitting again although options over here are somewhat limited.

navyblueshorts wrote:

super_realist wrote:Just got an RBZ three wood, and it's a revelation. Carrying 250 with it, and more importantly dead dead straight.

Interesting. Tried one of these and it was awful. Felt terrible, ball flight like a dieing quail. Rubbish. Have heard it said that it's more than useful to get fit for the right shaft and the stock options play stiffer to stated flex but can't see me splashing the cash on one of these. Would have to be exceptional anyway with a name like "RocketBallz" - what were they thinking?

Best bargain of the year.

Managed to persuade my mate to sell me his RBZ 3 wood for £80.

It comes of the club like a rocket..........................ballzzzzz

Bob -- yep, born and bred in Plymouth, been living with American husband on Long Island for twenty odd years now. Luckily he quite likes the current crop of european players so we followed Luke Donald and Justin Rose for a few holes yesterday, saw Poulter, Laird, etc. Both Luke and Justin were hitting the ball well especially Justin -- if I were in a pool for the Barclays, I'd definitely be picking Justin Rose. You heard it here first !

I'll remember that and come back next week to congratulate/tease you depending on how he does