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Light through yonder window breaks....

Well just another example of how True Spec is incredible. This morning, I emailed Loren to tell him that I was going through a swing change and i was getting the handle a bit more forward now. I asked him if it made sense for me to bend the lofts a bit weaker (since they were bent strong during the fitting). Rather than typing an email response, he asked if he could call. I said of course and he called me within 15 minutes. We spoke about my fitting and he explained my swing dynamics to me and explained why he would not recommend changing the iron lofts. We talked about launch angles, speed, spin and gapping and he he left me with no doubt that I was good where I was, even with the pending swing change. He ended our conversation by saying if I did seem to notice that any sort of swing changes were negatively effecting the gapping or carry distances due to a lower ball flight, that I should call him and that I could come into the studio to have everything looked at to see if the lofts needed to be changed or if if I was good to go and I just needed to get my eyes used to a slightly lower ball flight. Again, I cannot recommend True Spec enough. Just a first class fitting experience that continues long after the fitting has completed.

Is the bold really a thing to you? I play with a couple guys who will hit a 7 iron from 170 and I'll hit a 7 or 9 w. And yet I generally score 5-8 shots better than them every round. You touched on the reasons for stronger--not jacked---lofts yourself. And Cnosil as usual summed it all up very well. My 2019 SUV gets 5 to 8 more MPG than my 2010 one did. I guess I have a jacked fuel tank

The bold part is one thing almost every tester that I've worked with or read their reviews does a very good job on. Those of you who have tested--as you have--know very well part of our instructions in the very beginning of the template we send out is to say to be honest, if it works how it was advertised or touted by the OEM say so, if you see it not doing so for you...by all means say that as well. I say the member here do that to a level that is not seen anywhere else.

My only issue with it is some manufacturers don’t make corresponding wedges. I personally would like to see more set GW’s. It is a full shot club for most everyone, yet we have to try and match a specialty wedge in there. There are a lot of sets with GW’s for sure... but a few in my preferred iron category lacks. That 50°/51° square soled wedge. Speaking in my own preferences of course. I’d love to see a Blueprint GW... Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Jacked lofts don’t exist. Numbers in the bottom of an iron are arbitrary and chosen by the manufacturer. There’s no standard in golf. pick a style of club and look at the specs for each company in that style. launch, spin and land angle are what matters. The manufacturers work to get irons into a certain window.

Not directly, but I'm guessing most if not all of the MGS Tester Reviews influence the golfing community at large one way or another. For me personally, that's how I found the forum. I was researching new irons (PE2 replacement) and found some Hit Squad and Official Tester Reviews. Not only were they well written, but I found them more real and believable. After joining the forum and starting some dialogue with our members, my search for new irons suddenly had a new element/dimension that wasn't there simply looking at OEM product reviews and YT videos... fellow golfers having recent experiences going through the same equipment decisions. So while I may never know for certain, I do suspect there are a few more G410 drivers and G410 irons being bagged around the world as a result of my reviews. Man, that's a lot of weight and responsibility to be lugging around .

That is an issue that most brands haven't really addressed. Mizuno, though, have the JPX line of wedges that I think would be more in line performance wise with the HMP irons. PXG is one of the only manufacturers that I know of that offers their GI (0211 and 0311XF) and SGI (0311 SGI) irons all the way through to a LW so you're at least getting the same tech throughout the set which makes gapping easier. They even offer a GW in their Players (0311 P) iron. The issue really just comes in when you go from a club designed for distance, i.e. the iron set, to a club designed for control, i.e. the specialty wedges. Sent from my Pixel 2 using MyGolfSpy mobile app

This sounds like a his issue and not a your issue to me.

I had an issue with my Hot Metal Pros for this reason. The PW was 45*, but went 150 yards. My 50* is and Edel and goes 120 yards, leaving a ridiculous gap. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Just rolled over 18000 likes. Thanks everyone. Not a “like” chaser... just glad you guys keep putting up with me and enjoying my content. Carry on. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Very odd, blustery, and wet round this afyenoon. 2 birds,2 pars,and 5 bogeys. I actually love playing in this weather in the fall. Pretty much had the course to myself.

Why is there no length standards, flex standards, headweight standards, shoe size standard, etc. You can say they lofts are jacked and no one can really provide a good reason why. Like you said, clubs launch higher and travel farther. Marketing is all about distance; most players won't buy clubs that go 10 yards less than their current clubs. Ultimately the number on the bottom of the club is and has always been meaningless; find the clubs that allow you to hit the ball a specific distance. If that is labelled 7, 33*, A, 150 yrd, or something else, does it really matter?

I’m not much of an influencer however I did get a couple of old farts in the grocery store to pick up a six pack of prune juice. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

So you were influenced by MGS to create a thread on being an influencer and asking the forum members if we considered ourselves influencers based on our influential tests. [emoji2957]

Tomorrow I start a 5 day marathon of golf, mostly within 20 minutes of home. It's for a local Aus golf forum's "National Championship" All 5 courses are rated in Australia's top 100. Days 3 and 4 are the main event, played over 36 holes, with the other days individual events. All days are being played as handicap Stableford format, which takes a bit of pressure off. Day 1 At my home club, Curlewis Golf Club. https://curlewisgolf.com.au/pages/first I hope local knowledge will give me a bit of an advantage. Day 2 Barwon Heads Golf Club One of Australia's oldest high end courses. Very staid, but a lovely course right on the coast. https://www.barwonheads.golf/cms/ Reasonably short, but can be seriously windy. The greens have a reputation for being some of the best in Australia. Day 3 and 4 13th Beach Golf Club https://www.13thbeachgolf.com/cms/ Beach Course followed by Creek Course. Interestingly (at least to me) the club is named after the adjacent surf beach, which is in turn, named after the 13th hole of Barwon Heads GC next door. The Beach course runs through some stunning dunes, whilst The Creek is on the inland side of the property. The Beach in particular can be hammered by wind, and both courses have fast and firm greens. Day 5 A short ferry trip to the other side of Port Philip Bay to Portsea Golf Club https://www.portseagolf.com.au/cms/ Another beautifully conditioned course, with lots of undulating holes. Plenty of social events go along with this, so it all adds up to a great few days. I'm not sure I'm up to 5 consecutive days of golf, especially walking every day except day 4, but here's hoping I can handle it. I'm still not sure about my swing and body but there was no way I'd miss this one.

hahahaha now THAT's funny right there If no betting involved, yeah, who cares about gimmie putts. My problem is multiple groups having a money game and side bets with members in different groups and some putts are given wider range than in other groups. Particularly an "in the leather" (or circle of friendship) that is a sidehill slippery putt.

Several people know I had the opportunity to test the Epic Flash for MGS. Many have seen my results with the driver and were very impressed. Unfortunately, none of these people spend that kind of money on golf, so I know none of them have even thought much about purchasing it. I tried to give the most honest review possible, but in doing so, I also wanted to make sure people could get a good understanding of my game through my review and updates. I feel like so many golfers are in my handicap range, and I hope that my results with the Epic Flash really speak volumes about what it can do not only for low-cappers like @THEZIPR23, but also for mid-high handicappers like myself. It's also why I spend so much time on my "How'd you play?" and "What did you practice/work on today?" posts. Like @jlukes said, I want everyone to see the whole process, not just a one-off capture of how I hit a club at a point-in-time. I certainly rely on other's opinions on this board. We have so many knowledgeable members here, and through reading all of the posts I feel like I even have a basic understanding of many of our golf abilities/games. I was persuaded to try Snell because of the ball test, but switched to the MTB-X after reading some of the feedback on the forums. I absolutely love that ball, and I would never have tried Snell without MGS or the MTB-X specifically without other people's experiences posted on here.

Exactly. If I ask another player about club selection I really want to known if you hit the shot well and how far do you normally hit the club not the number on the bottom.

That is some tight gapping. For most companies they look to get 15 yards between clubs. theres a large number of golfers out there that want to hit the ball far. They don’t care that it might go to far or that the gap is 17 yards instead of 12. I think most golfers would prefer to hit an iron over a hybrid so if a 4i goes the same distance and hybrid and is almost as say to get in the air that’s not a bad thing for most. Everyone wants golf to be easy so what does it matter if someone plays clubs that go high and far? What does it matter if that person has a gap that’s bigger or smaller than someone else prefers? The golfer looking at the gi/sgi type of club is buying it because they are inconsistent with contact on the face and thus distance. If the golfer is out playing and has a good time or is just happy to be playing that’s all that matters. the great thing about golf is there are lots of brands with lots of choices from baby blades to almost a full set of hybrids. Find what works for you and play that.

When I tested the Hogan equalizers I got a few of my friends to give them a shot. No one bought them but I tried.

Same with us buddy and I’m the youngest of the bunch at 69. The majority are in the mid 70’s. In the leather is good with our group except for those with the belly and titty putters. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

I can't like this post to give you another one...

I’m with the OP here. It’s difficult to find an iron with some forgiveness that doesn’t make the ball travel further, loft-to-loft. My Hot Metal Pro PW was 45*, my Ping i210 was 46*.... The HMP went 15 yards further. Why??? Yep, folks want more distance and need it, I guess, but it’s hard to shop for clubs with some offset, forgiveness, and not have the ball go super high, spin low, and go further. Hot faces leave huge gaps at the wedges... See my previous post! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Top 3 Best/Favorite Holes of 2019 I picked through my GAME Golf rounds to find my top three holes from 2019. My low rounds this year resulted from lots of pars and not many bogeys, so naturally the handful of holes where I scored birdie or better made this a pretty easy search. #1 - Eagle, August 25, Hole No. 3, Western Greens Country Club Hole No. 3 at Western Greens is a long par five. You need to put your drive well right of the tree that guards the left side of the landing area to just have a good look at running the ball right up to the creek bed that is right in front of the green. I smashed my drive 264 yards to the right side of the fairway and hit a great 6-iron 176 yards leaving me 52 yards to the pin. The green slopes back-to-front, left-to-right. I pulled my 54 degree wedge, hit a low shot right to the front left of the green and watched it roll up and in the cup for eagle! #2 - Birdie, July 3, Hole No. 7, Western Greens Country Club The owner of Western Greens calls No. 7 the hardest par 4 is West Michigan, and he has a great argument. The hole is almost entirely uphill, making the 428-yard dogleg left play much longer. You must put your drive over a hill and far from the left side which is protected by a line of trees that stop any chance of hitting the green in regulation. The approach into the green plays almost two clubs longer than the yardage, and the wind is often swirling at the top of the hill. It had rained heavily the evening prior and the course was very wet. I hit my drive 244 yards over a pond created by the rain and had the drive stick down in the right fairway with a good look at the pin. I pulled a 5-iron from 177 yards and landed my second shot right on the front of the green. The ball rolled out to about 15 feet from the pin and I sank the birdie putt en route to a career low nine of 38. #3 - Eagle, June 7, Hole No. 6, The Falls at Barber Creek I took the day off of work to play with the in-laws, and had a blast at a new-to-me course. No. 6 is a dogleg right par 5. Playing from the white tees with my father-in-law, I was able to take a good chunk of the dogleg out of play by driving over the water hazard on to the fairway beyond. By no means was it my best drive ever (236 yards), but it left me with about 140 yards to the green. I hit a perfect 9-iron that landed about a foot from the pin and rolled out toward the back of the green to about 20 feet. The putt had multiple breaks, but I read the line perfectly and dropped in my first-ever eagle!

So you just like regular guys; or should I say guys that are regular?

Same with the guys here - even if it's a half a roll away. You've got to putt it out. Sent from my iPad using MyGolfSpy

All good brother[emoji4] I hear the word online influencer and what immediately comes to mind is some DB instagram kid who poses on beaches selling hand cream and vegan milkshakes.

I hope so. Even outside of the MGS testing, I love sharing my golf experiences. The main reason I started threads to discuss my fitting experience and my lessons/swing changes is so that others can relate and better understand the process. I hope my experiences educate and inform, and by doing that I guess you could say influence.

Couple more notes about Fitter, Scott Wood. He was gracious enough to fit me in knowing this was not going to be a sale. His explanation during the process was very thorough. The saying can’t teach old dogs new tricks is wrong, he taught me a lot. Couple other stats; launch angle from 14’ to 18.5’ and spin from 3550 to 5700 so definite improvement. My lonely cart @ 8:00 am Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Thanks! That's as good of a place to start as any, I suppose! First, to recap a few loosely-defined goals I had for this year: 1) Play More Golf Never mind the fact that "more" is a terrible qualifier for a goal, I definitely played more golf in 2019 than ever before in my life. I totaled 51 rounds this season. Honestly, I ended up playing a lot more than I anticipated coming into the year. Some of that is because I was selected to test the Callaway Epic Flash (thanks again, MGS!), but also because I ended up getting a very affordable membership at one of our local courses. Additionally, I am lucky to work very close to a championship-caliber course and practice facility. I hit a bucket of balls and spent time in the short game area or putting green at lunch nearly every day from April to this past week. 2) Break 90 The last time I played golf consistently was my junior year of college. Playing three times a week for about 10 or 12 weeks in a row, I broke 90 once. I expected it would take some time before I’d ever do it again. I ended up breaking 90 relatively early in the season, and I totaled 17 rounds of 90 or less out of 27 18-hole rounds played. I ended up breaking 80 once, too. 3) Walk Most of My Rounds I bought a CaddyTek cart early in the season and walked almost all of my rounds. I even opted to walk when the rest of my foursome took carts on a few occasions. My goals for 2020 are more measurable. My hope is that by setting more specific goals, I will improve my game faster. 1) Hit 55 Percent of Fairways in Regulation I hit about 44 percent of fairways this season. I’ve seen differing numbers out there, but some older stats by TheGrint put 10-15 handicappers as hitting 55 percent of fairways in regulation. Removing scrambles and one round where I did not keep any statistics whatsoever, in only 13 out of 46 rounds did I hit more than 55 percent of fairways in regulation. In fact, I had more rounds (18) in which I hit less than one-third of fairways! For my game, improving the accuracy of tee shots will dramatically affect my scores. My home course is heavily tree-lined. Poor tee shots are often left with no option other than to punch out back to the fairway. I punched out a total of seven times during the last round I played at my home course. That is seven strokes wasted on shots that did next to nothing to advance the ball toward the hole. (In my case, I ended up with a few extra strokes on top of those seven...). Simply keeping the ball in the fairway might have changed my score from the low 90s to something in the low-mid 80s. 2) Average 34 or Fewer Putts Per Round I’ve posted around MGS a few times that I feel like I’m an OK putter, but I am starting to realize I might just be in denial! Putts per round isn’t the best statistic in the world, but I do three-putt too often. I averaged over 35 putts per round in 2019, and not surprisingly, most of my lowest scores correlate with my best putting performances. In 609 holes of putting recorded with GAME Golf, I three-putted 86 holes, or about 14 percent of the time. Now, I’m not a PGA Tour player, but even the worst three-putter on tour last year (Cameron Champ) three-putted only 66 times in 1,368 chances! Bringing my total putts per round down will require me not only to become better at all facets of my putting, but also will require me to improve my short game from 30 yards and in. Too often I hit poor chips or pitches that still leave me with long and/or challenging first putts. Getting the ball closer to the hole when I miss the green in regulation should bring this number down quickly. 3) Improve my Average Driver Carry to 250 Yards Building consistency in my swing, specifically my driver swing, is a big priority for me. I had a few rounds this season where the driver was on fire, and I’d like to have more rounds like that in the future. This goal is best measured on the range with my Swing Caddie SC200. There is obviously a lot more to the game of golf than bombing the driver, but my hope is that increasing my swing speed and improving my mechanics helps throughout the bag, driver to wedge. After all, carry is king, especially during my morning rounds and on a course as wet as mine is most of the year.

This is definitely not what I expected to see. Homna at the top?! Pretty awesome to see how well the PING Glide 3.0 holds up when it’s damp out. I hope the governing bodies don’t see this and say “Hey PING... you can’t use your Hydropearl anymore.”

The first photos of the real-world versions are out, and I gotta say, they are really impressive:

Before I was fit for my current set my fitter gave me an input sheet and asked that I record about 5-6 rounds and all my shot distances, what club I used, and the results of those shots. It even asked for weather conditions - wind, wet/dry, temp, etc. I then sent the data to my fitter before my fitting day arrived. Then when I arrived he had another questionnaire form that I filled out which we discussed prior to starting the actual fitting. This questionnaire requested other basic data such as typical ball flight patterns, scores, hcp., type of turf I normally play from, balls used, expectations, strong or weak points in my game, my age, etc. etc. Back to the topic of this thread - I can't tell you the lofts of my irons except wedges (I have the data somewhere) but they are set at what's generally considered traditional lofts. The results of my fitting wasn't increased distance or higher/lower ball flight. I was mostly interested in accuracy which increased dramatically. My irons like most everyone else's are numbered. All I know when I play a certain numbered iron are my expected distances. I do not rely on another players club selection when making a shot. Sure I ask from time to time but it's immaterial to what I select because their clubs were not made for me.

Day 2 Wind was even worse than yesterday. My game was either good or awful. The greens were as I expected, as close to perfect putting surfaces as you can get. I managed to duck hook several 5 woods more than 50 yards off line, which was more than a little disconcerting. No rain, so at least I didn't have to dull down my ensemble with wet weather gear. Highlight of the day was a birdie on the 195 yd 2nd after a 7 iron to 15 feet. A normal 7 iron for me is 155. Despite my play it was still a very enjoyable day, played with 2 very good mates and a guy who could well become one. Forecast for tomorrow is more strong wind and maybe some rain. Expecting another tough day at the office, but it's an office I love to be in.

So I was gaming "Playaz Clubs" for over 30 years .

Frankly, I can have 58 penalty strokes in a round without having any caddie infractions. Really, though, you’d think a professional player/caddie would keep up on the rules of golf.

Interesting I would say that the irons are more about distance control then just distance. I need my driver and woods to go far I need my irons and wedges to be exact. Using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Eesh... Now Mahomes is out. Estimate is 2-4 weeks due to a dislocated kneecap. Brees, Big Ben, Cam and now Mahomes....dang

Purchased our first house in 1975, an old Cornish cottage. It was a rubbish tip and required extensive work. We stripped it out to bare walls all through, took us 5 year to complete all the work with us both having full time jobs, but we sold it to move to Australia and it went for 4 times our purchase price, it was our stake for a new life.

Will Jordy win? No Tiger win major? Yes BK 3 n a row? No Rahmbo... Yes The Open? No (Tiger) Viktor Hovland will win 4 tournaments including the PGA Championship and a T3 at The Masters. Adam Scott won’t win the FEDEX Cup, but unfortunately The Science Guy will... Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

In the realm of blades yes. Compared to some offerings they aren’t one bit. I’d even say they are as forgiving as the i200’s, from what I remember.

PING Blueprint and forgiving are two words I would have never thought to share a sentence .

I think It is almost impossible to look at the numbers and understand why one club beat another. What you see in those tables is averages across all the testers. The winners are assessed by determining the best wedge for each individual tester and then seeing which clubs worked best for the majority of the golfers.

Thx, Kenny! But... my bigger problems on that hole are the approach and then the green itself - I've three putted that green more than any other! The approach problem is literally all in my head - it drops off steeply behind and left and right towards marsh/wetlands/OB without much room for error; a deep bunker is front-right with a small pond leading towards it. The safe approach is from the left side of the fairway, thru the dogleg, and believe me I've layed up to there and still f***ed it up....... Maybe next time I go there I'll just play that one hole 9 times!!

I have two fiends that have bought Ping G410 max drivers this season. Also a friend who used tru fit to buy his driver. One of the Pros at my club is doing SuperSpeed. Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

No, that sounds like a great read and I'm in need of a new book. Thanks!

I don’t personally consider myself an influencer. I post my thoughts and opinions on forums and will discuss them in person. I hope that people find the information useful but my intent is more to provide the information and not necessarily to persuade or influence.

3 Putt King, Shark, and Chubbs are all fantastic... I know a person in my life for each of those designs. But the winner for me is Sock. Something about it speaks to me. Perhaps the simplicity and understatedness of the design. Maybe the distant memories of my youth in thick and uncomfortable tube socks that were two sizes too large and only made me sweat. I can't say for sure, but that is one that I think would go in the bag! Nice designs everyone!

Did the Fitting yesterday @ 8:00, Golf Central in Brownwood. This is an hour B4 opening because the Fitter/Mgr could dedicate the time since he agreed to do this for gratis. More on him and the small drama later. Cutting thru all the normal fitting info the numbers on my current irons were horrible and inconsistent. Like all fitters Left Hand players are not their favorite. We went thru the all the shafts that Ping offers. Best numbers were the Alta CB SR graphite shaft. Something was still not right. I’ve played Green Dot (2’ up) for years. Using the Lie Board (which Lied) with a Black Dot Demo showed similar results but still something wrong. The Ping Demo Cart only has LH Black 7iron. Scott, the Fitter set me up with a non-Ping 7 iron, 2’ Flat, SR shaft. That was the ticket. Scott explain how my “toe down” swing may look like it needs a 2’ up but actually needed a 2’ Flat (Orange). Only real stat I got right now Ball Speed improve from 86 to 90 mph with the Alta Shaft. I’ll be back.... Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy