Brian Parkinson

I am very excited about the Kirkland Driver and Irons.  I have played their gloves, balls, and wedges and found them to be so similar to OEM offerings that it just doesn't make sense to play anything else.  That being said, I am anxious for your testing and review of the Kirkland offerings.  Assuming they are in the top third of the testing they should be a major disruption in the golf economy.  I'm also interested to see if they spec out as something a serious golfer can play, or if they are going to be strictly tailored to the game improvement category.  (will they have too much offset/driver extreme MOI creating too much backspin etc.)  Can hardly wait for the verdict to come out!

I am very excited about the Kirkland Driver and Irons.  I have played their gloves, balls, and wedges and found them to be so similar to OEM offerings that it just doesn't make sense to play anything else.  That being said, I am anxious for your testing and review of the Kirkland offerings.  Assuming they are in the top third of the testing they should be a major disruption in the golf economy.  I'm also interested to see if they spec out as something a serious golfer can play, or if they are going to be strictly tailored to the game improvement category.  (will they have too much offset/driver extreme MOI creating too much backspin etc.)  Can hardly wait for the verdict to come out!

Been taking lessons, and per my Skytrak, it was probably time for a new driver.  I had been swinging in the low to mid 90's and at 5000' elevation was getting an average drive of 260-270 with 230-240 of carry and spin rates in the 2,200 range.  As a result of the lessons, I started overspeed swing training and got my swing speed up to 105-110.  However the spin rate went up to avg over 3,000 with my old 44.5" Cobra F8.  I lowered the adjustable loft to 9* and switched the 6/16g weights to the 16 in the hosel position (even though I already play a draw) and the 6 in back.  To no avail - still spinning over 3k and my 10-15 mph speed increase netting me maybe 10 yards more distance.  
So I went to PGA superstore and got fit.  They did a great job and let me try 6 different drivers that I had identified as candidates that would probably work for me based on the MSG most wanted results.  I also took my old F8 (which according to their GC3 was going 290 with 2,800 rpm) as a baseline and to make sure that anything was significantly better than I already had.  After warming up and hitting several balls with each driver, they showed me the metrics and I would say did a very good job of zeroing in on what worked the best for me.  They actually increased me from a 9* up to a 10* so i could get more spin using the TSR3 which was giving me the optimal results (and a 305 yard total and 2,300 rpm)  Per the baseline I noticed a significant increase in ball speed and reduction in spin.  The net gain was a 15 yards.  Overall, I thought their fitter did a great job.
Then I went to the course the next day and couldn't replicate the results at all.  Went home to my skytrak and tried to figure it out.  Ball speed was still good, but the spin went back up and i wasn't getting the great numbers anymore and had picked up a nasty slice.  
My question is, can anyone really tell from 10-20 drives in a hitting bay or range session that they have the best club for their game?  Especially since we all have good days and bad days, which obviously means our swings vary from day to day.  It is somewhat frustrating because a lot of review sites make it sound like fitting session are the holy grail but after my experience I almost wonder how much better off I am than getting as much information as possible and just buying off the rack (usually at a cheaper price).   If being fit is superior I almost think it would take several sessions in several different locations so you can see how the club works with different perspectives.

Yes - initially spin went down.  They didn't use different shafts - I did ask if there were certain shafts that would help with lower spin, but based on readings they were trying my spin up.  They said it wasn't high enough with aerojet, srixon, or titleist.  Didn't tinker with adapter.  I have since set it to a draw, but it's only an 8gram moveable weight that really doesn't shift center of gravity much.  While I typically pay attention to carry at home (since my course overwaters - in a severe drought state no less...I'm on the golf board and I can't get them to stop) and you don't get any roll.  But I wasn't familiar enough with the GC3 printouts to see that - was focusing on spin, ball speed, yardage and ball flight.

While my swing was completely different, I would say it had more to do with being indoors vs. outdoors.  I think the GC3/Foresight use the same but better/updated (high-speed photo) tech as the skytrak so both should theoretically be similar.   I hit a draw 90%+ typically.  Something with the optics of the club was screwing with my head and i was leaving it wide open - again an issue with a different swing, but probably more because I wasn't inside a bay, but on a course without the same framing, and no real consequence for a bad line.
I haven't given up on the club, but given the very limited results since purchase, I don't really think the fitting netted any better result than off the rack.

Been taking lessons, and per my Skytrak, it was probably time for a new driver.  I had been swinging in the low to mid 90's and at 5000' elevation was getting an average drive of 260-270 with 230-240 of carry and spin rates in the 2,200 range.  As a result of the lessons, I started overspeed swing training and got my swing speed up to 105-110.  However the spin rate went up to avg over 3,000 with my old 44.5" Cobra F8.  I lowered the adjustable loft to 9* and switched the 6/16g weights to the 16 in the hosel position (even though I already play a draw) and the 6 in back.  To no avail - still spinning over 3k and my 10-15 mph speed increase netting me maybe 10 yards more distance.  
So I went to PGA superstore and got fit.  They did a great job and let me try 6 different drivers that I had identified as candidates that would probably work for me based on the MSG most wanted results.  I also took my old F8 (which according to their GC3 was going 290 with 2,800 rpm) as a baseline and to make sure that anything was significantly better than I already had.  After warming up and hitting several balls with each driver, they showed me the metrics and I would say did a very good job of zeroing in on what worked the best for me.  They actually increased me from a 9* up to a 10* so i could get more spin using the TSR3 which was giving me the optimal results (and a 305 yard total and 2,300 rpm)  Per the baseline I noticed a significant increase in ball speed and reduction in spin.  The net gain was a 15 yards.  Overall, I thought their fitter did a great job.
Then I went to the course the next day and couldn't replicate the results at all.  Went home to my skytrak and tried to figure it out.  Ball speed was still good, but the spin went back up and i wasn't getting the great numbers anymore and had picked up a nasty slice.  
My question is, can anyone really tell from 10-20 drives in a hitting bay or range session that they have the best club for their game?  Especially since we all have good days and bad days, which obviously means our swings vary from day to day.  It is somewhat frustrating because a lot of review sites make it sound like fitting session are the holy grail but after my experience I almost wonder how much better off I am than getting as much information as possible and just buying off the rack (usually at a cheaper price).   If being fit is superior I almost think it would take several sessions in several different locations so you can see how the club works with different perspectives.

Aerojet LS 10*
Aerojet 5 wood
 Aerojet 3/4 Hybrids
King Tour 5-GW
Snake Bite 54*/60* Wedges
King 3D Printed Grandsport-35 Black Putter

Been a cobra guy since my ZL.  Currently Rocking the F8 Driver woods and hybrids.  The only bad Cobra I had was a MB/CB beautiful black irons a few years back.  Turns out I'm not good enough to hit a blade....

Been a cobra guy since my ZL.  Currently Rocking the F8 Driver woods and hybrids.  The only bad Cobra I had was a MB/CB beautiful black irons a few years back.  Turns out I'm not good enough to hit a blade....

Still so disappointed MSG only tested urethane balls.  Anywho, I just bought a couple of dozen of the E12 Contact to try.  Feels like such a miss that they didn't include some popular mid-grade balls to compare against the urethane.  Seems like a lot of what MSG is about is getting the right data regardless of stereotype. 

Still so disappointed MSG only tested urethane balls.  Anywho, I just bought a couple of dozen of the E12 Contact to try.  Feels like such a miss that they didn't include some popular mid-grade balls to compare against the urethane.  Seems like a lot of what MSG is about is getting the right data regardless of stereotype. 

Still so disappointed MSG only tested urethane balls.  Anywho, I just bought a couple of dozen of the E12 Contact to try.  Feels like such a miss that they didn't include some popular mid-grade balls to compare against the urethane.  Seems like a lot of what MSG is about is getting the right data regardless of stereotype. 

Is MSG going to test the non-urethane balls?  Just as the tour response/tour speed fits certain golfers better than the TP5/ProV, I wonder if there are non-urethane balls that fit certain golfers better.
I like the Supersoft (but the matte cover is awful to putt with) , the Tour Soft, used to like the Duo (but too many of them cracked on me).