Eric K

With the huge selection of golf balls for players of every ability level, do you really know what ball best suits you? I certainly have my preferences but not backed by scientific data. Yesterday I received an email from Ping offering the services of their “Ballnamic” fitting process, for $39 of course. I’ve been fitted for every club in my bag, like many of you. But how many of us have been fitted for their golf ball? I’m curious to hear from those that have and how/where did you do it. On course? Simulator? Online?

Tifosi Optics has a great line of sunglasses covering golf, baseball, cycling. Huge variety of frames and lens options. All quality stuff and the upside is that they’re a hell of a lot less expensive than Oakley, Maui Jim, etc. I believe they also offer prescription lenses too.

Butch don’t get me wrong- I liked the Hot Z bag but the zipper that broke was the full length one inside the long pocket so stuff I had in that long pocket would slip thru and interfere with putting clubs in. Ended up getting a great deal on a 2023 C-130. Totally worth the purchase.

I concur! Having played a hybrid for a while with fairly good results I bought a Mizuno MP-20 HMB 2i just for kicks. Turns out I love it. Granted it took a little practice but coming off the tee and striping it- feels so good and most of all, it’s straight! Whereas the hybrid dispersion was much greater. Perpetrating ball flight off the 2i also. Great in windy conditions.

Have you tried Cap Saver? It’s a spray you apply to your hats and it prevents the sweat ring. Works great.

Also have the Hot Z bag but after finding out the inner zipper broke I’m considering a Sun Mountain C-130 14 way cart bag.

Seeing as the MGS Forums have proven to be a wealth of information I pose the following question: I’m seriously leaning toward getting a Sun Mountain C130 cart bag. The 2019 models are still available and considerably cheaper. That being said can anyone tell me the difference between the 2019 and 2023 models?

My SkyCaddie SGX needed to be upgraded so I tried SwingU. It was ok. Fairly accurate. I was introduced to the GHIN premium app which had the greens maps. For $39 a year I found it to be much better. Especially since it included greens maps- heat maps and breaks. I thought that was great. However I demo’d a SkyCaddie 550 device and ended up buying it after getting a substantial upgrade discount. My only wish is for the paid membership I wish SkyCaddie offered greens maps too. I find the distances to be the most accurate. My opinion is based solely on yardage accuracy, not on the bells and whistles like scoring, club selection, etc.

Both. Spiked when it’s wet. No question. I had a pair of Sketcher mesh running style spikeless that had a sole that was way too slick. They were only good in absolutely dry conditions. I did recently grab a pair of Adidas CodeChaos 22 spikeless where the soles are a much harder “spike” that in damp conditions still grabs pretty well.

The only brand new driver I ever bought was the Callaway Epic SZ and that was because of a 30% coupon glitch that somehow made it thru their system. TBH most of my purchases thru the bag were 2nd hand (Callaway PreOwned, 3Balls, GlobalGolf) except most recently in 2019 I was fitted for my irons. IMHO product development has peaked to a certain degree. There's only so much ball speed and distance a club can legally produce but year after year every ad tells us "Its our fastest ball speed EVER!" or "its our longest driver EVER!" I'm not saying tech can't produce maybe better feel, control, forgiveness.....but otherwise I think they've hit the ceiling. Don't believe the hype.

Two yrs ago I dabbled in the Super Speed Golf program. I only stayed commuted for a month or so but I did add 3 mph to my swing. Lately I’ve seen a lot of online content for The Stack. Seemed interesting. Curious if anyone had done both programs and what your pros and cons were on each.

I’ve had it numerous times over the last 15 yrs. brought on usually from too much time hitting off the mats at either the range or during the off season in an indoor simulator. My most recent bout I was referred to a chiropractor who specialized in Grastons Technique. The dr told me if I don’t experience some relief after three sessions he would authorize an MRI. Sure enough I had no relief and the MRI showed a 5mm interstitial tear. I ended up getting a PRP shot and stopped playing for a few weeks. Started playing again with an tennis elbow brace. Eventually stopped wearing it. All good now. Cortisone doesn’t help IMHO.

I realize there's a number of variables and there is no specific answer. Just figured maybe guys have gone thru a similar situation and could shed some light on this. Thanks!

I currently play a combo set of Mizuno MP-20’s. 4-7 HMB, 8-PW MMC WITH PX Precision Rifle 5.5 shafts. I absolutely love these clubs and play to a 7.8 hcp. I happened to pull a Big Bertha 2i from my son’s set and tried it the the simulator. A little tough to hit but when hit well, it goes! So I managed to find an MP-20 HMB 2i recently. It came with a Recoil 95 F4 shaft. Hit it today and it really took a while to settle in. Felt very clunky initially but eventually I hit it well. My question to the shaft gurus and fitters is this- would I be better off putting a PX 5.5 to match my set or would I be better off going in a different direction, or keeping the Recoil? And before anyone says get a hybrid, I have a Mizuno CLK 3H and hit it pretty well. This was a bit of an impulse purchase to have a similar club that flights a bit lower for windy conditions. Thanks!

Getting fitted, at least for me, proved to be equally informative as it was frustrating. I belonged to an indoor simulator in NJ which entitled you to one annual fitting session for free thru Club Champion. In December 2020 I was playing a Callaway Epic GBB driver with a rogue max stiff stock shaft. I was ultimately set up with a Titleist TSi2 with an Accra Tour Z TZ6 M4 65g shaft. The build sheet came in at $925. The difference was 9 yards longer carry. I did not buy the club. Two weeks later on a whim I bought a Steadfast stiff driver shaft. It tightened my dispersion and added 8 yds. Flash forward to December 2021 I went to a different CC location for another driver fitting. I explained how the last fitting went and that at the time I was not prepared to drop a hundred per yard. It must've flipped a switch because the fitter became a total ******* barking at me about how stock offerings are inferior and their job is to "get you into the best equipment set ups that will maximize my potential", blah blah blah. Once he finished his soap box lecture I assured him I was now open to the idea of an upgrade and I posed a challenge to him. Build me a driver that can beat my current set up. After 90 mins of testing, he could not. Despite preaching the gospel of his fitting ability he accepted the fact that he hit a wall. On a side note I demo'd a TSi3 with a stock Tensei AV Raw White 65 shaft at the PGA Superstore last month. The results were EXACTLY the same as the $925 build with a $350 Accra shaft. I'm not knocking the fitting process. One of my regular playing partners had a full bag fitting at CC, got up charged on every club with aftermarket shafts right thru the putter. $3400 when all was said and done. Thankfully his game has been transformed dropping from a shaky 18 hcp to a solid 12. My takeaway from these fittings are 1- demo as much as you can. 2- Take notes. 3- stock shafts are often viewed as inferior (in my experience) but upgrades can also just mean up charges with no true benefit. Make sure you truly understand the data and make an educated decision. JMHO.