[How many of you have opted out of a 3W for a different club in the top of the bag?]

I'm not close to that SS (stock is 110 +/- 3ish) or handicap, but...I play D/3w/5w at 8-9*/13.5*/18*. Not sure what the norm is, but at the top of the bag I care less about gapping and more about hitting windows and setting up the conditions to be aggressive in the most common situations I'll see on the course. Love hitting woods and generally hate long irons for that reason; IMO woods are so much more versatile and easier to shape/flight/etc. in different situations.

I have my 3w as a low launch/low spin pseudo-mini driver. Great for controlled tee shots or hitting off the deck when I need to trust a fairly straight, consistent, controllable ball flight from way out. Depending on how tight/risky the course is, I'll go entire rounds without hitting driver because my 3w gives me 90% of its distance with 90x its accuracy. 5w has the complete opposite profile; very high launch and high spin for attacking greens and getting steeper descent angles to hit and hold. I would much rather attack with that profile than try to hit a 4i/5i in. I can flight the 3w or 5w or hit them high depending on what I want...can't really do the same with a long iron. 

[Which club is untouchable?]

TaylorMade Burner 5 Wood from 2008 with the stock stiff Reax shaft. It was the only club I could hit with any confidence back when I first got it (and was atrocious at golf); now that I can actually play I can just step up and generally pick a flight, know the distance, and know the window/descent angle I'll get. Great for landing soft on the green while attacking Par 5s or shaping around obstacles. Couldn't be more different than my 3-wood or driver (both HZRDUS Black 6.5)...but hey, it works and I have no reason to change it. 

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

A TaylorMade RBZ hybrid for my wife, hoping it’s easy enough to hit that it’s a gateway club of sorts. Worst case scenario is that I’m out $24 (and have a brand new ladies flex club to use as a LagShot). 

[What putters does everyone use?]

PXG Bat Attack with the M16 shaft. Really liked it at first, but I’m increasingly thrown off by the weight and how soft it is. Too expensive to justify picking up others to rotate though, so…just have to grind I guess. 

[What's the worst weather you've ever played in?]

Pic doesn’t quite do it justice - was heavy, wet snow and I was in a sweatshirt + vest. Technically the “worst”, but it was a great time. 
 

Edit: worst weather without a picture was 25*F to start the round with 30-40 mph winds. Lasted about four holes. 

[Super Select Golo 6]

11 hours ago, SoCal said:

Is it worth not having your new putter for a complete month to have your new Scotty Cameron get custom paint filled and stamped?

 

I’d say definitely. One month of waiting vs. years of having a great putter you customized in your bag. 

[Anyone fit at pxg?]

Did my putter fitting at PXG last fall; also did a 3-wood fitting but didn’t buy anything. There was zero pressure to upgrade/buy anything, which honestly was both a good and bad thing.
 

Putter fitting was solid; he got a sense of what I wanted (consistency/stability), recommended one, and then had me try a couple more to make sure. Honestly I wish he had been a bit more structured - it was basically me doing stuff on my own and trying to figure out what I liked/didn’t like for grips/head/shaft/etc. without much help. Felt like I wasted a good amount of time as a result. I ended up upgrading to the M16 shaft in the end, but the fitter didn’t pressure it at all. Literally just had me try the stock and upgrade shafts and let me figure it out. 
 

The wood fitting was pretty disappointing. Didn’t talk about really any details/what I wanted out of the club, just got swing speed and threw a few different shafts in a head without any dialogue. No upselling…but also not really any selling at all. Thinking of going back to do another fitting just because it’s so cheap, but the first time around was not useful at all. 

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

Wilson Staff Model 56* HT wedge, used in great condition for a crazy price. Will probably never put it in the bag, but…it’s a great living room practice wedge. 

[Stat tracking]

I use a Garmin Venu watch and the Garmin Golf app…it’s very useful when you’re on the course (when the watch works). I hate fiddling with my phone during a round so I do love having a watch. However, the app itself is terrible. If you want anything more than even the most simplistic, barebones stat-tracking after a round you should look basically anywhere else. It gives you next to no data and lacks even the basic ability to look at results from individual shots or clubs. Really disappointing and seems completely unsupported by Garmin at this point. 

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

On 12/14/2022 at 9:22 AM, Kenny B said:

If you want to experiment with heavy putters, look for used Boccieri Heavy Putters.  I have one that I used for many years; found it in a used bin at a store.  The heavy weight does straighten out your stroke at the bottom of the arc; works best for short putts.  However, I had poor control of long putts, so I suggest you try putts over 15-20'.  I gave up that putter when I was fitted at Ping HQ with a counterweight Sigma 2; best putter I have ever used.

Thanks for the suggestion - will have to look that up. I’ve been meaning to try out one of the Wilson Staff Infinite putters or something similar.

[What/How Did You Practice Today?]

Probably sounds weird, but experimenting with different putter weights by fiddling with warmup swing donuts.

Nothing fancy...literally just held a 145g donut between my upper and lower hands to see how my putting stroke changed with more weight at the top. Eventually added a second donut to the bottom (just dropped it down to the club head like a normal warmup weight) and tried hitting putts with both donuts. Definitely a bit odd because it obstructed part of the face, but...hey, forced me to be more accurate and the goal was just to get some information on feel. Hit probably ~40-50 putts in each configuration from 5-6 feet on my PuttOut matt with the ramp target at the end. Ended up being really useful, even if it was weird to hit putts while avoiding a swing donut hanging over the putter face. Stroke was more stable, could actually feel myself using my shoulders instead of wrist/arm, I had to do far less to get the ball rolling straight, etc. 

For context, my putter is a stupid old Golf Works Accu-Site ACS-9 that I found back in college for $1 at Goodwill and for some reason have never gotten around to changing. Better late than never. 

[what are you working on this off Season]

Working on flighting the ball down/playing more bump and run shots around the green. The winter golf combination of losing distance in high winds + seeing approach shots hit frozen greens and bounce off the back made me realize that I have a good opportunity to work on shots I don't usually play and am less comfortable with. 

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

Cobra Forged Tec irons. Was deciding between them and Honma TWXs - read great things about both, but went with something I've hit before instead of buying something sight unseen.