ctg44

Using the wedge selector in combination with both an indoor (GC Hawk Simulator) and outdoor (with Trackman) fittings. Now, that said, I did not go with Vokeys this time and instead went with the corresponding Taylormade MG4 wedges. Mine ended up being the 48.09, 52.09, 56.12, and 60.07 grinds. The 60.07 is sort of a "V" sole low bounce, so I can act like a 9 degree if needed or like a 4 degree almost if needed. I'm still learning to use them all after being in Vokeys for 6+ years going back to some worn-out eBay SM6s I had before the eBay purchased Wedgeworks SM8s I replaced with the SM9s for which I was fitted in 2022. I've been experimenting with some tungsten tape (like lead, but heavier and non-toxic), and I think I've just about got these to where I want them for gapping and flight. I was out in Phoenix for work the last 10-12 days, and of course, it's rained pretty much non-stop in Dallas since October (at least it seems that way), so my range time has been VERY limited since I got these other than what I could work in around training and a conference out in Arizona. I'm ripping the cover off balls right now with the MG4s on anything that is even close to a full swing, and the 60 degree's 11,000 RPM with a ProV1 or Maxfli Tour is kind of sick to see in person on the course when you get pro-like back spin...unless it comes back off the green like my ball did twice last week in AZ (once was w/ the 48 degree wedge, which was crazy to see).

My son, my wife, and I all did the Gen 6 test offer. My son (Ventus 7X VeloCore / Epic Max LS set to 8.5*) beat the Gen 6 handily with his gamer and got the $100 gift card no problem a few weeks later. I was 50/50 and while my driver was a little longer on average, the PXG landed more consistently in the fairway. My wife ended up finding that a Gen 5 was better for her than a Gen 6, and we were able to combine a military discount and get one under $200 for her. As for the testing overall, I was able to hit as many shots with my driver as needed until I was comfortable and felt "warmed up" and ready to have them start recording my test shots. From there, they gave me 10-15 swings, and took the best ones out of that group and compared them to the best swings once they went through and found the best Gen 6 combo they had for me (Ventus Black 6X and the 9* Gen 6 set at 8*). Like I said, I was still a little longer w/ my old Epic Flash Tour Certified driver, but due to lower spin and better launch angles, I was able to keep the PXG in the fairway a little better. It wasn't enough for me to consider spending that much money, because my misses w/ the Epic Flash aren't generally bad enough to worry about unless I actually STOP getting spin...then I'm in trouble as a nasty straight left ball that can bring OB into play like Wyndham Clark was fighting last week at the Players will be my miss...still not worth $700 for a new driver though. We might go give the new PXGs a try for a shot at $200 though. I have mine pretty dialed in (w/ a little Tungsten tape) and my swing speed is up to 110, so I might be able to beat that Black Ops Challenge...I certainly haven't been convinced to by an AiSmoke, Qi10, or anything else 2024 has brought out yet...or 2023 for that matter since I did the Paradym, Stealth 2, and TSR fittings too.

My bag is a Titleist Player 4+ Stand Bag that sits down in the Nitron's "Top Lok" system so well I don't even need to use the top straps if I don't mind them being a little in the way. I don't know if it was intentionally designed that way by Titleist or Bag Boy, but it does work really well. The cart itself is a huge upgrade for me, and even at full price, it would have been worth it to me. If you can find one used or at a cheaper price on eBay, I'd snag the Nitron or Nitron LTD in a heartbeat.

I've played a few rounds now with the Bag Boy (Nitron LTD) and it's so much better than the Big Max 360 that it would be worth double what I paid for the Big Max, so getting it brand new for just $75 more all-in (shipped with 2-year warranty add-on) was a steal in my book.

Well, after officiating 2 hockey games and doing a Titleist wedge fitting Friday and walking 18 holes Saturday morning, I had a great driver fitting (outdoors, so no broken driver heads!) with the local Callaway rep. I hit most of the lower lofted head combos and most of the heavy / low-launch and low-spin shafts he had. All told, between my round, the wedge fitting, and the driver fitting, I had probably hit 600 shots in the preceeding 18 hours, and my normal tired left snap hook miss never showed up with the final combo: - AiSmoke Max - 9.0 set to 8.0 / Neutral - Ventus TR Black 7X That's an $800ish combo with tax, so it's not in the budget right now... However, this is the first driver that's been even close giving me hope there's a shot at eventually replacing the Epic Flash at some point in the future.

I know when I did my free Golf Galaxy fitting, they had issues moving the weights around because they didn't have the right wrench. I think it was using some form of a tamper-resistant torx head that they eventually found in the bottom of the box their demo drivers came in.

Just as an update for anyone watching this thread, after I did the free Cobra fitting at the local Golf Galaxy on Friday, I tested the Players' 4 Carbon bag (same size / stand configuration as the Players' 4+) with the Bag Boy Nitron cart and a few others. I found that if you used the stand strap to secure the legs on the bag, and slid the legs in over the top of the "Top Lok" back holder system, the stand of the Titleist bag fits in there so well you don't even need to strap it in (although I obviously would). The store was closing by that time, and I was coming back again a couple of times over the next 2 weeks for more fittings, so I figured I'd try the carts out again. Well, I found a new Nitron LTD (w/ the stars and stripes wrap in black and white) on eBay for under $220 shipped for free...so yeah, even with tax, it was under $240 and that was too good to pass up.

The White AV line is not stock. The Blue series is stock, but White is almost always a paid upgrade, especially at 70G TX.

Another note, I try again to find an Epic Flash replacement next Friday with the Ai Smoke fitting and the following week with the Qi10 fitting at Golf Galaxy. I figured that I don't really want them bugging me much anyway during the fitting, so for an initial tryout of the new clubs, the free hour on the Trackman when it's 19 degrees outside makes not having a fitter 100% dedicated to me is not a big deal.

I did the free Golf Galaxy Cobra DarkSpeed fitting last night. In short, I was a lot more likely to buy the overpriced ($300...currently under $200 on CPO with a decent X stiff shaft) used Paradym Triple Diamond 5 Wood with a crappy HZRDUS shaft in it that I was hitting 230-240 than I was the $500 driver going maybe a little farther but rarely in the fairway. Of note, I tried every head and shaft combo he offered and made sure he knew I was open to replacing my almost 6 year old Callaway Epic Flash Tour Certified (8.5* set to 7.5* with a tipped Tensei White 70G TX shaft) because I am fairly certain the day is coming where the face fails. Fortunately, that's not today, because it is still giving me 108-111 clubhead speed and 157-160 ballspeed. The best I could do with any of the Cobra options was the LS with a Lin-Q shaft (not really a fan...overpriced junk in my opinion), and that was 104 clubhead and 152 ballspeed...and those were almost all left of center or dangerously far left (as is approaching OB left). Now, had their fitting cart had a Tensei White AV 70G TX or similar shaft, the Cobra might have had a chance to beat the Callaway....might...

I have found the 2021 (I think...wasn't labeled really well...maybe 2022?) Titleist Players 4+ bag (mine is the navy blue w/ orange accent version) is great. The 4-way top lets you get the clubs in and out very easily (I have mid-sized Lamkin ST2 Hybrid grips with 2 wraps of tape (so 1 extra wrap), and carry a full set of clubs: driver, 3W, 3H, 4-PW, 50, 55, 60, and putter. I have a plenty of room wood tees (I tend to collect them and try not to use plastic...no real reason...) and room for more balls than I'd ever want to actually carry around the course, plenty of spare gloves to account for the humidity, a couple of towels, a club adjustment tool, spare spikes, a spike tool, and an old Gatorade bottle that I use to carry sand for filling in divots. Even with all of that, the bag is still plenty light to carry if I decide I don't feel like pushing my cart around the course that day.

Thanks for the heads up on that thread. I read all the reviews and that looks like a great option to check out.

I recently bought a Titleist Players 4+ bag using some shop credit my wife earned in her ladies' golf league (combined with a year-end bonus). Since I got it at such a good deal, and I'm about to take my current push cart (Big Max IQ 360 Push Cart) back to Costco because its brake is defective, I need to find a cart that works well with the new bag. The old one certainly didn't work well with it, even when the brake was operational. Anyone have any suggestions for a (preferably) 3-wheeled manual push cart that is reasonably priced, but that is also durable and works well with the Titleist stand bags? Most importantly, I don't want the bag rotating around all over the place while I walk around the course, but I also don't want to deal with having to use bungie straps or other alternatives to get it all to work. If I have to spend a little more, I will, as I want to get one that lasts. However, I'd like to be reasonable too.

If you were here in the USA, I'd say grab this shaft from Callaway Pre-Owned and have your local shop change the tip out: https://www.callawaygolfpreowned.com/more/more/shafts/optifit-3-shafts/shafts-optifit-3-graph-design-tour-ad-iz-7.html The IZ will match the Oban pretty closely, and you can have the tip changed out relatively cheaply at a local golf shop (at least you can here), if you don't have the ability to do that yourself. If you want to try another option, you can buy this hybrid from 2nd Swing. The G425 has a really good reputation as a forgiving club, and this has the shaft for which you were fitted: https://www.2ndswing.com/golf-clubs/hybrids/ping-g425-hybrid/right-handed-stiff-graphite-40dot5in-w-72332225933 I know for me, the shaft is always a very important piece of the puzzle. All of my "woods" have the Tensei White AV shafts (incidentally, all bought stupid cheap from Callaway Pre-Owned...all brand new and combined under $350 for a 70 gram TX driver, 80 gram X stiff 3W, and 80 gram X stiff Hybrid shaft). I am not perfect with those clubs by any stretch, but I'm way better than I was with the stock shafts, and at the prices I paid, I almost got them for free because I was able to sell the used shafts in my clubs for enough on eBay to make most of what I paid for them back.

I have been exclusively wearing Sqairz spiked shoes for about 12 months straight and for another year off and on before that. I'm fully convinced that they're the best shoes for MY feet, but that's always going to be my answer for these types of footwear questions. There's no way you can take what works for me and say for sure it will work for you unless you know you have the same shape of foot I do (and I pity you if you do). My feet are so stupidly shaped I have to buy custom ice skates to play and officiate hockey, which comes at about a $200 premium on what is already a $1000+ purchase. What the vast majority of other people have to say on footwear is useless for me, since I don't think many people have a AA width (i.e. narrower than a teenage girl) heel with a slightly wider than normal, so DD or E forefoot...oh, and my right foot is a 13 3/8 and the left is a 13 3/4...yeah... At any rate, thanks for tolerating my little rant here and I hope you have found something that works for you.

My wife is a natural athlete. She had never really ice skated, but picked up ice hockey in college and still plays with guys even though we both turned 50 this year. In fact, my 2 sons (18 and 23), me, and my wife actually all got to play in a game together 2 weeks ago and she more than held her own playing at a level well above where she normally plays. All that said, she is also a pretty good golfer. She regularly wins her Ladies' Evening Golf Group and at worst finishes 2nd or 3rd. Unfortunately, she is VERY hard on herself and gets frustrated a lot faster than she should given her normal talent level. Were she to practice at all, she'd be a 3-5 handicap along with me, but even without it, she's a 10-13 depending on the month.

Agreed, this was a lot of work, and very appreciated. It just goes to show that everyone's swing can produce different results with the same ball, even though the general characteristics that the manufacturer intended for its performance might say otherwise. In my case, anything that goes higher in the air is a bad thing because it therefore gets caught in the incessant Texas wind more. That's one of the reasons I'm liking the yellow versions of the Maxfli and OnCore balls because of their slightly harder feel and lower launch / spin characteristics than their original white models.

Agreed. Great that you were able to get out and test the balls on the course. Also like that you got test data w/ the same 2 other balls as I did (Maxfli and OnCore).

No, I definitely had a ton more launch height and spin with these than I did with any other ball, including ProV1 and ProV1X, Maxfli Tour (2023 yellow), OnCore Vero X1, and Bridgestone e12 Contact (2023). This led to much shorter distances, and off the tee, much greater chances of me having one hook out of play of I yanked one hard.

I am not a good match for these balls so far, but since I saw they were an AVX style ball coming out of the box, that was to be expected. I tested them on a simulator at PGASS today against the Maxfli Tour Yellow (2023), OnCore Vero X1, and Bridgestone e12 Contact. The driver test with these was very bad. Way too many balls that went way too high. I would never be able to play these in the wind in Texas. They also spun way too much off the short irons...so much as to be uncontrollable for flighting shots under the wind...they did drop and stop really fast though. However, knowing these are going to have a. $49.99 to $54.99 price point, there's no way I'd buy them over the Maxfli (choice #1) or the Vero X1 (choice #2).

These are definitely an AVX prototype, as the dimples are a near exact match for the 2022 AVX.

Mine came earlier this week, but work has sucked badly and now the weather is supposed to go from perfect to awful. I've got some great luck going on right now....not only not getting to play any golf, but when I will get to go play, the weather will be bad.

I've had a few rounds now with my now replaced rangefinder (some dirtbag in the cart barn has now stolen 2 of them...1 was my fault and the other was left on the cart by my wife). My 1st one was a refurbished Bushnell Pro XE and my 2nd was a Nikon CoolShot Pro (version 1). I replaced that with a refurbished Nikon CoolShot Pro II. I really like the new beep / shutter sound function when you lock onto the pin. My son still has his Bushnell Pro XE and we checked distances against each other's units last night and found them to be almost identical every time (maybe off by 0.2-0.5 yards). One thing I do like in his unit is that it gives both the actual and "plays like" or slope distances, but other than that, I prefer the Nikon.

When I got fitted for my 223s, the 921 was the comparison iron in the JPX line. I absolutely hated every iteration of the JPX line compared to the MP 223. I've revitalized mine by swapping the Nippon 1150gh (stiff) shafts for Mitsubishi MMT 125TX shafts in my 4-PW. From the couple of reviews I've seen so far, the 224 is going to be a significant upgrade to the 223, which is already a great iron. If you can find something to hold you over until January, those will become available.

I posted this in the "What Have You Bought Lately?" thread, but I'm loving the MMT 125TX buildout I just did with my Mizuno Pro 223s. I hit some great iron shots yesterday, including a 6 iron from 190 yards that landed w/in 1' of its ball mark from deep rough...and fought the wind to stay within 10' of my start line right at the pin. Of course, I uncharacteristically missed the birdie putt (seriously, putting is normally my strongest area of gameplay). I think my 4 and 5 iron need some tweaking as they're a bit harder to control the fade spin right now, but I can also send those high and far when I get them just right. Hit a couple of 220 yard 4 irons on the range before my son and I went out for a quick 9 holes after work yesterday.