ctg44

Yes sir, I feel ya, but still excited nonetheless!

I did that for my wife's irons last year to get her the Steve Rogers (AKA Captain America) ferrules from BB&F. It was worth it for her to get clubs she was really happy with. Whenever we find her iron heads / shafts that fit her a little better this spring / early summer, I'll probably suck it up and buy another batch of those for the next set of her clubs I build, unless she's super happy with something off the shelf and doesn't want them customized.

Yes sir, that's a typo...fixed!

Love that color scheme @azstu324. Those are very similar to the White Lightning ones I had in my poll as an option for my build.

Good luck with the weight loss. I've gone from 292 or so pounds in early 2021 to 218, and I'm still going down a little today. I can't recommend ENOUGH (editing to fix this typo!) utilizing any resource you can, such as a weight loss physician (and medications, if appropriate for your health) enough. I had increasing BP, was heading towards being at least pre-diabetic, if not eventually a type 2 diabetic like my mother, and now have better BP and bloodwork than my 1st Army physical paperwork shows I had when I was 20 and weighed 210 pounds. I have gained so much swing speed and consistency in my golf game that I can't begin to describe how much better it is to play like this than at my old weight...

This question will best be asked when no more Sik DW 2.0 C series putters are left on the secondhand market. Then I'll finally have to contemplate a switch. Until then, I'll stick to what works for me. I so rarely 3-putt now that I can't remember the last round I had more than one of them when there wasn't something else going on, like a massive amount of wind-blown debris on the greens, playing just post-aeration, etc. I think even then, the only thing that might peak my interest are the new Evnroll New Classic ER2 blade putters (ya know, the best blade for 2024 winner for MGS?) that meet my criteria of A) being a blade, and B) being a double-wide head to give enough mass to keep my overly strong hockey-player hands from twisting the club head too much. The more I think about it, the adjustability of the ER2 is tempting enough that if I found one used in good condition, I'd have to give it some thought because of the benefits of the groove technology. I'm already a pretty good putter, but who couldn't use a little more help with getting the ball to the center of the cup? That and this thing is an outright beautiful club...if those red logos were blue or something else a little less distracting, I'd already have pushed "add to cart"...I'm far too terrible of an artist to ever attempt to redo paint fill on a golf club, so if it's not stock paint from a factory or I'm not stripping the paint or finish altogether and going raw, well, I'm out on any other kind of changes.

You're a lot faster than me (110-115), but I'm loving the AiSmoke Triple Diamond 3W (15*) I got used at Golf Galaxy last month. Even with the stock Project X Denali shaft, I've been rocking that on many shots where I'd have been "spraying and praying" with my higher-spinning driver. I have put a Callaway adapter on my Tensei White AV fairway shaft and will be trying that out too, but even if I don't beat the stock shaft, I can play the tips on most courses as a 50-year-old and not feel like I have to pull driver out unless I have a forced carry over 250 yards, so I'm pretty confident in that new club...now to deal with my awful Titleist TS2 hybrid at some point soon...That's a club begging for insertion into the nearest wood chipper if there ever was one...

The only golf shoes to accommodate my self-described stupid feet are the various models from Sqairz. My left foot is right at 13.75, and my right is slightly less than 13.5 (so call it 13.375), and both feet have very narrow heels and slightly wider than normal forefoot areas. This means that finding shoes that fit for anything sucks big time. Finding golf shoes was no different. With the Sqairz, I can walk 18 holes on multiple days in a row with no issues, as long as I have the proper insoles in the shoes. I've replaced the Sqairz insoles with the SuperFeet Hockey Cushion insole, which is not exactly soft but is very supportive and prevents my foot from moving around, so I get none of the friction inside of the shoe that was prevalent from every other golf shoe or with the stock Sqairz insoles that resulted in blisters. Combined with the Darn Tough Vermont Men's Element Quarter Lightweight Running Sock or the Feetures Elite Golf Max Cushion Low Cut socks, I can walk all day every day without any foot pain or damage.

Looking like these are the clubhouse leaders for ferrules. My Captain America loving wife approved too, so I went ahead and ordered these so I can get them around the same time as the parts arrive. https://bbandfco.com/collections/shorties-1/products/albatross-1 Thanks to those who voted and I'll leave the poll open for anyone else to throw their votes in to influence future build options.

Well, as if my ADD wasn't already going into overdrive thinking about this project, I got an email from Toura just now with this excerpt in it... "On this note, your order has already shipped and should likely be there over the next 3-4 business days." Well there goes any chance I was going to be productive the rest of the day! Good thing it's almost time to head home here!

I am going to use the X100 shafts and the stock grips (supposed to be similar to a Lamkin Crossline) that Toura is supplying for us. I want to give the Toura kit products as much of a shot at making it into the bag long term as possible, though admittedly, the grips have a long way to go to beat out the current leader in the clubhouse, the Golf Pride ZGRIP Plus2, or my previous groups, the Lamkin ST Hybrids. Thanks for your input. I seriously can't wait. Lunchtime is going to be a busy time for the next couple of days as I try to keep up with everything in my inbox and catch up on messages!

Introduction: Good morning everyone: To say I am excited to be a part of this test build and review process is indeed an understatement. I am married to a very amazing and patient woman who tolerates me being a golf and hockey nut and still plays on a coed adult rec ice hockey team herself. We are parents of 2 grown young men: A 24-year-old who graduated college early and is approaching his 2nd anniversary of working in the cybersecurity field after joining the Army National Guard, and a 19-year-old who is doing what is most easily described as a paid internship / trade school program through USA Hockey to become a professional ice hockey official. After years mostly concentrating on playing, coaching, and (eventually) officiating ice hockey (crazy how much of it there is here in the Dallas area), I got back into golf hardcore when our younger son joined the junior high team in 7th grade (about 7 years ago now), and have gone from shooting in the 90s back to shooting in the low 80s (and on a few occasions, even in the 70s when I've been playing and practicing often enough). We belong to the local country club where my son's high school team practiced before he graduated last year. While he had taken the year off of competitive golf because he was too busy as the captain of his varsity hockey team and working a ton every week as a hockey official, we still tried to get out and play when we could together. I try to play at least twice a week, once for at least 9 holes on my own after work and once for 18 on the weekend with my wife and, if he's in town, our younger son. I work in an environment that can go from boring to very stressful in a heartbeat, and all things golf help with relieving that stress, whether it's building out a set of irons, practicing in a simulator because it's rained 4 out of the last 5 days, or actually getting to play on the course. When my kids were growing up, I was known as their teams' "equipment manager" because if something broke or someone needed a skate sharpened or fixed, I was the person to at least ask what needed to be done so their parent (who generally had no idea at all about gear) could properly get it fixed. I was also the "go-to" for helping my kids' teammates, along with teammates on the adult team my wife and I played on find the right size skates and other gear. Thus, it's not surprising that when I started playing golf again, tinkering with my gear came naturally. I started by replacing my own grips a few times, and once that became second nature, I'm not sure I've had a shop change a grip out in 4-5 years. I graduated into using secondhand marketplaces like eBay, etc., to find good used gear as I had with hockey to be able to fill out our bags for less than going to retail, but sometimes, those clubs would need a reshaft, or a ferrule would have crept up, and I eventually started to experiment with pulling those steel shafts and rebuilding the clubs myself to save money. I bought a shaft extractor and now have rebuilt several sets of irons for my wife and me. While I know I don't have the same skill sets that some of the other builders in this review group might have, my club builds have been durable and performed well for us over the past couple of years. I hope to show that building your own clubs can be an economical way for golfers to get better gear and very reasonable prices if you are willing to take the time and put in the effort. I am really looking forward to having the MGS family along for the ride in this build process, and to that end, I'm incorporating everyone into my build process. Since I can't decide exactly which ferrules I want to use, I'm running a poll to get your feedback on what you think would look the best. I chose the Toura Golf (Blank) JCB-Cut Japan Forged CB in the pure raw finish because I'm kind of a nut for raw finishes and can't wait to see how these patina over the testing period. I created a Google Form to collect your votes. Please share your MGS Forum username in the first answer and if you decide to share a different option, please ensure the link is safe for viewing at work. https://bit.ly/MGSTCBCTG44FerrulePoll First Impressions and "Unboxing" Video (10/10): So, I used the camera you can see in the video there, and it was recording, and I walked over to start doing my unboxing, thinking I was good because I'd just done a test video on prepping an iron head for a rebuild: Well, as mentioned in the video, the SLR did not record, so I had to adjust my plans and use my phone. Here are a few key takeaways from my unboxing that were not captured on the actual video: The 5 iron has a tiny little tool mark on it that is a sign of hand finishing. It's not anything that would affect playability, but it's noticeable in the right light. I can't find it in any of the pictures of the club, so it's not THAT noticeable, and I'll likely never see it once it's at address. Speaking of address...these have more offset than I would have guess from the page online, but Toura says they have 1.3 mm of offset in the PW, which is less than the 2020 P7MCs (1.5 mm - See here: https://www.golfwrx.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-05-at-10.59.13-PM.png) I'm currently gaming, so maybe it's an optical illusion. The clubs are SO clean. I thought there was a little imperfection in the 4 iron's grooves, but it was really a piece of packaging that had gotten stuck in there. I am coming back and adding in the specs on these irons from the Toura Site here: Process: Forged and finished in Japan Material: S25C (soft carbon steel) Finish: Pure Raw (what I ordered - but now out of stock, so I presume that's what I got --->) or Satin Polish Chrome (what I received). Loft: 4 - 24° / 5 - 27° / 6 - 30° / 7 - 34° / 8 - 38° / 9 - 42° / PW - 46° Lie: 4 - 60° / 5 - 60.5° / 6 - 61° / 7 - 61.5° / 8 - 62° / 9 - 62.5° / PW - 63° Overall score on packing, first impressions, and the parts Toura sent = 10 / 10. These are outrageously beautiful CB irons! I'm making it available now for your viewing pleasure, but I will sort through this huge gallery of pictures tonight after I return from working a couple of games as an ice hockey official. I have to support my golf addiction somehow because my main job pays the regular bills, and my amazing wife tolerates my golf spending because I work hard for the extra cash. https://photos.app.goo.gl/f2LnqsSqQd2hZABYA I know that's a little bit overkill, but I tried to capture every possible angle of the clubs, and used an old shaft to give a good perspective of the offset and view looking down at the top line. I'll obviously take a lot more pictures and some better video during the build process that will start tomorrow. PS: My build site (AKA garage) security guard, Jager, says "HI EVERYONE!!!!" Anyone with a GSD / Husky (and he's exactly 50/50 of high-level purebred versions of each) knows you don't go anywhere without a shadow. Mine just happens to be white and very well-behaved most of the time, fortunately. Some additional Saturday morning thoughts on the Toura irons from the Unboxing / First Impressions point of view before I begin the build process: While I was pretty effusive in my praise for the packaging process used by Toura, I can't help but restate in writing how much it meant that the irons got here in absolutely perfect condition. The box was given the typical USPS horror show treatment that makes Spirit airlines baggage handlers looking like they're taking care of the crown jewels. I'm not sure if Jager had gotten a hold of the box for an hour he could have done more damage to it than the USPS did during shipping, and the irons were...perfect. Yes, at $800 for heads only the Toura irons are not "cheap," but as first impressions go, this is a "get what you paid for" type situation. My original request was for the Raw Carbon Steel version of these irons. I see they are out of stock, which is likely why Toura shipped me the Chrome Satin versions. You can trust me when I say there is zero disappointment when looking at these iron heads. While I am a raw club junky and even "rawed" some wedges a while back that my son is now fully in love with being in his bag, these are just too beautiful to complain about! I guess if I did have any complaint, it would be that if I were buying these from Toura and wanting them to build them, the shaft option is the regular True Temper DG X100 shaft, rather than the premium option of the Tour Issue X100 shaft. I know that's a $25-30 upcharge item and wouldn't expect that as part of test build, but I'd like that option if I were buying a set of premium custom irons. I obviously won't be able to really compare the offset, and how the clubs play until after I build them, but in direct head to head (no pun intended) comparisons with the spare 6 iron and PW heads from my 2020 P7MC set, these look to be right around the same or maybe a little less than the Taylormades, which tracks based on listed specs. I don't know if the Toura Grips will stay on the clubs long term, especially if the clubs stay in my bag, but I am fully committed to trying them despite not normally being a Lamkin Crossline grip fan (which these very closely resemble in style and feel from first looks / touches). The one area of club building I've never really explored is "turning" of ferrules, and it appears that might be necessary from my initial dry fit test of these irons with the BB&F Albatross ferrules I sourced to be able to have enough to make my irons and wedges match. The hosels on the irons are <just> slightly smaller than the ferrule, so I will have to figure out a solution to that without having access to a belt sander. More research will definitely be necessary, and that might be a "post-build" scenario where I get the clubs all built and grips installed to get through the launch monitor testing this weekend and come back next weekend and make the ferrule improvements. Lots to think about, but if anyone has any ideas on how I can best do this part without a belt sander and without a ton of experience in doing anything with ferrules post installation, I'm open to links to posts / videos for ideas. That's all for now. I'm going to head out and finish rebuilding my MG4 wedges that I'd initially reshafted upon arrival, but did so in a massive hurry because I wanted them cured for the next morning before I played and for the following week when I was traveling for work and taking my clubs. They were done decently, but 1 shaft wasn't in all the way straight, and 1 ferrule was not seated all the way, so I am taking this opportunity to rebuild them with the same BB&F Ferrules that will be going on my Toura build. MUCH more to come!!! Here's a recap of what I've done with the Toura Build so far (just 1 club), and what my plans are for the upcoming week. 05-04-2024: Part 1 of the build process was to get the Toura CB PW put together tonight so I could use that in the Simulator at the local PGA Superstore tomorrow and test it against my normal PW, which is a 48° Taylormade MG4 wedge and the PW from my 2020 P7MC iron set. I have the X100 Tour Issue shaft from my iron set in the 48* MG4, and the DG X100 Toura sent me in their Toura CB PW. I did not have another x-stiff (or 6.5 flex in Project X) steel shaft here, but I did have an MMT125 TX shaft left over that was in an Edison 45° wedge that I pulled apart and used to rebuild the set PW from the P7MCs to have for testing. I wasn't a huge fan of the MMT125TX shafts when I had them in my Mizuno Pro 223 irons, but maybe that was because I was REALLY tired of the MP223s at that point being impossible to hit anywhere but hard left without leaving myself susceptible to the shanks...long story for another day folks! I built the P7MC PW with one of the Toura Black / White / Silver ferrules they shipped me and it was just as nice as the BB&F ferrules I have used so far on my other wedges. I mentioned in my first impressions video I though the Toura ferrules felt like they were very high quality, and that's borne out in using one to build out a club. Here are some pictures of the P7MC, MG4 48°, and the Toura CB PW side by side: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qn8tJkoyuV2sF6WJ8 https://photos.app.goo.gl/EwPjmFtctfxid4WF9 https://photos.app.goo.gl/yw4kp5LhnQ6TuvhS7 <-- I can already tell I'm not going to be a fan of the Toura grips for the same reason I don't like the Lamkin Crossline...I simply can NOT get them to go on straight and line up properly...look at how wavy those lines are...uggh! I'll get the video of the Toura CB PW and the bonus footage of the rebuild of the P7MC onto the MMT125TX uploaded to YouTube and shared here as soon as possible. That's probably going to be tomorrow morning, though (which is actually today since it's already 12:05 AM CDT here in Texas). I'm not sure when the video will be available (it will probably be after 02:00 AM CDT), but here's the link for when it is: https://youtu.be/DPDy1RenvRc 05-05-2024: My plans were to take my wife to try out some women-oriented irons in the late morning at a golf store in the Dallas area that has a ton of good options for her. After hitting everything they had that was long enough for her, we decided to take advantage of Club Champion's iron fitting discount ($50) and schedule one for her next week (05-11). I figure after my initial testing of the Toura irons, the P7MCs are probably going to get resold. Along with those, her irons, and a few other things already on eBay, I should get pretty close to enough for some new sticks for a late Mother's Day present. Keeping her happier when she's on the course means she'll play more on the weekends, which means I get to play more without worrying about her being grumpy because I'm either gone officiating hockey games or playing golf all weekend... I then booked an hour of simulator time to get some testing done in the early afternoon at the local PGA Superstore while my wife did school work to prepare for her upcoming week of reviews and testing. She's an advanced academics teacher at a local HS and is at the end of her 27th school year with most of that spent teaching an AP tested subject. I built out the rest of the irons in the morning, and once everything had cured, I put the grips on in the evening. Later in the week, I'll work on the videos and some step-by-step documentation of the processes I use. I spent about 80 minutes in the afternoon testing the Toura PW against my 48° MG4 wedge and the set PW from my P7MCs, which I rebuilt using a spare MMT125TX shaft I had. Here's a link to my later post in this thread with the data from this testing session (to avoid cluttering up this thread with the same information): A quick preview for those who have not made it to page 6 of this thread yet (listed above as a link): The Toura PW can be deadly accurate! While it's only an artificial surface, the "turf" interaction feels significantly better than the MG4 or the stock PW from my P7MC set. I can't wait to put this on real grass, though since it won't stop raining here in Dallas / Fort Worth, that could be a while. Feel....Mizuno says nothing feels like one. Well, I owned a set of Mizuno Pro 223 irons, have hit a couple of different people's 221s and prior year Mizuno blade and CB options, and I am sorry to report to all of the Mizuno fans that crown is not yours. A low to zero technology (i.e. no tungsten or hollow-cavities) hand-forged CB iron that A) wasn't fitted to me, B) I built myself in my garage with my own 2 hands, C) has not been adjusted for loft or lie even though I'm 6'4" and 220, and D) has a grip on it that I'm not really a fan of feels like it was made for me by the world's best club-fitter. I will go ahead and rate the 1st impression of the clubs for performance on the numbers as a 10/10. I hit plenty of PW shots on this occasion, and all of them were AT LEAST as good with/ the Toura as anything I hit with the P7MC (on an MMT125TX shaft, so not a perfect comparison). Most were noticeably better than the ones I hit with my 48° MG4 wedge. I've been playing with the 48° MG4 wedge for about 1.5 months. It's been in the bag for 1 practice session and 1 round longer than the P7MC irons I have. I actually had never hit the stock P7MC PW before yesterday because it was pulled from the head for me to use the X100 shaft that it came with for the 48° MG4 wedge immediately upon the arrival of the set of 2020 P7MC irons to my house. Now, the Toura is a 46° PW compared to the 48° MG4 wedge, so it was interesting to see the launch, spin, and ball speed numbers be what they were. I will say that I've not had the 48° MG4 wedge checked for loft / lie since receiving it VERY slightly used, so maybe it's off a little from its original specs as well. Future club plans: No, I haven't gone through the full set of irons yet, but I'm pretty well-versed in playing around with sets of clubs at Golf Galaxy, PGA Superstore, etc., and knowing when I do or don't like something. In fact, that's exactly how I knew that I'd absolutely love a set of the P7MCs riding on a set of X100 Tour Issue shafts after less than 30 minutes of simulator time hitting a used set at GG one Friday night when my wife was out of town. I found an even cheaper used set on Facebook Marketplace in better condition and have loved the effect on my game compared to the shank-fest my approach game was trending towards with the Mizunos...I got really tired of yelling, "Fore left!!!" with those. Thus, I fully expect the Toura irons to be my main set going forward, the P7MCs to be resold to fund my wife's new set of irons, and lots of looks to be coming my way as people see these beauties in my bag at the country club...if you know, it ever stops raining so the range can reopen! However, I do expect that I'm going to need to run a gap analysis, maybe with a pro / fitter, on my bag once I move to the Toura irons. It will remain to be seen where the gaps end up at the bottom of the bag with the current wedges I have (MG4: 52.09SB / 56.12SB / 60.07LBV on Tour Issue X100 Onyx shafts) and at the top of the bag with my hybrid (Titleist TS2) and 3W (Callaway Triple Diamond 15°). Most likely, I'm betting I find the Toura Irons will be 2-5 yards shorter than the P7MCs, but if the testing w/ the PW is any indication, my accuracy will be improved. I will give up a few yards for better dispersion / control. However, at the top of the bag, that's probably going to require swapping that balky hybrid I don't hit well for something I do. So far, I'm trending towards a P790 UDI 2 iron or 3 iron, probably w/ an X100 steel shaft. Let's just say that if Toura made a driving iron, it would already be on order... 05-06-2024: I have another hour of simulator time booked to get some testing done after work at the local PGA Superstore, this time with the remainder of the Toura CB irons versus my P7MC irons. I hope to have my 18-year-old son hit both sets of clubs as well. For reference, his clubs are Callaway Apex TCBs with Nippon Modus 130X shafts. He's started getting back into golf again now that his officiating season has come to an end for USA Hockey and is back to shooting in the high 70s with 300+ yard drives and towering iron shots (even with those 2x4 iron shafts that even I can't swing), so he should be able to give me some really good feedback on feel and workability on the Toura heads versus the Apex TCBs and P7MCs. The collection of all of this data and putting it into a useful format will take a couple of days, so I would expect that my next update after tomorrow would not come until Wednesday or Thursday of this week, unless I get rained out of my normal Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon post-work 9 hole round. If that's the case, I'll come home and finish up the documentation on the simulator testing and make sure I'm ready for some on-course testing in the coming weeks. Thanks for reading and following along, everyone. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions about anything I've done...even if you're scratching your head at why in the _____ I'm doing it <that> way...I'm open to the feedback and always looking to get better.

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.