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My home course is one of my favorites because it challenges you to hit to a specific location. If you do, your next shot will be easier, but even if you miss, you still have a decent chance for par - unless you REALLY miss.

I would have liked to donate them to the local school, but they're just too old to be of much use, so probably one of the places that buy used clubs.

Finally break 80. Shot an even 80 last year, tying my previous best round on the same course - and it wasn't a par 3 course!

Titleist T220 (2023) PW and GW with BadAzz shafts Cleveland RTX7 with Nippon ultralight steel shafts in 52, 56 and 60 degree.

For a variety of reasons, I stopped playing about 15 years ago. I'm now 67 and started playing again last spring. I am enjoying it so much more than before. My expectations are more realistic and instead of getting worked up over a bad shot, I look at it as a challenge to try to still salvage a decent score on the hole. Huge regrets about waiting 15 years to resume the game. I had shoulder surgery back in December and I am hitting the PT hard with hopes for minimal lost time with spring golf.

An additional note: My fitter said my launch angle was quite a bit lower than optimal. We started with a shaft that typically increases launch angle, then tried it with a variety of heads to see which got closer to the desired launch angle. We came up with two heads, and fortunately, both had good feel. We took the better of the two and then tried a variety of other shafts that typically give higher launch (I'm assuming part of this is due to kick point, etc.). We narrowed it down to two and then tried the two shafts with the other head. The better head and the better shaft combo gave incrementally better results than the other three shafts. It was also the one that felt best, so this was an easy decision. All of this is to illustrate the value of a good fitter. This place had dozens of shafts. His knowledge helped us quickly focus on which were the best candidates for me. Good thing too. I still hit a couple hundred shots and by the time we were done, I was exhausted!

I had similar results for "efficiency." Efficiency is calculated as ball speed divided by swing speed. The higher the number, the better - a higher efficiency would indicate that swing speed is more effectively translated to ball speed. Higher ball speed typically means longer distance, although if the more efficient shot is going too high or too low, it would result in less distance. This is one of the areas where a good fitter help - they will know and understand the optimal launch angle for each club - the launch angle that gives the most distance. I also did my fitting at Club Champion. I was getting efficiency as high as 152 - the fitter said that the highest ever officially recorded was 151.7, by Rory McElroy. How can this make any sense??? I suspect that the ball speed to swing speed is a "non-linear" ratio. As swing speed is increased in even increments, ball speed does not increase in precise increments. If you graphed swing speed vs ball speed, keeping all other possible factors the same, the line would not be straight (the way it would be if the two factors were linear). There are probably dozens of factors that contribute to the non-linearity of efficiency, such as the swing speed versus the amount of flex in the club face. Another might be related to the amount the ball is compressed at various swing speeds. A swing that compresses the side of the ball only 1/4 of an inch is actually compressing far less "ball material" than one that compresses it a 1/2-inch. This would mean the ratio of swing speed to amount of compression isn't linear. The dozens of possible factors that could contribute to the non-linearity of efficiency also interact with each other. Some might be additive - the both make the non-linearity even worse. Others could be contrary and cancel each other out to some extend, reducing the amount of non-linearity. Non-linearity of the efficiency ratio means that you probably wouldn't want to use it to compare different golfers Non-linearity DOES NOT mean that efficiency is a useless number. In a fitting, if the golfer has a relatively consistent swing and uses the same ball, efficiency can will indicate with club/shaft/grip combo allows the golfer to generate the most ball speed (and distance) for a set swing speed. But there are other important factors. For example, ball speed is pretty meaningless if the golfer hits the ball too high or too low. This is where a good fitter is really helpful - based on volumes of data, they know the optimum launch angle for a given club - the launch angle most likely to give the most distance. I hope this makes sense. I won't speak for MattJamD, but I know it would be a huge mistake to think that based on efficiency, my swing is anywhere near as good as Rory's.

Interesting. Can't wait to try this one!

The forum question about hybrids vs. fairway woods clearly shows that there are a lot of members who have struggled with hybrids and have gone back to fairways. When I brought my first hybrid home, I couldn't hit it. Like most golfers, I had best results with my fairway woods when I used a swing that was more of a sweeping motion, whereas with irons, I try to hit down slightly on the back of the ball to leave a small divot just forward of the ball (or at least that's the goal). When I got the hybrid, I tried to hit it using the sweeping fairway wood swing, and it just didn't work (for me). It finally occurred to me to try hitting it like an iron. Success! Mis-hits are rare, I hit them much straighter flight, more height, better out of rough, etc. A few months before I bought the hybrid, I bought a Ping G430 Max fairway wood. I hadn't yet found a driver I could hit, and had been using a 20-some year old 3-wood off the tee (but rarely off the fairway). The head snapped off and no-one, not even the manufacturer would repair it with its old bore-through shaft. I bought the Ping hoping I could use it off the tee, but the face height was less than half the old 3-wood, and I either topped it or launched it into orbit off the top of the club. (I later had a fitting and FINALLY found a driver I can hit, and I really hit it well.). Because the Ping is so new and was expensive, I have tried to put it back in the bag and find a use for it. I just don't hit it well and I do so much better with my hybrids. I'll probably either sell the Ping or donate it to the local high school golf team. Hybrids don't work for everyone, but maybe the swing change I found will help someone struggling to hit them.

Thank you. The doc quotes a 4-6 month recovery time. I was closer to 4 months with the other shoulder. Since my range of motion is considerably better this time, I'm hoping! I'm aggressively doing my physical therapy exercises, hoping that will also speed recovery for spring golf. I wrote about fairway woods on the forum question about hybrids vs. fairway woods. I just added hybrids last year, but find them much easier to hit and I am getting much better results with them than I ever got with fairway woods (off tight lies AND out of rough). I no longer carry fairway woods. I have also eliminated long irons. Again, for me, the hybrids are much easier to hit than long irons. My hybrids have more height than the equivalent long iron, and the steeper angle of descent gives less rollout. Distances with my hybrids are more consistent and predictable than long irons. My bag currently starts at a 6-iron. I don't hit the 6 all that well, and I'm so impressed with hybrids that I'm thinking about either replacing or at least supplementing the 6-iron with a 29-degree hybrid. I only carrying 12 clubs now, and those two empty spaces are begging to be filled!

I was struggling with my wedge, especially with distance control from short to intermediate range. The instructor at my home club has helped me a great deal on other swing issues, so I took this one to him. He said that the mistake a lot of golfers make is trying to do it all with only one or two wedges. I carry four wedges, Gap, 52, 56 and 60. My Arrcos data indicates that I use them with about the same frequency. We set up the lesson for a time when the practice green doesn't get much use. The club has a very large, oblong practice green. He had me stand about ten feet off one end of the green, hitting across the flattest part so that pitch didn't influence rollout. Using a soft, smooth quarter swing, I hit some shots with the 60-degree wedge. I measured the distance to the approximate center of where they landed (carry) and where the where they stopped rolling. I noted carry and roll distance on my smart phone. We repeated the process with the other wedges. The rollout with the gap wedge was only half way across the green, so he had me add my 9- and 8-irons! The middle of the roll distance for my wedges (only), was about 40 feet. He had me move back 40 feet from where I hit the quarter swings, then repeated the process with a half swing. The 60-degree didn't reach the green, and the 8-iron went off the other end. I noted carry and rollout distances, adding a note to avoid using the 8-iron and 60-degree for half swings at this distance. I repeated the process with a 3/4 swing from another 40 feet out.. When I got home, I summarized the data in a spreadsheet, and using the smallest font small I could still read and printed it. I trimmed the paper to about a quarter of a sheet. I carry that with me and reprint it when it gets battered. If I'm hitting onto an up or down slope, I estimate how much that will impact rollout. My short game has improved tremendously (although I do still "chunk' a few). I didn't do the drill with a full swing since the 3/4 swing was already starting to leave shallow ball marks on the green. Maybe I'll try it on the driving range sometime when I can safely mark and measure distances. The rollout won't match what I'll get on the green, but I think I can extrapolate it from the other data. If you are struggling with distance, maybe this drill will help?

I just saw this topic for the first time. At first glance, it looked interesting. After reading the responses above, I've decided to upgrade that to GREAT. There are so many funny responses above, I may have to bookmark and revisit it to help me get through these dreary winter months, compounded by having just had surgery to repair my rotator cuff and to reattach my biceps tendon up in my shoulder. It's my forward shoulder/arm this time. I had the exact same thing on the trailing side about 4 years ago. More pain this time, but way ahead on range of motion. Still hoping to be ready for spring golf. As for my response to the question, I just had a full bag fitting back in August and am so pleased with the improvement over my old 20-25 year old set that I don't see anything leaving. That said, I'm only carrying 12 clubs and I'm so in love with my new hybrids, that I am pondering a couple more to bookend the two currently in my bag.

Fore67: Can't stop laughing. Forwarded your story to my golf pals. I went to a Sr. Open and Arnie said hello to me too. What an incredible personality! None like him before or since.

Rob Person - technically, the Max, but there's also a Max HL (high loft) - if you need height, might also be a little lighter? Recommend you consider a fitting. The shaft can make a huge difference, and if you're going to invest in the cost of a new driver, you'll rest better knowing whether this is the right club for you. I went into my fitting figuring that I'd end up in a G430, and I did hit it really well, but found out I hit the Titleist TSR1 even better. The 1 version is a bit lighter for slower swing speeds. I hit it better and somehow it felt easier to swing. Ended up putting a Badazz shaft in it. I think the shaft is either a 45 or 55 gram, also lightweight. There were three shafts that felt just as good as it, but I hit the Badazz better. I told the fitter that for me, it should have been called a Dumbazz.