RoverRick

Ninja I have posted a WITB/DIY photos of my bag. I did not take pictures during the process so all I could do is tell what I did and post some pictures. Maybe Rookie, who obviously copies everything I do, will have different ideas on how to do it.

Our club allows private ownership of carts. We have to pay a higher fee every month and believe me owning a cart is a lot of work. It is nice to drive up to the door drop your clubs and put them in a clean cart. Rather than cleaning it yourself I put on new brakes today. All but 4 of my regular partners have their own carts. Sometimes those that do not will ride together but sometimes they do not.

Seriously, someone thinks walking is faster than riding? Well, that might be the case when you double up and ride two to a cart. I forget that typically if we have 5 players we have 4 carts, and 6 players 5 or 6 carts. Most have their own and since those that don't only have to pay $4 more they usually get their own. It is much faster. We come over the hill it looks like the German's driving through Poland. If the pros were to ride in carts then the caddie could be the driver, they could get golf cart sponsors, Callaway could buy Club Car, and TMag EzGo. Of course Callaway and Lamborghini would team up. TMag, can have a commercial that says, "Our new BrassBalls Driver, Fairway Woods, and Golf cart not only 17 yards longer, but we can now get you to your ball in 3.9 seconds, Phil Mickelson can claim a victory for Callaway not only because the new Callaway Hex Black cut through the winds better than the others, but also because with the new Lambo Golf Cart, they were able to make the turn faster. This just in, Bubba is hiring some guy named Junior to not only be his caddie/driver but also his mechanic. Junior said, "We gonna put that thang on 'er and see what we cain't git a liddle moe pep oudda her." When asked what he had done to it he said, "Its a Chevorlet motor and we worked on it." Now that is a thread jack.

My point about carrying vs pushing is that when I did walk and golf I prefered to carry the clubs which did not hurt my back to pushing the cart, which did hurt my back. I do not know why, I just know that it did. Also, when you carry you can go in a straight line to the ball. With a push cart you have to pick your path. My second point is, these people have a great job. They get paid well, and do nothing, absolutely nothing that the average golfer can not do if they were caddying for a person they new well. Maybe not average golfer but the lower handicap golfer could not do. Third, I have no problem with them riding carts, using gps, and playing just like the weekend golfer. There have been many times I wanted a second opinion on a putt, but could not ask and even if I did I would not expect a truthful answer. This is a huge advantage. But I say give the players a cart, a wet towel, and a bottle of sand, let them clean there own clubs, refill their own divots, and wipe there own balls. I am not sure it would speed up pace of play because anyone who has ever been to a PGA Tournament knows how freaking long these guy take around the green. For that reason alone kills the argument that they want to walk because they do not want to be rushed. All day long yesterday I had plenty of time, more than plenty, of time to think about my shot, and text my wife, and read what was happening on this site. It took 5:45 to play 18 holes, I typically play 27 holes and have lunch in 5 1/2 hours.

First I am not agreeing that a push cart is easier than carrying it. I would rather carry than push a cart. Second I am saying that is their job. They get paid very well to lug that bag around. There are other parts to the job also but carrying the bag was how there jod started. Third I am saying that carrying the bag is not really all that difficult. They only carry it 300 yards before they set it down. It weighs 45 lbs. The rucksacks we carried were between 100-120 lbs and we did not set it down every 300 or less yards. Ok bubba watsons caddy has to carry it longer. I know this sounds like"in my day we had to walk to school 20 miles up hill both ways in the snow ....". But this is their job. I am saying for the amount they get paid they can carry the bag. However, as far as making it easier, they could all ride in carts that would make it easier. But once again I find myself not too worked up over it one way or the other. But for what they get paid to do it I think I would be happy to do it.

Seriously, Tiger's Caddie made $66,000 last year and so far this year he has made $177,900 if he just makes 10%. Plus he probably makes endorsments. So what if he has to carry a freaking golf bag for 4 to 6 hours a day 4 days a week. He gets paid more money, and carries less weight, and with no one is shooting at him, which is more than you can say for any private in any army in the world. Fred Couples lets his girlfriend carry his bag for goodness sake. If it gets too heavy then they can go get a real job and carry out groceries or something.Mark Calcavecchia's wife caddies for him. I have difficulty working up much impathy for pro caddies. At one time Steve Williams was the second highest paid Golf Professionals.

Apparently, I need to get better friends. Can I be your friend?

The Callaway was too short to use the longer grips so I modified it when I was using a long putter. Now I use the short putter again but it still works great. But trust me, I have 5 patents and the US Patent Office would not issue a patent to either of us on it, and the European Patent Office is even worse I am afraid this does not pass that threshold they set to issue a patent and besides we could not make enough money off of it to pay for the patent in the first place. So far I have paid more in attorney fees that I have taken home.

I thought I invented that. But I use a top and a bottom of an old putter well and have a piece of black PVC on my Titleist bag. My wife bought me a Callaway 14 Org, that was exactly like I wanted but it had a hard plastic edge that ate into graphite shafts. I bought two Titleist bags, and sold the Callaway and then made my own putter well. I covered it in a matching fabric and no one has said anything about yet. Unlike the rest of you I ride most of the time. I would rather walk and play golf but because of my back I can not push or pull a cart for more than a few holes so I ride. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I play with guys that walk. So I stay on the cart path and walk back and forth to the ball. That way I do not have to lug a bag.

Probably, at my home course where everyone knew me. But I would be hard pressed to take it on the road unless I could absolutely back it up. This last weekend we had a team tournament of something like the Ryder Cup Format. I did not participate because of another tournament that was scheduled for the same course (Ryder Cup was delayed a week because of rain, one tournament started on at 8 and one at 11.) There was a guy from out of town that was playing with his brother, who is a 1 or less handicap himself. This out of towner has a brand new Titleist Staff Bag with new Titleist 910 s and 712 MB's, 2 iron included, And this guy absolutely killed the ball. Only lost the tournament on the last hole when the other team eagled the par 4 18th. My point is if you are going to look like a player, you should be one. There is a 90's shooter who plays in the weekend pick up group and I did hear some one say one time, here comes Staff Bag Ben. The stranger with the staff bag, did get remarks early on about the bag but they stopped when he hit the first tee shot about 315 into a 18-20 mph wind. He later hit a 2 iron to the 310 yard par 4 10th with the wind but went off the back and had to settle fot birdie. Edit: Change that to an absolutely not. Just realized staff bags do not have putter wells, I will not have my clubs banging into my copper putter. Period the end, So if I had one, I would need two.

Never got that far with the wedge, the chrome did not come off but it looked very clean so I put it back on and am using it.

You and someone else here have asked this question. I played around with doing a wedge this was but the method I used did not work. But after reading your post I looked it up on the internet, under remove chrome from steel. There were several methods listed. This one is the least toxic, and probably the most work. The other suggested muriatic acid. Which will probably work better but then you have the waste to deal with plus the acid is nasty stuff. I used some drain cleaner one time that took the chrome off of the stopper in the sink, and it was muriatic acid based so i know that works, wheather you want it to or not. But here is what was listed. Once this is done then you have to sand and buff out all the little dings, and then refinish it. Let us know how it turns out. 1. Put on proper safety gear such as respirator, splash goggles and protective gloves. Pour either acetone, ammonia or bleach into the large metal bowl or pot. Only use one of these chemicals; do not mix them. 2. Submerge the object from which you wish to remove the chrome in the the chemical. Cover the container with aluminum foil to keep the fumes contained. Allow it to soak for at least two hours. 3. Remove object from the chemicals. Dip a toothbrush into the acetone, ammonia or bleach. 4. Brush the surface of the object vigorously with the toothbrush. Continue dipping and scrubbing with the toothbrush until the plating comes completely off. 5. Wipe the stripped steel with a clean rag.

When I bought my set of ZB's the 4 iron had been reshafted. I looked at it and it looked ok to me. No big deal. So I bought them and went out and played them. Some where down the line I needed to hit a 4 iron shot, and did not hit it well, it felt like I made horrible contact. I hit the three iron several times and hit great shots with it. I thought nothing to worry about you cannot hit every shot flush. Some time later, I needed a four iron again, and once again it felt like a horrible shot and did not travel as far. Well, eventually it occured to me that I was not hitting the 4 iron well at all and had in fact never hit the 4 iron well. But I had had numerous great shots with the 3 and 5 irons. So I hit three shots without looking to see which club I grabbed. I hit two great shot, and one horrible shot that felt nothing like the other two. When I say horrible, it felt that way compared to the others. It was like I was not hitting it in the center of the face. The 4 iron shaft had a DG300 stricker on it just like the others but newer. So after measuring the steps on it, I found out it in fact was a DG300 Stiff just like the others. But it was a .370 parallel vs a .355t taper. There is a difference in the step pattern. I never knew that there were different step patterns or why. I can say that I really did not and do not care. But they certainly feel different. I had no idea about that for the first couple of weeks and it turned out that for the first time in my golfing life it turned out to be the arrow and not the indian that was a problem. I reshafted it and it is great. I do not know if it was because it was the wrong shaft or what but the parallel felt dead and did not travel as far as the tapered. Both were stiff flex but the step patterns were different. Both are DG300s. Twice since then I have found other "arrow" problems. I had a putter head that came loose twice during different rounds. The first time I putted the whole round and was so mad at my putting I did not notice it. I thought I had fixed it and it worked ok for several rounds but came loose again during the round but I noticed it after a few holes and changed it at the turn. But usually the problem is me not the equipment.

I have played the last five rounds with my "more forgiving" cavity back irons. I must say that according to them, I struck the ball really well. I scored pretty well this week. I had a horrible 9 holes once (53) but the rest of the time was 38 and 39, one 36, one 41. I noticed everyday that the chipping and short game options with these did not feel as good as the blades. It certainly never felt as precise as with the blades. The reason I was playing with the CBs was because I like the swingweight of my CB's a lot better and was trying to determine if I wanted to change. I decided I would so last night I reshafted my blades with Dynalite shafts. It may turn out that I hate them, but all it really cost is the ferrules and some epoxy and about 30-45 minutes. Now I have a big anual match starting in a few hours so I was trying to decided what irons to take. I thought back on these CB.... First off these CB's are actually Ben Hogan CFT Apex Edge irons. These are very workable, and are a really nice club but it is more forgiving than my Titleist. According to these irons I never really miss hit them all week. But I just looked back and I was only hitting 3 to 4 greens in regulation all week. This number is way down from when 5 to 7 with the blades. Heck. hit the par 5s and par 3s and short par 4s and I should be 10 or more GIR. But the more forgiving irons did not make me hit the green more, I hit it less ever round.

Oh yeah? I bet I can hit all 15 balls 50 yards apart from each other! ninjacobra Truthfully, it was so close to dark I have no idea where they stop. But I will say that they all appeared to be headed right at the 200 yard marker. The range was closed, and the guy was out there chipping balls at the yardage marker. I walked out and talked to him and was out on the range not 200 yards from the marker. 10 feet may be an exaggeration but no more than the number of balls. It may have been 12 balls, or 14 balls, it may have 10 feet or even 40 feet but we are still talking feet. They all appeared to be around 10 feet or so of the sign.

I have been playing cavity backs the last couple of days, but as I was leaving the course today I saw a set of brand new Titleist MB's. I could not resist the opportunity, so after asking, I took the 6 iron out and wacked the ball a few times. Honestly, I loved them. They were very solid feeling. I was hitting range balls, but that was what I was hitting Saturday when I said it felt too firm. I will grant that it may not have felt as soft as some but these were long and straight and I felt very in control of the shots, I hit 15 balls and they were all in a 10 foot circle,

When I read this I was surprised the JMiller did not like the Titlsist MB's. He stated that they were way too firm for him. I thought that the Titleist ZB, an older version of them, were great. Today, I played 36 holes with my ZB's. One of the guys on my team was playing with a set of Titleist 712 MB's. I hit his clubs a couple of time but did not like them much at all. they felt, for lack of a better term, too firm vs. soft and buttery. Now granted this was after I played 36 holes and than sat in the bar for about a half an hour waiting for the other teams to finish, but they sure did not feel like the older ZB's. The heads felt heavier and I did like that but on contact with the ball it was more firm. I bought a set of KBS Tour 90 shafts that I am going to put in the ZB's to see how I like them.

Great review, if you did not like the Titleist than I would bet you do not like the Callaway MB. I actually have not hit the new Razr version, but I had some of the original TA Proto. On a cold morning, well, I knocked down a hybrid because it was the first hole, I was not warmed up yet, and I did not want to hit my beloved blade because I knew it would hurt. After I got warmed up it was ok but they were very harsh on mishits. I like the older 695's and ZM and ZB. My ZB are the same as the ZM but have slight cavity back on the 3-5. Since I do not carry the 3 and 4 most of the time, the 5 is the only one that matters. I like hitting these long irons but I get more distance from hybrids so I have no need for them. The Taylormade's are just stupid looking. They build this beautiful blade and then stick an ugly @$$ nut on the back of it. I have no idea what this is supposed to accomplish but it is the stupidest looking thing I have seen. It reminds me of that club that was here on another thread a month or so ago with the blue bead or what ever on the back.