Off Map Oscar

So freaking close to even par on 9 it's starting to get irritating 🤣🤣🤣

So get a scriber or sharpie and write your lofts on your clubs. It still doesn't tell, you how far it goes for you and still doesn't tell you the yardage gaps between clubs. Loft specs on any set made since the Kennedy administration are available online. The only one that has any value to me is the shortest set iron loft to have a starting point for selecting the next wedge below it. My AW is 48, that's al, I care about who it comes to loft.

It isn't about sticking with what ma you or not be an outdated tradition, it's about not trying to fix what isn't broken.

And isn't getting advice by asking an opponent what he hit or rummaging through his bag to see what isn't there a rules violation ?

Super interesting round today. Not great scoring, but I feel like my game has really turned a corner lately. I was out until 1am last night at a music show, so was very interested to see how I would fare after 5hrs of sleep.
Things started very well (birdied the first) and was +3 through 6 holes. Then the concentration wheels came off! I made a LOT of mental mistakes today that led to bleeding stroke - overclubbed on two of the par 3s and went long, tried to get too aggressive with a punch out and ended up hitting a tree and going backwards, had a couple of double chips where I either hit it too long out of bunkers or through the green, tried to hit a 5W out of a near impossible lie, ball moved at address when my clubhead touched a leaf the ball was resting on...
I feel like my mental game has been tight as a drum recently, so it's amazing to see what happens in a round where I totally lost that! Ball striking was excellent today (hit a 297yd drive on 18, albeit with a pretty baked fairway, stiffed a 9W to 20ft for an eagle look). So I think the positive trajectory will continue if I keep focused on the fundamentals.
I think in the past I would have been discouraged by today, whereas I honestly felt like I did slightly above average for how underslept I was. It all just feels like part of the process and continuing to learn more about my own game and areas I need to continue to focus.
 

I'd say lack of understanding.  I play with about 8 different guys fairly regularly and if I asked each of them wha the loft on their 7 iron was maybe 2 would know. 

What's a gap wedge? This set they lent me at the pro shop has an AW and a LW.
I think a lot of us forget what its like to be a high handicap or even brand new.

2 arguments against just loft numbers I've seen here is it doesn't matter i know blank is my blank club and beginners will be confused. 
Let's break that down a bit. Let say for example you're playing a friendly non cash game with a friend. You're about the same 120 yards from the flag with water on thr back side. So you take your 9-Iron and with a little help from the wind pipe one just to back edge of the green almost into the water. Your partner being concerned he asks what did you hit? 9-Iron. Oof the wind up there must be worse than I thought so he clubs down to a PW. But you play a jacked 9-Iron from pxg with a 36* loft and his 9iron is 42* and by clubbing down he's now holding a 46* and shorts it so much he missed the green. Same scenario.  But instead you said I hit a 36* he looks at his club choice and realizes he's already a club under you and sticks it pin high makes the birdie and you all get to have one of those tequila slammers that's been sitting in your bag all year. See it's a win win. Obviously some humor in this situation and club make up plays a bit of difference in distances but not nearly as much as loft. I switched from 115 grain steel shafted jacked clubs to 95 grain graphite shafted traditional lofts and the two clubs at 31* are still my 150 yard club. One was an 8 and the other a 7. I'd be more likely to rent clubs instead of lugging my travel set around if I could look at a loft number and be within 10 yards ish. And seriously if your inside 100 most of you are saying 2 digit number anyway. 55 yards hmm. Better use my 60. It's not harder it's not more complicated and it's accurate. Hell I wish they did it on the TV. When Bryson hits a club with an iron number farther than anyone else ever has.... we'll no 💩. His 7-iron is more jacked than any brand on the market at 25*. So he says I've got 220 to the green I'm just gonna take a nice easy 7 iron. I have to go look it up and oh. He's actually got a 5 iron in his hand or even a 4 for regular people.  Now if he said 220 that's a nice easy 25.... okay that tracks I can get 210 out of my 5 if I crank it but I'm gonna need 2 or 3 shots with a 7 to get that far. 
 
And the beginner. You wouldn't believe how many relatively new players and even some with a few years I've talked to that had no idea that lofts changed between models of clubs. I've seen some beginners grab an off the shelf iron set then realize they need wedges. Well I'm new let's just grab a 3 pack from a random brand and I'll get better stuff when I'm better. 
Then I play with them and they've got a huge range gap where their pitching wedge is too far and their 52 is too short. 
And it makes sense if their game improvement irons have a PW with 41*. So you say it's too complicated for an adult to look at a pair of numbers and see a massive 11 degree gap where everything else is a 4 degree gap I think you're wrong.
I've also seen the inverse happen. Beginner player had an iron set with a GW and a sand wedge and also had a wedge set in the bag. I was confused and asked him. He just grabbed what his buddies had told him.  He needed an iron set and a wedge set they said. Well not knowing better he bought an iron set that went to SW and he was carrying clubs that had duplicates in the bag. And I noticed this when he was hitting driver on a long par 3. Why don't you have a 3 wood, hybrid or something I asked? No room for it and he couldn't hit the 4 irons well so he just used driver on anything near 200. He'd have known if the loft number was on every club. 
The TLDR version.  Loft number is the only thing that means something anymore. I believe the veteran and beginner would be better served by just lofts. And while not the ultimate indicator of a clubs performance it's substantially better than iron numbers. 

Forget about loft strengths.
Does gapping matter to you?

Obviously true,
but just knowing that the clubs aren't hitting at the distances you want
doesn't help you much at all.
Faster swing-speed hitters hit 4° gapped irons 12-15 yards apart from one another.
Slower swing-speed hitters hit 4° gapped irons 8 or 9 yards apart from each other,
and get less variation on long irons gapped only 3° apart.
The major OEMs have VERY COMPETENT engineers.
They KNOW this.
They knew it long before I figured it out.

Thus failing to make 5° gapped GI models for slower swing-speed players
has to be a deliberate marketing consideration that benefits them
but not their customers.
I am always disappointed by how much slack
the general golf community is willing to cut them.
Is it excessive tolerance or lack of understanding?
 
 
 
 

Played at Deer Ridge in Bellville, OH yesterday. We played the blue tees which play at just under 6100, which is a bit shorter than I usually play.

It was a matchplay event and I was giving 5 pops. At one stage I was up 5 and I ended up wining 2 and 1.

I can attest to the durability of the Shot Scope Pro ZR, which I'll explain in my review at a later time.
 

I'm fairly sure I know what you're talking about because my opponent in yesterdays match mentioned it. Specifically in situations where the sun is low in the horizon in front of you.

Finally something I can get behind!!!
Numbered Irons are annoying. Please for the love of golf just put the loft number on them. My buddy is hitting a 7 iron that's 27* mine is 33*  it's meaningless at this point. 

So freaking close to even par on 9 it's starting to get irritating 🤣🤣🤣

This is a confusing question 

This is a confusing question 

This is a confusing question 

Your pretty close to my swing speed. I really like anything over 90 and under 100 for compression. Not shocked those balls are doing well for you. 

Finally something I can get behind!!!
Numbered Irons are annoying. Please for the love of golf just put the loft number on them. My buddy is hitting a 7 iron that's 27* mine is 33*  it's meaningless at this point. 

So freaking close to even par on 9 it's starting to get irritating 🤣🤣🤣

Finally something I can get behind!!!
Numbered Irons are annoying. Please for the love of golf just put the loft number on them. My buddy is hitting a 7 iron that's 27* mine is 33*  it's meaningless at this point. 

This is a confusing question 

Patiently awaiting my 10 dozen vice pros with a free wedge. Damn their promotions 🤣

The weather was about perfect this afternoon and we made time to go play 18.  The course was crowded having only a couple open tee times through the afternoon, we had one open hole in front of us and caught them by the 3rd tee.  But it was all 2-somes that we could see and so the pace moved along pretty well and we finished in 3 hours.  I started with a double bogey  brought on by a 4-putt!!  The first putt was a 50'er and blew about 15' past the hole, i missed the comeback and stubbed my putter on a 2'er leaving it short!  🤪  A smooth 6 but at least I don't have to worry about the first hole birdie jinx!  
I regrouped for a good round of ball striking, hitting 14/15 fairways and 15/18 GIR.  Made 2 bogeys and 2 birdies in the next 17 holes to finish at +2, 74.  I played the back tees which only gets to 6400 yards but i need to practice at the longer yardage for a tournament coming up in a month.  This lets me hit driver on most holes and a 7 or 8 iron into the greens instead of wedges all day.  The last month or so has been a nice streak of solid shots that I hope continues.  

Patiently awaiting my 10 dozen vice pros with a free wedge. Damn their promotions 🤣

Patiently awaiting my 10 dozen vice pros with a free wedge. Damn their promotions 🤣

Patiently awaiting my 10 dozen vice pros with a free wedge. Damn their promotions 🤣