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With all the rain Northern California has had, every course I've been on has had US OPEN rough and that is not an exaggeration and have been tough to play in wet conditions. The course close to my house has the shaggiest fairways I've ever seen. They just haven't been able to mow as needed until last couple of weeks. About 8 weeks ago a local course set-up Par 3 tee boxes on all holes right next to the cart path and then charged a reduced rate to play the short course. Sent from my SM-N920V using MyGolfSpy mobile app

I had heard the ball testing story before. The other articles were good reads and I do remember the AB ads. When those 1025cm's came out I really liked them and wanted a set, remember hitting them and thinking they were best feeling clubs I had ever hit at that time... Sent from my SM-N920V using MyGolfSpy mobile app

Whenever it comes to an inexpensive tool, especially one that doesn't see daily use or even weekly use, I start with Harbor Freight tools.

Count me as another one that didn't get any of the first run despite having them in my basket and being set-up for quick checkout, transaction just timed out, very frustrating...

Just got a Ping i-Series 6 iron to go with my 7 through W all with the Nippon Tour Modus 105 Before that I picked up the Ben Hogan VKTR hybrid in 21* and 25* Eyeing an Evnroll Putter and may do a fitting to compare my Great Big Bertha against the Epic, if I can pick-up 4 to 5 MPH as some have, I would upgrade as it would be my last chance for any significant equipment for 5 years as my daughter is Jr in high school and is eyeing expensive colleges...

I was extremely anxious to give these a try as I loved the roll I used to get from my old Rife Cayman. Background: I went through an Edel fitting and learned that as much as I liked the Rife Cayman I just couldn't aim it, I was aiming a good 3 feet right with the putter face. The fitting process was enlightening as each change brought me closer and closer to aiming straight and after 4 adjustments I was aiming consistently at the target. I ended up with an Edel Mid Mallet with three lines. I can say without a doubt I am making more 4 to 15 footers I ever had with this putter. That said, I loved the roll off the Rife so much that I was intrigued by the new offerings, especially since I tend to have distance control issues on longer putts from missing the sweet spot. Fortunately, I was in Southern California for vacation over Christmas and the PGA Superstore there was also an Edel fitter (according to Edel's website). I was prepared to buy one on the spot if I could find an Evnroll I could aim as well as my Edel. I was hopeful the ER2's larger size would meet my eye's requirement for a mid mallet design and that even though it only had one line I would be able to aim it. I spent some time rolling it on the large practice green and was very pleased with its in store performance making lots of 10 footers and consistently rolling it over a dime two to three feet in front of my ball. Unfortunately, when I asked about getting an Edel fitting no one new what I was talking about. I left to play some golf and came back in the evening and asked the new people in the store about how they do a putter fitting and basically got the we watch your stroke, make recommendation on what we see, blah blah blah... It was really hard to walk away from the ER2 as it was used and I would have saved some $ but I am glad I did as shortly thereafter I learned about the new models coming out including a mallet that has three sight lines as well as a black version of the ER6. In any case, I will probably wait until all new models have made it to Cool Clubs in the Bay area and then go in for a full blown putter fitting pitting my Edel against the Evnroll. As long as I can find an Evnroll I can aim as well, I will buy it for the distance control tech, and not to mention the self correcting aspect of the grooves.

Part 2 I started my iron CW experiment with 8, 12, and 20 gram weights in my wedges. Keep in mind my shafts are KBS Tour so they are not a light weight shaft. Unfortunately this was not a LM based like it was with the driver. Nevertheless, the addition of the CW clearly had an impact. The 20 gram weight was best for the partial shots particularly the shorter swings but my full iron shots where coming up short. In the end I installed this in my 61* wedge since I never use it for a full shot. The 8 gram weight wasn't enough weight for the partial shots so I didn't give them a full eval on full shots since my priority was improving the partial shots. The 12 gram weight was just enough to help smooth out those shorter swings but did not impact my distance on the full shots. Although technically I am hitting the same clubs the same distances, with the 12 gram weights I have less of those outliers where I come up real short. The push fades that use to come up short tend to be straight pushes that still carry the normal distance. I am much more consistent in hitting a draw, I do believe the CW contribute some to this but I would be remiss in not giving the majority of that credit to my teaching pro. On the flip side as my swing has gotten better, if I make a mistake and go left, it does sometimes feel like the CW may exaggerate the issue some but it takes a bad swing to begin with (either slight OTT or a flip that gets the face looking left). I am using the standard Tour Lock Pro weight, the have a newer product that allows you to move the weight up in down in the shaft, the benefit is supposed to be the ability to tune ball flight. I have one of these Opti Vibe inserts but have not done anywork with it. Once I settled with 12 grams in the wedges I installed the same size in the 7 & 8 iron and immediately saw a benefit. At first I tried to go without the CW in my Cobra DWS since they are a hefty feeling club as it is but I was having some inconsistencies with these (they have 65 gram graphite shafts) that improved dramatically once I added the 12 grams. Same goes for my RBZ 3HL. If I could afford a full LM shaft fitting session with a CW follow-up I would try the lightweight shaft concept (maybe some AT Steel Fibers) with a CW, based on my experience with the driver, I think its a valid concept. I would love to have 20 or more grams under my hands but with KBS Tour shafts that is just to much overall club weight for me but take 10 to 30 grams off my shaft weight, who knows. I will say it is difficult to demo clubs these days because they feel so different, particularly drivers, I guess that is the only downside (or upside depending on your point of reference)...

Part 1 Counterweighting has helped me tremenously and has continued to help me as my swing has improved and my handicap dropped from the 15's to the 10's. My first experience with CW was similar to what has been discussed here. My fitter put me in a light weight shaft (57g) and although I could hit it longer when putting a good swing on it I would get quick in my transtion and have control issues plus my contact was all over the face. After trying several CW on the launch monitor we settled on the Balance Certified BC-3 (I've never weighed this but I guessing the 3 may be for 30 grams). With the BC-3 in the driver and using impact tape and a LM: -My face contact got a lot tighter -Tempo was more consistent swing to swing -Swing path was more consistent (more from the inside and far less of the OTT) -face angle was more consistent -My spin was reduced and my trajectory flattened out Needless to say the above is a recipe for longer distances while increasing Fwys hit. To be honest I don't know why I waited so long to try CWs in my other clubs. I have always struggled with really short swings, so short putts, chips, pitches with a l/4 swing etc. I like swinging a club (1/2 swing or more and longer putts) One day I was in a shop and picked up both a heavy putter and a heavy wedge and noticed I could make very short swings in controlled manner with a nice consistent tempo. First I bought a heavy putter. It worked well up to 15 or 20 feet but I couldn't get the long ones close and saw my 3 putts go up. I went back to a normal putter but eventually bought a 100 gram and 60 gram weight (Tour Lock Pro) and experimented. The 100 gram weight gave me about the same results of the heavy putter but the 60 gram was a nice compromise and improved my putting from all distances. Have to leave for work so I will post a Part 2 to share my experiences with CWs in the irons, hybrids, and fwy woods...