GolfSpy Barbajo

Sorta yes and sorta no - Wilson's irons offerings are in a bit of a flux for 2020. Blog post on these should be dropping this morning. Doug Thiel, Wilson's Global Marketing Director, said last summer the feeling was that Wilson had too many iron sets (they had six) and that it was time to streamline and reset the offering. I think between the Launch Pad and now the D7 Forged, along with the Staff Model moniker, we're beginning to see that change starting.

With you there - been following this team since 1968 - saw them play at Fenway, BC, Harvard and the old dump that was Schaeffer-Sullivan-Foxboro Stadium. It's been a hell of a ride, and something tells me it's not over. Consider that in Brady's 18 season's as a starter (2008 doesn't count - thank you Bernard Pollard), they won the last game of the season 6 times - meaning 12 times they didn't. Pats haters can rejoice last night's loss, but over? We'll see...

Probably wasn't clear - for Srixon, et al - sponsoring Crossfield is a branding exercise, much in the same way Driver vs Driver was a branding exercise for Wilson. Can't be measured in direct sales as both are part of overall branding initiatives, not direct sales promotions. Different mechanics and structure to be sure, but the intention of both initiatives is brand building.

Yup - branding is just that: getting the name out there. Same thing with Driver vs. Driver and Wilson. That show was NEVER about the driver - it was a branding exercise to get people looking at and talking about Wilson. From that standpoint, the show was a smashing success. This is very cool for Srixon-Cleveland-XXIO. Gotta admit, the XXIO driver surprised me as I didn't think Crossfield was in the target demographic. That said, the Cleveland driver is really, really good. No idea how it will shake out in Most Wanted, but it's a HUGE improvement over the first HB Launcher. It's definitely in the rotation for next year - we'll see about the XXIO.

Hi folks -- looking for a little help, if you have a moment. Working on a look back article on the Tommy Armour 845s irons for the main blog. Did any of you old timers game those back in the day? Have any fond - or not so fond memories you'd like to share? Feel free to PM me with details if you can. Thanks in advance... JMB

Looks like it sits pretty close to the ground - not all that rounded. It's more of a Tour grind.

Blog post is up ... https://mygolfspy.com/first-look-wilson-staff-model-wedges/ Not sure how much you can say about a wedge hitting off a mat at a heated driving range, but here are some initial impressions: - For me, High Toe is a great partial swing, around the green club - doesn't work for me on full shots. - If you can't hit a flop shot with a High Toe, you can't hit a flop shot - this makes it stupid easy. - The ball gets up fast with a flop - the mat is obviously about a tight of a lie as you can get, and the ball got up so quickly it nipped the edge of the roof overhang and clanged around. Other golfers were not impressed. - The higher CG made the thing spin like crazy. When you can hop 'n stop a range ball on ice, you know there's some spin. - Standard wedge is sweet, simple and versatile enough. I only had a 60-degree to try, but it did the job. Wasn't as easy to open up as the High Toe, but plenty versatile. - For me, an ideal setup might be a 50 and a 54 in standard, and maybe a 60 in High Toe for around the green and the sand. If I play the MacGregors (43-degree PW), would go 48, 52, and then a 56 high toe. - The full face grooves take some getting used to visually - it's a weird sight. You will be seeing more full face groove options in the coming weeks.

Yep - it's in my rotation. Like it very much - the sound takes some getting used to, but it falls in the low-low spin category. It came us as a shocker Best Fit in TrueGolfFit - and promised me 14 more yards. When I tested it at Sub70's HQ outside of Chicago and compared to the LM numbers to my ShotScope stats, son of a gun if it wasn't 14 yards on the freaking button. Anyway, if yards per dollar is your decision making matrix, the Sub70 is hard to beat. The stock Project X shaft works well - they do have options available, I believe.

Hmmmm….you got me thinkin, which is always dangerous.

Tuesday, and Mmmmmmmmmm…...

Have a pair sitting in my office, just waiting for embargo day. All I can say is Mmmmmmmmmmmm…..

Remember the epic comeback at St. Andrews? That was a good time …. Those do look interesting -- safe to say the graphics are more realistic/less cartoonish?

And not for nuthin - the New England Golf Expo is in Boston Feb 28-Mar 1st. It's a decent local golf show and you can score some BOGO's at some nice courses. Anyone interested in a MyGolfSpy trip to the show? Not a bad way to spend a wintry Saturday or Sunday...

I go to Sagamore in Hampton, NH - it's heated but is usually into the sun and you can lose your ball pretty quickly if you hit it at the wrong time of day. I asked the guy working there how they collect balls in the winter and he said by hand! If it's icy they actually dig into the ice to retrieve the balls - that's dedication.

I learned to play at Stow Acres and at Twin Springs in Bolton - grew up in Harvard, live in Exeter, NH now. Seems like this would be the year to put together an outing - I know @GolfSpy Stroker is up for it!

Yuppers….

Terry addressed the pricing in our discussion - it hit the cutting room floor which, in retrospect, was probably a mistake. As far as the $179 goes - he realizes it's anywhere from 20 to 40 bucks more than your basic Cleveland, Callaway, Vokey wedge, but points out the following: 1. It's a forged head vs. a cast head, which adds cost 2. The Durable Chrome plating is 6 microns thick compared to standard wedge plating which is 3 microns thicks - that double thickness costs money. 3. Stock shafts are what he considered higher end, and there's no upcharge for the KBS TGI graphite shaft - which adds cost. 4. The stock shaft is the GP MCC +4, which is twice the cost of the standard Tour Velvet that most others use - which adds cost. 5. There's no charge for loft, length and lie adjustments - some OEMs charge for that, some don't. 6. He's little - he doesn't have the buying power as the bigger guys. What he didn't say, but what one can infer, is that based on all that, in order to make the profit margin he wants, that's the price. Any business person needs to have an idea of how many of whatever the product is they can sell at a given price to make the margin they want/need to make to be profitable. Would he sell a ton more if he priced the wedge at $149? Maybe, maybe not - but there's no point in selling more if you're ultimately losing money or breaking even. This is business 101, but let's say you're working on a 30% gross profit margin. If you cut your selling price 10%, you'd need to move 50% MORE VOLUME of product just to be where you were profit-wise. I have no idea what profit margin Terry is working on, but do any of you think he'd sell 50% MORE wedges if he dropped the price to $159? If he dropped the price to $149 he'd have to sell TWICE AS MANY to get to the same place he was with lower volume and higher margins. Again, I have no idea what margins he's working on, but I know Terry well enough that he's not the kind of guy to gouge - he's a straight shooter. Maybe what he's shooting at isn't attainable, but what he says is what he thinks. Ultimately, the only thing that matters to each one of us is if we find that wedge to be worth the money. It's a limiting price, but one I presume was well thought out. He doesn't have a demo program yet - probably too early for him to make that decision, since he won't have product till the spring - but that 60-day guaranty is interesting. Don't like the wedges, he'll buy you whatever you want.

Update: Got to play Indian Wells and Mission Hills in Palm Springs - both were fun. The 9th at the Classic Course at Indian Wells is kind of silly - a large part of the fairway is actually in a drainage culvert (that's not why I double-bogeyed it, but still a silly hole) - but the overall course is very nice. Played the Dinah Shore course at Mission Hills and loved it - parring 18 is an achievement. Question for other Club Corp types - they're offering a free 3 months worth of Founders Club membership. Anyone have it? Is it worth doing?

Liking this idea - some great golf in WI. Have played Erin Hills and Sentry World, as well as Troy Burne up in Hudson and the Green Bay Country Club...all outstanding. Sand Valley and Whistling Straights - you might be whistling my tune!

Been a C-Taper guy for a while - several fittings put me into them. But as I've gotten older the 120 gram shaft has simply become too heavy and I've lost distance. have tried the Tour-V - liked it very much, and I have some $-Taper Lites as well that I've had good luck with. Kim Braly actually fit me into the $-Taper Lites in X-flex over the phone (I know name-dropping is a low-class move. Paul McCartney taught me that) when I told him my driver swing speed and 6 iron distance. He said not to worry about the flex, the weight is the thing (they're 105 grams). At the KBS Experience in Carlsbad I told them what I was playing, and they steered me to the TGI 80 Graphite shaft - saying it plays the closes to the $-Taper Lite X-flex - very similar bend profile. I loved it! Here a link to our article on Kim Braly - the man's a legend... https://mygolfspy.com/kim-braly-golfs-ebullient-genius/

Love all these ideas - keep 'em coming! Has anyone ever played in the Canadian Rockies? I hear Banff is supposed to be spectacular... Other ideas I've had include South Africa and Portugal...and seeing how they could be done on a budget without sleeping in the car.

We'd like to expand the MyGolfSpy Experiences section in 2020. For this we, we visited St. Andrews and Streamsong, and would like to do more next year. What experiences/destinations/courses/resorts would you like to see us review for you?

In the old days, when the children were at a home, there was no way I'd be able to swing a trip to Scotland or Streamsong. One of the joys of being an empty nester - and being able to save - is being able to make one or two of these happen over the course of the year. It's one of the perks of making it to 59! As for the MyGolfSpy Experiences - I don't want to hijack the thread, so I'll start another one: what courses/resorts/destinations would you like to see? Here's a link to the new thread:

“MacHogans” getting a workout today at Indian Wells. I’m in love [emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️ Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

No apologies necessary Grand. I've hit them both, but did not compare them head to head. That said, some unofficial impressions: They're remarkably similar. Both are silly easy to hit, to the point you really don't want to stop. I like the Wilson long irons a little better, they launch VERY high and go VERY far. I think distance was one of the things Cleveland tried to juice with the new Launcher HB Turbos - despite winning Most Wanted Super Game Improvement, it was not among the longest irons in the test. I like that Wilson is marketing the irons as a specific problem solver - a cure for the chunks. Their target is clearly the golfer who doesn't spend a lot of time on forums and they're hoping "anti-chunk" is the message that gets through. I tell you, there are day... If I were a target golfer, I think I'd be happy with either one. Or the Cobra T-Rail. If you hit both, or all three - let us know what you think.