Richie3Jack

I have a great deal of respect for Tom and his knowledge. Problem is that much of the technology has changed since he has retired and the years before he retired he wasn't really doing a lot of research (or it didn't seem like it) other than the Sterling Single Length irons which were really designed by Jaacob Bowden and Tom helped out with. His 919THI driver was excellent. At one time it was about as great of a driver head as you could find. High MOI head with a classic shape. Kind of a better version to the Ping G400 Max as it didn't launch and spin as high as the G400 Max but was as forgiving (I own the 425Max and it's not as forgiving, but spins less and launches lower than the G400 Max). I did have problems with the face of the 919THI cracking after about 18 months of use. I was hitting a lot of balls with the driver back then, but almost on cue, the face would crack on 18 months. They would always replace the head free of charge and apologize. However when they went to the longer hosel in the 919THI to help with flattening out the lie angle if you choose to do so, it completely changed the CoG of the head. The head felt completely different to me. Very tinny, sounded different and didn't perform nearly as well. I had a friend measure the CoG on the GolfMechanix CoG machine and he said it had the CoG the highest up on the face and the closest to the heel of any driver they had measured. I didn't have the old models of the 919THI to give my friend to measure, but I firmly believe that the long neck design altered the CoG and it changed the club's CoG. And it went from being arguably the best driver head on the market to being a head more suited for hackers. I had Tom's 555M blades. Some of the best blades I had ever hit. Unfortunately I hit so many balls with them the grooves were shot on a few of the irons and he discontinued making the model. It's a shame because I think he really had a great design there. His 929 fairway woods were excellent. I just tend to have misses towards the toe and the 929 weren't as forgiving off the toe as I hoped. But I could hit some bombs with the 929 fairway metals. I had the 575MMC irons. Some of the best feeling irons you'll find on the market, but the low bounce angles combined with the grind just didn't suit me. Others could like it. I did like his S2S steel iron shafts. His graphite shafts just didn't work for me. Tom was anti-'jacking up the lofts' with the irons. He preferred to keep driver shafts under 45 inches long. I am a believer that the MOI matching is something that is very much in the right direction and is far superior to swingweight and swingweight matching. However, I think it needs to be researched further as to how much MOI matching alters launch and spin. My gut tells me there is something better out there with regards to the heft of the club and fitting that for the golfer to improve performance. Unfortunately Tom is the only one who had the cajones, brains and determination to help come out with MOI matching. He's retired now and none of the other manufacturers are going to look into it anytime soon. 3JACK

Took a lesson on Saturday and then played Metrowest on Sunday: 10/14 FWY 8/18 GIR 29 putts 39-36=75 (+3) Metrowest really screws me up because they have some odd angles to hit off the tee and for the first 6 holes I hit it worse than I have in the last 2 months. Had some issues with a low, tumbling draw. Finally fixed those on #13. Hit a lot of good irons shots, but my driving was so bad early on that I couldn't hit it very well. Did hit the driver great off the deck. Booming one to 20 yards from the green on #7, then a nice one off the deck on #10 and #14. Putted the best I've putted in a couple of months, so the lesson helped there. 3JACK

Wilson 8802: Bought one on my 15th birthday with my own hard earned money and was making everything with it. It had the old leather wrap grip and there was something about that particular putter where the weight was just perfect for me. I can honestly say I went an entire summer without missing a putt inside 5 feet with that putter. It was flat out incredible. Then somebody stole it out of my bag one day as I went to eat some lunch. Every other 8802 I tried just didn't have it. PING B61: I wasn't quite as good with this as the 8802, but I would make a ton of putts with it. The hosel was more towards the end. What's funny is that my Edel has a similar design to the B61, which indicates to me that the B61 just fitted my aim well. Maxfli Tad Moore: I had a special design that was given to me and this looked like a cross between the B61 and a Newport model. It was a real pretty putter and I drained everything with it. I traded it in for a Mizuno Scotty Cameron and putted well with that. Not sure what happened to that Mizuno Scotty Cameron. Wish I still had them both as they would be worth a few hundred dollars a piece. 3JACK

72 (E) at Evans Prairie in The Villages, FL. Then 73 (+1) at Walkabout GC in Mims, FL. Losing my swing a little bit on both back nines. Only had 1 birdie at Evans Prairie, on a 35 footer. Had 6 birdie chances inside 15 feet and never converted one of them. At Walkabout I had 5 birdies, but 2 doubles. Had 6 birdie opps from inside 15 feet, converted 4 of them. New irons are working out nicely. 3JACK

I use tip weights because I prefer the look of them over lead tape. They are really more preferential on woods since it's difficult to find a spot for lead tape to go on a lot of driver designs. I use MOI matching instead of swingweight matching. My Wishon 52* wedge needed something like 21 grams of lead tape. So, I used a 9-gram hosel weight and 12 grams of lead tape. It came out a lot cleaner. Plus, over time the lead tape can whittle away. But, tip weights are not mandatory. 3JACK

Shot a couple of 75's (+3) this weekend. One at Grande Pines, the other at Champions Gate. I've been working on stuff with my downswing and it's progressing. I got off to some slow starts in both rounds, but played the back nine's nicely. Finally getting the hang of the belly putter. You really have to treat it almost identically as you would treat putting with a standard putter, the difference is the end of the putter that connects to the stomach serves as a guide for the hands. This Saturday I'll be playing Eagle Creek. 3JACK

Thanks for the kind words, revkev. 3JACK

Played Monday in the Florida State Mid-Am qualifier. I played in this last year and qualified with a 74 (+2) at Shingle Creek. This year it was held at Legacy Club @ Alaqua Lakes, a great course. I typically play well on Fazio designs and in the practice round I shot 69 (-3), so I was feeling pretty good about this round. Until I shot 78 in the qualifier. They started us off on #10, which is the harder nine of the two. The first 3 tee shots are tough because #10 and #11 are fairly tight. #12 is a par-3 and then #13 is a long par-4 which wasn't helped by the soft ground, high humidity and drop in temperature. Anyway, I doubled #10 after my drive went up against the lip of the bunker. #11 I birdied after a poor drive. #12 I made par after what I thought was a good tee shot that wound up short of the green and a really good up and down. #13 I parred after another poor drive and a great up and down. I then doubled #14 after a terrible drive and should have never doubled it anyway. Where the momentum was kicked from under me was on #15 and #16. On #15 I finally hit a good drive, right down the middle. I then smashed a beautiful 3-wood from a downhill lie over big tree....only for it to hit the lip of the bunker. 1-foot more carry and I'm probably up by the green with a good birdie look and maybe a chip-in shot at eagle. Instead I make bogey. Then I get up on #16, smash a driver down the fairway, hit a flush 9-iron to 10-feet....and 3-putt. Ugh. I then bogeyed #17, #18 and then #1 at the turn. Another bad swing on #2 and I found the greenside bunker, but got a sandy. Then I hit the last 7 greens and shot -2 under on the last 7 holes with a 3-putt from 20 feet, missing the cut by 1. It's a little frustrating because I'm a much better golfer than I was a year ago, but I still have a few too many 'demons' in my game. I do notice that when I'm in pressure situations, I have the tendency to stall my pivot and try to become all arms and hands on the downswing and that's when I start hitting hooks. I also need to get more time exclusively on faster greens leadng up to tournaments because the greens I play on are typically very slow on the stimp and then in the tournaments they are about an 11. So I wind up making a lot of good putts, but then missing a few 3-footers. I'm not upset about it, it just kinda sucks because I shot 43 on the first nine then 35 on the back, with a 3-putt from 20 feet. Had I shot 77 and made it by the skin of my teeth and then had success at the state mid-am championship, it would have been a nice story to leave with. Oh well. 3JACK

This weekend was much better for me. I installed a new shaft that is about 7-grams heavier and trimmed the shaft to 44-3/8", down from my 45-1/8" shaft. For the weekend, I only hit 3 poorly struck shots with the driver and 2 of them wound up in good condition. The other I just had a mental lapse as what I have been working on. We played Sugarloaf Mountain on Saturday and I shot 75. Only one birdie. Couldn't quite get the speed on the greens. Really a fun course to play and certain a unique design. On Sunday I went and played North Shore and it was probably the best I've struck the ball in a couple of months. I was -2 with 3 holes left, all birdie holes, and went +1 on the last hole (9th hole) and I hit a slight push that went into the water. I got a lot of bad breaks yesterday, like hitting a tee shot to 100 yards but winding up in a divot. The bad bounce I got on my 17th hole, some putts that just wouldn't fall, etc. Overall though...happy with the play. 3JACK

Played Deer Island CC on Sunday. My dad and I had heard great things about the course. It was designed by Joe Lee and on the Web site Lee states that it is the most unique course he has ever designed. I didn't think it was all that unique, but a very good course. Kind of reminds me of the old courses that the PGA Tour used to play. The first 3 par-3's were very difficult. Anyway, I shot a 76 (+4). My driving was better as I only hit one snap hook as I reverted back to my old swing issues on that drive. I was not entirely accurate, but I think the driver length (45-1/8") is holding me back after trying it out versus a 44-3/8" driver I cut down. Where I mainly struggle now is when I have trouble left and right, even if there is a fairly wide landing area. I found the shorter driver shaft helped me on mis-hits tremendously when I practiced with it. I think the initial launch direction and vertical launch angle is better, so I'm hoping that with all of those things combined, that will help me on those holes where there's trouble on both sides. Iron play was decent. Struggled a little with the long irons, but didn't have any range balls before my round. Hit the rest of the irons well, but fizzled on the last 3 holes. Couldn't make any putts. The greens were about a 7 on the stimp and the cups were cut at 3% slopes or more. 3JACK

Played with my dad and 2 other guys up in The Villages. We finished in 4:10 but one of the guys was a 20 handicap who insisted on putting out on everything. I think 1 hole he took like a 12 or something. That kind of throws you off a bit. I have been struggling badly with my driver and was trying some new things without looking on video first. So I shot 75 (+3). Hit the driver decent on the front 9, then awful on the back. But the course was so open and my iron play was good that I could still do well. Had a rarity, birdied the last hole (my only birdie of the day) despite hitting my driver into the hazard. Dropped, drilled a 3-wood onto the green and made a ridiculous putt. Started hitting it better when I practice Saturday as I got to see my swing on video and work on Trackman. 3JACK

Played my first tournament for the year yesterday, the Florida state am qualifier and shot 81 (+9). I don't think I've hit the ball that badly off the tee since 2009, when I came back from a 9 year hiatus from the game. I just kept snap hooking driver after driver and I didn't figure it out until my 14th hole when I just told myself to 'hold off the face' as much as I could and I started to hit it well. Disappointing in the sense that the cut was 75, which I would have easily made had I hit my driver like I did on the last 5 holes. Overall, I didn't think the course was that tough other than the sand in the bunker walls is so thick you can just miss a shot and get buried. I did that twice and hurt my back try to hack it out of there. Eh, not too upset as the rest of my game was really good. That was probably the worst I struck the irons in 2 weeks and I would still give my iron play a grade of B to B+. Had some speed issues on the last 9 holes on the green, I think the stimp was a little slower on those holes. Well, here's to looking towards the Mid-Am. 3JACK

YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 3JACK

Thanks, amigo. 3JACK

If I were to go from using S300 shafts in my irons which weigh about 130 grams to KBS stiff which weighs about 120 grams, how many swingweight points would that effect? 3JACK

What do you think is the optimal way to fit a golfer for their lie angles? 3JACK

There goes Titleist, infringing upon golf balls again. 3JACK

Neat article. Learned a lot from that. 3JACK

I'll pass. I don't understand the SC craze for the life of me. 3JACK

16 clubs I don't think would help me. I pretty much played the entire year with Driver, 3-wood, 3-hybrid, 4-PW, GW, SW, and LW setup and never had an issue once. It would be interesting if there was an unlimited rule. You could get on Trackman and gap yourself by 5-7 yard increments and never really be in-between clubs. 3JACK

Need some Bounce Sole 1+ by Hogan. Just a lovely design. 3JACK

I think if we are to scale the ball back in the future (won't happen) then they should allow 16 clubs in the bag. Used to be unlimited amount of clubs you can carry. Hagan had something like 24 clubs when he won a US Open. 3JACK

Driver: Cleveland Hi-Bore XLS - 10.5* loft (Fujikura Graphite Stiff Flex) 3-Wood: Cleveland Hi-Bore XLS - 15* loft (fujikura - stiff flex) 3-Hybrid: Mizuno Fli-Hi CLK - 20* loft (TT hybrid steel shaft) 3-9: 1963 Hogan IPT - Stiff True Temper Steel Shafts (4* flat, -1/2" less than standard) GW: Nickent Arc 50* - TT DG S300 steel shaft SW: Titleist Vokey Spin Milled - 54*, 10* bounce LW: Cleveland BeCu 588 - 60* loft. Putter: Yes! Victoria II 35" long Grips: Lamkin 3-Gen Ball: Bridgestone 330S 3JACK