aerospace_ray

I got my 699 Pro 5i this week. I'll be very curious what the testers say about it. I'm comparing it directly to a ping i500. 
I love the black, very clean and I've always liked darker heads. Love my old Adam's CB2s. 
The feel on hits is probably the same, but the sound it much better with the 699s. 
Distance might be a fraction longer with the 699s. I hit about 30 approach shots yesterday from 185y out, half with each club. Shots with the 699s on average were a little longer. I hit a few poorly that I expected to come up way short that still carried to the green. 
But I'm not quite sure the 699 is going to replace the i500. The look at address is... Really different and I need to give it some time to get used to it. The club has a very angled profile from toe to hosel.  I didn't take any pictures yesterday while I was on the course, I'll get some tomorrow to follow up with this on. 
Overall, I'm still TBD on the 699 Pro. But I'm madly in love with the 639 CBs that I have for the rest of the set. Also, I did try the 639 CB 5i, and it wasn't the club for me. 

These are recycled, not refinished.  Great buy.   https://www.allingolfer.com/
4-Dozen Titleist Pro V1 or Pro V1x Recycled Golf Balls $72.00  S&H is free. 
 

 
 

I believe that the lack of play is due to several factors but I will list four.  1.  Cost for a round of golf is too high.  2.  Equipment costs to much.  (everyone wants to play what Tiger and Phil play.  3.  Courses are too tricked up.  4.  A round of golf takes to long to play.  I would guess the average handicap for golfers is somewhere between 16 and 18 for those that keep handicaps.  I suspect that the average for golfers that do not have handicaps would increase the average to around 20 to 24.  Maybe even higher.  Those without handicaps and even those that do want to have a fun day.   Anyway, I have rambled on.  Have a good day and stay safe.

There already are restricted flight balls. On your range! Feel free to use them. However, I want an exemption.

Feel free to check out a lot of discussion on this:
https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/39147-npg-episode-42-should-the-golf-ball-be-rolled-back/
https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/36497-usga-and-ra-say-distance-needs-to-be-reigned-back-in/
https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/36546-npg-episode-31-how-to-fix-the-distance-problem/
https://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/38058-club-or-ball-technology-what-do-you-think-has-had-the-biggest-impact/

Another vote for Ping Eye 2.  The + was my favorite iteration.

For me it was a Ping Eye 2 coppers for the irons. Wilson Staff blades (late 70's) were close second. Regarding woods, Persimmon Wilson Staff's or  Hogans both 70's models followed by original 90's model Callaway Big Bertha War Bird steels. Wedges would be Wilson Staff Jerry Pates and/or my current Wishon PCF's. All time putters I guess would be 8802 Wilson Staff and Ping B60 or B61 coppers.  
 

We had a pro at the first course I played when learning the game.  He was right-handed but putted left-handed.  Did pretty well, won the Washington State amateur just out of high school.
I'm right-handed and was a terrible putter when I started playing.  I actually could putt better left-handed from 5 feet and in, but lacked coordination for longer putts.  If I were younger, I would think about switching to playing left-handed.  The SuperSpeed testing showed me that I have a smoother and faster swing left-handed, but this old dog isn't learning any new tricks anytime soon.

Yes, trying to force movements like the right hip clearing and going toward the target can create some problems. End up having to dump or reach for the ball to make contact, Fat city.  
A really easy drill, even without a ball, is to take 3/4 swings with a pitching wedge (nothing hard, just ingraining a feel) and start the downswing by sliding your rear foot (right foot) backward. Helps to wear tennis shoes, or even just socks in the house. Think of a hockey player taking a slapshot. This forces weight to the front foot, and the right shoulder to work down toward the ball. Keeps your spine tilt and almost forces you to be on plane as it is difficult to come over the top with your right foot pulling away from you.

How long have you been playing golf? What’s your handicap or normal score? I've been playing for about 15 years. I'm around a 15 handicap.
What do you love about golf? I love that I can play it for the rest of my life.
What brings you to MyGolfSpy? Do you already know any other Spies? What brought me to MGS was the independent testing.
Where are you from? What is your home course? I live in Birmingham, AL, don't really have a home course just play a lot of the courses around me.
What are the best and worst things about golf in your region? The best is the number of different courses, the worst is that almost all of them have really fast greens.
What do you do for a living? Credit Risk Analytics
How’d you pick your user name? It's my email.

Thanks for sharing your experiences/reviews. Few questions. What is it about the V-sole that "takes getting used to"? Is your divot pattern different? Take more turf, less turf? 

This is not good #2. Yall can go ahead and laugh and suggest help needed advice if you may. Help/prayers needed. 🤔
So today, good beautiful day. Went outside to practice lob wedge shots. Here's the setup. Back yard has my hitting mat to front yard golf flag/pin. No wind, again perfect weather about 85 degrees. No noise from neighbors, dogs are behaving and just watching me, wife is watering plants and doing her thing. I have about 37 yard carry/landing spot and allow ball ~6 yards to release to flag stick/pin. Its bermuda and shaggy with relatively hard soil underneath. Ball always releases in my yard. Anyway I am 30 minutes into my practice session and I have just nearly holed 4 out of my last 20 balls. Thinking, I should have went to course. I am getting a little hot/sweaty but I am OCD and keep practicing. Then the worst thing happens. I shank the freaking ball into one of my downstairs windows and the wife sees it. This is bad. Real bad. I knew I should have stopped after nearly holing out two beautiful high lob shots that kissed the flag stick/pin. But I kept on and that shank happened. I freaking never shank the ball with my wedge game. So I got the wife calmed down, will get the window fixed. But I can't get that shot out of head. And what if its permanent, like the next time I take my lob wedge it happens freaking again? Not good. I am stressing.

This is not good #2. Yall can go ahead and laugh and suggest help needed advice if you may. Help/prayers needed. 🤔
So today, good beautiful day. Went outside to practice lob wedge shots. Here's the setup. Back yard has my hitting mat to front yard golf flag/pin. No wind, again perfect weather about 85 degrees. No noise from neighbors, dogs are behaving and just watching me, wife is watering plants and doing her thing. I have about 37 yard carry/landing spot and allow ball ~6 yards to release to flag stick/pin. Its bermuda and shaggy with relatively hard soil underneath. Ball always releases in my yard. Anyway I am 30 minutes into my practice session and I have just nearly holed 4 out of my last 20 balls. Thinking, I should have went to course. I am getting a little hot/sweaty but I am OCD and keep practicing. Then the worst thing happens. I shank the freaking ball into one of my downstairs windows and the wife sees it. This is bad. Real bad. I knew I should have stopped after nearly holing out two beautiful high lob shots that kissed the flag stick/pin. But I kept on and that shank happened. I freaking never shank the ball with my wedge game. So I got the wife calmed down, will get the window fixed. But I can't get that shot out of head. And what if its permanent, like the next time I take my lob wedge it happens freaking again? Not good. I am stressing.

I saw that too. On Direct TV in the guide it lists Soccer. It's that freaking NBC trying to force soccer on everyone.

It's an anomaly, just keep the mental picture of those beautiful lobs in your head. 

I still need to get mine cleaned up too, thanks for the reminder.  
 
Bummer on the window but nice work prior to that! Focus on the good, block out the bad.

This is not good #2. Yall can go ahead and laugh and suggest help needed advice if you may. Help/prayers needed. 🤔
So today, good beautiful day. Went outside to practice lob wedge shots. Here's the setup. Back yard has my hitting mat to front yard golf flag/pin. No wind, again perfect weather about 85 degrees. No noise from neighbors, dogs are behaving and just watching me, wife is watering plants and doing her thing. I have about 37 yard carry/landing spot and allow ball ~6 yards to release to flag stick/pin. Its bermuda and shaggy with relatively hard soil underneath. Ball always releases in my yard. Anyway I am 30 minutes into my practice session and I have just nearly holed 4 out of my last 20 balls. Thinking, I should have went to course. I am getting a little hot/sweaty but I am OCD and keep practicing. Then the worst thing happens. I shank the freaking ball into one of my downstairs windows and the wife sees it. This is bad. Real bad. I knew I should have stopped after nearly holing out two beautiful high lob shots that kissed the flag stick/pin. But I kept on and that shank happened. I freaking never shank the ball with my wedge game. So I got the wife calmed down, will get the window fixed. But I can't get that shot out of head. And what if its permanent, like the next time I take my lob wedge it happens freaking again? Not good. I am stressing.

This is not good #2. Yall can go ahead and laugh and suggest help needed advice if you may. Help/prayers needed. 🤔
So today, good beautiful day. Went outside to practice lob wedge shots. Here's the setup. Back yard has my hitting mat to front yard golf flag/pin. No wind, again perfect weather about 85 degrees. No noise from neighbors, dogs are behaving and just watching me, wife is watering plants and doing her thing. I have about 37 yard carry/landing spot and allow ball ~6 yards to release to flag stick/pin. Its bermuda and shaggy with relatively hard soil underneath. Ball always releases in my yard. Anyway I am 30 minutes into my practice session and I have just nearly holed 4 out of my last 20 balls. Thinking, I should have went to course. I am getting a little hot/sweaty but I am OCD and keep practicing. Then the worst thing happens. I shank the freaking ball into one of my downstairs windows and the wife sees it. This is bad. Real bad. I knew I should have stopped after nearly holing out two beautiful high lob shots that kissed the flag stick/pin. But I kept on and that shank happened. I freaking never shank the ball with my wedge game. So I got the wife calmed down, will get the window fixed. But I can't get that shot out of head. And what if its permanent, like the next time I take my lob wedge it happens freaking again? Not good. I am stressing.

Well this is not good. Today I felt disconnected and could not find my swing. Almost like watching a beginner at the driving range . I was topping the ball and could not get dialed in. Now I am stressing. Everything for last few months was in order, weekly routine, drills, range time, quality ball striking and today, freaking today I look and feel like I have never played................. Got to get this fixed by weekend.  Apologies for rant. 

Thank you. Appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for updates. Now I am interested............ Last thing I need right now --- more wedges 😃

Thanks for sharing your experiences/reviews. Few questions. What is it about the V-sole that "takes getting used to"? Is your divot pattern different? Take more turf, less turf? 

I can answer this one as I was one of the early guys to make the switch. With a traditional sole you are using the bounce for short shots around the green. It’s no where near as pronounced with the V-sole unless you open the blade - then you have a ton of bounce. There’s a pronounced difference in turf interaction on full shots as well.

They are extremely versatile but it does take a bit of time to get used to them.


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It’s probably just me but I love the look of those KBS tour graphite shafts. I noticed them in the senior tour event today and see they offer them in the Edison’s


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Finding the Edisons easier to hit on full shots - maybe it's the weighting, maybe it's the sole, but since taking a couple of rounds to adapt, I can't say I've hit anything terrible "fat" recently, and the divots are nice little patches as opposed to big chunks of turf.  Can't really explain why I find them easier to hit other than the higher CG and greater hi-low MOI. the ZipCores are noticeably better than the RTX-4 in this respect, but I would say the Edisons are even more forgiving. That higher CG also helps with spin.
Worked with the V-sole better during my round yesterday. It's hard to explain, but the bounce is just plain weird with Edison - the V-sole is fairly pronounced so it takes some practice to figure out how to hit different shots. I'm finding it relatively easy to hit decent flops with the 57, and the 53 is my go-to wedge for 20 to 40 yard spinners.  They hop a couple of times and come to a screeching halt. I guess the best answer is the sole is different enough - bounce-wise - to require some time to adapt. Felt like I was getting the hang of it yesterday.  Not sure that's a terribly specific answer, but it's the best I got...