funkyjudge

This fitter does exactly that! This year alone, I have fit players into 450-460cc drivers at every length from 44" to 45.5", with the vast majority falling between 44.5" - 44.75".

When my driver isn't behaving (which is becoming pretty rare now that I have it dialed-in with a Ventus Blue Velocore 6S shaft at minus 1/2" length), I go with my TS2 4-wood or a hybrid off the tee.

After my tournament round yesterday, I demo'd the new TM 300 Mini Drivers (both lofts, regular and stiff shafts). This is DEFINITELY NOT a club made for me and my swing. I hit my Titleist TS2 4-wood much better and farther with lower spin, and hit my strong-lofted TE Exotics 5-iron just about as far as the mini driver, plus straighter and with similar backspin. There is no way that I would put the 300 Mini in my bag!

I know David Glod, CEO and Chief Club Designer at Tour Edge Golf quite well ( I have been a Tour Edge Fitter/Dealer for more than a decade). Glod is a nice guy, but he would put up with Bryson and his nonsense for about ten minutes before telling him to take a hike. Bob Parsons of PXG with Bryson could be a really interesting pairing ... at least until the inner Marine in Parsons came out. Bryson has a history of alienating his sponsors and supporters/team members. My cousin was Dechambeau's fitness trainer and advisor until he told Bryson that he was doing his body more harm than good with the super high-protein, high-calorie diet. Bryson thought that he knew better than my cousin Greg, who not only has a Master's Degree in Physical Therapy and Exercise Physiology, but also worked with (and continues to work with) Peyton Manning, Karl Malone, Donna DeVaronna, and scores of other very successful professional athletes. Bryson went from giving Greg a huge shout-out in his post U.S. Open press conference to acting as if Greg and his company didn't exist after he was given advice that he rejected. BTW, you'll notice that Bryson has more recently cut down on the high-calorie diet and dropped about 20 lbs.

The PGI graphite iron shafts have higher torque, an overall softer profile, and provide higher launch and higher spin than the TGI shafts. I play the TGI 80 shafts in my irons (TGI 90 or 95 in my gap wedge and TGI 100 in my more lofted wedges). The torque rating for my TGI 80 shafts is 2.0 degrees, while torque numbers for the stiffer and heavier PGI shafts are at 3.5 degrees.

By the way, I FINALLY shot a somewhat respectable score (82 on a par-70 track of about 6,000 - 6,100 yards) last Thursday, with a 38 on the back nine (one double-bogey where I lost my ball off the tee, even though I hit a 5 iron because there is a swampy "native area" about 200-215 yards from my tees and unless I hit a slight fade (my normal miss is a hook or pull-hook), I risk hitting it in the junk that continues up the left side from the native area to the green. My playing partner and I both saw that tee ball land in the fairway short of the swamp, but we couldn't find it and assumed that it hit something hard and went in the junk. That, plus a couple of bad bounces kept me from shooting par or better on the back nine, and breaking 80. Considering the fact that I was so sick that I spent a month in the hospital and three months on heavy doses of IV antibiotics earlier in 2021, and just finished three months of physical therapy in mid-June, I'm not complaining about that 82, but a score in the 70s would look really nice after a bunch of scores between 87-92 since my return to golf the second week of May.

Based on your comments, my first thought was "why do you ever play from the blue tees?" The idea is to play golf from the set of tees which will allow you to enjoy yourself and allow you to reach the green in regulation (at least a majority of the time) when you hit well-struck shots. At age 72, I have moved up to the White tees, or a mix of white and gold tees when available and when the course plays at 6,250 yards or more from all white tees. I did this a couple of years ago when my average driver distance dropped below 240 yards and my average 7-iron distance dropped to about 140 yards.

I am a dealer/fitter for Tour Edge Golf, specializing in their Exotics line, plus a Fujikura Charter Dealer, and I have experienced delays of up to 2-1/2 months on at least a portion of every order that I have placed with both of these companies, beginning about 3.5 months ago. Even prior to mid-late March of this year, I was seeing delays averaging 4 weeks on some items from both of these companies. I also work with Sub 70 Golf and New Level Golf and have had, and continue to have, some delays in getting clubheads and/or assembled clubs from both of these companies. However, the biggest delays and out-of-stock issues (not to mention the extreme pricing increases) that I have been seeing are with the more popular grips from Golf Pride, Lamkin, and Pure Grips. The most popular Golf Pride grip models (Multi-Compound, MCC+4, Tour Velvet), as well as Lamkin Crossline models, are on backorder until at least this fall …. some models until November! I will say that Tour Edge and Fujikura have been excellent in addressing their supply chain issues, and both companies have resorted to using the much more expensive air freight method to receive their products and/or components from Asia (Japan, in the case of Fujikura; China and Taiwan for Tour Edge), which eliminates the long travel times and port backups for those who continue to use the slow ocean freight method of shipment. Doug Mael Doug’s Custom Clubs / Tour Quality Golf www.dougscustomgolfclubs.com

I have played all 36 (both Gold and Green courses) in a single day a few times, but never in 90*+ heat, although a few days were close to 90* F. I concur that, with the high humidity that the area usually suffers from, it can be rather taxing on the body and staying hydrated is difficult at times. I'm glad to hear that the Gold Course is in great shape following the renovations/restoration. My wife and I have been talking about going down and playing there this summer.

Both are excellent golf courses. My wife and I go to Williamsburg at least every couple of years and we play both the Gold and Green courses (and usually a few other courses in the area). I believe that they just renovated the Gold course in the last 2 years, and that one was always my favorite, but I haven't played it since the renovations due to COVID restrictions.

I have always liked Streets of Fire .... watched it several times.

I just wear the UV-protection sleeves that are made for golf and other outdoor activity (you’ll see a lot more LPGA players wearing these things than the men do, but I see some being worn on the PGA and Champions Tours). However, if you want a good UV-protection moisture-wicking long sleeve golf shirt that is not too heavy to wear in the summer (I suggest that the limit is about 80* to 85* F for wearing these), UnderArmour makes some nice ones.

The answer to Q #1 is that, at 48” long, that shaft will almost certainly play softer than it would play at 45” long. Because of the additional length, the club will have a swingweight that is approaching (or at) E0 or higher, unless you are using a super-lightweight driver head and/or you have an extremely counter-balanced shaft. Even if the shaft is massively counter-balanced, you are still likely to see a swingweight well above D5 at 48” playing length. These factors will make the shaft flex more and play softer than it would play at a more “conventional” length.

I actually consider any driver with a playing length north of 45" to be a "long" driver, and something that the vast majority (say about 99.8% of all amateur golfers) should avoid like the plague. The longer the playing length, the tougher it is to hit the ball in or very near the sweet spot on the face of one's driver, and the results are loss of both distance and accuracy. I know that I am much better-off -- and I score considerably better -- when I am playing a driver that is 44.25" to 44.75" long.

My competition round on Wednesday was a perfect indication of why I carry a USGA Handicap Index of 14+ right now. I started out great, going par-bogey-par-par-birdie-par. Even par through the first six holes - nice! (or so I thought). I immediately proceeded to double-bogey the 7th hole (a tough par-4 with a forced carry of about 100 yards over water just short of the green) because I compounded a rather poorly executed layup from a sidehill lie that I left myself with a slightly pulled 4-wood off the tee with a truly bad 9-iron shot into the green -- or, at least it was supposed to hit the green. I then parred hole #8 but added another double-bogey on #9. Still, 4-over on the front nine is not too bad considering my index. Then came the back nine, where there were just a few too many holes that I played similarly to #7 and #9 on the front. The end result was that I shot 86 -- right on my handicap -- when I could easily have shot in the upper 70s to 80 if I had kept my mind focused on every shot and played a bit more strategically on a handful of holes. Still, I won my match and my team won 16.5 - 13.5 in an away match, and I was pretty happy about that.

That was true for Langer until mid to late season in 2020. He is now down to no more than 3 different manufacturers since he signed with Tour Edge Golf. Bernhard may even be playing only two manufacturers’ clubs, since I know that he is playing Tour Edge Exotics driver, fairways, hybrid and irons. I’m not sure about the wedges, and I’m reasonably sure that his putter is not a Tour Edge club.

I have played mixed (or “combo”) iron sets for the better part of the last two to three decades, beginning with a mixed set of Golfsmith forged blades / cavity backs that I built in the mid to late 1990s. I love the idea of having more-forgiving long to mid irons in combination with a more “player’s style” shorter irons and wedges in my bag. Currently, I play Tour Edge Exotics more-forgiving E721 5 and 6 irons with the T.E. Exotics C721 “player’s distance” 7 iron through AW. I bent the 5 and 6 irons between 1.5 and 2 degrees weaker in loft to give me proper distance gaps and so that I wouldn’t have a 20 yard gap between the 6 and 7 irons. This has worked extremely well for me since I went with that setup. Prior to this mixed set, I played two different mixed sets of Mizuno irons (Hot Metal long irons with Hot Metal Pro shorter irons, and Hot Metal Pro long irons with JPX919 Forged shorter irons).

Probably not a bad choice for you, old buddy! I’ll send you a private email with some additional thoughts.

Good move! Also, the reply that Twyatt700 gave you saying that you should consider a 4 or 5 wood (anywhere from 16.5 to 19 degrees of loft) is very solid advice. I am 72, and have lost some clubhead speed over the last few years, although I'm still above 95 MPH for the most part with the driver and about 92 MPH with my 4-wood. I haven't carried a 3-wood in at least 4 years, and for a while I was gaming only a 17.5* strong 5-wood from Tour Edge Golf in between the driver and my hybrid(s). That was until I found a couple of 16.5* 4-woods that I like. Currently, I play a 16.5* Titleist TS2 4-wood, and I am loving it from both the tee and the fairway. Today, I played an 18-hole match in my senior travel league, and I was having "driver issues" throughout the front nine, hooking two tee shots OB left and hitting a few other ugly shots with it. I didn't take the driver out of my bag once on the back nine, hitting either the 4-wood or my 19* 3-hybrid off the tee even on par-5 holes, and improved my score by a full 9 shots vs. what I shot on the front nine. The 4-wood also works VERY well for me from the deck, something that I found difficult with a 3-wood.

I put the 19* C721 hybrid (with the KBS TGI 80-S shaft in it) about ten days ago and played two rounds with it so far. It is extremely long, straight, and forgiving for me. On my least-favorite par 5 hole last Monday, I sort of popped-up my tee shot, leaving me about 285-290 yards from the green on a sidehill lie in the rough and hitting over two bodies of water (the corner of a lake and a creek that crosses the fairway between 100-140 yards out). I thought that I'd be laying-up to about 80-90 yards from that lie if I hit the C721 hybrid, so I played that club and hit a nice medium-high rocket shot with it. When I got to my ball, I had only 38 yards to the front of the green, and about 50 yards to the pin. I have since hit a handful of other shots similar to that one with this club, and I have even taken to hitting it from the tee on short to medium length par 4 holes where control off the tee is required. It's replacing a Callaway Epic Sub Zero 5-wood in my bag, which I had been playing set to 20* loft. I NEVER thought that I would take that 5-wood out of the bag, as it had become my favorite "control club" off the tee and for approaches on long par 5 holes.

Over the years, I have played Callaway Apex / Apex Pro and Mizuno Hot Metal / Hot Metal Pro combo sets, as well as creating a few of my own mixed sets. I’m currently considering creating a mixed set of Tour Edge Exotics E721 5 & 6 irons with C721 in the 7 iron through AW. It has always worked well for me to play more forgiving longer irons with more “player’s style” mid/short irons.

I wasn’t aware that Ping has a 7 gram weight available for the G425 Series drivers. However, I know that they have weights in several denominations from 15 to 32 grams, all of which I have for my G425 Max driver. I happen to use a 29 gram weight in mine, because I play the driver at 44.75” long and with that weight installed, I get a D3 swing weight, which is what I prefer in a driver.

Listen to, and believe, Dave Tutelman; he knows what he is talking about! I own a pair of Vokey SM8 wedges (54* and 58* lofts, unaltered). The 58* is a K-Grind model, so the super-wide sole somewhat offsets the slightly higher COG created by placing more weight high in the blade of this club, but it still does keep the ball flight somewhat lower than what I get with my Hogan Equalizer 56*, which I have bent to 58* loft. My other Equalizer wedge is a 48*, and I don’t have an SM8 wedge to compare it to, but on full shots that 48* Equalizer wedge hits the ball too high (and slightly too short) for me. For comparison purposes, that 48* Equalizer actually performs pretty similar to my 50* Vokey SM7 F-Grind wedge (both the same playing length). I also am not a big fan of the higher trajectory that I get on full shots with the 48* Equalizer; however, it is a great wedge for executing partial shots from 65 to 85 yards out (full shot distance with this wedge is 98 to 105 yards for me). I seem to get far less roll-out with the 48* Equalizer than what I get with the 50* SM7, which is rather counter-intuitive to me. The reason that I prefer to hit partial shots with the 48* wedge rather than using a 54* or 58* wedge from such distances is that I have better control with these 1/2, 2/3, and 3/4 swing shots and practice these a lot to keep it that way. A full shot with a high-lofted wedge from 65 to 80 yards spells disaster for me.

Could you please add the “Veteran” and “Golf Industry” badges to my profile? Thank you, Doug Mael

PS - I am in agreement with HDTVMAN that shorter shaft length in the driver (and for me, the fairway woods) will do wonders in helping most amateur golfers find the center of the club face and hit longer and straighter shots with those clubs. I play my driver at 44.5”to 44.75” long and my 4-wood at 42”. My weak 5-wood is at 7-wood playing length (41.5”) rather than the 42” to 42.5” playing length that you generally find in modern 5-woods.