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Pkc

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  1. All lower lofts do, is allow golfers to state I hit a 9 iron instead of a 8 or 7 iron. Lofts are still lofts whether the club states 7 iron or 9 iron it really shouldn’t matter. It just fools some people into thinking everyone is hitting their irons further and now no one uses a 3 iron since it would be like hitting a 1 or 2 iron. And now many golfers have an extra wedge instead. Stupid marketing trick by club manufacturers.
  2. My opinion is courses are already at the lengths they are and golf is still interesting. Not opposed to the USGA trying to freeze today’s distances. Just think going backwards will not bring them any popularity and right now with new leagues already taking key tour players there’s no need to further alienate younger golfers. Since let’s face it, newer golfer like my son and his HS golf team friends, look at LIV as the fun, cool tour and the PGA as the stuffy tour with too many rules. LIV has music playing, pros in shorts and pros interacting with spectators. PGA has golfer’s roped way back, only signing areas for little kids, no music and constant quiet signs. The game is different for these younger adults and teens than it was for myself or my father. And both of us are ok with that. I would personally just like to see the USGA and PGA as the important groups they were for upcoming adults of the future. These kids and young adults worship the distance these pros hit and have no reason to look at the USGA like I do. And recently I also have less faith in the USGA and their motives, save golf or save personal records? Certainly not saving historical golf courses since none are 6,000 yards anymore like in 1901. And if they’re claiming historical is their lifetime and not the USGA’s that’s personal then. I would love to see the USGA try to freeze distances to preserve what’s current, since land is now at a premium. But stepping backwards will create a divide and based on tour surveys and general public the USGA will lose support. And there’s a new league waiting with open arms and deep pockets.
  3. Guess my biggest issue is why now, when Nicolas played everyone complained about how easy it was for them and how far they hit. But instead of changes rules, the outgoing crowd was interested in seeing where technology takes the game. The US Open in 1901 at Myopia Hunt Club was barely 6,000 yards, this year it was over 7,400 yards. Courses didn’t gain 1,400 yards overnight, it slowly happened over decades. My instructor in high school and college was Lighthouse Harry Cooper, he lived through many eras of golf and I stayed friends with him until he passed away in 2000. He always joked about how much easier and better equipment was from when he was on tour in the 1920’s and 30’s. Instead of being upset about it, he loved how it was making golf more accessible and with graphite shafts he was excited to be able to swing a club again. Thanks to its light weight and not bothering his arthritis or joints as much. He looked forward to what was next in golf, instead of criticizing that golf courses are a 1,000 yards longer and John Daly now hits 300 yards. He thought the change is what made golf special, it was a game that evolved with each new generation. Harry would constantly point out differences in courses he played as a pro and how very different they were in the late 1980’s, 1990’s to when he played them on tour in the 1920’s and 30’s. Golf hasn’t changed overnight, it’s evolved over lots of decades, the USGA needs to stop pretending golf started when they started playing and that was the only important time in golf.
  4. Where did you find this info? I played in the late 1990’s into the early 2000’s on the Nike/Buy.com tour. My driving average at that time was with a Titleist Professional at 291 yards and Tiger at that time was around 301. Player on tour have become more physically fit, stronger, plus technology with perfect fitting has drastically changed. Driving distance average on tour at that time from today isn’t drastically different, today it’s 296, then 285. Players like Bubba and Hank changed the game when larger driver came out around the year 2000 with having 320 yard driving averages. Over twenty years later and the longest hitter on tour still have a similar driving average. Drivers have changed, players physically have changed and this has made the difference between the shortest hitter on tour verse the longest grow further apart. And rolling back the golf ball will not help that. I think golf has become a more physically fit game today over back in the day when out of shape golfers were able to win. Golf has become like other sports all about training yourself physically. I played the tour balata as well as the professional, the tour balata in warm weather would be longer for myself. The tour balata cover was just too soft for myself with a full wedge or short iron. Players did not focus on distance until larger driver heads and graphite shafts were put into play. Otherwise you could have just played a harder covered golf ball, hell precept or Wilson golf balls back then went much further for myself, just preferred the distance consistency of a Titleist at the time. Big distance change came from the use of titanium in drivers, larger head, larger sweat spot, you can swing harder, miss a little and still drive further. And this is what started players training to become stronger since swinging harder no longer had as severe of a penalty. Golf swings used to be about timing and hitting the sweet spot on a club, now the sweet spot is the size of a softball instead of a golf ball. Which encouraged players to swing harder, the golf ball didn’t encourage this.
  5. I played on the Nike tour/Buy.com tour back twenty something years ago. And today as a reinstated amateur who hits the ball less distance than then and has played and watched the sport over the years. I personally think rolling back the golf ball isn’t the right move. Yes they can roll back a few yards for the tour pros, they are good enough players where they can adapt to clubs that are an inch longer and still within regulation. They can train themselves like Bryson did to swing a little harder to make up the difference. What they can’t do is magically become more accurate while gaining distance. I think golf courses unfortunately need to adjust to today’s stronger faster swinging tour players. This doesn’t mean adding distance to the courses. Since they’ve already added some 400-600 yards to courses over the last 30-40 years. The courses need to give the players more risk at over 300 yards off the tee to level the playing field. Whether the fairway become extremely narrow with bunkers, waste traps, longer rough, tree placement, bushes, brush, etc, something to make the players play with more strategy over just hitting long. Until that happens there are too many work around for the golf ball to magically solve the USGA’s perceived issue. Personally I find the long hitters on tour fascinating and it’s a reason myself and son are willing to watch tour players in person. Not sure if tour players were forced too far back the game may become too mundane to bother watching in person for younger golfers. Young golfers all seem obsessed with how far tour players hit the ball. And with up and coming tours like LIV who I doubt will bother enforcing this rule might make historic tours obsolete. USGA really needs to listen to its audience and youth and not worry about what they personally don’t like seeing because it’s different then what they grew up with. I understand a bunch of old legends would like to protect their records. Unfortunately for them now a days younger adults like to be entertained, showmanship over just watching a golfer play well. It’s very easy to see by who has the biggest crowds following and who has more social media followers. This will affect golf business as well, what if Titleist as they’ve already become vocal about the roll back, decides to pulls their funding from USGA and even the PGA if the PGA decides to accept this rule and gives their funding to LIV? That’s just one major funding for these groups what if others follow suit? And I wouldn’t blame Titleist since this will definitely hurt their sales, why buy Titleist over another brand if every ball needs to be essentially the same in the general public’s eyes? Will this hurt the golf ball industry, yes, whether in sales or whether in additional production costs of a new rolled back golf ball and keeping their old ball. Will this mean less testing and research to develop better future golf balls? Will golf ball manufacturers now focus on more accuracy over distance? Will club manufacturers now focus on gaining distance through shafts since they’re less regulated? Will they come up with a better driver material to make drives longer while still adhering to cor rules? Unfortunately the USGA can’t stop progress and rolling it back isn’t the answer. Maybe slowing it down to allow the courses to catch up is but rolling back I think is a bad move. This leaves too many doors open for change when the PGA tour is already losing great players to LIV and who knows maybe sponsors in the future as well.
  6. Love my ZX7’s, for such a thin top line they really are pretty easy to hit, enjoy. Mine 4-PW are matched with Vokey wedges and a PXG older driving 3 iron with a graphite design addi shaft.
  7. Yeah that’s a tough one, since you don’t know if you’ll get fitted for a shaft Titleist carries normally or if you need tip stiff? CC carries everything which is good and bad, most manufacturers don’t offer everything to the general public. My shafts were not available through Srixon, my old shafts were through PXG so I could order straight. CC charges more since you buy the heads separate from the shaft and pay retail fir each but they do pure the shaft which is nice and manufacturers don’t do that for non pros. CC can also be more precise in upright, manufacturers only do 1 degree changes, CC did .5 degree change since that’s what I needed. They also can match swing weights to your liking with ordering the heads separately, I know I like D4,D5. All things manufacturers don’t offer to non pros. The only downside, which is big, is I paid 2k for a set that is 1,200 with stock options from the manufacturer or big box store.
  8. With similar numbers to mine you’d be on the border of stiff to X, luckily KBS makes a bunch of shafts in S+. And Project X comes in 6.5 or you can tip stiff a regular S shaft. I used to play S400 for years, the slightly stiffer/heavier version of the S300. I’m getting older so I now like 120-125 grams better then 130-135. But dropping from a 125 gram slightly stout shaft to 95 gram slightly weak stiff shaft if your swinging that fast doesn’t sound right.
  9. If you’re new to golf, I’d recommend starting with adding a 5 wood and seeing how that works for you. Then if you hit it well, might want to try a 3 or 7 wood, if it’s just ok, then try a hybrid iron. But based on hitting your long iron poorly I’d try the 5 wood first. Not sure brand as a beginner will make a huge difference just choose a higher launching or more forgiving model by whichever brand you like better. You can go by the reviews or try hitting yourself but I presume you’re not consistent yet so hitting them may not give you an answer but more of which one you hit better that day at that time.
  10. Just so you’re aware, Bryson and DJ 7 iron carry average is just under 200 yards, total is right around 200. That would mean your swing speed with a 7 iron is 100mph plus and you should be in a tip stiff X stiff shaft. If 200 yards was overall because it was 7 iron with a 5 iron loft so you got 20 yards of roll, from under 5,000 revs and/or a decent angle of 42-45 I’d understand. But no way can you swing a light weight stiff shaft and hit a 7 iron 200 yards that’s more carry then most of the longest players on tour. The average tour player carries 173 yards with a mid 90’s club head speed and an X shaft. So either the numbers are off or that was a very bad fitting. I average 290 yards with my driver, play back tees, a 450 yard par 4 for myself is a driver, 8 or 9 iron, playing a 450 yard par 4, are you usually near the 150 yard marker or past it? If you can hit your 7 iron that far it would equate to a long drive, 320-340 yards, like a DJ or Bryson, which would mean driver wedge on a hole I’d be hitting driver, 8 or 9 iron. And I play S+ or X shafts. link to trackman pga stats: https://blog.trackmangolf.com/trackman-average-tour-stats/
  11. That’s pretty good distance from a 7 iron, was that carry or overall? I carry my 6 iron, 181 yards with 91mph swing speed, tour average for a 6 iron is 185 range with 93-94 mph swing speed. My 7 iron carry is 172 with a 90-91 mph swing speed. And I use S+ or X shafts in most of my clubs. I know the loft is stronger on your 7 iron verse my 7 iron since I play ZX7’s and the t200’s are 2 degrees stronger but still I would presume your swing speed would be near 90 mph if that’s carry distance and not overall. If it’s overall, doesn’t mean much, their could be a lot of roll involved with low spin numbers or low landing angle, too many variables. Trackman posts it’s pga tour stats if you want a reference for number before you go in for a fitting. Just don’t expect a fitter to magically make a club that gives you those numbers.
  12. I personally check out reviews of local fitters, I’ve alway had a good experience with Club Champion. Some local stores have “trained” employees that are “fitters” but being a previous D1 golfer then Nike/Buy.com tour player for a short bit I quickly realize how unknowledgeable many of these people are. Many of them don’t even know proper spin numbers or peak heights or decent angles, let alone how to read a hit plate or watch to see if the person hits the ball fairly solid or if they need another sticker and hit again. Anyone that can’t answer simple spec questions should not be fitting customers. I’d definitely look at reviews of local fitters.
  13. I’m also 6’4” but 185lbs. I don’t think the shaft necessarily is wrong just because of your driver shaft. Some people swing lighter weight shafts better and others heavier. If you feel unsure I’d definitely get a second opinion, hopefully they put you in a 1/2” long shaft and had you hit on a strike plate or sticker to see if you’re also upright. I’m typically with most brands, but brands do vary, my norm is 1 degree upright and 1/2” longer shafts with midsize grips for my larger hands. I personally prefer d4 to d5 weight combo for my 4 iron to wedges, with a minimum of a 120 grams shaft, current are KBS tour V tour spec S+, 125 grams. But my swing speed for 6 iron was 91 mph average, driver is usually 110 or just over. I’ve always had a good experience with club Champion employees knowing how to fit. Just don’t go in expecting a miracle, I usually look for the shaft/head combo with the best dispersion and then look at distance from there. For myself I like to see a spin rate of 5,900-6,300, peak height around 90-105 feet and a decent angle around 49%, Club Champion uses a 6 iron to fit, good luck.
  14. Shafts are personal, I love my Graphite Design shafts, in my driver, 3 wood and driving iron, I play KBS Tour V Tour spec S+ in my other irons. GD have a very nice feel to them, although they all have different profiles and that’s where a place like Club Champion can tell you which is best for your swing. With every Fujikura I tried I always hit the ball with a little tail, giving me a worse dispersion, higher spin numbers, but my brother loves his Ventus shaft. I’d wait to see what fits your swing.
  15. Funny, the importance of fitting, was ready to buy the p770’s or mp20 based on reviews. Club Champion fitted me, both those irons were a miss for me, p770 had a big dispersion, the mp20’s had the worst carry distance and too high a spin rate. Tried the Cobra, T100, ZX7, jpx forged and tour, Pxg 0311t and ping. First club the fitter choose for me the ZX7 was still the best dispersion and second longest with great spin numbers. I had no thought of even trying Srixon and was looking for a distance style players iron, which some how the ZX7 is just a players iron but went second furtherest after the p770. The p770 was averaging 1.4 yards more distance but was flying very high no matter which shaft I used and had a lower spin rate, 4,800-5,000 with a higher dispersion. The Mizuno’s all were the shortest irons I hit with a very high spin rate, 6 iron with 7,200-7,700 spin rate. While the ZX7 was 9-12 yards further then the Mixuno irons with a more normal 6,000-6,200 spin rate with my 6 iron. I guess the importance of fitting every well rated club doesn’t fit everyone the same.
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