Hoyoymac

Been testing a Tour Edge Exotics C723 8.0 driver this week with a Mitsubishi Tensei AV Xlink 65g Stiff shaft and after 5 rounds it has benched my Cobra LTDx LS 9.0 set at -1 with a Graphite Design Tour AD VR 6 S shaft. I had about 150 rounds in with the Cobra. Not taking anything away from the Cobra LTDx as it has been very good for me and it kicked the Ping G410 LST driver out of my bag last year. So far for me the Tour Edge C723 is as long as the Cobra LTDx LS and as forgiving as the Ping G410 LST. Even more impressive when you consider that I was fitted for both the Ping and the Cobra then had to tinker with each going through about 6 or 7 shafts apiece to tame them and I ordered the Tour Edge C723 blind and am using one of their stock shaft offerings. Getting about the same numbers as the Cobra, but finding it easier to play on the course with the Tour Edge C723. My misses are better. In 90 holes of golf I have not had a single penalty off the tee. The C723 driver looks good, feel is slightly softer off the face than the Cobra LTDx, and performs well. The sound is not as muted as the Cobra’s thwacky thud. To be clear: the C723 is not loud. It just has a bit more of a metallic ting to it despite all of the carbon fiber composite panels in the head of the Tour Edge. The glossy crown initially was distracting to me after playing matte finish drivers for almost ten years. I’ve gotten used to it though pretty quickly. The Ridgeback spine and the Diamond shaped logo on the face make the club much easier to align than the Cobra LTDx. I feel that Cobra’s alignment aid always appeared from above to be closer to the heel which for me might have led to more of a toe side miss. The Ping was also easy to align with the turbulators on top and I know not everyone likes the look but it never bothered me. The face of the C723 driver is deeper than the Cobra’s so I am finding that I have to tee up the ball a bit higher than I was doing before. When you hit it a bit higher on the face you can get some real low spin bombs. I am finding this driver to be very easy to hit in the center of the face. Generally I’m a fairly straight driver of the ball. So far here is what I’ve seen regarding forgiveness if you hit it around the face a bit. Strikes a bit heel side are very forgiving and come back to the middle. Toe side misses have not hooked for me, more of a slight push to the right. Strikes low on the face cause the spin to come up a bit and produce great fairway finder shots. If I am on a tight driving hole I’ve found that teeing this driver a little lower than normal is just the ticket. Played around with the substantial adjustability of the C723 initially and swapped weights around but have found my best performance with everything exactly as how it came from the factory. What don’t I like? The rear weight channel picks up some grass if you brush the ground. The way that the rear weight and slider work makes swapping the weights from front to back a bit of a chore. Adjusting the rear weight in the channel to the draw or fade setting is also a bit finicky. Not a deal breaker probably for most people because now that I got the driver dialed in I doubt I’ll adjust the weights or hosel settings again. But if you are one of those folks that like to adjust in the middle of a casual round or for different courses take note, allow for an extra few minutes. The face does not show where the ball contact mark is very well compared to the milled face of the Cobra LTDx. Impact tape or foot powder spray might be necessary if you really want to see clearly where you are hitting it on the face. Conversely tee mark impressions are quite easy to see. The headcover is of good quality, is large but snug. A bit difficult to take on and off, plus all the white on it equates to getting dirty and showing the dirt fairly quickly. I will save the headcover to keep it looking new and use my Stitch Smiley Face headcover from now on. All in all though if you’re considering a new driver, don’t sleep on the Tour Edge C723, it has impressed me enough to make it my gamer. I like it a lot!!

We’re driving up from Coastal Georgia. Hope to play Friday afternoon.

First lesson of the year yesterday. A nine hole playing lesson. Have been in a little bit of funk the last few months for a variety of reasons, but recently I have had flashes of brilliance interspersed with moments of agony. Sunday was a good example: 5 double bogeys and 4 birdies to shoot 79. Was either perfect or god awful. The lesson just pointed out that I was falling back in to some my old tendencies again despite having worked hard to fix. Would like my game to be in top form for the Pinehurst Trip, so creating a practice plan and will be working towards that goal.

Bag tags with our forum names will do nicely.

I’m in and registered, deposits paid, along with my golfing buddy. He will be joining the forum shortly too! Looking forward to seeing and playing with all y’all!

Over the last 6 years this part of my bag has changed quite a bit. My 200 yard club has been either a 4 hybrid, 4 utility iron or 7 wood during that time. Hybrids have tended to draw or hook for me, so the driving iron and 7 wood have duked it out. The last three years I’ve settled on a 16.5 Degree 4 wood (225+ yards) , 21 degree 7 wood (200-210 yards), and 24 degree 5 hybrid (185-195 yards) setup. This past year I replaced my Taylormade SIM Ti 5 wood set @ 17 degrees with a Cobra LTDx 3 wood set at 16.5 degrees. The Taylormade was great off the tee but not so much off the turf. The Cobra is the best 3 wood I’ve ever had. It is so much better off the turf that I find that any long shot of over 200 yards I am reaching for it more and more now. Before my 7 wood was my go to club. As a result, the 7 wood is only getting use now on long par 3s and when a very specific yardage is needed. So I’ve been dabbling with a 4 utility iron again because at my home course there are many instances where a low running shot might be needed to get under trees. The 7 wood is not as useful for the low shot.

Thanks y’all!

When I play with someone I don’t know I look carefully at their bag, their clubs, their clothes, shoes, everything. Especially if they want to have a bet! I’m an equipment nerd and like working on and building clubs. If I see lead tape or BB&F ferrules I know the guy is either a great player or a tinkerer like me. My clubs frequently bring questions since they have no markings on them.

Next time you are in the area let me know. I’m a member at Sapelo Hammock Golf Club and would be happy to play with you as my guest when you are here.

I’ve tried it and found it to be a good tool to identify some balls that I wouldn’t have maybe considered otherwise. Swing speed with Driver is 103 MPH and my attack angle with driver is slightly negative so I tend to fight spin. I have found that the Bridgestone Tour BRX works pretty well for me, like it’s feel and how it checks up around the green. It has been my gamer for several generations now. The MaxFli Tour came up as a top match and I have been using that ball along with my previous gamer now. The Maxfli is about 1/3rd less expensive, gives me a little more carry distance and is slightly firmer than the Bridgestone Tour BRX. I tend to use the MaxFli Tour more in the summer when temperatures are warmer and the course conditions are softer and the BridgestoneTour BRX when temperatures get cooler. I don’t like a large difference in firmness because it changes the sound and feel off of my putter. I really don’t like a hard ball that produces a loud click.

Over the last ten years as my skill improved and my golf game got better my specifications changed as a result of my club delivery changing and I went from game improvement irons to players distance irons to forged cavity backs and now playing Japanese forged muscle backs. I went from a super game improvement cast iron design with 90 gram Regular shafts all the way to a Forged Muscle back with 120 gram Stiff shaft. So what did I observe along the way? There were obvious changes in offset, blade length, top line thickness, sole width and turf interaction based on the club design and the needs of those who they are designed for. Here are the three main differences to me between cast and forged clubs. The first is the ease of bending forged clubs for loft and lie changes. The true forged clubs are softer and easier to bend than the cast clubs. This also means that I have to check the lofts and lies more often with my forged irons to make sure they haven’t changed. The second is the reduction in front to back dispersion and consistency of spin that I get from the forged irons. The cast clubs, whether it was their design or materials, give me the odd flier that would go 10-15 yards longer than expected about 1 out every 8 shots. The third is the sound and feel. With the same shafts, I find that the cast clubs produce a louder and clickier sound at impact to my ears. I also find that the forged clubs produce a softer feel on well struck shots and I’m more able to tell where I hit the ball on the face by feel. I love my forged blades and wedges and have played the best golf of my life while using them. But, I could get used to playing with any club if they performed better!

Put the new BGT ZNE shaft into play yesterday and was very pleased with the results. Got up and down 80% of the time. Shot 75, good for low gross. Won two skins and tied for second in the points game. Chipping and pitching with it was outstanding, but I did not have any chances to use a full swing with it as I kept being either a little too close or a little too far for that yardage. My feeling after using the shaft during a full round is how precise it is. Will play another round with it today.

Swing weight with the BGT ZNE shaft was good. No adjustments were needed when used with the SuperStroke Traxion Wrap Midsize grip which is light for its size. The overall balance of the club was excellent as well. Will be putting it into play today for 18 holes of golf with our Men’s Golf Association points game.

The Corey Paul wedge heads are very nice. Great shaping. Traditional blade style. Soft forgings. Raw steel. Very versatile sole grind. Easy to bend. Great feel. I highly recommend them!

Built up a lob wedge this week with a BGT ZNE 130g shaft and a Corey Paul wedge head. Took it to the practice chipping area and went through my shag bag filled with 50 Bridgestone Tour BRX balls three times. Put it up against another Corey Paul lob wedge built up with a KBS Tour V 125g stiff wedge shaft that also has a ProSoft vibration dampener installed. Grips were the same SuperStroke Traxion wrap black midsize. Also compared it to a cobra King Snakebite 58 with a stock KBS Hi Rev 2.0 Stiff shaft. All three wedges have similar lofts, bounce, length, lie angle and sole grinds. On the Chipping green the performance was good for all three. Not a lot of difference except for the contact spot on the face of the wedge with the BGT ZNE shaft was noticeably smaller and more consistent. The feel of the BGT ZNE shafted wedge was very stable, balanced and contact felt crisp while also being very smooth and was my first choice based on feel. The KBS Tour V shafted wedge with the Pro Soft insert was a close second. The Cobra wedge had a bit firmer feel overall compared to the other two but performed very well. Next I went to the adjacent range and started to hit partial swing pitch shots. This is where the BGT ZNE shaft started to show itself. Consistency of start line, front to back and side to side dispersion was better. Full swing shots were even better. I definitely felt like my start lines were better and I was just knocking down the pins with the BGT ZNE shafted wedge. Overall I was encouraged. I will take it out to the course again next week for another practice round and then give it a trial by fire on the course.

The KBS Tour Lite shafts are the replacement of the previously available Tour 90 shafts. The new KBS Tour Lite 95 is essentially the same as the older Tour 90 Regular, the Tour Lite 100 is analogous to the Tour 90 Stiff and the new Tour LIte 105 is more like an X-Stiff Tour 90 if that stiffness had been available. They all have the same bend profile and very smooth feel that KBS is known for. As the weight goes up the stiffness goes up.

Wedge shafts are an underrated aspect of fitting and golfer performance. Getting fit for your wedges and having the clubs built to your preferences and specifications will make a difference in your short game performance. Why? Some people like and perform better with the same shafts as in their irons which is not always an option. Some prefer and perform better with less stiff shafts in their wedges. Some prefer and perform better with heavier and or stiffer shafts in their wedges. It depends a lot on how you use your wedges. The design and construction of the wedge head, as well as the weight and weight placement of the wedge heads can also make a big difference. What your swing tendencies are and how you deliver the club to the ball at impact is crucial to factor in too. Some golfers are trying to get a higher ball flight or more spin with their wedges, others might want a lower trajectory or less spin. The courses and area you play in might have a bearing in what wedge head and wedge shaft performs best for you too. You might need different wedges for different types of course or time of the year. Regardless of what you think or what a manufacturer might suggest, the only way to find out what works best for you is to get something built up and then try it on the course. Whenever testing wedges it is always preferable to use your gamer ball to do so. Once you find out what works best for you making the investment in the correct shafts is a good deal as you can always pull off a worn wedge head and install your preferred shafts into their replacements. Best wishes to you as you dial in your wedges to give you your best performance.

I agree with Ricky Bobby. Here are some additional thoughts: The entire build of the driver can influence how a golfer swings the club and delivers the head to the ball at impact. The overall weight of the club and its swing weight, the grip size and weight, addition of a counterweight, the shaft weight, flex, bend profile, resistance to twisting and length combined with the head and its weight, weight distribution, MOI, center of gravity, loft and lie all create a system that elicits a response from the golfer. Can you tell where the head is as you swing the club? Does the club allow you to hit the ball in the center of the club face repeatably? The shaft is an integral part of the equation and can certainly make a difference. Some fitting companies believe that a fitting should start with the shaft. Some fitters believe that the head is most important. The grip is often an afterthought which in my opinion is a mistake. If you demo a club with a standard grip and then order it with a midsize or jumbo grip the overall weight will change and the swing weight will also likely change. The ball flight might change as well. Will the club you are fit to match the club that is delivered? Variations in manufacturing and build tolerances can sometimes make a noticeable difference. Ideally you would be fit to a club and then leave with that club that day. Even when fit for a club the best thing a golfer can do is take a club out for a few rounds of golf and then decide if the club performs well enough to inspire the confidence you need to keep it in the bag. The 30 day & 90 day playability guarantees that some companies offer is a real benefit in this regard. While we are talking about fitting, buying a set of irons based on demoing one golf club, usually a 6 or 7 iron from the set, is another bad practice in the golf industry. There is nothing wrong with trying different shafts and clubs. If you don’t have confidence in a club try something else. Maybe you’ll find something that gives you better results. Once you find a club that works reliably and inspires confidence don’t get rid of it.

Just put my 4th BGT Stability Tour shaft into a putter last week. All DIY installs. Easy to do. The wedge shafts are very interesting to me. I would put it in to the one or two wedges that you use most around the green. For me that would be my 58, followed by my 54. Both are full swing clubs too.

Sounds good.

Still here. Sorry to have missed this. Just got back from a golf trip. If you’re still around, would be happy to have you be my guest and play with me.

My top two choices: Most interesting is White Oak, North of Jacksonville. Not sure how easy it will be for a single to play. I’ve only played there as part of a group. The golf is only part of the interest though. San Jose Country Club is another interesting and old club right in Jacksonville.

Are you looking for just public courses? Most exclusive? Most interesting? Most fun? Best for an event? Best for a single to play? Best for a buddies trip? Whatcha looking for?

When I played my set of Titleist AP3 irons the PW was at 43 deg and the set GW was 48. I then played a 52, 56 & 60. Took my 4 iron out of the bag to make room for the 5th wedge. My current set of irons has a 46 deg PW and then I have a 50, 54 & 58.

Most of the guys I play with are just not that serious about their game, their equipment or trying to improve as much as I am. There are only two other guys I know that are using Arccos. They also are observant and see what is working for other people and then try to adopt those same best practices. They started using Arccos after seeing how it had helped me. They are also the two golfers in our Men’s group that have improved the most in the last couple of years. The three of us duke it out every week for the low gross prize now.