Hoyoymac

Back in Georgia after 6 weeks Up North. Look what was waiting for me at the post office when I picked up my mail. Cobra Darkspeed LS 9.0 driver head. Going to take it to the course today and see how it does paired with the TPT Power Range 18 LO shaft compared with my current Cobra LTDx LS 9.0.

Saw yesterday that Tour Edge announced that their current tour only Proto line will become the Exotics 725 and I’m curious to see that lineup as I’ve been a fan of theirs for a long time. The Titleist GT line is also getting a lot of early buzz.

Used to do the epsom salt bath and check n go after reading Dave Pelz’s Putting Bible a few years ago. Stopped doing them once I switched to the MaxFli Tour balls because they do the Center of Gravity balancing and mark it with the side stamp. The performance is also very good for me and the value is undeniable. The MaxFli balls perform so well for me that I would play them even if they cost more.

I’m a big believer in being fit by a knowledgeable and experienced fitter. My recent experience with Jon Sinclair and TPT Golf shafts has reinforced that. Don’t have much confidence in the current online fitting apps. The recommendation from the apps has not generally matched what I’ve found to work for me through trial and error. Also the recommendations have not matched the results from in person fittings. In my opinion there is no substitute for trying something over several rounds of golf to figure out if the club will perform the way you want it to. The benefit of buying golf equipment from a business that offers some type of 30 to 90 day playability guarantee has proven to be pretty valuable. If it doesn’t work exchange it for something that will. But, there are some genuinely exciting developments in fitting that I believe will streamline and accelerate the fitting process. The Wilson AI fit and similar work being done at Cool Clubs and Worldwide Golf looks to be heading in the right direction. Similarly the Trackman optimizer and Ping Co Pilot definitely help fitters to narrow things down more quickly.

Put a low bid in for a Cobra Darkspeed LS 9.0 driver head and was pleasantly surprised that I won the EBay auction. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to my current Cobra LTDx LS 9.0 head when paired with the TPT 18 LO shaft.

Here at my lake place near Hayward until July 20th. I might be able to meet you half way if you are interested in playing a round of golf

Had a very good round of golf today at the Tagalong Golf Club in Birchwood, WI playing with my wife and a couple of her cousins. I played the blue tees and everyone else played up. Slope and rating 70.7/123 par 71. Shot even par on both the front and back. 4 birdies, 2 bogeys, 1 double and the rest pars. Drove the ball particularly well. The TPT Golf Power Range 18 LO shaft continues to deliver for me. Several holes required less than driver due to dog legs and the 4 wood with the Power Range 17 HI shaft was dynamite. The hybrid with the 17 LO shaft was also strong on a few holes where I needed it. I’ve never had three shafts from the same company that could perform like these do. My EBay shaft purchases have stopped. The TPT shafts have caused me to stop my shaft Hoing ways. Although I am now contemplating a TPT shaft for my 7 wood to complete the top of my bag.

@William P The three TPT shafts are comfortably in the bag and their spot is safe for a long time. All of the things that I saw at the fitting are still true. Tighter dispersion and a bit more distance than my previous set ups. Any issues on the course have been swing related. On the few days that I’ve struggled I resisted the temptation to change shafts. Glad that I didn’t ever waver. These shafts just flat out perform for me.

@JacobMMC Have you considered trying to find a job with any of the golf equipment manufacturers to further your ambitions? Those two club heads and your design portfolio look like they would help bolster a resume.

@IndyBonzo Perhaps. Over the years I’ve either experienced personally or witnessed hosel adapters fail to seat properly, tighten completely or catastrophically fail. The types of failures that I’ve seen include epoxy failures, adapters breaking, screws breaking, screw or adapter threads getting worn, cross threaded or damaged, adapters with movable cogs like Callaway and Titleist getting worn and/or damaged, and shaft breakage at the adapter. I’ve also seen golfers tighten the screw too tight or not tight enough which caused problems. Occasionally adapters will get dirt or corrosion on them and the head will not seat properly, tighten completely or even get stuck on the adapter after unscrewing the bolt. This can lead to all kinds of panicked attempts by golfers to rectify the situation often making things worse in the process. Some adapter screws have o-rings or stop washers on them to help seal and prevent loss of the screw. They are small and easy to misplace or lose. More than once I’ve seen people quickly try and make adjustments at the range or on the course and lose or break something rendering their club inoperable. When in doubt go slow, use the right tools, take things apart in an environment where parts are less likely to be lost, clean everything up and try again.

Have experimented quite a bit over the last few years at the top end of my bag after Arccos data identified some issues. Have gravitated to the following set up: 9 degree driver, 16.5 deg. 3 wood, 21 deg. 7 wood and 24 deg. 5 hybrid. Top iron is a 26 deg. 5 iron. The 5 hybrid took the place of my 4 iron and it is my 185-195 club. The 7 wood took the place of my 3 iron and it is my 205-215 club. The 7 wood flies much higher than the 5 hybrid. As someone who naturally plays a draw I too struggle with some hybrids and higher lofted fairway woods wanting to go way left. The problem I’ve had is finding a 7 wood set up for a stronger and faster player. Most of the stock shafts are too light, have high torque, and are designed to help get the ball up in the air. If you are comfortable tinkering with clubs then it won’t be an issue. Once you get dialed in with a heavier and stiffer premium fitted shaft for the 7 wood you will likely love it. Currently playing the Diamana Thump F 85 Stiff in my 7 wood. Previously played a Graphite Design Tour AD TP 8S that now resides in my buddy’s 7 wood. Good luck in your search.

I really enjoy practicing chipping. Our course has two shag bags full of range balls at the practice chipping area. I will use those if I’m just warming up before a round and then pick the balls up with the shag bag and return it to it’s stand when I’m done. If I’m really practicing though I will target times of the day when the course is less busy and will first clear whatever balls are on the green and then use my own shag bag filled with my gamer balls. If other people show up I will take a break until they are done.

It’s been a couple of months since I put the TPT Golf shafts in play. Here’s a short video describing how I feel about them.

Was really looking forward to being there with @Brother Dave because we had such a good time last year in Pinehurst. Sorry that we had a conflict this time and had to withdraw. Will be checking the forum and following along though. Best wishes to everyone there.

Good point @Ahart4444 The Stack App with its applause for reaching a new personal best is certainly motivating. The Grit Score and workout due notifications on the app keep me focused but also maybe encourage me to stick with it at times when in retrospect I shouldn’t have right then. But it can also encourage people, myself included, to push themselves a bit too hard at times. I’ve also hurt myself a time or two and had to take some time off last fall. One thing for sure that I’ve learned is the importance of a thorough warm up and stretching to achieve better results and help to prevent injuries. Having said all that, I still wish that I had started Swing Speed training sooner than I did. It has been that helpful to my game.

Just ordered the 4 dozen MaxFli Tour cube for $109.99. Used the current $20 in app coupon and a Dick’s Scorecard $10 reward to bring the final price down to $79.99 before tax with free shipping. $20 a dozen for premium urethane golf balls. Hard to beat that kind of value!

Been playing a lot lately. Yesterday in the Men’s Group I had a fast start and then cooled off on the back nine, shot 37/41. Been happening to me pretty often lately. Starting on #2 yesterday. We’ve had a lot of rain recently especially in the afternoons and evening. Has been cart path only on a number of the wettest holes including 2, 5, 11, 16 & 18. Hot and humid now on the coast and the Bermuda grass loves it. Soft fairways so not much roll. The rough is getting thick & sticky which means more penalizing. But the lies around the green are much better now for easier chipping. Made a nice up and down from a green side bunker for birdie on 5. Been frustrated recently with my driving game with more penalties off the tee and some lost balls all of a sudden. I’ve been ramping up my swing speed training and maybe that is the culprit.

Had a good workout today.

@skraeling That is so funny!

Did my workout this morning. I was very encouraged. Was able to set several personal bests.

Way to go guys! @RoverRick@William P

@ARoc Sorry for your loss. It is very disconcerting when a golf shaft breaks or bends unexpectedly, and sometimes catastrophically, causing the head to become loose or even fly off. Shafts are remarkably strong and light these days but they still sometimes break. Golf shafts are subjected to extreme amounts of stress during the swing. Some golfers create more stress than others. They get beat up and banged around in the golf bag. They get jostled on the golf cart and in the car. Some golfers get mad and throw their clubs or beat them on the ground after a bad shot. When they break at the hosel adapter it might be because of a shaft prep issue when the adapters are being glued on. It could be a manufacturing defect. It could be because the adapter screw was tightened too much making the adapter difficult to remove from the head and subsequent attempts to dislodge the adapter might have weakened the shaft. Lots of reasons. Thankfully many of the manufacturers are pretty willing to replace a broken shaft for free or at a reduced cost on a relatively new model of club. If you haven’t contacted the manufacturer already I would start there and see what the next steps are to obtain a replacement shaft.

Made a little bit of progress today.

Yes. @RetiredBoomer I have had a similar problem. This year one of my goals is to have 14 clubs in the bag that I have complete confidence in. To that end I’ve been reviewing my Arccos data to assess the Strokes Gained for each club and to look at when and how often I use each club. So imagine my surprise when I discovered after reviewing the data that my 7 wood has been used the least of any of my clubs. Despite being one of my favorite clubs because of how easy it is to hit off the fairway and how high it launches and how soft it lands. My 8 iron is the second least used club. It looks like I just don’t have the yardages very often that require these clubs on my home course from the tees that I usually play. So I’ve been wondering about taking one or both out of the bag to replace with a club that I would use more often, but haven’t figured out what that would be yet. Two clubs that I do switch in from time to time are a 13 degree 3 wood as a tee only club and a 4 utility iron that I use for low running rescue shots and tee shots. But they are very course and conditions dependent. Here are my 7 most used clubs from highest to lowest over the past three months: 1. Putter 2. Driver - 445 times - tee only 3. Lob wedge - 348 times - fairway only 4. 4 wood - 184 times - Tee & fairway 5. 5 hybrid - 124 times - Tee & fairway 6. Sand wedge - 122 times - fairway only 7. Gap wedge - 89 times - fairway only

@TCUfrog Sorry to hear of your current putter woes. A good place to start would be to take a look at the recent MyGolfSpy tests on Mallet and Blade putters and get a feel for what is available and the strengths and weaknesses of each model. You are lucky that you are in the Atlanta, GA area. There are so many options for stores and fitting locations in the metro area that you should be able to try many different putters by just going to the various stores’ putter corral and rolling a few putts with any and all that you like the looks of. As long as you are not struggling with technique or some other issue the list will probably get reduced pretty quickly based on how they look, feel and sound. Once you get a few contenders you can narrow the list further to just those putters that allow you to aim correctly and roll your putts on your desired start line with the desired pace. If you don’t want to do the trial and error putter hunt method then I would suggest you book a putter fitting. It is on my bucket list to have an Edel putter fitting just for the experience and to get my specs and to understand my aim bias. Plus, I really like the looks of the new Edel Array putter line. Best wishes to you in your hunt.