Calvo90

My initial experience is the same. I still have to try ''chop down'' shot with the fairway wood when the ball is nestled in the rough but currently we are having too much rain. Winter is coming...

At the very last hole during the round of golf in Italian Alps I found myself on driveable straight 250 meter par 4. Tee box was elevated about 40 meters above the green and in order to drive the green you have to hit it blindly straight through the narrow window formed by 2 rows of spruces. My playing partners played the hole as the designer intended and layed up in the fat part of the fairway with long irons/hybrids whereas I hit my mini driver in hopes of hitting the green. First shot hook left into OB deep into brambles, barely missing the course employee that was bravely signaling the fate of each shot from the edge of the fairway. I re-tee with the Mini driver again and hit it pure. The ball flew high and landed straight on the green. The course employee said nobody in the tournament was stupid/brave enough to try that and my second shot that directly hit the green caught her completely by surprise. I set up behind the ball on the green in hopes to send the ball uphill, slightly sideways 20 meters over 2 tiers in hopes of saving bogey with 2 putts. Golf gods smiled upon me as I hit the first putt dead middle of the hole. I nearly p****d myself laughing as my playing partners were fuming and cursing as they all bogeyed the hole.

Recently I bought PING G425 7 wood just to experiment and compare against my 4 hybrid. Yesterday I put 7 wood in the bag for the first time. Despite the fact I hit my 4 hybrid usually quite well, 7 wood is in another league. As long I keep my tempo somehow manageable (which has recently been a struggle for me) the flight is high, straight (with the hosel on flat setting) and even borderline skulled shots somehow manage to get airbourne which is huge confidence boost for those shots over water, bushes in doglegs and onto elevated greens. I have to compare 4 hybrid and 7 wood from the rough but initial results are very promising. What are MGS forum members experience with 7 wood shots out of rough, especially compared to a hybrid?

It is notoriously difficult to pull a graphite shaft from metal golf club head (without the lever that shaft puller provides) because there is a fine line between the temperature that is usually needed to break down the epoxy that was used to glue the head to the shaft and the temperature at which the resin that holds the layers of graphite together starts to break down and cause the graphite shaft to delaminate. If pulling graphite shaft from metal golf head is considered expert job, pulling metal insert from BGT is God tier level stuff because the graphite is on the outside. You cannot use heat directly from the outside because the graphite portion of the shaft would delaminate before the heat would reach metal portion. Theoretically the only chance of pulling the metal portion of the shaft from BGT is to evenly heat up the metal portion of the shaft from the inside. Forget about heat gun or torch and don't even think about twisting. You would probably need something like a soldering iron with a long heated rounded end that would reach all the way into the metal shaft and while doing this somehow mount the shaft into shaft puller. I just don't see how this could be done with reasonable success rate and in reality I would expect to destroy the shaft in 99% of attempts. I would entertain the idea of using lathe. I would consider cutting the metal portion of the shaft at the end of BGT, mounting the graphite portion in the spinning vice (if that would be possible without breaking the shaft) and slowly either bore out the metal part or, if there is enough room, spirally turn the metal portion of the shaft from the inside. Epoxy would break as soon as the metal shaft would be punctured. Even in this case I would not expect this method to be reasonably succesfull and personally I would not even try it.

I don't have any real data but that won't stop me from giving you my 0,02 USD. I would say wedge hardness has little to no impact on spin. As far as I understand modern wedge design, the spin is result of surface friction between the golf ball and non-grooved spaces on wedge face. Main objective of wedge grooves is ensuring that contact between the ball and wedge face is as clean as possible by hiding water, grass and other particles in the recessed areas of the grooves. That is evident from the fact that in perfect conditions (dry golf mat) non-grooved wedges spin the ball significantly more than grooved wedges and when you hit grooved wedge, the urethane from the golf ball in rarely wedged in the grooves but rather lioghtly coat the space between the grooves. Considering the fact that wedge grooves and groove edges don't produce (majority of ball spin) by gripping the ball and spinning it, I don't see how wedge hardness could have any effect on wedge spin, especially considering the fact that wedge designers have to respect the same rules when designing wedges, regardless if they design soft or hard wedge. I am ready for a pounding.

I am happy to make contribution to this topic I have been following for quite some time and think that brings out the best out of people. After close to 8 months of intense studying during state mandated temporary closure of non-essential businesses because of Covid, getting deep understanding of about 2 cubic meters of essential study material and exam that lasted 3 days I am happy to report that a few days ago I passed the bar - main law exam on my way to becoming a lawyer. Considering the situation approx. 700 km to the east I just hope that the time and energy I spent studying slovenian law was not in vain because I should have studied russian ''law''.

I know some OEM adjust weights to accomodate length changes on orders of new clubs but i wouldn't say that is necessary the case with other vendors. I would suggest measuring the swing weight yourself using at least internet swing weight calculator (like: https://www.hirekogolf.com/golf-clubfitting-assembled-swingweight-calculator) or preferably swing weight scale. Adjusting swing weight is simple: Just add 2g of weight to the club head to increase swing weight by 1 point but rather than going deep in the numbers i would suggest trying the club as is and in case it is too light or it overdraws, add 2g to the head and make a couple of swings again etc.

For me it is necessay to adjust swing weight with any changes of club length that exceed 0,25 inch. Adjusting swing weight can be done in a number of ways, some are simpler than others. I don't like tip weights because I prefer to add weigh somewhere behind strike point on the head hence I use shaft tip weights as a last resort when i don't want lead tape on the head (like in irons). For the purposes of testing I used lead tape because it is easier to add it and remove it on the go. Since I painted the lead tape and camouflaged it onto the clubhead i will probably leave it as is but I was also thinking about using Rattlestop to discretely add some weight inside the head through the weight port but that takes a bit more experience and caution because correcting mistakes is incredibly hard. The other option is also changing weights on the club. On Taylormade SIM Ti OG (like on many other clubs) there is single front weight that can be removed and changed for a heavier one. Stock weight was only 2g whereas it is possible to buy heavier weights in 2g increment up to 10 or 12g. I was worried that adding more weight toward the front of the club would reduce the spin too much and make my problems with shape even worse so I passed on this option.

Update on my experiment: I changed shafts and put 5 wood shaft in my 3 wood (Taylormade SIM Ti OG). I weighted both 3 wood and 5 wood head and put enough lead tape on the toe side of the V-sole to match 3 wood head weight to 5 wood head weight. Just to make it pretty I colored the lead tape with black sharpie so you have to really look carefully to see the lead tape. I played two rounds on the course and a couple of hours on tha grass field in front of my house. I am happy to report two things: First, I managed not to smash any of the house windows and second, my experiment worked as expected. Previously, at standard length I had to lower the loft on my 3 wood by at least 1,5 degrees to stop the ball from hooking, which made the club unusable from fairway. Now I can play the fairway wood at standard loft to play lovely baby fades from the fairway that are more than capable of holding the green and high straight ball from the tee which is unheard of for me. I even increased loft by one click which produced dead straight and high ball flight (even on mishits) from the fairway and 5 yard draws from the tee. Additional bonus is the fact that 3 wood sits lovely, flush to the ground, and even with just 1 inch of length difference the head looks even bigger which inspires even more confidence. Before I cut down the shaft on my 5 wood I will play a bit more golf to get more data and give the golfing gods enough time to show me any problems I have not yet noticed. Regardless I am exstatic with the results and recommend this experiment to anyone who is struggling with overhooking their fairway wood.

Thank you for advice. May I ask what length fairway wood shafts are you playing? Gripping down does not feel the same to me but luckily shafts in my 3 and 5 wood can be swapped. What I will probably do is that I will put 5 wood shaft into 3 wood, which is 1'' shorter, put appropriate amount of lead tape on toe of the club to keep the same swing weight and play with the club for a couple of weeks. That should give me more insight if cutting down works as should on the paper.

Hello everyone, I was wondering: Shorter driver lengths are quite common and topic of cutting down driver to obtain more control without sacrificing much of the distance (if any) has been debated ad nauseaum both on forums and on youtube. The results are clear and pretty much consistent across all testers (even MGS did a test a couple of years back). But when it comes to playing shorter fairway woods, I noticed there is little to no debate. I managed to found some on WRX forum but the debate seems to have stopped in paleolitic age. So I was wondering what MGS forum members' experience with shorter fairway wood shafts is? I am asking because I am seriously thinking about cuting down my 3 and 5 wood Taylormade SIM fairway wood for about an inch, so 3 wood (43,25'') would basically play at 5 wood length (42,25'') and 5 wood at 7 wood length (41,25''). I don't really seek better contact because I strike fairway woods pretty good, but because my tendency with fairway woods is to hit a draw, which has about 30% chance of turning into nasty hook off the tee or pull/draw off the fairway. Turning the loft on 5 wood on low setting which opens the face helps quite a bit but the downside is it turns 5 wood into 4 wood and not weak 5/6 wood I was hoping for. The main problem is with my 3 wood, which I cannot turn much lower because it is simply not functional off the fairway. When it comes to 3 wood I have to choose between standard loft setting with looming dreaded hook or lower settings which straighten my shots but lower my ball flight and turn my shots into devastating low spin smother hooks when hit on the toe of the club. If I didn't otherwise love my 3 wood I would simply get rid of it but I am convinced both of us can smooth out turbulent relationship and with a little adjustments have something special. I think shortening fairway wood shafts could be the solution to my problems. Shortening fairway wood shaft for 1'' would usually result in about 2° flatter dynamic lie angle (closer to 3° PING's flat setting), plus I would have to increase head weight with about 12g of rat glue I could position in the toe of the club to give it even more fade bias. These changes would theoretically made the woods more fade biased and allow me to play with higher lofts (14,25°-15° 3 wood and 18,25°-19° 5 wood) which would add more spin to the ball and more importantly mitigate dramatic curvatures on poor strikes. Any imput would be greatly appreciated.

Great idea. You can add me: @galjotin

I understand, I was just trying to warn you about BBTG measurement. I found this relevant because when I bought +0,5 inch pulls from (I think) Mizuno irons and dry fit them into Srixons, they were only 0,25 inch longer than standard. I thought the seller measured them wrong but when I dry fit them in Mizuno head, the total measurement of the club was +0,5 inch as advertised despite the same hosel insertion depth. Reason for that was because of BBTG of Srixon irons was smaller than that of the Mizuno. http://image.slidesharecdn.com/shafttrimminginstructionsv5-090910085457-phpapp02/95/basics-of-golf-club-shaft-trimming-11-728.jpg

If I understood correctly your question you should be asking about BBTG measurement (bottom bore to ground measurement) to determine total length of the club (BBTG + shaft pull length equals total club length). BBTG info is near impossible to obtain from OEM and I have not really seen any info on the internet so the only way is measuring it yourself by removing one iron head. If you are interested about BBTG of Srixon irons I can measure my Srixon Z565 heads tomorrow.

Lefty 7 iron in otherwise righty bag for those nasty shots by the tree or from under the bush.

I took my driver with a dent on a toe side of the crown to my friend that fixes cars with hail damage to see if he could get rid of the dent. He used some sort of a suction cup and actually got rid of it. If the dent bothers you too much, tthis is worth a consideration... One warning though: Friend warned me that it is always tought repairing dents on the edges because suction cup doesn't always get a proper grip or some paint can chip off on the very edge.

So I figured I would report about the progress of my project. Bad news is that SUB70 irons are not really an option since import taxes are way too high. Good news is I picked up new Taylormade M6 4 hybrid for 50 EUR and I am thinking of picking up new Taylormade M4 5-PW irons for a little less than 500 EUR. What are your opinions on the irons?

I was so excited when cnosil mentioned that SUB70 has a distrubutor (or something like that) in Netherlands because that would/could mean I wouldn't have to pay import taxes and duties for importing clubs from USA. Unfortunately when I contacted the EU distributor and asked for a quote he said that 5-AW of 699 in satin and 56* satin wedge would be (including 30 EUR discount) 900 EUR (1.060 USD) + max 25 EUR shipping. That's heavy for DTC clubs. Later I contacted SUB70 directly to figure whether they ship internationally and what would the shipping costs be. First of I have to say that their customer service is unparalleled. They were really nice, responsive and unlike anyone I have ever dealt with before. Unfortunately I got a cold shower when I calculated the price. I calculated that the sum of the price of clubs, import taxes, customs duties, optional import authorization would be app. 780 EUR plus 87 EUR shipping. Cheaper than from EU distributor but still not that famous DTC pricing I was hoping for. In fact, that is closer to major OEM pricing and I am not surprised I have never seen any american DTC clubs in the bag of any of the golfers I have ever played with. That being said I will have to inquire whether the price of clubs stated on website and already includes VAT because I would certainly have to pay VAT again if I decide to import clubs. It is possible that SUB70 will have to deduct VAT price off their clubs. At least that is how things are here in Slovenia. If that is the case I might pull the trigger... Sigh... I love living in EU but when it comes to golf, its not easy... :/

I knew that ''senior'' remark was going to bite me in my behind at some time. It was just a matter of time... Sorry about that... Thank you for your suggestions. I don't think I will go with Cleveland Launcher HB Turbo irons though. Although Mark Crossfield proved that even low handicap golfers can play great (or even better) golf with those irons, my father will certainly not be pleased at the sight of those after years of playing irons that are closer to modern players cavity backs like ZX7 or Titleist CB with additional offset. Although I agree that Cleveland Launcher HB irons would help him as well as they would large portion of golfers, lets face it, buying and playing them requires supernatural control of ego. I can assure you, such ego control and reasonable behaviour is unheard of in our family... I really don't want him to buy something he would not like the look of. Besides, knowing his game I don't think he needs them just yet. Modern (super) game improvement irons would help him just enough to enjoy the game a bit more. A few times he hit my irons that are significantly heavier and stiffer and he still managed to achieve reasonable height even with long irons like 4 and 5 iron. EDIT: And I completely agree with what you said with playing 14 clubs. If your driver reach is 180-200 yards, there is no real need for 14 clubs unless you want a couple of clubs that do the same thing or want dedicated irons for punching out of the woods etc. Thats why I was thinking of buying between 11-13 clubs tops.

Thank you for your kind offer. Which websites/online shops did you have in mind? That is amazing news. Thank you! I didn't know about Sub70 presence in Europe. Now they are definitely on the list of possible clubs.

Thank you for your reply but unfortunately there really aren't any fitters or retailers in the reasonable vacinity that would allow you to hit golf balls with new gear. Actually, about a year or so ago I scheduled something called a ''fitting'' and it was just a man taking a few measurements and handing me different irons with different shafts and measuring my swing speed using those irons with radar. Note, I was not allowed to hit a single golf ball or even touch the ground with the club. Surprise, surprise I was quicked with 60g graphite shaft than with 130g steel shaft. After asking if that is his ''fitting'' and his subsequent nod, I just packed my stuff and left the place without even thinking of handing over a cent of my money. I would never refer anyone to this sort of ''fitting'', much less my father. Considering how light and 'noodly'' are my fathers golf shafts and how small are the heads, I am pretty sure anything modern will have significant positive effect. His swing is not agressive but rather smooth and slow so I don't think he has any special requirements aside shafts being lightweight. When it comes to money, 1500 EUR is my absolute limit. My first choices in my first post amount to about 1000 EUR altogether.

So here is the deal: My father is 53 and has been playing golf 10-15x per year for the past 16 years or so. He is really not interested in the score, he just likes to enjoy the game and social events that come with the golf (although every time he scores a birdie he walks for the rest of the month with head up and chest out like he just beat Tiger Woods). If I am brutally honest, the years have not been too kind with him. With age (and perhaps with additional pound here and there) he has become less flexible and simply slower. The 16 year old Wilson Di5 golf set consisting of Sw, Pw-3 iron, 5 wood, 3 wood and driver the size of a modern hybrid are just outdated, too hard to hit, tough to elevate the ball beyond 6 iron and are visibly killing my fathers love for the game. He was looking around for a newer set but modern prices of larger OEM gear are just outrageous and he says that the current set is good enough for him. He is adamant that it is the archer and not the arrow that is at fault. I would naturally agree with him but if the archer is not willing or capable of change, the arrow has be modified. As a thank you for all the support over the years I decided to buy him a newer and more suitable set of golf clubs. It would be simple to just send him to fitter etc. but unfortunately there are none in the vacinity plus my income doesn't really allow me to spend more than 1.500 EUR for the set. The natural question is, what to buy in today world of overpriced golf gear? I was thinking of waiting for the price drop in the fall and grab Cleveland Launcher HB 10.5 driver, Cleveland Launcher HB 5 wood and Cleveland HALO 4 hybrid. Looking at the release date of the launcher series it is quite possible that the Cleveland will release new series of woods in the fall but with the current world health situation it is impossible to predict for sure what will happen in the following months. In regards to irons, I have my eye on Cleveland UHX Launcher irons (5-D + Cleveland CBX sand wedge) but the problem is they are hard to get so 2017' Cobra King OS 5-SW (I can get new for 600 EUR) and Cobra F-MAX Airspeed 5-SW are also tempting. I was wondering if Mygolfspy members have any suggestions? Are there any reputable golf websites beside Galaxy Golf that are worth checking out? Any advice or help is welcome. The catch is that I reside in EU so any well known DTC retailers or sellers in USA and UK are not really an option since I would have to pay significant import tax. I am not really looking for used clubs with clear signs of use just because there is something special about taking off the plastic of a brand new club. Looking at the topic What have you bought lately, I am sure that the Mygolfspy members know what I am talking about. Any advice or help is welcome. Thanks.

It sounds like this experiment is going to get expensive very fast...

Not really material for Q&A but I figured that perhaps describing my experience might help someone. Recently I decided to invest in my golf game and purchased Arccos Caddie sensors and Link. A couple of days ago I put them in play and despite having a record low round, I spent too much time on the phone adding and editing the shots to the point that it somewhat ruined the enjoyment of being on a golf course after a long time. First, it took the Link about 15-20 minutes to acquire GPS signal on a bright sunny day with not a cloud or tree in sight. When Link acquired GPS signal it had no problem maintaining the signal but the Link missed vast majority of my shots. OK, I understand missing short putts and gentle chips but when Link detected only tee shots it got annoying really fast. I tried fiddling with the position of the Link, first on left side of the belt, than front left side of the belt and finally lower on bottom of the left pocket. No change. Shirt was tightly tucked in pants the whole time so the Link was not covered and its microphone was unobstructed. Before selling the system I decided to give it another chance because information provided was unlike anything I have seen before. Just out of caution I re-paired all sensors (and in the process found 2 clubs that were for some reason not paired) and read a bit more about the system and common solutions on this forum. Yesterdays round was much better. Link acquired signal in 5 minutes and held to it for dear life despite slightly overcast weather. At first Link again missed majority of shots but then I remembered someones advice to make a couple more practice swings and out of curiosity repositioned the Link on top of the knot I usually make with the end of my woven belt so it protruded out a bit more. Such a difference! Link missed just one full shot in remaining 15 holes (probably because I was in the dark under the trees right after sunset), a couple of short chip-and-runs (clean strike with very little sound and vibration), one pitch that I hit 2 meters from previous position (punch out with upside-down 6 iron from below the bush that Arccos probably thought was from the same position) and 50% of putts from 1 meter or closer (that were very quiet). Considering the limitations of the system heavily depending on microphone and light, I think the second round went pretty pretty darn good. It seems that phone and Link need a bit more time together to work smoothly and a bit of patience and effort from the side of an user is needed.