BMart519

I would be playing the 2nd tees from back at 360. The fairway narrows down to about 40 yards at 120-130 from the hole between the giant trap on right and hill/fescue on left. I'm hitting a driving iron or hybrid off the tee intending to get it out there 220-240. DI even more likely if the winds are up. Aiming directly at that knob or just right of it. 
Saw some stat the other day (likely Stagner) that once you are within 150 or 130 from the hole you are close enough that it doesn't make sense to take on sand. So that is my logic for not pushing driver up farther. 

Getting more comfortable hitting wide stance flop shots with the 60 from 20-40 yards on my Florida swing playing Bay Hill, Copperhead and Southern Dunes. Still on the fence as to the overall benefit in strokes gained the club is providing and will need to review shot level data at end of season. But am in a situation where I am finding less need for an additional club at the top of bag. Began using the 56 on some longer sand shots with success after a minor swing tweak that has me consistently getting out of the traps now. This has relegated the 60 to short sided duty only, which may be enough to warrant keeping it in the bag to support my short game which is a weakness relative to other areas based on my skill level. 

Having played this a month and a half ago, I will second the comment about needing a caddie. The tee shot is completely blind and uphill. If you hit driver more than 250 you don't need that much club as the final 80 yards is straight downhill and can be played with a putter (see below 🙂). If you hit 250+ straight you will run through the fairway and into the long fescue as there is minimal rough along the fairway on this links-type setup. 
Playing this for the first time without a caddie would be extremely frustrating as you have no idea where to aim and walking up to the fairway, then back to the tee would take a ton of time. The gimmicky layout takes away from the amazing views which was unfortunate and breaks up an amazing finishing stretch between 15-18. I used 19* hybrid which plays 220-230 at sea level, didn't hit it great and still made it to the fairway from the tees at 277.

IMG_7730.mp4  
 
pin high 

Key thought: high hands... or following through to head height regardless of backswing length so you don't decelerate. 
Read the book by James Sieckmann: Your Short Game Solution

Great technique in here on sand shots, I often re-read at the beginning of season as a reminder. Lots of great stuff on any aspect of golf with a wedge in your hand. 

Key thought: high hands... or following through to head height regardless of backswing length so you don't decelerate. 
Read the book by James Sieckmann: Your Short Game Solution

Great technique in here on sand shots, I often re-read at the beginning of season as a reminder. Lots of great stuff on any aspect of golf with a wedge in your hand. 

My Strategy gives your tee shot width dispersion with every club. This is used to determine your aim line to avoid hazards (or possibly sand/trees) which is the main benefit. Showing whether you can carry something or not is a smaller benefit especially since it shows total not carry distance. It also adds expected strokes to finish based on whether you are in sand,, rough, fairway, etc. which can be a helpful reference. 
Having this mapped out in advance makes it easier to follow a planned strategy vs getting punched in the mouth and deciding you need to play aggressive for birdie after a double. Using less mental energy on this aspect allows you more mental energy for other strategic decisions (like approach shots) where the starting point and ideal target (relative to pin location) isn't know in advance. Checking the mapping as part of your pre-shot routine can help regain focus and find a target on your intended line. Especially on blind tee shots going uphill or around dog legs, that maybe you can't see on the tee... 

Green mapping is of even less benefit. The only help is knowing which side of the green is uphill or downhill as you're not going to be playing to specific quadrants of greens from 150 out. Your approach strategy is primarily driven by avoiding greenside sand/hazards, followed by short siding avoidance. Green mapping would really only benefit a small green with no hazards around it and a pin in the middle of the green to give you an idea of which side would leave a uphill chip on a missed GIR to favor. All of this assumes the green has areas of severe slopes that pose an actual challenge which is not always the case. 

My Strategy gives your tee shot width dispersion with every club. This is used to determine your aim line to avoid hazards (or possibly sand/trees) which is the main benefit. Showing whether you can carry something or not is a smaller benefit especially since it shows total not carry distance. It also adds expected strokes to finish based on whether you are in sand,, rough, fairway, etc. which can be a helpful reference. 
Having this mapped out in advance makes it easier to follow a planned strategy vs getting punched in the mouth and deciding you need to play aggressive for birdie after a double. Using less mental energy on this aspect allows you more mental energy for other strategic decisions (like approach shots) where the starting point and ideal target (relative to pin location) isn't know in advance. Checking the mapping as part of your pre-shot routine can help regain focus and find a target on your intended line. Especially on blind tee shots going uphill or around dog legs, that maybe you can't see on the tee... 

Green mapping is of even less benefit. The only help is knowing which side of the green is uphill or downhill as you're not going to be playing to specific quadrants of greens from 150 out. Your approach strategy is primarily driven by avoiding greenside sand/hazards, followed by short siding avoidance. Green mapping would really only benefit a small green with no hazards around it and a pin in the middle of the green to give you an idea of which side would leave a uphill chip on a missed GIR to favor. All of this assumes the green has areas of severe slopes that pose an actual challenge which is not always the case. 

Having played this a month and a half ago, I will second the comment about needing a caddie. The tee shot is completely blind and uphill. If you hit driver more than 250 you don't need that much club as the final 80 yards is straight downhill and can be played with a putter (see below 🙂). If you hit 250+ straight you will run through the fairway and into the long fescue as there is minimal rough along the fairway on this links-type setup. 
Playing this for the first time without a caddie would be extremely frustrating as you have no idea where to aim and walking up to the fairway, then back to the tee would take a ton of time. The gimmicky layout takes away from the amazing views which was unfortunate and breaks up an amazing finishing stretch between 15-18. I used 19* hybrid which plays 220-230 at sea level, didn't hit it great and still made it to the fairway from the tees at 277.

IMG_7730.mp4  
 
pin high 

My season ended unknowingly October 10th at Copperhead on my Florida trip. When I got back to Canada the weather turned and courses closed a few days later. There is one goat track that will open on and off over the winter on temp greens. But I don't foresee being desperate enough to get out and if I did it would be in dry, dormant conditions as they don't let you play if its wet. 

Won't be many updates from me in this post over the next few months as I also sold my MEVO+ monitor. Next season will start with a comparison of the Indi 60 with my PING Glide 58 that produced better stats this season. But there is some bias in the sample size due to multiple golf trips to new courses/grasses which disadvantaged the Indi's. Indoor work will be on speed training, driver/hybrid full swings, and 40-100 yard wedges on my SC200 launch monitor. The latter is primarily using the Indi's but I don't plan on comparing to previous wedges as they outperformed at the onset of testing already.  

My season ended unknowingly October 10th at Copperhead on my Florida trip. When I got back to Canada the weather turned and courses closed a few days later. There is one goat track that will open on and off over the winter on temp greens. But I don't foresee being desperate enough to get out and if I did it would be in dry, dormant conditions as they don't let you play if its wet. 

Won't be many updates from me in this post over the next few months as I also sold my MEVO+ monitor. Next season will start with a comparison of the Indi 60 with my PING Glide 58 that produced better stats this season. But there is some bias in the sample size due to multiple golf trips to new courses/grasses which disadvantaged the Indi's. Indoor work will be on speed training, driver/hybrid full swings, and 40-100 yard wedges on my SC200 launch monitor. The latter is primarily using the Indi's but I don't plan on comparing to previous wedges as they outperformed at the onset of testing already.  

Having played this a month and a half ago, I will second the comment about needing a caddie. The tee shot is completely blind and uphill. If you hit driver more than 250 you don't need that much club as the final 80 yards is straight downhill and can be played with a putter (see below 🙂). If you hit 250+ straight you will run through the fairway and into the long fescue as there is minimal rough along the fairway on this links-type setup. 
Playing this for the first time without a caddie would be extremely frustrating as you have no idea where to aim and walking up to the fairway, then back to the tee would take a ton of time. The gimmicky layout takes away from the amazing views which was unfortunate and breaks up an amazing finishing stretch between 15-18. I used 19* hybrid which plays 220-230 at sea level, didn't hit it great and still made it to the fairway from the tees at 277.

IMG_7730.mp4  
 
pin high 

Having played this a month and a half ago, I will second the comment about needing a caddie. The tee shot is completely blind and uphill. If you hit driver more than 250 you don't need that much club as the final 80 yards is straight downhill and can be played with a putter (see below 🙂). If you hit 250+ straight you will run through the fairway and into the long fescue as there is minimal rough along the fairway on this links-type setup. 
Playing this for the first time without a caddie would be extremely frustrating as you have no idea where to aim and walking up to the fairway, then back to the tee would take a ton of time. The gimmicky layout takes away from the amazing views which was unfortunate and breaks up an amazing finishing stretch between 15-18. I used 19* hybrid which plays 220-230 at sea level, didn't hit it great and still made it to the fairway from the tees at 277.

IMG_7730.mp4  
 
pin high 

what a hole, and what a course... The first thing I would do is hire a caddy lol, I would need some guidance where to aim off this hole, to pick a spot off the tee to launch my tee shot. My immediate thought it to favour the left hand side but the gorse etc. over there is penal. Anyway find the line and commit to the shot, yikes, then find your ball and hit it again...14 degrees celcius won't affect my distance too much but the wind will, another tip is "swing easy when it's breezy, as most of you know solid contact off the face is important in the wind...

Hard to tell scale, but to my eye looks like 1.5" wide spread begins around 22 index. Maybe an odd one after 12. But there also appears to be 30 index players that have less than 1.5" lateral dispersion. 
Callaway is using a 15 point face map according to their promo material, would be interesting to see the details on the distance that covers across the face. If it is 2+ inches wide, there's limited benefit to be gained in real life off the number of balls hit on the edge of the insert for most players. Also interesting the distance variation is much less in the insert model vs milled version putter. 

"*Ai-ONE Urethane delivers putts up to 21% closer to the hole from 32’ and Ai-ONE Milled up to 7% closer compared to a Scotty Cameron® Super Select Newport 2.
Based on robot testing with a 15 point face map."

Pretty sure there is research from Dr. Sasho Mackenzie that effect on speed/distance of impact location on putter is minor that he discussed on some of the golf podcast circuit visits he did, which was a large surprise to me. These putters brought that up in my mind. His general conclusion was to avoid practicing impact location and work on speed/start line instead unless you plan to practice many hours per week on putting. And even in that case, there would be other golf skills that would benefit your game more than getting your impact location as close to centre of putter everytime. 
Should be enough putters on the market now for an MGS robot test striking the ball across the clubface and see how much distance is lost on various inserts, vs flat milled and different milled groove putters. 

Hard to tell scale, but to my eye looks like 1.5" wide spread begins around 22 index. Maybe an odd one after 12. But there also appears to be 30 index players that have less than 1.5" lateral dispersion. 
Callaway is using a 15 point face map according to their promo material, would be interesting to see the details on the distance that covers across the face. If it is 2+ inches wide, there's limited benefit to be gained in real life off the number of balls hit on the edge of the insert for most players. Also interesting the distance variation is much less in the insert model vs milled version putter. 

"*Ai-ONE Urethane delivers putts up to 21% closer to the hole from 32’ and Ai-ONE Milled up to 7% closer compared to a Scotty Cameron® Super Select Newport 2.
Based on robot testing with a 15 point face map."

Interesting study, especially with all the different face inserts. I saw the worst reported loss as 14% on a blade and average of 10%, not 20% however (that was a comparison of the "fastest" putter hit out of the middle vs the putter with the largest drop on a low heal miss). The heel and toe miss are 2cm or over 3/4" of an inch each side of center which is a pretty big contact patch at 1.5" wide. Not sure what skill level that would correlate to for an "average" putter. 
This was why I gave up on heads up putting, after I fatted a 60' lag putt I figured there was no possible benefit that could offset the occasional miss like that. 

Pretty sure there is research from Dr. Sasho Mackenzie that effect on speed/distance of impact location on putter is minor that he discussed on some of the golf podcast circuit visits he did, which was a large surprise to me. These putters brought that up in my mind. His general conclusion was to avoid practicing impact location and work on speed/start line instead unless you plan to practice many hours per week on putting. And even in that case, there would be other golf skills that would benefit your game more than getting your impact location as close to centre of putter everytime. 
Should be enough putters on the market now for an MGS robot test striking the ball across the clubface and see how much distance is lost on various inserts, vs flat milled and different milled groove putters. 

Hard to tell scale, but to my eye looks like 1.5" wide spread begins around 22 index. Maybe an odd one after 12. But there also appears to be 30 index players that have less than 1.5" lateral dispersion. 
Callaway is using a 15 point face map according to their promo material, would be interesting to see the details on the distance that covers across the face. If it is 2+ inches wide, there's limited benefit to be gained in real life off the number of balls hit on the edge of the insert for most players. Also interesting the distance variation is much less in the insert model vs milled version putter. 

"*Ai-ONE Urethane delivers putts up to 21% closer to the hole from 32’ and Ai-ONE Milled up to 7% closer compared to a Scotty Cameron® Super Select Newport 2.
Based on robot testing with a 15 point face map."

Interesting study, especially with all the different face inserts. I saw the worst reported loss as 14% on a blade and average of 10%, not 20% however (that was a comparison of the "fastest" putter hit out of the middle vs the putter with the largest drop on a low heal miss). The heel and toe miss are 2cm or over 3/4" of an inch each side of center which is a pretty big contact patch at 1.5" wide. Not sure what skill level that would correlate to for an "average" putter. 
This was why I gave up on heads up putting, after I fatted a 60' lag putt I figured there was no possible benefit that could offset the occasional miss like that. 

Post Review Follow Up
I reviewed full season stats in Shot Scope yesterday as I have likely played my last round. Overall the Indi wedges performed well on both approaches and around the green. The 56* has performed noticeably better than either my previous 54 or 58 and is staying in the bag. The 60*LW has been an outlier however. 
                  Proximity       Up/Down
58 Ping      21 ft               14%
60 Indi       30 ft               7%

At a shot level around the green, only 2/7 previous rounds with the 60* resulted in positive Strokes Gained totals with that club vs my benchmark. Of these 7 rounds, they were all played on different courses in 2 different provinces and in Florida across multiple golf trips.
I am considering removing the 60 from the bag to eliminate the ability to use it and see if stats improve using the 56 more often. But these numbers have me considering whether I should put the 58 Ping Glide 3.0 back in the bag for a low bounce/short sided option. The Ping clubs produced more spin during my indoor testing and I wonder if this carries over outdoors where the wet performance should separate them further and assist in stopping power. All of this must be viewed through the lens that the 60 is only used in short sided scenarios or where I need to carry a trap within 50-60 yards of the green. (The most difficult partial shots faced round to round).
My 48* set AW is my 115 yard club which I used for partial shots all the way down to 70/80 yards. The 52 Indi tops out around 105 which was nice to have another full swing and became my default from there down to 70-80 yards given the strong performance I felt I was seeing on course. Upon final review of my approach stats, my 48 produced 9% higher GIR (66 vs 57) from up to 10 yards further from the green with 6ft closer proximity to hole (37 vs 44) and 0.1 fewer strokes to hole out.
The above leads me to wonder whether the 52 is needed or that wedge should be removed vs the highest lofted club in my bag. 
The things I need to consider over the offseason are:
- Of the 12 rounds tracked with the Indi's: 7 rounds were on golf trips at courses I've never played before with 5 being on grasses I also don't play regularly (fescue, poa, bermuda)
- 3/5 remaining rounds played locally were the first time playing that course this season, so the basis for comparison (10/12 rounds) is a difficult one vs previous gamers
- 3/4 local rounds with the Indi's resulted in positive SG vs a 5 index (previous performance was at that of a 15 index or ~1.5 SG worse)
- just prior to receiving the Indi's I spent 1-2 weeks focusing on greenside play due to poor performance mentioned above. This drove some improvement with my previous gamers and continued with the Indi's along with more dedicated short game time to evaluate their reactions around the green, distance gapping, etc. 
- would the improvements have been similar with previous gamers given another 2 weeks of dedicated practice? 

Hitting a 6i or Driving iron to 200 with wedge in. Looks like 50 yards or less of width between the fescue and hillside for most of the hole. Also totally blind, so trying to find a ball that makes its way into the fescue is going to be difficult going for the green. Hitting something where the weak fade miss stays short of the right side FWY bunker at 200... So more thank likely 6i

Post Review Follow Up
I reviewed full season stats in Shot Scope yesterday as I have likely played my last round. Overall the Indi wedges performed well on both approaches and around the green. The 56* has performed noticeably better than either my previous 54 or 58 and is staying in the bag. The 60*LW has been an outlier however. 
                  Proximity       Up/Down
58 Ping      21 ft               14%
60 Indi       30 ft               7%

At a shot level around the green, only 2/7 previous rounds with the 60* resulted in positive Strokes Gained totals with that club vs my benchmark. Of these 7 rounds, they were all played on different courses in 2 different provinces and in Florida across multiple golf trips.
I am considering removing the 60 from the bag to eliminate the ability to use it and see if stats improve using the 56 more often. But these numbers have me considering whether I should put the 58 Ping Glide 3.0 back in the bag for a low bounce/short sided option. The Ping clubs produced more spin during my indoor testing and I wonder if this carries over outdoors where the wet performance should separate them further and assist in stopping power. All of this must be viewed through the lens that the 60 is only used in short sided scenarios or where I need to carry a trap within 50-60 yards of the green. (The most difficult partial shots faced round to round).
My 48* set AW is my 115 yard club which I used for partial shots all the way down to 70/80 yards. The 52 Indi tops out around 105 which was nice to have another full swing and became my default from there down to 70-80 yards given the strong performance I felt I was seeing on course. Upon final review of my approach stats, my 48 produced 9% higher GIR (66 vs 57) from up to 10 yards further from the green with 6ft closer proximity to hole (37 vs 44) and 0.1 fewer strokes to hole out.
The above leads me to wonder whether the 52 is needed or that wedge should be removed vs the highest lofted club in my bag. 
The things I need to consider over the offseason are:
- Of the 12 rounds tracked with the Indi's: 7 rounds were on golf trips at courses I've never played before with 5 being on grasses I also don't play regularly (fescue, poa, bermuda)
- 3/5 remaining rounds played locally were the first time playing that course this season, so the basis for comparison (10/12 rounds) is a difficult one vs previous gamers
- 3/4 local rounds with the Indi's resulted in positive SG vs a 5 index (previous performance was at that of a 15 index or ~1.5 SG worse)
- just prior to receiving the Indi's I spent 1-2 weeks focusing on greenside play due to poor performance mentioned above. This drove some improvement with my previous gamers and continued with the Indi's along with more dedicated short game time to evaluate their reactions around the green, distance gapping, etc. 
- would the improvements have been similar with previous gamers given another 2 weeks of dedicated practice? 

Hitting a 6i or Driving iron to 200 with wedge in. Looks like 50 yards or less of width between the fescue and hillside for most of the hole. Also totally blind, so trying to find a ball that makes its way into the fescue is going to be difficult going for the green. Hitting something where the weak fade miss stays short of the right side FWY bunker at 200... So more thank likely 6i

Hitting a 6i or Driving iron to 200 with wedge in. Looks like 50 yards or less of width between the fescue and hillside for most of the hole. Also totally blind, so trying to find a ball that makes its way into the fescue is going to be difficult going for the green. Hitting something where the weak fade miss stays short of the right side FWY bunker at 200... So more thank likely 6i