[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

I've played nine holes of golf in the past 7 days. Weird feeling after playing so much during this...

The course where I practice at punched and sanded their greens on Monday, practice green yesterday. Leaves are starting to turn, also. Hopefully get some good fall golf weather yet.

Couple updates to my initial reviews:

Woods and Hybrids

I stated in my original review (way back on July 27) that I wasn't sure if the 2 hybrid would find a spot in my bag. Well, after its performance during the irons only and woods/wedges weeks, where it double-dipped as an eligible club, it firmly locked down a spot as a fairway finder. 

I've actually been hitting it a lot as of late, especially when I followed the recommendations of Arccos during the final challenge. It's slotting in nicely in the 225-235 spot off the tee.

Irons

After a pretty rough transition period, I'm starting to really like the feel of the SpeedZone irons. I'm guessing it was the competition mixed with the move to x-stiff shafts that just had me overswinging really badly. The last few weeks I've been working on getting back to solid iron fundamentals and am striking the ball much better. And I'm beginning to appreciate the solid but smooth feel of the x-stiffs as well. They are a different animal than the regular stiff C-Taper Lites, but that's not a bad thing. And they still crank out the ball speed (from a 6 iron during today's range session):

I did make one change to my iron setup. I dropped the SpeedZone 4 iron in favor of my Tour Edge Exotics CB Pro Tungsten driving iron. They are both 19 degrees, but the Tour Edge has a graphite shaft. Off a tee, I was seeing significantly better results from the Tour Edge.

This change is hopefully shortlived! I have a brand new 75g X-Caliber rapid taper shaft coming from @Popeye64 that will be going into the SpeedZone 4 iron head. My hope is that I can exceed the performance and forgiveness of the Tour Edge.

Wedges

The wedges are fantastic! I said I might look into bending the 54 a degree strong, but I don't see the necessity of that anymore as I have gotten pretty good at hitting less full gap wedges. 

(On the wedge note, I played in a work scramble last Tuesday. On the first hole I had a long fringe chip that I used my 54 degree for. I hit it pretty hard purposely, letting it bump into the ridge of the green and it bumped and checked hard, stopping about four feet from the pin. We made the putt. My group couldn't believe how it stopped - they said they thought it was going off the green - I just smiled because I had full confidence the wedges just work for me.)

Bag

I immediately switched back to my personalized Sun Mountain Sync cart bag, which has a putter well, insulated cooler pocket and 14 full-length dividers. The SpeedZone bag has made a wonderful practice bag, having plenty of room to store everything I need for a range session. As a major bonus, the five way top is large enough to hold my Amazon Basics tripod. Because I no longer need to carry a bunch of things separately, I have videoed almost every range session in the past two weeks after not doing so almost all summer. This has been a huge help to my game because watching video led me to fix a few things I noticed had gone awry.

Thanks again to all of my fellow competitors, to commenters, MyGolfSpy, Arccos and Cobra/Puma Golf. I still have a hard time believing I was chosen for this opportunity, even after living it for the past three-and-a-half months.

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

Just now, GolfSpy Stroker said:

haha... no cats, just a small dog, but I don't play many "nicer" courses.

thanks for the recommendation; we move in to our new house on the 30th and I need to wait to see if the 10 or 13 foot version would work best.

My issue with it was when I went from Birdie Ball to my normal course (normally, wet and shaggy greens in the mornings) I was leaving everything short. 

I only have the small "remnant" strip that I bought from them with a Putt-Out Trainer as a package deal. Trying to get a spot in my basement cleaned up so that I could add a 3'x10' or larger surface as well.

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

4 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

really need a putting mat. thinking hard about wellputt. birdie ball would probably be more fun but I have a feeling wellputt would be a better learning tool.

If you have any animals with claws, I'd vote Wellputt. The Birdie Ball foam can be punctured rather easily. It rolls nice, though. Comparable speed to nicer courses in my area.

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

2 hours ago, yungkory said:

$700 for a putter that is fit for you and might last a decade is well worth it IMO. That averages out to $70 a year

Also when the rest of your bag was "externally financed" then shoot for the mf'in MOON! You'll still be in black figures financially haha.

I scheduled a fitting for Saturday.

I'm thinking all black with the Stability Tour shaft.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

44 minutes ago, xOldBenKenobiX said:

That will be the main challenge, I know if I was in Cali, Cobra has their tour fitting experience.

https://www.cobragolf.com/tour-fitting-experience

The dealer locator seems to allow to select to have a one length iron set to try, https://www.cobragolf.com/dealer-locator

I need to do more research on exactly what it entails, but it seems that they might have some less than a hour away from me.

Curious, have you tried calling over to Leading Edge Golf in Okemos? (Where I was fit for #CC4.)

Not trying to advertise for them, but Josh (head fitter) is on an advisory board for Cobra and had pretty much every option under the sun for the conventional irons. Not sure about one-lengths because I wasn't being fitted for them, but worth a shot to ask?

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

5 minutes ago, Cory O said:

Just looked it up, that putter seems like it could open some very large bottles!

Lol. Yes, it is very reminiscent of a gigantic can opener. If it helps me make more putts though... I'm good with it!

[What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)]

Haven't bought it yet, but I did schedule a fitting for a L.A.B. Directed Force 2.1 putter. The more I keep reading about them (and watching YouTube videos), the more I'm really interested in one. I actually have putted really well (for me) the last two times out by just being focused on being less hunched over - which has solved my speed control and start line issues. 

This would have been the time of year I would have wanted to pull the trigger on a Skytrak (which I've gotten the wife to commit to), but they are 3-4 months delayed due to the additional demand. That means I wouldn't get it until around January, and by that point hopefully I'm only 6-8 weeks away from playing actual golf again. I'll stick to the local heated range for this winter and maybe next year will be a better year for a Skytrak/similar purchase.

Point is, I've been looking for a Christmas/birthday present to myself, and the DF seems like it would be a good fit. It's going to be pricey when all said and done, but hopefully it's the last putter purchase for quite some time. 

[How'd you play?]

- 43 (+7)
- 3/8 FIR
- 3/9 GIR (1 birdie)
- 16 Putts (7 2-putts, 2 1-putts)

First post-#CC4 round, which I had to shorten to nine holes because of an outing. That meant teeing off the back nine, which bought me a little more time because you can track your tee shot into the sunrise. Definitely getting to the end of the season both with light and temperature. I couldn't play yesterday because of frost, and this morning it was somewhere right around 40 degrees. Brr.

I didn't swing particularly well, really blocking a lot of stuff right at the moment, but really just killed the round with a triple bogey on No. 11. Short tee shot, blocked 5 iron down the right side into the trees and then trying to get out of the trees I squared up a trunk and sent the ball about 25 yards behind me. Also thinned a 54 wedge on No. 13 after a really nice tee shot to turn a good birdie look and guaranteed par into a bogey, and then slipped on the wet grass on No. 14 which led me to have to lay up twice before reaching the green.

Still, I putted the best I have in a while this morning so I'm happy about that. And I'm not striking the ball terribly, just think I'm swaying/sliding just a little and that's causing the blocked shots. Overall everything has way less movement than I had previously, and that's a good thing because trying to play a 10-20 yard slinging hook on every shot is no easy task.

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

33 minutes ago, dlow206 said:

LAB has good deals on ebay for factory seconds. Just about waiting until they have the right length/lie angle available on ebay.

I have a 33" Betti Studio Stock 3 that has only been rolled indoors that I haven't put up for sale yet, but willing to part with.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. I reached out to the local L.A.B. fitter and they do fittings for free. I think what I'd like to do is a fitting with them, and then the remote fitting with the L.A.B. folks themselves to see how they match up. If I like the putter and the fitting specs match up, I'll probably end up placing the order through the local fitter so that they get some cash for their time. (They also told me they have two in stock at the moment and on sale, so maybe I'll get lucky.)

[What equipment are you thinking about?]

Planning on a putter purchase this winter. I was "fit" for a 33" Spider Tour Red two years ago, played with it all of 2019 and then club-ho'ed a 33" navy Spider X from  @yungkoryfor this season. Just sold the Spider Tour Red, and the X still has some good value, so I could flip that to help with funding.

Looking at some of the more "boutique" brands like Edel or L.A.B. Directed Force, but would be game to take a look at Bettenardi, Evnroll, etc. The torque balancing of Edel and Directed Force intrigues me. Biggest issue is going for a fitting. With COVID-related work restrictions I can't travel out of state (I think True Spec in Chicago would have been my choice of fitters), so that leaves me locally with Club Champion. I'm not really keen to go spend $100 at CC given some of the reviews. It does appear one of the local shops is a L.A.B. fitter, and I could always travel to the east side of the state where there is an independent Edel fitter plus a few other really good independent fitters.

And then there's cost - a fully decked out Directed Force would run like $700 (assuming upgraded shaft to LAGP or BGT Stability). Not sure that a $700 putter is going to make that big of a difference in my game. I've just been horrific on the greens this year, and I'm really starting to feel like that is holding me back from shooting in the 70s more often. Far too many rounds with 35+ putts, and there are often several misses inside of five feet in a given round (more important than the total putts).

(Yes, I know the DF putters are ugly. If it sinks more putts, I don't care.)

[2020 Official Member Review: Wilson D7 Forged Irons]

10 hours ago, JohnSmalls said:

I am surprised at how wide the soles are on these irons. It seems to me that Wilson really made a GI club aimed at better players (little offset, forged goodies)

Wilson does a nice job in that department. I never thought the C300s were too big at all.

I did briefly have the regular D7s and they are definitely larger. These forged beauties look like the perfect size.

[edingc's Work In Progress]

7 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

Going to be doing more work with the planemate now?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Possibly! Need to work with my coach to be sure it's going to help reinforce what I need to work on. Problem with buying stuff randomly is that I probably can do more harm than help in some cases. I do know I can use it to at least help cement the takeaway and getting the shaft vertical. I am interested in trying the red band for a real "swing" workout.

5 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

Your swing is looking good! 

Thanks! It's been a long road since the end of 2018. Feeling pretty good about my progress over the past two years. Still not where I want to be on the course, but I'm getting closer.

[edingc's Work In Progress]

18 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

Those positions look great man! I really like that takeaway and top look.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

13 minutes ago, Lacassem said:

Second frame is an incredible change wow.

Thanks, guys. Slow but steady wins the race, I guess. Takes a long time to undo 20-something years of wrong movements. 

[edingc's Work In Progress]

Hard to believe #CobraConnect is over!

I'm still working hard on my game, and I feel like some of the swing changes we worked on during my last lesson are starting to take hold. First, a swing video from yesterday's range session with the SpeedZone 9 iron:

Some things I'm really digging about this video:

1. Club head outside hands at shaft parallel in backswing.
2. Left arm is much more up and not around at the top. My coach wants me to feel like Matt Wolff on the takeaway and "climb the wall" vertically with my left arm.
3. Club shallows nicely and club face is stable post-impact (i.e. no need to flip the face closed).

The last few rounds have been kind of rough due to some poor putting. Overall, the rounds have been pretty good from a ball striking point of view, but the play on the green has been a big let down. 

My estimated handicap has slid back up to 11, but I think some solid putting would make a big difference in that. I'm not worried as I'm feeling like my swing is coming around. There is still some work to be done with the longer clubs, where I get the face a little too open on the backswing. Additionally, I need to be mindful of how close I stand to the ball. I'm guilty of crowding the ball which really causes issues even if everything else about the swing is right.

Because it's important to focus on progress, I grabbed a few frames from last year compared to this year:

Lots of things to be happy about with those comparisons!

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

4 hours ago, Reesedw said:

@B.Boston, Congrats. you did a great job.. 

@daviddvm, @GB13, @edingc, @Headhammer You all did a great job, It was another great year. 

Now that this is over What stays and what goes? I am sure you all have had a chance to reevaluate your set-ups... Spill it.. 

I did some testing on the range today and will be dropping the SpeedZone 4 Iron in favor of my Tour Edge Exotics CB Pro Tungsten 3 Iron with a Recoil graphite shaft. Both are 19 degrees.

I don't hit the SZ 4 iron considerably further than the SZ 5 iron from the tee (and certainly not from the ground). Playing around with my Mevo I was able to get about 210 carry out of the TE Exotics on a good strike, which is just enough to better fill the gap between my 17 degree hybrid and 5 iron from the tee. There are two tee shots on my home course that need about 215-225 with roll and they really can't be longer or shorter or else you're stuck dealing with trees.

I attribute the difference to the graphite shaft in the TE Exotics. Something I may look into with the SZ 4 iron is putting in a graphite shaft in it. The head shape is a little more forgiving and launches a lot higher than the TE Exotics.

Both were clear winners against my Cobra F8 22 degree hybrid, but my swing wasn't particularly great today so I may revisit that in the future.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

7 hours ago, GB13 said:

So... I came in Dead Last... even losing to the guy who withdrew with 2 weeks left.

I hate to be that guy, but since the kid wants to work with numbers for a living, he needs to brush up a bit  ...

Last I checked, fourth place was still better than fifth place.

I came in dead last, thank you very much!

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

I know I ragged on the five-way top of the SpeedZone x Vessel bag, but I've found the ultimate range/practice bag.

The larger openings on the top allow me to fit everything I like to take to the range inside the bag. 

I can hold my tripod, shag tube, alignment sticks and still have room for 5-6 clubs. I almost never take a full set to the range, so this is awesome! And the somewhat limited storage compartments are plenty for my Mevo, foot powder spray and various odds and ends.

I had a pencil style practice bag but it couldn't hold much, had no useful pockets and no carrying strap.

[2020 Official Member Review: Wilson D7 Forged Irons]

Wow. These things are gorgeous. Drooling over my phone scrolling through the unboxing photos.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

4 hours ago, yungkory said:

I'll be interested to see where your arccos handicaps go from here, now that you can play "normal" golf and not have to play challenge rounds. I think it's hard to really guage the performance based on rounds with some pretty strict rules, from an overall handicap perspective at least.

I'm sad I didn't get to participate in any of the challenges, hopefully next year we can go back to some 9-hole events for those who #play9 often? My city closing back down for covid didn't help, but maybe covid21 will be nicer to us next year.

Good job this year everyone, except that Boston guy I'm 99% sure he cheated #cuethesuckboat (I'm a sore loser)

Funny you mention performance outside of challenges. I played in a work scramble today and my putting was the best it's been in at least a month, and I played a pretty good round overall. I'm terrible under pressure, I think.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

This is probably the hardest post I’ll write of the entire challenge, if only because it signals the end of a wonderful three-plus months that made an otherwise crappy, COVID-laden summer really special.

First, again, I need to thank Cobra, Puma, Arccos and MyGolfSpy for putting on this excellent competition. It was a lot of fun, and a lot of work! I hope we not only lived up to, but exceeded your expectations.

A big shout out goes out to my competitors, @B.Boston, @daviddvm, @GB13 and @Headhammer, for playing some amazing golf during our weekly challenges and making this a very humbling experience for my golf game! I also can’t forget to thank @ncwoz for joining me during the alternate shot challenge. Hopefully we’ll grab another round together sometime soon.

And finally, thanks to @GolfSpy STUDque for organizing and running this entire show. The amount of work he has done behind the scenes during this challenge has been amazing.

With those aside, let’s take a look at my performance. First, my Arccos handicaps from the 15 baseline rounds:

And my overall handicaps after playing 26 rounds with the Cobra clubs in the bag:

I didn’t see the drastic improvement in Arccos handicaps that some of my fellow competitors did. What happened? 

During my 15 baseline rounds, I shot 80 or less seven times, establishing pretty lofty Arccos handicaps based on my historical golf game. During my 26 competition rounds, I broke 80 only once and routinely lived between 83-87. 

My estimated WHS handicap was around 11 when I applied for #CC4, and it crept to about 13 before I got hot at the beginning of July. During the baseline period it dropped under nine. As of this writing, it’s back to 11.

I’m pretty sure that is what statisticians would call “regression to the mean.”

Was my inability to continue playing sub-80 golf the clubs’ fault? No, not at all. While I may have struggled initially with the irons, I’m now starting to get more comfortable with every single Cobra club in my bag. I think my results boil down to a few things:

1. I continued my monthly lessons with my coach throughout the challenge. I made a lot of good progress during my June lesson and it led to my improvement immediately thereafter during my baseline rounds. During my July lesson, we tried to change a feel on my downswing. I over-corrected and really struggled for a few weeks with woeful balI striking.
2. I tweaked my left knee walking the course sometime in early August. I’ve been dealing with on-and-off pain since, depending on how much I walk in a day. The pain has made walking the course and playing difficult, and I also assume it led to some of the compensations I was making in my swing.
3. I neglected my putter! I rarely practiced putting this year, and as my Arccos numbers show, I really struggled these last few weeks. I recorded a total of 25 three-putts in the six competition rounds I played in September. That is an astronomically silly number and a great way to ruin otherwise pretty good rounds!

I am very happy with the improvement in the chipping and sand handicaps. The Cobra KING MIM Black wedges are an excellent fit for my short game and allow me to hit any shot I can imagine. My confidence around the green and from the sand is at an all-time high.

With all that being said, I did record a number of personal bests during the challenge:

Some particular highlights from the challenge I’m proud of:

• Recorded a personal best 76 during the 14-club challenge week, beating my previous lowest score by two strokes.
• Had two drives over 300 yards total with the Cobra SpeedZone Xtreme, and raised my Arccos “smart distance” to 265 yards with the driver. (Go back and read my Epic Flash review - this is a huge improvement from last season.)
• Played from the 6,800 yard tees at a pretty difficult course and played even par golf for over half the holes (I won’t mention how the other half went... ).
• Notched an eagle on No. 9 at my home course, going driver, 7 iron, and finishing with a tricky downhill chip-in using the 54 degree wedge.
• Played more than 60 rounds of golf during the 2020 season. Over 50 of those rounds were 18 holes, and 46 of them occurred after I was chosen to be a participant in #CC4. A big thank you to my wonderful wife who was all about me getting in my rounds for the challenge.

I was the bottom in many of the weekly challenges. Setting such a low baseline handicap didn’t help my chances, nor did the course rating/slope of my home track, but I want to point out how well each of my competitors played. I thought I put up pretty good scores during every week except the irons-only challenge, but I just got blown out! Even recording a personal best 76 during the 14-club challenge was only good for third place that week. I would have needed to shoot under gross par on multiple weeks to have finished in first place. The level of talent in this year’s group was unreal, and I’m so proud to have been a part of it.

Each of the weekly challenges were a ton of fun; they really made me work on improving my game. Playing a course with only woods/wedges or irons really forces you to hit shots you normally wouldn’t. And playing the forward tees can really change a course as well (thanks, @GolfSpy STUDque, for that suggestion). I’m definitely a more well-rounded player coming out of this challenge.

What’s next for me? Our season here in Michigan is rapidly winding down, and that’s probably for the best with the condition of my knee. My hope is that some additional rest will have me healed up completely quickly, so I can get back to grinding trying to improve for next year. As of right now I plan to keep the Cobra clubs in the bag, although I may replace the 4 iron with another SpeedZone hybrid.

Oh, and I think a putting lesson and maybe a fitting is in order .

Thanks again, everyone. It’s been a blast having the forum participation throughout this summer.

#TeamCalvesLikePhil4Lyfe

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

43 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

B.Boston Review Update:  MIM Black Wedges!

I am going to update my original post, but figured I should share here too.  I was concerned about the MIM Black finish and how well it was going to hold up over the long run.

I’ve used the 60* wedge 67 times on the course which includes several more bunker shots (including some muddy/rocky ones that I wasn’t too happy to be in...).  The wedge has help up VERY well and I think they will age gracefully.  The most impressive part to me is that there is very little to no wear on the sole of the wedge.  I am no longer concerned with the finish on these, if anything it seems like I’m going to need to really earn my character on these.

Now Cobra, if you’re reading.... PLEASE make this in PW lofts too.  I would LOVE to add a 48* classic grind to my bag.  If you need a tester... you got my info!

I'm seeing similar durability on mine, too. The course I played Friday had lots of gravel in the bunkers, and now I have a small nick in the 58, but otherwise they are holding up great.

I hit a bunch of great bunker shots over the past three weeks (@ncwoz can attest to our fried egg sand save during the alternate shot round). Almost like autopilot right now.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

Also, to everyone commenting, I'm glad you enjoyed the challenge. Means a lot to us competitors. It was a lot of work (and also a lot of fun!), so it's nice to hear validation of all of that time spent.

[#COBRACONNECT Challenge 4]

9 minutes ago, Lacassem said:

My last question for the competitors (can add to your sum up too) what is the 1 club you wouldn’t give up. If you had to give them all back but 1 group whether it was just automatic or just out performed previous club? (driver, woods, hybrids, irons or wedges).

the gambler in me wants to guess:

@edingc wedges?

@daviddvm the OL?

@GB13 tough one I’m guessing driver or irons ? Only because you seemed to be launching the driver throughout

@B.Boston wedges or wood?

@Headhammer woods?

Just my guesses from initial reviews

No. 1 would be the wedges, for sure. Massive improvement versus what I had previously in the bag.

Given my earlier review this may be a surprise, but I think the SpeedZone irons will stick around a while as well. The more I've hit them lately, I've really enjoyed them. 

Honestly, top to bottom I think my bag is set, except for maybe subbing a hybrid for the 4 iron at some point.

[Sirchunks blade experiment and restoration]

They look awesome in that bag. Fit right in with the new Vokeys and the Epic Flash.

I have a set of Hogan Edge CFT heads from around that same time frame sitting in the basement. Not blades at all. My goal this winter is to get them built up and get them to someone as a starter set.

[2020 Forum Member Review - SuperSpeed Training System]

On 9/12/2020 at 7:12 AM, Shankster said:

My path is probably off every day...

Using the swing radar, not the PRGR thing.  Just weird it that it picks up the handle end of the club, but doesn’t pick up the weighted end.  I know this thing is moving faster than some of the low readings I’m getting.

Makes it hard to capture any progress, if there is any.

I've not had that kind of variance with the SSR. Seems very odd to me that it went from 130s to 107. Radar in same place in stance? Perhaps lighting issues? I've seen more funkiness in readings if sun bounces off the club head in a certain way.