scomac2002

Most of what you see in my signature was purchased used on eBay over the past couple of years or so. I doubt I have anymore than $500 tied up in the lot of it and that includes the club that was bought new. The rest were gently used. You have to have an idea of what you're looking for. Still, it's better to take flyer on a used club that should work for you than to do the same with a brand new one purchased at a big box retailer. Trial and error are some times part of it, but when you think about it, if you can put together a whole bag for less than half the price of a custom fitted set of irons, it's hard to go wrong. And just for the record, I have bought new fitted on a custom order before.

Change the grips and do it yourself. It's easy! The last box of grips I bought were Royal XV midsize from Golfworks and I paid $1.60 a piece on sale. Add double sided tape and some solvent and I'm all in for less than $2/club to regrip. At that price you can afford to do it every year! Not happy using an off brand like Royal, well they're owned by Lamkin and the XV is just a rerelease of the Lamkin Stingfree grip from about 10 years ago. Great grip for the golfer who doesn't wear a glove. Someone else mentioned Champkey; I have one of those on my driver and as far as I can tell it looks and feels exactly like a Winn Dri-Tac. Lots of options out there for the enterprising club builder.

Thanks deejaid. I'm afraid I'm not going to be talking about classics either, but it is a modification that I did this morning. Considering it's a dull and drippy day with nothing better to do (or more appropriately no ambition), it was a good day for some club work. I mentioned back in the winter that I was going full hacker and had picked up a Cleveland C wedge (also know as the dreaded chipper). It has sit in the box with the wrapper still on it as I really didn't want to have to resort to using such a cheater. Today my resolve weakened or more to the point my golf has been so poor around the green that I need a cheater to help with posting an acceptable score. The only problem with this club is that it comes at 34" stock length which just isn't going to cut it with my back. Not to worry though as I had an extension leftover from the putter build, an extra grip and I even had a Tour Loc to counterbalance the shaft so the swing weight wouldn't end up E6! First problem is that my extension was for a .580" shaft and the stock shaft in the chipper was .600". Not to worry, rather than cut down the extension I would use the entire 3 1/2" and cut down the club shaft by 2" in order to get a snug fit inside the first step-down. Worked like a charm! As I'm waiting for the epoxy to dry I begin playing around with the grip and trying to figure out how to install the counterweight. I could put it in the end of the shaft and then struggle to fit the grip over it. Ideally you have a hole saw that cuts a countersunk hole in the end of the grip. I don't own such a beast so I look for something to fashion one out of. Turns out that using a pipe cutter to cut down golf shafts rather than a hack saw will leave you with pretty sharp edges on the shaft. I use a step-down tee in the grip end as a guide and then proceed to take the waste bit of shaft and twist it back and forth until it cuts a perfect hole in the end cap of the grip! Job two done and by now the epoxy is set so I can install the grip. Finished product playing at 36" versus the stock 34". Red neck engineering at it's finest as I didn't have the right extension or the right tool, but found a way to work with what I had on hand. Now all I have to do is hide the cheater stick until I have to actually use it on the course.

So this is where a few of you other WRX refugees have been hanging out...

Hello there! Another refugee from Canada. I'm in the east though, moving to the Niagara Peninsula this summer, so I will be in transition for the next year in terms of where I'll be playing and how frequently. Just a scuffler at this point in life's journey. Haven't maintained a handicap for the past couple of years since a back injury sent me to the sidelines. Working my way back to playing more regularly as time permits. I have a soft spot for vintage sticks, enjoying the experience of playing heritage courses with the equipment of the day. I could see a set of hickory players in my future.