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Willie T

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    Willie T got a reaction from sirchunksalot in Birdieball 2-In-1 Putting/Hitting Mat - 2023 Forum Review   
    Congrats to the testing crew.  This will be a great baseline in my quest to one day build an at home simulation station….
  2. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from MattF in Birdieball 2-In-1 Putting/Hitting Mat - 2023 Forum Review   
    Congrats to the testing crew.  This will be a great baseline in my quest to one day build an at home simulation station….
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    Willie T got a reaction from Nick_D in Birdieball 2-In-1 Putting/Hitting Mat - 2023 Forum Review   
    Congrats to the testing crew.  This will be a great baseline in my quest to one day build an at home simulation station….
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    Willie T got a reaction from GolfSpy SAM in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Indi Golf Wedges - Forum Review by Willie T
    Intro- 
    Well hello, MGS Community!  My name is Willie Tyndall (aka @Willie T on the forum pages). I am a newbie to the testing community as I am a first time tester but a member since 2019.  I am excited and thankful to be chosen for this wedge review with the Indi Golf wedges.  But before I get too far into that story let’s set the table so to speak on what brought my journey in golf to this point in time.  I have always been a person who loves the outdoors.  I grew up here in Eastern NC, which meant I had ample time to hunt, fish, play baseball and all the other things a kid of the ‘60s would have enjoyed.  Yes, that means I will be 64 in a couple of weeks!  
    So how does a kid who does everything but golf get into the game?  I grew up watching some golf on TV, seeing Trevino, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Seve’, etc. make their way around the course. Anyone remember the old “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” TV series (still watch one now and again on YouTube)   But it was not a game within reach as my parents were not country club folk.  Fast forward to my working career in procurement for a chemical processing facility and the invitation in 2009 to play in a 9-hole Super-Ball team building exercise.  I was to just fill the “D” slot and not much more.  We finish the 9-hole round and my boss along with a couple of others opt to play the front nine.  I was asked if I wanted to join and I thought why not - it was that or either go back to the hotel and be bored.  Mind you, I was almost illiterate when it came to what’s in the bag.  After the first couple of holes, the best player leans over and says, “If you want to play off my tee shot that is okay” as we were playing stroke play..  I tell him that I want to play my tee and he tells me to use the 3 wood as it will get the ball airborne easier (1st lesson).  I am off and running.  At the end of the round, my counterpart from a sister facility looks at me and says, “You’ve learned more in nine holes than most will in a lifetime.”  I opted to "retire" while on top, until 2016...
    Fast forward to 2016 and while I remember the round, golf is not a table item as I am into riding motorcycles. 
    That changes in June that year as I get hit by a car that results in my left foot being degloved and I wind up as a trans-metatarsal amputee (no toes on the left foot, grafted skin from my left thigh to cover the wound). I tell folks I can only count to fifteen these days.😃  After learning to walk, I need a new hobby and our church men’s group is starting a once a month super-ball scramble.  I'm asked to join and I still have those old “real wood” Spalding woods, MacGregor blades and Spalding putter from the set gifted to me in the late 90’s.  My son and I tag along and the rest is history.  I get the golf bug and pick some newer “used” clubs, this time a full set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots (pat pend).  Likewise I pick a TaylorMade R580 driver and fairway woods and start practicing in earnest, learning to get the weight forward in a way that my rebuilt foot does not hurt too much. It has been a journey of first times, like when I got that first birdie, broke 100, broke 90, got to 80 (still haven’t broken it), had as few as 29 putts, holed out from off the green - several times.  The biggest joy is that my bride of 22 years has joined me from time to time (her game is no where as serious - she will tee off, pick the ball up and then drop on the green to putt out - very simple game that does not need wedges or approach play)...
    a 7 yr old grandson who lives to play the game and his dad who is my regular golf partner (Yes, that's him dragging his plastic clubs a 4yrs old as my avatar).

    As noted my current game has me bouncing between 13 and 15 handicap.  I have learned the value of up and down for par - hence my wedge game has been a key focus point in my daily drills at home.  That is why I am super stoked about the Indi Golf wedge test! 
    The Personal Questions
    What region do you play out of?  As noted I live in Eastern, NC and have access to a variety of course conditions from sandy soil to hard pan to mucky sod.  That’s just on the one primary course I play, which is where the majority of my testing will likely happen. 
    How long have you been golfing?  Just over six years since I picked up the game to help rehab my foot and to have a way to be outside much like I was when riding bikes.  The rehab was to help teach my body to increase stability in that foot as well. 
    What kind of golfer are you?  Pretty well self-taught through countless on-line YouTube videos, getting a couple of impromptu lessons from the course pros, a lot of from works such as Hogan’s Five Lessons to Nicklaus’ Golf My Way to current golf writers. I am an all weather golfer so its a year-round thing (which is pretty well afforded here in Eastern NC) where playing in the cold may mean waiting for the greens to thaw, in the heat (lots of water intake)…it does not matter which means I am looking forward to see how these wedges spin, spin, spin in the varied climate and topography they will see. With a handicap that hovers in the 13-15 range, I “average” around 28% GIR.  This means I do a lot of up-and-down work to try to save par, but also know that bogie is a real possibility.  When it comes to wedges, they are my lifeblood around the green.  I live for moments like this....
    The Golf Questions
    How do you want to test this product?  In as many and varied situations as possible.  I want to see how these work when there is a carry over a greenside bunker with a short side pin.  How they work when the ground is soggy and the ball is partially plugged (and there are no preferred lies).  When the grass is deeper and we are chopping out.  Of course in the sand - fluffy to supersaturated post rainfall sand….
    What are your plans for the review and comparisons?  I will be doing initial testing here at home in my backyard as I have three “pins” set up to where I can hit anywhere from 5 to 35 yd shots in varied grass conditions. This is something I work on several times a week.  Likewise at the course for easy pitches onto the putting green and on course testing - my plan there is to take out several longer clubs and run double wedges (the Indi’s and my current go to, Cleveland CBX’s). 
    "Yes, I am a Pirate (ECU that is).  200 years too late.  The cannons don't thunder....." (Jimmy Buffet moment there)   I don’t have ready access to a launch monitor bay, so I will need to be investing in a personal launch monitor over the course of this test to get some spin numbers that are more that just "I think it spins more!".    
    What will make this product stay with you after testing?  Accuracy, predictability and playability.  I am looking for wedges that will hit and hold even when the greens are firm.  I want to know that a ½ or ¾ swing with the 54 will land at a given distance day in and day out  (whether its on line or not is a different story (user error?))  IF these can do that, they will be my number 1 wedges for the foreseeable future. Also in the long term, I want to see how they hold up, does the spin go away quickly? 
    Why are you excited about testing this product? I love playing what everyone else isn’t.  When I happened onto Rick Shiels review of these wedges (YoutTube link), I thought that would be a cool wedge to try.  So when MGS announced, I put my hat into the ring.  This is my first test for the community and and excited to see if I can shed some light that will help others in their search for the better wedge for their game.  
    What do you know about the product already? Only what I saw in Shiels’ video:
    They look impressive.  
    What are your expectations?  While "To be impressed" and "To be inspired" are pat answers, I am really looking to see if these offer the feel, touch, precision that is needed for wedge play to effectively lower my score by giving better up-and-downs when short of the green, accurate approaches when on 5’s to make GIR, to hit the number consistently.  Oh yes, to see that ball hit past the flag and then 180 back into the cup...yes, gotta make the ball spin!   
    Virtual Fitting 
    Last Thursday while on a Dairy Queen run with the missus and the grandkids, I get a call from Zane at Indi about doing the virtual fitting.  That was quick as I had sent my completed questionnaire along with a supplemental email to them the evening before.  Good thing - I'm East coast, they're West coast so the 3hr time differential paid off.  We get to talking about my game in a little more detail and I tell him about seeing Shiels' video.  Long story short after a couple of clarifications we come up with the following: 
    50deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce w/Recoil F3 Regular 820 graphite shaft and conforming grooves, standard lie.  54deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs same as the 50.   58deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs as the 50 and 54.  As I play composite shafts through the bag (except the putter), we agreed the Recoil shafts would be a good fit.  Told him I really like the Recoils and have a couple of old Eye 2's that are fitted with them.  Hmmmm - maybe an Eye 2 eye comparison as part of the test?  Going to be fun! 
    Unboxing/First Impressions 
    Today (Aug 2nd) was delivery day....whoo hoo.  Was in the backyard when I saw the truck....

    Met the driver in the front yard and with glee took the package as smooth as a wedge gliding under a ball that is riding the fairway carpet....

    I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was not a guitar case like Rick Shiels got when his arrived, oh well I am not a YouTube celeb....still when I opened the package the clubs were sealed in a singular bag, the heads shrink sealed and covered with bubble wrap.  The goodies included a neat tee shirt, hat, coozie, divot tool....
     
    Enough on the goodies, which are kewl.  The clubs themselves are flawless in terms of how they look.  No signs of excess glue from the assembly, the Golf Pride MC4 "midsize" grips are straight and true (and fit pretty well in the old hands as well)...

    Dying to try them out as I was curious how they would interact with my swing.  Pulled the shrink off the 54deg and hit a few easy pitches in the backyard.  The first thing I notice is that they are "lighter" in feel than my current wedges - Cleveland CBX's.  It was not what I was expecting as they are very "Vokey" in appearance, so I was anticipated the heft that I tend to associate with them.  It just means they will take a little getting used to.  Speaking of "Vokey", these sit behind the ball in a very "Vokey" manner - inspiring confidence!   
    I spent a few moments introducing the old wedges to the new wedges before we (my son and grandson) were off to play a quick 18 today....

    So first impressions are that these are really well built wedges that I am going to look forward to testing.  Much more to come, hopefully a few very spinny shots!  Till later, Willie T
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS (con’t) 
    Indi states they are the “kings of spin” and I can say these clubs scream “we’ll be your spin doctor!”   As one who has never really been a spinner of the ball (talking the kind of spin that sends the ball back down the green on a tear), I am excited to see if they spin to the point that it is a confident stop and check no matter the green conditions.  For comparison, the CBX’s being somewhat worn don’t check and hold so this should be a big differentiator.  We’ll see. 
    I do want to spend a moment on the grips, I don’t recall if I specified Mid-size grips or not, but the wedges came with Golf Price MCC4’s.  I have played midsize in the past but had recently been in a standard size grip mode so they will take/took a little getting used to. 
    OVERALL Rating (19 of 20) 
    Aesthetics (8 out of 10)
    For me, looks wise, the clubs exude class from top to bottom!  I love it when clubs are understated and look purposeful.  These wedges deliver that look and then some. 
    My initial thoughts were that the full face grooves would be somewhat distracting.  The opposite was/is true as they are actually very pleasing to my eye.  I found that the vertical edge of the grooves (hosel side) made a great reference to help “center” the ball on the face.  I found that I could have the inside edge of the ball along the vertical edge and would be pretty well centered.  
    Speaking of the face, it is similar in size to the CBX’s and sits very well behind the ball.   
    The wedges each have the same degree of bounce (10 for the FLX S’s) and that makes for a consistent feel across all when engaging the bounce.  It helped in my learning curve on how the wedges would react - as they all bounced the same.  
    The sole of the FLX wedges remind me of my old Vokey Design 254-10 Sand Wedge that I still love to hit.  Conversely as seen in the “get to know” wedge pictures of all the wedges you can see the marked difference in the soles of the Cleveland CBX’s and the Indi’s.  
    Mine are fitted with Recoil shafts as I play composite shafts in my irons.  An added bonus is that I am already familiar with Recoils as I outfitted a couple of my old Eye2’s with an earlier version and love them.
    A pretty club is one thing, but if it sounds harsh, stings like an angry bee on miss hits or refuses to cooperate, it is nothing more than a good corner ornament testimony to what might have been!  What about these Indi wedges? Are they another pretty face or something better like good looks that delivers, kinda like Susan Tedeschi and her mad guitar/vocal skills.  
    First swing impressions - the ball pops off the face with a smooth crispness I never had with the CBX’s.  Even slightly off center hits are quite pleasing to the ear.  It is a sound that inspires my new favorite word for these wedges, confidence.  It’s like when you strike the ball, the sound lets you know it’s not a flier but much rather a ball headed to your target point.  
     
    You hear that crispness - from the rough, from the fairway, from the sand.  
    Overall rating (8 out of 10)
    THE NUMBERS (8 out of 10)
    I really wanted to get on a Trackman or similar device but the closest place that had one available to “rent” was over an hour and half away (each way) and required a minimum of a month’s membership and you could only book one hour time slots.  As such I did not get any hard numbers on whether Indi wedges more than what the CBX’s do on the machine.  HOWEVER, I did put them through several rounds of side by side comparison of current wedges (old CBX 50-54-58 as well as new CBX 52-56-60 (had literally just updated when I learned I was to be a tester) vs the Indi’s.  So let’s break down my observations: 
    Accuracy  - In the course of testing I kept seeing the same thing over and over - consistently accurate!  It did not matter if it was the 50, 54 or 58.  More than once the ball flight looked to be  a certain hole out off the green!  Did not get one, but I got close several times.  The closest I came was when I hit the 54 to 3” of the hole from 30yds out.  Ball checked to 18” past the hole!  A big plus when working on those ups and downs, pretty much my green side game.  Distance - This was a big learning curve as these wedges fly!  I found that I could swing easier, make solid contact and the ball was going to go where I needed it to be except farther.  Most wedge shots are not full swings and I found that these wedges were easy to learn how to swing to get a given distance.  It took practice in the backyard with each wedge to given distances, but after several sessions the distances were dialing in to where I knew a given swing with a given loft gave an accurate distance.  That is that confidence thing again!  Trajectory - Lower overall flight.  I found shot trajectories are more controlled with these over the CBX’s, which are meant to help folks get their wedge shots in the air.  I really love how a simple adjustment of ball placement took the ball from high arching to low and spinny.  And to see the ball really grab on those low ones to release and gently roll out on hard greens, just meant one thing - more confidence. Control and Workability - I am putting these together as after the first day or so, I was seeing that I could flight it low, high, open the face - do whatever with confidence that the ball was going within 95% of where I was planning.  There were the occasional miscues, total operator error, as the clubs can only do what is asked.  I found that these work well in sand without opening the face too much as the clubs inspired me to just hit the ball.  Best example - par 3 12 at my home course I am in the greenside bunker.  Set up with the 54 and figure I want to carry about 5 yds onto the green and let it release to the flag.  Ball comes out, about 3’ high and spinning up a storm.  It lands, checks and rolls to 3’ from the hole for an easy par.   One thing I have not noted was that I used the same ball through the main portions of the test, i.e. Pro V-1.  I did do a few holes with others (Callaway Super Soft, Maxfli Tour, Titleist Tour Speed, WIlson Duo Soft, Bridgestone e12, etc.), and found that the clubs worked well with those as well.  
    Overall rating  (8  out of 10)
    ON-COURSE  (17 out of 20)
    With a total of 10 rounds including several where I focused on side by side comparisons with the CBX’s and one where I had just the wedges, a 7i, 5i and 5w plus almost daily workouts in the backyard, I developed a comfort with these wedges to where they became more and more predictable day in day out.  In the vlog I did,
    I talk about what I am seeing and how the wedges are working.  
    Varied Lies drill: I played these from tight lies (can you say almost hard pan), hard pan, fairway fluff, slight rough (2”), fluff sand and wet sand, wet early morning grass and mud!  How did they perform in the given lies?  From the tightest of lies, hard pan, the club picked the ball and sent it on its way.  At the opposite end, the rough posed no real problems as the club would slice through and free the ball.  Fairway lies were a dream.  To push the clubs, I even tried to figure ways to hit from awkward spots like the side of a pond in tall weeds and gravelly soil (insert photo).   That is not to say every shot was good or great, there were some bad shots.  However it was always “operator error” from me overthinking and not being confident in the process.   Stripped down bag drill:  The round with the 5w, 5i, 7i and Indi wedges proved that you don’t need a full bag to shoot a decent round.  The 50 worked well on the longer approaches while the 54 and 58 took care of greenside.   No GIRs drill:  The toughest test was playing to not have any GIR, even hitting par 3’s short.  This put a wedge in play on all 18 holes.   A hard test that went against scoring low but also built confidence in each club that proved that you can rely on these clubs on getting up and down when you do miss a green in regulation.    3 Wedge drill: This was one of the early tests.  I set up the bag with 3 sets of wedges (CBX - 50, 54, 58 (old - no sharpie dot), CBX - 52, 56, 60 (newer - red sharpie  dot), INDI - 50, 54-58 (green sharpie dot).  All had new ProV1's assigned (5 w/red dots, 5 w/green dots and 5 plain).  The drill was simple - if it was greenside up and down, I would hit five shots each with the 58's & 60 and eval proximity to hole (target),  longer wedge in would be the 50's & 52 - same goal, at the beach - the 54's & 56.  End result - the INDI's were the most accurate as they checked and stopped more readily, followed by the new CBX's (which did not hold as well as the INDI's) and lastly the old familiar CBX's that had substantially more roll out (which I had grown to accept and had learned to hit and allow for such).  THIS IS DEFINITELY A SLOW COURSE TIME DRILL!   The big downside in my testing was getting used to the turf interaction as opposed to how the CBX's had performed. I that in the first few holes where I was playing both the CBX’s and the Indi’s, the same angle of attack made for some chunky Indi’s. Yet, once I spent time just working on feeling the bounce the chunky monkey beaver tails went away.  While my overall scores remained consistent, I attribute much of that to the deliberate placing of myself in precarious shots that do not lend to better scores.  I wanted to work on being in trouble, not GIR - the things the average Joe or Jen golfer sees.  These wedges inspire you to take on those situations and do well! 
    INDI Golf is one of the new kids in town and I was delighted to be part of this test.  As a newbie tester with a set of virtually fitted wedges, the guys at INDI did well.  So much so, I am seriously considering trying one of their putters this time on my dime.  I  love that companies such as INDI are making quality gear that allows the golfer who is not necessarily brand fixated have access to quality gear at competitive pricing.  I will be curious to see what INDI does next - will they go grind crazy like the big guys or stick to their model.  I want to reinforce my thoughts that I love the full face grooves, the simplified sole design, great shaft options - those may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it provides a smooth brew for this golfer!  
    Overall rating (17 out of 20)
    THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE INBETWEEN (18 out of 20)
    The good starts with how I keep saying “confidence” or a derivative of that word, but that is what I want to write home and tell everyone about in these wedges.  In the course of testing I went from these are fun to I want to go pin hunting when wedging in!   I go back to the wedges all having the same sole design and bounce to promote consistency across the group.  I am reminded that this concept is something one may see with one length irons.  Anyway, they really work for me in this area. This led me to seeing a predictable consistency in shot shape, distance and overall accuracy.  It became a matter of what is the distance to the pin, okay that is ___ wedge.  ½, ¾ shots were super predictable as well.  I found the wedges very balanced almost to where I could not feel the head weight when swining. Others in the test noted the opposite that the clubs felt heavy. Its a matter of what your used to.     
    The inbetween probably lies in two areas.  How much will spin decrease and will it be a rapid drop off or a slight taper over time.  This remains to be seen.  The second is purely overall aesthics, while I love them, I am thinking some may be put off by the lack of glitz and glamor or more importantly big name notoriety,  as they look like something that one might see at a box store.
    The only bad that I could see is the "lack of grind options".  While these are two grind deal, one can easliy adjust their game and have good success.  The FLX grind really is a do all workhorse.  Grantled I was used to the CBX’s and their grind, very similar to the ATK’s, I believe INDI onto being wonderfully simple - pickers (small divots) just need to go FLX, digging for dollars divots just go ATK. 
    Overall rating (18 out of 20)
    PLAY IT or TRADE IT (20 out of 20)
    Play - play - play.  These wedges offer a level of comfort and confidence that I have never really enjoyed with other wedges, the closest being the old Vokey Design 254-10.   Given that I am looking forward to seeing how they do this winter as I play year round here in Eastern NC.  It will be good to report on how wedge life happens when the elements are less than optimal.  
    Overall rating (20 out of 20)
    CONCLUSION
    Again I want to thank the MGS mods for selecting me to be part of this test.  To be a newbie who gets to test these wedges was an honor and privilege.  My overall consensus of the INDI wedges is that they do deliver the spin to stop the ball on the green, they cut through the rough like a sling blade to lift the ball to freedom and are perfect to deliver balls from the beach!   For someone looking for a great wedge that is not flashy, that doesn’t bury you in a myriad of sole grinds, that is super reasonable in cost - the guys at INDI can be that one stop shop.  
    FINAL SCORE (90 out of a 100)
     
     



  5. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from RichL85 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Introduction uploaded.... I will be updating this later today as I've already done the virtual fitting and the clubs are to be here this week, per the UPS tracking......
  6. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from KC Golf in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Indi Golf Wedges - Forum Review by Willie T
    Intro- 
    Well hello, MGS Community!  My name is Willie Tyndall (aka @Willie T on the forum pages). I am a newbie to the testing community as I am a first time tester but a member since 2019.  I am excited and thankful to be chosen for this wedge review with the Indi Golf wedges.  But before I get too far into that story let’s set the table so to speak on what brought my journey in golf to this point in time.  I have always been a person who loves the outdoors.  I grew up here in Eastern NC, which meant I had ample time to hunt, fish, play baseball and all the other things a kid of the ‘60s would have enjoyed.  Yes, that means I will be 64 in a couple of weeks!  
    So how does a kid who does everything but golf get into the game?  I grew up watching some golf on TV, seeing Trevino, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Seve’, etc. make their way around the course. Anyone remember the old “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” TV series (still watch one now and again on YouTube)   But it was not a game within reach as my parents were not country club folk.  Fast forward to my working career in procurement for a chemical processing facility and the invitation in 2009 to play in a 9-hole Super-Ball team building exercise.  I was to just fill the “D” slot and not much more.  We finish the 9-hole round and my boss along with a couple of others opt to play the front nine.  I was asked if I wanted to join and I thought why not - it was that or either go back to the hotel and be bored.  Mind you, I was almost illiterate when it came to what’s in the bag.  After the first couple of holes, the best player leans over and says, “If you want to play off my tee shot that is okay” as we were playing stroke play..  I tell him that I want to play my tee and he tells me to use the 3 wood as it will get the ball airborne easier (1st lesson).  I am off and running.  At the end of the round, my counterpart from a sister facility looks at me and says, “You’ve learned more in nine holes than most will in a lifetime.”  I opted to "retire" while on top, until 2016...
    Fast forward to 2016 and while I remember the round, golf is not a table item as I am into riding motorcycles. 
    That changes in June that year as I get hit by a car that results in my left foot being degloved and I wind up as a trans-metatarsal amputee (no toes on the left foot, grafted skin from my left thigh to cover the wound). I tell folks I can only count to fifteen these days.😃  After learning to walk, I need a new hobby and our church men’s group is starting a once a month super-ball scramble.  I'm asked to join and I still have those old “real wood” Spalding woods, MacGregor blades and Spalding putter from the set gifted to me in the late 90’s.  My son and I tag along and the rest is history.  I get the golf bug and pick some newer “used” clubs, this time a full set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots (pat pend).  Likewise I pick a TaylorMade R580 driver and fairway woods and start practicing in earnest, learning to get the weight forward in a way that my rebuilt foot does not hurt too much. It has been a journey of first times, like when I got that first birdie, broke 100, broke 90, got to 80 (still haven’t broken it), had as few as 29 putts, holed out from off the green - several times.  The biggest joy is that my bride of 22 years has joined me from time to time (her game is no where as serious - she will tee off, pick the ball up and then drop on the green to putt out - very simple game that does not need wedges or approach play)...
    a 7 yr old grandson who lives to play the game and his dad who is my regular golf partner (Yes, that's him dragging his plastic clubs a 4yrs old as my avatar).

    As noted my current game has me bouncing between 13 and 15 handicap.  I have learned the value of up and down for par - hence my wedge game has been a key focus point in my daily drills at home.  That is why I am super stoked about the Indi Golf wedge test! 
    The Personal Questions
    What region do you play out of?  As noted I live in Eastern, NC and have access to a variety of course conditions from sandy soil to hard pan to mucky sod.  That’s just on the one primary course I play, which is where the majority of my testing will likely happen. 
    How long have you been golfing?  Just over six years since I picked up the game to help rehab my foot and to have a way to be outside much like I was when riding bikes.  The rehab was to help teach my body to increase stability in that foot as well. 
    What kind of golfer are you?  Pretty well self-taught through countless on-line YouTube videos, getting a couple of impromptu lessons from the course pros, a lot of from works such as Hogan’s Five Lessons to Nicklaus’ Golf My Way to current golf writers. I am an all weather golfer so its a year-round thing (which is pretty well afforded here in Eastern NC) where playing in the cold may mean waiting for the greens to thaw, in the heat (lots of water intake)…it does not matter which means I am looking forward to see how these wedges spin, spin, spin in the varied climate and topography they will see. With a handicap that hovers in the 13-15 range, I “average” around 28% GIR.  This means I do a lot of up-and-down work to try to save par, but also know that bogie is a real possibility.  When it comes to wedges, they are my lifeblood around the green.  I live for moments like this....
    The Golf Questions
    How do you want to test this product?  In as many and varied situations as possible.  I want to see how these work when there is a carry over a greenside bunker with a short side pin.  How they work when the ground is soggy and the ball is partially plugged (and there are no preferred lies).  When the grass is deeper and we are chopping out.  Of course in the sand - fluffy to supersaturated post rainfall sand….
    What are your plans for the review and comparisons?  I will be doing initial testing here at home in my backyard as I have three “pins” set up to where I can hit anywhere from 5 to 35 yd shots in varied grass conditions. This is something I work on several times a week.  Likewise at the course for easy pitches onto the putting green and on course testing - my plan there is to take out several longer clubs and run double wedges (the Indi’s and my current go to, Cleveland CBX’s). 
    "Yes, I am a Pirate (ECU that is).  200 years too late.  The cannons don't thunder....." (Jimmy Buffet moment there)   I don’t have ready access to a launch monitor bay, so I will need to be investing in a personal launch monitor over the course of this test to get some spin numbers that are more that just "I think it spins more!".    
    What will make this product stay with you after testing?  Accuracy, predictability and playability.  I am looking for wedges that will hit and hold even when the greens are firm.  I want to know that a ½ or ¾ swing with the 54 will land at a given distance day in and day out  (whether its on line or not is a different story (user error?))  IF these can do that, they will be my number 1 wedges for the foreseeable future. Also in the long term, I want to see how they hold up, does the spin go away quickly? 
    Why are you excited about testing this product? I love playing what everyone else isn’t.  When I happened onto Rick Shiels review of these wedges (YoutTube link), I thought that would be a cool wedge to try.  So when MGS announced, I put my hat into the ring.  This is my first test for the community and and excited to see if I can shed some light that will help others in their search for the better wedge for their game.  
    What do you know about the product already? Only what I saw in Shiels’ video:
    They look impressive.  
    What are your expectations?  While "To be impressed" and "To be inspired" are pat answers, I am really looking to see if these offer the feel, touch, precision that is needed for wedge play to effectively lower my score by giving better up-and-downs when short of the green, accurate approaches when on 5’s to make GIR, to hit the number consistently.  Oh yes, to see that ball hit past the flag and then 180 back into the cup...yes, gotta make the ball spin!   
    Virtual Fitting 
    Last Thursday while on a Dairy Queen run with the missus and the grandkids, I get a call from Zane at Indi about doing the virtual fitting.  That was quick as I had sent my completed questionnaire along with a supplemental email to them the evening before.  Good thing - I'm East coast, they're West coast so the 3hr time differential paid off.  We get to talking about my game in a little more detail and I tell him about seeing Shiels' video.  Long story short after a couple of clarifications we come up with the following: 
    50deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce w/Recoil F3 Regular 820 graphite shaft and conforming grooves, standard lie.  54deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs same as the 50.   58deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs as the 50 and 54.  As I play composite shafts through the bag (except the putter), we agreed the Recoil shafts would be a good fit.  Told him I really like the Recoils and have a couple of old Eye 2's that are fitted with them.  Hmmmm - maybe an Eye 2 eye comparison as part of the test?  Going to be fun! 
    Unboxing/First Impressions 
    Today (Aug 2nd) was delivery day....whoo hoo.  Was in the backyard when I saw the truck....

    Met the driver in the front yard and with glee took the package as smooth as a wedge gliding under a ball that is riding the fairway carpet....

    I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was not a guitar case like Rick Shiels got when his arrived, oh well I am not a YouTube celeb....still when I opened the package the clubs were sealed in a singular bag, the heads shrink sealed and covered with bubble wrap.  The goodies included a neat tee shirt, hat, coozie, divot tool....
     
    Enough on the goodies, which are kewl.  The clubs themselves are flawless in terms of how they look.  No signs of excess glue from the assembly, the Golf Pride MC4 "midsize" grips are straight and true (and fit pretty well in the old hands as well)...

    Dying to try them out as I was curious how they would interact with my swing.  Pulled the shrink off the 54deg and hit a few easy pitches in the backyard.  The first thing I notice is that they are "lighter" in feel than my current wedges - Cleveland CBX's.  It was not what I was expecting as they are very "Vokey" in appearance, so I was anticipated the heft that I tend to associate with them.  It just means they will take a little getting used to.  Speaking of "Vokey", these sit behind the ball in a very "Vokey" manner - inspiring confidence!   
    I spent a few moments introducing the old wedges to the new wedges before we (my son and grandson) were off to play a quick 18 today....

    So first impressions are that these are really well built wedges that I am going to look forward to testing.  Much more to come, hopefully a few very spinny shots!  Till later, Willie T
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS (con’t) 
    Indi states they are the “kings of spin” and I can say these clubs scream “we’ll be your spin doctor!”   As one who has never really been a spinner of the ball (talking the kind of spin that sends the ball back down the green on a tear), I am excited to see if they spin to the point that it is a confident stop and check no matter the green conditions.  For comparison, the CBX’s being somewhat worn don’t check and hold so this should be a big differentiator.  We’ll see. 
    I do want to spend a moment on the grips, I don’t recall if I specified Mid-size grips or not, but the wedges came with Golf Price MCC4’s.  I have played midsize in the past but had recently been in a standard size grip mode so they will take/took a little getting used to. 
    OVERALL Rating (19 of 20) 
    Aesthetics (8 out of 10)
    For me, looks wise, the clubs exude class from top to bottom!  I love it when clubs are understated and look purposeful.  These wedges deliver that look and then some. 
    My initial thoughts were that the full face grooves would be somewhat distracting.  The opposite was/is true as they are actually very pleasing to my eye.  I found that the vertical edge of the grooves (hosel side) made a great reference to help “center” the ball on the face.  I found that I could have the inside edge of the ball along the vertical edge and would be pretty well centered.  
    Speaking of the face, it is similar in size to the CBX’s and sits very well behind the ball.   
    The wedges each have the same degree of bounce (10 for the FLX S’s) and that makes for a consistent feel across all when engaging the bounce.  It helped in my learning curve on how the wedges would react - as they all bounced the same.  
    The sole of the FLX wedges remind me of my old Vokey Design 254-10 Sand Wedge that I still love to hit.  Conversely as seen in the “get to know” wedge pictures of all the wedges you can see the marked difference in the soles of the Cleveland CBX’s and the Indi’s.  
    Mine are fitted with Recoil shafts as I play composite shafts in my irons.  An added bonus is that I am already familiar with Recoils as I outfitted a couple of my old Eye2’s with an earlier version and love them.
    A pretty club is one thing, but if it sounds harsh, stings like an angry bee on miss hits or refuses to cooperate, it is nothing more than a good corner ornament testimony to what might have been!  What about these Indi wedges? Are they another pretty face or something better like good looks that delivers, kinda like Susan Tedeschi and her mad guitar/vocal skills.  
    First swing impressions - the ball pops off the face with a smooth crispness I never had with the CBX’s.  Even slightly off center hits are quite pleasing to the ear.  It is a sound that inspires my new favorite word for these wedges, confidence.  It’s like when you strike the ball, the sound lets you know it’s not a flier but much rather a ball headed to your target point.  
     
    You hear that crispness - from the rough, from the fairway, from the sand.  
    Overall rating (8 out of 10)
    THE NUMBERS (8 out of 10)
    I really wanted to get on a Trackman or similar device but the closest place that had one available to “rent” was over an hour and half away (each way) and required a minimum of a month’s membership and you could only book one hour time slots.  As such I did not get any hard numbers on whether Indi wedges more than what the CBX’s do on the machine.  HOWEVER, I did put them through several rounds of side by side comparison of current wedges (old CBX 50-54-58 as well as new CBX 52-56-60 (had literally just updated when I learned I was to be a tester) vs the Indi’s.  So let’s break down my observations: 
    Accuracy  - In the course of testing I kept seeing the same thing over and over - consistently accurate!  It did not matter if it was the 50, 54 or 58.  More than once the ball flight looked to be  a certain hole out off the green!  Did not get one, but I got close several times.  The closest I came was when I hit the 54 to 3” of the hole from 30yds out.  Ball checked to 18” past the hole!  A big plus when working on those ups and downs, pretty much my green side game.  Distance - This was a big learning curve as these wedges fly!  I found that I could swing easier, make solid contact and the ball was going to go where I needed it to be except farther.  Most wedge shots are not full swings and I found that these wedges were easy to learn how to swing to get a given distance.  It took practice in the backyard with each wedge to given distances, but after several sessions the distances were dialing in to where I knew a given swing with a given loft gave an accurate distance.  That is that confidence thing again!  Trajectory - Lower overall flight.  I found shot trajectories are more controlled with these over the CBX’s, which are meant to help folks get their wedge shots in the air.  I really love how a simple adjustment of ball placement took the ball from high arching to low and spinny.  And to see the ball really grab on those low ones to release and gently roll out on hard greens, just meant one thing - more confidence. Control and Workability - I am putting these together as after the first day or so, I was seeing that I could flight it low, high, open the face - do whatever with confidence that the ball was going within 95% of where I was planning.  There were the occasional miscues, total operator error, as the clubs can only do what is asked.  I found that these work well in sand without opening the face too much as the clubs inspired me to just hit the ball.  Best example - par 3 12 at my home course I am in the greenside bunker.  Set up with the 54 and figure I want to carry about 5 yds onto the green and let it release to the flag.  Ball comes out, about 3’ high and spinning up a storm.  It lands, checks and rolls to 3’ from the hole for an easy par.   One thing I have not noted was that I used the same ball through the main portions of the test, i.e. Pro V-1.  I did do a few holes with others (Callaway Super Soft, Maxfli Tour, Titleist Tour Speed, WIlson Duo Soft, Bridgestone e12, etc.), and found that the clubs worked well with those as well.  
    Overall rating  (8  out of 10)
    ON-COURSE  (17 out of 20)
    With a total of 10 rounds including several where I focused on side by side comparisons with the CBX’s and one where I had just the wedges, a 7i, 5i and 5w plus almost daily workouts in the backyard, I developed a comfort with these wedges to where they became more and more predictable day in day out.  In the vlog I did,
    I talk about what I am seeing and how the wedges are working.  
    Varied Lies drill: I played these from tight lies (can you say almost hard pan), hard pan, fairway fluff, slight rough (2”), fluff sand and wet sand, wet early morning grass and mud!  How did they perform in the given lies?  From the tightest of lies, hard pan, the club picked the ball and sent it on its way.  At the opposite end, the rough posed no real problems as the club would slice through and free the ball.  Fairway lies were a dream.  To push the clubs, I even tried to figure ways to hit from awkward spots like the side of a pond in tall weeds and gravelly soil (insert photo).   That is not to say every shot was good or great, there were some bad shots.  However it was always “operator error” from me overthinking and not being confident in the process.   Stripped down bag drill:  The round with the 5w, 5i, 7i and Indi wedges proved that you don’t need a full bag to shoot a decent round.  The 50 worked well on the longer approaches while the 54 and 58 took care of greenside.   No GIRs drill:  The toughest test was playing to not have any GIR, even hitting par 3’s short.  This put a wedge in play on all 18 holes.   A hard test that went against scoring low but also built confidence in each club that proved that you can rely on these clubs on getting up and down when you do miss a green in regulation.    3 Wedge drill: This was one of the early tests.  I set up the bag with 3 sets of wedges (CBX - 50, 54, 58 (old - no sharpie dot), CBX - 52, 56, 60 (newer - red sharpie  dot), INDI - 50, 54-58 (green sharpie dot).  All had new ProV1's assigned (5 w/red dots, 5 w/green dots and 5 plain).  The drill was simple - if it was greenside up and down, I would hit five shots each with the 58's & 60 and eval proximity to hole (target),  longer wedge in would be the 50's & 52 - same goal, at the beach - the 54's & 56.  End result - the INDI's were the most accurate as they checked and stopped more readily, followed by the new CBX's (which did not hold as well as the INDI's) and lastly the old familiar CBX's that had substantially more roll out (which I had grown to accept and had learned to hit and allow for such).  THIS IS DEFINITELY A SLOW COURSE TIME DRILL!   The big downside in my testing was getting used to the turf interaction as opposed to how the CBX's had performed. I that in the first few holes where I was playing both the CBX’s and the Indi’s, the same angle of attack made for some chunky Indi’s. Yet, once I spent time just working on feeling the bounce the chunky monkey beaver tails went away.  While my overall scores remained consistent, I attribute much of that to the deliberate placing of myself in precarious shots that do not lend to better scores.  I wanted to work on being in trouble, not GIR - the things the average Joe or Jen golfer sees.  These wedges inspire you to take on those situations and do well! 
    INDI Golf is one of the new kids in town and I was delighted to be part of this test.  As a newbie tester with a set of virtually fitted wedges, the guys at INDI did well.  So much so, I am seriously considering trying one of their putters this time on my dime.  I  love that companies such as INDI are making quality gear that allows the golfer who is not necessarily brand fixated have access to quality gear at competitive pricing.  I will be curious to see what INDI does next - will they go grind crazy like the big guys or stick to their model.  I want to reinforce my thoughts that I love the full face grooves, the simplified sole design, great shaft options - those may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it provides a smooth brew for this golfer!  
    Overall rating (17 out of 20)
    THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE INBETWEEN (18 out of 20)
    The good starts with how I keep saying “confidence” or a derivative of that word, but that is what I want to write home and tell everyone about in these wedges.  In the course of testing I went from these are fun to I want to go pin hunting when wedging in!   I go back to the wedges all having the same sole design and bounce to promote consistency across the group.  I am reminded that this concept is something one may see with one length irons.  Anyway, they really work for me in this area. This led me to seeing a predictable consistency in shot shape, distance and overall accuracy.  It became a matter of what is the distance to the pin, okay that is ___ wedge.  ½, ¾ shots were super predictable as well.  I found the wedges very balanced almost to where I could not feel the head weight when swining. Others in the test noted the opposite that the clubs felt heavy. Its a matter of what your used to.     
    The inbetween probably lies in two areas.  How much will spin decrease and will it be a rapid drop off or a slight taper over time.  This remains to be seen.  The second is purely overall aesthics, while I love them, I am thinking some may be put off by the lack of glitz and glamor or more importantly big name notoriety,  as they look like something that one might see at a box store.
    The only bad that I could see is the "lack of grind options".  While these are two grind deal, one can easliy adjust their game and have good success.  The FLX grind really is a do all workhorse.  Grantled I was used to the CBX’s and their grind, very similar to the ATK’s, I believe INDI onto being wonderfully simple - pickers (small divots) just need to go FLX, digging for dollars divots just go ATK. 
    Overall rating (18 out of 20)
    PLAY IT or TRADE IT (20 out of 20)
    Play - play - play.  These wedges offer a level of comfort and confidence that I have never really enjoyed with other wedges, the closest being the old Vokey Design 254-10.   Given that I am looking forward to seeing how they do this winter as I play year round here in Eastern NC.  It will be good to report on how wedge life happens when the elements are less than optimal.  
    Overall rating (20 out of 20)
    CONCLUSION
    Again I want to thank the MGS mods for selecting me to be part of this test.  To be a newbie who gets to test these wedges was an honor and privilege.  My overall consensus of the INDI wedges is that they do deliver the spin to stop the ball on the green, they cut through the rough like a sling blade to lift the ball to freedom and are perfect to deliver balls from the beach!   For someone looking for a great wedge that is not flashy, that doesn’t bury you in a myriad of sole grinds, that is super reasonable in cost - the guys at INDI can be that one stop shop.  
    FINAL SCORE (90 out of a 100)
     
     



  7. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Shrek74 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Indi Golf Wedges - Forum Review by Willie T
    Intro- 
    Well hello, MGS Community!  My name is Willie Tyndall (aka @Willie T on the forum pages). I am a newbie to the testing community as I am a first time tester but a member since 2019.  I am excited and thankful to be chosen for this wedge review with the Indi Golf wedges.  But before I get too far into that story let’s set the table so to speak on what brought my journey in golf to this point in time.  I have always been a person who loves the outdoors.  I grew up here in Eastern NC, which meant I had ample time to hunt, fish, play baseball and all the other things a kid of the ‘60s would have enjoyed.  Yes, that means I will be 64 in a couple of weeks!  
    So how does a kid who does everything but golf get into the game?  I grew up watching some golf on TV, seeing Trevino, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Seve’, etc. make their way around the course. Anyone remember the old “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” TV series (still watch one now and again on YouTube)   But it was not a game within reach as my parents were not country club folk.  Fast forward to my working career in procurement for a chemical processing facility and the invitation in 2009 to play in a 9-hole Super-Ball team building exercise.  I was to just fill the “D” slot and not much more.  We finish the 9-hole round and my boss along with a couple of others opt to play the front nine.  I was asked if I wanted to join and I thought why not - it was that or either go back to the hotel and be bored.  Mind you, I was almost illiterate when it came to what’s in the bag.  After the first couple of holes, the best player leans over and says, “If you want to play off my tee shot that is okay” as we were playing stroke play..  I tell him that I want to play my tee and he tells me to use the 3 wood as it will get the ball airborne easier (1st lesson).  I am off and running.  At the end of the round, my counterpart from a sister facility looks at me and says, “You’ve learned more in nine holes than most will in a lifetime.”  I opted to "retire" while on top, until 2016...
    Fast forward to 2016 and while I remember the round, golf is not a table item as I am into riding motorcycles. 
    That changes in June that year as I get hit by a car that results in my left foot being degloved and I wind up as a trans-metatarsal amputee (no toes on the left foot, grafted skin from my left thigh to cover the wound). I tell folks I can only count to fifteen these days.😃  After learning to walk, I need a new hobby and our church men’s group is starting a once a month super-ball scramble.  I'm asked to join and I still have those old “real wood” Spalding woods, MacGregor blades and Spalding putter from the set gifted to me in the late 90’s.  My son and I tag along and the rest is history.  I get the golf bug and pick some newer “used” clubs, this time a full set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots (pat pend).  Likewise I pick a TaylorMade R580 driver and fairway woods and start practicing in earnest, learning to get the weight forward in a way that my rebuilt foot does not hurt too much. It has been a journey of first times, like when I got that first birdie, broke 100, broke 90, got to 80 (still haven’t broken it), had as few as 29 putts, holed out from off the green - several times.  The biggest joy is that my bride of 22 years has joined me from time to time (her game is no where as serious - she will tee off, pick the ball up and then drop on the green to putt out - very simple game that does not need wedges or approach play)...
    a 7 yr old grandson who lives to play the game and his dad who is my regular golf partner (Yes, that's him dragging his plastic clubs a 4yrs old as my avatar).

    As noted my current game has me bouncing between 13 and 15 handicap.  I have learned the value of up and down for par - hence my wedge game has been a key focus point in my daily drills at home.  That is why I am super stoked about the Indi Golf wedge test! 
    The Personal Questions
    What region do you play out of?  As noted I live in Eastern, NC and have access to a variety of course conditions from sandy soil to hard pan to mucky sod.  That’s just on the one primary course I play, which is where the majority of my testing will likely happen. 
    How long have you been golfing?  Just over six years since I picked up the game to help rehab my foot and to have a way to be outside much like I was when riding bikes.  The rehab was to help teach my body to increase stability in that foot as well. 
    What kind of golfer are you?  Pretty well self-taught through countless on-line YouTube videos, getting a couple of impromptu lessons from the course pros, a lot of from works such as Hogan’s Five Lessons to Nicklaus’ Golf My Way to current golf writers. I am an all weather golfer so its a year-round thing (which is pretty well afforded here in Eastern NC) where playing in the cold may mean waiting for the greens to thaw, in the heat (lots of water intake)…it does not matter which means I am looking forward to see how these wedges spin, spin, spin in the varied climate and topography they will see. With a handicap that hovers in the 13-15 range, I “average” around 28% GIR.  This means I do a lot of up-and-down work to try to save par, but also know that bogie is a real possibility.  When it comes to wedges, they are my lifeblood around the green.  I live for moments like this....
    The Golf Questions
    How do you want to test this product?  In as many and varied situations as possible.  I want to see how these work when there is a carry over a greenside bunker with a short side pin.  How they work when the ground is soggy and the ball is partially plugged (and there are no preferred lies).  When the grass is deeper and we are chopping out.  Of course in the sand - fluffy to supersaturated post rainfall sand….
    What are your plans for the review and comparisons?  I will be doing initial testing here at home in my backyard as I have three “pins” set up to where I can hit anywhere from 5 to 35 yd shots in varied grass conditions. This is something I work on several times a week.  Likewise at the course for easy pitches onto the putting green and on course testing - my plan there is to take out several longer clubs and run double wedges (the Indi’s and my current go to, Cleveland CBX’s). 
    "Yes, I am a Pirate (ECU that is).  200 years too late.  The cannons don't thunder....." (Jimmy Buffet moment there)   I don’t have ready access to a launch monitor bay, so I will need to be investing in a personal launch monitor over the course of this test to get some spin numbers that are more that just "I think it spins more!".    
    What will make this product stay with you after testing?  Accuracy, predictability and playability.  I am looking for wedges that will hit and hold even when the greens are firm.  I want to know that a ½ or ¾ swing with the 54 will land at a given distance day in and day out  (whether its on line or not is a different story (user error?))  IF these can do that, they will be my number 1 wedges for the foreseeable future. Also in the long term, I want to see how they hold up, does the spin go away quickly? 
    Why are you excited about testing this product? I love playing what everyone else isn’t.  When I happened onto Rick Shiels review of these wedges (YoutTube link), I thought that would be a cool wedge to try.  So when MGS announced, I put my hat into the ring.  This is my first test for the community and and excited to see if I can shed some light that will help others in their search for the better wedge for their game.  
    What do you know about the product already? Only what I saw in Shiels’ video:
    They look impressive.  
    What are your expectations?  While "To be impressed" and "To be inspired" are pat answers, I am really looking to see if these offer the feel, touch, precision that is needed for wedge play to effectively lower my score by giving better up-and-downs when short of the green, accurate approaches when on 5’s to make GIR, to hit the number consistently.  Oh yes, to see that ball hit past the flag and then 180 back into the cup...yes, gotta make the ball spin!   
    Virtual Fitting 
    Last Thursday while on a Dairy Queen run with the missus and the grandkids, I get a call from Zane at Indi about doing the virtual fitting.  That was quick as I had sent my completed questionnaire along with a supplemental email to them the evening before.  Good thing - I'm East coast, they're West coast so the 3hr time differential paid off.  We get to talking about my game in a little more detail and I tell him about seeing Shiels' video.  Long story short after a couple of clarifications we come up with the following: 
    50deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce w/Recoil F3 Regular 820 graphite shaft and conforming grooves, standard lie.  54deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs same as the 50.   58deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs as the 50 and 54.  As I play composite shafts through the bag (except the putter), we agreed the Recoil shafts would be a good fit.  Told him I really like the Recoils and have a couple of old Eye 2's that are fitted with them.  Hmmmm - maybe an Eye 2 eye comparison as part of the test?  Going to be fun! 
    Unboxing/First Impressions 
    Today (Aug 2nd) was delivery day....whoo hoo.  Was in the backyard when I saw the truck....

    Met the driver in the front yard and with glee took the package as smooth as a wedge gliding under a ball that is riding the fairway carpet....

    I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was not a guitar case like Rick Shiels got when his arrived, oh well I am not a YouTube celeb....still when I opened the package the clubs were sealed in a singular bag, the heads shrink sealed and covered with bubble wrap.  The goodies included a neat tee shirt, hat, coozie, divot tool....
     
    Enough on the goodies, which are kewl.  The clubs themselves are flawless in terms of how they look.  No signs of excess glue from the assembly, the Golf Pride MC4 "midsize" grips are straight and true (and fit pretty well in the old hands as well)...

    Dying to try them out as I was curious how they would interact with my swing.  Pulled the shrink off the 54deg and hit a few easy pitches in the backyard.  The first thing I notice is that they are "lighter" in feel than my current wedges - Cleveland CBX's.  It was not what I was expecting as they are very "Vokey" in appearance, so I was anticipated the heft that I tend to associate with them.  It just means they will take a little getting used to.  Speaking of "Vokey", these sit behind the ball in a very "Vokey" manner - inspiring confidence!   
    I spent a few moments introducing the old wedges to the new wedges before we (my son and grandson) were off to play a quick 18 today....

    So first impressions are that these are really well built wedges that I am going to look forward to testing.  Much more to come, hopefully a few very spinny shots!  Till later, Willie T
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS (con’t) 
    Indi states they are the “kings of spin” and I can say these clubs scream “we’ll be your spin doctor!”   As one who has never really been a spinner of the ball (talking the kind of spin that sends the ball back down the green on a tear), I am excited to see if they spin to the point that it is a confident stop and check no matter the green conditions.  For comparison, the CBX’s being somewhat worn don’t check and hold so this should be a big differentiator.  We’ll see. 
    I do want to spend a moment on the grips, I don’t recall if I specified Mid-size grips or not, but the wedges came with Golf Price MCC4’s.  I have played midsize in the past but had recently been in a standard size grip mode so they will take/took a little getting used to. 
    OVERALL Rating (19 of 20) 
    Aesthetics (8 out of 10)
    For me, looks wise, the clubs exude class from top to bottom!  I love it when clubs are understated and look purposeful.  These wedges deliver that look and then some. 
    My initial thoughts were that the full face grooves would be somewhat distracting.  The opposite was/is true as they are actually very pleasing to my eye.  I found that the vertical edge of the grooves (hosel side) made a great reference to help “center” the ball on the face.  I found that I could have the inside edge of the ball along the vertical edge and would be pretty well centered.  
    Speaking of the face, it is similar in size to the CBX’s and sits very well behind the ball.   
    The wedges each have the same degree of bounce (10 for the FLX S’s) and that makes for a consistent feel across all when engaging the bounce.  It helped in my learning curve on how the wedges would react - as they all bounced the same.  
    The sole of the FLX wedges remind me of my old Vokey Design 254-10 Sand Wedge that I still love to hit.  Conversely as seen in the “get to know” wedge pictures of all the wedges you can see the marked difference in the soles of the Cleveland CBX’s and the Indi’s.  
    Mine are fitted with Recoil shafts as I play composite shafts in my irons.  An added bonus is that I am already familiar with Recoils as I outfitted a couple of my old Eye2’s with an earlier version and love them.
    A pretty club is one thing, but if it sounds harsh, stings like an angry bee on miss hits or refuses to cooperate, it is nothing more than a good corner ornament testimony to what might have been!  What about these Indi wedges? Are they another pretty face or something better like good looks that delivers, kinda like Susan Tedeschi and her mad guitar/vocal skills.  
    First swing impressions - the ball pops off the face with a smooth crispness I never had with the CBX’s.  Even slightly off center hits are quite pleasing to the ear.  It is a sound that inspires my new favorite word for these wedges, confidence.  It’s like when you strike the ball, the sound lets you know it’s not a flier but much rather a ball headed to your target point.  
     
    You hear that crispness - from the rough, from the fairway, from the sand.  
    Overall rating (8 out of 10)
    THE NUMBERS (8 out of 10)
    I really wanted to get on a Trackman or similar device but the closest place that had one available to “rent” was over an hour and half away (each way) and required a minimum of a month’s membership and you could only book one hour time slots.  As such I did not get any hard numbers on whether Indi wedges more than what the CBX’s do on the machine.  HOWEVER, I did put them through several rounds of side by side comparison of current wedges (old CBX 50-54-58 as well as new CBX 52-56-60 (had literally just updated when I learned I was to be a tester) vs the Indi’s.  So let’s break down my observations: 
    Accuracy  - In the course of testing I kept seeing the same thing over and over - consistently accurate!  It did not matter if it was the 50, 54 or 58.  More than once the ball flight looked to be  a certain hole out off the green!  Did not get one, but I got close several times.  The closest I came was when I hit the 54 to 3” of the hole from 30yds out.  Ball checked to 18” past the hole!  A big plus when working on those ups and downs, pretty much my green side game.  Distance - This was a big learning curve as these wedges fly!  I found that I could swing easier, make solid contact and the ball was going to go where I needed it to be except farther.  Most wedge shots are not full swings and I found that these wedges were easy to learn how to swing to get a given distance.  It took practice in the backyard with each wedge to given distances, but after several sessions the distances were dialing in to where I knew a given swing with a given loft gave an accurate distance.  That is that confidence thing again!  Trajectory - Lower overall flight.  I found shot trajectories are more controlled with these over the CBX’s, which are meant to help folks get their wedge shots in the air.  I really love how a simple adjustment of ball placement took the ball from high arching to low and spinny.  And to see the ball really grab on those low ones to release and gently roll out on hard greens, just meant one thing - more confidence. Control and Workability - I am putting these together as after the first day or so, I was seeing that I could flight it low, high, open the face - do whatever with confidence that the ball was going within 95% of where I was planning.  There were the occasional miscues, total operator error, as the clubs can only do what is asked.  I found that these work well in sand without opening the face too much as the clubs inspired me to just hit the ball.  Best example - par 3 12 at my home course I am in the greenside bunker.  Set up with the 54 and figure I want to carry about 5 yds onto the green and let it release to the flag.  Ball comes out, about 3’ high and spinning up a storm.  It lands, checks and rolls to 3’ from the hole for an easy par.   One thing I have not noted was that I used the same ball through the main portions of the test, i.e. Pro V-1.  I did do a few holes with others (Callaway Super Soft, Maxfli Tour, Titleist Tour Speed, WIlson Duo Soft, Bridgestone e12, etc.), and found that the clubs worked well with those as well.  
    Overall rating  (8  out of 10)
    ON-COURSE  (17 out of 20)
    With a total of 10 rounds including several where I focused on side by side comparisons with the CBX’s and one where I had just the wedges, a 7i, 5i and 5w plus almost daily workouts in the backyard, I developed a comfort with these wedges to where they became more and more predictable day in day out.  In the vlog I did,
    I talk about what I am seeing and how the wedges are working.  
    Varied Lies drill: I played these from tight lies (can you say almost hard pan), hard pan, fairway fluff, slight rough (2”), fluff sand and wet sand, wet early morning grass and mud!  How did they perform in the given lies?  From the tightest of lies, hard pan, the club picked the ball and sent it on its way.  At the opposite end, the rough posed no real problems as the club would slice through and free the ball.  Fairway lies were a dream.  To push the clubs, I even tried to figure ways to hit from awkward spots like the side of a pond in tall weeds and gravelly soil (insert photo).   That is not to say every shot was good or great, there were some bad shots.  However it was always “operator error” from me overthinking and not being confident in the process.   Stripped down bag drill:  The round with the 5w, 5i, 7i and Indi wedges proved that you don’t need a full bag to shoot a decent round.  The 50 worked well on the longer approaches while the 54 and 58 took care of greenside.   No GIRs drill:  The toughest test was playing to not have any GIR, even hitting par 3’s short.  This put a wedge in play on all 18 holes.   A hard test that went against scoring low but also built confidence in each club that proved that you can rely on these clubs on getting up and down when you do miss a green in regulation.    3 Wedge drill: This was one of the early tests.  I set up the bag with 3 sets of wedges (CBX - 50, 54, 58 (old - no sharpie dot), CBX - 52, 56, 60 (newer - red sharpie  dot), INDI - 50, 54-58 (green sharpie dot).  All had new ProV1's assigned (5 w/red dots, 5 w/green dots and 5 plain).  The drill was simple - if it was greenside up and down, I would hit five shots each with the 58's & 60 and eval proximity to hole (target),  longer wedge in would be the 50's & 52 - same goal, at the beach - the 54's & 56.  End result - the INDI's were the most accurate as they checked and stopped more readily, followed by the new CBX's (which did not hold as well as the INDI's) and lastly the old familiar CBX's that had substantially more roll out (which I had grown to accept and had learned to hit and allow for such).  THIS IS DEFINITELY A SLOW COURSE TIME DRILL!   The big downside in my testing was getting used to the turf interaction as opposed to how the CBX's had performed. I that in the first few holes where I was playing both the CBX’s and the Indi’s, the same angle of attack made for some chunky Indi’s. Yet, once I spent time just working on feeling the bounce the chunky monkey beaver tails went away.  While my overall scores remained consistent, I attribute much of that to the deliberate placing of myself in precarious shots that do not lend to better scores.  I wanted to work on being in trouble, not GIR - the things the average Joe or Jen golfer sees.  These wedges inspire you to take on those situations and do well! 
    INDI Golf is one of the new kids in town and I was delighted to be part of this test.  As a newbie tester with a set of virtually fitted wedges, the guys at INDI did well.  So much so, I am seriously considering trying one of their putters this time on my dime.  I  love that companies such as INDI are making quality gear that allows the golfer who is not necessarily brand fixated have access to quality gear at competitive pricing.  I will be curious to see what INDI does next - will they go grind crazy like the big guys or stick to their model.  I want to reinforce my thoughts that I love the full face grooves, the simplified sole design, great shaft options - those may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it provides a smooth brew for this golfer!  
    Overall rating (17 out of 20)
    THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE INBETWEEN (18 out of 20)
    The good starts with how I keep saying “confidence” or a derivative of that word, but that is what I want to write home and tell everyone about in these wedges.  In the course of testing I went from these are fun to I want to go pin hunting when wedging in!   I go back to the wedges all having the same sole design and bounce to promote consistency across the group.  I am reminded that this concept is something one may see with one length irons.  Anyway, they really work for me in this area. This led me to seeing a predictable consistency in shot shape, distance and overall accuracy.  It became a matter of what is the distance to the pin, okay that is ___ wedge.  ½, ¾ shots were super predictable as well.  I found the wedges very balanced almost to where I could not feel the head weight when swining. Others in the test noted the opposite that the clubs felt heavy. Its a matter of what your used to.     
    The inbetween probably lies in two areas.  How much will spin decrease and will it be a rapid drop off or a slight taper over time.  This remains to be seen.  The second is purely overall aesthics, while I love them, I am thinking some may be put off by the lack of glitz and glamor or more importantly big name notoriety,  as they look like something that one might see at a box store.
    The only bad that I could see is the "lack of grind options".  While these are two grind deal, one can easliy adjust their game and have good success.  The FLX grind really is a do all workhorse.  Grantled I was used to the CBX’s and their grind, very similar to the ATK’s, I believe INDI onto being wonderfully simple - pickers (small divots) just need to go FLX, digging for dollars divots just go ATK. 
    Overall rating (18 out of 20)
    PLAY IT or TRADE IT (20 out of 20)
    Play - play - play.  These wedges offer a level of comfort and confidence that I have never really enjoyed with other wedges, the closest being the old Vokey Design 254-10.   Given that I am looking forward to seeing how they do this winter as I play year round here in Eastern NC.  It will be good to report on how wedge life happens when the elements are less than optimal.  
    Overall rating (20 out of 20)
    CONCLUSION
    Again I want to thank the MGS mods for selecting me to be part of this test.  To be a newbie who gets to test these wedges was an honor and privilege.  My overall consensus of the INDI wedges is that they do deliver the spin to stop the ball on the green, they cut through the rough like a sling blade to lift the ball to freedom and are perfect to deliver balls from the beach!   For someone looking for a great wedge that is not flashy, that doesn’t bury you in a myriad of sole grinds, that is super reasonable in cost - the guys at INDI can be that one stop shop.  
    FINAL SCORE (90 out of a 100)
     
     



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    Willie T got a reaction from BallsLeon in Best value golf ball?   
    Just for kicks, broke out a sleeve of Srixion Soft Feel for the round Saturday afternoon with my son and grandson.  Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the humidity but I felt like I was a club to a club and a half short all day.  The ball just seemed to rise and die.   Anyway, they won't be part of the upcoming wedge testing with the Indi wedges....
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    Willie T got a reaction from BallsLeon in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Indi Golf Wedges - Forum Review by Willie T
    Intro- 
    Well hello, MGS Community!  My name is Willie Tyndall (aka @Willie T on the forum pages). I am a newbie to the testing community as I am a first time tester but a member since 2019.  I am excited and thankful to be chosen for this wedge review with the Indi Golf wedges.  But before I get too far into that story let’s set the table so to speak on what brought my journey in golf to this point in time.  I have always been a person who loves the outdoors.  I grew up here in Eastern NC, which meant I had ample time to hunt, fish, play baseball and all the other things a kid of the ‘60s would have enjoyed.  Yes, that means I will be 64 in a couple of weeks!  
    So how does a kid who does everything but golf get into the game?  I grew up watching some golf on TV, seeing Trevino, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Seve’, etc. make their way around the course. Anyone remember the old “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” TV series (still watch one now and again on YouTube)   But it was not a game within reach as my parents were not country club folk.  Fast forward to my working career in procurement for a chemical processing facility and the invitation in 2009 to play in a 9-hole Super-Ball team building exercise.  I was to just fill the “D” slot and not much more.  We finish the 9-hole round and my boss along with a couple of others opt to play the front nine.  I was asked if I wanted to join and I thought why not - it was that or either go back to the hotel and be bored.  Mind you, I was almost illiterate when it came to what’s in the bag.  After the first couple of holes, the best player leans over and says, “If you want to play off my tee shot that is okay” as we were playing stroke play..  I tell him that I want to play my tee and he tells me to use the 3 wood as it will get the ball airborne easier (1st lesson).  I am off and running.  At the end of the round, my counterpart from a sister facility looks at me and says, “You’ve learned more in nine holes than most will in a lifetime.”  I opted to "retire" while on top, until 2016...
    Fast forward to 2016 and while I remember the round, golf is not a table item as I am into riding motorcycles. 
    That changes in June that year as I get hit by a car that results in my left foot being degloved and I wind up as a trans-metatarsal amputee (no toes on the left foot, grafted skin from my left thigh to cover the wound). I tell folks I can only count to fifteen these days.😃  After learning to walk, I need a new hobby and our church men’s group is starting a once a month super-ball scramble.  I'm asked to join and I still have those old “real wood” Spalding woods, MacGregor blades and Spalding putter from the set gifted to me in the late 90’s.  My son and I tag along and the rest is history.  I get the golf bug and pick some newer “used” clubs, this time a full set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots (pat pend).  Likewise I pick a TaylorMade R580 driver and fairway woods and start practicing in earnest, learning to get the weight forward in a way that my rebuilt foot does not hurt too much. It has been a journey of first times, like when I got that first birdie, broke 100, broke 90, got to 80 (still haven’t broken it), had as few as 29 putts, holed out from off the green - several times.  The biggest joy is that my bride of 22 years has joined me from time to time (her game is no where as serious - she will tee off, pick the ball up and then drop on the green to putt out - very simple game that does not need wedges or approach play)...
    a 7 yr old grandson who lives to play the game and his dad who is my regular golf partner (Yes, that's him dragging his plastic clubs a 4yrs old as my avatar).

    As noted my current game has me bouncing between 13 and 15 handicap.  I have learned the value of up and down for par - hence my wedge game has been a key focus point in my daily drills at home.  That is why I am super stoked about the Indi Golf wedge test! 
    The Personal Questions
    What region do you play out of?  As noted I live in Eastern, NC and have access to a variety of course conditions from sandy soil to hard pan to mucky sod.  That’s just on the one primary course I play, which is where the majority of my testing will likely happen. 
    How long have you been golfing?  Just over six years since I picked up the game to help rehab my foot and to have a way to be outside much like I was when riding bikes.  The rehab was to help teach my body to increase stability in that foot as well. 
    What kind of golfer are you?  Pretty well self-taught through countless on-line YouTube videos, getting a couple of impromptu lessons from the course pros, a lot of from works such as Hogan’s Five Lessons to Nicklaus’ Golf My Way to current golf writers. I am an all weather golfer so its a year-round thing (which is pretty well afforded here in Eastern NC) where playing in the cold may mean waiting for the greens to thaw, in the heat (lots of water intake)…it does not matter which means I am looking forward to see how these wedges spin, spin, spin in the varied climate and topography they will see. With a handicap that hovers in the 13-15 range, I “average” around 28% GIR.  This means I do a lot of up-and-down work to try to save par, but also know that bogie is a real possibility.  When it comes to wedges, they are my lifeblood around the green.  I live for moments like this....
    The Golf Questions
    How do you want to test this product?  In as many and varied situations as possible.  I want to see how these work when there is a carry over a greenside bunker with a short side pin.  How they work when the ground is soggy and the ball is partially plugged (and there are no preferred lies).  When the grass is deeper and we are chopping out.  Of course in the sand - fluffy to supersaturated post rainfall sand….
    What are your plans for the review and comparisons?  I will be doing initial testing here at home in my backyard as I have three “pins” set up to where I can hit anywhere from 5 to 35 yd shots in varied grass conditions. This is something I work on several times a week.  Likewise at the course for easy pitches onto the putting green and on course testing - my plan there is to take out several longer clubs and run double wedges (the Indi’s and my current go to, Cleveland CBX’s). 
    "Yes, I am a Pirate (ECU that is).  200 years too late.  The cannons don't thunder....." (Jimmy Buffet moment there)   I don’t have ready access to a launch monitor bay, so I will need to be investing in a personal launch monitor over the course of this test to get some spin numbers that are more that just "I think it spins more!".    
    What will make this product stay with you after testing?  Accuracy, predictability and playability.  I am looking for wedges that will hit and hold even when the greens are firm.  I want to know that a ½ or ¾ swing with the 54 will land at a given distance day in and day out  (whether its on line or not is a different story (user error?))  IF these can do that, they will be my number 1 wedges for the foreseeable future. Also in the long term, I want to see how they hold up, does the spin go away quickly? 
    Why are you excited about testing this product? I love playing what everyone else isn’t.  When I happened onto Rick Shiels review of these wedges (YoutTube link), I thought that would be a cool wedge to try.  So when MGS announced, I put my hat into the ring.  This is my first test for the community and and excited to see if I can shed some light that will help others in their search for the better wedge for their game.  
    What do you know about the product already? Only what I saw in Shiels’ video:
    They look impressive.  
    What are your expectations?  While "To be impressed" and "To be inspired" are pat answers, I am really looking to see if these offer the feel, touch, precision that is needed for wedge play to effectively lower my score by giving better up-and-downs when short of the green, accurate approaches when on 5’s to make GIR, to hit the number consistently.  Oh yes, to see that ball hit past the flag and then 180 back into the cup...yes, gotta make the ball spin!   
    Virtual Fitting 
    Last Thursday while on a Dairy Queen run with the missus and the grandkids, I get a call from Zane at Indi about doing the virtual fitting.  That was quick as I had sent my completed questionnaire along with a supplemental email to them the evening before.  Good thing - I'm East coast, they're West coast so the 3hr time differential paid off.  We get to talking about my game in a little more detail and I tell him about seeing Shiels' video.  Long story short after a couple of clarifications we come up with the following: 
    50deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce w/Recoil F3 Regular 820 graphite shaft and conforming grooves, standard lie.  54deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs same as the 50.   58deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs as the 50 and 54.  As I play composite shafts through the bag (except the putter), we agreed the Recoil shafts would be a good fit.  Told him I really like the Recoils and have a couple of old Eye 2's that are fitted with them.  Hmmmm - maybe an Eye 2 eye comparison as part of the test?  Going to be fun! 
    Unboxing/First Impressions 
    Today (Aug 2nd) was delivery day....whoo hoo.  Was in the backyard when I saw the truck....

    Met the driver in the front yard and with glee took the package as smooth as a wedge gliding under a ball that is riding the fairway carpet....

    I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was not a guitar case like Rick Shiels got when his arrived, oh well I am not a YouTube celeb....still when I opened the package the clubs were sealed in a singular bag, the heads shrink sealed and covered with bubble wrap.  The goodies included a neat tee shirt, hat, coozie, divot tool....
     
    Enough on the goodies, which are kewl.  The clubs themselves are flawless in terms of how they look.  No signs of excess glue from the assembly, the Golf Pride MC4 "midsize" grips are straight and true (and fit pretty well in the old hands as well)...

    Dying to try them out as I was curious how they would interact with my swing.  Pulled the shrink off the 54deg and hit a few easy pitches in the backyard.  The first thing I notice is that they are "lighter" in feel than my current wedges - Cleveland CBX's.  It was not what I was expecting as they are very "Vokey" in appearance, so I was anticipated the heft that I tend to associate with them.  It just means they will take a little getting used to.  Speaking of "Vokey", these sit behind the ball in a very "Vokey" manner - inspiring confidence!   
    I spent a few moments introducing the old wedges to the new wedges before we (my son and grandson) were off to play a quick 18 today....

    So first impressions are that these are really well built wedges that I am going to look forward to testing.  Much more to come, hopefully a few very spinny shots!  Till later, Willie T
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS (con’t) 
    Indi states they are the “kings of spin” and I can say these clubs scream “we’ll be your spin doctor!”   As one who has never really been a spinner of the ball (talking the kind of spin that sends the ball back down the green on a tear), I am excited to see if they spin to the point that it is a confident stop and check no matter the green conditions.  For comparison, the CBX’s being somewhat worn don’t check and hold so this should be a big differentiator.  We’ll see. 
    I do want to spend a moment on the grips, I don’t recall if I specified Mid-size grips or not, but the wedges came with Golf Price MCC4’s.  I have played midsize in the past but had recently been in a standard size grip mode so they will take/took a little getting used to. 
    OVERALL Rating (19 of 20) 
    Aesthetics (8 out of 10)
    For me, looks wise, the clubs exude class from top to bottom!  I love it when clubs are understated and look purposeful.  These wedges deliver that look and then some. 
    My initial thoughts were that the full face grooves would be somewhat distracting.  The opposite was/is true as they are actually very pleasing to my eye.  I found that the vertical edge of the grooves (hosel side) made a great reference to help “center” the ball on the face.  I found that I could have the inside edge of the ball along the vertical edge and would be pretty well centered.  
    Speaking of the face, it is similar in size to the CBX’s and sits very well behind the ball.   
    The wedges each have the same degree of bounce (10 for the FLX S’s) and that makes for a consistent feel across all when engaging the bounce.  It helped in my learning curve on how the wedges would react - as they all bounced the same.  
    The sole of the FLX wedges remind me of my old Vokey Design 254-10 Sand Wedge that I still love to hit.  Conversely as seen in the “get to know” wedge pictures of all the wedges you can see the marked difference in the soles of the Cleveland CBX’s and the Indi’s.  
    Mine are fitted with Recoil shafts as I play composite shafts in my irons.  An added bonus is that I am already familiar with Recoils as I outfitted a couple of my old Eye2’s with an earlier version and love them.
    A pretty club is one thing, but if it sounds harsh, stings like an angry bee on miss hits or refuses to cooperate, it is nothing more than a good corner ornament testimony to what might have been!  What about these Indi wedges? Are they another pretty face or something better like good looks that delivers, kinda like Susan Tedeschi and her mad guitar/vocal skills.  
    First swing impressions - the ball pops off the face with a smooth crispness I never had with the CBX’s.  Even slightly off center hits are quite pleasing to the ear.  It is a sound that inspires my new favorite word for these wedges, confidence.  It’s like when you strike the ball, the sound lets you know it’s not a flier but much rather a ball headed to your target point.  
     
    You hear that crispness - from the rough, from the fairway, from the sand.  
    Overall rating (8 out of 10)
    THE NUMBERS (8 out of 10)
    I really wanted to get on a Trackman or similar device but the closest place that had one available to “rent” was over an hour and half away (each way) and required a minimum of a month’s membership and you could only book one hour time slots.  As such I did not get any hard numbers on whether Indi wedges more than what the CBX’s do on the machine.  HOWEVER, I did put them through several rounds of side by side comparison of current wedges (old CBX 50-54-58 as well as new CBX 52-56-60 (had literally just updated when I learned I was to be a tester) vs the Indi’s.  So let’s break down my observations: 
    Accuracy  - In the course of testing I kept seeing the same thing over and over - consistently accurate!  It did not matter if it was the 50, 54 or 58.  More than once the ball flight looked to be  a certain hole out off the green!  Did not get one, but I got close several times.  The closest I came was when I hit the 54 to 3” of the hole from 30yds out.  Ball checked to 18” past the hole!  A big plus when working on those ups and downs, pretty much my green side game.  Distance - This was a big learning curve as these wedges fly!  I found that I could swing easier, make solid contact and the ball was going to go where I needed it to be except farther.  Most wedge shots are not full swings and I found that these wedges were easy to learn how to swing to get a given distance.  It took practice in the backyard with each wedge to given distances, but after several sessions the distances were dialing in to where I knew a given swing with a given loft gave an accurate distance.  That is that confidence thing again!  Trajectory - Lower overall flight.  I found shot trajectories are more controlled with these over the CBX’s, which are meant to help folks get their wedge shots in the air.  I really love how a simple adjustment of ball placement took the ball from high arching to low and spinny.  And to see the ball really grab on those low ones to release and gently roll out on hard greens, just meant one thing - more confidence. Control and Workability - I am putting these together as after the first day or so, I was seeing that I could flight it low, high, open the face - do whatever with confidence that the ball was going within 95% of where I was planning.  There were the occasional miscues, total operator error, as the clubs can only do what is asked.  I found that these work well in sand without opening the face too much as the clubs inspired me to just hit the ball.  Best example - par 3 12 at my home course I am in the greenside bunker.  Set up with the 54 and figure I want to carry about 5 yds onto the green and let it release to the flag.  Ball comes out, about 3’ high and spinning up a storm.  It lands, checks and rolls to 3’ from the hole for an easy par.   One thing I have not noted was that I used the same ball through the main portions of the test, i.e. Pro V-1.  I did do a few holes with others (Callaway Super Soft, Maxfli Tour, Titleist Tour Speed, WIlson Duo Soft, Bridgestone e12, etc.), and found that the clubs worked well with those as well.  
    Overall rating  (8  out of 10)
    ON-COURSE  (17 out of 20)
    With a total of 10 rounds including several where I focused on side by side comparisons with the CBX’s and one where I had just the wedges, a 7i, 5i and 5w plus almost daily workouts in the backyard, I developed a comfort with these wedges to where they became more and more predictable day in day out.  In the vlog I did,
    I talk about what I am seeing and how the wedges are working.  
    Varied Lies drill: I played these from tight lies (can you say almost hard pan), hard pan, fairway fluff, slight rough (2”), fluff sand and wet sand, wet early morning grass and mud!  How did they perform in the given lies?  From the tightest of lies, hard pan, the club picked the ball and sent it on its way.  At the opposite end, the rough posed no real problems as the club would slice through and free the ball.  Fairway lies were a dream.  To push the clubs, I even tried to figure ways to hit from awkward spots like the side of a pond in tall weeds and gravelly soil (insert photo).   That is not to say every shot was good or great, there were some bad shots.  However it was always “operator error” from me overthinking and not being confident in the process.   Stripped down bag drill:  The round with the 5w, 5i, 7i and Indi wedges proved that you don’t need a full bag to shoot a decent round.  The 50 worked well on the longer approaches while the 54 and 58 took care of greenside.   No GIRs drill:  The toughest test was playing to not have any GIR, even hitting par 3’s short.  This put a wedge in play on all 18 holes.   A hard test that went against scoring low but also built confidence in each club that proved that you can rely on these clubs on getting up and down when you do miss a green in regulation.    3 Wedge drill: This was one of the early tests.  I set up the bag with 3 sets of wedges (CBX - 50, 54, 58 (old - no sharpie dot), CBX - 52, 56, 60 (newer - red sharpie  dot), INDI - 50, 54-58 (green sharpie dot).  All had new ProV1's assigned (5 w/red dots, 5 w/green dots and 5 plain).  The drill was simple - if it was greenside up and down, I would hit five shots each with the 58's & 60 and eval proximity to hole (target),  longer wedge in would be the 50's & 52 - same goal, at the beach - the 54's & 56.  End result - the INDI's were the most accurate as they checked and stopped more readily, followed by the new CBX's (which did not hold as well as the INDI's) and lastly the old familiar CBX's that had substantially more roll out (which I had grown to accept and had learned to hit and allow for such).  THIS IS DEFINITELY A SLOW COURSE TIME DRILL!   The big downside in my testing was getting used to the turf interaction as opposed to how the CBX's had performed. I that in the first few holes where I was playing both the CBX’s and the Indi’s, the same angle of attack made for some chunky Indi’s. Yet, once I spent time just working on feeling the bounce the chunky monkey beaver tails went away.  While my overall scores remained consistent, I attribute much of that to the deliberate placing of myself in precarious shots that do not lend to better scores.  I wanted to work on being in trouble, not GIR - the things the average Joe or Jen golfer sees.  These wedges inspire you to take on those situations and do well! 
    INDI Golf is one of the new kids in town and I was delighted to be part of this test.  As a newbie tester with a set of virtually fitted wedges, the guys at INDI did well.  So much so, I am seriously considering trying one of their putters this time on my dime.  I  love that companies such as INDI are making quality gear that allows the golfer who is not necessarily brand fixated have access to quality gear at competitive pricing.  I will be curious to see what INDI does next - will they go grind crazy like the big guys or stick to their model.  I want to reinforce my thoughts that I love the full face grooves, the simplified sole design, great shaft options - those may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it provides a smooth brew for this golfer!  
    Overall rating (17 out of 20)
    THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE INBETWEEN (18 out of 20)
    The good starts with how I keep saying “confidence” or a derivative of that word, but that is what I want to write home and tell everyone about in these wedges.  In the course of testing I went from these are fun to I want to go pin hunting when wedging in!   I go back to the wedges all having the same sole design and bounce to promote consistency across the group.  I am reminded that this concept is something one may see with one length irons.  Anyway, they really work for me in this area. This led me to seeing a predictable consistency in shot shape, distance and overall accuracy.  It became a matter of what is the distance to the pin, okay that is ___ wedge.  ½, ¾ shots were super predictable as well.  I found the wedges very balanced almost to where I could not feel the head weight when swining. Others in the test noted the opposite that the clubs felt heavy. Its a matter of what your used to.     
    The inbetween probably lies in two areas.  How much will spin decrease and will it be a rapid drop off or a slight taper over time.  This remains to be seen.  The second is purely overall aesthics, while I love them, I am thinking some may be put off by the lack of glitz and glamor or more importantly big name notoriety,  as they look like something that one might see at a box store.
    The only bad that I could see is the "lack of grind options".  While these are two grind deal, one can easliy adjust their game and have good success.  The FLX grind really is a do all workhorse.  Grantled I was used to the CBX’s and their grind, very similar to the ATK’s, I believe INDI onto being wonderfully simple - pickers (small divots) just need to go FLX, digging for dollars divots just go ATK. 
    Overall rating (18 out of 20)
    PLAY IT or TRADE IT (20 out of 20)
    Play - play - play.  These wedges offer a level of comfort and confidence that I have never really enjoyed with other wedges, the closest being the old Vokey Design 254-10.   Given that I am looking forward to seeing how they do this winter as I play year round here in Eastern NC.  It will be good to report on how wedge life happens when the elements are less than optimal.  
    Overall rating (20 out of 20)
    CONCLUSION
    Again I want to thank the MGS mods for selecting me to be part of this test.  To be a newbie who gets to test these wedges was an honor and privilege.  My overall consensus of the INDI wedges is that they do deliver the spin to stop the ball on the green, they cut through the rough like a sling blade to lift the ball to freedom and are perfect to deliver balls from the beach!   For someone looking for a great wedge that is not flashy, that doesn’t bury you in a myriad of sole grinds, that is super reasonable in cost - the guys at INDI can be that one stop shop.  
    FINAL SCORE (90 out of a 100)
     
     



  10. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from GregB135 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Introduction uploaded.... I will be updating this later today as I've already done the virtual fitting and the clubs are to be here this week, per the UPS tracking......
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    Willie T got a reaction from GolfSpy_BEN in Best value golf ball?   
    Just for kicks, broke out a sleeve of Srixion Soft Feel for the round Saturday afternoon with my son and grandson.  Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the humidity but I felt like I was a club to a club and a half short all day.  The ball just seemed to rise and die.   Anyway, they won't be part of the upcoming wedge testing with the Indi wedges....
  12. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Woody83 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Introduction uploaded.... I will be updating this later today as I've already done the virtual fitting and the clubs are to be here this week, per the UPS tracking......
  13. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Nunfa0 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Introduction uploaded.... I will be updating this later today as I've already done the virtual fitting and the clubs are to be here this week, per the UPS tracking......
  14. Like
    Willie T reacted to GolfSpy_BEN in Best value golf ball?   
    Maybe, once the official testing is wrapped up. Without stepping on the tester’s toes, I can say I like the ball and would recommend to anyone to give it a try.
  15. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from edingc in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Indi Golf Wedges - Forum Review by Willie T
    Intro- 
    Well hello, MGS Community!  My name is Willie Tyndall (aka @Willie T on the forum pages). I am a newbie to the testing community as I am a first time tester but a member since 2019.  I am excited and thankful to be chosen for this wedge review with the Indi Golf wedges.  But before I get too far into that story let’s set the table so to speak on what brought my journey in golf to this point in time.  I have always been a person who loves the outdoors.  I grew up here in Eastern NC, which meant I had ample time to hunt, fish, play baseball and all the other things a kid of the ‘60s would have enjoyed.  Yes, that means I will be 64 in a couple of weeks!  
    So how does a kid who does everything but golf get into the game?  I grew up watching some golf on TV, seeing Trevino, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Norman, Seve’, etc. make their way around the course. Anyone remember the old “Shell’s Wonderful World of Golf” TV series (still watch one now and again on YouTube)   But it was not a game within reach as my parents were not country club folk.  Fast forward to my working career in procurement for a chemical processing facility and the invitation in 2009 to play in a 9-hole Super-Ball team building exercise.  I was to just fill the “D” slot and not much more.  We finish the 9-hole round and my boss along with a couple of others opt to play the front nine.  I was asked if I wanted to join and I thought why not - it was that or either go back to the hotel and be bored.  Mind you, I was almost illiterate when it came to what’s in the bag.  After the first couple of holes, the best player leans over and says, “If you want to play off my tee shot that is okay” as we were playing stroke play..  I tell him that I want to play my tee and he tells me to use the 3 wood as it will get the ball airborne easier (1st lesson).  I am off and running.  At the end of the round, my counterpart from a sister facility looks at me and says, “You’ve learned more in nine holes than most will in a lifetime.”  I opted to "retire" while on top, until 2016...
    Fast forward to 2016 and while I remember the round, golf is not a table item as I am into riding motorcycles. 
    That changes in June that year as I get hit by a car that results in my left foot being degloved and I wind up as a trans-metatarsal amputee (no toes on the left foot, grafted skin from my left thigh to cover the wound). I tell folks I can only count to fifteen these days.😃  After learning to walk, I need a new hobby and our church men’s group is starting a once a month super-ball scramble.  I'm asked to join and I still have those old “real wood” Spalding woods, MacGregor blades and Spalding putter from the set gifted to me in the late 90’s.  My son and I tag along and the rest is history.  I get the golf bug and pick some newer “used” clubs, this time a full set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots (pat pend).  Likewise I pick a TaylorMade R580 driver and fairway woods and start practicing in earnest, learning to get the weight forward in a way that my rebuilt foot does not hurt too much. It has been a journey of first times, like when I got that first birdie, broke 100, broke 90, got to 80 (still haven’t broken it), had as few as 29 putts, holed out from off the green - several times.  The biggest joy is that my bride of 22 years has joined me from time to time (her game is no where as serious - she will tee off, pick the ball up and then drop on the green to putt out - very simple game that does not need wedges or approach play)...
    a 7 yr old grandson who lives to play the game and his dad who is my regular golf partner (Yes, that's him dragging his plastic clubs a 4yrs old as my avatar).

    As noted my current game has me bouncing between 13 and 15 handicap.  I have learned the value of up and down for par - hence my wedge game has been a key focus point in my daily drills at home.  That is why I am super stoked about the Indi Golf wedge test! 
    The Personal Questions
    What region do you play out of?  As noted I live in Eastern, NC and have access to a variety of course conditions from sandy soil to hard pan to mucky sod.  That’s just on the one primary course I play, which is where the majority of my testing will likely happen. 
    How long have you been golfing?  Just over six years since I picked up the game to help rehab my foot and to have a way to be outside much like I was when riding bikes.  The rehab was to help teach my body to increase stability in that foot as well. 
    What kind of golfer are you?  Pretty well self-taught through countless on-line YouTube videos, getting a couple of impromptu lessons from the course pros, a lot of from works such as Hogan’s Five Lessons to Nicklaus’ Golf My Way to current golf writers. I am an all weather golfer so its a year-round thing (which is pretty well afforded here in Eastern NC) where playing in the cold may mean waiting for the greens to thaw, in the heat (lots of water intake)…it does not matter which means I am looking forward to see how these wedges spin, spin, spin in the varied climate and topography they will see. With a handicap that hovers in the 13-15 range, I “average” around 28% GIR.  This means I do a lot of up-and-down work to try to save par, but also know that bogie is a real possibility.  When it comes to wedges, they are my lifeblood around the green.  I live for moments like this....
    The Golf Questions
    How do you want to test this product?  In as many and varied situations as possible.  I want to see how these work when there is a carry over a greenside bunker with a short side pin.  How they work when the ground is soggy and the ball is partially plugged (and there are no preferred lies).  When the grass is deeper and we are chopping out.  Of course in the sand - fluffy to supersaturated post rainfall sand….
    What are your plans for the review and comparisons?  I will be doing initial testing here at home in my backyard as I have three “pins” set up to where I can hit anywhere from 5 to 35 yd shots in varied grass conditions. This is something I work on several times a week.  Likewise at the course for easy pitches onto the putting green and on course testing - my plan there is to take out several longer clubs and run double wedges (the Indi’s and my current go to, Cleveland CBX’s). 
    "Yes, I am a Pirate (ECU that is).  200 years too late.  The cannons don't thunder....." (Jimmy Buffet moment there)   I don’t have ready access to a launch monitor bay, so I will need to be investing in a personal launch monitor over the course of this test to get some spin numbers that are more that just "I think it spins more!".    
    What will make this product stay with you after testing?  Accuracy, predictability and playability.  I am looking for wedges that will hit and hold even when the greens are firm.  I want to know that a ½ or ¾ swing with the 54 will land at a given distance day in and day out  (whether its on line or not is a different story (user error?))  IF these can do that, they will be my number 1 wedges for the foreseeable future. Also in the long term, I want to see how they hold up, does the spin go away quickly? 
    Why are you excited about testing this product? I love playing what everyone else isn’t.  When I happened onto Rick Shiels review of these wedges (YoutTube link), I thought that would be a cool wedge to try.  So when MGS announced, I put my hat into the ring.  This is my first test for the community and and excited to see if I can shed some light that will help others in their search for the better wedge for their game.  
    What do you know about the product already? Only what I saw in Shiels’ video:
    They look impressive.  
    What are your expectations?  While "To be impressed" and "To be inspired" are pat answers, I am really looking to see if these offer the feel, touch, precision that is needed for wedge play to effectively lower my score by giving better up-and-downs when short of the green, accurate approaches when on 5’s to make GIR, to hit the number consistently.  Oh yes, to see that ball hit past the flag and then 180 back into the cup...yes, gotta make the ball spin!   
    Virtual Fitting 
    Last Thursday while on a Dairy Queen run with the missus and the grandkids, I get a call from Zane at Indi about doing the virtual fitting.  That was quick as I had sent my completed questionnaire along with a supplemental email to them the evening before.  Good thing - I'm East coast, they're West coast so the 3hr time differential paid off.  We get to talking about my game in a little more detail and I tell him about seeing Shiels' video.  Long story short after a couple of clarifications we come up with the following: 
    50deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce w/Recoil F3 Regular 820 graphite shaft and conforming grooves, standard lie.  54deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs same as the 50.   58deg FLX S grind w/10deg bounce balance of specs as the 50 and 54.  As I play composite shafts through the bag (except the putter), we agreed the Recoil shafts would be a good fit.  Told him I really like the Recoils and have a couple of old Eye 2's that are fitted with them.  Hmmmm - maybe an Eye 2 eye comparison as part of the test?  Going to be fun! 
    Unboxing/First Impressions 
    Today (Aug 2nd) was delivery day....whoo hoo.  Was in the backyard when I saw the truck....

    Met the driver in the front yard and with glee took the package as smooth as a wedge gliding under a ball that is riding the fairway carpet....

    I have to admit I was slightly disappointed that it was not a guitar case like Rick Shiels got when his arrived, oh well I am not a YouTube celeb....still when I opened the package the clubs were sealed in a singular bag, the heads shrink sealed and covered with bubble wrap.  The goodies included a neat tee shirt, hat, coozie, divot tool....
     
    Enough on the goodies, which are kewl.  The clubs themselves are flawless in terms of how they look.  No signs of excess glue from the assembly, the Golf Pride MC4 "midsize" grips are straight and true (and fit pretty well in the old hands as well)...

    Dying to try them out as I was curious how they would interact with my swing.  Pulled the shrink off the 54deg and hit a few easy pitches in the backyard.  The first thing I notice is that they are "lighter" in feel than my current wedges - Cleveland CBX's.  It was not what I was expecting as they are very "Vokey" in appearance, so I was anticipated the heft that I tend to associate with them.  It just means they will take a little getting used to.  Speaking of "Vokey", these sit behind the ball in a very "Vokey" manner - inspiring confidence!   
    I spent a few moments introducing the old wedges to the new wedges before we (my son and grandson) were off to play a quick 18 today....

    So first impressions are that these are really well built wedges that I am going to look forward to testing.  Much more to come, hopefully a few very spinny shots!  Till later, Willie T
    FIRST IMPRESSIONS (con’t) 
    Indi states they are the “kings of spin” and I can say these clubs scream “we’ll be your spin doctor!”   As one who has never really been a spinner of the ball (talking the kind of spin that sends the ball back down the green on a tear), I am excited to see if they spin to the point that it is a confident stop and check no matter the green conditions.  For comparison, the CBX’s being somewhat worn don’t check and hold so this should be a big differentiator.  We’ll see. 
    I do want to spend a moment on the grips, I don’t recall if I specified Mid-size grips or not, but the wedges came with Golf Price MCC4’s.  I have played midsize in the past but had recently been in a standard size grip mode so they will take/took a little getting used to. 
    OVERALL Rating (19 of 20) 
    Aesthetics (8 out of 10)
    For me, looks wise, the clubs exude class from top to bottom!  I love it when clubs are understated and look purposeful.  These wedges deliver that look and then some. 
    My initial thoughts were that the full face grooves would be somewhat distracting.  The opposite was/is true as they are actually very pleasing to my eye.  I found that the vertical edge of the grooves (hosel side) made a great reference to help “center” the ball on the face.  I found that I could have the inside edge of the ball along the vertical edge and would be pretty well centered.  
    Speaking of the face, it is similar in size to the CBX’s and sits very well behind the ball.   
    The wedges each have the same degree of bounce (10 for the FLX S’s) and that makes for a consistent feel across all when engaging the bounce.  It helped in my learning curve on how the wedges would react - as they all bounced the same.  
    The sole of the FLX wedges remind me of my old Vokey Design 254-10 Sand Wedge that I still love to hit.  Conversely as seen in the “get to know” wedge pictures of all the wedges you can see the marked difference in the soles of the Cleveland CBX’s and the Indi’s.  
    Mine are fitted with Recoil shafts as I play composite shafts in my irons.  An added bonus is that I am already familiar with Recoils as I outfitted a couple of my old Eye2’s with an earlier version and love them.
    A pretty club is one thing, but if it sounds harsh, stings like an angry bee on miss hits or refuses to cooperate, it is nothing more than a good corner ornament testimony to what might have been!  What about these Indi wedges? Are they another pretty face or something better like good looks that delivers, kinda like Susan Tedeschi and her mad guitar/vocal skills.  
    First swing impressions - the ball pops off the face with a smooth crispness I never had with the CBX’s.  Even slightly off center hits are quite pleasing to the ear.  It is a sound that inspires my new favorite word for these wedges, confidence.  It’s like when you strike the ball, the sound lets you know it’s not a flier but much rather a ball headed to your target point.  
     
    You hear that crispness - from the rough, from the fairway, from the sand.  
    Overall rating (8 out of 10)
    THE NUMBERS (8 out of 10)
    I really wanted to get on a Trackman or similar device but the closest place that had one available to “rent” was over an hour and half away (each way) and required a minimum of a month’s membership and you could only book one hour time slots.  As such I did not get any hard numbers on whether Indi wedges more than what the CBX’s do on the machine.  HOWEVER, I did put them through several rounds of side by side comparison of current wedges (old CBX 50-54-58 as well as new CBX 52-56-60 (had literally just updated when I learned I was to be a tester) vs the Indi’s.  So let’s break down my observations: 
    Accuracy  - In the course of testing I kept seeing the same thing over and over - consistently accurate!  It did not matter if it was the 50, 54 or 58.  More than once the ball flight looked to be  a certain hole out off the green!  Did not get one, but I got close several times.  The closest I came was when I hit the 54 to 3” of the hole from 30yds out.  Ball checked to 18” past the hole!  A big plus when working on those ups and downs, pretty much my green side game.  Distance - This was a big learning curve as these wedges fly!  I found that I could swing easier, make solid contact and the ball was going to go where I needed it to be except farther.  Most wedge shots are not full swings and I found that these wedges were easy to learn how to swing to get a given distance.  It took practice in the backyard with each wedge to given distances, but after several sessions the distances were dialing in to where I knew a given swing with a given loft gave an accurate distance.  That is that confidence thing again!  Trajectory - Lower overall flight.  I found shot trajectories are more controlled with these over the CBX’s, which are meant to help folks get their wedge shots in the air.  I really love how a simple adjustment of ball placement took the ball from high arching to low and spinny.  And to see the ball really grab on those low ones to release and gently roll out on hard greens, just meant one thing - more confidence. Control and Workability - I am putting these together as after the first day or so, I was seeing that I could flight it low, high, open the face - do whatever with confidence that the ball was going within 95% of where I was planning.  There were the occasional miscues, total operator error, as the clubs can only do what is asked.  I found that these work well in sand without opening the face too much as the clubs inspired me to just hit the ball.  Best example - par 3 12 at my home course I am in the greenside bunker.  Set up with the 54 and figure I want to carry about 5 yds onto the green and let it release to the flag.  Ball comes out, about 3’ high and spinning up a storm.  It lands, checks and rolls to 3’ from the hole for an easy par.   One thing I have not noted was that I used the same ball through the main portions of the test, i.e. Pro V-1.  I did do a few holes with others (Callaway Super Soft, Maxfli Tour, Titleist Tour Speed, WIlson Duo Soft, Bridgestone e12, etc.), and found that the clubs worked well with those as well.  
    Overall rating  (8  out of 10)
    ON-COURSE  (17 out of 20)
    With a total of 10 rounds including several where I focused on side by side comparisons with the CBX’s and one where I had just the wedges, a 7i, 5i and 5w plus almost daily workouts in the backyard, I developed a comfort with these wedges to where they became more and more predictable day in day out.  In the vlog I did,
    I talk about what I am seeing and how the wedges are working.  
    Varied Lies drill: I played these from tight lies (can you say almost hard pan), hard pan, fairway fluff, slight rough (2”), fluff sand and wet sand, wet early morning grass and mud!  How did they perform in the given lies?  From the tightest of lies, hard pan, the club picked the ball and sent it on its way.  At the opposite end, the rough posed no real problems as the club would slice through and free the ball.  Fairway lies were a dream.  To push the clubs, I even tried to figure ways to hit from awkward spots like the side of a pond in tall weeds and gravelly soil (insert photo).   That is not to say every shot was good or great, there were some bad shots.  However it was always “operator error” from me overthinking and not being confident in the process.   Stripped down bag drill:  The round with the 5w, 5i, 7i and Indi wedges proved that you don’t need a full bag to shoot a decent round.  The 50 worked well on the longer approaches while the 54 and 58 took care of greenside.   No GIRs drill:  The toughest test was playing to not have any GIR, even hitting par 3’s short.  This put a wedge in play on all 18 holes.   A hard test that went against scoring low but also built confidence in each club that proved that you can rely on these clubs on getting up and down when you do miss a green in regulation.    3 Wedge drill: This was one of the early tests.  I set up the bag with 3 sets of wedges (CBX - 50, 54, 58 (old - no sharpie dot), CBX - 52, 56, 60 (newer - red sharpie  dot), INDI - 50, 54-58 (green sharpie dot).  All had new ProV1's assigned (5 w/red dots, 5 w/green dots and 5 plain).  The drill was simple - if it was greenside up and down, I would hit five shots each with the 58's & 60 and eval proximity to hole (target),  longer wedge in would be the 50's & 52 - same goal, at the beach - the 54's & 56.  End result - the INDI's were the most accurate as they checked and stopped more readily, followed by the new CBX's (which did not hold as well as the INDI's) and lastly the old familiar CBX's that had substantially more roll out (which I had grown to accept and had learned to hit and allow for such).  THIS IS DEFINITELY A SLOW COURSE TIME DRILL!   The big downside in my testing was getting used to the turf interaction as opposed to how the CBX's had performed. I that in the first few holes where I was playing both the CBX’s and the Indi’s, the same angle of attack made for some chunky Indi’s. Yet, once I spent time just working on feeling the bounce the chunky monkey beaver tails went away.  While my overall scores remained consistent, I attribute much of that to the deliberate placing of myself in precarious shots that do not lend to better scores.  I wanted to work on being in trouble, not GIR - the things the average Joe or Jen golfer sees.  These wedges inspire you to take on those situations and do well! 
    INDI Golf is one of the new kids in town and I was delighted to be part of this test.  As a newbie tester with a set of virtually fitted wedges, the guys at INDI did well.  So much so, I am seriously considering trying one of their putters this time on my dime.  I  love that companies such as INDI are making quality gear that allows the golfer who is not necessarily brand fixated have access to quality gear at competitive pricing.  I will be curious to see what INDI does next - will they go grind crazy like the big guys or stick to their model.  I want to reinforce my thoughts that I love the full face grooves, the simplified sole design, great shaft options - those may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it provides a smooth brew for this golfer!  
    Overall rating (17 out of 20)
    THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE INBETWEEN (18 out of 20)
    The good starts with how I keep saying “confidence” or a derivative of that word, but that is what I want to write home and tell everyone about in these wedges.  In the course of testing I went from these are fun to I want to go pin hunting when wedging in!   I go back to the wedges all having the same sole design and bounce to promote consistency across the group.  I am reminded that this concept is something one may see with one length irons.  Anyway, they really work for me in this area. This led me to seeing a predictable consistency in shot shape, distance and overall accuracy.  It became a matter of what is the distance to the pin, okay that is ___ wedge.  ½, ¾ shots were super predictable as well.  I found the wedges very balanced almost to where I could not feel the head weight when swining. Others in the test noted the opposite that the clubs felt heavy. Its a matter of what your used to.     
    The inbetween probably lies in two areas.  How much will spin decrease and will it be a rapid drop off or a slight taper over time.  This remains to be seen.  The second is purely overall aesthics, while I love them, I am thinking some may be put off by the lack of glitz and glamor or more importantly big name notoriety,  as they look like something that one might see at a box store.
    The only bad that I could see is the "lack of grind options".  While these are two grind deal, one can easliy adjust their game and have good success.  The FLX grind really is a do all workhorse.  Grantled I was used to the CBX’s and their grind, very similar to the ATK’s, I believe INDI onto being wonderfully simple - pickers (small divots) just need to go FLX, digging for dollars divots just go ATK. 
    Overall rating (18 out of 20)
    PLAY IT or TRADE IT (20 out of 20)
    Play - play - play.  These wedges offer a level of comfort and confidence that I have never really enjoyed with other wedges, the closest being the old Vokey Design 254-10.   Given that I am looking forward to seeing how they do this winter as I play year round here in Eastern NC.  It will be good to report on how wedge life happens when the elements are less than optimal.  
    Overall rating (20 out of 20)
    CONCLUSION
    Again I want to thank the MGS mods for selecting me to be part of this test.  To be a newbie who gets to test these wedges was an honor and privilege.  My overall consensus of the INDI wedges is that they do deliver the spin to stop the ball on the green, they cut through the rough like a sling blade to lift the ball to freedom and are perfect to deliver balls from the beach!   For someone looking for a great wedge that is not flashy, that doesn’t bury you in a myriad of sole grinds, that is super reasonable in cost - the guys at INDI can be that one stop shop.  
    FINAL SCORE (90 out of a 100)
     
     



  16. Like
    Willie T reacted to GolfSpy_BEN in Best value golf ball?   
    Check out the Sugar balls. We have some members currently testing them, here is the thread:
    They are value priced. I took advantage of a discount code they offered when the testers were announced and I have been pleased with the performance of these balls. Sugar is marketing them as a value competitor of the ProV1 and honestly they aren’t far off. Decent distance off the tee and good spin around the greens.
  17. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from BallsLeon in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Introduction uploaded.... I will be updating this later today as I've already done the virtual fitting and the clubs are to be here this week, per the UPS tracking......
  18. Like
    Willie T reacted to fixyurdivot in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Congratulations spies!! 👏  Have fun with the tests and please include some video clips of balls landing past the pin then zipping back to the front apron 😊.

  19. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Woody83 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Spent some time on Indi's website last night and this morning.  Have some ideas on which would "fit" but am excited to see how virtual fitting works and if my thoughts align with what the folks at Indi recommend.  
  20. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from sirchunksalot in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Order #2161
    Thank you, Willie!
    Yes - definitely! 
  21. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Woody83 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Order #2161
    Thank you, Willie!
    Yes - definitely! 
  22. Like
    Willie T got a reaction from Nunfa0 in Indi Golf Wedges - 2023 Forum Review   
    Order #2161
    Thank you, Willie!
    Yes - definitely! 
  23. Haha
    Willie T got a reaction from ParFore74x in Evnroll V-Series Putters - 2023 Forum Review   
    What do you do when you dbl congrats the testers?  Just make an edit that you did a dbl congrats and look forward to the results….
  24. Haha
    Willie T got a reaction from sirchunksalot in Evnroll V-Series Putters - 2023 Forum Review   
    What do you do when you dbl congrats the testers?  Just make an edit that you did a dbl congrats and look forward to the results….
  25. Haha
    Willie T got a reaction from poprocksncoke in Evnroll V-Series Putters - 2023 Forum Review   
    What do you do when you dbl congrats the testers?  Just make an edit that you did a dbl congrats and look forward to the results….
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