[What are some of your favorite golf books that you have purchased?]

Best ever golf reading (non-instruction)

- A Course Called Ireland (Tom Coyne) - over many months he walks the perimeter of Ireland playing popular links courses as well as some hidden gems; local color & people (fantastic)

- The Match (Mark Frost) an epic Pro’s (Hogan & Nelson) vs Amateurs (Venturi & Ward) match at Cypress Point in the ‘50’s; plus personal history of those 4

[Is Club Champion worth it?]

I got a free fitting at a local Mizuno fitting day & no requirement to buy clubs - comments:

- their Swing DNA Shaft Optimizer tool provided data about swing speed, tempo, lie, shaft kick & club release ….for my swing

- I was all over the face that day which I attribute to fitting shafts grips too small to accommodate my arthritis.  Yet the data was quite consistent,  which is what matters

- I tried 2 different heads and three “stock” shaft recommendations were suggested for each (No upcharge)

My final $.02

- see TXG & other YouTube videos regarding Mizuno tool. It works and is designed for “big box” & independent small shops to provide 90+% of fitting expertise that CC, TourSpec, TXG, etc. provide - but -  at little or no cost.

- a competent “big box” or independent fitter could probably take your Mizuno swing data & recommended head/shaft info & match to a similar head from your preferred OEM 

Good Luck !!
 

 

 

 

 

[Mizuno JPX 923]

A local fitter (Raleigh, NC) yesterday had the 923 HM, HM Pro & Hi Fli - or was it Hi Launch ? - fitting heads:

- slight price increase

- said 921 HM & HMP are sold out

- said HM Forged would likely be sold out soon

[Sandhills/Pinehurst area course recommendations]

I live nearby in Montgomery Country and will add my $.02:

- this time of year it is truly hot & humid (extra glove, water needed)

All courses mentioned are well-known & very good but “off the radar” + great value are:

Elks Club:  Donald Ross design now owned by Mid-Pines / Pine Needles folks

Foxfire:  last weekend course was in as good shape as anywhere here except bunkers were pebbly (needed sand)

Did I mention it’s bloody hot & humid  ??

 

 

[Mizuno Pro 221/223/225]

Wow - 90 days/12 weeks lead time !!!  
 

My JPX 921 HM Pro/Forged order took exactly 8 weeks but ordered in early March - comments;

— KBS shafts were long LT back then

— GolfPride was back ordered 2 million  pcs. (all customers, fitters, shops, etc) per TXG

--  a local fitter told me Mizuno moved to a new plant to increase production but is short-staffed (like many plants) and Amazon moved into the old plant and took some employees

— I’m not skilled enough to detect a degree off in lie & loft but given others QC issues @ assembly I will have them checked 

 

 

[Driver Hunting WITB 22]

Remember it’s hard to duplicate on-course playing conditions for objective testing/comparison as temp, wind, humidity, your swing feels, etc. can vary day to day & week to week.  The sound at impact will be realistic vs indoor/launch monitor testing in my opinion.  I’ve read that expert club builders can tune sound by adding “hot melt” through driver hosel…..

Assuming you’re not playing from tips & 150 yd & in game is basically sound, then 80’s scores indicate to me a couple more fairways & bit of mid/long iron help could get you to upper 70’s (my $.02)

As for your iron woes, you could consider 1) a higher spinning ball or      2) a combo set (or both)

Spending more money, a shaft change is an option (softer, lower kick point, softer tip, etc)

Good luck !

[Driver Hunting WITB 22]

If you have already fit your ball to your irons as recommended by the knowledgeable folks at MGS & TXG, then take a couple of sleeves of that ball to your driver fitting.
-- Many driver heads have loft & weight adjustability & most brands have good selection of shafts for “tweaking” ball flight parameters to your ball.  You can also pay a modest / major shaft “upcharge” for minimal gain (law of diminishing returns)

—  don’t expect huge distance gains unless you have a rather old driver as max distance has been controlled by USGA/R&A via driver face COR specs (based on robot testing)

— you CAN expect less loss of distance from mis-hits as brands have expanded “sweet spot” in driver but still not exceeded COR limits

There of plenty of driver tests & reviews at MGS (multiple category winners) & TXG (Mizuno & Tour Edge were 2021 bracket finalists.)  

Besides objective testing & ball flight data, you may want the “look” at your set- up to provide confidence and the sound / feel at impact to be satisfying.

Good luck in your testing & fitting !

 

 

 

 

 

 

[New wegdes needed]

Have seen “wet” testing to simulate wet grass, morning dew, light rain/drizzle, etc. that indicate one can easily lose 40% of normal dry condition spin when ball, club or both are wet. 
 

The 2 wedges that retained most spin were Ping Glide & Mizuno T22 due to some extra milling or texturing on the club face.