gavinski91

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

The fall apart has already started before tee time.. My #1 guy is in cuffs 😞

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

Just got home from Vahalla. I've been on this spinning rock for 40 years and that's the 1st time I've been able to go see the pros! Even though it was a practice round it was worth every penny! I pretty much followed Keopka, Daly, Knapp around for the back 9. I saw Rory tee off on 15 as soon as I got there. The power these guys have is crazy, and their swings seem so effortless! I'll try to post the videos, but here are some pics.

Just for historical reference, LIV golfers left the PGA Tour (and other tours around the globe).  PGA Championship is run by the PGA of America, not the PGA Tour.  The PGA Tour was founded by golfers that broke away from the PGA of America.  The PGA Tour was LIV before LIV was LIV.  PGA Tour members do not need to be PGA of America members.  So by your reasoning only PGA of America members should be allowed to play.

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

Looks like only 214 submissions this time, so I might have a chance to place in the top 150 for once!

Cut at +4
PGA Professional Jared Jones

I am thrilled to share my next six weeks and beyond as I work with an awesome group of guys to test the PING S159 wedges.
 
A little about me.  Steve, I’m 42, a husband to an amazing wife, father to an incredible daughter and dog dad to a 12 year old American pit bull terrier.  My daughter fell in love with golf last year and both my wife and I couldn’t be happier watching her hit balls with utter joy.

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Golf has played a significant role in my life since I was 7.  A native Rochester, NY resident who spent 9 years living and working in golf in Southeast Florida after graduating college.  I’ve worked pretty much every job you can name in the golf services.  It all began as a 14 year old caddy at Oak Hill CC in Rochester, home of the recent 2023 PGA.  I also worked the bag room there for 3 years which included the 1998 Amateur won by Hank Kuehne…who famously hit massive bombs using none other than the PING TiSi.
Many of you are familiar with my background but it’s worth sharing now that we have so many new members involved in the forum!
I left the golf business after working as a 1st Assistant Professional in 2006.  I loved the job but it was not for me.  Since then I have been in public safety as a Firefighter / EMT.  I currently work as a Captain and as our fire district covers a portion of Oak Hill, was able to spend time working emergency services during the event.

I get to play often and while my competitive days are behind me, you will find me playing around 2-3 times a week. Last year was my best ball striking and scoring year since my club pro days and I was able to lower my index to a 3.5.
 
PING has always been a favorite of mine and was cemented for me in 2005. I traveled to Phoenix to visit the PING plant and was certified as a PING fitter.  This experience was truly phenomenal, the entire tour of the facility left no stone unturned.  From the gold putter vault to the foundry, a complete fitting process, a round at the now defunct ASU Karsten and at the end, a sit down with the Solheim family for some Q&A.  I was so impressed with the company that when I returned home I ordered a set of PING i5’s, G5 driver and PING Tour wedges.
 
So let’s talk about WHY I chose to apply for this test…
 
When I thought about this year and eligibility for testing I was dead set on one item…wedges.  Earlier in the year in the “what equipment are you thinking about” I shared my thoughts on why these were what had my eye.  I certainly consider myself fortunate to be able to test these and put them through an entire season of play.  I also am someone who loves to hit wedge shots.  It’s a strong part of my game and I love being able to be creative around the greens.

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Why these wedges?  I like my Vokey’s, I want to see if there is something better.  PING is THE engineering company.  They are the early adapters and the innovators…I’ve seen it first hand in Phoenix and I am looking forward to comparing them to my current setup.
 
I loved the early release photos of the S159, notably the higher lofted wedges.  What I loved more was the emphasis on better grind options.  I stopped by the local shop last week to finally put my eyes on them and ming…they look even better in person.  The shape of the top line off the hosel is exactly what I would dream and I am really believing that PING took a lot of TOUR feedback to design a winner…I mean, look at that 50…

My Webfit results were about what I had expected.  I’m using it as a baseline and made one change.  I really wanted to push my comfort level and dig into something that would prevent digging…I’ll get into that when the wedges arrive and I do the unboxing.

Among all three clubs, the 50* will continue to be the workhorse.  This club for me will be my go-to as it’s been for years.  It’s the inside 100 yards club almost exclusively.  I’m playing a similar grind to my recommendation so I expect it to perform similarly.  I’m going to be hardest on this club because I hit it for almost every full and half shot inside 100 yards.
 
Around the greens I am excited to get into the turf interaction and really put to test how these grinds work for a variety of shots and conditions.  My current setup doesn’t give me the most confidence with the 54 and 60 so I have high hopes that opting for a more versatile bounce will give me a better sense of confidence for creativity. We get the weather and the conditions in Rochester.

I have high expectations and a very open mind.  At work, I like to say often to my crew that the best ideas have to win.  Similarly, the best clubs have to win and if these perform anywhere close to as good as they look, it’ll be a pleasant experience.
 
That’s it for now…Stay tuned 🙂
 
Final write up and review:
First Impressions (20 out of 20)
Among all my testing opportunities, this one ranks highly for me.  Wedges have been a club I’ve had a very public, love/hate relationship with over the last several years and I have settled on Vokey SM8 & SM9’s.  They were the best available…but far from being jaw-dropping, “exempt from being removed” clubs within my bag.  That day has come.  I’ll elaborate throughout the grading but in simplest terms, PING has blended a premium aesthetic with built-in forgiveness that is only outdone by it’s consistent performance.

I have been skeptical that wedges have hit their proverbial ceiling regarding technology.  What I mean is, there really isn’t much else that can be done to improve a wedge.  It’s easy for me to say with confidence that these are the best, most consistently performing wedges I’ve played in my 32 years of playing golf.
The last few weeks of playing these wedges were about as easy as I could imagine.  Early on, I had some dispersion issues that I soon resolved.  I cannot point to the cause but since working on my short game, I can confidently say that these have changed my mindset over certain aspects of my game.  So let’s break it down a little further:
Aesthetics (10 out of 10) 
During the early release on Tour, I was super impressed to see the revamps of the address photos.  Lines are super clean and look more refined than I am accustomed to from a PING wedge.  I’m a club dork and the details do matter.  I want something that gives me confidence and straight out of the unboxing I loved what I saw.  I noticed straighter and sharper lines from hosel to toe and even better was the simple, clean badging.

When they arrived I had a lot of confidence at address and they paired well with my T100 irons.  The transition from 46* to 50* did not mess with my head despite being different OEM’s.
At address, again it’s the sharp lines from hosel to toe.  It’s everything I want to see in a golf club.  The leading edges have a very slight prominence and minimal offset.  Again, very pleasing to the eye.  While in the bag, they’re equally beautiful, especially with the new grind shapes.  Subtle but present and well engineered.  Anyone who places cosmetics high on their rankings will be more apt to give these a shot.  But there’s more to them beyond looks.  Performance has exceeded my expectations.

Feel is soft and solid.  The elastomer insert in the rear of the club offers a clear benefit to vibration dampening and weight distribution.  As I’d shared in earlier posts, the movement of mass upwards towards the toe helps engineer a wedge that reduces the ballooning flight that we aren’t looking for in our short game.
Face grooves are smaller and more prominent which contributes to better and more controlled spin regardless of where you make contact with the ball.  I’ve seen this especially prevalent in shots out of the rough.  Control is the name of the game here and while others will have more concise data on their spin rates, the added spin does not shear up golf balls like a cheese grater.  With smaller grooves it also makes it more difficult to clean.  Far from a big deal and with a proper brush, you can clean these out without scratching the face.  I know this is a concern for some and while they’re tools, not toys, my experience hasn’t seen any additional wear from routine scrubs.

The Numbers (10 out of 10)
I prefer to setup off the toe.  Often times on pitch shots I’ll purposefully hit it off the toe to get a little extra grab and keep my flight down.  It works well with my swing and while implementing this with the S159 I had greater success than years prior.  In my recent rounds, missed greens would result in easy two putts and frequent saves.  I joked with a friend who was playing a round with me, who said “you’re so excited to try that new broom putter and you’re only left with 3 and 4 footers!”
It’s true.  I can give these “a go” and know that they’ll check up nicely…little scooters have provided big saves during my time with these wedges.  I cannot help but rate this a 10/10 because they are truly that good.
On-Course (19 out of 20)
This setup changed my game.  For the better.  Rather than relying upon a 50* wedge to be my workhorse, I have a 58* bent to 59* lob wedge that I can swing confidently and know where it’s likely headed.  Full swing approaches have been accurate and even when missing off the toe, dispersion is surprisingly tight.  My bad swings are often where I drop my right shoulder and try to steer an iron.  As a result, I leave the face open and block it to the right.  The 50* approaches and tee balls that I hit on par 3’s when making this mistake did not fall under this spell.  Why the 19/20…I’ve had some trouble on fuller swings with the 54* bent to 55*.  I purposefully chose the H grind as a new option to see where it would work for me.  I’d switched from a S grind to this H and where it’s worked better is around the green with added heel relief.  Squared up it’s really not going to be the go-to for me but around the green when I want to open the face and get some extra mileage, the 55* will have it’s purpose.

On course, I’ve seen no change or issues coming from the practice area.  The technology here is real.  Dispersion, flighting and control have exceeded not only my expectations, but out perform the #1 wedge in golf.  I’ll say it…I’ve played them prior to the S159’s for years and it’s not even close.  I hope that makes you wonder what it could do for you.

The Good, the bad, the inbetween (18 out of 20)
I’m not a fan of the Dyla-grip.  I love the idea, I love the design, they’re just not for me.  I gave them an honest go throughout the testing but ultimately, what I am looking for, these aren’t it.  I don’t want to put them on blast because there is truly, a significant value to offering these in the lineup.  The arrow notches will certainly help players with their shorter shots and the reduced taper will still offer a solid feel on these choke down swings.  That’s really the only critical issue I had.  Again, I had a choice and I chose these. 

Play it or Trade it? (20 out of 20)
These are the wedges I hoped to find.  That’s all.  I’ve written enough above to support my thoughts, I’ll spare you the verbosity and simply say…these wedges are going nowhere.    
Final Score (97 out of 100)
Conclusion
Cosmetically pleasing technology.  Variety of grinds.  Consistent feel and performance.  Do I have your attention?  If you’re in the market, you should put these on your list because they did not disappoint.

Something which does work for me and gave me such a boost in confidence are these indicators on the grips..

Apparently I need to make full shots, then I make them perfectly, but I really suck on the half or quarter shots.
So these indicators help me play lesser distance shots by chocking down on the club.
For example: I know I hit my 50deg wedge 100m at full swing at full grip. By chocking down to the next indicator I can take a full swing, but bring in the distance down with 5-10m (11 yards), and so on, and so on..
This helps me keep my swing the same and get the distance required without the risk of playing a 3/4 shot or half a shot, I am really impressed!
The more I play with them, the more confidence I am getting!

lol no not brave enough I went back and snagged them yesterday before going to the dentist 🤣

Cut at +4
PGA Professional Jared Jones

Cut at +4
PGA Professional Jared Jones

It's an old demo head 👍

Is that an old demo head, or are all their driving irons adjustable?

Lunchtime range session working on moving my driver strike point closer to the center. Last time out I was consistently 20mm out towards the toe.
Added some lead tape to the bottom of the club head and it seemed to help a bit. Still some work to do, but things are trending in the right direction. The pic is the final 3 shots of the session. PRGR was showing an average ball speed of 153 mph.

9 holes this morning, and it was a horrendous ball striking day. The miseries were compounded by the fact that the course I was playing had really bad winter die-offs on the greens, so the ones that were in use were absolute pinball machines (they had temporary greens on a few holes that had less than 40% grass coverage). I had one putt actually bounce 10" up in the air halfway to the hole!
The lone bright spot in the round was that I managed to get positive strokes gained off the tee, which is the first time I've done that in a while.

9 holes this morning, and it was a horrendous ball striking day. The miseries were compounded by the fact that the course I was playing had really bad winter die-offs on the greens, so the ones that were in use were absolute pinball machines (they had temporary greens on a few holes that had less than 40% grass coverage). I had one putt actually bounce 10" up in the air halfway to the hole!
The lone bright spot in the round was that I managed to get positive strokes gained off the tee, which is the first time I've done that in a while.

Lunchtime range session working on moving my driver strike point closer to the center. Last time out I was consistently 20mm out towards the toe.
Added some lead tape to the bottom of the club head and it seemed to help a bit. Still some work to do, but things are trending in the right direction. The pic is the final 3 shots of the session. PRGR was showing an average ball speed of 153 mph.

9 holes this morning, and it was a horrendous ball striking day. The miseries were compounded by the fact that the course I was playing had really bad winter die-offs on the greens, so the ones that were in use were absolute pinball machines (they had temporary greens on a few holes that had less than 40% grass coverage). I had one putt actually bounce 10" up in the air halfway to the hole!
The lone bright spot in the round was that I managed to get positive strokes gained off the tee, which is the first time I've done that in a while.

9 holes this morning, and it was a horrendous ball striking day. The miseries were compounded by the fact that the course I was playing had really bad winter die-offs on the greens, so the ones that were in use were absolute pinball machines (they had temporary greens on a few holes that had less than 40% grass coverage). I had one putt actually bounce 10" up in the air halfway to the hole!
The lone bright spot in the round was that I managed to get positive strokes gained off the tee, which is the first time I've done that in a while.

9 holes this morning, and it was a horrendous ball striking day. The miseries were compounded by the fact that the course I was playing had really bad winter die-offs on the greens, so the ones that were in use were absolute pinball machines (they had temporary greens on a few holes that had less than 40% grass coverage). I had one putt actually bounce 10" up in the air halfway to the hole!
The lone bright spot in the round was that I managed to get positive strokes gained off the tee, which is the first time I've done that in a while.

There's a quote from 'Ferris Bueller,' which goes, 'How can I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?'  And today was one of those days! 80 and sunny in the Seattle area, so I ditched the day job to go play at the local muni - par 71 (67.1 / 112).  Ball striking is coming along, thanks in part to a massive influx of confidence in the Driver with the new Callaway AI Smoke Max (9*).  Went 41-39 with 34 putts on greens that were punched days ago. Went 9/18 on GIR, with misses really close.  Getting excited for what's to come!