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Why would anyone want to use a golf app to measure shot length


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Using a golf app is much easier than stretching and rolling the tape up when your are finished. :lol:

 

Elevation changes, wind, temperature, humidity and many other factors effect the distance a golf ball goes.  The week before last, I was hitting the ball 30 yards farther with the drive and 20 with irons.  Then a sore back and a 30* temperature drop and the distances changed drastically.  Yes I used a golf app to measure my shots, well, it was a GPS Device. 

 

I was telling some friends last night I was going to start tracking my shot distance and weather info to see if I might make some type of study.  However, I will probably only do this for a couple of holes and then move on. :lol:

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

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:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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I have a distance finder on my Neo+ GPS.....and I use it occassionally to check my drive distance to see if it's close to my normal drive. It's so simple, just hit a button after you tee off.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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Devil's Advocate- don't you know this information roughly from the driving range? And since it the difference might be conditional due to weather, etc. This information doesn't do you any good for the next time you play.

To me all data is useful data. Even if one might never play in those exact conditions ever again if they kept records of how far their shots went they could be more prepared when faced with similar conditions

Driver:   :callaway-small: Epic 10.5 set to 9.5 w/ Tour AD-DI 44.5

FW:   :cobra-small: F6 baffler set at 16º

Hybrid:  NONE
Irons:   :taylormade-small:  3i 2014 TP CB  4-PW 2011 TP MC w/ TT S400

Wedges:   :nike-small: 52º :nike-small: 56º  :edel-golf-1: 60 º w/ KBS C-Taper XS Soft-stepped

Putter:   :ping-small: Sigma G Tyne 34 inches Gold dot

 

 

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Devil's Advocate-   don't you know this information roughly from the driving range?  And since it the difference might be conditional due to weather, etc.  This information doesn't do you any good for the next time you play.

 

Absolutely not.

 

I do not play the same balls as the driving range balls.  I do not have the same pressure to hit a good shot on the driving range.  Chances are that if the weather is 50* today it will be close to that tomorrow.  Also, I want to know how far my irons are carrying on the holes where I can get away with a short shot before I get to the holes where I have a forced carry over water.

 

Now, do I check it every time?  No.  Typically, I can pretty easily with an approach shot.  Also, in theory I can subtract the distance left to the hole from the score card distance, however, Saturday morning on the 3rd hole I had 268 left to the hole on the par 5 485 yarder.  So did I hit the ball 217 yards?  No, I hit the ball a big right to left hook on a dog leg right hole 265 yards and was in the middle of the 16th fairway.

 

It is important to know how far the tee shots are going on holes like our number 2.  Where you have 230 to make the dogleg and 260 is Out of Bounds.  Unfortunately, this is the second hole so you really do not have a sense of how far the ball will be going that day.  This is also what make its one of the hardest holes on the course.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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One other time I use this feature is on par 5's into the wind.  We have a lot of wind.  If I can not reach the par 5 I will pick a club and try to hit it a perfect distance for that club.  Say I have 268 and decide I want to be 100 yards out.  I will get the 8 iron and try to hit my perfect 155 swing.  Now based on how far that traveled into the wind I know how much more club to add for the next shot.  No wind I should hit a full 53* wedge.  If I have 125 I will know that while that may be PW distance, I better hit 9 iron or choked down 9 iron to get to the green.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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Like most statistical data, it is less about the raw numbers and more about the trends you can find in the history.

 

For example, over the last 2 years worth of data ( I *am* a statistics nut, but I am also a hard core nerd/tech/geek ), I have a clear trend of my distances falling off as temperatures drop through the 60's, then once temps get down to a point where we see near freezing temps at night, my longer club distances creep back up, while my shorter clubs remain static due to roll. If you correlate humidity and barometer data against playing times, you also see clear impacts on distances ( and in my case, these are factors that play into my ball choices for a given round ).  

 

I've got spreadsheets that I use for tracking all kinds of stuff, and distances during practice rounds is a part of it ( along with shot by shot left/right/long/short of target tracking ), and I see other trends, some make sense, some not so much..  

 

* my club distances creep up over the first 6.5 holes in a round

* I hit my longer range clubs with far more accuracy later in rounds

* I score lower in less than ideal conditions

* Walking/Carrying I see longer tee shots, but less accuracy

* Walking/Push-cart I should never do this, considering that ALL of my lowest accuracy days are Push-cart days

* Cart improves my accuracy, but I lose about 15 yards off the average drive

* Fuel in the tank makes a big difference: Rounds where I use something for nutrition instead of junk average 4.6 strokes lower.  ( Energy gels, ClifBars, or similar )

* 1 Beer is fine.  2 is NOT fine.  That second beer will cost me on average 3.8 strokes.

 

Yes, I keep a crazy amount of data and correlate it, but this is fun stuff.  It is also how I discovered little things that while my club to club best gaps are pretty well on target, there are certain clubs that my averages simply make them inappropriate even when they would otherwise be right. (damn you 7i).

 

 

It has value, but is also a total pain the ass to calculate.

Dru - Owner, President & Janitor, Druware Software Designs

RH 13.1 Handicap in soggy Georgia 

WITB
* 1W 10.5* @ PXG 0211 ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff )
* 3W PXG 0211 ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff ) 
* 5W 18* Tailor-made AeroBurner ( Stock Stiff )
* 7W  Sub70 949x ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff )
* 5i-PW @ PXG 0211 ( Gen 1 )
* 52 @ Hogan Equalizer
* 56 @ Sub70 
* 60 @ Hogan Equalizer
* Carbon Ringo 1/4
* Vice Pro Plus

 

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I'm going to keep it simple.  Going to the range doesn't really give you proper distances as you are most likely using range balls that don't travel as far as a regular ball.

 

I very seldom use an app to figure out how far a shot went, but I have used it occasionally.  Typically the best use case for me is when I get a new club.  I gotta see how far it goes based off a few shots before I'll be comfortable playing it from the correct distance.

 

Heidi you are correct though, Once you've played with your clubs for a few rounds you should have a pretty good idea how far they go.  It's very tough to shoot a decent score if you have no idea how far your clubs travel :)  But there is a definite benefit to an app that includes that feature.  Think of it this way, if you have two GPS apps that both do a great job with the GPS portion and have similar features, but one includes a shot measuring feature and the other doesn't, which one are you going to purchase?

Driver: :taylormade-small: SLDR w/ Fujikura Ventus Black

3w: :taylormade-small:'16 M2 hl w/ Diamana D+ 82

5w: :cleveland-small: Launcher HB w/ HZRDUS Yellow

Hybrid: :cleveland-small: 22 deg. Launcher HB w/ HZRDUS Black

Irons: :cleveland-small: 5i - gap Launcher CBX w/ Nippon Modus 3 125

Wedges: :cleveland-small: 54 CBX & 58 Zipcore w/ Nippon Modus 3 125

Putter: :odyssey-small: Red 7s

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Distance is all relative.......sometimes I'll pull a 9i from 170, sometimes I'll pull it from 130.....and I'm not talking for different conditions.  Not trying to offend anyone, but people that pull a certain club for a certain distance are lacking in imagination.

 

I always look at distance to target as my first criteria, and then adjust for 'mitigating factors'.  Downhill?  -1, into the wind? +1,  in the rough? +1, need it to release, +2 / half swing.  But that distance to target is the baseline that gets me started.

Dru - Owner, President & Janitor, Druware Software Designs

RH 13.1 Handicap in soggy Georgia 

WITB
* 1W 10.5* @ PXG 0211 ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff )
* 3W PXG 0211 ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff ) 
* 5W 18* Tailor-made AeroBurner ( Stock Stiff )
* 7W  Sub70 949x ( HZRDUS Smoke Black X-Stiff )
* 5i-PW @ PXG 0211 ( Gen 1 )
* 52 @ Hogan Equalizer
* 56 @ Sub70 
* 60 @ Hogan Equalizer
* Carbon Ringo 1/4
* Vice Pro Plus

 

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Do I check distances all the time, no.  Is it nice to check distances when I want, yes.  New clubs, definitely!  When the weather changes, absolutely!  It's so easy to head out to the course on days when there is little use and hit different clubs on a long hole using the balls I will be playing.  Checking the distance validates or re-calibrates the information that I have stored in my memory.  It's a periodic must do.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Love that a good app tracks fairways hit, gir, putts, sand, misses and so on. I don't track stuff well on my own (I can barely keep track of how many strokes a single hole took me) (no joke... I'm not the guy who can recount his entire round at the end and add it up as I go, I need somewhere to take notes and track stuff, and an app makes that incredibly easy)

 

My problem, I'm way to ADD to keep track of that stuff (if only you could be in my head for like 10 minutes... it's AWESOME and terrible, all at the same time)

 

I don't really track the yardage I hit a club, but I do love the GPS in my GolfShot app on my iphone - not terribly accurate, but for anything but shots into the green, it's great - and even shots into the green, it tends to be "good enough" - but mostly because I'm not better than the yardages it might miss by 5 yards.

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I can relate Tim, I'm probably just too zoned on what I'm doing while I'm playing, I tend to forget about the previous hole (or shot, for that matter).  I'm not a particularly slow player, but I really would be if I tried to document my game in real time.

What's In the Bag

Driver - :callaway-small: GBB 

Hybrids  :cleveland-small: Halo XL Halo 18* & :cobra-small: T-Rail 20*

Irons  :cobra-small: T-Rail 2.0

Wedges :ping-small: 60* TS / SCOR 48* 53* 58*

Putter     :scotty-small:

Ball :callaway-logo-1:

Bag Datrek DG Lite  

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Distance is all relative.......sometimes I'll pull a 9i from 170, sometimes I'll pull it from 130.....and I'm not talking for different conditions.  Not trying to offend anyone, but people that pull a certain club for a certain distance are lacking in imagination.

I am pretty darned sure that the reason I do not hit 9i from 170 is lack of imagination.  I have a pretty active imagination and at no point to I imagine hitting a 9i 170 without a heck of a hill or wind.

:ping-small:G430LST 10.5° on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Driver 

:ping-small:G430MAX 3w  on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Fairway 

:ping-small:G425 3H on     T P T    POWER 18 Hi Hybrid 

:taylormade-small:P790 Black 4-A 
on :kbs: TGI 80S
 

:mizuno-small: ES21 54-8° & 58-12° on :kbs: Hi Rev

:L.A.B.:DF2.1 on :accra: White

:titelist-small: ProV1  

:918457628_PrecisionPro: Precision Pro  NX7 Pro

All Iron grips are BestGrips Micro-Perforated Mid

Driver, 3w, 3H are JumboMax JMX UltraLite XS 

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I was fairly well amazed at how often I was wrong about distances and only saw proof thereof when I got into the habit of checking my GPS. It's not as if my GPS is necessarily as accurate as all that, it being an old model, but its readings are more consistent than I am.

 

 

 

Shambles

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I'm going to keep it simple.  Going to the range doesn't really give you proper distances as you are most likely using range balls that don't travel as far as a regular ball.

 

I very seldom use an app to figure out how far a shot went, but I have used it occasionally.  Typically the best use case for me is when I get a new club.  I gotta see how far it goes based off a few shots before I'll be comfortable playing it from the correct distance.

 

Heidi you are correct though, Once you've played with your clubs for a few rounds you should have a pretty good idea how far they go.  It's very tough to shoot a decent score if you have no idea how far your clubs travel :)  But there is a definite benefit to an app that includes that feature.  Think of it this way, if you have two GPS apps that both do a great job with the GPS portion and have similar features, but one includes a shot measuring feature and the other doesn't, which one are you going to purchase?

 

 

This is probably one of the best explanation that I have heard:

 

1.  I can see it used to figure out the distances of new clubs

2.  I can definately see that if you have the choice of 2 apps, one with shot tracking and one without-  a user might choose the one with...

 

You guys have been wonderful!  Because of your forum ( and believe it or not... solely because of your forum ) , we have decided to put a tracker on our next version.  -  probably 2-3 months.  

 

www.facebook.com/heidi.striker

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One other time I use this feature is on par 5's into the wind.  We have a lot of wind.  If I can not reach the par 5 I will pick a club and try to hit it a perfect distance for that club.  Say I have 268 and decide I want to be 100 yards out.  I will get the 8 iron and try to hit my perfect 155 swing.  Now based on how far that traveled into the wind I know how much more club to add for the next shot.  No wind I should hit a full 53* wedge.  If I have 125 I will know that while that may be PW distance, I better hit 9 iron or choked down 9 iron to get to the green.

 

 

This is a reason for using a distance tracker that we had not though of.  That is a player who is measuring his/her shot distance with respect to weather conditions.  As I understand it, you are saying you are comparing your regular 8 iron distance ( presuming you hit it well ) to the distance you just hit it ( presuming you hit it well ) and saying that if you are X- yards short, the rest of your irons will be proportionally short.  I can see that

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Heidi, welcome to the best site in golf.  There is us, and the rest.  All the others are influenced by sponsorship dollars.  If you want the truth, come here.  If you want a lot of pictures, and articles influenced by money, I have some references for you.

 

I always revert back to the story about a local wedge guy.  One site threatened to ban be if I posted one more pic of a non-sponsored brand.  When he signed with Titleist, he was front page news on the same site.  But, I digress.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Coming from Denver, altitude is always an issue for me when I travel.  It certainly would help me to find out how far I hit it when I'm in Atlanta or Vegas, etc.

There is no spoon.

WITB
TaylorMade M3
Callaway Diablo 15°
Callaway Diablo 18°
Callaway Steelhead XR Pro 4-W
Mizuno TP-4 50, 54, 58
TaylorMade Rossa Monza Spyder

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On a 384 yard uphill Par 4 yesterday, I did not need the yardage app on my gps unit as I was just past the blue 200 yard marker in the fairway.  I was just inside the left side of the fairway and checked my yardage to the middle of the green....yep, I had about 200 yds to go.....so I pulled my Nike Covert 3 wood, aimed at the left bunker and nailed it!  The ball started towards the bunker then began to cut back to the middle of the fairway.  The next thing I knew was my ball had rolled onto the green.  I two putted and parred the hole.  What did my yardage on the gps tell me?  That I nailed a 205 yard shot with my 3 wood......longer than my Driver!  What fun this game of golf is.

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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Some people build data sheets that are on their bag that have distances for each club.  Some do it in an app.  I kept one for a long time to remind me that I should play the club based on my AVERAGE distances and not that career shot I hit once.  It's a subtle reminder if nothing else(there's lots of people that play vanity golf).  

Oh, and Heidi, I've got one more round I'm going to play (this weekend) before I do the full write-up on the app.  Due to work and weather I haven't gotten to play much since downloading it and I wanted to get 5 rounds in before writing it up.

In The Bag
Driver: TaylorMade M2 (2017) w/ Project X T1100 HZRDUS Handcrafted 65x 
Strong 3 wood: Taylormade M1 15* w/ ProjectX T1100 HZRDUS handcrafted 75x
3 Hybrid: Adams PRO 18* w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4 Hybrid: Adams PRO 20* (bent to 21*) w/ KBS Tour Hybrid S flex tipped 1/2"
4-AW: TaylorMade P770 w/ Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Black Onyx S400

SW: 56* Scratch Tour Dept(CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
LW: 60* Scratch Tour Department (CC grooves) w/ Dynamic Gold Spinner
XW: 64* Cally XForged Vintage w/ DG X100 8 iron tiger stepped
Putter: Nike Method Prototype 006 at 34"

Have a ton of back-ups in all categories, but there are always 14 clubs in the bag that differ depending on the course and set-up. Bomb and gouge. Yes, I'm a club gigolo.

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Some golf apps measure how far you hit the ball and keeps track of what clubs you have in the bag?  For good players, don't you already know how far you hit and what clubs you have in your bag?  I don't get it.

Well I am going to be out of the norm here. I know my AVERAGE distances on all my clubs. If in serious doubt I will pull my dependable Leupold range finder and check my yardage. The main thing down here at the beach is wind direction as a norm it will not flow in a single direction but it swirls so you have to club accordingly. A good example the other day I had a second shot over water at normally 155 yards. For me at sea level that is a stock 7 iron I play a fade mostly so in this case the wind was blowing right to left so I hit my stock 5 iron to about 20 ft. I guess if a app is what floats someones boat so be it whatever works for you. Personally I do not have a 'smart" phone because I don't know how to use one. I still have an old school flip phone and several spares new in the box and I sure as heck don't need a phone app to play golf If that day comes then I will quit playing golf and go fishing

Driver ---- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha  Speeder 565 R flex- 5W TM V-Steel Fubuki 60r--- 7W TM V-Steel UST Pro Force Gold 65R----- 9 W TM V Steel TM MAS stiff---- Irons 2015 TM TP CB Steel Fiber 95 R--- GW Callaway Mack Daddy 2 52* shaft unknown junk pile refugee. SW Callaway PM Grind 56*  Modified sole grind--- KBS Tour Wedge-- LW Vokey 58* SM5 L grind--- Putter Ping B90I Broom Stick 

 

 

 G

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  • 2 months later...

http://www.gamegolf.com/products/en-us/gamegolf

 

I have one of these on order. Looks very interesting to me. Fun too.

My Sun Mountain bag currently includes:   TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 771CSI 5i - PW and TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges

                                                                               :755178188_TourEdge: EXS 10.5*, TWGTLogo2.png.06c802075f4d211691d88895b3f34b75.png 929-HS FW4 16.5* 

                                                                                :edel-golf-1: Willimette w/GolfPride Contour

 

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http://www.gamegolf.com/products/en-us/gamegolf

 

I have one of these on order. Looks very interesting to me. Fun too.

That does look like a blast, and I'm anxious to hear about it from an actual user. 

:callaway-small: GBB Epic 10.5&deg - Recoil ES 450 regular

:callaway-small: mini 1.5 14° - Recoil ES 450 regular

:callaway-small: XR OS 16 Hybrid (3-5) - Fubuki AT 55/60 regular shafts

:callaway-small: Apex (6-PW) - Recoil 65 F3 regular shafts 1°flat

:callaway-small: MD4 Tour Chrome wedges (50W/54S/58C) - S200 1°flat

:scotty-small: Futura X 34" - Superstroke Slim 3.0

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