13 Club Contract: Who Would You Choose?

[hckymeyer 6,237]

Interesting you pick SpeedBlades over all the new TP product. How come, I'm interested in the comparison between those and CB's.

Honestly I wasn't as crazy as the other guys over the new irons.  That might have to do with them not having my specific iron shaft of choice available as a demo shaft, also might have to do with not swinging a club for 3 months before going, or having a massive blister after getting done with the driver fitting.  But the end result is that the new TP lineup didn't stand out to me compared to the Cobra Amp Cells or Adams CMB's that I already have.  So I figure why not go with the most forgiving iron I can get from their lineup?

 

The CB's are basically Speedblade Tours.  Similar feel in my opinion, but the Speedblades are more forgiving.

[SPY ZINGER 411]

Honestly I wasn't as crazy as the other guys over the new irons. That might have to do with them not having my specific iron shaft of choice available as a demo shaft, also might have to do with not swinging a club for 3 months before going, or having a massive blister after getting done with the driver fitting. But the end result is that the new TP lineup didn't stand out to me compared to the Cobra Amp Cells or Adams CMB's that I already have. So I figure why not go with the most forgiving iron I can get from their lineup?

 

The CB's are basically Speedblade Tours. Similar feel in my opinion, but the Speedblades are more forgiving.

Good info, I appreciate the feedback on these.

[EJ Mac 0]

This is tough for me to say since I have had a lengthy affair with the old school Taylormade drivers and irons. A 13 club contract would get me into trouble with them as I have never been a fan of their wedges. So based on that I would likely have to go either Callaway or Cobra.

[SPY ZINGER 411]

This coming from a Callaway loyalist, I am going to have to go TM here.  Since the weakest part of my game is the irons, I believe, right now, they're the best in the game.

 

So:

 

SLDR 14*

JetSpeed 4W

SLDR HB

TP CB Irons

TP Wedges

[GolfSpy Dave 1,562]

 

Told you, I had to make a spreadsheet

 

With some of the brands, it seems like there is one club category that takes me away from them.

Adams: XTD Driver. The slot on the top is too much for me.

 

Tour Edge: Irons don't really fit my eye or perceived game.

 

Some companies previous clubs make me wary.

Mizuno: Just not sure about the driver as I launched the previous JPX very high

 

Titleist: I think that I need a set of AP1.5's. Not quite ready for the AP2, but not a fan of the AP1. Woods also may be issue.

 

Other brands are close...

TaylorMade: I put in the probable SpeedBlade Tour as the irons. The three CB models may be too high octane. Regular SpeedBlade could prove OK, but would like something sleeker.

 

Nike: I'm not sure about the irons or wedges. Tony liked the wedges, that makes me curious. Covert forged could work, but Pro Combo may be like the AP2/CB issue.

 

Wilson Staff: I got to hit the FG Tour M3 stuff this weekend. Love the irons, hybrid, fairway, and hybrid. I did say hybrid twice. That club is amazing. The question is the driver. I need to hit it with the Phenom NL set-up to see if that brings down flight. Overall, the set seems very fun and I love the story of the 100 year anniversary/resurgence in the equipment arena. Hopefully lots of people find these this year.

 

Tough decision on the last three:

Callaway: Callaway seems to have the best options in terms of possible product for my game. Not too sure about the X2 Hot driver, although the green Aldila shaft felt great. Need to hit the BB and BBA, but again, there's options. Bonus: Played, and enjoyed, last three seasons of Callaway drivers (RAZR Hawk, RAZR Fit, RAZR Fit Xtreme). Lots of possible fits with the irons as well. Have hit the APEX, love them. Curious about the APEX Pro. X2HotPro not as interesting, but could work.

 

Cobra: Hit the Bio Cell+ yesterday. Love that driver. Fan of the Red Tie, but would likely want a Black Tie. If there is a green LE edition, I want it bad. Not as warm on the new irons, but I do like the AMP Forged a bunch. Could go total orange too. Add Golfspy T's "Best Wedges in Golf" and it would be a fun bag to play.

 

Ping: Have not touched an i25 anything yet, but I loved the i20 irons and woods, with a bit of a lean toward the G25 hybrid. Fan of Ping as a company too, so there is the emotional tie in too. I really need to hit these, but I could see 13 Pings, no problem.

 

Final Decision: Undecided

[RoverRick 1,545]

Final Decision: Undecided

 

Well, at least you are an informed undecided.  Haha.

 

I understand what you are talking about.  In the past few years I really did not care about the new equipment because the older equipment seemed more my game.  But this year, it looks like there is a lot that could help me.  Yet, I went with the most old school in the bunch.  What is up with that?

[Blade 313]

Dave- You need to really consider all the options and put some thought into this!  Don't be making a rash decision about it!  Haha!

[Tom54 27]

I would go with Callaway here. First reason is the X-Hot Pro hybrids are the best things ever. Or at least in my bag. So that means I'd want to roll with the X2 Hot hybrids. Then that means I'd get my hands on the Big Bertha Alpha. I bagged the FT-9 for years so I'm confident there. I just took a few swings at Golfsmith with the Apex irons and they felt solid. That leaves the wedges. Not of fan of the wedges in the past, but I suck at wedges, so I'll sacrifice there. When do I get my contract?

[HighFade 1,223]

2 months ago, I would have said Callaway. But after hitting the SLDR and rocket blades, I'm all in with TMAG. FWIW,I already have a TMAG putter.

 

But it's gonna take an act of God to get the Mizunos out of my bag.

[BIG STU 7,175]

I am like Golfspy Dave on this undecided honestly. I had done some switching recently this year to modern stuff and played pretty good but something was lacking. Well lately I had been conversing with some guys on another site and they play vintage and I have leaned back towards old stuff. I played an all vintage bag yesterday including persimmon woods from the senior tees at my home course and had a great ball striking day and putting day so I don't see any real new stuff in my bag in the future other than modern woods. Oh well Lord help me I cant change

[RoverRick 1,545]

I have no idea what the intent of this thread really was, or even if Dave had some intent behind it, but it is an awesome thread.  It got me to look at each of the manufacturers 2014 line up, and study the choices before I decided.  What I realized is that this year it is hard to go wrong. 

 

But I looked at how this was trending with everyone's picks.  And then I looked at how much of a change that was from what they were bagging now, and here is what I discovered.

 

Mizuno's brand loyalty with the irons is so strong that 5 of us said we would bag all Mizzy because of the irons.  However, I did not note one person who is switching to Mizzy, just those who are staying.

 

Not one person said they would go with Titleist even though many of us had a few Titleist clubs in the bag now.  Of course this is because Titleist is not releasing new drivers and woods this year and have only tweaked existing models.  Even so, I doubt that any of us would through a new set of theirs in the trash.

 

TaylorMade was a surprise for me.  I started this count because I was wondering how many were going to TMag.  5 people said they would go with TaylorMade and for 4 of them this is a dramatic shift from what they bag now.  I was surprised because I thought it would be much more.

 

Callaway is the big winner here.  9 spies say they would go with Callaway and this is a major brand change for at least 6 of them.  That is pretty impressive.  And even more impressive was when people talk about there line up, there is no perceived weakness.  This can be said of only 3 or 4 brands (Ping, Cobra and accounting for being a year old Titleist).

 

Ping is almost as impressive as Cally, because they have not spent the money that Cally has.  Ping has 4 guys switching to them.  All of them are switching from other brands and one of them really did make the switch with his own money. 

 

Cobra has 3 players, 2 of them from other brands.  This does not count the "Honorable Mentions" they also received.

 

Nike, Adams and Wilson each have one each, and none of these are guys switching over.

 

So out of 30 responses, 16 players are willing to make drastic changes in their bags because of this years line up.  I tend to think that this is because of the strength of the line ups.  The irons this year, MP4's, S55's, Apex series, Tour Preferred, etc... are awesome when coupled with the woods line ups I can understand the change.

 

I can't help but wonder where Callaway would be if they lost their fascination with the letter X and Z and learned to spell. 

[dru_ 275]

FWIW, according to TM, the TP CB *is* the SpeedBlade Tour.

[Paul S 1]

I have no idea what the intent of this thread really was, or even if Dave had some intent behind it, but it is an awesome thread. It got me to look at each of the manufacturers 2014 line up, and study the choices before I decided. What I realized is that this year it is hard to go wrong.

 

But I looked at how this was trending with everyone's picks. And then I looked at how much of a change that was from what they were bagging now, and here is what I discovered.

 

Mizuno's brand loyalty with the irons is so strong that 5 of us said we would bag all Mizzy because of the irons. However, I did not note one person who is switching to Mizzy, just those who are staying.

 

Not one person said they would go with Titleist even though many of us had a few Titleist clubs in the bag now. Of course this is because Titleist is not releasing new drivers and woods this year and have only tweaked existing models. Even so, I doubt that any of us would through a new set of theirs in the trash.

 

TaylorMade was a surprise for me. I started this count because I was wondering how many were going to TMag. 5 people said they would go with TaylorMade and for 4 of them this is a dramatic shift from what they bag now. I was surprised because I thought it would be much more.

 

Callaway is the big winner here. 9 spies say they would go with Callaway and this is a major brand change for at least 6 of them. That is pretty impressive. And even more impressive was when people talk about there line up, there is no perceived weakness. This can be said of only 3 or 4 brands (Ping, Cobra and accounting for being a year old Titleist).

 

Ping is almost as impressive as Cally, because they have not spent the money that Cally has. Ping has 4 guys switching to them. All of them are switching from other brands and one of them really did make the switch with his own money.

 

Cobra has 3 players, 2 of them from other brands. This does not count the "Honorable Mentions" they also received.

 

Nike, Adams and Wilson each have one each, and none of these are guys switching over.

 

So out of 30 responses, 16 players are willing to make drastic changes in their bags because of this years line up. I tend to think that this is because of the strength of the line ups. The irons this year, MP4's, S55's, Apex series, Tour Preferred, etc... are awesome when coupled with the woods line ups I can understand the change.

 

I can't help but wonder where Callaway would be if they lost their fascination with the letter X and Z and learned to spell.

Very nice summary. It puts it all into perspective.

[SeeRed 9]

Like RR said above, this was a fun exercise in researching back through the 2014 offerings (even though I knew my answer.) I do think PING has the most solid lineup across the board. And yes, I am biased. However, if the i25 driver and irons are an improvement over the fantastic i20 series, then they will be very hard to beat. Though I, too, would hate to give up my SCOR wedges.

 

Driver: i25

Fairway: G25 3W

Hybrid: i25 19*

Irons: i25 4-PW

Wedges: Tour 50, 54, 58

[jpcgolf 109]

I am very excited about the 2014 lineup.  

 

Nike:

This is going to be an interesting year for nike.  I have not hit the covert 2.0 woods yet, but the original covert woods were great, and the people are saying good things about the covert 2.0.  The irons are a interesting thing for nike.  The covert or the covert forged irons don't look good, but I had a chance to demo the combo irons, and they are sweet.  I have always liked their wedges, and I like the method putter line.

 

Taylormade:

The slider is a bomb, but i have not yet hit any of the jetspeed.  I think bringing back the tour prefered irons is a great idea for taylormade.  The CB and the MC irons definitely look like irons that I would play.  The only problem with taylormade is the wedges, but I like their putters.

 

Callaway:

The big bertha is a good driver, but don't forget about the x2 hot.  The x hot fairways were great, and I am glad they got rid of most of the offset on the hybrids.  Their wedges are great, and I love Odyssey.  The big thing for callaway this year is the irons, the apex irons are great.

 

Titleist:

You can never go wrong with Titleist.  Titleist is all around great, but I wish their fairways and hybrids had a little bigger heads.  Their wedges and putters are very good too.  I am currently bagging the 913 d2, and it is very consistent.  As soon as I hit the new ap2, I would not give them up, they are amazing.

 

Mizuno:

The best range of irons hands down, and everything else is consistent.  The feel on a well struck mp iron is great.

 

Overall:

Gotta go with titleist because of the 714 ap2.

Driver: 913 D2 10 degrees

3 wood: 913 f

3 and 5 hybrid: 913: h

Irons: ap2 project x 95

wedges: can't go wrong with vokey

Putter: Scotty cameron golo, winn pistol grip

[dru_ 275]

I expect TMaG to have a much better wedge in the spring that is based upon the Tour Preferred MB designs.  The AW in the CB set is already there (and marked as a 51*)

[jpcgolf 109]

 

 

Not one person said they would go with Titleist even though many of us had a few Titleist clubs in the bag now.  Of course this is because Titleist is not releasing new drivers and woods this year and have only tweaked existing models.  Even so, I doubt that any of us would through a new set of theirs in the trash.

 

 

 

I definitely choose titleist, mainly because of their 714 ap2 that I can't get enough of.

[GolfSpy Dave 1,562]

I have no idea what the intent of this thread really was, or even if Dave had some intent behind it, but it is an awesome thread.  It got me to look at each of the manufacturers 2014 line up, and study the choices before I decided.  What I realized is that this year it is hard to go wrong. 

That was actually my initial intent of the thread. It seemed like there was unusual amounts of good out there this year.

 

There may be some more covert action coming soon though

[JohnBarry 119]

Put me down as another Cobra Guy, Bio me out and trusty Rusty me. I hit them at the demo day and really loved them!

[DanUsh 20]

I would go Callaway after hitting the Apex Pro irons.  They were just awesome.  I am also excited about the mack daddy wedges.  And with all their offerings int he other categories I am sure I could find a driver, fairway, and hybrid to fill out the other three clubs.