What Have You Bought Lately? (CHA - Club Ho's Anonymous)

[Grand Stranded]

1 hour ago, chisag said:

 

... If only the drivers labeled 10.5* of loft had 10.5* of loft but they can be anywhere from 9* to 12*. One of the reason back in the pre-adaptor days we tried to buy the demo if it gave us the results we wanted. I agree it is putting lipstick on a pig but if your pig is ugly what choice do you have? 

I’ve heard about actual lofts being off, but I had no idea they could be to that extent!

I actually asked if I could buy the demo, since it’s a close out model now. The salesman said if it were any other OEM they would do it, but Ping is still offering custom orders on the 425 (along with the 430 obviously) so they wanted to hold onto it.

[CarlH]

14 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

Carl, can you take a minute to answer a question for me?

I’m looking at your sig, and our set ups are almost identical, except I have 4&5 hybrids and you carry only a 5.
I just put my first ever 7wd in the bag and I’m not quite sure about the distance it will play yet. Does your 20* HW gap so well with your 5H you’re comfortable going with 13 clubs or have you just not yet found the one you like to put between them? 
My 7W seems to fly on a completely different (higher) trajectory than my 4H, which makes me think I’d like to keep both in regardless but if the distance ends up being the same, who knows?

 

 

My 7W is a HeavenWood, which is 20 degrees on a 5 wood length shaft (I think).  In any case, it actually plays more like a 5W.  There's a pretty good gap between my 5H and my HeavenWood, but I can choke up on the HeavenWood to close that distance.  For the course I play, I haven't found much need to put a 4H in play.  That may change when the weather gets better and my distances are more accurate than these colder/wetter months.  I actually did use to carry a 4H (and a 3H) with only one FW metal.

The reason for only carrying 13 clubs at the moment is more because I'm playing around with different wedge setups and haven't figured that out yet (I dropped the 60 degree wedge, as it gave me more problems in the local wet turf/tight lies than it was worth!).  

 

[cksurfdude]

15 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

Have you tried the Tour Edge E722? 
We have an excellent fitter down here and he’s put a lot of my buddies in a set of these irons, and they all like them.

Thx for that! Have tried a few different TE clubs in the past and have generally liked them (still have the EXS 7W).

Did demo a TE iron 2 or 3 seasons ago and unfortunately did not get along that well with it... BUT: that was then and my swing has come a long way since, so yeah gonna take another look!

[Syks7]

10 hours ago, ole gray said:

My new irons from my Taylormade Kingdom fitting should be arriving soon! I'm all about having fun and scoring well so SGI irons are the ticket for me.  I've scored consistently from the upper 70s to the low 80s over the last several weeks with my Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons. They're smoother than butter on a hawt corn cob however I had to have a set of irons fit personally for my swing.  The Halos were bought off the used club rack at Dicks so I have no clue what the lofts and lies are set at. Without further ado here is my latest purchase!

 

A lot of people should do what you do (including this dude who played player irons all last year).  It did help in some ways as I was forced to make a more deliberate swing to make good contact, but I sure could have used a little more forgiveness.  Here's hoping that my shift back to PD/GI Z585s will finally help me crack 80. @chisag

Edited February 24, 2023 by Syks7

[Merlin1313]

I'm patiently (yeah right-) awaiting their arrival:

Callaway Paradym Irons

Set Composition: 6-PW (my 5I and I got divorced- but it was an amicable split- no support checks or financial arrangements necessary)

Head Loft: Standard

Shaft Type: Nippon NS Pro Modus 3 Tour 105 Steel, XStiff

Grip: Golf Pride - Align New Dec Plus 4 MID Grey (67g)

Length: + 1/2 in

Lie Angle: Standard

Wraps: Standard

[Bang60]

7 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

I couldn’t agree more. After playing the G400 Max from the day it was released, I picked up a G425 Max last season when I switched to Senior flex and I loved it.

I went to try the G430 Max with my buddy (he plays the Rogue ST Max) and he bought the 430, but I decided to stay with the 425. I did make one change however. They had a demo 425 10.5* head, and I was getting better results with it than my 9* turned up to 10*.

That seemed strange so I went back again a few days later and tried it again. Same results, if anything the 10.5* was a little better the second time. I ended up trading my driver and ordering the 425, but it arrived with a splintered shaft (thanks FedEx). The replacement has been sitting in a FedEx location in Georgia for the past two days now, which increases my hatred for all things FedEx even more than I imagined possible.

I hate fedx but a month ago I had 2 shafts delivered in 7 days from global golf via  fedx to NZ go figure lol

[ole gray]

1 hour ago, Syks7 said:

A lot of people should do what you do (including this dude who played player irons all last year).  It did help in some ways as I was forced to make a more deliberate swing to make good contact, but I sure could have used a little more forgiveness.  Here's hoping that my shift back to PD/GI Z585s will finally help me crack 80. @chisag

Good for you buddy!  Hit em well and enjoy your summer 

[Contron]

Pulled the trigger on this bad boy today. Too good of a deal to pass up, and I love the Cobra drivers I've trialed at my course. Upgrading from a Cleveland HiBore XL so figured it was past due that I had a driver from this decade. Also, the first time I get to pick the shaft, so I went with a VS Proto 70 Stiff. Going to see how they feel in a driver since all my irons are VS Proto and I love them. Super stoked!!

[ole gray]

8 hours ago, Rickp said:

Hope you like those shafts, I like mine just fine.

I was happy when my fitter told me the recoils were working the best.  I've had them in other irons and loved the smooth feeling they provide. 

[Rickp]

Just now, ole gray said:

I was happy when my fitter told me the recoils were working the best.  I've had them in other irons and loved the smooth feeling they provide. 

Yup, my 3rd set of Recoils in irons.  Been very happy.  

[null]

Picked her up today

 

[Grand Stranded]

2 hours ago, ole gray said:

I was happy when my fitter told me the recoils were working the best.  I've had them in other irons and loved the smooth feeling they provide. 

I’ve been doing a nice job staying out of the PGASS a 1/2 mile from me, so I haven’t seen those  new SGI Stealth’s yet in person. From what I’ve read though, they have piqued my interest more than any other new iron release. 
I’m looking forward to your review.  I know you’ve had plenty of experience with two versions of the Cleveland hybrid irons and would love to see how you think these TM’s match up.

[Bang60]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_Lukes said:

Picked her up today

 

I loved 2irons back in the day but too hard for this ole man lol, good luck  

[chisag]

8 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

I’ve heard about actual lofts being off, but I had no idea they could be to that extent!

 

... That is the manufacturer tolerance but it can be even more. The real trouble in paradise is when you get fitted for a 10.5* driver that is actually 11.91 and the driver you order and play is actually 9.36. And then people think the fitting was a bad one or the club just doesn't perform the same as when they were fit. Adaptors aren't perfect but really help in this regard. 

[Syks7]

Well, I may be moving back to a more forgiving set but I can't help bring a glutton for punishment.  Got an ebay offer that was to silly to say no to and now I have a Z585 4 iron on the way.   Should be fun to see if this can knock the RBZ 4 hybrid out of the bag.

Edited February 25, 2023 by Syks7

[Grand Stranded]

8 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Thx for that! Have tried a few different TE clubs in the past and have generally liked them (still have the EXS 7W).

Did demo a TE iron 2 or 3 seasons ago and unfortunately did not get along that well with it... BUT: that was then and my swing has come a long way since, so yeah gonna take another look!

I’m not looking for a new set of irons, but your post and @ole gray talking about his New HD’s made me curious to browse around and put together a few sets I might be interested in.

Wow! I knew I got a terrific deal when I picked up my Gen3’s for $99 each, but I had no idea how good, lol. Those HD’s 5-PW with recoil go for $1100 including tax as opposed to $599 (643 w/tax) for the E722’s. I’m sure the Taylormades are really nice, but over a grand for 6 entry level SGI irons is a lot of scratch, imo.
If you decide not to go with the 722’s, I think you’re being very smart to research the DTC options. Good luck, and happy hunting!

[Bang60]

3 hours ago, Grand Stranded said:

I’m not looking for a new set of irons, but your post and @ole gray talking about his New HD’s made me curious to browse around and put together a few sets I might be interested in.

Wow! I knew I got a terrific deal when I picked up my Gen3’s for $99 each, but I had no idea how good, lol. Those HD’s 5-PW with recoil go for $1100 including tax as opposed to $599 (643 w/tax) for the E722’s. I’m sure the Taylormades are really nice, but over a grand for 6 entry level SGI irons is a lot of scratch, imo.
If you decide not to go with the 722’s, I think you’re being very smart to research the DTC options. Good luck, and happy hunting!

Yeah a grand is a huge amount of scratch but for me it's double that because of shipping/import duty, I tried 2 sets of Titleist irons steel shafts and graphite shafts and yes I loved them and would of kept the graphite set but they needed to be fitted for me. Not possible here sadly so I sold them just too expensive to mess around with, then I tried Mizuno irons plus Otto phlex shafts and I'm happy with them at a THIRD of the Titleist costs... oh well woe is me lol...

[Cmra1]

I picked up Cleveland ZipCore 56 & 60 on clearance under $60 each. I was looking to replace somE older Vokeys anyway

[GolfSpy TCB]

As I discussed on the "thinking about" thread... I have been testing out a few of the new '23 iron options, including the Mizuno JPX (the 923 Forged are sweet!) and the Paradym.  Well after a session a few days ago with the Paradym X's, I went in for a more robust fitting today on the Paradym irons. 

The result...

I can't wait to work them out on the course, but all indicators are pointing to them being a great set of irons for me.  

[GolfSpy AFG]

47 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

As I discussed on the "thinking about" thread... I have been testing out a few of the new '23 iron options, including the Mizuno JPX (the 923 Forged are sweet!) and the Paradym.  Well after a session a few days ago with the Paradym X's, I went in for a more robust fitting today on the Paradym irons. 

The result...

I can't wait to work them out on the course, but all indicators are pointing to them being a great set of irons for me.  

Awesome; congrats on the new sticks!  What shaft you got in those bad boys?

[GolfSpy TCB]

35 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

Awesome; congrats on the new sticks!  What shaft you got in those bad boys?

Thanks!  I went through several options... the stock Elevate 95 steel in reg flex were as good or better feeling than anything I tried.  I haven't figured out how to connect with graphite shafts yet... so it really came down to a few steel options.  The bonus was... I was able to walk out with them under my arm .  But that wasn't a deciding factor, I would have waited if another shaft warranted it.

[GolfSpy_KFT]

56 minutes ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

Thanks!  I went through several options... the stock Elevate 95 steel in reg flex were as good or better feeling than anything I tried.  I haven't figured out how to connect with graphite shafts yet... so it really came down to a few steel options.  The bonus was... I was able to walk out with them under my arm .  But that wasn't a deciding factor, I would have waited if another shaft warranted it.

Sweet looking sticks, TCB! Looking forward to hearing how they treat you! 

[Kenny B]

2 hours ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

As I discussed on the "thinking about" thread... I have been testing out a few of the new '23 iron options, including the Mizuno JPX (the 923 Forged are sweet!) and the Paradym.  Well after a session a few days ago with the Paradym X's, I went in for a more robust fitting today on the Paradym irons. 

The result...

I can't wait to work them out on the course, but all indicators are pointing to them being a great set of irons for me.  

Very nice!!  Now a force to be reckoned with.  

[cksurfdude]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:18 AM, Grand Stranded said:

being very smart to research the DTC options

Thx! I will, most likely, end up going into Pete's eventually - even if I buy a DTC set at least make sure they're fit to me and at the right specs.

If I don't buy DTC then I'm fortunate that I could spend $$ on name brand gear .. but wanna check that it'll work better for me vs anything else (but heck yeah I still want to find a good deal, too!).

[cksurfdude]

13 hours ago, Golfspy_TCB said:

The bonus was... I was able to walk out with them under my arm . 

Sweeeet!!!

So... Distance _is_ king, eh? ..kidding good luck with 'em and enjoy hitting more greens from further away!!

[TR1PTIK]

Could be the placebo effect or it just might help me claw my way towards fewer putts but I ordered a new putter. While killing some time the other week at Golf Galaxy I decided to try a few putters to see if anything stood out. Initially, I didn't see anything that differed greatly from my gamer regardless of shape, materials, or really anything else. Then, I grabbed an Odyssey Tri Hot 5k Two... I've honestly been steering clear of Odyssey putters for several years and didn't know anything about the 5k putters. Immediately, I liked the way the club looked behind the ball as the black steel face with white insert and muted gray aluminum rear caused setup and alignment to just snap into place. I stroked a few putts and couldn't help to notice how nicely the ball rolled and how good distance control was - if the ball didn't go in it finished within mere inches of the cup consistently. I walked out of the store did some research to see what the putter was about and look at price but had zero intention of making a purchase until later this season if at all.

A few days ago I was at PGA Tour Superstore and grabbed the putter they had in stock. Same thing happened. They also had some of the new mallet models so I rolled putts with the #7. Both produced similar results with ease but I found the Two fit my eye much better - most likely because I've been playing the same shape for at least 2 seasons now.

Anyway, went home and looked for the best deal I could find which was $310 at 2ndSwing for a mint-condition putter until I remembered about Callaway Pre-Owned. Holy crap! Was able to get a "like new" putter in the length I wanted with the grip I wanted for $260 shipped! I can't wait to put this thing into play and see how it performs on the course. If I don't like it for some reason, I can utilize Callaway's 90-day buyback guarantee or possibly sell it for more than I paid on eBay. 

[Rickp]

40 minutes ago, TR1PTIK said:

Could be the placebo effect or it just might help me claw my way towards fewer putts but I ordered a new putter. While killing some time the other week at Golf Galaxy I decided to try a few putters to see if anything stood out. Initially, I didn't see anything that differed greatly from my gamer regardless of shape, materials, or really anything else. Then, I grabbed an Odyssey Tri Hot 5k Two... I've honestly been steering clear of Odyssey putters for several years and didn't know anything about the 5k putters. Immediately, I liked the way the club looked behind the ball as the black steel face with white insert and muted gray aluminum caused setup and alignment to just snap into place. I stroked a few putts and couldn't help to notice how nicely the ball rolled and how good distance control was - if the ball didn't go in it finished within mere inches of the cup consistently. I walked out of the store did some research to see what the putter was about and look at price but had zero intention of making a purchase until later this season if at all.

A few days ago I was at PGA Tour Superstore and grabbed the putter they had in stock. Same thing happened. They also had some of the new mallet models so I rolled putts with the #7. Both produced similar results with ease but I found the Two fit my eye much better - most likely because I've been playing the same shape for at least 2 seasons now.

Anyway, went home and looked for the best deal I could find which was $310 at 2ndSwing for a mint-condition putter until I remembered about Callaway Pre-Owned. Holy crap! Was able to get a "like new" putter in the length I wanted with the grip I wanted for $260 shipped! I can't wait to put this thing into play and see how it performs on the course. If I don't like it for some reason, I can utilize Callaway's 90-day buyback guarantee or possibly sell it for more than I paid on eBay. 

When CPO calls a club “like new” it usually is that or better.  Good luck!

[Grand Stranded]

I took a few clubs from the top of my bag to PGASS today, so I could gauge my gapping and distances from my lowest FW down through my hybrids. I also wanted to see if my buddy who works there could tell me if I needed to adjust the settings on my Titleist 4&5 hybrids as their system is a little confusing to me. They’re really nice but I wondered if they were optimized. He did tweak the 24* a bit, and now it’s even better.

Everything went pretty well, and I left there very happy with my bag set up. I actually have 3 other clubs, a driver, Hy-wood and putter I also really like as backups. My irons are at least as good, probably better than anything else I’ve tried, and my wedges are really the best I’ve played.

My point? I’m in a rare place right now… I’m not looking to change a thing, and I have no interest in looking.
The only club that interested me, and the only new release I’ve tried was the 430 Max driver, and my 425 (albeit a new one with a higher loft) beat it out.

What am I going to do with all the money I’ll be saving?

[Kenny B]

8 minutes ago, Grand Stranded said:

I took a few clubs from the top of my bag to PGASS today, so I could gauge my gapping and distances from my lowest FW down through my hybrids. I also wanted to see if my buddy who works there could tell me if I needed to adjust the settings on my Titleist 4&5 hybrids as their system is a little confusing to me. They’re really nice but I wondered if they were optimized. He did tweak the 24* a bit, and now it’s even better.

Everything went pretty well, and I left there very happy with my bag set up. I actually have 3 other clubs, a driver, Hy-wood and putter I also really like as backups. My irons are at least as good, probably better than anything else I’ve tried, and my wedges are really the best I’ve played.

My point? I’m in a rare place right now… I’m not looking to change a thing, and I have no interest in looking.
The only club that interested me, and the only new release I’ve tried was the 430 Max driver, and my 425 (albeit a new one with a higher loft) beat it out.

What am I going to do with all the money I’ll be saving?

Save it for next month.  

[Kenny B]

11 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Thx! I will, most likely, end up going into Pete's eventually - even if I buy a DTC set at least make sure they're fit to me and at the right specs.

If I don't buy DTC then I'm fortunate that I could spend $$ on name brand gear .. but wanna check that it'll work better for me vs anything else (but heck yeah I still want to find a good deal, too!).

Yeah, save that money and fly to Seattle this summer!!