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DOYK (Dad of Young Kids) sprint through the 2017 Haggin Oaks Golf Expo


McaseyM

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As a father of 3 munchkins under the age 5, my time, especially for golf, is very limited. The 2017 Haggin Oaks Golf Expo, billed as "America's Largest Free Demo Days" was this last weekend in Sacramento, CA and I made arrangements to drop the car off for an oil change and then spend several hours perusing and hitting balls with any and all gear I could get my hands on.

Well, with all 3 kiddos being under quarantine with ear infections all week and my wife desperately needing a respite, my time was reduced to 1 hour before they picked me up for a zoo trip, hence the lack of any pictures as I needed to actually use the goods.

 

I decided to prioritize the things I've been most interested lately, putters, Cobra One Length and bafflers, Mizuno fairway woods and wedges, Tour Edge fairway and the uber srexy Srixon irons.

 

I had planned to bring my current fairway, (TE CB4 16.5 wood), 5,8 and PW ( Mizuno JPX 800 Pro) and 60 wedge (Mizuno MP T11) for comparisons, but since my time was slashed, I decided to pass on this.

 

I got there before the volunteers had placed balls out, so went to the putter section first. I had heard an interview with the inventor of the Directed Force Putter, Bill Presse, on the Hunting Scratch podcast and was interested in his lie balance putter that is supposed to minimize torque or head twisting forces

I know that this putter has been discussed on here, and the head is huge and very weird,

 

DF 1.jpg

 

but if scoring truly matters most, why not give it a go?

 

I met one of the reps and he showed me the "revealer" a torque demonstration system that suspends a putter by its grip between 2 bars to show/”reveal” the axis of spin and how much the putter would easily twist its face as it nears approaches and makes impact. As expected, all other putters, even face balanced putters spun a ton, while the DF's face stay true throughout the stroke.

 

revealer.jpg

Well, I thought it was a little bit of stacking the deck in the DF's favor, as the inventor designed both the putter and revealer, but wanted to get a feel.

 

After getting fit for lie and length, I took some strokes....and was very impressed. It had a very good feel and was very smooth. It's heavy, weighing in around 380ish grams, but with the way the shaft sits past the center of the head and the forward Press(e) of the shaft and grip, it felt great. The face has the current groove pattern du jour, horizontal, and has only 2 degrees of loft, and when combined with the Press forward Grip, got the ball rolling so fast and easy. Hits off of the toe and heel all went straight for me

 

The "c" cut out on the back of the head is designed for putting drills, balancing 1 ball in the middle teaches you to flush the putter to the green

 

 

1 ball.jpg

while putting with 2 balls withoutKnocking them off teaches balance and pacing

 

2 ball drill .jpg

 

And, the the little indentation on the back is a ball picker too.

I walked away very much liking this putter. It is expensive, $400, but it is forged (thanks Texas2cap), milled and built all in the US. I'm not in a position to buy, but do have a Press forward grip on the way, with a review to come. Oh, as it turns out, the rep was actually Bill Presse, the inventor of the putter and was very generous with time and questions.

Add me to the list of people who would like to see this added to most wanted testing or at least formally reviewed.

 

i apologize that there are no other pics on this post, but i didn't have time to take any and the above pics were borrowed from google

Next was Cobra. I've been intrigued by the single length as it may make things easier for me with limited practice and playing time. Only needing to practice and repeat 1 swing can cut (theorectically) down on range time. For all of the purists who feel this bastardizes the game, talk to me about your hybrids, graphite shafts and mallet putters.

 

Being a nice high handicap (20+), I started with the F7, even though I play forged Mizunos GI irons. I started with the 7 iron, then went back and forth between the 5,7 and 9. The first strike felt sooo good, with a solid click at contact and the ball got up and went. Ball flight was straight and maybe a little high, but not ballooning. I really liked the felt of this iron right off the bat. Not gonna lie, the 5 iron was weird to swing at such a short length ( I play 1 inch long and X-Stiff in my irons), and felt myself trying to swing harder than usual, but after 5-6 swings, I started to get a little better feel. It would take time to get used to, but it's all about consistency.

 

After these, I tried the forged version 7i and did not get a great feel. The ball flight was pretty good, but was lower than the F7 with a harsher strike, highly likely due to my inconsistent ball striking “abilities.”

 

After this, I went to the baffler 3 wood and hybrid and really liked the feel. The rails helped to guide the ball along the turf and I was able to unload on a few with the fairway wood. The shafts were Stiff versus the X I play in mine, but I really liked the overall feel.

 

Next, since I play a TE fairway, I wanted to try the new Tour Edge EX10. They had a 3+ 13.0 degree in Aldila Rogue 75 X stiff and it was a lot of fun. I could really get behind the ball and uncork on it with a good lower penetrating ball flight.

 

Mizuno was up next and after reading about the JPX EZ fairway wood, I wanted to give them a ride. Unfortunately there was no EZ available or X stiff shaft, so the 900 15 degree with Speeder (sorry didn't check number) fairway it was. The fitter set it for a high ball flight and that ball could get up and go. After a few balls, ball flight was higher than I like, so he adjusted it for a mid-flight and that brought it down to my preferred flight. It was a great feeling fairway, better than the previous generation.

 

Next, I pulled the 60.06 T7 wedge in blue and that bad boy was easy to control. I can be quite inconsistent with my 60.05 MPT11 (yes that can very much be due to age of the wedge) but this thing felt like butter, gave a nice high launch and was almost a point a shoot for me.

 

Knowing my time was winding down, I matriculated over the Srixon and was very excited. Their irons are soooooo damn beautiful and based on the reviews, back it up with performance. The rep told me that he felt the 565 was the best overall iron they made, and even threw up some air quotes as he called it a “GI” iron. Knowing my limited skills, I tried the 565 and 765 and found another bay. The first swing and strike with the 565 was equal to, if not better than a pure strike with my JPX 800 PROs. It felt awesome! Each ball was straight and though it had a slightly higher flight, that could be adjusted with proper shaft fitting. The 765 felt very good and would likely be better if I was a better striker, but that 565 was so pure for me.

 

At this point, I got the call that it was time to go. Hopefully next year I'll get to spend a good chunk of time there and get to try stuff from everyone, but hey, I gotta take what I can get.

What's in my  :cleveland-small: bag:

Driver :  :cobra-small: F9 10.5, Fujikura Speeder 757 TR 

Fairway  :cobra-small: F9 15.5° Aldila Rogue White 80X

Hybrid:  :cobra-small: King F7 18° KBS Tour PROTO Hybrid 95 S+

Irons:   :srixon-small: z585 4i - 6i,  z785 7i-PW, Nippon Modus 120X

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX  50.11, 55.11, 60.10  TT DG S400 Black

Putter:  post-53756-150768041262.jpg Honey Badger 34" 

Ball:  :srixon-small: Q-Star Tour

 

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We just got the putters in the shop at my club.  Our pro wants to try and fit me into one but not sure I could get used to something with that large of a footprint.  

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   Sim2 Rescue 22* Diamana Thump 100x

   X Forged CB 5 - PW MMT 105 TX 

   Jaws Raw 50*, 54* & 58* TTDG "OG" Spinner

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Man, wish I could have made it out! I was looking forward to this and at the last minute, was reminded by my wife that we would be attending a wedding San Luis Obispo over the weekend! Let me know if you ever want to meet up for a round here in Sac!

Driver:  :ping-small:  G 10.5* W/Tour Stiff 65g Ping Shaft   

Fairway Woods:  :cobra-small:  Cobra F6 13.5*, F6 Baffler 16*  

Irons: Split Set-  :ping-small: i200 3i - 7i ,  :benhogan-small: Ft Worth 15s, 8 (36), 9 (40), PW (44) 

Wedges: :benhogan-small:  TK, 52* & 56*

Putter:  :ping-small: Sigma G Kushin 

Bag:  :ping-small: Hoofer 5way

Balls:  :taylormade-small: TP5/X

 

 

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Man, wish I could have made it out! I was looking forward to this and at the last minute, was reminded by my wife that we would be attending a wedding San Luis Obispo over the weekend! Let me know if you ever want to meet up for a round here in Sac!

 

Glad to sometime!

i'm hosting a little 3 club tourney later this month up the road in Nicolaus at River oak as long as the course re-opens, they've been closed due to flooding on the feather river. here's a link:

 

http://honeybadgerclassic.blogspot.com/

What's in my  :cleveland-small: bag:

Driver :  :cobra-small: F9 10.5, Fujikura Speeder 757 TR 

Fairway  :cobra-small: F9 15.5° Aldila Rogue White 80X

Hybrid:  :cobra-small: King F7 18° KBS Tour PROTO Hybrid 95 S+

Irons:   :srixon-small: z585 4i - 6i,  z785 7i-PW, Nippon Modus 120X

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX  50.11, 55.11, 60.10  TT DG S400 Black

Putter:  post-53756-150768041262.jpg Honey Badger 34" 

Ball:  :srixon-small: Q-Star Tour

 

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Great notes. I am also in the stage of life of a DOYK so can relate--great you got a chance to go, even if it was on a limited time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

:cleveland-small: Launcher HB Driver 10.5* | :cleveland-small: Launcher HB 5W | :cleveland-small: Launcher HB 3H and 4H | :cleveland-small: Launcher CBX Irons 5-PW | :cleveland-small: CBX Wedges 50*, 54*, 58* | :cleveland-small: TFI 2135 Cero Putter | :srixon-small: Q Star Balls
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Yeah, I saw that they were doing that this year. Guess the $1500 per booth and mandating all purchases go through their pro shop wasn't enough.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

What's in my  :cleveland-small: bag:

Driver :  :cobra-small: F9 10.5, Fujikura Speeder 757 TR 

Fairway  :cobra-small: F9 15.5° Aldila Rogue White 80X

Hybrid:  :cobra-small: King F7 18° KBS Tour PROTO Hybrid 95 S+

Irons:   :srixon-small: z585 4i - 6i,  z785 7i-PW, Nippon Modus 120X

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX  50.11, 55.11, 60.10  TT DG S400 Black

Putter:  post-53756-150768041262.jpg Honey Badger 34" 

Ball:  :srixon-small: Q-Star Tour

 

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Regarding the Directed Force, it's actually 'Precision forged with a 1000 ton mechanical press and then heat treated before the first of two CNC stages'

 

It is not cast as stated in the original post.

thanks for the heads up, I'll correct it.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

What's in my  :cleveland-small: bag:

Driver :  :cobra-small: F9 10.5, Fujikura Speeder 757 TR 

Fairway  :cobra-small: F9 15.5° Aldila Rogue White 80X

Hybrid:  :cobra-small: King F7 18° KBS Tour PROTO Hybrid 95 S+

Irons:   :srixon-small: z585 4i - 6i,  z785 7i-PW, Nippon Modus 120X

Wedges:  :cleveland-small: CBX  50.11, 55.11, 60.10  TT DG S400 Black

Putter:  post-53756-150768041262.jpg Honey Badger 34" 

Ball:  :srixon-small: Q-Star Tour

 

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Actually was joined on the 3rd hole Monday by a guy playing the Directed Force putter. Had no idea what it was and didn't really pay any attention to it until the other guys in the group started commenting. It was dubbed, "the bottle opener."

 

Apparently "Mike" is affiliated with DF as he gave me his card and said he could fit me for one if interested. No hard sell, no sell at all really. He didn't talk a bit about the putter until others asked. Good player who was knocking them in from everywhere.

 

I'm not opposed to the looks of any putter as long as it works. I can be opposed to price and looking it up later gave me pause. Ouch. But if it works... Tech is darn interesting though.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Actually was joined on the 3rd hole Monday by a guy playing the Directed Force putter. Had no idea what it was and didn't really pay any attention to it until the other guys in the group started commenting. It was dubbed, "the bottle opener."

 

Apparently "Mike" is affiliated with DF as he gave me his card and said he could fit me for one if interested. No hard sell, no sell at all really. He didn't talk a bit about the putter until others asked. Good player who was knocking them in from everywhere.

 

I'm not opposed to the looks of any putter as long as it works. I can be opposed to price and looking it up later gave me pause. Ouch. But if it works... Tech is darn interesting though.

 

Based on your location, "Mike" is almost certainly the pro I've been going to for lessons for a couple years. He apparently became a fitter for DF recently after gaming it for awhile. Definitely a good guy and a good teacher.

Driver: Ping G410 LST 10.5°, Mitsubishi C6 ONYX 60 Stiff, 44.5"
Hybrids: Callaway Apex 19, 2H-4H, Fujikura Atmos TS Hybrid Blue 85 Stiff
Irons: Callaway Apex 19, 5i-AW, Aerotech SteelFiber 110 Stiff
Wedges: Titleist Vokey SM8 Jet Black, 54-10S and 60-8M (bent to 58°), Aerotech SteelFiber 110 Stiff
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Plus-4 Align Midsize
Putter: Evnroll ER7, stock grip
Ball: Srixon Z-Star

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