WITB Poor recent grad - What to upgrade next?

[ejgaudette 1,304]

29 minutes ago, ncwoz said:

Winter is cold and boring...so I made some bag upgrades!

First one was the 'ole boom stick. A local shop was running a promotion a few months back where you got the cost of the fitting back in a gift card. Got fit to this setup, then waited a month or so until the 2021 releases started dropping so I could get last year's stuff on clearance. Picked up a Cobra Speedzone 9° with a 70g HZRDUS Smoke Green shaft. During the fitting this setup was super stable and felt like I could get after a swing if necessary without too much lost control. I tended to get pretty erratic with my R9, so I'm looking forward to some hopefully straighter driving this season. Here's some pics!

As an aside, I also learned during the fitting that I was hitting almost 4° down with my driver. Turns out that doesn't help distance lol. So I've tweaked my driver setup a bit and am working to get at least level, if not hitting upwards on the ball.

More updates to come this week, then we'll probably have the 2021 bagged locked in!

Have the SZ Extreme and have really enjoyed it. I also actually just picked up a 60g Smoke Green that I should be getting shortly hope it works too. Like the white with the green shaft setup, my old college colors, unfortunately mine is yellow.

[ncwoz 1,710]

Another (relatively) recent bag upgrade. My in-laws spoiled the heck outta me this Christmas, got me two Maltby TSW wedges! 50° with 6° of bounce and 54° with 10° with Dynamic Gold R300 shafts and Lamkin Crossline Midsize grips.

I think I'm really going to like the sole design, it feels like it's pretty wide but still has relief on the toe and heel. Between chipping around in my living room and hitting some balls off mats at the range, I'm really liking them so far. Before the season starts up I think I'm going to snag a 58° to round off the set!

[fixyurdivot 10,516]

On 6/1/2019 at 12:45 PM, ncwoz said:

Well folks, debated not posting but figured I've gotta start somewhere! It's a bit of a hodge podge, but here's my current load out:

Driver: TaylorMade R9 SupterTri (Fujikura MotoreF1 65 shaft)

3W: Callaway X2 Hot (Aldila Tour Green 75 Tx shaft)

Irons (PW-2): Ping Eye 2

Wedges (52 & 60): Mack Daddy 2's

Putter: Ping Cushin

Being that my wife and I still have college loans breathing down our necks I'm on a bit of a budget. This in mind, I'm wondering if anyone has advice on what would be most worth upgrading next? There's not really a club in here I can't stand, and don't want to go buy something that will only be a marginal difference from what I've got. Hit me with what you think!

I guess to start off with, what portion of your game do you feel needs the most attention?  From your bag and my personal experience, I'll make the leap that it's your irons.

I played my PE2's for over 30 years.  The only reason I upgraded is because nearly everyone I talked to said the latest technology in irons offer improvement.  The skeptical side of me resisted for awhile but, the combination of having retired and having lots more time to play, along with my having stumbled onto MGS and reading reviews and candid feedback on all of the various products, ended up pushing me over the edge.  In a nutshell, the advances in iron designs does offer performance improvement over the PE2's.

If you have not had an iron fitting, I would highly recommend that first. Many of the big names offer specials that will not bust the budget.  Having opted to use Truespec, I would not recommend them simply because I feel they tailor their service to high end consumers and do not offer a good many of the OEM shaft options to test.  Bring in your PE2 to serve as baseline and you will quickly see the improved shift in performance.  Hit as many of the current product irons you can to sift out the type head and shaft that seems to work best for you. 

You can then use this information to look for used sets that better meet your current budget.  Coming from PE2 circa, the great thing is that you could opt for the previous release of a club model (i.e.; Z585 vs. ZX5, or G400 vs. G425, etc.) and still get performance benefits.  You could just buy a used set of heads and then get the preferred shafts from a club builder.  If your patient and diligent in your search, some really budget friendly options can be found.

But investing in a good iron fitting is, IMHO, the best investment you can make.

[RollingGreens 881]

Looks like your bag is rounding out nicely! Hoping it brings you improved success on the course

[ncwoz 1,710]

2 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

I guess to start off with, what portion of your game do you feel needs the most attention?  From your bag and my personal experience, I'll make the leap that it's your irons.

I played my PE2's for over 30 years.  The only reason I upgraded is because nearly everyone I talked to said the latest technology in irons offer improvement.  The skeptical side of me resisted for awhile but, the combination of having retired and having lots more time to play, along with my having stumbled onto MGS and reading reviews and candid feedback on all of the various products, ended up pushing me over the edge.  In a nutshell, the advances in iron designs does offer performance improvement over the PE2's.

If you have not had an iron fitting, I would highly recommend that first. Many of the big names offer specials that will not bust the budget.  Having opted to use Truespec, I would not recommend them simply because I feel they tailor their service to high end consumers and do not offer a good many of the OEM shaft options to test.  Bring in your PE2 to serve as baseline and you will quickly see the improved shift in performance.  Hit as many of the current product irons you can to sift out the type head and shaft that seems to work best for you. 

You can then use this information to look for used sets that better meet your current budget.  Coming from PE2 circa, the great thing is that you could opt for the previous release of a club model (i.e.; Z585 vs. ZX5, or G400 vs. G425, etc.) and still get performance benefits.  You could just buy a used set of heads and then get the preferred shafts from a club builder.  If your patient and diligent in your search, some really budget friendly options can be found.

But investing in a good iron fitting is, IMHO, the best investment you can make.

Yessir! Already took your advice and got myself some new Maltby irons, can't wait to get a full season with them!

[ncwoz 1,710]

On 2/14/2021 at 11:21 AM, ncwoz said:

Another (relatively) recent bag upgrade. My in-laws spoiled the heck outta me this Christmas, got me two Maltby TSW wedges! 50° with 6° of bounce and 54° with 10° with Dynamic Gold R300 shafts and Lamkin Crossline Midsize grips.

I think I'm really going to like the sole design, it feels like it's pretty wide but still has relief on the toe and heel. Between chipping around in my living room and hitting some balls off mats at the range, I'm really liking them so far. Before the season starts up I think I'm going to snag a 58° to round off the set!

58° TSW wedge came in the other day to round out the bag!

I'm also putting my hybrid potentially on the chopping block - I recently picked up a Tour Edge Exotics CB Pro Tungsten 3 iron from @edingc, as well as a UiHi Ben Hogan 3 iron that I'll be testing out. I'm mostly looking for this spot in my bag to be a reliable tee-shot club, so we'll see what direction I go!

[dwilliams 0]

A classic setup indeed — keep it!