Bens197 2021 WITB

[bens197]

Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that this bag is a product of this forum, contributors and MGS testing. If I hadn’t stumbled upon you guys nearly four years ago I couldn’t imagine what I’d be playing. 
 

Pictures will tell the story. Top to bottom, this is the most excited I’ve been about my tools for a very long time. 
 

[StrokerAce]

Nice!

Don't see many 3 irons nowadays.... really like the look of those Hogans, esp the red paintfill and the ferrules.

[GolfSpy_APH]

These are my favorite kind of posts! Awesome setup and great photos.

[bens197]

1 minute ago, StrokerAce said:

Nice!

Don't see many 3 irons nowadays.... really like the look of those Hogans, esp the red paintfill and the ferrules.

I’ll be 40 in a few weeks...I’m still a throwback with my setup, I’ve always been a 13 club guy.

it’s tough to kick that iron out, especially when it’s so easy to hit. 
 

Loooove the Hogans. I put the Nippons in last season at the end of testing and around that time, Sugarloaf Social Club did a special run with BBF&Co ferrules. I had to pick those up

[bens197]

5 minutes ago, Apolloshowl said:

These are my favorite kind of posts! Awesome setup and great photos.

Thanks  

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

2nd on those hogans. That review had me very intrigued last year and if I hadn’t bought the 790s it would have been those or the Cobras being bought.

I am the same way with sticks rifgt now. I could care less what I was playing before but the forum has created this intrigue and excitement about equipment for me as well.

[GolfSpy BOS]

Nice looking setup!  

How do you like the Sim2 fairway?  Do you have  a big gap between your fairway and 3 iron?  G400 LST is one of the all-time greats, gonna be tough to give that the boot any time soon.

[bens197]

17 minutes ago, B.Boston said:

Nice looking setup!  

How do you like the Sim2 fairway?  Do you have  a big gap between your fairway and 3 iron?  G400 LST is one of the all-time greats, gonna be tough to give that the boot any time soon.

So far I am happy with the SIM2.  3 wood has been a tough one for me to figure out with my swing.  I played last week with this exclusively off the tee and I found that a lot of my issues were confidence more than technique.  I kept overthinking and over engineering myself when I should have just swung the club.  The Ventus is new yesterday from People's golf and I hope to take that out next week when the snow melts lol.  Yes, when the snow melts.

The gap is a little wider than I would prefer but I have a tough time convincing myself to buy one club to fit a gap I may only hit once or twice a round.  If it means laying up or choking down on the 3 wood I can live with that. 

I put a couple swings on the current driver when I was being fit for the 3 wood and to be honest, my numbers were exactly where I had hoped they'd be.  Ball Speed was high 160's, spin was low 2's and dispersion was snug.  I am less data and more feel and that LM session was more validation than anything.  Maybe next year we'll explore a driver swap.

[GolfSpy BOS]

1 minute ago, bens197 said:

So far I am happy with the SIM2.  3 wood has been a tough one for me to figure out with my swing.  I played last week with this exclusively off the tee and I found that a lot of my issues were confidence more than technique.  I kept overthinking and over engineering myself when I should have just swung the club.  The Ventus is new yesterday from People's golf and I hope to take that out next week when the snow melts lol.  Yes, when the snow melts.

The gap is a little wider than I would prefer but I have a tough time convincing myself to buy one club to fit a gap I may only hit once or twice a round.  If it means laying up or choking down on the 3 wood I can live with that. 

I put a couple swings on the current driver when I was being fit for the 3 wood and to be honest, my numbers were exactly where I had hoped they'd be.  Ball Speed was high 160's, spin was low 2's and dispersion was snug.  I am less data and more feel and that LM session was more validation than anything.  Maybe next year we'll explore a driver swap.

I love the ventus blue in my 5-wood.  It's stable, but still smooth for me and gives me a great launch with it.  I'm very happy with that one.  Hopefully you enjoy yours!  It looks like we have similar taste in shafts (I've liked evenflow black, and Modus 120).

[BNewton51]

Nice set up!!  Those Hogan's look beautiful!!  

[bens197]

1 minute ago, B.Boston said:

I love the ventus blue in my 5-wood.  It's stable, but still smooth for me and gives me a great launch with it.  I'm very happy with that one.  Hopefully you enjoy yours!  It looks like we have similar taste in shafts (I've liked evenflow black, and Modus 120).

Good minds think alike

The Modus 120, holy moly dude...It really is special.

I wanted to find something to boot the EF Black but to be honest, I cant believe how good the result has been.  It's a smoother feeling, more penetrating and tighter version of the HZRDUS Yellow that I originally went for.  It just drives the ball.

[bens197]

5 minutes ago, BNewton51 said:

Nice set up!!  Those Hogan's look beautiful!!  

Thx dude...I'm lucky to have been selected.  Definitely enjoying them and all they have to offer.

[Fjd]

I agree.  If not for MGS I also would not be playing the sticks I currently use.  Also have a mixed bag.  By the way, I got my driver using the MGS TrueGolfFit and love it.

[BKordon]

10 hours ago, bens197 said:

So far I am happy with the SIM2.  3 wood has been a tough one for me to figure out with my swing.  I played last week with this exclusively off the tee and I found that a lot of my issues were confidence more than technique.  I kept overthinking and over engineering myself when I should have just swung the club.  The Ventus is new yesterday from People's golf and I hope to take that out next week when the snow melts lol.  Yes, when the snow melts.

The gap is a little wider than I would prefer but I have a tough time convincing myself to buy one club to fit a gap I may only hit once or twice a round.  If it means laying up or choking down on the 3 wood I can live with that. 

I put a couple swings on the current driver when I was being fit for the 3 wood and to be honest, my numbers were exactly where I had hoped they'd be.  Ball Speed was high 160's, spin was low 2's and dispersion was snug.  I am less data and more feel and that LM session was more validation than anything.  Maybe next year we'll explore a driver swap.

I too am curious of your long term impressions of the Ventus shaft, once you get to play it. Personally, I play it across the board and have never found a shaft that I hit as correctly as this. Even with the mis-hits, the dispersion is second to none. 

[bens197]

12 minutes ago, BKordon said:

I too am curious of your long term impressions of the Ventus shaft, once you get to play it. Personally, I play it across the board and have never found a shaft that I hit as correctly as this. Even with the mis-hits, the dispersion is second to none. 

I’ll likely do a follow up pretty soon. There’s a demographic of golfers like myself who are less data-driven yet want to explore the wider spectrum of shaft offerings. 
 

If there’s a way to detail it’s performance through photos and story I hope it could offer someone a better insight into why it would or would not be a good choice. 

If they can then use this and compare it to guys here who are much more fluent in LM & data then it’s a win. 

[MattWillGolf]

12 hours ago, bens197 said:

Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that this bag is a product of this forum, contributors and MGS testing. If I hadn’t stumbled upon you guys nearly four years ago I couldn’t imagine what I’d be playing. 
 

Pictures will tell the story. Top to bottom, this is the most excited I’ve been about my tools for a very long time. 
 

How do you like the Scotty Phantom? It’s on my list of putters to try. 

[bens197]

31 minutes ago, MattWillGolf said:

How do you like the Scotty Phantom? It’s on my list of putters to try. 

So far, so good. 
 

There is a distinct difference in feel between the 5.5 and the 11.5. To me, the 11.5 felt more solid but not dead if that makes sense. I tried all of them at Dicks prior to buying just to be sure I liked it. 
 

I’ve never been very successful with mallets so this is definitely an experiment. I’m also a lot more focused on my putting drills than I ever have been. That should help my confidence. 

[MattWillGolf]

26 minutes ago, bens197 said:

So far, so good. 
 

There is a distinct difference in feel between the 5.5 and the 11.5. To me, the 11.5 felt more solid but not dead if that makes sense. I tried all of them at Dicks prior to buying just to be sure I liked it. 
 

I’ve never been very successful with mallets so this is definitely an experiment. I’m also a lot more focused on my putting drills than I ever have been. That should help my confidence. 

Interesting on the difference in feel. Was the 5.5 the 2019 version or the new release? Aluminum vs. Stainless Steel?

My Evnroll ER7 is my first mallet. I’m hooked.

[BKordon]

1 hour ago, bens197 said:

I’ll likely do a follow up pretty soon. There’s a demographic of golfers like myself who are less data-driven yet want to explore the wider spectrum of shaft offerings. 
 

If there’s a way to detail it’s performance through photos and story I hope it could offer someone a better insight into why it would or would not be a good choice. 

If they can then use this and compare it to guys here who are much more fluent in LM & data then it’s a win. 

I will keep an eye out for the follow up. For me, I don’t have access to a launch monitor, so the only data is self compiled on the course. Fairways, greens, putts, etc. Historically, I was consistently hitting half of the fairways. With Ventus in my driver and fairway woods, ( I don’t alway hit driver from the tee, due to layout) that number has climbed to 81%. In addition, in the last 12 months, my handicap was as high as 7.0 and is currently 1.6. There are additional factors at play, but being in the fairway hasn’t hurt. I started making shaft changes in June of last year. These changes have given a huge confidence boost. Point and shot. Hopefully, you see similar results. I have noticed that more and more pros are playing Ventus. 

[bens197]

7 hours ago, MattWillGolf said:

Interesting on the difference in feel. Was the 5.5 the 2019 version or the new release? Aluminum vs. Stainless Steel?

My Evnroll ER7 is my first mallet. I’m hooked.

Both were 2021 models. I didn’t do a deep dive because I had my focus on the 11.5. The profile and toe hang were what I needed for my game and I knew that if I rolled it well it would be the one.
 

I still wanted to try all, including the 5.5, just to be sure. I gave it a good effort and I was just surprised that it didn’t feel how I hoped.