What to upgrade next?

[FarFromScratch389]

Been a while since I posted, hope this finds everyone well. As we approach the mid-way-ish point thru the season, I'm starting to think about offseason upgrades. Here are the three directions I can go, how would you prioritize these? 

Irons - JPX Forged 900, bought new early '18. KBS Tour C-Taper 120 S. I bought these before I knew my game well enough to know that I needed x-stiff (or xx?). My current yardages are roughly: PW - 155 carry, 5i - 215 carry. I've done some posts on the Super Speed swing sticks & have 115 mph swing speed with my driver. Of late, I've been hitting nearly all shots inside 160  yards as 3/4 shots. My "new" PW goes 125, 8i 150 --- Need to be more accurate. My dispersion with all of my irons is, frankly, embarrassing. My irons go so damn high and after doing some research - looking like stiffer shafts will keep my ball flight lower. 

So, maybe it makes sense to upgrade shafts? The grooves probably are fine as I'm not intending on getting new irons for at least a few years? 

Driver - I was originally fitted into a stiff driver shaft but upgraded to the LinQ 7F5 Yellow. I cannot draw this club --- but I draw all of my others. My thought would be to look into a shorter driver shaft for this upgrade. I play the ST180, which is now 6 years old, so maybe I go full driver & shaft upgrade? My current driver carries 300+ and I really don't need all of that. I'd be thrilled with 280-285 and straight. Hence the 43" driver thought? 

3 wood - When I started hitting driver about 3 years ago I stopped playing my 3w almost entirely as if I wanted to club down, I can still poke my 4i out there 230+ (or 2i 250). However, over the last few weeks I've started to hit 3w very consistently. Almost better than I've ever hit any club 7i or longer. The head on this is also a ST180 but that shaft is the only proper one (Tensi CK series 70 Flex-x). Because I'm hitting this thing so good --- do I just keep playing it? Do I keep the shaft and upgrade the head? Or - do I look into a full shaft/head upgrade and really lean into this off of the tee? 

I'll  probably get everything upgraded in the next couple of years but given all of this, what would you upgrade first?

My gut says: Iron Shafts (Does it make sense to put new shafts into 5-year old heads), Driver & Shaft (length of shaft the main question), 3w Head (and maybe shaft as well?)

One more thing: My GW and PW are "irons" that match my set and not "wedges" like my T22 60* and 54*. I am hitting my 54*, 3/4 shot as accurate as ever. 90 carry. I'm thinking about also swapping the GW and PW that match my irons for true wedges. When I originally got fitted, I primarily hit full shots with the GW and PW (hence them being irons) but now that I hit 3/4 or lower most often, I'm thinking that's a pretty logical swap? 

I love nerding out to this stuff so I appreciate all of the comments and feedback. If you need/want more insight - happy to answer any follow up questions! 

[FarFromScratch389]

Wanted to provide a little more info: 

Red: Regular, full, PW. Massive dispersal. You can probably eyeball the difference between the 100 and 150 is the same as the very left edge of the red spray vs the right edge. 50 yard dispersal for a pitching wedge. LOL!

Yellow: Full knockdown PW shots. If you look at the numbers, hitting this shot into the wind should carry about as much as a full shot as it's significantly lower. It's also a much smaller dispersal. 

Purple: This would be akin to a "Dave Pelz Finesse shot", 3/4 takeaway - I've been calling it my "pendulum swing" as my body is nearly still and  I'm only moving my arms (like a pendulum). This shot is about 125 carry (which is what my full GW normally carries). 

This info shows that I absolutely should be shooting 3/4 shots (My scores have agreed!). The question then becomes - how much easier would heavier/stiffer irons be to control for me? While my accuracy inside 125 is at a career best --- everything outside of that is going in the wrong direction. 

[Boris119]

Well to newer the question. I want to upgrade my driver. Been playing the Cobra FlyZ for a while. Just recently, 2 weeks ago upgraded my entire irons from Mizuno JPX 850 to the Cobra King Tour. There was a major improvement in my game with this upgrade. I have been on the course 3 times with the new irons and my ball striking has been great. I am hoping it is not a honeymoon period. 
 

a little background is I am 65 years old and took a break from playing for about 6 years started back to the game about 3 months ago. I would never have thought of hitting a 4 iron until I tried the tour 4 iron today. Hit 2 beautiful draw on 2 different par 5 eagled one and birdied the second. 
 

for me the upgrade from game improvement to player irons has been great.

[FarFromScratch389]

On 7/10/2024 at 2:47 PM, Boris119 said:

Well to newer the question. I want to upgrade my driver. Been playing the Cobra FlyZ for a while. Just recently, 2 weeks ago upgraded my entire irons from Mizuno JPX 850 to the Cobra King Tour. There was a major improvement in my game with this upgrade. I have been on the course 3 times with the new irons and my ball striking has been great. I am hoping it is not a honeymoon period. 
 

a little background is I am 65 years old and took a break from playing for about 6 years started back to the game about 3 months ago. I would never have thought of hitting a 4 iron until I tried the tour 4 iron today. Hit 2 beautiful draw on 2 different par 5 eagled one and birdied the second. 
 

for me the upgrade from game improvement to player irons has been great.

Interesting. Appreciate the insight. I feel like the answer (per usual) is just go get fitted to see the difference. 

My question would be if I go to a fitter - would I be able to test: My current iron set up vs. My current irons with new shafts vs. New irons with new shafts? 

[cnosil]

2 minutes ago, FarFromScratch389 said:

Interesting. Appreciate the insight. I feel like the answer (per usual) is just go get fitted to see the difference. 

My question would be if I go to a fitter - would I be able to test: My current iron set up vs. My current irons with new shafts vs. New irons with new shafts? 

My question back would be how do we know what your swing is like and what clubs/shafts would help.   I don’t have your feels and reactions so I don’t know what you will change.    The only way to evaluate is with objective numbers.   F you don’t want to get fit get some launch monitor data with different clubs and shafts and post them here.   

Based on your original post it seems like your biggest complaint is with the irons so look at how you can optimize those.   

fitters will typically compare your current irons versus new irons.   If they happen to have you current irons, you could get the opportunity to test for a reshaft.   Since your mizunos are fairly new, comparing shafts with a current Mizuno head should be comparable.  While there are exceptions most fitters only have one iron from the set. Mike’s it difficult for combo sets, but it is the only cost effective way for a fitter to maintain inventory and control costs.  

[FarFromScratch389]

On 7/12/2024 at 11:24 AM, cnosil said:

My question back would be how do we know what your swing is like and what clubs/shafts would help.   I don’t have your feels and reactions so I don’t know what you will change.    The only way to evaluate is with objective numbers.   F you don’t want to get fit get some launch monitor data with different clubs and shafts and post them here.   

Based on your original post it seems like your biggest complaint is with the irons so look at how you can optimize those.   

fitters will typically compare your current irons versus new irons.   If they happen to have you current irons, you could get the opportunity to test for a reshaft.   Since your mizunos are fairly new, comparing shafts with a current Mizuno head should be comparable.  While there are exceptions most fitters only have one iron from the set. Mike’s it difficult for combo sets, but it is the only cost effective way for a fitter to maintain inventory and control costs.  

Thanks for the response! 

Wanted to provide the quick update as I pulled the trigger! 

We swapped out the 120g C-Tapers for the 130g C-Tapers for my 2-PW. Found out after 5 years of beating balls all my lofts were 2-3* stronger than they were fitted at. 

 

[FarFromScratch389]

The Numbers:

Current Gamer (120 C Taper) to newly fitted 130 C Taper

Club Speed: 92.3 to 94 +

Smash Factor: 1.45 to 1.46 +

Carry: 204.5 to 211.8 + (He measured my 'gamer' 6i at 3* stronger than it should be. So carry distance went UP (thanks to club head speed) even though the loft is 3* weaker. 

Dynamic Loft: 17 to 19.2 (numbers to back up the above note) +

Land Angle: 43.5 to 48 +

Dispersion was pretty cool. Major difference in distance dispersion with the old club having balls range from 194 carry (if we omit those two, the shortest carry with a 1.47 smash factor was 204.7; ranging up to 213.5. The 4 hits with the new shaft: 207.7 to 213.8. AND the 207.7 had a 1.42 smash factor. The 1.42 smash factor in the original grouping carried 194. 

Horizontally - the easiest way to explain would be that I hit 4/9 balls righter than 20 yards right. Another 2/9 balls from 10-20 right. The new club had one ball flared out to the right outside of 20. But that was it. 

As far as the rest of the bag goes - maybe wedges in the offseason/mid-next year and I'm going to keep the long game in a holding pattern. Smoking my 3w like I never have before - not sure I need to mess with that currently! Went 79 again on Sunday, that's 4 of my last 11 in the 70s! 

[cnosil]

17 minutes ago, FarFromScratch389 said:

Carry: 204.5 to 211.8 + (He measured my 'gamer' 6i at 3* stronger than it should be. So carry distance went UP (thanks to club head speed) even though the loft is 3* weaker. 

No,  can't be that a higher lofted club goes farther than it  did when the loft was lower;  that goes against all the principles of loft jacking .     If its not obvious, lots of sarcasm in that response.  

[FarFromScratch389]

19 minutes ago, cnosil said:

No,  can't be that a higher lofted club goes farther than it  did when the loft was lower;  that goes against all the principles of loft jacking .     If its not obvious, lots of sarcasm in that response.  

hahah! It's funny - the #1 thing I learned in this process is that if you spend on fitted clubs - take those clubs back to the fitter at least 1x/year to check the lofts. 

JPX 900 Forged are stronger lofts to begin with. So my 6i is a 'regular 5' that has now bent down to a 4i! 

[TAGolf13]

After a decade, my clubs still seem to be just fine, but I'm thinking a technology upgrade might be in order. I still hit my 3 metal and hybrids well and just added a G430 LST to the bag, so irons first. I took the 56 out of the bag and am just using my 52 and 60, so chances are good that will be 1st on the list. Leaving for the Myrtle Beach World Am on Saturday and how I perform will contribute to what I do in days to come.

[TAGolf13]

On 7/8/2024 at 4:43 PM, FarFromScratch389 said:

Irons - JPX Forged 900, bought new early '18. KBS Tour C-Taper 120 S. I bought these before I knew my game well enough to know that I needed x-stiff (or xx?). My current yardages are roughly: PW - 155 carry, 5i - 215 carry. I've done some posts on the Super Speed swing sticks & have 115 mph swing speed with my driver. Of late, I've been hitting nearly all shots inside 160  yards as 3/4 shots. My "new" PW goes 125, 8i 150 --- Need to be more accurate. My dispersion with all of my irons is, frankly, embarrassing. My irons go so damn high and after doing some research - looking like stiffer shafts will keep my ball flight lower. 

So, maybe it makes sense to upgrade shafts? The grooves probably are fine as I'm not intending on getting new irons for at least a few years? 

Driver - I was originally fitted into a stiff driver shaft but upgraded to the LinQ 7F5 Yellow. I cannot draw this club --- but I draw all of my others. My thought would be to look into a shorter driver shaft for this upgrade. I play the ST180, which is now 6 years old, so maybe I go full driver & shaft upgrade? My current driver carries 300+ and I really don't need all of that. I'd be thrilled with 280-285 and straight. Hence the 43" driver thought? 

3 wood - When I started hitting driver about 3 years ago I stopped playing my 3w almost entirely as if I wanted to club down, I can still poke my 4i out there 230+ (or 2i 250). However, over the last few weeks I've started to hit 3w very consistently. Almost better than I've ever hit any club 7i or longer. The head on this is also a ST180 but that shaft is the only proper one (Tensi CK series 70 Flex-x). Because I'm hitting this thing so good --- do I just keep playing it? Do I keep the shaft and upgrade the head? Or - do I look into a full shaft/head upgrade and really lean into this off of the tee? 

I'll  probably get everything upgraded in the next couple of years but given all of this, what would you upgrade first?

Sounds like you've got the irons figured out. Given that most pros are seeking more distance, why would you want less distance from your driver? Are you hitting it where you want to most of the time?  And if you're hitting the 3w like you want to, why would you mess with that? Mine doesn't look so hot, but it was more reliable and almost as long as my previous driver. I'm a short hitter though. Not in your ball park, but I tend to go with if it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say.

[dbsikirica]

Irons for me, mine are about 10 years old , I have no preconceived choice or brand in mind, will hit  different clubs until I find one I like

[DMPayne]

fairway wood for me.  Time to find one I can consistently hit

[SilvesterT]

Who wouldnt mind a new titleist gt driver?

 

but have a new driver in bag. Need work with hybrid woods. I took 3 wood out this year replaced with a 2 hybrid that was used. Currently have 2 hybrids and wanna get fitted to decide what to do. Add the 3iron with wood shaft and maybe a fully fitted hybrid??

[ChuckZ]

Maybe new SM10s.  Have new T350s, Hybrids and Fairway.  Have to checkout the new Titleist GT drivers when get back to playing this fall.  Have not played since June 2nd.  Back issues.  Cannot wait to get back on the links.  Hear nothing but good things about these new hot drivers from the experts.   

[Z06Dave]

I'm thinking a new putter. Can never have too many right? Also the L.A.B. ones are winning me over 

[Rico_de_Gallo]

It's gonna be shoes or a bag for me.

On my shoes are 8ish years old now, the adhesive between the bottom of the sole and the spikes is gone and I've added some super glue and wrapped some duct tape around them to keep the stuff together. Shoe still fits and feels fine. The sole isn't worn down either since most rounds are with a cart. I .... just need the part of the shoe with the spikes to stay put.

The bag is a stand bag that is 10+ years old and strings on zippers are starting to come off on a couple spots (nothing a zip tie can't help fix) .... also the stand feature works as long as there is enough friction on the ground to keep the legs from moving (doesn't do so well on tile/wood floor .... grass is fin though)

 

[Rico1961]

Hello Baller’s - I’ve been demo’ing the Ping S159 and Calloway Opus wedges from my club the last few weeks. Thought I’d made my decision but decided to go get fitted at PXG for the new Sugar Daddy 3’s. I’m buying three short sticks cause I hate my Vokey SM9’s. I even tried the SM10’s due to the hype, but quickly realized once a Vokey always a Vokey. 
 

Back to my PXG fitting. Love them!!! The more the fitter dialed them in, the better. So now comes the hard part, deciding which one to go with. Granted there’s a  price difference between the PXG versus Calloway/Ping, but is it worth it? What else should I be considering? Of the three, I loved the feel and sound of the PXG, and hit them equally as well. Thanks!
 

[FarFromScratch389]

5 hours ago, TAGolf13 said:

Sounds like you've got the irons figured out. Given that most pros are seeking more distance, why would you want less distance from your driver? Are you hitting it where you want to most of the time?  And if you're hitting the 3w like you want to, why would you mess with that? Mine doesn't look so hot, but it was more reliable and almost as long as my previous driver. I'm a short hitter though. Not in your ball park, but I tend to go with if it ain't broke, don't fix it as they say.

Great question. And I know everyone 'carries 300' online but I've been a bit blessed with serious length. I cant hit my 3w unless I have 290 yards or more to land. So that's my baseline. 3w and everything in my bag below that draws - driver cuts. Not sure why I cannot close my wrists. 

So it's not that I want less distance - my swing speed with driver is like 115 and can push up to like 125, so I'm not swinging out of my shoes. I just cannot control it. 

Your second half of the comment is spot on. The 3w aint broke - so I'm not going to fix it. The driver *is* broke, but in the context of my tee game, just hit 3w (unless we have a big dog leg right par 5, which my home course has two of and I can smash driver). Scores are coming down big time since bagging the driver. Handicap hit 10.0 on the nose for the first time last week after a recent 79.

[FarFromScratch389]

Just now, FarFromScratch389 said:

Great question. And I know everyone 'carries 300' online but I've been a bit blessed with serious length. I cant hit my 3w unless I have 290 yards or more to land. So that's my baseline. 3w and everything in my bag below that draws - driver cuts. Not sure why I cannot close my wrists. 

So it's not that I want less distance - my swing speed with driver is like 115 and can push up to like 125, so I'm not swinging out of my shoes. I just cannot control it. 

Your second half of the comment is spot on. The 3w aint broke - so I'm not going to fix it. The driver *is* broke, but in the context of my tee game, just hit 3w (unless we have a big dog leg right par 5, which my home course has two of and I can smash driver). Scores are coming down big time since bagging the driver. Handicap hit 10.0 on the nose for the first time last week after a recent 79.

One more thing about the 'pros' --- In 2017-18 before Brooksey got hot, his coach had him shift from a high draw to a middle/lower flighted cut off the tee. His 330 went to 300-310 but significantly more accurate. This is more along the lines of my thought process. What's the best way to use the speed. 

[TAGolf13]

4 hours ago, FarFromScratch389 said:

So it's not that I want less distance - my swing speed with driver is like 115 and can push up to like 125, so I'm not swinging out of my shoes. I just cannot control it. 

Your second half of the comment is spot on. The 3w aint broke - so I'm not going to fix it. The driver *is* broke, but in the context of my tee game, just hit 3w (unless we have a big dog leg right par 5, which my home course has two of and I can smash driver). Scores are coming down big time since bagging the driver. Handicap hit 10.0 on the nose for the first time last week after a recent 79.

Congrats man! I remember the first time I broke 80. It was a precious day.

I'm betting if you either got fitted or hit your local golfshop with a simulator you'd find a driver that you could still be long with and control. I lost control of a driver I'd been hitting for years recently (been away from the game and I'm old now), but went to Golf Galaxy, tried a bunch of drivers and came away with Ping G430 LST. I think that's going to be a game changer for me. Just got it last week so we're still getting to know each other, but at least now I know if I make even a decent swing, I'll still be in play. If I make a good swing, life is good off the tee. I'm hoping to hear that you've found a driver that fits your length and I can read about your 330-yd bombs in the fw.

Edited August 20 by TAGolf13
Typos

[SDunne]

Upgraded my wedges and putter recently and happy with so looking at what is the oldest thing in my bag and it's my irons. I love them but realise they likely need an upgrade. My game has also changed a fair bit since I got them and dropped from 25 to 16 handicap and so feel it's time for an upgrade. It also means that I'm pushing myself to do it properly and go get professionally fit as opposed to last time when I went to a shop and just hit whatever I liked! It's an investment so busy saving up first though!

 

[TAGolf13]

On 8/20/2024 at 11:21 AM, FarFromScratch389 said:

One more thing about the 'pros' --- In 2017-18 before Brooksey got hot, his coach had him shift from a high draw to a middle/lower flighted cut off the tee. His 330 went to 300-310 but significantly more accurate. This is more along the lines of my thought process. What's the best way to use the speed. 

Makes sense. 300 - 310 in the fairway will likely result in some low scoring providing your iron and short game hangs in there with your driving. 

[FarFromScratch389]

3 hours ago, TAGolf13 said:

Makes sense. 300 - 310 in the fairway will likely result in some low scoring providing your iron and short game hangs in there with your driving. 

If you saw me hit 3w, 15 shots, you'd think I'm a +3. 

If you saw me around the greens, you'd think I was about a 5. 

If you saw me hit wedges from 100-15 you'd think I'm a 20. 

LOL! Knowing what to work on is half the battle. Grinding out wedge work all summer long. Finally found "my number" (92y) with my 3/4 sand wedge. Hopefully we can keep the feel. 

[TAGolf13]

Keep rocking it man. My wedge game has definitely picked up with work these past few months. took the 56 out of the bag and using just a 52 (100 - 110) and my 60 (90 and under). You can see I have a hole to fill, but a 3/4 52 will have to do for now. Chipping around the greens with my 52 was much easier than the 56. I picked both up 2nd hand. Will probably get a new 56 soon, but for now just going with these two. 

 

[BKimber]

My plan is to mix my irons, probably a 3 hybrid, 4-6 apex pro, 7-9 apex mb, and vokey wedges 46, 50, 54,& 58.  or something similar. and also get fitted for a putter.

[Nathan R]

I bought a fairly inexpensive single length set of clubs a few years ago (Pinhawks) with graphite shafts.  I'd not played regularly for 15+ years and wasn't all that great when I did, so my thought process was this type of irons would be an easier transition into playing more consistent golf.  

I think overall this was a good plan, but now that I've improved a bit, I'm having issues with mid to short iron distance regulation.  And I'm not entirely sure the shafts are a good fit for my swing.   I have a good Ping 410 driver and 5 wood, some mediocre wedges I added after the single lengths to combat issues around the green (the 37 inch sand wedge was just too long to chip with), and I have a new Mizuno putter I like.  So this fall I think it's time to go get fit for a regular set of clubs.