Titleist GT Long Game - 2024 Forum Review

[Lefty11]

@GolfSpy_KFT that drive on hole 1 couldn’t have been placed any better. Wow! 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

34 minutes ago, TJ Hall said:

That tee shot on one…WOW!  Way to cut off the entire dog leg!

It honestly could not have been a more perfect tee shot. Literally couldn’t have drawn it up better. The black shadow line is the literal line the ball took. 

[Golf2Much]

I always thought I accepted change fairly well.  I've made it 68 years and moved from one of the cloudiest locations in the US (Rochester, NY) to one of the sunniest (Key West). 

Then, I started to think how recent transitions from one golf club to another didn't immediately yield the expected performance improvements out of the box like many others often see.   I reminded myself that I worked at the same company for over 27 years, have been married for over 40 and I enjoy saying "you kids get off my lawn" way too much when I only grass I have the small patch between the sidewalk and the road.  My history suggests that maybe I'm not as good at accepting change than I thought I was!

My recent club transitions include moving from a broken Ping G400 SFT driver to a Ping G430 Max HL, Ping G30 irons to Paradym X and now to the Titleist GT driver and fairway woods.  For some reason for me, it takes me a while to fully embrace putting a new club into play.  My initial results do not typically correlate to what I ultimately achieve with the club.  To test that theory, I looked when I put the Callaway Paradym X irons in play.  With my Shot Scope data, I compared the first three weeks I played with them versus the following three weeks.  Here's what I found:

• The performance distance between both test periods differed anywhere between 3 to 17 yards.  Typically, I hit the ball farther on four of the six irons after the initial three week "break in" period.  
• During the first three weeks, performance distance within and between clubs all over the place.  The average gap distance between clubs for the first three weeks was 13.6 yards with the following three weeks 8.4 yards (almost 40% improvement).  The variability in performance distance between clubs improved considerably the second three weeks and yielded the gapping more in line with what most would expect.
• Looking at approach shots, the greens in regulation improved from 21% to 26% for the second trial period.  Surprisingly, the percentage short shots were roughly the same (at 60% and 61% respectively).  Interestingly, the proximity of approach shots per round from 100 to 150 yards (where I would normally hit the Paradym X's) went from an average of 59 feet the first three weeks to 49 feet the second three weeks.  
• Approach shots gained overall went from -2.46 shots to -0.61 shots in the second three-week period.  The range of shots gained during the first three-week period was -1.24 to -5.62 strokes.  The corresponding range for the second trial period was 1.85 to -5.17.  From 50-100 yards, the shots gained for the first three weeks was -0.08 and 0.61 for the second three weeks.  At 100-150 yards, the numbers improved from -0.65 to -0.16 shots.  

So, it would suggest that I am a late bloomer!  Trying to rationalize this trend, there's always excitement trying new clubs and a tendency to over swing yielding questionable results.  Maybe it's I need a longer runway to gain the confidence in the club?  I know that my previous Ping driver and Callaway Heavenwood were some of the most trusted clubs in my bag.  Now they have been replaced with the unknown.

I guess it take time for some.   

Edited 11 hours ago by Golf2Much

[Javs]

12 minutes ago, Golf2Much said:

I always thought I accepted change fairly well.  I've made it 68 years and moved from one of the cloudiest locations in the US (Rochester, NY) to one of the sunniest (Key West). 

Then, I started to think how recent transitions from one golf club to another didn't immediately yield the expected performance improvements out of the box like many others.   I reminded myself that I worked at the same company for over 27 years, have been married for over 40 and I enjoy saying "you kids get off my lawn" way too much when I only grass I have the small patch between the sidewalk and the road.  My history suggests that maybe I'm not as good at accepting change than I thought I was!

My recent club transitions include moving from a broken Ping G400 SFT driver to a Ping G430 Max HL, Ping G30 irons to Paradym X and now to the Titleist GT driver and fairway woods.  For some reason for me, it takes me a while to fully embrace putting a new club into play.  My initial results do not typically correlate to what I ultimately achieve with the club.  To test that theory, I looked when I put the Callaway Paradym X irons in play.  With my Shot Scope data, I compared the first three weeks I played with them versus the following three weeks.  Here's what I found:

• The performance distance between both test periods differed anywhere between 3 to 17 yards.  Typically, I hit the ball farther on four of the six irons.  
• During the first three weeks, performance distance within and between clubs all over the place.  The average gap distance between clubs for the first three weeks was 13.6 yards with the following three weeks 8.4 yards (almost 40% improvement).  The variability in performance distance between clubs improved considerably the second three weeks and yielded the gapping more in line with what most would expect.
• Looking at approach shots, the greens in regulation improved from 21% to 26% for the second trial period.  Surprisingly, the percentage short shots was roughly the same (at 60% and 61% respectively).  Interestingly, the proximity of approach shots per round from 100 to 150 yards (where I would normally hit the Paradym X's) went from an average of 59 feet the first three weeks to 49 feet the second three weeks.  
• Approach shots gained overall went from -2.46 shots to -0.61 shots in the second three week period.  The range of shots gained during the first three week period was -1.24 to -5.62 strokes.  The corresponding range for the second trial period was 1.85 to -5.17.  From 50-100 yards, the shots gained for the first three weeks was -0.08 and 0.61 for the second three weeks.  At 100-150 yards, the numbers improved from -0.65 to -0.16 shots.  

So, it would suggest that I am a late bloomer!  Trying to rationalize this trend, there's always excitement trying new clubs and a tendency to over swing yielding questionable results.  Maybe it's I need a longer runway to gain the confidence in the club?  I know that my previous Ping driver and Callaway Heavenwood were some of the most trusted clubs in my bag.  Now they have been replaced with the unknown.

I guess it take time for some.   

Not all change happens immediately. What do they say 21 days of work and 10,000 reps. So, I estimate you are getting there early. 

[RichL85]

Good things take time. It took 14 years to kick my old Srixon I-701s out of the bag. I could probably still play a round with them tomorrow and feel completely comfortable. They were just that good to me. 

As far as the GT's go, so far, I'm having a solid transition period with the fairways. The 3 wood is huge off a tee, but is taking a little more adjustment off the ground. I've caught it low on the face a few times. It still gets out there with decent distance, but wouldn't have the height to clear any hazards comfortably in that situation. Something to keep working on, because when I hit it well, I'm seeing about 90 feet for the apex height on the 3, and 100 feet on the 5. For comparison, that's around 13 feet higher than my gamer 3 wood. The GT 5 wood is averaging 18 feet higher than the Callaway 5 wood, and 24 feet higher than the PXG 19 degree hybrid that it's competing against. Some of the numbers I was seeing from the Trackman looked weird (especially some of the spin and distance numbers), so I'm going to pick up some RCT ProV1x's to use next time and make sure everything is aligned and setup properly.

Otherwise, I simply can't explain why the Tour AD-VF feels so good or why it's working for me. Based on the numbers, it shouldn't.