Irons and course conditions

[revkev]

I just recently put my old Ping Eye 2's into my bag - they have a thicker sole than my Mizuno's - I was hitting my Mizuno's well until late and hit them great in Indiana where the ground was firmer. I hit the Pings very well and shot a 74 the other day with them - I'm wondering if the thicker sole isn't better in wet conditions than the thiner sole?

 

Has anyone ever experimented with using a thicker sole when you're playing consistently in wet conditions and then switching back when it dries out?

 

Just curious.

[hckymeyer]

I haven't tried intentionally switching back and forth based on conditions. However I played the Adams CMB's earlier this year and since I've gotten the Amp Cells I've been playing those. Needless to say the Amp Cells are much thicker than the CMB's and I've had a few chances to play them in wetter conditions.

 

I would agree with you that the thicker sole does make it a little more difficult to really chunk one. By no means am I saying I haven't tried digging to China with them, but if you get a little heavy they still produce a good shot and don't dig as much.

 

I think the biggest caveat to this strategy is that you need to be very familiar with both sets of irons (which is seems you are). When switching to a new set it always takes me a few rounds to get used to them, so not sure if switching back and forth all the time would be a good idea for me. On the other hand we all know about the honeymoon period with new clubs, so maybe it's possible to continually switch clubs and ride a perpetual honeymoon period for the whole season

[Shambles]

I was actually told that way back. The Pings were supposed to be better clubs in the wet season and the thin soles in the dry but after I got to know my Pings I just got to using them in all seasons and let Hogans go, without planning to do so. The guy just took them and left payment in excess behind when all I had agreed to was to let him use it until he could find the same model for himself.

 

 

Shambles

[Mr_Theoo]

While I haven't tried it. This could be a winner for OEMs to provide the same model club but one for wetter conditions and one for dryer conditions

[whiskey golf]

I haven't tried this before. This is the challenge of golf, adapting to course conditions. I wouldn't want to pay for two irons sets for different course conditions.

[apprenti23]

Thicker soles generally have a lot more bounce than the thin soled counterparts. More bounce is great for soft conditions and low bounce for hard.

[Super Tuna]

Rev: Entirely agree. When I played my Pro Combo's in the Spring/Fall/Winter here which is always quite wet, the thin sole and the sharp leading edge provided a very different playing experience then something with a wider sole. Even moving the ball back, doing 3/4 swings and choking down were minimal band aids. They simply didn't like the wet.

 

While we live here, I'm fairly firm in that I've got a set for the rainy season and a set for the summer.

[RoverRick]

I have actually changed the clubs in my bag based on course conditions. In the winter, I used to switch to Ben Hogan CFT's because the wider soles, and use hybrids instead of long irons. But honestly, I did not play any better with these than any others.

 

Here is the problem with this argument. Contact with the ground is supposed to happen after contact with the ball. The wider soles will perhaps keep you from taking as deep of a divot, but should have very little effect on the actual ball striking. The softer ground may give a bit more and not compress the ball as much. The moisture in the ground will act as a lubricant and reduce the spin so it may not carry as far, but the reality is the sole should not impact the ground until the ball it already struck.

 

Hybrids rather than long irons are different, especially if you have more of a wood type hybrid.

 

I played today, both before and after a storm, I did not change the bag. The ball may have gone a bit shorter because of the conditions, and the divots may have been deeper but I seriously doubt it had any effect on the score. The wetter greens certainly did affect the putting.

[apprenti23]

Here is the problem with this argument. Contact with the ground is supposed to happen after contact with the ball. The wider soles will perhaps keep you from taking as deep of a divot, but should have very little effect on the actual ball striking. The softer ground may give a bit more and not compress the ball as much.

 

It has a huge affect regardless of ball first impact or not. Bounce affects the way a club sits at address. Soft conditions and you end up with leading edge lower at address so you need more bounce to counter and raise it up a bit. If you have the leading edge low, then have low bounce its going to act like a knife and just dig. Now on firm conditions the leading edge sits up so you need low bounce to counter and get it lower. Once you realize how the club works it makes perfect sense.

[revkev]

I really appreciate all the comments. I should add that it is hard for someone who doesn't play here to understand just how dramatically our conditions change between summer and winter. I'm not talking about what one might regularly face because a storm went through - it literally is like playing two totally different golf courses, different grass, different sand, rough, no rough - 25 yards different in distance off the tee - its remarkable.

 

I was hitting my irons brilliantly prior to leaving for Indiana - between that trip and having to take several weeks off on account of an issue at work I returned to a totally different golf course - since switching out my irons my ball striking has returned - I hit 12 greens on Tuesday which is very good for me or most people for that matter - 9/10 is my average.

 

We get 10/12 inches of rain a month on average in July/August/September - that's three quarters of our annual rainfall, which is a high annual to begin with, in three months - by November we are down to less than 2 inches a month so that it's dry as a bone in March/April.