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Osahar

Osahar

Working on the swing
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
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Location
Palm Bay, FL
I've officially been given the green light to get fit for a new driver to replace my Nickent 4DX Tour. It's been an on-and-off relationship with the 4DX, so happy to be making a change.

Today was a complete club-gasm. The local Golf USA held a the biggest demo day I've been lucky enough to attend. Taylormade, Callaway, Cleveland/Srixon, Ping, Mizuno, Powerbilt, Cobra, and Adams were all there, with the Adams, Ping, and (I think) Cobra fitting vans as well. I spent about 4 hours making my way up and down the line, narrowing down a list of drivers to look into a little harder. Strong winds into our faces and left-to-right made it tough to judge ball flight, so it was more a look, sound, and feel comparison.

Here was my take on what I hit:

Callaway - Diablo Edge was great, Diablo Edge Tour did not work for me at all, FT-iz was straight but felt like it should have been hitting longer, and the FT Tour officially made my "short list".

Powerbilt - Air Force One Air Foil was ok, but didn't care for the sound

Mizuno - MP 630 (non-moving weights) made the "short list"

Adams - Fast 10 felt very good, Speedline 9032LS made the "short list"

Taylormade - R9 Super Tri just didn't work for me, no Burner Super Fast there

Ping - G15 & I15 just didn't agree with me - but Ping clubs rarely work for me

Srixon - Z-TX made the "short list"

Cleveland - DST Tour made the "short list"

So now I just want to find somewhere to try out the Nike VR and Tour Edge Exotics XCG3 & CB3, plus hit the Bridgestone J38 again - and whittle down from there.

Also took the time to try out the Mizuno MX-1000 & MX-300 irons and Cleveland CG7 BP irons. I see why JB liked both the MX-300 & CG7 BP so much now! And the MX-1000 was extremely forgiving of my swing flaws.
 
Good stuff Osahar. Did any of the companys switch shafts around and have you try something else for a club that just wasn't getting it done, or were they all stock?
 
Great stuff Osahar. Glad you got to try out so many. I always thought you had said your miss was a slice and that you played the ball L to R. Can I ask why you are trying the Tour versions since they are far more open (normally) than that of the regular. Especially with the G15 Ping and the I15. As well as the DST and DST Tour?

Just curious more than anything.

Good luck on your search and congrats.
 
I wish I could take some swings with the Diablo Edge. This weekend coming up GG is having a Callaway demo and you get a free sleave of balls if you hit it.

Im curious too as how you came to like the Tour versions more then the supposed easier to hit regulars. Just curious, not saying its wrong or anything. Its interesting because Harry like the Callaway one too, I think.
 
i was thinking the same as JB when i read what you were trying. lots of TP and 'player' drivers.

given you found the MX range of irons suited to your swing, why not try the MX driver? the MP will be less forgiving.

i agree with you about the ping clubs..i didnt like either of them even though the results were ok.
 
love the term clubgasm.


good luck in your search, I would love to find something like this to attend in my area if nothing more than to compare all at one time.
 
thedue said:
Good stuff Osahar. Did any of the companys switch shafts around and have you try something else for a club that just wasn't getting it done, or were they all stock?
Click to expand...

It was all stock, I didn't go beyond that so far. Although the Adams Speedline 9032LS was in their bags with both the stock Aldila Voodoo shaft and the one of the Matrix Ozik shafts - I preferred the Matrix that they had to the Voodoo.
 
JB said:
Great stuff Osahar. Glad you got to try out so many. I always thought you had said your miss was a slice and that you played the ball L to R. Can I ask why you are trying the Tour versions since they are far more open (normally) than that of the regular. Especially with the G15 Ping and the I15. As well as the DST and DST Tour?

Just curious more than anything.

Good luck on your search and congrats.
Click to expand...

I usually stay away from the "draw" drivers. It's my swing that causes the left-to-right miss, not the club. When my swing is on, it's pretty straight with either a slight draw or fade. Some days I even end up with a hook - ball too far forward in my stance usually. Thanks to some of Andy's tips (and a few others on the site) I've fixed my takeaway issues and am usually close to square at impact.

That, and I was trying to demo everything I could get my hands on that was present - except I passed on the new Cobra since it's had such bad opinions so far.
 
Br1an_g said:
i was thinking the same as JB when i read what you were trying. lots of TP and 'player' drivers.

given you found the MX range of irons suited to your swing, why not try the MX driver? the MP will be less forgiving.

i agree with you about the ping clubs..i didnt like either of them even though the results were ok.
Click to expand...

I wasn't specifically trying the Tour vs. non-Tour stuff. I was just hitting whatever was available on the 2010 lineups. For Mizuno, according to the rep, they dropped the MX 700 driver. I was sad about that, as everyone spoke very highly of it last year. So that just left the MP 630.

With the Callaways, I really liked the FT Tour. It just felt very good. The Diablo Edge Tour should be renamed - it was terrible imho. The normal Diablo Edge is a much better club, about on par with the FT Tour for me but I liked the FT Tour feel and sound a little better.
 
JB said:
As well as the DST and DST Tour?
Click to expand...

With the selection they had, I only saw DST Draw or DST Tour. Since I try to stay away from draw-spec clubs, I tried out the Tour and really liked it.
 
For those of you either in or familiar with the Orlando, FL area - do you know of any golf shop there that carries Bridgestone clubs?

I searched around online, and Edwin Watts, Golfsmith, and Golf Galaxy do not list any Bridgestone clubs on their websites, although Bridgestone's website lists them as club retailers.
 
The Edwin Watts on Sand Lake Road had Bridgestone clubs in the past. It could be that they do not have any clubs out currently (new clubs ship soon).
 
I love your searches Osahar - they go on forever, but you make the best choices. I can't wait to hear the results of this one.
 
Diane said:
I love your searches Osahar - they go on forever, but you make the best choices. I can't wait to hear the results of this one.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping not to stretch this one out too long. :angel: But I admit, I'm one of those that has a list of items to research/try out and will go over pros/cons before spending the money. If I can find a spot that I can try the last 4 drivers together (plus hopefully re-hash the others I short-listed ) I can narrow it down and get the full fitting done.

Depending on how things go this week, I will hopefully be in Orlando next weekend hitting balls. We have a major dealer conference we're holding at a hotel on the beach Thurs/Fri this week since the NADA Conference is in Orlando over the weekend. Around 350 dealership owners/spouses/managers are set to show up from the 2100 we manage out of my office, so this week is going to be hectic as hell getting last minute details set before they arrive Thursday afternoon.
 
Osahar said:
For those of you either in or familiar with the Orlando, FL area - do you know of any golf shop there that carries Bridgestone clubs?

I searched around online, and Edwin Watts, Golfsmith, and Golf Galaxy do not list any Bridgestone clubs on their websites, although Bridgestone's website lists them as club retailers.
Click to expand...

Golfsmith across from Millenia Mall sells Bridgestone clubs. JB is correct Edwin Watts on Sand Lake Rd, the Edwin Watts outlet is on International Dr. near Universal. Also, Edwin Watts on Semoran.

Take your pick.
 
Good luck O!!!!
 
calebt17 said:
Golfsmith across from Millenia Mall sells Bridgestone clubs. JB is correct Edwin Watts on Sand Lake Rd, the Edwin Watts outlet is on International Dr. near Universal. Also, Edwin Watts on Semoran.

Take your pick.
Click to expand...

Good to know, thanks guys. I was worried when they weren't listing any on their websites at all.
 
Osahar,
As I mentioned above, the reason for that has more to do with them not having new gear in.
 
Just exchanged emails with Corey from Bridgestone - looks like I have time to whittle down the list while waiting for the J38's to ship March 1st. And here I was hoping to get through it quicker just to show Dianne I CAN make decisions quickly lol!
 
That is what I was explaing Osahar in this thread. THe stores in Orlando does carry them, but they are not available yet.
 
JB said:
That is what I was explaing Osahar in this thread. THe stores in Orlando does carry them, but they are not available yet.
Click to expand...

Yeah, for some reason my brain didn't quite catch up to what you meant. I guess I expected they'd list the older J33R since it's still the current model.
 
Looking for a new driver too. Many of the drivers in the shootout here are not in the stores yet.
 
Ok, finally cut down the list some more, and swapped a club from the original list. I'm looking forward to seeing how they compare head-to-head and finding out both which head I end up with, and which shaft works best with that head for my game.

  • Adams Speedline Fast 10
  • Mizuno MP-630
  • Bridgestone J38 460
  • Tour Edge Exotics XCG3

I'm just waiting on the Edwin Watts Superstore on Turkey Lake Rd in Orlando to receive their shipment of the Bridgestone J38's (hopefully this week) to schedule a time for my fitting. Hopefully they come in this coming week, or I won't have a free weekend until the end of March to get over there again.
 
Tomorrow is the big day. The J38's arrived Friday, so I'm headed to Edwin Watts to see which club ends up replacing my Nickent 4DX - finally going to break up the Nickent bag.

I'm looking forward to it, will be the first time I've worked with a fitter. :clap:
 
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