OITW
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#BagBattles - What's Yours?
Driver
M3, '17 M2, and Srixon 785 (and which shaft)
3/4 wood
F8+ vs '16 M2
Utility Iron
P790 vs U85
Or do I carry a 5 wood or 3 hyrbid.
LW
58* RTX4 mid vs 60* low bounce K grind
It always seems to be a top of the bag conundrum.
M3, '17 M2, and Srixon 785 (and which shaft)
3/4 wood
F8+ vs '16 M2
Utility Iron
P790 vs U85
Or do I carry a 5 wood or 3 hyrbid.
LW
58* RTX4 mid vs 60* low bounce K grind
It always seems to be a top of the bag conundrum.
I have always been a hybrid player and carry a 21 degree 3 Hybo and 25 degree 4/5 hybo. I have started thinking on getting a driving iron since the few time i have tested these on the range ihave hit them very good. May get one and see if it will replace the 3 hybrid
Round 1 of my Driver Bag Battle went down yesterday.
For the past 8 months I’ve been gaming the Rogue driver (10.5, Aldila Synergy 60S). In March during the UTT ball fitting, it was recommended that I lower ball flight and spin by lowering loft 1 degree. One of the attributives of this club was that I wasn’t missing left very much, as had been customary for me. However I found myself developing too much butter cut to push fade to big ole slice. It got to the point where every round that miss would rear its ugly head costing me strokes due to forced recoveries or penalties. The other attractive - Distance. The Rogue is a beast. MY P-Average is 258. I expect every well hit drive to be above 240. For reference, Arccos had my smart distance between 235 and 240 with the F7 last year. I think the way Arccos and ShotScope average these #s are different, but the Rogue is definitely longer for me.
Enter the challenger. I bought a Taylormade ‘17 M1 9.5 with Kuro Kage S. Figured I could close the face 2 degrees, move the weight to the heel and that would tame my new case of the rights.
Round 1:
Went to play a round in the only dry course on the island. Got the M1 out on the range in its stock settings, hitting 6 balls with it and 6 with the Rogue. 4 good balls with the Rogue, one a bit too much fade and one a heely slice. The M1 was noticeably lower, line was left of the Rogue and had one baad duck hook. Thought that was good enough to go with the M1 for the full round.
On course I was thrilled with performance. Hit it 12 times and only had one bad result - a duck hook that was all kinds of ugly. What I was seeing on the range repeated itself. Lower ball flight, some loss of distance compared to the Rogue. Other than the above mentioned ugly hook, the ball didn’t move from its start line at all. Extremely stable, and into the wind it was a beast.
CompuBox numbers:
Rogue (over the previous 4 rounds):
41% Fairway hit, 11% Miss left, 41% Miss Right - at least 1 penalty per round over those 4 rounds.
258 yards P-Average.
M1:
41% Fairway hit, 41% Miss Left (Some pulls, some were I aimed wrong and ran through the fairway) 11% Miss Right.
250 yards P-Average.
It comes down to judges preference- if the judges favor precision, the M1 eeked out the tight round. If the judges favor the better shots, the Rogue would win. Next step is to take them both to the Range next week. Don’t want to tweek too much of the M1, but will probably move the sliding weight all the way to the back.
A couple of additional notes - Low face forgiveness clearly favors the Rogue. It isn’t my typical miss, so not as big a factor for me. I also prefer the feel of the Rogue. The M1 feels dull, although it isn’t necessarily off-putting. Rogue sounds more like a solid thwack to me.
Golf is fun
For the past 8 months I’ve been gaming the Rogue driver (10.5, Aldila Synergy 60S). In March during the UTT ball fitting, it was recommended that I lower ball flight and spin by lowering loft 1 degree. One of the attributives of this club was that I wasn’t missing left very much, as had been customary for me. However I found myself developing too much butter cut to push fade to big ole slice. It got to the point where every round that miss would rear its ugly head costing me strokes due to forced recoveries or penalties. The other attractive - Distance. The Rogue is a beast. MY P-Average is 258. I expect every well hit drive to be above 240. For reference, Arccos had my smart distance between 235 and 240 with the F7 last year. I think the way Arccos and ShotScope average these #s are different, but the Rogue is definitely longer for me.
Enter the challenger. I bought a Taylormade ‘17 M1 9.5 with Kuro Kage S. Figured I could close the face 2 degrees, move the weight to the heel and that would tame my new case of the rights.
Round 1:
Went to play a round in the only dry course on the island. Got the M1 out on the range in its stock settings, hitting 6 balls with it and 6 with the Rogue. 4 good balls with the Rogue, one a bit too much fade and one a heely slice. The M1 was noticeably lower, line was left of the Rogue and had one baad duck hook. Thought that was good enough to go with the M1 for the full round.
On course I was thrilled with performance. Hit it 12 times and only had one bad result - a duck hook that was all kinds of ugly. What I was seeing on the range repeated itself. Lower ball flight, some loss of distance compared to the Rogue. Other than the above mentioned ugly hook, the ball didn’t move from its start line at all. Extremely stable, and into the wind it was a beast.
CompuBox numbers:
Rogue (over the previous 4 rounds):
41% Fairway hit, 11% Miss left, 41% Miss Right - at least 1 penalty per round over those 4 rounds.
258 yards P-Average.
M1:
41% Fairway hit, 41% Miss Left (Some pulls, some were I aimed wrong and ran through the fairway) 11% Miss Right.
250 yards P-Average.
It comes down to judges preference- if the judges favor precision, the M1 eeked out the tight round. If the judges favor the better shots, the Rogue would win. Next step is to take them both to the Range next week. Don’t want to tweek too much of the M1, but will probably move the sliding weight all the way to the back.
A couple of additional notes - Low face forgiveness clearly favors the Rogue. It isn’t my typical miss, so not as big a factor for me. I also prefer the feel of the Rogue. The M1 feels dull, although it isn’t necessarily off-putting. Rogue sounds more like a solid thwack to me.
Golf is fun
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I'm not sure about a lob wedge. I get plenty of height with my 54 so I dont need it and I rarely ever use it. I would like to have a 46* wedge to go in between my 50* Vokey and my 45* Hot Metal PW (gapping should be fine given the added distance the Hot Metal has vs a blade type wedge I would be looking for.
The battle for 4 wood supremacy has been raging for a few weeks now. Current title holder is the Callaway Steelhead 4+ but the contender TEE EX10 Beta 16.5* may have delivered a knockout blow this weekend.
Played 9 using the EX10 Beta exclusively off the tee and hit 7/7 fairways, it felt automatic and I've never done that before with any club. I hit a 2nd shot on a few holes with the Steelhead and it confirmed what I had seen in 3 previous range sessions. On well hit shots the Steelhead is 5-10 yards longer due to roll and has a more piercing flight. EX10 Beta seems to spin more and climb to it's apex and land softer, but is more accurate. It's really just a matter of what I want in a 4 wood. My brain is telling me the EX10 is a smarter move because I don't need max distance from this club. It is a secondary tee option and needs to be safe and in the fairway. In that aspect it delivered in spades, don't see how I can move away from it right now.
Played 9 using the EX10 Beta exclusively off the tee and hit 7/7 fairways, it felt automatic and I've never done that before with any club. I hit a 2nd shot on a few holes with the Steelhead and it confirmed what I had seen in 3 previous range sessions. On well hit shots the Steelhead is 5-10 yards longer due to roll and has a more piercing flight. EX10 Beta seems to spin more and climb to it's apex and land softer, but is more accurate. It's really just a matter of what I want in a 4 wood. My brain is telling me the EX10 is a smarter move because I don't need max distance from this club. It is a secondary tee option and needs to be safe and in the fairway. In that aspect it delivered in spades, don't see how I can move away from it right now.
Battles are usually at the long and short end of the bag,
Long battle is between a 4 wood, 7 wood, 2 driving iron, and 2/3 hybrid. They are all around the same distance with the exception of 4 wood going about 10-15 more, but I don't require that distance normally but it's useful in windy situations. I'm thiking more 2 driving iron atm since there is a lot of holes that require I hit 190-200 range
Short battle is whether I want to add a 60 and swap out my putter. Currently 54 is the highest I carry and honestly I barely even use that, only use it when in greenside bunker that is close to the flag.
Putter I'm thinking about testing the ZB2 against my Spider Tour. The spider is amazing at distance control but I tend to pull the club, I need something that would delay the club close and have it a little open on impact, and I trust Ping's engineers and their grooves
Long battle is between a 4 wood, 7 wood, 2 driving iron, and 2/3 hybrid. They are all around the same distance with the exception of 4 wood going about 10-15 more, but I don't require that distance normally but it's useful in windy situations. I'm thiking more 2 driving iron atm since there is a lot of holes that require I hit 190-200 range
Short battle is whether I want to add a 60 and swap out my putter. Currently 54 is the highest I carry and honestly I barely even use that, only use it when in greenside bunker that is close to the flag.
Putter I'm thinking about testing the ZB2 against my Spider Tour. The spider is amazing at distance control but I tend to pull the club, I need something that would delay the club close and have it a little open on impact, and I trust Ping's engineers and their grooves
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- Staff
- #184
For me....
G400 Max v. Cortex v. F9 v. Mystery Driver in the 1w spot.
F85 v. Mystery Fairway in the 3w spot.
New Level 902’s v. Miura CB 1008 in the iron spot.
I figure I have a month to settle this chaos and set the bag for The Gathering.
G400 Max v. Cortex v. F9 v. Mystery Driver in the 1w spot.
F85 v. Mystery Fairway in the 3w spot.
New Level 902’s v. Miura CB 1008 in the iron spot.
I figure I have a month to settle this chaos and set the bag for The Gathering.
jonathanliewys
Active member
Rogue line vs EXS line for me.
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Have a bit of a wedge battle these days. Thinking of going with the Pings this season. It is new to the battle, so need to see how it (52) feels/performs before buying a 56 and 60.
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- Staff
- #188
Have a bit of a wedge battle these days. Thinking of going with the Pings this season. It is new to the battle, so need to see how it (52) feels/performs before buying a 56 and 60.
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Criminally underrated wedges.
It looks great behind the ball....I snagged it for S+Gs for $80 in mint condition. Stock setup. I had prior success with the OG Glide. I'm always intrigued by a great wedge setup. The vokeys are phenoms too. Bag battles are good times....always something going on. Gonna post some pics of other battles going down...lol...
Some iron battles! Lol....
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How would you handicap this one so far?
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Good question! So, the 902s (S400, std length) are setup a bit differently from the 770 and MP5s (both CTapers, +/1/2" long). I also technically have not played a single round of golf with the 902s yet....too cold here in NY. Only minimal range time. I have the most time in with the 770s and they have been really great for me. Last season I played extremely well with them. My only gripe with the 770s is the pw...it is oddly shaped and I don't seem to get along with it for some reason. Not a good club to be uncomfortable with!
The MP5s are fantastic and also serviced me quite well. They are certainly not as forgiving as the 770s and not quite as long, but they have a bit better feel to them. Trade offs I suppose.
The 902s setup really nicely and feel very soft/smooth through the strike. That could also be the S400 shafts, as they are different from the Ctapers through the strike zone.
If I were to rank them right now, I'd go with 770 > MP5 > 902 but that is only due to limited time and experience with the 902 setup. Looking forward to getting them on course.
The only other irons I think I'd consider for my bag would be the 919 tours....although who knows what the PGA show will bring us next week!
Top of the bag could have an entirely new look this year:
G400 Max driver v. Rogue driver v. Epic Flash driver v. Everything else I test in my fitting (585, Cortex, M6, EXS?)
EX 10 Beta 3W v. Epic Flash 3W
Rogue Heavenwood v. Big Bertha 3H
Rogue 4H v. u65 23* v. EXS 4H v. Big Bertha 4H (leaning u65 or EXS as more iron replacements)
G400 Max driver v. Rogue driver v. Epic Flash driver v. Everything else I test in my fitting (585, Cortex, M6, EXS?)
EX 10 Beta 3W v. Epic Flash 3W
Rogue Heavenwood v. Big Bertha 3H
Rogue 4H v. u65 23* v. EXS 4H v. Big Bertha 4H (leaning u65 or EXS as more iron replacements)
The Kai'Li is one of, if not my favorite shaft. These days, a guy can find them for a song too.
Some fw shaft battles! Lol...
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No major battles at the moment other than maybe my driver shaft. Either sticking with the Pro Orange or moving to the Diamana DF. The counter-balance of the Pro Orange feels great. Even though the shaft is very stiff, it seems effortless to swing. I don't have to manipulate my release at all. Just swing with confidence. The DF is a half inch shorter where I wish it was longer. I think over really just adjusted to the counter balance enough that I'm not willing to go back at this point. I won't draw any conclusions until I hit it on the course at least.
I typically don't keep multiples of each club as I hate the indecision. Make the choice and commit to it. No second guessing getting in my head. This game is hard enough as it is.
I typically don't keep multiples of each club as I hate the indecision. Make the choice and commit to it. No second guessing getting in my head. This game is hard enough as it is.
Right now, it's whether or not a 3H has a logical spot in my bag. Until the weather turns though, it will be a range exercise.
I'm sure this story will change when I get to hit more of the new offerings.
I'm sure this story will change when I get to hit more of the new offerings.
BrettMatthews
Member
Regular flex vs stiff flex, need to get the coaches opinion this spring.
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- Staff
- #199
Can’t make myself commit to irons now, because I’m an addict. Haha
Have the three sets I should be totally comfortable with, but that in itself creates an issue of overcrowding to the point where I’m like, ****, trade some in and get some 785’s or something.
Good grief y’all.
Have the three sets I should be totally comfortable with, but that in itself creates an issue of overcrowding to the point where I’m like, ****, trade some in and get some 785’s or something.
Good grief y’all.
Skim alert, what’s the third set- 902, Miura, and?? Was it the Mizunos?
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