THP FL Demo Day Feedback

i love that odyssey of oem's (i'm still struggling with the name change but it's just way too appropriate). it felt great. do you prefer a heel shafted putter, or are you more of a straight back and straight thru guy?

I like heel shafted or centered shafted or anything else. I just like putters...haha
 
everything was amazing equipment wise! I really LOVED the Callaway Diablo Edge and am laying the groundwork for one on my anniversary which is soon!! I played my round with a TM Burner and it was very sweet too. but I fell in love with the Edge. Never hit a 9* before but had really good results with it on the range. Cant remember though were they tour or regular models? Also really liked some of the Heavy Putters and the Seemores. The tees are very cool and I traded with a few guys to get a mixed collection of the Chromax balls, ended up with two blue, two silver and two green! forgot to try the towel that will come next round and the Pukka hat fits my bucket head as well! had alot of fun trying out my new wedges from the sand traps that I spent alot of time in! man they were everywhere! really liked the course alot just wish it was closer to my home! thanks again for everything GG and JB! cant wait for the next one minus the "friends"! :wink:
 
Even thought I was trying to pace myself...I don't remember all the clubs I hit. Below are my favorites in a few categories:

Drivers:
I tried the TM Superfast, Nike Victory Red, and Adams Superfast 10 in addition to the below. They were all fine clubs, but didn't stand out to me. The ones below did.
1) TaylorMade R9 SuperTri - If I had $400 (particularly after this weekend), this would be going in my bag. I loved everything about this club...feel, sound, look, shaft...everything. The only thing that was better than this stock club, was the SuperTri head with the Miyazaki Blue shaft...but for a stock offering, the Motore shaft is awesome.
2) Ping G15 - I have a Ping G10 that I have gamed for two seasons, but I could tell a nice improvement in the latest generation. Stock shaft flies high for me (which is why I special ordered the G10) I have...but still nice distance.

Irons:
I also tried the TM Burners (nice), Cleveland HB3 (too far down the Game Improvement scale for my eyes currently...but stupid-easy to hit), Mizuno MX1000 (felt like Mizunos I could actually hit), and Callaway Diablo Edge (also nice). My winners were:
1) Cleveland CG7 Black Pearls - If I had $700 after the $400 for my SuperTri (darn lack of cooperation in the PowerBall numbers), I would strongly consider replacing my X22s with these beauties. They were a beautiful set, and the results were nice as well. Love the finish on these, although if my CG14 wedges are any indication, tough to make that finish last.
2) Ping G15 - I have always liked the looks of Ping Irons, with the matte finish (for lack of a better term), but the one time I tried to game them (I3s) it did not go well. The trial with the G15s went significantly better and would make a consideration list if I was shopping.

Putters:
Now that you guys have converted me onto the SeeMore bandwagon...what else is there? :act-up: I demoed several different SeeMore models and liked almost all of them, although I like the models without inserts better than the ones with one. I'm trying to remember if I tried any other makes, but nothing stands out...other than the Ping Wack-E, which is just plain Ugl-E. :act-up:

Gift Bag Brands:
KnetGolf - The balls they provided look great. I did not actually use any of them yet because this round was WAY to important to switch out balls for :act-up:. However, thanks to them for providing so many balls. I will be checking them out (particularly with the 25% off coupon code).
Cleveland Classics - Beautiful shirt. I got the white one with thin blue and pink stripes. I will be wearing it very soon. Thanks so much for providing those for us.
Epoch Tees - I have bought and used those in the past and really like them. I break wooden tees on almost every tee shot, so it is nice to have ones that only get consumed when I can't find it. Great tees, and biodegradable to boot.
Spotless Swing Towels - Clever design and very functional...will be on my bag the next time I play.
Pukka Hat - The only "trucker" style hat I've seen than I will actually wear. Very nice and stylish. The funny thing is that when I saw them in the thread leading up to the event, I hadn't heard of their brand. Then Saturday morning when I was getting dressed, I looked at the brand of the hat I was wearing (my favorite hat from Harbour Town - with the Tartan Plaid on the underside of the bill)...and wouldn't you know it was a Pukka :act-up:
Chromax - I can't bring myself to put a mini-disco ball in play, but my son loves them. I do appreciate them sending them out for us though.

Probably forgetting some things, but that will do for now. Having all that demo equipment available to abuse at will, particularly without club reps there, was wonderful. I wish I had taken better advantage of the opportunity, but I knew I could only swing so many times that day. I really appreciate all the effort that went into acquiring all that equipment, as well as the companies for allowing us to do that. Everyone was having an absolute blast.
 
Demo day! I had a blast and I mostly hit my R9 460 with different shafts. I will say that I fell in love with the Miyazaki. My old shaft has turned into a beat down stick.

I was super excited about putters, but I ended up liking mine the best, but by the end of the weekend, I was sick of it. over 40 putts each round will piss anybody off. The SeeMore putters were awesome as were the Bettinardi putters and the Ping Redwood. I liked the 14 wedges as well as the Scratch wedges. Just like Spank, I love the Z Star yellow balls and I don't think I will be able to use a white ball again. The Nike irons were top notch. I liked most of the drivers out there, but the Geek and the other one (I forgot which one it was) was no where near as good as the major brands.

I love my Cleveland shirt and pukka hat. The tees with the THP logo on them look awesome! Whoever thought of the spotless swing towel is a genius. I can't wait to don my new stuff in league play this Thursday.
 
Just a quick follow up on the Epoch Tees. I played 18 this evening and used the same tee for the entire round. That is a first for me. I have to go to their site to see if they make shorter tees for irons. If so, I am sold.
 
Just a quick follow up on the Epoch Tees. I played 18 this evening and used the same tee for the entire round. That is a first for me. I have to go to their site to see if they make shorter tees for irons. If so, I am sold.

They do...I saw that on the info sheet that was in the bags. I think you can find those easily in your favorite, neighborhood PGA Tour Superstore :act-up:
 
Yep AD you are correct. I just left their website and no more Zero Friction tees for me. Epoch it is. Well, I still have a few ZF's to get rid of first. Heck with the number they gave out at the Outing, I should be in good shape for a while.
 
Just a quick follow up on the Epoch Tees. I played 18 this evening and used the same tee for the entire round. That is a first for me. I have to go to their site to see if they make shorter tees for irons. If so, I am sold.

You know Keith, the Zero Frictions do the same, but here's the difference... I notice mine didn't bend as much as the Zero Friction. After 9 my ZF would look like one of those offset tees. Let us know if they do have the shorties b/c I could use some as well.
 
JB's Demo Day Feedback

Drivers - I tried every single one of them that was out there and most were really good. Loved the Diablo Edge so much that it may be in my bag permanently. I can only thank OEM Kevin, and his love affair with others for that. I also really liked the Srixon Z-TX, new Fourteen, Taylormade SuperTri, etc... A few that did not live up to it for me were the Callaway FT-iz, and Geek. The rest were really solid.

Irons - Tried them all. But out of the ones we have not reviewed yet here are my thoughts. Mizuno MX-1000 - Awesome irons. Feel like Mizunos, forgiveness like other brands. They were great feeling clubs.
Wilson D-FY Half & Half - Loved the performance. These really worked well. The half and half shafts were very different. Not bad or good really, just different. Not sure I could play them full time, but they are in the bag now for review purposes. We shall see.
Cleveland HB3 - Possibly the easiest set of irons to hit I have ever come across. Very hybrid like, but I have to say the look did not bother me. They are "stupid straight".
Ping G15 - Really liked how easy these were to hit. The feel was just fair to me, but they perform great.
Ping i15 - Preferred the feel of these to the G's, but did not care for them as much. The feel felt a little hollow to me and while they were great irons, they did not suit my game.

Wedges - Man oh man there were a ton of wedges to try out.
Heavy Wedge - I was surprised at just how much I liked these. I still felt as though I would "fat" a few each round, but on the range it never happened. Good feel and the club seemed to want to do the work for me.
Fourteen - Really good wedge. Soft, great feel, and the looks were outstanding.
Callaway Jaws - Rock Solid wedge. The only thing I found that could possibly come close to comparing to my CG15s. Incredible feel and performance.
Scratch - They look outstanding and perform really well. I just did not get the feel of everybody else. I wanted to, but I felt as though they felt muted to me. I noticed that quite a few felt the same way. I think they have been built up so much elsewhere that you expect something magical, and I just did not get that.
Mizuno MP-T - Really great feeling wedges. Solid performance that provides good spin. I see why so many like them.
There were many more out there, but these are the ones I have tried that I have not reviewed at this point.

Putters - I could have been at the putting green all day trying out putters. There were that many out there. Here are a few that I wanted to mention.
SeeMore - I am already a fan and have reviewed most of them, but the SB-2 I have not reviewed yet and is a keeper. The face may be the best I have seen and the putter just wants to make every putt.
Bettinardi - There are few putters where the feel and the roll leave me speechless. This is one of those lines. We had people begging for these. I would die if they ever made a shape exactly the way I like them. And I cannot forget just how good the look is.
Nike Method - Ummm, it looks good, feels good, puts a good roll on it. Seems like a winner. Not my favorite out there, but definitely close.
Rife - I love the look and the way they roll the ball, but the feel was just "okay" to me. Quite a few others just loved them and I look forward to seeing the new line.
Cleveland BRZ - They look better on the course than most do and cost less than half as much. Plus they feel great.
Never Compromise - The X-Ray line has the best alignment aid in golf hands down.
Heavy Putter - Loved the light, liked the mid, struggled with the heavy.
Ping - The Redwood was AWESOME. The Wack-E did not do it for me. The creator of the famous shape, still holds the torch in my opinion.
Taylormade - The new Vicino could actually be better than the original. Great feeling insert and a shape that works.
STX - THe rubber changing face plates are simply awesome. But more so than that, is the fact that the inserts feel that darn good.

Accessories - We had so many out there that it was hard to get to all of them.
Epoch Tees - Like everybody else, I am converted. No bending and I only broke one. It did not hurt that they had our logo on them.
Knet Golf Balls - If they get the 2 balls I use, I will be purchasing from them again. Great stuff.
Spotless Swing Towel - All I can say is "I told ya so...haha". The thing was a STAR this weekend. OEM Kevin wants to use it as a pillow case...hehe
Distance Measuring - Bushnell Tour V2 is just one of my favorites there is. Still prefer their GPS as the best on the market for me. The IZZO was won by OEM Kevin and the OnPar...Just ask tcalloway his thoughts. Just firing it up, he was smiling.
Pukka - Im absolutely convinced they make the best hat on the market.
Cleveland Classics - All I will say is read my preview. One of the best out there. Remember those cards everybody.

All this and I am still leaving out things that I loved. What a great two days of demo. I just hope everybody liked it as much as I did....AND STAY TUNED for what is coming next!
 
nice stuff JB. i had no idea that you were hitting all of these clubs, especially since you were nice enough to spend some time with setho and i with all of those shafts to try.

an excellent testament to the OnPar could come from biggsy and chuck. biggsy had a bushnell rangefinder and it was great to use it in conjunction with the OnPar. we were all three huddled around the OnPar touching bunkers, edges of water, hell, we were dissecting that golf course. the range finder was great to get a specific number and the OnPar was usually about 2-3 yards different.

i didn't use the epoch tees just b/c i want to keep them in my golf collection. if they didn't have the thp logo on them i would've used them but i'm a sentimental fella. i also have not used my spotless swing towel yet and i'm not sure why, just a habit of using the one on my bag i guess. i love the pukka hat and will only wear flexfit meshback hats anyway so it's perfect. it has a nice solid feel to it which i prefer. i also like the color scheme on the hat, as we all know that i'm much more boring when it comes to my golf style color preferences.


there were a couple of putters there that were left handed and i gave all of them a roll. i'm not sure what the model names, numbers were but there was an anser style bettinardi, a mallet style bettinardi and a classic style seemore (kind of like a putt putt putter). i initally grabbed the seemore just b/c the night before we were rolling oem kevin's around in setho's hotel room. i love the rst feature and i love how solid that putter felt. it was the first time i've ever rolled a milled putter and it is extremely different from an insert. i didn't care too much for the bettinardi's. i can't put my finger on why exactly but something just didn't feel right. i liked the anser style more than the mallet but i'd say i'm a bit biased b/c i've never liked mallet style putters. they felt good, not as good as the seemore and my distance control with them was awful, but that probably has nothing to do with the putter.

honestly, the best part was watching all the guys hit all the equipment. a lot of their reactions were fantastic. i don't think i've ever heard HOLY SH*T!!! so much in my life. a lot of the equipment had some guys speechless and some just didn't work out so great but i commend every company that participated in this weekend. it shows that they care about "hackers" feedback and it shows that they believe in the products that they are putting out on the market. plus it could never hurt to throw some new equipment in front of oem kevin, that guy just might make some companies quarter numbers.

thanks to everyone involved, including everyone that made the journey. i feel as though i've made some quality friends and i'll have them for life.
 
JB, how were the d-fy's today? i find those irons very intriguing. what does the half/half shafts feel like?
 
I like them performance wise TC. The shaft is hard to get used to. it just feels so different. But I am going to work with them this entire week before the review next week.
 
I like them performance wise TC. The shaft is hard to get used to. it just feels so different. But I am going to work with them this entire week before the review next week.

i have more questions but i'll wait till the review is up, no need to get too much into it. i like the concept of the shafts but just can't fathom what they feel like.
 
i have more questions but i'll wait till the review is up, no need to get too much into it. i like the concept of the shafts but just can't fathom what they feel like.

They feel weird. I have used this technology in baseball bats, but I have always preferred the solid bat.

Edit: you should put your shaft in your sig.
 
Keep the feedback coming everybody. Most got to hit just about everything out there. Well except tcalloway, because he stands on the wrong side of hte ball.
 
Keep the feedback coming everybody. Most got to hit just about everything out there. Well except tcalloway, because he stands on the wrong side of hte ball.

yeah, yeah, but i wouldn't trade what i learned at that demo day for anything.

i do have one request though. somehow i ended up with a Large shirt and it just won't work. is there anyway to swap it or should i just have my own contest for a lucky forum member?
 
yeah, yeah, but i wouldn't trade what i learned at that demo day for anything.

i do have one request though. somehow i ended up with a Large shirt and it just won't work. is there anyway to swap it or should i just have my own contest for a lucky forum member?

Is it too small? Because they run big.
 
i haven't taken it out of the packaging. i didn't know if i should or not.
 
My gut feeling is the Large will fit you well.

ok, i'll give it a whirl. if anything it might motivate me to get a little skinnier. thanks, didn't mean to get off topic here.

i would love to get some more feedback as well. i know that everyone was trying everything. i do have some questions though about some of the putters that i tried.

as i said in an earlier post, the difference between the feel of an insert and a milled face putter was extremely different to me. it felt as though i didn't have to give it near as much umph! with the milled faced putters. why is that? i wanted to like the mallet style bettinardi so much but just couldn't. however, i also struggled reading those greens a bit due to the grains of the grass.
 
Part of that is because it is solid metal and that will have a little more substance behind it in the sweet spot. Many inserts are designed to add "softness" to a putter face and with that you have to give it a little more juice to get it going.
 
thanks. all i know is that they felt incredible. still, the best feeling putter for me out of everything was kevin's odyssey. it just felt pure every time.

just from observing on the range it seemed to me that taylormade has an absolute winner in the superfast, both the driver and the 3w. it was cool of you to let everyone try that club out and everyone that did was astonished at the results. it's funny b/c i've been following the thread about the superfast fwy wood but sometimes you just have to see it to believe it.
 
I would like to hear more if possible about how folks liked or disliked the SeeMore putters, and the Callaway Jaws wedges. Between JB and what you guys have said so far you have me dying to try out the TM superfast FW, the bad thing about that is I am afraid i would want to bag it and my current FW just got reshafted.
 
I would like to hear more if possible about how folks liked or disliked the SeeMore putters, and the Callaway Jaws wedges.
I didn't try the Jaws wedges. There was so much, I just missed them. I play a "FGP" Blade by SeeMore but I totally loved the Si3 Mallet. I tried the Anser style for my round on Saturday but had more three putts than two putts that round. I'm sure it wasn't just the putter though. Those greens were HUGE so it was possible to three putt any hole.
 
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