Which Club Change Would You Make?

bigskyirish

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I currently have some gift certificate money to a local shop and I'm trying to figure out what I want to spend it on. I've narrowed it down to three possible choices. Let's assume that the gift certificate is enough to cover most of whatever purchase I make, so any differences in the cost aren't going to sway me. Given the factors below, which would you choose?

1. Driver. Specifically the 816 DBD. This is one of the stronger parts of my game, so I don't necessarily need to upgrade. But the driver is also the club that I like to upgrade most often. I hit my current driver (815 DBD) well, but I could probably still stand to reduce my spin a bit, and every single post I've seen about the 816 DBD has said that it's a definite upgrade over the 815 version. I tend to keep my driver in play, so picking up a little distance would only help my game overall.

2. 3 wood. I currently play the FT Optiforce, and I like it well enough. Historically, I tend to use it largely off deck, but I can hit it fine off tee too. I've just never been a huge 3-wood off the tee guy. But there is a decent chance I will play more often at a tougher course this year, where hitting a 3-wood off the tee would probably be the smart play (not that I'll necessarily always do it) on a decent handful of holes. I'm thinking the 816 here too, mainly based off of Jman and PhillyV raving about it from the Grandaddy. But I don't know whether I should go with the 14 or 16--my current version is a 15. I know I could adjust either version to a 15, and if I'm going to adjust--which I may not even need to do--I think I would tend to like the face a little more open, which leads me to believe that a 16 adjusted to 15 might be the play. But if I'm going to use it more off the tee, maybe a 14 makes more sense. As you can tell I'm torn here.

3. Wedges. Currently, I have a pretty big gap between my XR Pro PW and my Vokey 52, which I don't like at all. With my PW, I think that either adding a set AW (50) or some other 50 degree wedge would make sense. But then I'd be concerned about the gap from 50 to 56, so a 54/58 may make more sense than my 56/60. There's a few factors at play here. My wedge game is one of the weaker parts of my game, but it's not due to gapping issues or inconsistent yardages. My problems stem from the fact that I don't practice this part of my game nearly enough, mostly because I usually only have time to play or practice and I pick playing. In fact, knowing my yardages with my wedges so well makes me very reluctant to change them because it might take me a bit to get the new yardages down. Also, I don't particularly want to change my 56 for sentimental reasons. That said, I'm going to try to practice my wedge game significantly more this year, and I can get past the sentiment if making the change would help my game. But practicing more may mean that the PW to 52 gap won't bug me as much either.

So given all that, if you had to pick only one of the three, which would you pick?
 
A lot going on there haha. Based on what I'm reading, I go with either the 16* 3 wood or rejigger the wedges. Sounds like the driver one is mostly "because it's shiny", whereas the other two I think you have a better reason (particularly the wedges since you said you really don't like the gap).
 
Definitely not the driver at this point. I'd lean towards wedges since #own125 is real and if that's the weakest part of your game and you have a troubling gap, that's the most important thing to address.
 
A lot going on there haha. Based on what I'm reading, I go with either the 16* 3 wood or rejigger the wedges. Sounds like the driver one is mostly "because it's shiny", whereas the other two I think you have a better reason (particularly the wedges since you said you really don't like the gap).

You're right man - definitely a lot going on. I suppose that's why I can't figure out what I want to do. You're probably right about the driver too, though I do try to talk myself into the idea that the 816 would be enough of an improvement over the 815 that I could justify it as more than just being shiny. Not that shiny is necessarily a bad reason either.
 
unless you really think getting a new 3 wood would help I would go with option 3 and get your wedges dialed in.
 
Wedges, all the way. They're the real heroes behind a solid round of golf.
 
You're right man - definitely a lot going on. I suppose that's why I can't figure out what I want to do. You're probably right about the driver too, though I do try to talk myself into the idea that the 816 would be enough of an improvement over the 815 that I could justify it as more than just being shiny. Not that shiny is necessarily a bad reason either.

Shiny is DEFINITELY not a bad reason haha. Just in this case I think you've got more pressing reasons elsewhere.
 
From reading through this I would say do the wedges. Seems those are where the need is most.
 
You're right man - definitely a lot going on. I suppose that's why I can't figure out what I want to do. You're probably right about the driver too, though I do try to talk myself into the idea that the 816 would be enough of an improvement over the 815 that I could justify it as more than just being shiny. Not that shiny is necessarily a bad reason either.

Shiny is awesome sometimes.
You are a pretty darn good driver of the ball, but dependent on dialing it in, I think you could be pretty darn good with the 816.
 
from reading your own words ----- wedges would be the answer here.
 
Shiny is awesome sometimes.
You are a pretty darn good driver of the ball, but dependent on dialing it in, I think you could be pretty darn good with the 816.

I will say that I feel like the driver and 3 wood are much more likely to be places in the bag where a new club alone could give me some improvement. With wedges, practice is much more likely the key. I suppose fixing the gapping issue falls in the changing clubs will help category, but it also means creating a new issue (not knowing my yardages as well right off the bat).
 
I will say that I feel like the driver and 3 wood are much more likely to be places in the bag where a new club alone could give me some improvement. With wedges, practice is much more likely the key. I suppose fixing the gapping issue falls in the changing clubs will help category, but it also means creating a new issue (not knowing my yardages as well right off the bat).

Do you have issues with partial shots? If you're used to your yardages and the partial shots aren't too tough for you, then I definitely vote 3W given the above new information.

As for the wedges keep in mind you could always do a little bending to fix those gaps if you don't want to totally change the feel of the clubs.
 
Go with a better wedge configuration (loft spacing) and devote some time to wedge practice, you'll be glad you did it! Go get em buddy, let us know how it goes!
 
Since you asked what I would do, I would concentrate on the wedges (I carry 4 wedges). I also noticed that you didn't mention putters. The best acquisition I made last year was a counter balanced putter with a super stroke grip. It definitely improved my putting and remember the need to tap in a one foot putt counts the same as a 250 to 300 yard drive, which I am never going to come near.
 
Do you have issues with partial shots? If you're used to your yardages and the partial shots aren't too tough for you, then I definitely vote 3W given the above new information.

As for the wedges keep in mind you could always do a little bending to fix those gaps if you don't want to totally change the feel of the clubs.

I would say that I'm inconsistent with partial shots. It's not that I can't hit them, it's just that I don't hit them as consistently well as I would like. I also need to work on a more controlled, lower, checking shot because I tend to hit my wedges high, which can be an issue in the wind.
 
Since you asked what I would do, I would concentrate on the wedges (I carry 4 wedges). I also noticed that you didn't mention putters. The best acquisition I made last year was a counter balanced putter with a super stroke grip. It definitely improved my putting and remember the need to tap in a one foot putt counts the same as a 250 to 300 yard drive, which I am never going to come near.

Good observation. My putting is streaky, but the reason that's not on the list is because I got a Cure off of eBay for a steal, and I'm going to give that a shot.
 
I'd go with the driver since it sounds like you'd enjoy it the most.

I had a similar dilemma this off season too and went with all three :) (in part thanks to THP)
 
I wish you the best with your new putter. Sometimes, the putter seems to be the forgotten club and the technological advancements made to them. The putter is the club that is used for the most strokes.
 
i think wedges because of the issue with partial shots.
 
Need vs. want:
Wedge - need
3 Wood (maybe a mini?) - could use
Driver - want
The dilemma we all face from time to time.
 
Need vs. want:
Wedge - need
3 Wood (maybe a mini?) - could use
Driver - want
The dilemma we all face from time to time.

True story.
 
Have u just thought about just adding a XR pro AW and keeping your current wedges? I liked the gapping I had with my old Burner AW and my 52 degree. You'd have to loose the hybrid though?
 
Have u just thought about just adding a XR pro AW and keeping your current wedges? I liked the gapping I had with my old Burner AW and my 52 degree. You'd have to loose the hybrid though?

Can't say that I'd thought of adding the AW and keeping the others. The gapping might work ok, but I'm not sure what I'd take out. I think I'd probably be more inclined to add the AW and see what the gap is like between that and the 56 (or maybe bend the 56 to 55).
 
Can't say that I'd thought of adding the AW and keeping the others. The gapping might work ok, but I'm not sure what I'd take out. I think I'd probably be more inclined to add the AW and see what the gap is like between that and the 56 (or maybe bend the 56 to 55).

For me the set AW is a lot hotter than a traditional wedge. My burner AW is 49 degrees. My gaping is 110 yards for the AW and 95 for the 52 degree. When I was gaming the burners, I think my ideal wedge setup would have been set AW, 52 and 58. Basically, combining the 56 and 60. I never hit the 60 full, but love it around the green. I think I could be comfortable with a 58 around the green and maybe learn to hit it full.

I haven't been playing long with the Apex pro's so I'm still dialing in my distances and will build my wedge set around them. I'm guessing though that I'll want to add a set AW.
 
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