Rambler WITB

While I’m waiting for the rest of the clubs to come in, thought I’d comment a bit more on the clubs which have made the bag and my fitting experience with those clubs.

First up: Callaway Rogue Sub Zero driver

I’m a club-ho, not gonna lie. So, I fully expected to be replacing nearly every club in my bag due to the Club Champion fitting. Driver was during my second fitting visit.

The results with the Rogue SZ immediately challenged that notion. Still not swinging at mid-season speeds (anywhere from 2 to 6 mph slower), but was seeing good smash factors with the head/shaft combo (Shaft - Fujikura Fuel 6 stiff or Fujikura Atmos Blue 6 Xstiff). Tried a couple other heads, but nothing came close to the efficiency I was seeing out of the current club.

At that point, the fitter said he wanted to try something to see if he could get the ballspeed up a bit, so he could also up the loft. He asked if I had ever played the club with the heavier weight forward (I have 17g and 7g weights). I have not tried that since gaming the Epic SZ (and I sprayed the ball when trying that).

None-the-less, he moved the 17g to the front and 7g to the back... Ball speed went up, launch stayed similar, spin reduced, carry went up, smash factor improved to the point that the fitter said he couldn’t beat what we were getting. Interestingly, we saw these results with both of the shafts I brought, and any other shaft we tried didn’t improve on the combo.

So, the recommendation was stick with the Rogue SZ. Loft set to Neutral and +1 (9 degree head). Heavier weight forward and either shaft. Gamed this for the first time yesterday (with Atmos Blue 6x - too lazy to change the shaft. LOL), and though the wind was blowing and the ground is still really wet, easily had my best driving round since probably early last season.

EDIT: Got a couple of questions about other heads/shafts - probably should have included those the first time, as that would’ve made sense. LOL

Driver Heads tested during the fitting:
Ping G400 LST - 3rd best ball speed. Decent consistency, but spun too much on all but my best strikes. Those “best” strikes were fun, but didn’t happen often enough.
Cobra F9 Speedback - 2nd best ball speed. Best sounding driver of the bunch (with the weight in the back, anyway) but strike consistency wasn’t very good. Tried the higher weight up front, but I did start spraying that one.
Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero - Mentioned in another thread - thought this might be a good fitting move as an upgrade, but with my swing, lost 2 to 4 mph swing speed. We spent more time with this one, adding some forward weight and adjusting lofts, but couldn’t get the numbers up to the Rogue SZ

Shafts tested during the fitting:
Fujikura Fuel 60 stiff (good fit)
Fujikura Atmos Blue 60 stiff and 60 Xstiff (both good fit)
Fujikura Pro 2.0 6S (OK fit)
Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro Blue 60 stiff and 70 stiff (OK fit)
 
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Good stuff Jeremy!
 
From the iron fitting, where the Cobra F9 Speedback irons took the bag...

I’m not one who cares a bunch about trying to gain distance with my irons. At the beginning of this fitting, just as with the last time I was there to get fit, I stated my goal with irons is improved dispersion/consistency. I prefer a higher stock flight so I only have to worry about flighting it down when necessary. I don’t try to move the ball very much, either.

I told Tim (fitter - also fit me last time) that I wouldn’t at all mind some sort of combo set with more forgiving long/mid irons (keep this in mind for a little bit later).

Started-off warming-up with my Ping i210s. I love my Pings. Who am I kidding, I love Ping. Always have. I didn’t hit them bad, but they were a bit too spinny, and he said I was definitely giving-up some distance with them, even considering improving dispersion/consistency.

We worked with the P790, primarily, and found which shaft appeared to work best. Alas, it was the exact same shaft I was fit into 4 years ago; Nippon NSPro 1050. Started messing with other club heads. HMP and Apex were out very quickly. Just didn’t have the same “pop” and consistent strike pattern as with the P790. Z785 was solid; shorter in distance than the 790s, but great looks and a good feel. Still a contender. Ping i500? Nope. Flight was pretty inconsistent.

Tim started talking about winding it up. Nothing really competing with the 790s other Z785s. Wait one minute... Let’s try one more head... F9 Speedback (since I had mentioned I’d be OK with a more forgiving head in long/mid irons). Improved results were immediate. Literally. OK, now some slight tweaks to the 3 contenders (P790, Z785, and F9s). Over-and-over, the F9 delivered. Higher flight. Higher ball speed. Consistent carry distance. Good combo of landing angle and spin. Tried an i210 in PowerSpec (stronger loft), just to make sure. That wasn’t a bad result, either, but not as good as the Cobras.

You sort of know (or at least I did) when you’ve made the choice... I kept picking-up the iron and hitting it, trying different shots I normally do have to use on the course. Yeah, that wasted any further swing fitting for the day, but it solidified the results, and more importantly, my confidence in the fitting results.

I could have happily gamed the P790s as well, or the Z785s. Truth be told, the i210s in stronger lofts would have been just as good as the Srixons, though, so that probably wouldn’t have been a buy.

So, sadly (LOL), I’ll have zero Ping clubs in my bag. I’ll also have zero Wilson Staff clubs in my bag. Very odd for a homer like me, but I committed to going with the results of the fitting, so there it is.

Cobra F9 Speedback 4 - GW with Nippon NS Pro 1050 stiff.

Iron Heads tested:
Cobra F9 Speedback (did everything well. really.)
Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pro (did not have the same pop as the F9, also spun a bit too much)
Callaway Apex CF19 (similar to the HMP, just didn’t seem to have the same pop for me. Strike pattern was all over the map, unfortunately)
Srixon Z785 (Clearly the prettiest of the bunch and with solid performance. While I’m not married to more distance, F9 had nearly a club advantage plus slightly better other numbers)
Ping i500 (Inconsitent strike pattern - inconsistent flights/results)
Taylormade P790 (Really good iron. I liked the looks as well. Just not as good, overall, as the F9, but nothing “negative” to point out.)


Shafts tested:
Nippon ProModus3 120
Nippon NSPro 1050 (This was settled very quickly. Just a good fit for my swing.)
ProjectX LZ
 
Rambler WITB

This fitted bag is running pretty darn strong, right now. I’ve had a really roller coaster season from a scoring standpoint, but that’s certainly on me.

After procuring a back-up driver and then hitting it well, I’ve put the fitted gamer back in and have hit it very well the past couple of rounds. The 3 wood and I aren’t getting along - I’ve got a swing issue with that one, right now - but it’ll stay. Hybrid is fantastic - maybe even too long in some situations, now. Irons are money - straight money. I mean, they look like GI/SGI and they have good forgiveness, but they get action on the green like a players club for me. Wedges are great as well - the K grind on both seems to really work for the kind of shots I prefer to hit.

Putter... Still love my Swag One Raw, but it has been beaten by the Odyssey EXO #7 at this point. Swag will still get bag time, especially if the greens are slow, but that change is in place.

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Looks great.
 
You certainly have all your brands covered. Bag looks excellent.
 
You certainly have all your brands covered. Bag looks excellent.

I am an admitted Ping, Wilson Staff, and Mizuno fan, but going into the fitting, I pledged to go with what the fitting recommended... Includes none of the brands I have some personal bias towards. :bulgy-eyes: That did surprise me a bit, but it-is-what-it-is. I was most surprised by the F9 irons and the M6 hybrid. Neither were even close to the list of clubs I expected might be in the running during the fitting. Sooo... Peeps, (assuming it's a fitting with a reputable fitter) trust the fitting and go shoot some lower scores. :clapp:
 
WITB update... Performance of my fitted clubs was very good last season - finished season sub-9 for the first time. Of course, I couldn't help but make at least a couple of changes. Some of the changes, though, were also driven by aesthetics/brain blocks.

At driver, I just wanted a change after an atrocious season with the driver (more swing-related than anything) and found similar "max" distance performance as the Rogue SZ, but better performance on my misses, with the Cobra Speedzone.

3 Wood is still the Epic Flash SZ. Not much to say here as I don't hit 3 wood very often. May ponder something more in the 17-ish degree range as I'd likely use that more on the courses I play.

Hybrid is the 19 degree M6. Like it just fine, though with the distance on my Z785 4 iron, might need something between that and the M6. If I go with something around 17 degrees versus the 3 wood, that might lend itself to a change here as well.

Wedges 54 and 58 are still solidly the Vokey WedgeWorks K grinds, though I also have a WedgeWorks 58 with the V grind which I want to play around with. Did not procure the gap wedge in the 785s, so will give a 50 degree Cleveland RTX4 Tour Raw a go in that spot - I use a gap wedge quite a bit for both full shots and chipping.

As an unabashed putter ho', I'm doing something absolutely out of that character - greatly reducing my putter collection, finally. Four putters (maybe 5, if I just can't can't decide LOL) will stick around versus the "many more than that" I've had for years. These are for sure sticking: Bettinardi Proto BB0 Raw, Edel E-3, SWAG Handsome One (need to decide between original and raw). These are in the running: Scotty Special Select Newport, Bettinardi BB43, and SWAG Suave One Raw.
 
K grind is a really fun grind. On the older SM5, the only thing I didnt like was strikes high on the face lost their Oomph.
Have you tried the D grind? Also very good but with a bit more versatile.
 
K grind is a really fun grind. On the older SM5, the only thing I didnt like was strikes high on the face lost their Oomph.
Have you tried the D grind? Also very good but with a bit more versatile.

K grind is great for flops and bunkers you are correct D is more versatile. Both good grinds for 60


Almost Fiddy Plus 2
 
K grind is great for flops and bunkers you are correct D is more versatile. Both good grinds for 60


Almost Fiddy Plus 2

If I go Vokey SM8s this year, I’m thinking of the D grind for the 54 too.
 
WITB update... Performance of my fitted clubs was very good last season - finished season sub-9 for the first time. Of course, I couldn't help but make at least a couple of changes. Some of the changes, though, were also driven by aesthetics/brain blocks.

At driver, I just wanted a change after an atrocious season with the driver (more swing-related than anything) and found similar "max" distance performance as the Rogue SZ, but better performance on my misses, with the Cobra Speedzone.

3 Wood is still the Epic Flash SZ. Not much to say here as I don't hit 3 wood very often. May ponder something more in the 17-ish degree range as I'd likely use that more on the courses I play.

Hybrid is the 19 degree M6. Like it just fine, though with the distance on my Z785 4 iron, might need something between that and the M6. If I go with something around 17 degrees versus the 3 wood, that might lend itself to a change here as well.

Wedges 54 and 58 are still solidly the Vokey WedgeWorks K grinds, though I also have a WedgeWorks 58 with the V grind which I want to play around with. Did not procure the gap wedge in the 785s, so will give a 50 degree Cleveland RTX4 Tour Raw a go in that spot - I use a gap wedge quite a bit for both full shots and chipping.

As an unabashed putter ho', I'm doing something absolutely out of that character - greatly reducing my putter collection, finally. Four putters (maybe 5, if I just can't can't decide LOL) will stick around versus the "many more than that" I've had for years. These are for sure sticking: Bettinardi Proto BB0 Raw, Edel E-3, SWAG Handsome One (need to decide between original and raw). These are in the running: Scotty Special Select Newport, Bettinardi BB43, and SWAG Suave One Raw.

Bring back the Cure!
 
K grind is a really fun grind. On the older SM5, the only thing I didnt like was strikes high on the face lost their Oomph.
Have you tried the D grind? Also very good but with a bit more versatile.

The K has been so good for me that I don’t intend to look at much else.

Bring back the Cure!

LOL. I officially no longer own a Cure. Just enjoy the more traditional look so much more. Did you ever get some “i” irons back in your life, or are you still fighting against the inevitable?
 
The K has been so good for me that I don’t intend to look at much else.



LOL. I officially no longer own a Cure. Just enjoy the more traditional look so much more. Did you ever get some “i” irons back in your life, or are you still fighting against the inevitable?
Yeah, if it ain’t broke...
 
The K has been so good for me that I don’t intend to look at much else.



LOL. I officially no longer own a Cure. Just enjoy the more traditional look so much more. Did you ever get some “i” irons back in your life, or are you still fighting against the inevitable?

Still fighting. Waiting to see what happens after i210
 
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