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Are you really good enough to play your equipment


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I can't help but lust over much of the new equipment that comes out each year that is played by the tour players. I LOVE the way just about anything that Davis Love III or Tiger Woods plays, but I know I'm just not good enough to make it work in my game.

So I always play equipment that would be considered game improvement, but not super game improvement. However, each year I'm tempted to pick up something that is considered "player" equipment. This year it's the AP2s. I really, really, really, want to buy a set, but I have this thought in my head - you aren't a single digit HCP, so you can't play those irons.

I always tell myself that if I played more I would be good enough to play those irons, but as of yet, my scores don't agree.

So how many of you play equipment that is designed for players who shoot lowers scores than you do? How did you justify your purchase? Do you ever wish you had more forgiving equipment?

"take a couple weeks off - then quit for good"

 

- X-460 Tour 10.5 Fujikura Stiff
- War Bird 15deg 3 Wood
- MX-23 Irons
- Vokey 52 + 55deg wedges
- 900 60deg Low Bounce - Studio Design 1.5 - Pro V1x - SG4Sun Mountain Carry and Great Divider Cart Bags.

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I think every golfer will have different strengths and weaknesses. A person with the same handicap as you may be an incredible ball striker but have a weaker short game, in which case the better irons could be justified. I don't think you should look directly at your handicap as a guage of what equipment to play. If you're bad at driving, buy a more forgiving driver. If you're an incredible iron player, buy player's irons. Don't say, I'm double figures, therefore there is no way I should even consider player's clubs.

In my bag:
Driver: G10 10.5 TFC 129 Shaft
3 wood: R7 Steel
Hybrid: 585H 21 Degree
Irons 3-PW: 735.CMWedges: Vokey 52.08, 56.14Putter: White Hot XG #5

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I play golf to have fun. I don't enjoy playing SGI irons, so I play more of a player's CB; have also gamed classic blades (even though I kinda stink). For me it doesn't seem to impact my scores, but it does increase my enjoyment of the game.

"You can foment revolution or you can cure your slice - life is too short for both" David Owen

WITB*: 2010 winter edition

Driver: AyrtimeFW/hybrid: Distance Master Pro Steel 5w, 7w, 27* hybridIrons: Powerplay 5000 hybrids (6i-SW)Wedge: SMT Durometer 55 degPutter: Z/I Omega mallet*as soon...

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I think every golfer will have different strengths and weaknesses. A person with the same handicap as you may be an incredible ball striker but have a weaker short game, in which case the better irons could be justified. I don't think you should look directly at your handicap as a guage of what equipment to play. If you're bad at driving, buy a more forgiving driver. If you're an incredible iron player, buy player's irons. Don't say, I'm double figures, therefore there is no way I should even consider player's clubs.

This is kind of how I think. I'm a pretty decent iron player, especially if I've been playing a fair amount. I usually get in a lot more trouble with my driver or putter than I do with my irons. However, it seems like most of the marketing for the "players" clubs seems to call out single digit handicap, so I hesitate. Maybe later this summer I'll see a set of AP2s on the used rack and take the whole set out for a round. Maybe I'll be surprised... or at least I'll know whether or not I should give them a look.

"take a couple weeks off - then quit for good"

 

- X-460 Tour 10.5 Fujikura Stiff
- War Bird 15deg 3 Wood
- MX-23 Irons
- Vokey 52 + 55deg wedges
- 900 60deg Low Bounce - Studio Design 1.5 - Pro V1x - SG4Sun Mountain Carry and Great Divider Cart Bags.

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Try contacting your local golf range/shop/fitter and ask him if he has any demos laying around. Also, look for any golf shows that are coming to your area, you might be able to purchase demos for as little as $5. You can also search ebay and look for single irons. IMO, if you get, say, a 6I and 8I, just to mess with, it will be cheaper than spending a few hundred bucks and finding out you hate the set.

Titleist 905T Accra SC75 M4 Shaft

Nike SQ 4W Accra T70 M4 Shaft
HB001 17* Hybrid with Mitsubishi Diamana Thump X Stiff Flex
Baffler Pro 20* Accra Axiv 105 Tour Hybrid Shaft

Taylor Made 24* Burner Accra Axiv 105 Tour Hybrid Shaft

Mizuno MP-32 5-PW Black Oxide Finish Project X 6.0 Shafts

Vokey 52* Oil Can Finish TTDG S400 Shaft

Cleveland 588 60* TTDG S400 Shaft

Rife Bimini Blade Putter

 

Ball-White and Round

 

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So how many of you play equipment that is designed for players who shoot lowers scores than you do? How did you justify your purchase? Do you ever wish you had more forgiving equipment?

I have Mizuno MP-57s - cavity back players' irons. I got them when my handicap was low to mid 20s. I hit an occasional shot on them that makes me wish I had a more forgiving iron, but for each of those, I hit sufficiently many great shots that just feel fantastic and do exactly what I want. And I find my iron striking has improved nicely in the past ... almost a year since I got them.

-- Michael | My swing! 

"You think you're Jim Furyk. That's why your phone is never charged." - message from my mother

Driver:  Titleist 915D2.  4-wood:  Titleist 917F2.  Titleist TS2 19 degree hybrid.  Another hybrid in here too.  Irons 5-U, Ping G400.  Wedges negotiable (currently 54 degree Cleveland, 58 degree Titleist) Edel putter. 

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I learned a great lesson playing with a scratch player a few years ago. I mentioned that I was surprised that he used "game improvement" irons. He pointed out that most pros who are plus 4s or better are using clubs with a fair amount of forgiveness, but 8 handicaps say they needed blades.
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Well according to the mizzy web site the mp-67 are for 2-+3 hndcpers. Yet i am a ten. I play fine w/ them. That said handicap doesnt play a huge factor. For instance i played the other day and doubled a hole because of a bad drive. Scooped a chip. Three putted on the 9th hole for a 40 . Now that said did my iron play sound like it played a factor in me playing poorly NOOO. I had some other bad shots and thats what boosts my handicap up there. So dont let handicap affect your descision.

In My Hank Haney IJGA Bag
Driver: FT Tour 9.5 w/ Aldila Voodoo Stiff
3 Wood: i15 15.5 w/ avixcore red stiff
Hybrids: Rescue 09 19, 22 w/ fujikara fit on stiff
Irons: 4 & 5 MP-52, 6-PW MP-58 w/ KBS Tour Stiff Wedges: MP T-10 52*, 58* w/ KBS Tour StiifPutter: Fastback 1 34 inBall: : Pro...

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So I always play equipment that would be considered game improvement, but not super game improvement. However, each year I'm tempted to pick up something that is considered "player" equipment. This year it's the AP2s. I really, really, really, want to buy a set, but I have this thought in my head - you aren't a single digit HCP, so you can't play those irons.

I'm married, so I don't have to worry about whether I'm good enough to play my own equipment.

Oh, my AP2s . . . My handicap isn't much different than yours. You don't have to be a single digit handicap to play these irons, and they have some forgiveness built in, but still get you focusing on making solid contact, and let you know when you don't. I love them. Went from 2 different incarnations of PINGs over the years to get there. Appreciate the lack of obvious offset, the feel (get shafts that are right for you!), etc. I did compromise and got a 4 and 5 iron AP1, and we'll see if the 4 lasts or I just go to a hybrid. Hit them, see if you like them, but they aren't beyond your level of play and may help you learn to play better, instead of helping you mask mistakes. That's the difference I like. I had to have mine reshafted so between the long ordering time on these last summer, ultimately realizing I was playing shafts that were too stiff and the 10 days or so when I finally had them reshafted, only had the very end of the season to put the whole package in play, but I can tell you I can't wait to get back out there. The wedges were even more of a revelation, but this thread is about you getting AP2s. Go get fitted and pull the trigger.

909D3 (Voodoo, stiff)
King Cobra Comp 5w (YS 5.1 Stiff)
AP1 4,5; AP2 6-P; Vokey 252 08, SM56 14, SM60 08 (Nippon N.S. Pro 950GH Regular)
Newport 2 Mid Slant

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My irons are a players CB and I like it that way. As you can tell by my handi, I should be playing double-triple-Super-ultra GI's.

Anyway you will get used to it and you will find that you will get better and better. Play the equipment that feels best in your hand.

FYI, my mishits are not usually from a toe hit of a heel shot, they are from coming in fat, or topping, or over working the ball.
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i would never play something that looked pretty AND made my game worse than what it already is...
if you told me a shoe attached to a broom handle were legal to play with... and it made me a scratch player... id probably be the only one silly enough to be making birdies with it
RUSS's avg drive - 230yrds and climbing
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This thread feel familiar... maybe to one asking how good one has to be to play blades. I've had my Hogan Apex irons almost 5 years now, and my handicap has streadily improved with them in the bag. I graduated into the Hogans: Titleist DCI (full cavity) to Mizuno TZoid Pro (1/2 cavity) to these, and I have never once felt like I missed a shot that would've worked with a more forgiving club in my hands. I miss plenty, but I'm sure I would've missed even with a super game improvement set.

I like the feedback. I'll echo the sentiment from the prior thread: with blades, you know when you are swinging well, and when you need to tighten things up. I like to know when I am even a little off.

So am I "good" enough for them? Who cares. I like em. And thats half the battle. And if you don't think I'm good enough, I'm happy to play you for $10 naussau.
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i would never play something that looked pretty AND made my game worse than what it already is...

A good friend of mine who plays the same irons I do says the same thing. He's said he'd play hot pink balls if they dropped his score by an average of 1 stroke a round.

"take a couple weeks off - then quit for good"

 

- X-460 Tour 10.5 Fujikura Stiff
- War Bird 15deg 3 Wood
- MX-23 Irons
- Vokey 52 + 55deg wedges
- 900 60deg Low Bounce - Studio Design 1.5 - Pro V1x - SG4Sun Mountain Carry and Great Divider Cart Bags.

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. I miss plenty, but I'm sure I would've missed even with a super game improvement set.

I feel that way most times too. If I'm missing it's usually thin or fat at the beginning of the season. Super Game improvement usually won't help if you hit an inch behind the ball or hit it with the sole of the iron

. A couple weeks ago I went out and played (first round of the year - playing in February is a rare treat). I had a few misses, but one I hit thin when I tried for the green in two with a 3 iron on a par 5, and a couple werel fat as I got tired at the end of the round. No amount of iron forgiveness would have helped with any of my misses that day.

"take a couple weeks off - then quit for good"

 

- X-460 Tour 10.5 Fujikura Stiff
- War Bird 15deg 3 Wood
- MX-23 Irons
- Vokey 52 + 55deg wedges
- 900 60deg Low Bounce - Studio Design 1.5 - Pro V1x - SG4Sun Mountain Carry and Great Divider Cart Bags.

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Within the past two weeks I've traded my players cavity Cleveland CG2s in regular flex TT DG for Mizuno MX-23s in...wait for it...LITE flex graphite. Then I pulled the G5 driver with a stiff V2 out of the bag for my ancient 3 wood with stock, regular flex graphite. I've played one full round with no driver and these irons. On the back 9 I hit 7 GIRs in a row (11-17) for a 39. The most GIRs I've ever had on 9 holes was 6. I grabbed 7 in a row! I had 3 or 4 range sessions with the new irons first to learn how they hit.

I cannot argue against the guys that want their equipment to be better than their game. I was right there with them a couple weeks ago. I also know I've never had a set of irons where I hit the 5 iron high AND straight until now. I'm torn between the two theories. But my bag is starting to come down on the side of playing away from my ego and toward the green.
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I have to throw something out there. Now for whatever reason I am messed up when it comes to sports. I am usually at the extreme end of the spectrum. In football I am pinpoint accurate a 50+ yards, yet I could hit a brick wall 5 feet in front of me(quarterback). In hockey, my slapshot is much more accurate than a wrist shot.

With that said, I prefer irons with small heads, not necessarily smaller sweet spots, just a smaller head. I find I hit them better and more consistantly . This one hurts my head too. It all comes down to your comfort zone, finding it is more important than what someone says you should be playing.

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IMO, handicap has little to do with the choices you should make. However you should be trying before you buy, regardless of what the model or design. I would never have bought my AP-2's if I hadn't tried them first, and I've never regretted the decision despite comments from some full of themselves single digit cappers who say that an 11.1 index has no business with them. I'm not only a better iron player with the AP-2's than I was with my Cobra's, but my ball striking with the other clubs has improved too.

Don't let anyone tell you that you should or shouldn't play something just because of your handicap. Instead play them because you have tried them, you like them, and they feel right for you.

Rick

"He who has the fastest cart will never have a bad lie."

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Awards, Achievements, and Accolades

I can't help but lust over much of the new equipment that comes out each year that is played by the tour players. I LOVE the way just about anything that Davis Love III or Tiger Woods plays, but I know I'm just not good enough to make it work in my game.

I've got to be honest with you guy's and say that even though the AP2'S are designated players irons I think if you want them and you can hit you'r irons solid you can play these irons imo there right on the edge maybe in between players and gi irons there is a little thicker top line then my old 990's had and they felt and we're just as forgiving to me anyways as my mx 25's ( not that the 25's are a very forgiving iron) but seriously if you'r playing off of a 10-15 you should have no problem hitting these clubs. And besides it's an incentive to learn to hit crisp iron shots.

Mizuno mp 630 9.5 Mitsubishi Fubuki stiff
Taylormade R7 RE*AX 55g Stiff
Taylomade Rescue mid 19* Light metals 95g
Mizuno MX25 4 -52*Gap True Temper Dynalite S/L
Mizuno MP-T 56* / 60*Odyssey White Hot Tour # 1

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Note: This thread is 5495 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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