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Should I Replace These Clubs?


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Age late 40's, started playing regularly during the last 5 years. Broke 100 4 years ago, 90 last summer, and broke 80 for the first time this summer. Index is 11, but I can still shoot over 90 if things aren't clicking. The typical tees I play are 6500 yds and 130 slope. Current clubs are Callaway Diablo Edge irons, Callaway hybrids and 3 wood (purchased with irons), and a Cobra Amp 9.5 degree driver with "stiff" shaft which references being recommended 95-110 mph swing speed. Trackman has my typical driver swingspeed at 95. My drives range typically from 210-260 on the course. My 3-wood distance is more consistent at 205-230. I strike the driver with a descending blow which I might change through instruction. I'm at the proverbial "brick wall" and will be struggling to gain strokes from here. Hope to gain a few strokes by reducing 3-putts and improving my poor chipping. So, with that context, are there any clubs for someone at my level that might serve me better than the Callaways and the Cobra driver? I hit a Titlest AP1 and it felt weird. Huge club face, weird feel. Will be trying some Pings and Mizunos at an upcoming fitting. Thanks in advance for helping someone still with much to learn about this addictive but difficult game.
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Age late 40's, started playing regularly during the last 5 years. Broke 100 4 years ago, 90 last summer, and broke 80 for the first time this summer. Index is 11, but I can still shoot over 90 if things aren't clicking. The typical tees I play are 6500 yds and 130 slope.

Current clubs are Callaway Diablo Edge irons, Callaway hybrids and 3 wood (purchased with irons), and a Cobra Amp 9.5 degree driver with "stiff" shaft which references being recommended 95-110 mph swing speed.

Trackman has my typical driver swingspeed at 95. My drives range typically from 210-260 on the course. My 3-wood distance is more consistent at 205-230. I strike the driver with a descending blow which I might change through instruction.

I'm at the proverbial "brick wall" and will be struggling to gain strokes from here. Hope to gain a few strokes by reducing 3-putts and improving my poor chipping.

So, with that context, are there any clubs for someone at my level that might serve me better than the Callaways and the Cobra driver? I hit a Titlest AP1 and it felt weird. Huge club face, weird feel. Will be trying some Pings and Mizunos at an upcoming fitting.

Thanks in advance for helping someone still with much to learn about this addictive but difficult game.

Welcome to this site!

So, a few questions arise. What are your statistics (like putting)? How far do you hit these clubs? It seems like they work pretty well for you.

I am about a 13.7 handicap with 36.2 putts per round. My driver is a Cobra BIO Cell driver PX6.0 set at 11.5 degrees. I like my MP-32 irons, but they might be holding me back a little because they are pretty heavy. I generally make near GIR with the MP-32 because they are much more ***consistent than my GI clubs.

A "players" iron is just a smaller head, so it could actually give you more confidence given that you don't like the "biggish" look of the AP1. I feel this way with my Burner 1.0 clubs as well. Other than the fact that I hit the "7 iron" 160 yards with those clubs, they are very erratic, and I tend to hook possibly because of the shafts. However, I took my son's Ping i20s out for a spin last week, and got slightly longer distances by loft than my MP-32 and roughly the same distance consistency. Guessing they are more forgiving than my MP-32.

Try out as many clubs as you can. You might find something used too. I saw some used Cleveland CG Tour (Blade/CB combo) Rifle 6.5 PW to 3i on sale for $180. They felt really nice so you never know what you'll find.

If you have the money, I would look at Mizuno JPX-850 Forged. They look really great too.

***You need to make good strikes, they really punish toe shots.

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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Chipping practice will be well worth a couple of strokes per round.  The time you have available for practice is a big factor in getting to the sub 80 scoring level. It sounds like your equipment is pretty up to date.

I always watch the old guys who are able to consistently play around 80.  Even though they can't hit 300 yards, the trick seems to be always keep the ball in the fairway and have a good short game.  They don't seem to use the driver much. They will take a 5 iron off the tee and another 5 iron to get close to the green. These guys can pitch and one-putt for par with the same reliability  as two putting for par.  Granted, they are not playing from the back tees, but the strategy is worth noting.

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Chipping practice will be well worth a couple of strokes per round.  The time you have available for practice is a big factor in getting to the sub 80 scoring level. It sounds like your equipment is pretty up to date.

I always watch the old guys who are able to consistently play around 80.  Even though they can't hit 300 yards, the trick seems to be always keep the ball in the fairway and have a good short game.  They don't seem to use the driver much. They will take a 5 iron off the tee and another 5 iron to get close to the green. These guys can pitch and one-putt for par with the same reliability  as two putting for par.  Granted, they are not playing from the back tees, but the strategy is worth noting.

A little off topic, but that's definitely one of my near future priorities.

:ping:  :tmade:  :callaway:   :gamegolf:  :titleist:

TM White Smoke Big Fontana; Pro-V1
TM Rac 60 TT WS, MD2 56
Ping i20 irons U-4, CFS300
Callaway XR16 9 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S
Callaway XR16 3W 15 degree Fujikura Speeder 565 S, X2Hot Pro 20 degrees S

"I'm hitting the woods just great, but I'm having a terrible time getting out of them." ~Harry Toscano

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... Current clubs are Callaway Diablo Edge irons, Callaway hybrids and 3 wood (purchased with irons), and a Cobra Amp 9.5 degree driver with "stiff" shaft which references being recommended 95-110 mph swing speed.

Trackman has my typical driver swingspeed at 95. My drives range typically from 210-260 on the course. My 3-wood distance is more consistent at 205-230. I strike the driver with a descending blow which I might change through instruction. ...

Callaway Diablo Edge irons came out in 2010, and are in the Gold Digest SGI category (Ultra Game Improvement if you use the Maltby MPF categories).

This means the iron gives you a lot of forgiveness on modest mishits, but does not reward your solid center hits very well. You probably want something in the GI category, which would give you a much tighter dispersion on solid hits.

Since you're on the edge of 80, this would be a good time to get a full, dynamic fitting. This would gauge the best head + shaft combinations for all the clubs in your bag.

(Question: On your driver distance, is this carry, or carry plus roll? That much variance in driver distance might result from a swing flaw, or from the wrong driver makeup).

Along with the fitting, you might buy the book Lowest Score Wins . This gives you a systematic way to analyze your golf game, and find out which parts are causing you the most trouble. Give them emphasis to correct, then analyze again. You can then build your own practice + improvement plan.

This process of fixing the worst problem first is what the operations management people call Pareto Analysis. It's one way of approaching quality control.

Focus, connect and follow through!

  • Completed KBS Education Seminar (online, 2015)
  • GolfWorks Clubmaking AcademyFitting, Assembly & Repair School (2012)

Driver:  :touredge: EXS 10.5°, weights neutral   ||  FWs:  :callaway: Rogue 4W + 7W
Hybrid:  :callaway: Big Bertha OS 4H at 22°  ||  Irons:  :callaway: Mavrik MAX 5i-PW
Wedges:  :callaway: MD3: 48°, 54°... MD4: 58° ||  Putter:image.png.b6c3447dddf0df25e482bf21abf775ae.pngInertial NM SL-583F, 34"  
Ball:  image.png.f0ca9194546a61407ba38502672e5ecf.png QStar Tour - Divide  ||  Bag: :sunmountain: Three 5 stand bag

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Note: This thread is 3413 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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