Tomboys

Yup, played with them for years. My first pair were from the Montgomery Ward catalog. Went out to play my first round in them. Made it to about the 5th hole and the spikes felt like they were going into my feet. Barely made it to the 9th. Tossed the shoes in the trash as soon as I got home. Moving forward, wore metal until forced to go soft-spikes a few years later. Aside from the ease of cleaning, don't miss metal at all.

Unfortunately, the 716 AP1 PW will probably go further than your current PW. My AP1 PW goes almost as far as my AP2 9i. That's why I went 4-W1 to replace my 3-PW 712 AP2s. Also, I've always pitched and chipped with my Vokeys around the greens. However, I tried the W1 just to see what it would do and, if I'm being totally honest, I'm getting much better results than I ever had with my BV 52*. I don't know if it's due to the clubhead design, shaft or the combination. But, I seem to be able to execute the shot closer to what I envisioned beforehand. Play it back in my stance, the ball will run. Play it forward in my stance, the ball checks. I simply alter the length of swing to get the run or carry that I want. Pretty awesome given my lack of talent. Sure, I will keep playing my 56* for bunkers or when I need to hit those high soft shots over obstacles next to the greens. But, I will probably be ordering the W2 to replace my BV 52*.

Perhaps. It really depends on the distance gaps you're getting. In my case, I have a driver, 3W, 4-W1, 52, 56 and putter. So, that's only 13 clubs. Since my low-end is set, I have space for a 19* hybrid that'll slot between my 3W and 4i.

I had similar concerns because I have a BV 52* GW and 56* SW that are integrated with my set of 712 AP2s. In those, I had 3-PW, but when I ordered my 716 AP1s, I went 4-GW (W1). Fortunately, it turned out great. I hit the W1 as far as my AP2 PW and so on.

My $.02, get 'em. I went from 690.mb - 735cm - 712 AP2 and the 716 AP1 are "legit". I was able to hit some knock-down shots in addition to low draws from underneath trees. Stock shots are a little higher than I'm used to, but nothing ballooning. Also, I knew by feel, where I missed the strike on the clubface, high, low and toe. For some reason, I have a harder time feeling heel shots with irons, but that's been consistent with all my irons over the years. Overall, I'm very impressed with these clubs. I was hesitant moving from forged clubs fitted with DGS300 because that's what I've been playing with for the past 13 years. But, I took a leap of faith and gave a cast club fitted with a lightweight shaft a try. I think it turned out well.

Congrats. I, too, just got my set of 716 AP1 with XP90 S300. Played 27 holes with them so far and I like them. Can't say I love them just yet. I think the biggest issue is going from DGS300 (130gms) in my 712 AP2 to the XP90 S300 (97gms) in these. So, I'm having some timing and feel differences to overcome.

IMO, proper golf shoes are a necessity. However, what is deemed "proper" varies greatly. Suffice to say, if you're happy with what you're using, then that's all that matters. For me, I prefer stability over all else, so I wear FJ Icons. Sure, they can be a tad bit on the rigid side, but I have a tendency to hit shots into places that aren't on the course map, so it helps to have shoes that perform like military boots.

This.

As others have stated, it's not uncommon for some golfers to play by a different set of "standards". Suffice to say, the vast majority of us that frequent this site are pretty serious about getting better while playing by the proper rules of golf. At the end of the day, IMO, the whole idea of playing golf is to have fun and to enjoy yourself. I have no delusions that I will ever be good enough to be on the tour, any tour. So be it. The challenge for me has always been to become the best that I can be while enjoying myself. So, I work with my instructor and I practice and play as my schedule permits because it's a heckuva lot more fun to shoot a low score than a high one. However, I also enjoy playing with my friends. Some of them are, quite frankly, terrible and they lack the time (and sometimes the desire) to get better. So, do I give them 10 footers? Yep. Do I let them drop instead of going back to the previous spot when we discover that they've gone OB? Yep. And, so on. Why do I do this? Simple. Golf is hard and nobody wants to spend a day apologizing for being a poorly skilled golfer. And, as the old adage says; even a blind squirrel finds a nut. So, sometimes these guys will card a legitimate par or even birdie. When this happens, that look of unbridled joy on their face is a thing of beauty. So, how is the above relevant to the OP's query? It's relevant in that I'm suggesting to the OP to play his game the way he enjoys it while allowing others to play the game the way they enjoy it. Obviously, if your playing partners are obnoxious and/or raucous, then maybe at that point you can politely excuse yourself from the group or finish up the round and never play with them again.

Your 122-125 (driver) SS puts you in rarified company. So, maybe the "beasts" on this site can make some suggestions. If not, my suggestion would be to call the rep you worked with and explain your (financial) concerns. I'm sure he'll be able to suggest some options. You can also contact a facility that has a Titleist fitting cart and go through a series of trials and errors to find some no-additional-cost shafts that would give you similar numbers that you got with the Oban and Rombax. As far as the difference between the 915 and 913, there's some videos out where they isolated the performance differences between just the heads (by using the same shaft). The reviewers were getting some noticeable differences (~10 yards or more depending). I've been playing the 910 (9.5* D2) since it came out. When the 913 came out, I tested it and got maybe a yard or two at most. The 913 felt better, but the numbers weren't So, I didn't change. My experience seemed to be consistent with the comparison videos online. Fast forward to last week when I tested the 915. I bolted the head onto my existing shaft and this time, I got ~8 yards more out of it. Surprisingly, I got the best result (launch angle and spin rate) with the D3 head, so that's the one I picked up today.

I've used denatured alcohol without any problems.

I would've loved to have kept the golf balls from my memorable holes. Unfortunately, in my efforts to extend that success by continuing to play those particular balls, they met with an untimely demise =(.

+1. I tinkered with lasers and GPSs and I found that I'm more comfortable with GPS-type rangefinders. Either system will give you distance, so that's neither here nor there. However, I like GPS because it provides me with a topographical view of the hole. With that information, I can quickly determine where the safe areas are on layups and where the "fat" part of the greens really are. So, for me, the GPS gives me not just distance, but equally important, an idea of where I should aim. I just bought a Garmin G6 and I really like it.

IMO, it's very difficult to improve by doing nothing. As the old saying goes; the definition of insanity is doing the same thing expecting different results. Unless your equipment is totally trashed or totally ill-fitted, the greatest improvement will be realized by improving the swing. Suffice to say, if you had $5.50 in your pocket, the swing is the dollars and the equipment is the cents, if that makes sense. Therefore, do I recommend a transition to blades (for the OP)? No. Primarily because it doesn't sound like he has the time to work on improving his swing, so I don't think he's going to be able to extract any of the performance benefits they offer--other than an occassional "buttery feel", with his current skill set. Also, with the constant refinement of (players) cavity backs, there's an abundance of high-performing and forgiving equipment on the market today that provide ample feedback on mis-hits, etc. Does all of this mean he shouldn't buy blades? Not necessarily. The reason is because golf means different things to different people. Sometimes we want what we want and it's not about being logical. It's about satisfying our desire. Sure, we all want lower scores. However, for some, the desire of playing with equipment meant for pros or for those that are very skilled can be every bit as important (to them) as shooting lower scores. At the end of the day, it's about being happy. So, if you think playing with blades will make you happy, then I say buy 'em and start a new chapter in your "Golf Story".

That Prolaunch Red shaft seems to run about $50. So, if worse comes to worse, it won't cost you an arm and a leg to buy a new one if the clubmaker/repairer is unable to salvage the shaft out of your 909. The bad news is that the adapter sleeve for the Titleist surefit system runs about $75. Also, while not 100% sure, I think the fitter that works on my clubs said that there's different tips depending if you have a driver/FW or hybrid. So, make sure whoever works on your club orders the correct adapter. I tested my 9.5* 910D2 head and a 9.5* 913D2 head with my current shaft (Fujikura F3 60 stiff). Both set to A1 (.75* more loft/face angle slightly open). The numbers on the machine (don't know which one they use) came back pretty much identical (~101cs/~147bs/~13*launch/~3K backspin). Because of this, I opted not to spend the money on a new driver.