Bad-Frog

I'm incredibly excited about the prospect of new offerings from Hogan back on the market! Always been one of my favorites. Currently have my Apex Plus irons in the bag... Just a sweet, sweet set of clubs! Unfortunately from what I understand, the rights to the name Apex remain with Callaway and were not transferred to Ellis.

I didn't re-shaft, but I did experiment with what you're suggesting... I had cut down an older 4 wood for my daughter some time ago. It had a shaft that was too soft for me and figured it would be good for her to learn on. She has since moved to a new set and when I was looking for a fairway wood to outfit a bag for behind my truck seat, there in my club bin sat the shortened 4 wood. It measures at 0.5 inches longer than my Cleveland Halo 2 hybrid and plays stiffer with the cut down shaft. It is a fantastic club off the deck and out of light to medium rough!! Would probably be even better if I'd re-shaft but works the way it is and so what the heck!

I don't know how common they are, so might be hard to run across on the used club racks, but... Srixon W403 AD Slightly shallower face and easy to hit off the deck or pick a ball out of the rough. Also a great choice off the tee! The head is just a great size visually and really frames the ball nicely to my eyes and promotes confidence. Lots of great choices out there though... Do yourself a favor and hit as many as you can before you buy and choose the one you like the most.

Hmmmmm, I'll throw in a little different approach for you to consider... Judging from your posts, you prefer the idea of swinging a "players" iron with the visual aspect of a more compact head and thinner top line as well as the feel aspect of good feedback when you strike the ball. Nothing wrong with that at all! Lots of people learned to play golf swinging a hand-me-down set of Wilson, MacGregor, Spalding, etc blade or muscle back irons. Some of these old irons are fantastic clubs and can be had for a song! Depending on your local resources (Goodwill, thrifts, pawn shops, Craigslist, etc), you might think about grabbing a set like this. Yes, they have a smaller "sweet spot" and force you to be a more accurate ball striker but that ain't a bad thing as long as it doesn't discourage a person. What this approach does is gets a set of irons in your hands for absolute minimal cost. The irons are similar in style to what you are looking for and will give you something to work with as you develop your swing as well as helping you develop a more "educated" opinion on what you like while you search for a more expensive set of clubs. And once that search is over and you're gaming some $200+ irons, then you also have a knock around set of clubs. Not the right approach for everyone, but something to consider.

I actually had the mirror opposite experience with the Black Widow Edge grips. I picked up a set of Hogan Apex Plus in December and they had a new set of BW Edge grips in white on them. Now, due to the weather, I haven't had the opportunity to give them a true test on the range or by playing a round but I have hit the E wedge enough around the yard to know that I like these grips so far! They feel soft but substantial with just the right amount of tackiness. My opinion may change after hitting them more, but for the moment I'm really happy with these grips!

Actually the dents should act much like the dimples on a golf ball and produce better aerodynamic air flow thus increasing head speed... You may improve the clubs performance by giving it a few more "love taps"! And I'm feeling your weather related pain... Mid Missouri here and it's -7 with a 25 below wind chill and 8 inches of blowing drifting snow. But since it's Missouri and subject to insane changes in the weather, I was in my back yard hitting golf balls just this past Wednesday and could be doing the same by this time next week! Keeping my fingers crossed!

I've found that if I align the ball just an inch or so back of center in my stance and set up with my hands forward of ball (so forward lean in the shaft), then make sure to concentrate on pulling through with my left as much as powering through with my right, I am very consistent with my fairway woods and get a much straighter and longer ball flight. I used to play the ball just inside my front foot and struggled with consistently striking the ball solid... Lots of misses topping or hitting it fat... And struggled with slicing out of the fairway when I did hit it solid. My iron and fairway wood play has improved and become much more consistent since making this alignment change. Unfortunately I can't say the same for my driver!!

I just finished my search for a new set of wedges and settled on the CG16 (50, 56, & 60). Great price on a great wedge! But I agree with others saying you need to hit one before you buy it... Super important to be confident and comfortable with your wedges!!