Updating the bag...

[ash]

Hi, no real questions, just thought I'd share some of the changes to my bag over the last 4 months and review the clubs since i've had a few rounds to really get a feel for them... I recently 'restarted' golf after about a 3yr lay off.

1st change was Driver. I was previously using a Srixon XXIO Driver from the early 1990's, apparently illegal for competition play... beautiful club, nice sweet impact sound and excellent distance... but a little erratic with off centre shots, so much so that I had no real confidence at the tee. So I thought I'd legalise my bag by getting a new driver. I decided on the Cleveland HiBore XL Tour 9.5 deg driver ($84 at RBG)... 460cc... huge compared to my old XXIO, the first round was TERRIBLE, just getting a feel for the club i guess... but once I had played it for a couple of rounds the benefits of the 'high MOI' club became apparent... off centre and instead of being behind a tree in the deep rough, i'm in the 1st cut of rough. Finally found confidence at the tee which is GREAT! Only thing is I seem to have lost a bit of distance with the Cleveland... If anything I had thought I would gain some, with the increased size, etc... is the Srixon XXIO's trampoline technology THAT good that i would lose a good 20 metres??

2nd change was buying a gap wedge. I was previously using a set of Cleveland 588's (54deg and 60deg), but since buying them never really liked the feel of these clubs... prior to these I had a lone CG10 56deg wedge. So i decided to get a 52deg gap wedge and reinstate the 56deg CG10. Bought a Nickent ARC Wedge 52deg ($29 at RBG)... and LOVE it! It has that 'soft' feel that the CG10 has, so i feel a bit more 'matched'. It seems very unusual based on this forum, but I feel like I have no need for a 60deg wedge, I tend to use my 56deg for anything within about 60m, and the gap from 60 to 90m.

3rd change was the putter. My first 'upgrade' from my starter set was an Odyssey White Hot Rossie, loved the putter for many a year, on advice from someone decided on shortening the putter by an inch to 34" which worked well for posture, but... knocked out a good bit of weight... tried remedying this with lead tape... but as can be expected... looks terrible... and didn't really help the balance of the club... so anyway... forgot to mention... lost all confidence in my putter since restarting! So... after much review reading... decided on the Odyssey White Hot Tour #1 putter ($79 at RBG), nice classic shape, simple design. I had been thinking of getting a SC NP2.0... but really couldn't justify the cash! Anyway... I have played 2 full rounds with the putter and... AMAZING is an understatement! I love the heaviness (I got the 34" putter length which comes with the heavier head), the roll is true, no bouncing... lag putting has become so much more predictable, short puts more consistent. Now I'd not exactly 1-putting every hole... but I guess... much like the previous clubs... the confidence is back!

To top it all off... the last two rounds, with all the above clubs have been awesome! I was initially shooting in the mid to high 90's regularly, a week ago I played a shorter muni course and scored 85 (PAR 69, which included back to back regulation birdies)... and just last weekend I played a long and narrow country course and scored 88 (PAR 73, which i had only 30 putts, a new low, and a 42% fairway hit percentage!).

Anyway... the confidence is back... I think its weird... once you lose confidence in a club... regardless on whether it has to do with your swing or something else... its very hard to get it back!

Ciao
Ash

Oh and I forgot to mention... I also upgraded my 8 year olf Nike Golf shoes for some Footjoy DryJoys... wow! The hype is right for once!