Why'd you choose the clubs you play?

[sean_miller]

Hey guys sorry to be a little off topic but does anyone know a good set of irons that will help me improve on my accuracy? My distance is fine and can hit 230 with the driver and around 180 with my 5 iron, but my precision and accuracy to hit fairways and greens is really losing me shots on the course! i wouldn't mind even losing distance to improve my accuracy. im thinking of getting either ping g10`s, nike vr cavity backs or maybe something else with a nice feel through impact. Its a big issue in my game and help from you guys would be greatly appreciated.

What are you playing now and why did you get them?

I suggest asking a good player (you probably know a couple) to hit some balls with your current irons (whatever they are) to see if a good strike has a "nice feel through impact". Maybe you need new ones and maybe you don't. Maybe you've never hit a good shot, or maybe you just need new grips. Anything's possible.

[JWL1957]

I pay little attention to what pro's and fellow golfers say about thier clubs. Although I respect peoples opinion, I know for a fact that what may be good for them is not necessarily good for me. The clubs I have looked good at address and felt good when I hit them........ nuff said.

[sean_miller]

I pay little attention to what pro's and fellow golfers say about thier clubs. Although I respect peoples opinion, I know for a fact that what may be good for them is not necessarily good for me. The clubs I have looked good at address and felt good when I hit them........ nuff said.

The guys on the major tours all have contracts and customized gear. It's best to look at their WITB info for entertainment purposes only. Lesser tours like the Nationwide where sponsorships are more scarce, is a good place to check out equipment manufacturers that you might not be aware of. You might not buy any of it, but guys are playing wedges (or whatever) for their living, and they're not under a contract, it's probably good stuff. Just stuff to add to the list when browsing.

[JWL1957]

The guys on the major tours all have contracts and customized gear. It's best to look at their WITB info for entertainment purposes only. Lesser tours like the Nationwide where sponsorships are more scarce, is a good place to check out equipment manufacturers that you might not be aware of. You might not buy any of it, but guys are playing wedges (or whatever) for their living, and they're not under a contract, it's probably good stuff. Just stuff to add to the list when browsing.

Good reply. I always enjoy looking at the WITB articles......... but they never seem to give their specifications. As a clubmaker, Im always interested in what the players like for lie angles and grip thickness etc. etc.

[mheier]

I got my irons because of a great deal...Bought a set of Tommy Armour 845 V-31 and a Adams Redline Driver for $100.00. I didn't like the driver so I sold it and ended up only paying $70.00 for the irons. They replaced a set of crap irons from K-Mart. I really like the irons compared to what I had.

[The Tiger]

What are you playing now and why did you get them?

well sean, im currently playing with wilson gear effect 1200 irons and i have had them for around 5 years and got them as my first set when i began playing golf. Nice clubs dont get me wrong but, they really are starting to look and feel like a club that is past its sell by date, as im not one for cleaning my clubs after each round and what not. a few of my friends have hit them and say they are ok for distance but agree with me that a new set would go a long way. I just feel that a new club with more accuracy would help me greatly in achieving better scores. so any help on some fairly forgiving irons would be great.

thanks alot, tiger

[justinp]

Driver (FT-5 i-Mix) - Picked it up for a good price on CallawayPreOwned. Got the i-Mix version because I figured I could swap either the shaft or the head if I didn't like it.

Fairway Woods (Steelhead III) - Got them based on name and price at the time. I was still a high handicapper at the time. Don't really care for the Uniflex shafts. This will be the next area for upgrade in my bag.

Hybrid (Heavenwood 4H) - Don't carry a 3I and wasn't a fan of my 4I at the time either. Picked up the 4H used at a local golf shop for a good price. Hit it longer than my 4I and higher. Works well for long par 3's at my home course.

Irons (Nike VR Full Cavity, 5-AW) - Just picked these up. Did it the right way (short of attending a Nike Fitting Day). Hit demos on a simulator from pretty much every manufacturer. I was very interested in the X-24s going in, but after hitting several clubs I really disliked the way it felt. Glad I didn't just go in and buy without trying. The Nike VR Full Cav is the one I kept coming back to every time. I loved the feel of the VR Forged Blades, but the forgiveness of the Full Cavity will be welcomed on those days where I don't have my 'A' game swing. Plus, I wasn't really in the market for a $900 set of irons.

Wedges (Walter Hagen Forged 52*, 56*, 60*) - Picked these up at Dick's based on price back when I started to become a better golfer and realized the need to be carrying more wedges. I guess they are really made my Nicklaus Golf I don't know. They are actually pretty decent wedges.

Putter (Odyssey White Hot XG #1) - I go through putters about as often as I go through drivers (which is to say quite frequently). I think I finally found one I like though.

[bocbass]

I started out playing golf with a hand me down set of Hogan Edge forged irons, which were nice when I hit a good shot, but that didn't happen very often. I kept them for a few years and decided this year I wanted to try and get better. I was at a Golf Galaxy and I was very close to buying a new set of X18R's, but saw the set of Zings on the pre owned wall. I liked the way they felt almost as much as the Callaway's, and the Zings were 50% cheaper with more clubs (3-SW)

My driver was also a pre owned Golf Galaxy purchase. I had went in looking at a Taylormade on sale, I don't remember which model. The G2 felt better on the simulator and it was also much cheaper than the brand new club.

I got my wedge at Dick's they had a 2 for $100 sale on them and me and a buddy each picked one up. My putter was a deal on ebay, and I have always preferred the more traditional looking putters over some of the Klingon battle weapon looking things that some companies are putting out now!

[Gilly]

I have always played hand-me-down clubs from my grandfather and father; whether they were a set of irons, a driver, wedge or putter. Out of the 7 sets of hand-me-down irons, 5 were blades. So, since I have played blades the majority of my golf career, I figured I'd stick to them. Besides, I've always loved the way they feel and the feedback you get when you pure a ball. I made the move to the Nike Forged Blades because the groves on my TA3's were going down hill FAST. I started looking and found a set for an insane price. They looked to only have been played a handful of rounds and came with S400's. I sold my TA3s to a buddy for the same price I paid for the NFB's and then extended +1, re-griped with some Golf Pride multi's (white/blk) and stuck'em 2 degrees upright...the rest is history. I now have my dream set!

Driver - My Dad won in a tournament and couldn't hit it, so I re-shafted it and gave it a try. I've now had it for 4 yrs.
3-wood - Same deal except I didn't re-shaft
Irons - see above paragraph
Wedges - Santa bought me one a few years back...I quickly had my Titleist's up for sale
Putter - One of the 17 putters my dad owns. My brother and myself borrow and replace occasionally when they stop making puts
Bag - I actually won the Nike SQ Tour Carry bag a few years ago...I love this bag!

Yes, I realize I am a very luck guy to have a father who eats, breaths and sleeps this game like he does.

[c. lassiter]

I play what works for me. And I figured out what works for me by hitting tons of balls and playing with lots of demo clubs.

[alomar123]

Mixture of price, review, looks, and brand. I have never tried a club b4 I bought it, I know thats not the best way to do it, but I always get a great deal on my clubs.

[The Tiger]

well sean, im currently playing with wilson gear effect 1200 irons and i have had them for around 5 years and got them as my first set when i began playing golf. Nice clubs dont get me wrong but, they really are starting to look and feel like a club that is past its sell by date, as im not one for cleaning my clubs after each round and what not. a few of my friends have hit them and say they are ok for distance but agree with me that a new set would go a long way. I just feel that a new club with more accuracy would help me greatly in achieving better scores. so any help on some fairly forgiving irons would be great.

Ok i think i found the irons for me. I found a set of 2nd hand Titleist ap2`s in perfect condition for 350 euro from 3 I to pw. Theres a great look and feel to them and they have a really nice grip. I know their not the most forgiving, but i think my game is getting good enough to use them as my ball striking is of a good quality now that i work in the driving range and just focus on hitting balls all day. Any comments on the titleist ap2`s would be good to hear and would help me decide on getting them or not. cheers!

[James_Black]

Ok i think i found the irons for me. I found a set of 2nd hand Titleist ap2`s in perfect condition for 350 euro from 3 I to pw. Theres a great look and feel to them and they have a really nice grip. I know their not the most forgiving, but i think my game is getting good enough to use them as my ball striking is of a good quality now that i work in the driving range and just focus on hitting balls all day. Any comments on the titleist ap2`s would be good to hear and would help me decide on getting them or not. cheers!

The ap2's can be pretty tough to hit.

I'd advise the ap1's for your current level of ball-striking. have you tried them out yet? If not then compare your irons with those ones. Don't buy them straight away, come back the next day and try them again.

[The Tiger]

The ap2's can be pretty tough to hit.

i will give em a go at the range and see if i like them and if im hitting them well. But for that price its like robbery james ( they are normally like over 700 euro). I will most likely get them if im striking them well at the range but i hit a couple of balls in the alley thingy or whatever and they seemed sweet

[James_Black]

Who cares if they're cheap if you can't hit them?

[nuck81]

Who cares if they're cheap if you can't hit them?

Because obviously the bigger the name on your clubs, the better Golfer you are.

[The Tiger]

Who cares if they're cheap if you can't hit them?

Who said i cant hit them????? I think ur seeing things mate

[rebby]

Driver (Callaway 9.5' FT Tour D3 w/Diamana WB 73 S) - When I bought my FT-5 Tour I-Mix I tried every shaft on the rack in 4 different golf stores around the area. The 9.5' FT-5 Tour head with a Diamana WB 73 X was the perfect shaft for that combo. After playing with it this way for about a year I switched to softer shaft and really preferred it that way all around. When the FT-9 came out, I went through it all again with a 9' FT-9 and a 9.5' FT-9 Tour. Ended up going back to the FT-5 Tour in the end. I never did like the size of the FT-5 though, this was my first 460cc driver and I wanted something a tad smaller (mostly aesthetically). When the FT Tour came out, this was a perfect solution. I got one w/the stock VooDoo shaft and started trying out other shafts since the VooDoo spun so much. Again, I settled on the Diamana. This has proven to be an awesome performer for me and will likely remain in my bag for a while.

FW woods (Titleist 13' or 18' 909F3 D3 w/Matrix Ozik Code 8 S) - When I got my new irons (more on that later) I dropped the 2-iron thinking that I'd go back to a 3, 4 or 5 wood. I believe that a finding a good fairway wood is the hardest club in the bag. It's used in a great deal of situations and, in most of them, anything less than a precise shot is not acceptable. I hit almost everything that I could get my hands on and in the end preferred the Titleist 909F3's. I got both a 3 wood and 5 wood and, like my driver, went with a low spin/low launch shaft. Unlike my driver however, I got lucky in the first go around, the first shaft that my builder suggested turned out to be perfect. Both of these clubs have really proven themselves on the course. Like my driver, their slot in the bag is pretty safe. Note: I generally swap between the 13' and 18' depending on course, conditions, etc... Irons (Scratch TD SB-1 3-PW D/S D2/D3 w/S300) - I think that I summed this up as a comment on a blog post pretty well...

The guys at Scratch were nice enough to send me a bunch of demo clubs. I had them vary the grinds, the shafts and the shaft flexes. I spent the next few weeks with rotating clubs through my bag and hitting range ball after range ball slowly eliminating one club at a time. As a "sanity check", I also hit my top 3 choices on a launch monitor just to see what the numbers looked like (ball flight doesn't lie, this step was really unnecessary if you ask me but I had time and it is fun). Once I decided on a grind and a shaft I had the sample clubs frequency checked to determine the exact flex. I also had the swingweights checked. Much to my surprise the clubs came out pretty much identical. I used these numbers as the starting point for my set. There were a few surprises during this process. I expected to like the D/D grind better. I also thought that I'd want a stiffer flex or even a different shaft altogether. However, the D/S grind and the S300 gave me the exact ball flight and feel that I was looking for. No sense in arguing with what works. I ended up having my irons built by a Scratch dealer instead of Scratch themselves. This way I had a faster turn around time, I was able to specify every detail of the build (for every club individually) and I saved some money over having them built by the Scratch Tour Department. My irons aren't really anything special. Standard L/L/L, D2 swingweight 3-9, D3 swingweight PW, DG S300 playing just a touch (barely) over the standard DG "stiff" flex (based on frequency). All shafts are frequency matched and spine aligned (wedges were sent in and adjusted as well).

Wedges (Scratch 52' SND D4, 56' SFU D5 & 60' EGG D6 w/S300) - I was very meticulous when I had my wedges built. I won't get into the details again but I was very specific about the grind, lofts, length, weight, everything. I wanted clubs that I could use in the exact manner that I wanted to use them and that had the feel that I was looking for. After a great deal of study and trial & error with various grinds, I ended up with this combo.

Putter (Scotty Cameron 33" Studio Select Newport) - For me a putter is about feel and appearance. I want something that looks right to my eye and feels right in my hands. After a long while gaming 1/2 offset blades and an old mallet, I gave this SS a try and fell in love with it. It's a great putter and will be staying in my bag for a long time. Of all my clubs, the putter is the only one that I chose based strictly on feel and aesthetics. The best part is that it's proven to be a performer for me as well (currently averaging ~29.3 putts/round which is about 1 putt/round better than previously). I think that the greatest benefit that I've really gotten out of my Cameron though is that, somehow in some unexplainable way, it's put the fun back into short game practice. I don't know how that works but I actually enjoy my time practicing my putting more now than I ever have. Ball (TaylorMade Penta TP & Bridgestone B330-S) - I'll refer you to my complete ball test thread (GolfWRX) . I'm constantly trying different golf balls to find the one that I like the best. Right now it's a toss up between the Penta and B330-S with the Penta just edging out the B330-S for the top spot.