My WITB for the start of 2010...

[rebby]

I finally got around to snapping some pics for a WITB. It's cloudy out and the lighting is poor but you get the general idea.



As indicated in my signature, my bag contains the following...

Driver: Callaway 9.5' FT-5 Tour N I-Mix w/Diamana WB 73 S
Fairway Woods: Titleist 13' or 18' 909F3 D3 w/Matrix Ozik Code 8 S

The driver is a stock I-Mix FT-5 with a Diamana WB 73. This will likely be replaced sometime in 2010 w/the new FT Tour (if the FT Tour proves to be a worthy upgrade anyway) or another "smaller" driver (never have been a huge fan of the 460cc heads).

The fairway woods have both been custom built starting with stock clubs from Titleist. Shafts have been spine aligned and play just a tad stiffer than "stock S-flex". The swingweights are set to D3 (4g of hot melt added to 18' for swingweight adjustment). The 18' fairway wood is my 15th club so it shares time in the bag booting either the 13' fairway wood or 3-iron depending on course, conditions, etc.

All of my woods are gripped with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cords.





Irons/Wedges: Scratch TD SB-1 3-PW D/S D2/D3, 52' SND D4, 56' SFU D5 & 60' EGG D6 w/S300

My SB-1's were also custom built. Shafts in all irons and wedges have been spine aligned and are Dynamic Gold S300's playing true to flex. 3-9 irons swing at D2, the PW comes in at D3.

My wedges are also Scratch, this time from the Tour Department. Lofts, grinds and swingweights are indicated above. Later I spine aligned the shafts and adjusted the swingweights to my preference after coming from the Scratch Tour Department lighter than ordered (I ordered them as D4, D5, D6 and they showed up D2, D4, D4).

All of my irons/wedges are also gripped with Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cords.







Putter: Scotty Cameron 33" Studio Select Newport

My putter is an OTR Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport at 33" w/the red cord grip. Factory Scotty headcover has been swapped in favor of an Odyssey headcover since I really didn't like the added bulk or velcro found on the Scotty headcover.

I have two of these putters, one stays in the bag the other stays at home for practice around the house. The "gamer" is pictured below.

I love this putter but the graphics and extensive stamping annoy me to a point. As you could likely tell from the rest of my set, I like simple and clean. A more "traditional" satin chrome is just fine by me and I don't want or need a lot of stamping and graphics. Due to that rather small annoyance, I'll likely have a custom SSB made to duplicate my Cameron in form and (hopefully) function. Of course, if I do this, it will be clean w/very few markings. For now however, the Cameron sinks enough puts to stay in the bag despite the minor annoyance.





Well, that's my bag for the start of 2010.

[bogeyhitter25]

Man, those irons & wedges look SWEET.

[torrejuan]

I read where you were meticulous on choosing wedges. Were you the same with the irons? Was the fitting over the phone with Ari or in person. Was it closer to $1000 or $600?

[rebby]

I read where you were meticulous on choosing wedges. Were you the same with the irons? Was the fitting over the phone with Ari or in person. Was it closer to $1000 or $600?

I was the same with the irons. Maybe even worse. 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). Having a Scratch dealer build the clubs offered me the best of both worlds. I got great heads and was able to work with the club builder 1 on 1 throughout the build process. I was also able to specify every minor detail on a club by club basis. I could have done all of this through the Tour Department as well but at a higher cost, with a much longer turn around time. Retail SB-1's run $1200, add $240 for the SST PURE process and $80 for corded grips. At that point you might as well go Tour Department. I really shouldn't disclose exactly what I paid for my irons (I'm not sure if my club builder would be able to do it at that price again) but I will say that I did save a significant amount of money by going through a dealer. Think Tour Department irons at a retail price and you'll be in the right neighborhood. Having the ability to hit a number of sample irons from Scratch was HUGE in my "fitting" process. Nothing beats being able to bring a bunch of sample irons to a launch monitor, an outdoor range and the course to really put them through their paces for a few weeks. By the time I ordered my irons, I already had a pretty good feel for them.

[kevin.chan]

These irons look so cool . Love them !