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beginner, where to go with my equipment next


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So, I've read a lot of helpful post so far and decided to join.

For background I'm 30, 6' 175, located in northeastern Ohio, and I had a little bit of golf instruction in middle school and then none since then, playing maybe 1-2 times a year. This past year I've started to play maybe 2-4 times a month and plan to shoot for 1-2 times a week this year. I took my first lesson last week and plan on taking a few more. My current clubs are mainly hand me downs with a few clubs I picked up.

Consistency is my biggest issue, I have some nice hits but no consistency, especially as the clubs get longer. Still have draw/fade/slice, but rare to hook and a decent number go straight. My first lesson I've been working on slowing my swing down and only taking a 3/4 backswing, my instructor also recommended not using a driver and just a 3w.

Approximate distances just from eyeballing it at the driving range

P 105

9 120

8 135

7 145

6 155

5 160

4H 200

3H 210-20

D 225-40 (was hitting it fairly straight at the end of last year, but haven't re-figured it out and fade/slice/less distance often now)

Driver Cleveland 12.5 S flex (not sure which model, probably 5 yrs old)

3W TM SLDR 15 R flex (won this today at golfsmith for a closest to pin promotion, I think I can still exchange it for stiff flex if that would be better. They had me hit some balls on the monitor, which I was hitting poorly with both shafts, ~150 yrds, and recommended I get R flex)

3W Cleveland launcher S flex

3/4H Nickent 3DX

Irons 3-SW Callaway Tungsten Hawkeyes with graphite S shafts, lofts PW 46.5, SW 55 (hand me downs from my dad, he had them fitted to him at a big box store, but I'm not sure what differences from standard they are)

Cleveland 588 rotex 60* tour wedge

Odyssey not sure on model, anser shape putter

1) What would be better: getting fitted for new irons, keeping my current irons and get fit for lie angle, keep iron heads and fit for shaft/lie angle, leave irons as is?

2) Should I have my hybrids adjusted or should stock settings be adequate?

3) What should I do with my wedges? I was considering getting a 588 rotex in 52.10 and 56.14 and not using my callaway SW, vs. just not getting any new wedges and using what I have. I hit the cg16 and 588 in 52/56 today on mats and liked the feel of the 588 slightly better. Is the cavity back graphite shaft on my current SW a detriment to learning proper chipping? I feel like there is more feel with steel. I've read a lot of recs not to use a 60* as a beginner, which I do ok with but certainly have mishits with sometimes, so I will probably leave the 60* for practice only.

4) I hate my putter. I feel like the main problem is the lie angle, for my natural stance it would need to be more upright. I've been hitting a bunch of putters and like the Ping Anser 5 TR and Craz-e TR, but I think their lie angle is off too, but not as much as my current putter. Should I get a new off the shelf putter, have my putter bent at golfgalaxy, or find somewhere that does putter fitting and get a new putter there.

5) How would you prioritize the above? I don't have a set budget but I like to be cost effective.

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1) What would be better: getting fitted for new irons, keeping my current irons and get fit for lie angle, keep iron heads and fit for shaft/lie angle, leave irons as is?

Depends on where you go, but the cost of getting old irons adjusted, reshafted, etc. likely will be close to getting something new. I think this choice comes down to stick with what you have or jump into something completely new, and in most cases, I would lean toward keeping what you have spending money on lessons and practice.

2) Should I have my hybrids adjusted or should stock settings be adequate?

Hard to say, again, I think what you have is sufficient for you now. My own feeling is we tend to over-fit ourselves.

3) What should I do with my wedges? I was considering getting a 588 rotex in 52.10 and 56.14 and not using my callaway SW, vs. just not getting any new wedges and using what I have. I hit the cg16 and 588 in 52/56 today on mats and liked the feel of the 588 slightly better. Is the cavity back graphite shaft on my current SW a detriment to learning proper chipping? I feel like there is more feel with steel. I've read a lot of recs not to use a 60* as a beginner, which I do ok with but certainly have mishits with sometimes, so I will probably leave the 60* for practice only.

The one bit of advice I would agree with there is 60 degrees are not good for beginners. For a beginner, I tend to think the stock PW and a something fairly stock (56 degree normal bounce) SW is best. Learn to hit different shots with those clubs - open up for loft, close down for run. Also, learn to use something other than wedges for chipping, or at least experiment. The big mistake is beginners believing they need to get the ball up and developing some real bad habits (e.g. flipping the hands, scooping the ball). My feeling is when you get yourself in situations where you want a lot of loft, it more reflects dubious course management than equipment choices. No one gets up and down from above the hole in thick rough, for example.

4) I hate my putter. I feel like the main problem is the lie angle, for my natural stance it would need to be more upright. I've been hitting a bunch of putters and like the Ping Anser 5 TR and Craz-e TR, but I think their lie angle is off too, but not as much as my current putter. Should I get a new off the shelf putter, have my putter bent at golfgalaxy, or find somewhere that does putter fitting and get a new putter there.

The easy fix here may be to the bend what you have. First, though, try to get a few minutes with your local pro. Have him or her look at what you are doing. Putting is a very individualized thing, and they can help direct you. Probably the best thing that helped my putting was reading some of Dave Pelz's stuff, not for the instruction but for the stats. Don't beat yourself up over missing 7 or 8 footers - beat yourself up over not getting your chip to 3 feet etc.

5) How would you prioritize the above? I don't have a set budget but I like to be cost effective.

Dollar for dollar, nothing is more effective than finding a local pro and mapping out a plan to work on your game. For every lesson, plan on three practice sessions in between. Golf is a game of practice and repetition. Along the way, that pro will be able to offer the best guidance as to equipment.

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... Dollar for dollar, nothing is more effective than finding a local pro and mapping out a plan to work on your game. For every lesson, plan on three practice sessions in between. Golf is a game of practice and repetition. Along the way, that pro will be able to offer the best guidance as to equipment.

This is the way to go. Get your swing stabilized before buying new equipment. What you have is decent stuff, will get you started.

Focus, connect and follow through!

  • Completed KBS Education Seminar (online, 2015)
  • GolfWorks Clubmaking AcademyFitting, Assembly & Repair School (2012)

Driver:  :touredge: EXS 10.5°, weights neutral   ||  FWs:  :callaway: Rogue 4W + 7W
Hybrid:  :callaway: Big Bertha OS 4H at 22°  ||  Irons:  :callaway: Mavrik MAX 5i-PW
Wedges:  :callaway: MD3: 48°, 54°... MD4: 58° ||  Putter:image.png.b6c3447dddf0df25e482bf21abf775ae.pngInertial NM SL-583F, 34"  
Ball:  image.png.f0ca9194546a61407ba38502672e5ecf.png QStar Tour - Divide  ||  Bag: :sunmountain: Three 5 stand bag

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I completely agree with the advice to spend your money on lessons before dropping bucks for equipment unless you've got plenty of disposable income to dispose of.  After you've had lessons and your swing is in better shape you'll be in a far better position to choose new sticks.

You say you've had a lesson and are planning to take a "few" more.  I would suggest you not put limits on that at this point.  As JoePete said, work out a plan with your local pro and put in the time on the driving range to practice what s/he is trying to teach you.  The golf swing doesn't come naturally to most people, and you should be prepared to find that after most lessons you may well feel more screwed up than you did going in.  I know I often do, but after I practice some and sort out the new strange feelings I find I'm are hitting them a bit better than I was before the lesson.  And you'll find that the lessons often build on one another, so limiting yourself to a "few" lessons may limit how well you play.

Discuss your equipment questions with your pro, that person can probably guide you on selection as well as timing for purchases.  They may also be able to help hook you up with a good club fitter when the time comes.  I, personally, have a pretty strong belief that finding a good fitter is more important than finding a good brand of clubs to be fitted into.  Most of the major brands have good clubs, so being properly fitted makes the real difference.

Quote:
1) What would be better: getting fitted for new irons, keeping my current irons and get fit for lie angle, keep iron heads and fit for shaft/lie angle, leave irons as is?

Your teaching pro should be able to help decide if it looks like you need a lie adjustment.  Beyond that, keep the irons for a few months at least.

Quote:
3) What should I do with my wedges? I was considering getting a 588 rotex in 52.10 and 56.14 and not using my callaway SW, vs. just not getting any new wedges and using what I have. I hit the cg16 and 588 in 52/56 today on mats and liked the feel of the 588 slightly better. Is the cavity back graphite shaft on my current SW a detriment to learning proper chipping? I feel like there is more feel with steel. I've read a lot of recs not to use a 60* as a beginner, which I do ok with but certainly have mishits with sometimes, so I will probably leave the 60* for practice only.

Again, I'd wait until you have a bit more experience and have had a couple of short game lessons, one for chipping, one for pitching and sand play.  For a solution with two new wedges, you might consider the 52.10 and a 58.12.

Quote:
4) I hate my putter. I feel like the main problem is the lie angle, for my natural stance it would need to be more upright. I've been hitting a bunch of putters and like the Ping Anser 5 TR and Craz-e TR, but I think their lie angle is off too, but not as much as my current putter. Should I get a new off the shelf putter, have my putter bent at golfgalaxy, or find somewhere that does putter fitting and get a new putter there.

Welcome to the club, everybody has a corner of a closet dedicated to the putter pile.  But more seriously, you state you are 6' and 175 pounds.  Assuming also average length arms I am a bit surprised that so many putters seem to have such bad lie angles for you.  Before investing in a new stick or having the current bent, I would again suggest discussing putting with that pro and make sure you are setting up properly, etc.

Having a good relationship with a pro and taking lessons periodically is the best thing you can do for your golf game.  All of the tour pros have their "swing coaches" and often pay big bucks to have them in attendance at important tournaments, so there's certainly no shame in having one yourself.

Driver: Titleist 913 D2 10.5*, Aldila RIP Phenom 50

Fairway 1: Titleist 913F, 17*, Titleist Bassara W55

Fairway 2: Titleist 913F, 21*, Titleist Bassara W55

Irons: Titleist AP1 714 5-PW, Aerotech Steelfiber i95

Wedges: SCOR 4161 48/52/56/60, Genius 9

Grips: GolfPride New Decade Red Mid-size on all of the above.

Putter: Scotty Cameron Newport 2 - Super Stroke Slim 3.0

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I agree with the consensus here. Don't spend money on new equipment until you feel you can take a reasonably consistent swing to the pro for a fitting.

I came back to the game after a ten-year absence a few months ago. For four months I continued to use my 15 year-old clubs and took regular lessons to get myself back into it - ten years of ageing and a shoulder injury had changed my swing a bit, to say the least. I'd probably hit more than 8000 balls before I felt my new swing had begun to evolve to the point at which it was worth investing in a new set of irons - which I have now done. If I'd gone to get fitted as soon as I came back to the game, I seriously doubt that I could have made an informed choice. In fact, it's arguable that I should have waited longer - but like everyone else, I have a weakness for new stuff...

The more I practise, the luckier I hope to get.

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I can't really add to what has been said. The stuff you have is pretty good and more than fine for now. Either rest or bend the 60, maybe have someone look at the putter but I might even wait a while on that. The best money you can spend right now is lessons, range balls, and playing some. As JoePete said, plan on several practice sessions between lessons to assimilate the skills learned. Different strokes, but after a couple of initial lessons, space the lessons out 2-4 weeks apart for a few, then further apart unless you are working on something specific or a specific problem comes up. I am not really the one to ask, because I am cheap and a used club ho, but I don't think you should even think about new clubs until next season unless you miraculously become a single digit this year. I think I might trade the new SLDR 3W for the stiff shaft version and just put it in the closet til next year. I am really making assumptions here, but that is a nice club, and given your age, size, and desire to improve, that is probably what you will need. Putters are incredibly personal, but mostly for head reasons. For the most part , I believe it is the indian not the arrow, but certain styles may help certain things. A lot of folks say that a face balanced, heel and toe weighted mallet or semi-mallet is the most forgiving style. In part of your lessons, maybe take a putting lesson. The putter you have is a popular style, and if you learn to put a good stroke on it, you may not hate it as much. A putter should allow you at a proper address to have your eyes directly over the line of the putt, and your arms in a reasonably comfortable position. Once you develop a sound stroke, then you can begin your search for "the one". Right now I have 6.

Don

In the bag:

Driver: PING 410 Plus 9 degrees, Alta CB55 S  Fairway: Callaway Rogue 3W PX Even Flow Blue 6.0; Hybrid: Titleist 818H1 21* PX Even Flow Blue 6.0;  Irons: Titleist 718 AP1 5-W2(53*) Shafts- TT AMT Red S300 ; Wedges Vokey SM8 56-10D Putter: Scotty Cameron 2016 Newport 2.5  Ball: Titleist AVX or 2021 ProV1

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thanks for all the recs, I have a lesson tomorrow (focusing mainly on putting/chipping) and will run things by my instructor too. I will probably ask him which shaft he thinks would be best for me on the sldr 3wl and trade it out if he thinks stiff would be better and tuck it away for a year in the closet. Cost wise, equipment purchases won't really effect the amount I play or lessons, that's going to be limited strictly by the 80hr/wk job. I kinda have an itch to buy something at the moment (small, say $100-200) so that may be a new putter or a couple wedges (can get a decent deal on the 588 rotex 52 and 56 for $170 new), guess I'll see what my instructor thinks about that too.

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Update Switched out the sldr 3w to a stiff shaft, my instructor also thinks I will eventually need the extra stiffness, even though the regular shaft was basically the same as my Cleveland launcher 3w stiff. After some putting instruction, I hate my putter much less. Think I was standing too close to the ball. I think a face balanced mallet will probably work better, but I will probably wait awhile and do a putter fitting when I upgrade.
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I think if you are able to try out different golf clubs, please do so.

E.g. a demo event with a practice range, if you can try out different clubs for cheap and hit some balls.

Can a pro golfer hit some balls with "non-optimized" golf clubs? Of course they can... BUT do they actually use them? When it comes to big bucks and golf tournaments, all the pros use custom fitted equipment to their own specs. Whatever specs they may be.

Money used on lessons, will not be wasted even so...

But ideally speaking, you want the right tools for the right job. In the military they have a saying: "train as you fight". Which means that you train with your normal equipment, which is assumed to be war-ready, or war equipment. Make your training realistic is the idea.

Would it skew your training results if you use badly-fitting golf clubs? Does it change your golf swing if you use wrong fitted golf clubs? This I do not know. I don't have fitted golf clubs yet. I'm still managing (somewhat) with my dad's old clubs at this time. Driver is being somewhat problematic with the regular shaft though. :-$

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So, I've read a lot of helpful post so far and decided to join.

For background I'm 30, 6' 175, located in northeastern Ohio, and I had a little bit of golf instruction in middle school and then none since then, playing maybe 1-2 times a year. This past year I've started to play maybe 2-4 times a month and plan to shoot for 1-2 times a week this year. I took my first lesson last week and plan on taking a few more. My current clubs are mainly hand me downs with a few clubs I picked up.

Consistency is my biggest issue, I have some nice hits but no consistency, especially as the clubs get longer. Still have draw/fade/slice, but rare to hook and a decent number go straight. My first lesson I've been working on slowing my swing down and only taking a 3/4 backswing, my instructor also recommended not using a driver and just a 3w.

Approximate distances just from eyeballing it at the driving range

P 105

9 120

8 135

7 145

6 155

5 160

4H 200

3H 210-20

D 225-40 (was hitting it fairly straight at the end of last year, but haven't re-figured it out and fade/slice/less distance often now)

Driver Cleveland 12.5 S flex (not sure which model, probably 5 yrs old)

3W TM SLDR 15 R flex (won this today at golfsmith for a closest to pin promotion, I think I can still exchange it for stiff flex if that would be better. They had me hit some balls on the monitor, which I was hitting poorly with both shafts, ~150 yrds, and recommended I get R flex)

3W Cleveland launcher S flex

3/4H Nickent 3DX

Irons 3-SW Callaway Tungsten Hawkeyes with graphite S shafts, lofts PW 46.5, SW 55 (hand me downs from my dad, he had them fitted to him at a big box store, but I'm not sure what differences from standard they are)

Cleveland 588 rotex 60* tour wedge

Odyssey not sure on model, anser shape putter

1) What would be better: getting fitted for new irons, keeping my current irons and get fit for lie angle, keep iron heads and fit for shaft/lie angle, leave irons as is?

2) Should I have my hybrids adjusted or should stock settings be adequate?

3) What should I do with my wedges? I was considering getting a 588 rotex in 52.10 and 56.14 and not using my callaway SW, vs. just not getting any new wedges and using what I have. I hit the cg16 and 588 in 52/56 today on mats and liked the feel of the 588 slightly better. Is the cavity back graphite shaft on my current SW a detriment to learning proper chipping? I feel like there is more feel with steel. I've read a lot of recs not to use a 60* as a beginner, which I do ok with but certainly have mishits with sometimes, so I will probably leave the 60* for practice only.

4) I hate my putter. I feel like the main problem is the lie angle, for my natural stance it would need to be more upright. I've been hitting a bunch of putters and like the Ping Anser 5 TR and Craz-e TR, but I think their lie angle is off too, but not as much as my current putter. Should I get a new off the shelf putter, have my putter bent at golfgalaxy, or find somewhere that does putter fitting and get a new putter there.

5) How would you prioritize the above? I don't have a set budget but I like to be cost effective.

If you'll allow me, I'd like to throw in some thoughts because reading your post, I felt like I was reading something I would have written almost word for word 9 months ago. Your body profile and distances are scarily identical to where I was at last year, down to the PW I didn't realize I wasn't hitting as cleanly as I could be, the tightening grouping as I moved up to my 5 iron, followed by a huge gap before getting into a 4H I could somehow hit out to 200, and a driver I could hit 225 about half the time, and crank out to 240 on the really good hits. Seriously, you posted my yardage book that I used for when I played. Towards the end of last year, I got a little messed up by watching videos online about hitting a draw and it led to a case of the shanks that took me a while to cure. I got two lessons that centered entirely around the instructor teaching me to release the golf club. The idea didn't take for at least a month an about a dozen buckets of balls, but when it did, I added 15-20 yards onto each iron (it literally clicked from one day to the next) and now I can hit my longer irons much better and with good gapping between clubs. Point being, I would really advise you to work on cleaning up your ball striking with lessons or practice because I think you have a ton of potential that you can tap into before you should consider upgrading your equipment. I think that "click" will happen to you pretty soon since you seem committed to taking lessons and working on your game, and it'd be great for you to match your newer equipment onto your new swing and talent level rather than what you have now. I don't mean to presume that I know your game, but I felt compelled to chime in because I also was thinking about getting new gear back then. When you're feeling you're not hitting it great and you hear on TV and online all about how new clubs can help your game in different ways, it gets into your head. Back then, I would have gotten something that helped me get the ball in the air a lot higher and more easily, whereas now my swing really gets the ball launching absurdly high, to the point where I think I'd benefit from clubs that didn't launch so high. I'm glad I didn't make any changes to my set, and feel like I can keep working on things until I'm at the point where specific new clubs are the best way to elevate my game. The set I play now is the Callaway X-24 set from Costco, which is a rebranding of the X-24 hots, along with some repackaged woods and a hybrid that are better than what you'd find in a typical box set.

And for what it's worth, hitting 3W off the tee, especially one as good as the SLDR is a fantastic idea. I've been doing that and it's been awesome for my game. You get better at hitting the ball and controlling the shorter length. I'm only now starting to go back to the driver after a long layoff and I've notice I'm hitting it much much better than before (that awful slice is very much gone). My set is a regular flex, but I would get a stiff flex if I were starting over. I bought my clubs having really no clue and got lucky that the set was good. I was told later that at my age and athleticism (which is average at best), I could handle the stiff. When I was hitting badly, I could hit badly with either flex. I've hit some clubs with a stiffer flex with my new swing, and I like them, but it doesn't make a world of difference either way. As long as you don't play a lady's flex, you'll be fine, haha.

Good luck, and I wish you great success in your game.

Dom's Sticks:

Callaway X-24 10.5° Driver, Callaway Big Bertha 15° wood, Callaway XR 19° hybrid, Callaway X-24 24° hybrid, Callaway X-24 5i-9i, PING Glide PW 47°/12°, Cleveland REG 588 52°/08°, Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind 56°/13°, 60°/10°, Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter w/SuperStroke Slim 3.0 grip, Callaway Chev Stand Bag, Titleist Pro-V1x ball

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So, I've read a lot of helpful post so far and decided to join.

For background I'm 30, 6' 175, located in northeastern Ohio, and I had a little bit of golf instruction in middle school and then none since then, playing maybe 1-2 times a year. This past year I've started to play maybe 2-4 times a month and plan to shoot for 1-2 times a week this year. I took my first lesson last week and plan on taking a few more. My current clubs are mainly hand me downs with a few clubs I picked up.

Consistency is my biggest issue, I have some nice hits but no consistency, especially as the clubs get longer. Still have draw/fade/slice, but rare to hook and a decent number go straight. My first lesson I've been working on slowing my swing down and only taking a 3/4 backswing, my instructor also recommended not using a driver and just a 3w.

Approximate distances just from eyeballing it at the driving range

P 105

9 120

8 135

7 145

6 155

5 160

4H 200

3H 210-20

D 225-40 (was hitting it fairly straight at the end of last year, but haven't re-figured it out and fade/slice/less distance often now)

Driver Cleveland 12.5 S flex (not sure which model, probably 5 yrs old)

3W TM SLDR 15 R flex (won this today at golfsmith for a closest to pin promotion, I think I can still exchange it for stiff flex if that would be better. They had me hit some balls on the monitor, which I was hitting poorly with both shafts, ~150 yrds, and recommended I get R flex)

3W Cleveland launcher S flex

3/4H Nickent 3DX

Irons 3-SW Callaway Tungsten Hawkeyes with graphite S shafts, lofts PW 46.5, SW 55 (hand me downs from my dad, he had them fitted to him at a big box store, but I'm not sure what differences from standard they are)

Cleveland 588 rotex 60* tour wedge

Odyssey not sure on model, anser shape putter

1) What would be better: getting fitted for new irons, keeping my current irons and get fit for lie angle, keep iron heads and fit for shaft/lie angle, leave irons as is?

2) Should I have my hybrids adjusted or should stock settings be adequate?

3) What should I do with my wedges? I was considering getting a 588 rotex in 52.10 and 56.14 and not using my callaway SW, vs. just not getting any new wedges and using what I have. I hit the cg16 and 588 in 52/56 today on mats and liked the feel of the 588 slightly better. Is the cavity back graphite shaft on my current SW a detriment to learning proper chipping? I feel like there is more feel with steel. I've read a lot of recs not to use a 60* as a beginner, which I do ok with but certainly have mishits with sometimes, so I will probably leave the 60* for practice only.

4) I hate my putter. I feel like the main problem is the lie angle, for my natural stance it would need to be more upright. I've been hitting a bunch of putters and like the Ping Anser 5 TR and Craz-e TR, but I think their lie angle is off too, but not as much as my current putter. Should I get a new off the shelf putter, have my putter bent at golfgalaxy, or find somewhere that does putter fitting and get a new putter there.

5) How would you prioritize the above? I don't have a set budget but I like to be cost effective.

Oh, and I saw your other questions

For wedges, I started with using ones with lower bounce but as my swing has changed, I've been doing better with my sand wedge that has 14° bounce than my 60 degree lob wedge with only 4° of bounce. The saying that "bounce is your friend" is one that I actively disbelieved early on, but I've come around on. But try different stuff. I don't know what sand wedge you have, but the one that came with my set was great for hitting as an 11 iron, but for serving as a tool for getting out of the sand, it was miserable because it was of the same chunky cavity back design as the rest of my irons, so I ditched it for a nice blade style wedge. I found a used Nike wedge by chance when there was a sale one day when I was playing, and I love it. It gives me confidence that I can get into the sand under the ball. I bought a 52° / 8° gap wedge and a 60° / 4° lob wedge for dirt cheap before that. Both are traditional blade wedge designs and I much prefer them for chipping than the cavity back sand and pitching wedges that came with my set. I only use cavity back clubs for chipping if I'm right off the green and there's deep rough and I want to get the ball rolling fast, and I need the loft of an 8 or 9 iron. Otherwise, I agree, I feel like I'm worried about chunking my chip too much with the cavity back wedges, and that's why I bought these. They work well on full shots as well.

If you hate your putter, try something different. I got a funky looking Odyssey Backstryke 2 ball putter when I started that I'm still playing, but I kind of feel is ridiculous now. If I were to switch, I'd go to a Rossie style mallet. I love the look and the feel of that style. Putting is so mentally-based, if you feel like your putter is hurting you, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Dom's Sticks:

Callaway X-24 10.5° Driver, Callaway Big Bertha 15° wood, Callaway XR 19° hybrid, Callaway X-24 24° hybrid, Callaway X-24 5i-9i, PING Glide PW 47°/12°, Cleveland REG 588 52°/08°, Callaway Mack Daddy PM Grind 56°/13°, 60°/10°, Odyssey Versa Jailbird putter w/SuperStroke Slim 3.0 grip, Callaway Chev Stand Bag, Titleist Pro-V1x ball

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If you'll allow me, I'd like to throw in some thoughts because reading your post, I felt like I was reading something I would have written almost word for word 9 months ago. Your body profile and distances are scarily identical to where I was at last year, down to the PW I didn't realize I wasn't hitting as cleanly as I could be, the tightening grouping as I moved up to my 5 iron, followed by a huge gap before getting into a 4H I could somehow hit out to 200, and a driver I could hit 225 about half the time, and crank out to 240 on the really good hits. Seriously, you posted my yardage book that I used for when I played. Towards the end of last year, I got a little messed up by watching videos online about hitting a draw and it led to a case of the shanks that took me a while to cure. I got two lessons that centered entirely around the instructor teaching me to release the golf club. The idea didn't take for at least a month an about a dozen buckets of balls, but when it did, I added 15-20 yards onto each iron (it literally clicked from one day to the next) and now I can hit my longer irons much better and with good gapping between clubs. Point being, I would really advise you to work on cleaning up your ball striking with lessons or practice because I think you have a ton of potential that you can tap into before you should consider upgrading your equipment. I think that "click" will happen to you pretty soon since you seem committed to taking lessons and working on your game, and it'd be great for you to match your newer equipment onto your new swing and talent level rather than what you have now. I don't mean to presume that I know your game, but I felt compelled to chime in because I also was thinking about getting new gear back then. When you're feeling you're not hitting it great and you hear on TV and online all about how new clubs can help your game in different ways, it gets into your head. Back then, I would have gotten something that helped me get the ball in the air a lot higher and more easily, whereas now my swing really gets the ball launching absurdly high, to the point where I think I'd benefit from clubs that didn't launch so high. I'm glad I didn't make any changes to my set, and feel like I can keep working on things until I'm at the point where specific new clubs are the best way to elevate my game. The set I play now is the Callaway X-24 set from Costco, which is a rebranding of the X-24 hots, along with some repackaged woods and a hybrid that are better than what you'd find in a typical box set.

And for what it's worth, hitting 3W off the tee, especially one as good as the SLDR is a fantastic idea. I've been doing that and it's been awesome for my game. You get better at hitting the ball and controlling the shorter length. I'm only now starting to go back to the driver after a long layoff and I've notice I'm hitting it much much better than before (that awful slice is very much gone). My set is a regular flex, but I would get a stiff flex if I were starting over. I bought my clubs having really no clue and got lucky that the set was good. I was told later that at my age and athleticism (which is average at best), I could handle the stiff. When I was hitting badly, I could hit badly with either flex. I've hit some clubs with a stiffer flex with my new swing, and I like them, but it doesn't make a world of difference either way. As long as you don't play a lady's flex, you'll be fine, haha.

Good luck, and I wish you great success in your game.

I'm starting to like this SLDR off the tee, adjusted the loft on it to 16.5, had one really great drive with it yesterday, 544yard par 5 and ended up at the 235 yard marker dead straight, that seems impossible for me I'm wondering if the markers are wrong on that hole (I'd guess it went 250 yards). Hit it a few other holes but ended up with fade/slice and less distance. I don't think I'll take the driver out for awhile yet.

Some of my short iron distances are because my instructor is having me hit 3/4 swings only, I think the gaps are a little further apart on the low irons since I've been practicing this year (made that chart the end of last year). I'm fairly happy with my irons for right now, don't foresee needing to change them for at least a year.

My SW is from my iron set, definitely bulky cavity back. Honestly I hit my 60* 588 better than it usually (except I have issues with it on really firm ground). I was considering getting a couple off the shelf 588 wedges in 56 and 52, but also considering going to windmill golf center and having them fit me for a couple wedges.

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