Socketeer

Reminds me of an old golfing joke. One of our lady members went out playing in a short skirt. Within the hour, she was in the pro shop complaining, "I've been stung by a bee on me fanny, it's ever so sore and I can't close my legs together". She then asked the pro what she should do. The pro responded with, "try widening your stance"! Ha Ha!

I played true blades for many years first Wilson FG17 and then FG49. Up until recently I played with and still have a set of Titleist 695MBs 2 iron thru to PW. My view is if you are playing often and practising regularly, then blades are the thing. They give far more feedback than the "forgiving" irons and you learn how to strike the ball better because of it. I have moved to AP2s now, mainly because I know I ain't going to be playing as regular, (other commitments have arisen which sadly keep me away from the game I love). But I'm not getting shut of them - I live in hope that one day I will be out on the course and the practice ground every minute god sends again. It is also the fact that when looking down at a beautifully engineered classic forged blade, you get inspired to want to play them. Some clubs such as a various models in the Callaway and Ping range just do not do anything for me at all. They might be forgiving but to me they just look like gobs of metal stuck to the end of a stick!

Just bought a set of Titleis AP2s 3-PW = 720 pounds. Also got a 910 driver, 15 deg and 13.5 deg fairway woods and a 19 and 17 deg hybrids = around 1,100 pounds at top price. Vokey wedges - I have many of these but say 3 in the bag at any one time = about 300 pounds. Scotty Cameron putter - around 250 pounds. Total = around 2370 pounds. The bag, balls (ProV1 at 55 pounds a dozen), gloves, rain gear, electric trolley, SkyCaddy, etc. etc. etc. - how long is a piece of string? The insurance policies don't even start to cover all of this. You have to take out policies that cover you for international play even though you may never leave the country, (I'm in the UK by the way).

Have any of you chaps ever spoken with Tom? I have, be it all by email. My query was regarding the principles and claims behind the design of adjustable heads in the latest drivers, fairways and hybrids. He didn't make any attempts to sell me anything but his advice was extremely useful and confirmed my thoughts completely. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say the design is suspect. The amount of adjustability is so little the effects of the adjustments are negligible. My opinion of Mr Wishon is that he is a man of integrity and as such I have high respect for him.

You really need to read Tom Wishon's books on searching for the perfect clubs. It will enlighten and save you a fortune! All the bulls**t that we are subjected to by the manufacturers and strangely non-critical magazines who show very little neutrality or unbiased opinion. Its as if the golfing press are acting as advertising agents. I see fantastic claims of leaps in technology that are more akin to space travel or flight. I worked in a technological role in the aerospace industry for 32 years. Most of the language and words that I see being used to blind the ordinary guy in the street can be ignored. There is very little else that can be done with club technology apart from perhaps the shafts that are fitted. The heads have gone as far as they can go - the majority of claimed "advances" now are without doubt in my mind nothing but marketing gimmicks. As I get older I know that my game will deteriorate to a certain extent. Having played off low figures for many years, I have to bite the bullet and admit to myself that maybe I can no longer get the best out of my blades - I have to change to something easier to play with to be able to continue to enjoy the game to the same or similar extent. But that is far as it goes. There aren't any miracle clubs out there and there isn't going to be anything better than what is already available, apart as I say, from perhaps the shaft technology. The only way that improvements can be made are in personal fitness and honesty - honesty with one's self. Very few of us are ever going to be able to play the same equipment as the top pros, they are fitted out to the nth degree with what they use. The ordinary player like me and many others have to play with the best we can afford and cope with.

I am trying to find out how many major championships have been won with either broomhandle or belly putters. Does anyone know where I can find this information? Can anyone confirm what Wayne Grady used in the 1990 PGA Championship?

I have it on good authority that Titleist have a product introduction program that covers the next 5 years ongoing. So on the basis of that information in theory it would have been possible to see the design for the 913 series drivers, fairways and hybrids around the same time you were buying the 905 series. When questioned by a club pro at a conference in Marbella, Spain, about what he should do with his current stock and that it seemed unjust that the playing public were now within a very short time of the last launch, were now being expected to purchase the new launch, the reply wasn't great. The Callaway agent intimated that while they continued produce the stuff the "idiots" out there would buy it. Evidently the answer to the sale of old stock problem was to sell it off at half price. This would mean him selling the stuff for less than he bought it. Callaway, I understand, had a policy of "minimum order quantity" which obviously compounded the problem. So yes, I do feel it's a scam!

Yes - I remember the old Warbirds! I remember the Memphis 10 steel shafts too - fabulous! I have a load of old Wilson, TaylorMade and Titleist clubs in my garage but no longer have the Callaway Warbirds - I regret not hanging on to these great clubs. They were the ones before the big move over to titanium heads. Callaway went stupid and started charging ridiculous sums for their Great Big Bertha driver, (something like £500) and they lost me. I always remember being able to hit the 10 deg WB off the deck with a draw - easily! You can't do that so well with all of these 460cc heads now. I could hit the WB driver past anything I've had since. Looking around on Ebay etc. there's none about anymore - what happened to them - did they all get melted down or something? Those were the days!

I am posting from the UK. I am looking for views and experiences fom all over the golfing world and having started the ball rolling with a thread on a specifically UK golf forum, I thought I would go further afield and try and get a feel for the attitude toward the new technology. In the UK we have four unions that represent the four countries, the Golf Union of Wales, the Scottish Gofl Union, the Irish Golf Union and the English Golf Union. Each union represents the various counties that play within that country. The rules for GPS and Rangefinders are laid out by the R&A; (Royal and Ancient), but these are vague in that the four unions have been left to make up their own minds about allowing free use of the new technology. In turn, it is apparent that the seperate counties within those unions are also left to their own decisions. The result of this apathetic attitude is confusion and anger. In England the technology has been fully embraced as far as the amateur game is concerned. I understand Worcestershire was the last county to be dragged into the 21st century! In Wales it is a different story. Although as far as GPS is concerned and in particular I refer to Sky Caddie, many clubs have had their courses mapped and some even allow the technology to be used in competition at the amateur level and in certain instances the professional level too. Some clubs, although having had their courses mapped, will not allow the use in competition. A very few will not allow the mappers to set foot on the premises, (Conwy and St,Deiniol, Bangor to mention a couple) and certainly will not allow the devices to be used in competition at any level unless the competition or tournament is sanctioned by a different authority. Anything run under the GUW banner does not allow DMDs. I have not had any feedback for the Scotland and Ireland yet. So as a whole, the UK does not fully embrace the new technology. I feel it is the fault of our governing body, (i.e. the R&A;) and that they should be taking the lead in this instead of sitting the debate out on the fence. They should either say yeh or neh, but preferably yeh to full acceptance at least at the amateur level to get rid of all doubt and stop the various unions and counties making up their own rules. I was hoping that some of you guys from across the pond could fill me in on what the position is in the USA.

The torque tool which facilitates the adjustment of the heads of the Titleist 910 range of clubs iis only provided free of charge with the driver (D2 and D3) in the UK. Even though the fairways, (F and Fd) and hybrids (H) use the same method of adjustment, it would appear that Titleist UK (and to a certain extent Titleist USA), take it for granted that the customer has already, (or is in the process of buying), bought the driver. I think this is unfair. The fairway cost me £199, the hybrid £185 with a £10 up-charge for the shaft, (for the simple reason there was no RIP variant). It would have been nice if Titleist could have taken the hit on the shaft but by not providing the torque tool, I thought that was quite mean but with regard to the torque tools and bezel weights kits, I just don't understand where they are coming from in the way of maintaining good relations with their loyal customer base. If I wanted to adjust the settings on either of these clubs, and I hadn't bought the driver, I would either have to send for the tool at extra expense, (goodness knows how much, but I bet its not cheap!), or take it back to the pro. This rather defeats the object of the design intent. Also if I decided that I could not get on with either of the clubs, I may have difficulty selling them on without a tool. I have learned from the Titleist USA forum that any one purchasing a fairway or hybrid who hasn't already purchased a driver will have a tool provided for free . This goes someway to appeasing but what if I decided to buy the driver at a later stage after I had bought the fairways or hybrid? Would I forfeit the right to the free tool that comes with the driver? I am also a bit peeved that you have to pay extra with regard to all clubs if you want to tinket with the weights. A weight kit is available, (again, at extra cost), but having three clubs would mean that feasibly you would require three seperate weight kits to achieve matching swing weight between the three or more clubs. Instead of selling the tool and the weight kits seperate, it would have been far better Titleist provide the weight kits with every club and include a torque tool, since it is the same tool that is used, then there would be no problem. I am not certain, but I understand that there are other manufacturers out there now using similar technology but they actually provide the whole story, for instance Nike and the VR Pro and Taylor Made and their R11. If anyone has these and are more aware than I, please correct me if I am wrong or simply confirm my suspicions. Something needs saying to Titleist UK to persuade them that ripping their loyal customers off this is not best way to retain them.

Does anyone know what the torque setting is on the preset tool provided with the new Titleist 910 range of drivers? The answer will be in inch.pounds or Nm. I am expecting it to be similar to the Taylor Made R11 which I understand is 40 inch.pounds (4.52Nm). The older Taylor Mades using similar technology for screwing and tightening the bezel weights, I understand is 30 inch.pounds (3.39Nm). Please correct me if I'm wrong on that.

My swing speed was measured at only 86mph. I have been fitted with an RIP 60 REG and it feels great. To be honest, although there is no set standard in shaft flex, most of the regulars I have tried in Titleist clubs all feel "firm" Remember when Callaway produced the Warbird and the Great Big Bertha? They had three main shaft flexes - Regular, Firm and Stiff. I always found the firm shaft to be ample for my swing speed which hasn't changed a great deal. The only reason why I went to "stiff" was because when I bought the old 975D, the choice was limited to regular, stiff and extra stiff and somehow I convinced myself, (more like kidded myself!) that was what I needed. I thought regular was for wusses and pensioners - how wrong I was! I have a question which i am going to post out in a new thread soon. Does anyone know the torque load setting for the tool that is supplied with the driver? This will be in inch.pounds or Nm. Having bought the fairway and hybrid too and finding that the tool is only supplied as an optional extra that must be paid for seperate I was hoping I could utilise a torque wrench in my tool box if need be or if I come to sell on, maybe provide an old Taylor Made tool that might use the same settings.

Hi, I am a 54 year old golf addict. I have been playing since about 1990 and have been a member of four clubs over the years. I was one of the golfers who decided to take the game up during the 90's boom when golf memberships were like gold dust and waiting lists were upwards of 4-5 years for full 7 day playing rights. I started off as everyone does at the local municipals while waiting for my interview which came in April of 1991. I played as a 5 day member for four years until I was offered full seven day membership. I never found the 5 day deal an obstacle to getting my handicap down as I entered a lot of open competitions in the meantime. This, I believe, only made my handicap more solid for want of a better word as it was not centered around one course. I have since moved clubs and now play at a links course in North Wales and I play off 4. I am a retired aerospace engineer and live with my wife. I play with Titleist clubs and although I am now finding the expense more onerous, I try to keep up with the latest equipment. My latest purchase is the 910D2 driver and the 910Fd 13.5 fairway. I have also added a 910H 17 hybrid. Age and a bad back have caused me to relinquish the status of needing stiff shafts and I now play regular through out the bag except in the wedges.