bobby14HC

I am 75 and came real close to breaking my age with a 77 and a 78 this year. But most of my rounds average 82 on my home course which is on the short side, 5360 yards from white tees, but.....lots of trees, hills, ponds, creeks. If you can keep it straight, you will score very good. Many new players end up with lousy scores. For those of you who have trouble breaking 95, here is a hint. Play intentionally for bogeys. Which means swing at 75% of your maximum speed. Most golfers can get within 100 yards of Greens in (Par-2) strokes. Then it is 3 more shots to a bogey. For example take a 390 yard Par 4.Tee-shot 175 yards. 2nd shot 150 yards. Now you are 65 yards from green. Aim between flag and for middle of green for 3rd shot. 2 putts and you carded a bogey! Limit practice to chipping 70% and putting 20% and long clubs 10%. If you swing intentionally at 75%, your long clubs will be under control.

OK..so now I have played 10 rounds with RAZR X HL 6-AW. I bought used from Callaway pre-owned in "like new" condition, bent 1 deg flat, with regular flex steel shafts. I am a senior with slower but smooth swing tempo. The 9-PW-AW worked great. 6-7-8 irons were not giving me the distance so I switched them with graphite in regular shafts. I had them bent also 1 deg flat. Without the flatter lie, I tend to hook the ball. These irons are very easy to hit high and straight. I am quite satisfied overall and they will stay in my bag for a long time. The swing weight is just right. They have some offset but it is not excessive. The head size looks about right size, not too big or small. I do not take deep divots and still these irons are giving me very good high trajectory. The distance is quite predictable & consistent. For best results with these irons, focus on a smooth swing, not hard swing.

OK..so now I have played 10 rounds with RAZR X HL 6-AW. I bought used from Callaway pre-owned in "like new" condition, bent 1 deg flat, with regular flex steel shafts. I am a senior with slower but smooth swing tempo. The 9-PW-AW worked great. 6-7-8 irons were not giving me the distance so I switched them with graphite in regular shafts. I had them bent also 1 deg flat. Without the flatter lie, I tend to hook the ball. These irons are very easy to hit high and straight. I am quite satisfied overall and they will stay in my bag for a long time. The swing weight is just right. They have some offset but it is not excessive. The head size looks about right size, not too big or small. I do not take deep divots and still these irons are giving me very good high trajectory. The distance is quite predictable & consistent. For best results with these irons, focus on a smooth swing, not hard swing.

I just traded my G15 irons for the Razr X HL's, to be received on election day. Ping publishes offset values, but Callaway does not publish offset values for the Razr's. I hope the offsets are a little bit less than the Ping G15's. As couple of posters noted above, an offset club is easy to hook. It becomes very important to set the club neutral at address, meaning the score lines are exactly perpendicular to target. I did the exchange because I tried hitting the #6 iron at Sports Authority and could not hit a bad shot with it. Most of all the ball went airborne even when hit a bit thin. And i was getting better feedback and sound than the Pings. I was immediately seduced! Now we shall see how they work on the course.

Nike Slingshots are an excellent choice for anyone with double digit handicap (10+) if you are satisfied with only straight shots with not much workability. I am a 12-14 handicap and I play Ping G15's and very satisfied with them. Slingshot HL can be bought for half price of Ping's. And there is not much difference between the two. Search eBay first for a good used set and then one of the large retailers on-line such as TGW, Dallas Golf etc.

When I lived in Western Chicago burbs, I played a lot of golf at public courses, most of the time as a single golfer since most of my golf buddies lived too far away. I must have met 1000 golfers this way. 950 of them were nice , fun people. I also have played at private clubs for a dozen years and again, 95% of golfers are nice and fun people. May be it is the nice surroundings, away from daily chores and worries etc but everyone is out there to have fun. The other 5% get all bent out of shape and angry if they hit bad shots, and that can ruin the fun part.

You can get any mix of Titleist AP1's, Ap2's in any shaft combinations from Golfsmith custom order tab on their web-site. I just ordered 8-9 Ap1's with regular graphite, and a PW in steel regular, bent to my personal choice of Lie Angle.

I have played both AP1-710's and Ping I-15's. I like the AP1's better because of less visual offset, and more traditional shape. As another poster said, the Ping club's finish is a rough textured surface and therefore will show less wear marks. Both are high quality clubs with superb performance so it all boils down to what your personal preference is. Which one gives you the most confidence as you set up behind the ball.

I just bought 7 thru AW Nike Pro Cavity Irons. Before that I was playing Adams A7OS. With the Adams one can pick the ball off the turf without taking much of a divot. The Nike's need a more upright swing plane and hitting down to take a nice divot. It took me a couple of rounds to get the hang of the Nike's, and now I am getting a nice high ball flight, with good directional control. I am hitting the 8 through AW pretty good, but the #7 was difficult, so I replaced it with Ping I15 #7. The other Ping club is the sand wedge, just a marvelous club in sand and heavy grass around greens. The Nike Pro Cavity have a nice simple design without looking gaudy and clunky. When hit on the sweet zone, they feel butter soft. They can be bent for desired Lie angle, a must for every aspiring golfer. For the #6 & #5 irons I am using S3 Max hybrid irons and love those. After that it is #9 wood, #7 wood & #4 wood all Callaway, and Cobra L4VDriver. I don't mind the hodge podge, since every club works to my liking. For putters I alternate between Odyssey 2-ball 35" and a belly putter 41" by Powerbilt, both work great for me.

Both brands are quite good. My advice would be buy the one which has a better deal/price. You will not regret with either one. Also, after golfing for 50 years, I have learned direction is more important than distance, for scoring with irons.. If you can hit both sets on a driving range, checkout which gives you better control on direction.

If you are happy with any brand of clubs, and that includes Giga, by all means stick to it. Golf is 75% mental and 25% physical IMHO. Play whatever gives you the best results. But please do not claim clones are superior to major name brand clubs. No tour player I know of plays clones. The name brand companies spend huge outlays on research. They are not fools and their customers are not fools either. For example one of my iron sets is Cobra UFI. Talk about technology, the iron face is a alloy of 7 different metals encased in a steel skeleton, bottom flange has tungsten inserts, top flange is partially graphite, and has vibration dampening insert back of the face. Does Giga have anything even close to such hi-faluting technology? In my own case, I seem to play best with Ping irons such as the i series irons, and Callaway metal woods. So I will stick to that.

I regularly shoot in lower 80's, not bad for a man over 70. In the thousands of rounds of golf I have played since age of 20, I have not ever, not even once been beaten by anyone using clones. In my younger years I have broken 80 more often than I can count. From my observation people who use clones either do not get to play often or just can't afford better clubs or just are too cheap. I average 100+ rounds every year, and have played at public and private courses and have observed literally thousands of golfers. And I have owned myself with many clone brands including Giga brand. I have owned every major brand of golf clubs, since I am a sucker for trying "new and improved". The 460cc titanium drivers truly revolutionized my scores. My Callaway FT driver and Cobra L4V drivers are simply amazing. I do not think the majority of golfers spending their hard earned money on name brand are all fools. That said, there is a place for clones. As I said above, people who play few rounds or have limited finances or do not play tournaments should by all means buy the cheaper clones.

All depends on your handicap. If you have trouble breaking 100, you do not need 14 clubs. Eliminate any club you have trouble with. Most likely you will be better off with a 4W, 7W, 4 Hybrid, 6, 8, PW, SW, putter = 7 clubs. At the other end if you are a near scratch player, you can still break 80 with just 2 or 3 clubs total. For mid-handicappers like me, I use driver (the 460cc heads are easy to hit), 4W, 7W, 4H,5H, 6-PW, SW & putter = 12 clubs. I can shoot low 80's with this set. By the way my good drive will be about 200 yds. Most drives will be about 185. But I rarely miss the short grass. Golf is tough as it is. Why use too few or too many clubs?

My frequent playing partner plays Adams Driver, and the sound is more like a thud than a sweet whack. I play with a Cobra L4V driver, and the whole golf course knows I am on the course hahaha. I love that sound! It makes my shots look better than they are! Is'nt golf about how good you look? Why else players wear dandy clothes and play expensive brands way above their skill level?

Have you ever seen a tour pro, man or woman play Giga Golf clubs? I have not, and I frequent pro tournaments every chance I get. If Giga clubs were great, why are they shunned by best players? Don't give me that excuse "Giga does not subsidize pro golfers" blah blah... There are many pro's on tour who play clubs for which they get no subsidy because they like those clubs. Only people I see using "clones" almost always can not break 80. Yet these same people "love" their clones & off brands. If they love them, why their scores are so mediocre? If price is very important, go with Nickent or Tour Edge brand. Both make excellent clubs at reasonable prices.