blkdiamond

I am very suspect of the headcover you are thinking of purchasing (the first one). It looks like nothing more than an OTR headcover that someone stitched a circle t on. The one that is yours (the second one) looks legit.

I have the Titleist x86 as well and it is a great bag, very light and comfortable. Sun Mountain makes Titleist bags so you can't go wrong with them either.

Here is my current setup.

Last winter in Colorado I played a few times per month. There was a streatch of about 6 weeks where there was too much snow on the ground to play. As long as it over 45° outside and there isn't snow on the fairways and greens I will play.

A full 52° wedge will get me 100 yards from the fairway, if I am in the rough I will use a 3/4 PW.

Thanks for posting your experience. I live in Colorado Springs as was thinking about volunteering for the US Senior Open at the Broadmoor this year but missed the opportunity to sign up. I am planning on volunteering for the US Women's Open which comes here in 2011.

By far, the short game is the most important in my opinion. Really from 80 yards in most shots are wasted. Spend time on the range with your wedges, practicing full shots, 3/4 and half shots, get your distances down so when you are on the course and you have 60 yards to the hole you know what club you need to use and how much of a swing to put on it. Finally work on putting. There is always room for improvement here. I spend twice the amount of time on the practice green than I do on the driving range and my putts per round have gone from 40 per 18 holes to now I am averaging between 24-26 per 18, that's a savings of almost a stroke per hole.

Right now I have a picture I took of my 009 for my desktop.

Check out thecameroncollector.com for more information on collecting Camerons. There are some collectors who have incredibly rare Camerons that they choose not to game for obvious reasons, but many collectors, including myself, game most everything they have.

GOLF RELATED: -Putters - I have quite a few SC, Ping, TPM -Golf Balls - From courses I have played and tournaments I have attended -Putter Headcovers (for my putter collection of course) -Golf Bags - My wife can't seem to understand this one. She equates my golf bags to her purses , oh well. OTHER: -Antique Cameras -Cigars -Books

Ummm...check my sig.

Does anyone even think that Nike actually made any of Tiger's clubs? I imagine they are probably Miura forgings (or something similar) with a Nike stamp. His putter is a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 GSS with a Ping "Black-out" grip. He has had it in his bag for almost 10 years I beleive.

I really didn't want to read through all 10 pages of this thread so this may already have been mentioned. Isn't a lot of golf mental? If I feel more confident hitting a new 460 cc driver vs. a older 320 cc driver, or even better a persimmon head driver, won't I hit it at lease "better" than the older drivers. Another example, if I stand over a 30' putt with a Scotty Cameron vs. a $10 stick I bought at Walmart, won't I strike that putt with more confidence with the Scotty Cameron? From my personal experience I have found that my confidence level has increased with better equipment. Another issue I have with your thread is your audience (this forum). This is a golf enthusiast forum, most members here are not your typical weekend duffer, most are hard-core golf enthusiasts who live and breathe golf. We are club-ho's, we watch the golf-channel more than any other channel, we think that a new driver, or new irons are going to get us another 10 yards, or a few feet closer to the pin. Now the 10 more yards may only put us at a 240 yard drive, but if that new $100 shaft will get us there than so be it. Just my $.02.

I prefer a blade putter, but my SC Futura Phantom has been my bag on a number of occasions.

Over the past few months I have been working on my putting stroke in which I now "deloft" the putter by moving my hands in front of the ball. I have found that not only does it get the ball rolling faster, but my putting stoke seems smoother.

When I purchased this club less than 6 months ago I hit the R7 460 and the Superquad and I actually liked the look and feel of the r7 425 better than the other two. Never mind that it was cheaper and many pros are still playing this club. The r7 425 is a very solid driver that will most likely be around for quite a while.

Sparky, your original post: Using your logic I did a little reasearch. Using GigaGolf, which I have ordered from in the past with good results, I put together a set of clubs: Driver (r7 Quad Clone) - $106 3-Wood (r7 Steel Clone) - $49 Hybrid (Rescue Dual Clone) - $39 Irons (PW - 3 Iron) - $159.20 Wedges - $58.50 for 3 Putter (Anser Style) - $28.50 TOTAL - $440.20 Now here are my clubs, which I either bought as used or demo clubs, all were in at least 9 out of 10 condition: Driver (r7 425) - $150 3-Wood (r7 Steel) - $60 Hybrid (Rescue Dual) - $100 Irons (PW-2 iron) - $150 (I don't use the 2 or 3 iron) Wedges (Vokey) - $75 each x3 = $225 Putter (Scotty) - $210 TOTAL - $895 Now not everyone is going to play a Scotty Cameron Putter so let's say they picked up a $60 used Ping Anser, that still gives a total of $745, which is $304.80 more expensive then getting the clone clubs. So using your logic I should have been able to purchase my name-brand used clubs for cheaper than clones, unfortunately this isn't the case (at least for me).

Driver: $150 3-Wood: $60 Hybrid: $100 Irons: $150 + $125 for refinish Wedges: $250 Putter: $250 Bag: Free (gift) Cart: $120 TOTAL: $1,205

Using a push/pull cart IS NOT CHEATING! Cheating is shaving strokes or giving yourself a better lie, but using a pull/push cart is not cheating. Do you feel that everyone who rides a golf cart is cheating? Do you feel that professionals who use a caddy are cheating? Now you can say that in your opinion it gives your competitors a slight advantage over you if they use a cart and you carry, but you can't say they are cheating because they aren't I am going to say it again, don't be so judgmental of how others choose to play the game or the equipment they choose to use, I promise that you will live a much happier life.

I have heard multiple times that less than 10% of "golfers" actually break 100 on a regular basis. I don't know if this is true, but it really wouldn't surprise me.

That is an incredibly sad statement. So is the opposite true as well, if you see someone with brand new, name-brand equipment you immediately think they must be a scratch-golfer and they would be a lot of fun to play with? Honestly I have found the opposite to be true some of the time. I beg of you, please don't judge people based upon their clubs or if they decide to use a push/pull cart, or if they want to use iron head-covers. If you must "judge" someone, base it on their character, not their equipment. You may find that people will surprise you.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but who are you that someone would care if you respect them or not? I think the real issue is golf elitists who feel that what someone has in their golf bag defines them as a golfer, that is very sad.

Who cares if someone is playing with clone clubs, name-brand clubs, Walmart clubs, garage-sale clubs, 30 year old clubs, brand new clubs, it doesn't matter, period. If you judge someone based upon their clubs vs. how they play the game that is very, very sad. I would much rather play with a 17 year old kid, with crappy 17 year old "cloned" clubs on a push-cart, who is an honest player and constantly pushes themselves in getting better than a 30 year old with brand-new, name-brand clubs they are carrying who cheats, doesn't push themselves and constantly complains about everyone else on the golf course (slow-play, bad-shots of others, etc.). I play the game of golf and the clubs that I use are merely tools, regardless of what name is stamped on them. Now I would rather use name-brand clubs as I prefer them, I have tried clones (Giga-Golf, Calaway Clones from local shop, etc.). Regarding the use of a pull/push cart, I am 29 and I recently bought one and I love it. I have no problem with anyone using one as I feel that it is better than riding on a golf cart, which I don't have a problem with either. At least with a push/pull cart you are still walking. Lugging 25-30 pounds of equipment over 5+ miles really does wear on me. I am not a professional golfer (even though they don't carry their clubs either) so when I do play I would like to enjoy the round. Golf is difficult enough as it is, in my opinion, why not make it easier and use a cart. Just my $.02.

I believe that PING is still an American golf company. With the exception of the clubs that they can't produce here due to environmental regulations I believe that all their products are made in the United States.

Right now I am gaming my SC Studio Style Newport II which I guess has a milled insert. This provides a good amount of feedback, less than than a solid face and much, much more than a true urethane insert (which I am not a fan of).