dwade247

Ok, like I said I haven't looked into it much. And I look at/purchase component clubs for different reasons than you. You seem to look for something special that you like. I am average in just about everything golf so I look at component clubs because they are cheaper and I know they are going to be just as good for me. When I buy clubs cost is a very important factor and I don't have any need for a club that holds up well with a 140mph swing, nor do I even look for such clubs. Looks like we have just looked for different things in different clubs. I think a player should play whatever clubs he likes best.

Component clubs (ex:maltby) and small companies (ex: reid lockhart) seem legit and cool. I just purchased a set of new reid lockhart blades for 260 on ebay, can't wait to get them! Clone clubs (ex: most diamond tour clubs) are rip-offs and even if they are well made I would not purchase them because they are practically stealing from the major OEMs. And I have not looked into it much, but I do not think component clubs are really that great of an idea for anything except irons and maybe wedges. All other clubs can be bought from major OEMs for nearly the same price. (ex: taylormade RBZ drivers are $100 and so are most component drivers). Those are my thoughts. All that being said...it is very easy and fun to find used clubs in great shape that are about the same price as component clubs if you are willing to get clubs a few model years old.

I thought so too. The other two models have the specs, but not these and I'm pretty sure these are their oldest model of the three. I emailed them. I think I may call them though because I am getting impatient lol.

Does anyone know the specs of the RL Blades by Reid Lockhart? I just purchased a set of these but I don't know their specs, such as loft, lie, length, etc. Would really appreciate it if someone could share this info with me. http://reidlockhartgolf.com/

You are right. Like I said at the end, it was a rant. I think I may have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and didn't finish my coffee before posting that. I would agree that you hit your stock shot more than I made it seem in the original post.

I personally believe fitting is overrated. Especially for the high handicap golfer. First of all, why would a high handicapper want a clubs that fits his swing when he probably has serious issues with his swing? Second, how much difference can 1* degree of lie angle really make when you are on the course, especially if you don't have a dialed in swing? I mean really it's 1*! That 1* can be added and subtracted based on a million different variables on the course such as, what shoes you are wearing, hard ground or soft ground, ball above/below your feet, the angle of your posture has changed by 1*, or you are gripping the club with 1/2" of variation between shots, some little change in your swing path, etc. Third, isn't golf a sport? Which would mean you would have to adapt to various situations. How many times on the golf course do you actually want to hit a club with the exact same swing you put on it when getting fit in the store? Aren't you usually trying to push a club a little farther, ease a little shorter, nock it down below the wind, launch high to help it stop, etc? So who cares which club gives you an extra couple degrees of launch angle or 5 yards of distance. Lastly, are those spin revs or extra 5 yards with your irons the reason your score is so high? I doubt it. Most of us have a club to hit the ball whatever distance we want, unfortunately we don't always hit it as good as we want. And our error is what causes the shot to be off. So that is my rant. I think it is important to have consistency within your set and have clubs that are close to your static fit and at a length you can control the head, but other than that most of the other stuff should be a concern of only the best golfers. Most of this is concerned with iron fittings btw.

ok I will take a look and see what they ahve

Looks like the 910F is the shallow face version. Got that figured out

Thanks for the suggestion. However I purchased some irons off of ebay and I did not enjoy the experience at all. That being said the irons were fine and in pretty good condition. I was just super nervous about them in the days leading up to their arrival. Plus the grips were in much worse condition than I thought so I would have had to dumb money into those. So I have eliminated ebay, or really any online option. I want to hold the club before I buy it. It may be silly but that is what I need to feel comfortable with my purchase. Thanks for the suggestion though.

oh and I would like to keep this purchase under $50 bucks

yeah I thought about reshafting that v-stee. But it is also gone now too. There is another old taylormade at golfgalaxy. Not sure what it is but I saw it yesterday. It's $7. Might go find out what it is and see what you guys know about it. I have been thinking about waiting around for a 910 because the pga store has a lefty one for 40 bucks. If I can find a righty for that price I will definitely buy it. Do they have two versions of the 910 like that have had in the past? If so, which is the shallow face one? And unfortunately I was also too slow to act on an R7 I found and it's gone too. Obviously I am in a golf hot spot (3 stores within a mile of each other) and unfortunately most people around here have much more money to drop on a whim for an old school club so they disappear fast.

Thanks for the input so far! I am been looking at some of those in the past, such as the v-steel and 909F2 and 906f4. I saw a 909F2 a while back and thought about purchasing it but after I waited to look it up online it was gone the next time I went back. I also saw a v-steel spam but it was regular flex. I would have bought it if it was stiff (only 14 bucks). I have never heard about the srixon or 980F but both look like they have a shallower face like I want. Not going to lie, I kind of like the idea of a titleist 3 wood but definitely open to others. I don't really know why, I just want to and I stink at this game so it won't be a big deal if it's not the perfect club for me. Golfsmith has a lot of 906s but they are priced outrageously (like 80 bucks). Does anyone know if golfsmith will haggle these prices, perhaps based on the pga value guide?

Can you guys suggest some of the best 3 woods you have used or heard of that can be had for cheap but are still relevant. I have been putting together a new bag this year. I have all used clubs except for my driver. I am looking for a solid 3 wood that I can "steal". I live within 2 miles of a pga tour superstore, golfsmith, and golf galaxy with many more shops in a 10-20 mile radius. I love going in to look for used clubs deals. Just hoping you guys can give me some ideas on what to look for based on your past experience with timeless clubs. (Maybe some of the clubs you wish you would have never gotten rid of) I'm looking for something with a graphite shaft and shallow face that is fairly easy to hit off the deck. Hybrid suggestions are also very welcome here.

I would go for the most forgiving iron you like the look of. For me I find those to be irons with a small head that have a bit of cavity back. Some examples would include the AP2s, MP-54, JPX 825 pro, mp-59 and s55. The jpx ez forged are probably the most forgiving forged clubs but they are also bigger and not your classic chrome color. I personally don't like the I25s because of their large sole, which you can see from address. I don't really see any reason why anyone would need a club that is more blade like than these. A very large amount of pro's play clubs in these categories.

When I was comparing the tour ping shaft and the non-tour for my G20 the pro at golf galaxy said the tour version was a bit stiffer in the tip. I would assume they did the same thing with the g25 woods and hybrids. Here are some videos about shaft flex and how much difference it actually makes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MLDfgiJuFI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDaKUHxk0I8

Sounds like you and I think quite a bit a like. And I would say you are set for life. Everyone from you and me all the way up to tour pros use G series woods and AP1 irons.

I'm pretty new to the "real" golf club world. But I have been obsessed with it since fall and from what I have read (and I have read everything) I would say you got yourself a great set of sticks that should last you a lifetime. Congrats! And although fitting is made out to be the most important thing about buy clubs I personally think it is overrated for high handicappers. I personally just like to use the standard measurements based on height and wrist to floor. If the clubs are designed for those measurements then I am thinking my developing and changing swing should probably learn to use them like that. Therefore I use standard in everything since I am 5'8" and my wrist to floor is 34" and this is standard length and lie for just about every manufacturer. And as far as shaft flex goes it probably won't make much of a difference for a high handicapper. Karsten, the genius of PING, used to think everyone should play stiff. The pro at Golf Galaxy told me that shaft flex has nothing to do with distance and that the stiffer the flex the tighter the dispersion. However he said that if the flex is too stiff it could lead to more balls slicing more. But still have a tighter dispersion. And believe it or not I saw this on the launch monitor when I compared the stiff shaft to the regular on my g20 driver. I went with stiff cause I feel I can learn to square up the face on anything eventually. When pros talk about what club or shaft fits them best they are looking for small degrees of launch angle distance or small rpm differences in spin. As for my experience as a high handicapper I don't see those things making much of a difference since I will get 8 different results on 8 different swings. So I think high handicappers should get fairly forgiving clubs in a shaft flex that is somewhere close to their swing speed, but error on the side of slightly too stiff. And unless you swing like a grandpa your stiff flex should work well for you and your club selection is spot on if you ask me. Sorry I got a little long winded there and I am sure I will be torn apart if other people take the time to read that. And I could be way wrong since my experience is limited, but I have been completely obsessed by golf equipment. And I like to think that I am pretty good critical thinker. So take it for what it's worth to you. Here is the PING length and lie chart: http://www.ping.com/uploadedfiles/custom_fitting/ping_color_code_chart.pdf And here is the PING online fitting system: http://ping.com/fitting/nflightweb.aspx And at the bottom of the page here you will find PING's recommendations for shaft flex based on swing speed: http://ping.com/clubs/driversdetail.aspx?id=15149

I have not gotten fitted for two reasons. 1) I am a broke college student and this whole new irons thing is probably just dreaming. At least until next year when maybe I can gather some gift cards. So I am basically just looking for suggestions of clubs to watch out for. 2) Since I obviously hit better or worse on different days with different clubs I don't want to get fit for the "right club of the day" if you know what I mean. I agree that the game is hard enough as it is and therefore we should make it as easy as we can and that is the reason I am even considering the large head SGI irons. However my point in this thread has been that I do not hit the g25s any better than my mp-30s. And I feel it is mostly due to the bulky head. Therefore I was looking for something that looked like my mp-30s and gave me the feeling of being in control but were forgiving when I missed by a bit.

Well looks like I am just going to have to develop a better swing. Darn! I was hoping to reach a different solution with the forum! But seriously maybe I will try to find a set of ping G2s for cheap and compare them to my mp-30s on the course. Idk it's worth a shot I guess.

So these are as forgiving on off center strikes as Ping G series or JPX EZ or AP! or Xhots?

I feel the same way. I always here about pros and low handicappers using big head irons. That also makes me feel silly (like a poser) when I only like to use my MP-30s.

JP Golf: This is exactly what I am talking about. I also have spent some time lining up the ball on the toe, usually the toe end of the grooves. (Trying to change it myself too) Obviously the sweet spot is bigger on a oversized GI/SGI iron. Like you said I just care about the distance the sweet spot is from the toe and heal. I don't need the biggest sweet spot. I just want the most amount of the club face to produce descent results, as in a pretty straight shot with fairly consistent distance. Saturday: Thanks for the suggestion and trust me I have tried to get myself to fall for the G25s, especially since ping was nice and tried to shave the sole down a bit. But so far I have not been able to get over it. Same thing with the I series, too much sole behind the club face is visible at address. I know I would get over it and it would probably make me feel more confident if I learned to hit them well, but so far I hit them worse so that isn't looking any better to me. For what it's worth, I have done a lot of research on the mizuno jpx ez forged. People on other forums (sorry tst) are saying the ez forged are comparable to the g25s in forgiveness as far as hitting the ball all over the face. Obviously some people like the help of the large face and sole and offset of the g25 which the ez forged don't offer. But obviously I do not! So far for me the jpx ez forged are probably at the top of my list right now.

So the AP2 is a GI iron? That's cool but I am not really concerned about whether a club is labeled GI/SGI/player. I want a blade sized club that has the goal of launching the ball straight and long, not with the goal of increasing workability for shaping shots. I think the jpx ez forged is the closest to what I'm thinking. However I do not really care if the club head is forged or cast. http://www.mizunousa.com/golf/products/mizuno-jpx-ez-forged-irons#.UxXgMk2YaM8 And for cutting through turf in the fairway I may not phrased my words appropriately. I feel like the large soles encourage me and probably some other high handicappers to try and sweep the ball off the fairway. And I don't see why my ideal club is against the laws of physics. Let's say 30% of an SGI clubs hitting area is the sweet spot. Why can't they make 30% of a blade sized club the sweet spot? I know the overall size of the sweet spot is smaller but they would both be the same in relationship to the club head. A bit thicker topline doesn't bother me, I just don't want to see the sole behind the club face at address.

Will do! I'll tell everyone about them!

Here is a poorly depicted example of what I want. I want the smaller club head size because I feel I can control them better. I want smaller soles because i think they cut through the grass better in both the fairway and rough. And I want more forgiveness because I just want to hit the ball straight and long. So does anyone know of any clubs that look like the middle picture here? Or at least think this would be a nice club?