cfmgolf

My son has played the S-59's since they came out approx. 6 years ago. He just loves them. He likes a more "traditional" look - (I know kind of an oxy moron with Ping), as he did not like any of the offerings from Callaway, etc when we purchased these. They definitely are more of a players club vs. the game improvement clubs on the market today. I see in your signature that you had the CG golds. I had these, and liked them a lot. The Pings will definitely feel different than the CG Golds. If you tried the CG reds when they came out, these will be closer to the Pings. If you got a good deal, and like the look of the Pings I think you should be happy with them.

Everyone, I am toying with changing my driver length. Due to an eye condition, the longer clubs have become rather difficult to hit. Depth perception is kind of tough. Current Cobra L5V is standard length which i think is 45". I may be off be 1/2" but it is not that important to my question. I am looking for golfers that have had an experience with much shorter drivers. Somewhere in the 42" or even shorter. I understand that this would give me much better control, and slightly less distance which is OK. My bigger question is how the club "felt" with this short a shaft, and how the swing weight might have changed and what if anything you did to correct this. For now i have moved almost down to the shaft on the grip, which seems to have taken approx. 3" off the total length. This has worked OK for now, but just feels "funny" not to be at the end of the club. This is the easy and quick solution, but just looking for anyone that has made the move to a much shorter driver. Thanks to everyone for helping me with this.

You should see a significant change to the better in off center hits (forgiveness) and probably some additional distance. If you can try the Burner Plus I would recommend it. The Burner has a longer shaft which cause a little dispersion problem. If you typicallly hit it straight this should not be a problem. For the money, the TM's from the last couple of years are pretty good deals. Good Luck.

Ping has a wonderful fitting system. Please make sure that he fitted correctly and this decision will come out loud and clear in the fitting. Please don't spend that much money without this.

There are some stainless steels that are magnetic. I'm not sure which SS the Cally "woods" are made from, but this is not the only test. Maybe someone else that has the same models, can test theirs also and confirm your thoughts.

Last trip to the golf shop, I got caught up in a 3H purchase. Went for the $99 Tour Burner hybrid at Golf Galaxy. I was looking for a hybrid for a 210yd shot. I have a 4H original TM rescue, that was a stretch to get it to 200yds, so i thought the 3H would be the perfect fit. The problem I am having is that the 3H has a much lower ball flight than anticipated and actually goes to far. I know, complaining about more distance, but this has created an issue for me. Has anyone else experienced this? I am thinking it has to due with the improvements in technology since I purchased the old TM rescue, but again if anyone has any other thoughts i would appreciate hearing them. Maybe I should have replaced the 4H with just a newer version....

I agree with the first recommendation - try both if you can. I think i have the differences correct, but you can tell from looking at the irons also. The R7 Draw, will have quite an offset to them, and they are weighted to help a golfer that has a slice - tries to get the club head back to square at impact due to the weighting of the head. The XD is a different animal. TM wanted to have a max distance iron, so they used a titanium face insert, and made the lofts on each of the irons approx. 1 club strong. What this means, is that a 7I from the XD set, is much closer in loft to the 6I in the R7 set. This is not an issue for most golfers, but you should know this if you get to try them both and you hit the same XD's further. I really like my XD's - but it did take me a while to get used to the different lofts when compared to my old set. Good luck, and with a 30 HDCP i don't think you can go wrong with either set. both are good quality irons.

I would recommend posting your average driver distance and your average 7 iron distance. From these, quite a few posters should be able to give you some basic advice. shft flex is extremely dependent on a number of factors so if you are really serious, i would recommend finding a good local golf shop and ask them the same question after looking at your swing.

Just my two cents worth - I have the Cally 7wood you are describing and i added a Ping 16* H about 2 years ago (both graphite). The 7W flies higher and longer than the 2H. If it's windy or a very tight course, i will put the 2H in the bag, on a longer course that is more wide open i will put the 7W in the bag. Hope this helps. Good Luck.

I have had the XD's for a full season now, and will try to give my objective opinion. I think that most of these thoughts are accurate. Taylormade came out with the XD's (extra distance) and made them for one basic reason - high, straight, and long ball flights. The use a titanium face insert, which allows even greater perimeter weighting making them a very good game improvement club. This titanium is also a very hot clubface, which has a tendency to launch the ball higher than steel. TM then used very strong lofts on each of the irons. You can see this by comparing the lofts of each irons to other manufacturers. The 7 iron is much closer to a 6 iron in loft - this gives the golfer the thought that they are hitting their irons 1 club longer than they used to. I think that they only made these for 1 season - a titanium face insert is a very expensive component, and when the economy tanked, i think that TM moved to a steel face to try and lower the retail. Full retail on the graphite shafts in the XD's was around $1200, and for 2009 the burner retial was on the $800 range. It did take quite a while to get used to the stronger lofts, but now that i have gotten used to them, I am very happy with them. A few years ago I was playing a set of Mizuno M60's, which were great when i was swinging well, but now that i have changed to a true game improvement I have gotten quite a bit more consistent. I would recommend these clubs for most players - good luck and let me know if you have any other questions on them.

Everyone, I have an original Cobra F speed that I really love and hit very well. This is the one with the Aldila firm shaft from I think 2006. The noise took a little to get used to, but the results speak for themselves. The next year Cobra changed the head design slightly, and moved away from the Aldila shaft to a YS. Then Cobra came out with the LV4, LV5, and now the ZL. (I have tried the stock S9 and it did not work for me at all - bad dispersions, and lost a good amount of distance compared to the older F speed). My question is for longer term Cobra fans - has anyone converted from the older F speed model to any of the newer LV or ZL series? My driver swing is between 98 and 102 typically, ball speed after working on the golf galaxy monitors averaged 150MPH. What have you found after playing with the old and the new? The good, the bad, and the ugly as they say. The sound of the composite heads does not bother me at all. Being able to work the ball is also not nearly as important as being able to hit it consistently straight (so the max MOI is important for me). Thanks to all for taking the time to help me with this - being left handed is has been extremely difficult to find a shop with any of these to try first hand in the Cincy OH area.

I have played in a few that are similar to the first reponse - but have also played in a few that the tee gifts are really nice. One of them a few years ago had (Odyssey putter, FJ shoes, umbrella, and some other stuff). One last year had a dozen balls, real nice travel bag, shirt, and a hat. Good Luck.

There is a nationwide tourney that i saw earlier this year www.onemanscramble.com I did not get a chance to play in it, but my local club is going to do it themselves this weekend. You get 2 "mulligans" per hole but can only use 1 per shot. Par 3 - 2 tee shots and 2 putts for example. I send an update after it's over. Kind of an interesting format...

Just wondering if anyone has played in one of these one man scramble formats that are popping up? Just wondering what type of strategy you started with and what worked, what didn't, etc. Let me know how you made out! Thanks for posting.

You need to check which model year you have. The first year they put this out it was extremely loud. "OBNOXIOUS BUT EFFECTIVE" is what how I like to describe it to my playing partners. The 2nd year it was out (first year was the Aldila shaft, 2nd year was a different shaft, but I can't remember which manufacturer) they did quiet it down significantly due to the noise factor. All that being said - I was on a launch monitor earlier this year and this club/shaft combo fit me perfectly. Every # was perfect and the results show it. I have tried many different drivers over the past 2 years, and can't find a better fit for my swing.

Moved to a set of reelfits about a month ago. Had some friends turn me on to them and for the price you can find them - they are a steal. Wonderful fit, just walked 18 earlier today and no issues at all. They also have a pretty "cool" look and you get some great comments. Well worth the $60 - $90 you can find them for.

I played last years CG golds and really enjoyed them. I won a rather large pro shop credit late last year and went for the TM graphites as you will see in my signature. I tried both the reds and the golds and thought that the golds were just slightly more forgiving on mishits. The golds should have slightly more offset to them as well which typically helps the higher handicap player. Cleveland irons don't carry the big name status of some other brands, but they IMO they made a terrific set of irons. Good Luck.

I couldn't agree more with pleader - most local teaching pros have beginner clinics that you can sign up for. Low cost and you will get a tremendous amount out of them. Once you get the basics down, this will help you with newer (used) clubs also. Good luck and welcome to a great game!

We had a demo day here in Southern OH - nice way for a lefty to see what is really happening. Balls being used where decent range balls also. The 09 burner for me was quite a bit better than the R9. Both 9.5* stiff. R9 with a standard setup. Tried moving weights and angles around, and still came back that the 09 burner was an around better fit for me. Good Luck

I have been using the iGolf Neo (now Bushnell) for just about a year now, and have been very satisfied. It holds 10 courses on the unit, which for the most part is plenty to have at one time unless you are taking a very extended trip. It is very easy to move courses on and off the unit if you carry a laptop, so even that is not a big deal. Downloads take no time at all ( a few seconds per course). Quite a few of my friends have other units ( garmin, skycaddy,etc) and this unit is typically within a yard or two of theirs. Not sure which one is absolutely correct, but if you can really hit 142 vs. 144... I don't have any experience with the SC version, but i would highly recommend the Neo. Look at ebay also, you might find it less than $150 including shipping. Good Luck

One of the biggest selling points of the PRO V1 is their feel around the greens on putts and chips. If you are using balls for your practice sessions that are not of the same "type" you will definitely see a difference. Specifically on the little chips that might roll out for you with a lower quality ball, but might grab when using the PRO V. When you get on the course, you just might not have the confidence to know how the ball is going to react. For short shots around the green, older PRO V's or even your game balls will hold up fine. Good Luck.

Both are good sets of irons. You would not be disappointed in either set. If the 30 handicap is correct, my recommendation are the R7's and spend the balance on lessons. This will do much more for your game, than spending more up front right now. Hope this helps. Good Luck!

SE Wisconsin - great shop up in Sheboygan. Town & Country golf course. It has been a while since i have been there, but they were always professional and very helpful. Good Luck.

It sounds like something happened in your swing vs. the club difference and now you are losing confidence in your game. I had this happen quite a few years ago and it was extremely frustrating. Without knowing anything about your game - my recomendation would be to take your PW or 9I and just work on 1/2 or 3/4 swings focusing on the simple things. good luck.

Puma makes a very light shoe, and if you can find a Puma outlet store, you can find a great deal. Kind of funky looking designs, but extremely light. Only issue is the ones i have are not waterproof. If i am walking early morning, i use the heavier etonics as i know i will stay dry. good luck.