Polemix

I almost only buy component clubs, but with premium shafts and grips so that the shafts and grips are as good or better than the equivalent "branded" clubs that I could get off the shelf. For instance, if you take a US$699 set of irons 4i to PW (7 clubs) by {insert brand name}, that includes US$25x7=US$175 True Temper shafts, US$6x7=US$42 Winn grips. Total> US$217. If you want a like-for-like comparison with the component clubs, consider the branded heads are implicitly priced at US$699-217=US$482, i.e. US$69 per head. That`s not even considering the higher priced US$1,200 models from this year, I am talking about your midrange last year`s model... If you take the top of the range clubs, you`re getting the same shaft and grips, usually, and your heads are costing a whopping US$140/head! By comparison, you can get very good club heads from Hireko, Gigagolf or Maltby for roughly US$15 to US$30 per head. There is no way that the branded heads are worth 2 or 3x (let alone 10x!) as much as these, having tried both. What you are paying for is the marketing, branding, the "new product" premium. The "tech" is progressing in minimal increments from year to year, and very few technological breakthroughs are actually patented/patentable, which means the component heads are actually very similar in performance and design to the branded clubs (without breaching any intellectual property laws). If you want to upgrade your shaft, most component companies will do that for... the incremental cost of the shaft. If you ask a major OEM to do the same, they will charge you... 2 or 3 times the cost of the shaft you are asking for (e.g. a Graffaloy Prolaunch Supercharged upgrade for a Ping driver at Golfsmith is going to cost US$114 as of today, whereas the shaft is being sold for US$59 on most component websites - and that's not to criticize Graffaloy, any shaft would have produced similar results). As far as quality of build and fitting is concerned, my personal view is that the quality service you get from the top component manufacturers is much better than any brand offers to off the shelf buyers. In particular loft gapping, weight, loft and lie tolerances are much more carefully checked by component companies than by the major OEMs. On the other hand, the OEMs do have tighter quality controls when it comes to paint, logo, finishing etc, which means the appearance of the clubs, and particularly the club heads, will be more reliable and consistent... which has no bearing on the performance of the club.

I am a mid handicapper, but fairly athletic build and I can drive the ball 270 yards. On occasion I enjoy playing from the tips, it challenges me. But I compensate by playing ready golf, being cautious about taking no more than 2 practice swings, walking quickly between shots and not looking for a ball for more than 30-45 seconds. I have never had any complaints about my pace of play. That being said, if I am playing on a week end and the course is crowded, I will stick to the members tees. The key is that players are conscious of the pace of play and let you play through when they are slowing you down. It is just part of being respectful of your fellow golfers. If that is the case, let people enjoy themselves and do as they please, I say! People who routinely take 6 practice swings, walk slowly between shots, look for their balls for 5 minutes and measure each putt 3 times, only to go on to hit 110... those should be banned altogether! No matter what tees they play from!

The more I work with my custom made chipper (see description in earlier post), the more versatile it gets. I've now added controlled low fades, slices, draws and hooks on 130 yards. It´s perfect for playing low shots under and around trees! By now it's probably the 2nd or 3rd most used club in my bag!

I've experimented recently leaving driver, woods and hybrids out of the bag. The 3 rounds I've played like that over the last 3 months have yielded my best scores on the 2 local courses I`ve played, by 4-5 shots. I think I find it harder to adjust back and forth from shorter steel shafts to longer graphite shafts, and the changes needed in the swing plane are just throwing me off when I use the woods/driver. I´m planning to confirm this over the next month before binning the woods and hybrids for good. My take on this is that by working on a consistent draw with my irons, I have developed a tendency to hit woods and hybrids too far left with hook due to their draw bias. I have a fast swing (110mph) and quick transition, which seems to fit with the player profile for Driving Irons. So, assuming I keep leaving my driver, fairway and hybrid at home, I have a few spare slots to fill. I´ve already added a 27* chipper/wedge (forged 5 iron I´ve had custom bent and cut and weighted to wedge specs) which is really easy to work for low hooks/slices inside 130 yards and I find a useful tool to get out of trouble under trees. I can add a 60* wedge which is more workable than my wide sole SW, bringing my wedge count to 6! (PW-46*, GW-50* matched to irons, 54/8*, 58/16*, 60/4*, 27*), 4I-9I. That still leaves me with a spare slot, for a Driving Iron maybe. If I do end up going for a Driving Iron, do you know how the Dynacraft DI or Maltby Tour HDI clubs compare to the big name brands?

I'm 38, so I hardly qualify for senior tournaments... I will gladly wait for the 2040s for that pleasure. A few weeks back I was playing with a 19 year old college jock who played off a 15 index hitting the ball 300 yards. He made me feel old. Meanwhile, the twosome ahead of us was a father/son pairing, I'm guessing 55 and 75 years old or so. I'm pretty sure the 55 year old felt younger than I did at that point. I remember a great-great-uncle of mine who was in his early 80s and was still competing and winning in national tennis tournaments of his category, even though he would only play doubles since his mid 60s. He was extremely proud of that, but found it frustrating that each year he had to find himself new playing partners his partner of the previous year had, in the best case, not been fit enough to repeat. It was his way of staying young, and it served him to live healthily and happy until he was 101, playing golf well into his 90s. It sounds like you're having fun on the golf course, and if you ever do shoot your age, be proud! Whatever you do, be happy, old man, it's guys like you who are still healthy and happy and playing golf in your golden years who make us want to reach that point. I'm working hard to have a good golf swing and avoid injuries so I will be able to continue to play as long as possible. Thank you for that!

My goal for 2016 is to enjoy the game even more, if possible. I plan to do this by playing golf for fun and not laboring towards a hypothetical single digit handicap (spent 2015 laboring towards 15). I have started shaping shots, hitting deliberate fades and draws, but I can't yet control that. About 1 in 5 of my iron shots comes off beautifully with one of those baby-draws my teacher wants to see. I want to get some beautiful shot shapes in. I want my golf swing to be the most beautiful piece of artistry I can achieve. I want my putting technique to be steady and assured. When I'm on the golf course, I want to attack every shot like I have the skill to pull it off, and not play any conservative golf. Sure, I'll probably hit 105 shots most week-ends, but at least 20 of those will have given me pleasure. And I will play the next shot like it was my first ever.

LBlack your Cobra clones look fantastic. Good job! I hope they play just as well. Never mind the naysayers.

Totally agree. I would take your selection over any off the shelf supermarket brand at the same price any day, and even the cheapest OEM full set bags for 500-600$ would not match up. My point was on a bang for your buck basis obviously not everybody wants to shell out $200 on premium shafts and grips. The TRX range looks more like TM to me? The Pursuit range is sort of retro-style no idea what they are copying do you know? I'm not sure which of the current GG clubs you think are Ping clones?

Out of curiosity does anyone know whether the Pursuit range by Gigagolf is an original design or a clone line? and if clones, do you know which brand they are imitating? Since writing the above comment I have bought a full set of clubs from Gigagolf and sold the Diamond Tour clones. I had all the irons checked for loft, lie and length by a local fitter and he said they were spot on for me. Thumbs up to Gigagolf on that one, the fitter said no entry-level OEM set even comes close to that with 2* errors either way not being uncommon. I am now playing: Driver> Pursuit Tc420 - classic looking club, performs well with Graffaloy Prolaunch Red stiff shaft and Lamkin crossline oversize grip. I've had it built to 45 inches and am getting a few less yards than with previous drivers, but much straighter, possibly due to the shorter and stiffer shaft. Off the tee it yields 250 to 270 yds with my swing, I know the extra 10 yds will cost me dispersion. The sound off the face is very loud, it depends if you like that, I guess that's due to the Carpenter steel face insert. I don't mind, I like the clear feedback it gives me. I have tried a couple of OEM drivers and might well buy one in 2016, if I can find a classic design smaller head, I'm not a fan of the bulky flashy trend and can't fork out $500 for the latest Titleist, by all means would like to stay under $200, until now I haven't found the one. I've had 4 drivers from component houses and this has clearly been the best. 3W> Pursuit ps550 - +0.5" long with the same shaft as the driver, does very well off the tee, even more accurate than the driver, a bit shorter 235 to 250 yds. Mishits are very decent. I'm not very comfortable hitting it from the deck unless the lie is perfect, but that's probably the Indian. For me this club is as good or better than any club from OEMs I have tried, performs incredibly. The only reason why I would look to replace it is to have more differentiation in shot capabilities vs the Driver. 4H> Pursuit ps550 - +0.5" long with a TT Dynamic Golf S300 shaft. Fantastic club, I am amazed that I can hit perfectly straight or slight draws almost 90% of the time with this club, with distances around 210-220 y. My favorite, and not in the list of possible replacement. Anyway I can't see any of the OEMs rushing to offer steel shafted hybrids, and for my part I am more likely to get a steel shafted wood than a graphite shafted hybrid. 3I-9I> TRX v11 - +1" long and +1* upright lie with TT DG S300. These are typical cavity back cast steel Super Game Improvement clubs. 3I and 4I stay at home usually. Very pleasant clubs to hit, huge sweet spot just like the RBZ, but no shot shaping capabilities. Contact can be a bit clunky. For gapping I regret not getting the PW and GW to match, and the full set of clubs would have been easier to re-sell. Generally I feel these clubs have done their "game improvement job" while I was taking my Index down from 23 to 16 over 1 year. As I try to get my index closer to single digits I think I will need to relace these clubs, reluctantly. I am very keen on the Maltby DBMs and am looking for an opportunity to try them out, I look forward to checking out reviews on the forum. 8I-PW> Pursuit c510 - +1" long and +1* upright lie with TT DG S300. I have no problem playing these clubs, and depending on the mood I leave either the TRX 9I or the Pursuit 8I out of the bag, I hit either around 130y, which makes sense because they have similar lofts and lengths. I carry either 2 8I or 2 9I depending on the arrangement, for gapping purposes. The TRX range is much more forgiving, the Pursuits are more of a player's club and give more feedback, and I think I probably control them better. I am quite happy with them, only issue is the paint used inside the cavity is not great. If I get the aforementioned Maltbys I'll probably drop these, although I am quite happy with them. An alternative would be to complete the Pursuit range down to 4I, could be much cheaper. 52 and 60> Pursuit s510 - +1" long and +1* upright lie with TT DG R300. Classic forged blade wedges, perform superbly for my taste. I have reviewed them earlier but after 1 year of usage it is still the love story. I am not comfortable hitting them at full speed yet so I can't seem to get more than 80 and 60 yards respectively out of them. Again, probably the Indian. 56> S2 Black Matte - +1" long and +1* upright lie with TT DG R300. I wanted to have a club with more bounce and swing weight to play from sand traps in particular, I am still not doing very well in that area and might consider another sandwedge. That's the only area where I have really been impressed by an OEM club I have tried, the Cleveland smart sole sand wedge a friend of mine had let me use felt much easier to use and I can't see any quality clone out there. Suggestions welcome, dishing out $129 is not an option. Because the Maltby DBMs have the PW at 46 I might want to switch to a 50, 54 & 58 combo, which is the only reason I would switch clubs. I am not sure what bending these 2* to achieve desired lofts would do to the bounce. Maltby has some interesting wedge offerings I might look at, or suggestions of quality components would be welcome. Thanks!

Driver: Gigagolf Pursuit Tc420 with Graffaloy Prolaunch Red stiff 45 inch shaft - around 260y carry 3W: Gigagolf Pursuit ps550 with Graffaloy Prolaunch Red stiff 43 inch shaft - 230y 4H: Gigagolf Pursuit ps550 with TT Dynamic Gold s300 41 inch shaft - 210y 5i-8i: Gigagolf TRX v11 with TT Dynamic Gold s300 +1 inch shaft 1 degree upright - 145 to 190y 8i-PW: Gigagolf Pursuit forged c510 TT Dynamic Gold s300 +0.5 inch shaft 1 degree upright - 110 to 135y also 9i for 20-40y chips 52, 60: Gigagolf Pursuit forged s510 TT Dynamic Gold s300 +0.5 inch shaft 1 degree upright - 40, 90y 56: Gigagolf S2 Black Matte TT Dynamic Golf s300 +0.5 inch shaft 1 degree upright - 70y Chipper: c510 5 iron bent and cut to wedge specs - Greenside chips and low running shots up to 110y All the above with Lamkin Crossline Oversized grips. Putter: Ping Zing 2 putter with Superstroke Fatso 5.0 Grip (new addition) Ogio cart bag and orange whip swing trainer, and a pair of alignment aids. Might not be flashy but it got my hcp down from 28 to 22 this year, that´s something. Love the Pursuit hybrid and forged irons and wedges, high quality stuff, worth every penny, literally.

OK so replying to myself may seem a little self centered, sorry. I thought I´d let you know I've found a way. I bought a 5 iron from Gigagolf and had it built to the length and lie of a wedge. Club: Gigagolf Pursuit C510 5 iron with a True Temper shaft and a Lamkin Xline grip. Specs: 36.5 inch shaft (i.e. male standard + 1 inch), 65 degree lie (male standard + 4 degrees upright) the specs are similar to what I would have for a PW (36.5 / 65.5) but with a 28 degree loft vs 48 degrees I don´t really need alignment aids I am fine using a classic shape. Works a charm for me, and offers all the versatility I was looking for. I play it on short chips around the Green, or bump and roll from 80-100 yards in, but also low shots under trees or even into the wind if I want a low shot off the tee up to 120-130 yards on a short par 3.

I used to play as a kid before the age of Titanium. Drivers were for pros and low handicappers, I wouldn't have dreamt of playing one. I picked up golf again after 20 years off, a couple of years ago and bought new clubs. The Driver is still the club I can't work out, I play my best rounds when I don't play it, even on a longer course. Even though my 3w only carries 230-240 yards vs 260 with most of the drivers I've tried, it doesn't seem to be worthwhile in terms of scoring. And I can't even blame the bloody sticks, I've bought and dumped 6 different ones and had 2 fitting sessions. My guess is that the very long shaft and the high club face (hence high tee and ball position way forward vs usual) force you to tilt your swing plane quite radically, and it's very tricky to constantly jump from a more upright swing plane to a flatter one, so you end up losing a lot in consistency both on the drive and with your 2nd shots. For beginners I think it's absolute nonsense to play with a driver, it's all for the show and it's a marketing battle the brands are winning against the consumers.

I have bought clubs from Diamond Tour Golf and from Gigagolf in the recent past. I have the DTG Z-force Z30 in standard DTG Steel stiff shafts with Lamkin Crossline grips, fit to measure (+1 inch and +1 degree upright). I have a driver, 2 hybrids, 5i-PW, SW in that series. I don´t like the clubs, they are a bit cheap looking although they are reasonably well built and play just fine. I am selling these clubs after 6 months usage and will be lucky to get 100$ for them. I have mostly used them as a spare set of clubs I left at the next door indoor golf. I have also got a GG TRX Trac II Driver, a Pursuit Driver, 3W, 4H, TRX v11 3i-GW set of irons, Pursuit forged CB 8i-PW, Forged 52 and 60 wedges and a S2 Black Matte 56. I also used a GG Center Cut putter. Positives: The Pursuit Driver, 3W and 4H I would match up against any OEM clubs on any day of the week. I get 10 yards more and straighter shots out of any of these fabulous and beautifully crafted clubs. The TRX irons are very nice UGI irons at a silly low price, they definitely match up against any club in that category on a $/quality basis, sure they`re not as good as the Mizuno JPX or the Ping G30 range. The Pursuit Cavity back forged irons are incredibly priced at around 45$ a club and very decent forged irons, not far off clubs priced in the 1000$ range or 125$ for a single club if you can find it. I fear I would struggle to play the longer irons but the feel off the short irons I have is amazing and I am definitely thinking of getting the 5i-7i. I am getting excellent results and comments with all 3 of my GG wedges, I used to play an old set of rusty Vokeys and have not looked back. The SP9 Center Cut putter is also a pretty decent putter for the price, certainly the Oddissey putters at 180$ a pop aren´t 4.5 times better! The forging job is top notch no doubt about that, the shafts are whatever you choose and pay for (and not whatever is stock on offer). At the moment they still offer the Graffaloy Prolaunch red shaft as a baseline which gives you some comfort as to the quality of the materials these guys look for. Negatives: I love most of these clubs, as you can tell from the review. Negatives are few. If you want to be picky, yes the paint job has some finishing smudges which Callaway might not have, looking very closely at the Woods and hybrids, and the cavity of the irons is painted over in a metallic paint that is a bit cheap looking at first, but fine once it gets dirty. The putter is a bit stocky by design and not as nice looking as you might like, but it stays in the bag because it´s effective. I went to Golfsmith the other day to try out putter who might feel better against my ugly putter. I tried about 40 putters and tested them against mine with my eyes shut and open, 5 balls each from 5 feet on the carpet. The only club that felt better balanced than mine with eyes closed was a Bettinardi beauty priced at a whopping 395$. I don´t mind telling people who ask what clubs I use that I like these clubs better just because they´re half as expensive and almost as good as theirs, and in fact I won´t even ask them to give me any hcp points for gaming my crappy clubs against their "latest technology". But that takes a certain character, I guess. I love my Gigagolf clubs and the only reason I might change them is to expand within these GG ranges to buy the longer iron Pursuit CBs or hybrids. I am also very tempted by the Acer XS CNC milled forged irons which look awesome and the Maltby forged irons by Golfworks. It´s much easier to switch clubs when a set of irons costs 300$ rather than 1000$ at least when you're on a Budget.

Yey, a friend in pain! I've got a callous there on my right index finger and the same one on my left index finger. From what I gather from the other comments, it seems we are gripping too much with the index and thumb fingers, and we should try to include the middle, ring fingers and even the pinky, with the index fingers doing less of the gripping work. That way we can get callouses where they're supposed to be, and hopefully that will make some sort of difference in our golf!