Release

A shorter club will never get to the target.

If this is a surface spot, then it's the oxidation of the chrome plating, just clean it up. Search for methods of cleanin the oxidation on chrome plated surface. On the outside of chance, Condensation will collect moisture inside the shaft and cause rust spot to show up under the chrome plating. Next time when you change grips, shine a spotlight into the shaft from the opening on the butt end to see if there is rust or discoloration. If there is dark coloring, wipe it and see if in fact the dark coloring was caused by surface rust. In wet or humid weather, I always break the grip tape which is customary to close the end of the shaft to prevent the solvent from getting into the shaft which applying the grip. Even with the used set of golf clubs with iron shafts, always check and break the sealed end with a tee inserted into the vent hole. This will help the moisture and/or condensation to escape from inside the shaft. I use air to install/remove grips now so no need to seal up the end ot the shaft to prevent solvent from leaking into the shaft. If the inside of the shaft is not rusted badly and the thin film of discoloring could be cleaned up, no worry just play the set. But if there is evidence of accumulated rust, then I would change the shaft sooner then later for you don't want to get hurt or injury someone else in case the shaft snapped during play. If, the inside of the shaft is clean, then I would contact the manufacturer for replacement. It could be a defect cause by improper care during the manufacturing steps. Or it could be improper storage of the new shafts which will cause the rust to start. It rarely happens but I had seen it. In other cases it could be the the chrome plating was not done properly. Were these the original OEM shafts and what kind is it ?

Don't forget the sky rocketing shipping cost in recent days. Almost like someone is trying to curb the internet sales.

It's the GAP of distance you're looking for, then no one could help you but yourself. Since you're the only one who'll know which cub to fill between the 200 yd.-240 yd. It may be two clubs for 215, 225/230, oe just one for the general between the 200-240 if you don't need precision yardage. I feel the hybrids will have better control and give you more consistent yardage than the fairway woods could. Being closer to the irons..... However, not many could take away or add a 5 yards for distance over 170 no matter what type of golf club in their hands. Only the few who could play 170-200 like the average golfer's 120-150 control . Keep it in mind of what type of shots you'll need to use the extra club for ? Mostly from the tee ? From the fairway or combination of fairway and more challenging lie ? In the 70's and the 80's I bag the driver, 3 wood, putter and 1-SW . But the loft on the irons were quite a bit weaker than today's "longer" irons.

Putter, it's a unique stick in the bag. IMHO, the fitting goes beyond just the length , loft and lie angles, and the type and size of grip. I believe the visual line has to match the actual line of intended putt. Lot of time, when golfer thought he had the line of the putt.... actually the visual is off by as much as several inches . No matter which putting style and path, when the putter face returned to the supposed square position of how you line up the putt, will determine the starting direction of the putt. Hence the 2 ball putter was ans still is very popular. Not because it's a putter different than the others in performance but the visual line up was helping the golfer to stay on track on the intended line of putt. So is the other visual aid to help line up the putter head to the putting line. Find a putter style that suits your eyes, and able to help you keep the line of intended putt. No matter whether you like it or not, that will be the best flat stick for you. This visual eye-line relationship could be trained. If someone had been using the heel shafted putter since day one and stroke thousands and thousands of putt over the same set up.... the brain will be trained to accept the visual connection and adjust. So in theory, if you love a custom made putter that costs mega bucks, spend hundreds of hours practice with it and you will grow into the set up. I see a lot of golfers bought very expensive putter but seldom practice with it....

Tommy Armour 845 with tommy armour steel shaft showed 0.370 hosel, but the data did not go back to 1980-1981. If these are blade type head then there is a possibility it's 0.355 hoseel. I never assume the tip size unless pulled one and confirm with measurement. Since there are lots of hobbyist bore out the 0.355 taper tip to the parallel . Being the original Tommy Armour shafts, it's very likely a parallel tip of 0.370. If in fact the hosel is 0.370, there are many choices for replacement shaft at much lower cost than the taper tip. There are some $5-$7 per new shaft out there, just follow the instruction for tip trim and cut from the butt to desired length. Not a brain surgeon task and require a few tools ( which you might have them already on your work bench if you are a handyman ). If you want to keep and play this set, I would get a new set of stiff flex shafts so you won't ruin your rounds of golf on vacation. Green fees ( a round or two ) could pay for the cost of replacement shafts. Keep the original shafts and store in a cool dry place, For resale to keep the set available in original setup.

Yes I have many sets of golf clubs and including the GI and SGI irons. No golf clubs will make a 25 handicap index holder become a 15 over night. The golf game is not some game that one can use token to buy a better game. You'll ge3t out what you put into it. Most of the time. Like any other sports, there is the factor of the limitation form one's physical makeup. That's the second factor involving those whom wish to become the top 1% in the world. Some of us will never get there, no matter how hard we practice and no matter which golf club we use ( conforming ). A 25 index holder will play like a 25 if the posted scores were not fudged. No golf club can change his index to a 15 over night.

The light weight graphite shaft would not stand the abuse from mishit as well as the heavier counterparts. From your picture, you had been contacting toward the heel and high over the top line. Being lightweight the wall of the shaft will be thinner. The nano coating on the finishing will not hold the layers of graphite together as the extra layer of graphite would. For the golfers with higher swing speed should always look for a heavier shaft over 60-65 gm in weight. Going XS flex will get closer because the XS flex usually made for a higher swing speed. Another solution is look into the higher end of the light weight driver shaft, they are made with better material and quality control than the stock shafts ( even with the same logo on the shaft ). There is a reason why the after market shaft cost 3-4 times more than the stock shaft. And I don't understand why they fitted you into that sub 60 gm stiff flex shaft. You should look into either XS flex ( 60-65 gm ) or 65-70 gm in stiff flex.

I had read about the changing the lie angle by pounding the iron head on the pavement, but had never seen this happen in person. Most the golfers I had been associated with,would respect the equipment they use. Also because the dollar value is much higher back then. A college grad starting salary was around $15,000, and a newly certified CPA starting at $23,000 per year. So a $600 set of irons comparatively speaking is like over $2,000 for today's money. We eyeball the lofts on the persimmon drivers if the measuring is not readily available. The majority of the drivers came in between 9-11 degrees of loft. Most of the irons were forged if not all of them except for Ping and a few off brands, although major OEM like Titleist did make a few models of cast iron sets . Loft and lie adjustment for the iron sets were free if you bought the clubs from the location, the guy would just take the clubs to the back of the shop and came out within 30 min., all done. No spec sheets or nothing, just take them out to the attached driving range and hit a bucket of range balls then make additional adjustment if needed. Although, usually they won't fuzz about making additional adjustment within a reasonable time period. Golfer's ability always trump the equipment...... not like today, the golfers are more into numbers off the spreadsheet and forgot that they are not as consistent as a robot. Equipment is like jewelry, it enhance the natural beauty of a person, but could never mask the truth.

Late 70's to early 80's. if talking about a premium set of irons 3-PW typically, will MSRP from $600-$800. I bought most of my new iron set from this local brick and mortar discount store averaging about $500 per set plus tax. Ben Hogan Apex was at a discounted price of $699, around $80-$85 per club. Later on the Nationwide mega store like Edwin Watts came on the scene, of course much later the ecommerce took over. Nt much choice for customizing the iron sets either. Came either regular or stiff in steel shafts and in the 80's came the graphite shafts. Into the 90's there were a few sets of irons came from the OEM +1"....... if any golfer wants lie angle adjusted or different size of grips, be the aftermarket add on. Ping was the first one that offers different lie angle and grip size from the ordered sets.

OEM graphite shaft typically will be 1/2" -1" longer than the steel counterpart. So the length will be already at least 1/2" longer than the average mans set with steel shaft. Your main concern should be the flex and the weight of the shaft, being 6'3" and young, you should try a stronger flex and heavier weight shaft. I would pull the original shaft and save them for later, reshaft the set of irons with steel shafts. It's a relatively simple job for even a home hobbyist. If not , get your hands on another set of used golf clubs, prefer came with steel shafts and 3/4"-1" longer from the OEM. Not saying after market job could not do better, but the OEM will take the extra length into consideration and properly reduced the head weight ( lighter badge in the cavity to reduce weight ) making the swing weight correct for the standard D0-D2 for men. Used set of irons will not set you back too much, that should satisfied your current need until later.

Any golfer can get fitted for their golf clubs, it's a matter of how much you'll be getting out of the fitting session. For a relatively new golfer to the game, the benefit might not be as obvious as someone have been playing the game for awhile. How can you fit a golfer when the golfer's game is still evolving and changing ? So, you might get some benefit out of the equipment fitting if you don't expect the fitting to change your game drastically. I caution using the word drastically, because going from a 12 handicap index to an 8 is a drastic change in relative short time. Going from a 23 index to a 15 in one season is drastic. Going from an 8 index to a 2 will also be drastic in a short timing. Most the golfers will never drop below a double digit index if they're only the weekend warriors . Imagine giving a relatively new driver a world class sports car..... how much can the driver do with it ? But.... if one has the dough to blow, why not pretend he is the F1 driver.

Pick a club and practice the yardage you want to fill in. Mine was the PW, Some like 8 iron........ One does not change tennis racket between hitting to the center court or to the baseline. Does not change throwing motion from first base or the outfield to the home plate, does not change the throwing from fault line to the 3 point range ..... Make your favorite golf club more versatile.

Your issue is the larger gap between the PW and the GW. One way is to practice different yardage with your PW like golfers used to do before the specialty wedges came out in the late 70 early 80's. Another seemingly easier solution is to hunt for a wedge that you could fill in the 110 yd. distance. Pretty certain with your distance you could forsake one of the long iron or mid irons to add one more wedge for the 110 yd. Keep in mind, even the iron Byron could not dial in exactly the same yardage each time, the human body definitely could not fulfill the supposed perfect yardage each time we swing the golf club. But we have a brain which is not matched by the A.I. at this present time. Throughout the ages, all great golfers started with just one golf club and learned to play different yardage with that one golf club........ which may seem to be too much work for the modern day golfers, so...... Go on a hunt for a 110 yd. wedge for your bag and stop messing around with your current set up, which by the way is very nice.

you are certainly entitled to your own opinion.

I believe it depends on what type of position you're holding and the staffing situation. If you're not in a tightly staffed office and your work can be cover by the other for a few days a year.... I know a guy getting messages from his HR office that he has too many hours accumulated in the "sick leave" and vacation time. The HR actually recommended him to take some of these hours off work. So he started making his medical and dental appointment on either Monday or Friday and taking the whole day off work. This way he gets a long weekend every month. Not bad life. Catch up with a few thing , play a round of golf, do some shopping to avoid the weekend crowd. But if someone is in a position which will influence the performance of the whole office should he take days off, then, it might not be a good idea to take "sick leave" weather the policy require a doctor's note or not. Adult is supposed to make a reasonable decision and live with the consequences. There will always be someone looking to "get ahead" or "cut in line", whether you want ot be in their camp, is totally up to you. Just as long as you could live with the consequences and especially, yourself. I believe, no matter what you do, it'll eventually catch up. Good deeds or sneaky ones.

Hold on to your hat ! They forecast it'll get worse progressively in the next decade ( they stopped at longer predictions since no one is sure about the continuation of the past weather pattern ). so the waves of tropical storm is not quite over< we started to have snow in the higher elevation. In September...............More rainfalls forecast for this Fall/Winter. Is there a better place to move to ? Even the "it never rains in Southern California" is not true anymore. A couple of families I know had just retired to Florida and Arizona.... I'll wait for them to give me some feed backs in a few years.

Your local hardware store or if you have a sod farm close by, they will have the better mix of grass seeds for your area. Common question they'll ask are the location of the property , the type of climate you will have over your property, sunny, Shade, or sun/shade mix........ Your local source will also have information on which type of disease are in your area. It'll pay to talk to an expert in you local area whom will save you lots of time and money. This year, for whatever the reason, many of my neighbors lawn are looking pretty sad. Growing up, I thought the grass never dies, they always come back from bad weather, however, in the past several seasons something is going on there. Even the neighbors whom thatched and overseed their lawn every Spring are having the brown patches in their lawn. The ones redone their yard by removing the turf and put down top soil and new grass several years ago also having issue. Pretty sure you'll have a local supplier for sod and seed ( sod farm ) in the suburb, get some advice from them.

Careful, working with the golf clubs can be as addictive as playing the game. In fact, not too too long ago, playing the game and working on the equipment are two peas in a pod. Have fun. The only advice I can give you is, start with some older equipment to practice if you had never done it in the past, just in case you mess it up ( hard to do but it could happen ). And open your mind to all possibilities and to think for yourself. It's a piece of cake than repairing other tools you might have in the household.

If you can get the long cure shaft epoxy ( 24 hr. ) be the better choice, any reputable source will be fine. Most of these epoxy all came from the same source in bulk volume then the store will package them into smaller retail samples. Many of us had used off the shelve two parts epoxy for golf. What you're looking for are the shear strength and the breakdown temperature. There is a minimum shear strength you want in the golf epoxy and of course lower break down temperature ( 120-130 F).. You can basically use any type of two part long cure epoxy from 3M or the other major OEM for adhesive. If, you don't care to change the shaft in the future. The low temperature break down point is to allow easier access for removing the shaft for repair or replacement. Steel shaft is okay to use some stronger epoxy with higher break down temperature point. Graphite shaft is a must to use lower temperature break down point for the simple reason that you do not want to toast the layers of graphite sheets that made the shaft from high temperature if you wish to re-use the shaft. If the ferrule is tight from the supplier ( it happens since high quality control is not essential to manufacturing the plastic ferrule ) use a rat tail file, passing through the Inner sides of the ferrule to get it fit. A larger ID of ferule is often not usable, cause can't make it smaller to fit ( can tape the shaft to make it fit but not often done ). Larger OD of the ferrule can also be fixed . If you have a belt sander with linen belt, you can turn the ferrule to fit the smaller hosel, or hand sand and polish off the difference ( time consuming ). Again, after you had done it a few times, it's not difficult if you like to work with your hands and have the average of life experience. It's not like cut and dry, don't need to have the exact parts and many different way could make it work. Of course, the exact replacement OEM parts will make life a little easier. No brainer to just put the parts together and epoxy them.

Well, let's measure the diameter over the hosel length. they're all .370. Don't tell me that they've changed the taper tip to more than 5/8" these days ? Something new to me.

Long time ago I had a chance to golf in other parts of the world and many of them not only have a fine dinning room, typically there were snack shacks midway through 9 holes. So everyone stop for a snack 4-5 holes in the rounds. Usually a short stop of 5-10 minutes and the grab and go scene was quite eye-opening for me in the beginning. They had some really yummy snacks, sandwiches, cup of soups, bowel of noodles, freshly squeezed fruit juice.... lots of choices. Not like here with the usual hot dogs, hamburger.,sandwiches......

When I have my better days, maybe close to half of the full swings felt good and the golf ball went where it supposed to with the expected trajectory. I had played with golfers whom did this day in and day out at much better rate. I don't know if they feel their game were up to their own standard but sure looked fine for me. During the off days , maybe 10%-15% or so did what was expected. Busy stopping the bleeding throughout the 18, sometimes can still salvage a decent game for a weekend golfer.

Just these two or the whole set is looking like so ? On second thought, if these two had problem then, probably should redo the whole set. If you have done this before, the ferrules can be saved, it might take extra effort but can be done. Otherwise use a caliper to measure the dimension of the OD of the top of the ferrule and order the length you want in a collared ferrule. It matters not whether it's a .355 or the ,370 advertised ferrule. The tapered section of a .355 shaft is but about 5/8" down the very end of the tip of the shaft , all shafts measure at .370 just above the ferrule. Since the OEM used the collared ferrule ( which means they coned the hosel at the top to accept epoxy to prevent the ferrule slipping) , obviously in this case is the failure of the epoxy cause the slippage, or by storing the golf club in the trunk of the car in the hot Summer days, the shafting epoxy will soften at temperature over 100 degree F and starting to break down at about 120 degree F. If the set of clubs had been sitting in temperature over 100 degrees F for hours and taken out to be played immediately then this could happen. This is why most of the golf club builders use a slow cure epoxy which will resist heat break down a little better than the 5 minute tour ( fast ) cure epoxy. If you want to spend some time to save the ferrule. wrap the plastic ferrule with leather or paper towel dowsed with the cool gel to prevent direct heat from pulling the shaft ( I just wet the material with water and keep it wet). Heat up the hosel and full the steel shaft. Careful not to touch the warmed up plastic ferrule to deform it. Clean up the old epoxy on the ferrule shaft and inside the tip and of course the hosel inspect and dry fit before you mix the new batch of epoxy. not a rocket science, it takes some practice.

Well stated, if I may add that you can always "grip down " if the extra 1" in length is tough to adjust to in the beginning.. Cutting the shaft shorter will be difficult to reverse the process ( you can add extension ). and it will make the shaft feel a bit stiffer than before the shortening. The light flex in man's will play similar to lady's flex, the R flex shaft will be slightly heavier and thus play a little stiffer. At 45.5" ( 1" over the lady's 44.5" ) the R flex should feel about the same flex with the lady's at shorter length, If you cut the R flex shorter than it'll feel a bit stiffer. Many had suggested to give it a test drive. It is recommended to do so if you have a chance. Launch monitor is fine but driving range is better. Launch monitor on a driving range is the best. Next to be able to demo the driver on the golf course. Some golf shop will let golfers demo the golf club with a deposit. Good luck to you, and remember the extra 1" in length might take a little time to get used to. But if you're athletic, don't be afraid of trying the 45.5" length. It will give you extra distance over the shorter length if you can handle it..