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I know this won't help you narrow it down but I tested both of those and in the end I went with the Ping Redwood Anser. All good putters, in the end, when I was testing them the Ping put more balls in the hole.

If you want to find out how they feel, you could have a few putts with a right handed putter. I would think you'd be able to get enough of a gauge on whether it jumps off, is spongy, etc. You should also have a couple of putts with the type of ball you usually put into play. Even if that means taking an old ball along to the shop. Having said that, I think it's hard to advise people on how something feels, everyone swings differently and what I like others wouldn't. My friend loves the Odyssey XG face, he thinks it's firm, I think it's too soft. So my advice is try a right handed version and see if that helps narrow it down at least.

Sorry for taking so long - it was the Par 5 6th hole at Albert Park, a popular course right in the middle of Melbourne (For F1 car racing fans, the race track for the Melbourne Grand Prix goes right past the course) - I hit Driver, then a #2 hybrid into the hole from about 220 yards. Didn't even see it go in. I didn't have my glasses on and it was too far away. My playing partner said "I think that went in", I thought "no chance, must have rolled through the green" but got to the hole and there it was smiling up at me. Fortunately I put it straight back into the bag and it's at home now.

I've had a couple of rounds with the Z-Star-X. I found they went an absolute mile off my driver, further than any ball I normally hit (Pro V1x and the RX330). I hit one drive into a howling headwind and it went ridiculously long (30 meters / 33 yards further than I've ever been on that hole). I also found however, that it was almost a club shorter with my all of my irons. Odd? Who knows, but that's what I found. It was really good to putt though, felt really nice off the face of my putter, and pretty good around the green. My mate had his best round with one so he's pretty keen to get them when they're released. He's pretty fickle though, he's got half boxes of all different brands - Pro-v1s, Pro-V1xs, iTours, Tour56s - and he loved them all at one stage or another. I probably won't change though, I prefer consistent iron distance to extra driver distance. But you never know...

Currently play 52/08, 56/08, 60/04 but had these before I changed to the Tour Burners. The TB PW is 46˚ so I'm thinking about going to a 50/08, 54/08 and 60/04 combo to create even gap distances. I also figure it'll be easier and more consistent to hit a three quarter 50˚ than a full 52˚, likewise with the 54˚ as opposed to the 56˚. I'll keep my 60˚ because that's what I do most of my chipping and all of my pitching with. My current Vokeys have quite low bounce angles because the sand in the bunkers I play is usually more compacted and the ground is quite hard because of the drought. The 56 and 60 are Spin Milled but the 52 is the 200 series and always seems to spin much, much more than the spin milled ones.

Nice one. I saw my first hole-in-one on the weekend. A mate of mine hit a beautiful fade shot that hunted the flag down, it landed a foot left of the hole, hopped forward and then spun back in. It was his first Hole-in-one in nearly 40 years of playing, cost me and my other mate a big steak dinner. That's the ongoing bet, score a hole in one and your partners take you on a big night out. Funny enough, score an albatross (Double Eagle) like I did and you get nothing. I've never had a hole-in-one, but then again I've "only" been playing for 20 years. Plenty of time left.

I've got the Tour Burners and I really like them. Forgiving, workable when you want to, look nice and feel really good. Personal preference for me though would be to stay away from ebay, I think Golfsmith have them reduced by $200 anyway and should be down around your price range. You might then be able to take their price to another dealer and negotiate an even better price somewhere else. Enjoy.

I sit in my office, I sit in traffic, I sit on the couch at home. When I'm golfing I like to walk. I find it gives me time to think about the shot I'm going to play. I find I don't appreciate the beautiful surroundings when I'm zipping around in a cart. Golf becomes just like everything else in life, rushed. Golf for me is about the fresh air, the conversation and four hours of purely selfish me-time, the walk gives me time to think..

Mine is mostly there as a gap filler. But with a three quarter swing it's a 3 iron replacement as well. Best of both worlds.

2008 was all in all a pretty good year. I joined a new club. Started with a Handicap of 18.0 and ended the year on 11.3. There were some solid rounds but still had the odd blowout. This lead to a great deal of frustration, the one thing I've ever wanted is consistency. Worked hard on my course management, started to hit the club that was required off the tee - if it was smarter to hit 4 iron I hit 4 iron. I stopped fiddling around with new clubs and started to get the most of the clubs I had, deep down I started to realize it usually wasn't the club's fault. I decided at Christmas time that I'd focus on my short game in 2009 (I realized anybody can bash the ball a long way but being able to get up and down was something that really earns the respect and recognition of other players - that's what really good golfers can do), so I had a lesson and now I regularly get up and down from bunkers, chips and pitches. Probably averaging 75%. My confidence is sky high in that area which has allowed me to be more confident going at the pins, if I miss I figure I'll get up and down most of the time anyway. As a result I hit 8 GIR in a row two weeks ago when I shot a 77 off the stick, first time I'd broken 80 on the course I'm playing. My goal now is to get to single figures and hopefully end the year around the 5 or 6 mark. I might have to hurry though, expecting the arrival of my second child in July and who knows if I'll get out much after that.

I agree with hypergolf, in terms of distance a 19˚ hybrid will play as far as a 17 or 18˚ iron would. The longer shaft is also graphite which I find makes the ball go further than a steel shafted iron. So whilst the differences between the lofts won't be uniform 3.5˚ and 2˚, I think you'll find the gaps between the distances will be uniform. I probably made that more complicated than it is, suffice to say I don't believe you can directly compare the lofts of hybrids and irons merely by the number on the bottom of the club. I've always found a 21˚ hybrid will hit the ball further than a 21˚ iron.

New Spin Milled Vokeys, want to change from my old 52/8, 56,/8 60/4 setup to the new version with a 50/8, 54/8, 60/4 combo.

One for Star Trek fans. http://www.golfsmith.com/products/RC...erprise_Putter

52, 56, 60. I use the 60/4 from firm bunker lies and when I'm short-sided, I also use it for all my pitching and some chipping. I use the 56/8 for all other bunker shots. Used to play with 54 and 60 but found I hit a three quarter 52 better than a full 54 so it better fills the gap between SW and PW. It meant I had to lose the 3 iron but I also found a smooth 75% hybrid is easier to hit than full 3 iron anyway. It also comes down to the courses you play, I play two and on one of them it's very rare you need to hit a 3 iron, everything's shorter or much longer, so the 4 wedges give me more options. I think that's why they're referred to as the scoring clubs. Hit it close, knock it in.

The Callaway HX Tour 56 is a really good ball. They were the Tour, top-of-the-range Callaway ball before they launched the iTour balls. I use to switch between that and a Pro V1. I found they were pretty similar (Perhaps a little too similar according to U.S patent law apparently), I found the HX spins a little less around the green and cuts up a little more with full wedge shots. There didn't seem to be much difference in the distance, again maybe the Pro V was a little more consistent. The HX has a really nice, soft feel which feels really good off the clubface. Still a good ball and a real bargain at that price.

I recently switched from Pro V1x to Bridgestone B330 - RX which were about $A20 cheaper here in Melb. The NXT Tour is a really good ball as well. Don't forget the cheapest ball is the one you find and if you like to hit Pro-Vs you're better off wandering up the left side of the fairway. I've found that Pro Vs are usually played by better players and from my experience better players tend to lose the ball to the left off the tee. That's where you'll find them.

PW, 52/8, 56/8 and 60/4. I'd recommend getting a 60˚ even if it's just to practice with, my confidence with all my wedges improved dramatically after hitting a lot of shots with the 60˚. When you hit a lot of shots with a 60˚ you'll be amazed how easy a 56˚ looks to hit when you're standing over a clutch shot.

TM Tour Burner 9.5 Reg Shaft. I chose this because I love the shape of the traditional looking TM drivers. I had an R5 but just couldn't get any consistency, I do now. TM V-Steel 15˚ Stiff M.A.S.2. I actually bought this one because it was on sale, still the best club I've ever owned, Looks perfect at address. TM Rescue TP 19˚ Reg shaft. I chose this one because my old hybrid was a 16˚ and was basically doing exactly the same as my V-Steel. It was on sale as a superseded model. Bargain. Of my clubs this is the one I'm not 100% convinced about. TM Tour Burner irons 4-PW Reg Steel shafts. Was looking for forgiveness and workability, chose these as opposed to the Call X-20s because I don't like the look of the Call hosel and the TM's were much nicer at address. Great clubs. Vokey 200 series 52˚with 8˚ bounce chrome. Vokey Spin Milled 56˚ with 8˚ bounce chrome. Vokey Spin Milled 60˚ with 4˚ bounce chrome. Chose Vokey for my wedges because they're the best. Ping Redwood Anser - chose this one because I like the anser-style shape but I was finding my Odyssey White Hot #1 a bit spongy, I also wanted a putter I could keep for 10 years +, so it came down to this or a Scotty. This one won because when I was trying them out on the practice green the Ping put more balls in the hole. Great putter and in my opinion nicer to look at than the Scotty.

I wish I could have a beer on the way around but I find it's hard enough to get all the bits of my swing together without having beer enter the equation. Afterwards is another story.

I purchased a set of these back in May of 08, I've found them to be really good. My handicap back then was around 15 which is about right for a GI iron like this. Handicap is now 10.3 so for me they've been really good and even though I'm sneaking up on single figures I have no plans to replace them. They are pretty workable as well so you can get them to do just about everything you'll need them to do. Pretty good sweet spot and very forgiving. I think TM are releasing a new normal Burner iron in March or April which may also be worth considering, if nothing else the Tour Burner may come down a little in price as well. Hope this helps.