pedarius

Not exactly the same thing, but I was playing JPX 800 Pros until recently. They were fine, and reasonably forgiving for quasi-players clubs, but they were kind of an odd 'tweener set for me in that they didn't feel as smooth as the MP line but were noticeably less forgiving than the MX-200s I had previously. I wouldn't normally do this but ran across a deal on a slightly used set of JPX 825s in my spec and made an impulse buy, and, while they don't have the solid, muted forged feel that Mizuno is famous for, they feel and sound pretty good for GI irons. But the real difference is that they are simply automatic to hit. First round I played with them, when I'd feel myself catching it a bit fat or off the heel or just letting my tempo get uneven, I'd look up expecting to be way offline and/or short only to find the ball sitting on the front fringe. Such a huge confidence boost it's incredible.

Twelve or thirteen generally. My fourteenth club is a 5W, which I hit a bit over 230 but not terribly reliably. It's better for me to avoid temptation by leaving it out, though 230 is not a very common shot to begin with, so it's not much of a loss. The driver sometimes stays home to get me down to 12 if I want to work on my 3W and longer irons while saving a little weight when I walk.

1. Good contact on a drive that is hooking (or, before I "fixed" my slice, slicing) a bit then somehow hits the great left (or right) turn sign in the sky and goes into its magical second gear of sidespin that carries it a full 85 yards into the woods/water/third fairway over 2. Clubbing down to a 3W after repeat problems with #1 because only a fool could miss the 3W only to demonstrate with a chunk, top, etc., that I am that very fool 3. 20-foot putt left 6 feet short 4. 6-foot putt sent 3 feet long 5. 3-foot putt THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BREAK! HOW COULD IT NOT BREAK?! IT BROKE WHEN IT BURNED THE EDGE LESS THAN A MINUTE AGO! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!? 3, 4 and 5 were the delightfully recurring theme of my round on Saturday. Obviously means that I need a new putter. Certainly nothing more than that.

Leaving aside some of the shots that others have named that at my low skill level would be nothing short of heroic and thus only occur sporadically (and without any control by me--pure luck), my favorite shots that I actually can produce with some regularity: 1. 3H from 220 out or, somewhat less reliably, 5W from 235ish that lands on and holds the green (easily my favorite shot and probably the only thing I manage to do with some consistency that gets me compliments from playing partners--this is also the shot that is most likely to get me on the board in a scramble when teamed with good players) 2. Scrambling with a difficult up and down from a questionable lie (I have to do this far, far too often, but very few things are more satisfying for a dodgy ball-striker than pulling it out of the fire several times in a round) 3. High smash drive that goes right where it's aimed (okay, here I'm shading into rare territory for me--so very many ways to hook the ball, apparently) 4. Any pured iron (love that sound and feeling; too bad it comes and goes for me at random) 5. 30-foot putt that holes out or lags to within a foot

Seemore DB-4, replaced a Mizuno Bettinardi C-03 that is overdue to go on ebay. The Seemore is the nicest-looking anser-style putter I've ever seen, and it feels superb. Backup is my grandfather's Ping a-blade, which still puts a nice roll on the ball--though it does so in my office most of the time.

I usually have one 300+ drive per round, occasionally two, seldom three and never more than that. Most reasonably good drives for me are between 260-290, but there are plenty of disastrous hooks where I get too quick on it to pull my true average well below that (though I've no idea what it is). At the other end of the spectrum, shots I hit from, say, 70-150 yards out that land pretty much where I'm aiming (or where I THINK I'm aiming) are a mirror image: one or maybe two per round. Curiously, nobody seems to start a weekly 20-page thread about that, but I know which stat of the two I'd rather improve. My dad is 78 and can only hit his drives 200 yards or so, but he always beats me by at least five strokes.

I think part of the problem with these discussions (other than the fact that people seem to get inexplicably emotional about this subject) is that true average drive isn't a terribly useful statistic for high handicap amateurs like me. For example, on Saturday I drove the ball pretty well for me and was playing a fairly open course. On the fifth hole, a 405 yd, pretty flat par 4, I had a 332 yard drive according to my playing partner's GPS (a once-a-season occurrence at most for me, and something I certainly could not do again on command). Unfortunately, it was my second shot, after the first tee shot snap-hooked into the woods OOB on the left. Granted, I'm using an artificially small sample here--but the true average of the two is 161, I suppose, but that's not the yardage I or anyone else would use in planning how to play a hole with their driver. For a pro golfer, where the standard deviation of drives is presumably much lower because of the repeatable swing, it's a lot more useful. For someone like me, who happens to be rather large physically (6'6", 235) and reasonably athletic, and so can put the ball out there reasonable distance unless there's a disaster (which happens all too often at my handicap) it's fairly meaningless, as the disasters pull the mathematical average far below the distance-I-plan-to-hit-it-based-on-range-practice-and-my-recollection-of-non-blow-up drives "average," which is what everyone has in mind when they're standing on the tee box trying to decide where to aim and what club to pull.

140, with a 9 iron, in my fifth round of golf, for eagle on a par 4, the first hole of my Dad's home course. Since most of my shots at that stage were essentially random (nice to know some things don't change all that much), I looked all around the back of the green for the ball, thinking it had rolled off, when my brother went to pull the pin and found it sitting in the cup. Yeah, sure--I meant to do that. Didn't have my first birdie until four rounds after my first eagle.

3W is a directionally unreliable 250-60, but I love playing that shot despite the odds being against me at my skill level. If I make it on, it feels like found money; if I miss--well, I'm just a hack trying a 3W from the deck, so it's to be expected. My 20* hybrid is a much more reliable 230ish but not nearly as much fun.

Iomic midsize is outstanding. Although not as large as a Winn midsize, it's plenty big enough for those with larger hands, and the sharp square sides really lock the user's wrists. Great, secure feel with lots of tack even on a light, relaxed grip. They can be had on ebay for a reasonable price.

Wedges--definitely yes. As for the woods, generally (there are exceptions where the design incorporates a bendable hosel to allow for a couple of degrees' worth of adjustment) the lies cannot be adjusted, but it doesn't matter so much so long as your woods have a radius (i.e., round) sole. As long as the stock lie/setup basically suits your swing, a degree or too off of your optimal lie won't matter as much as with irons, where a couple of degrees can have surprisingly severe effects (I say this after just having gone through a re-fitting and having all of my irons bent 3° more upright from their prior lies--a persistent right push completely disappeared instantly).

Adams sponsors Big Break. Many of the eliminated contestants (Gipper, for example) were wearing Adams hats, too, and they all used Adams staff bags. Also, I think I recall from coverage of the PEI Big Break that they were offered their pick of Adams clubs, too, if they chose to use them. Lots of people in that show were playing the 2009 Speedline (just like Mike was gaming the 9032LS in this season).

www.travisheadcovers.com These are knit headcovers like Jan Craig, but Havala (the owner/maker) can do some nice custom options on embroidery. My dad has had JCs for years, and they're very nice, but Travis are at least equal in quality, 20% cheaper and they come more quickly (2-3 weeks instead of 4-6).

Mizuno makes a nice winter glove--Thermagrip--that is a reasonable compromise between warmth and thinness/feel. It's not as comfortable as a normal setup, but it's definitely better than frozen hands or, heaven forbid, not playing. Also, if you use a pushcart when walking cart mittens are a good option. Just wear your normal glove (or none, if you don't use one) and keep your hands in the mittens until you get ready to hit.

I've noticed very little scuffing/shredding from my CG14s in comparison to some of the wedges that guys I frequently play with use (esp. Vega and Scratch) wedges. At the same time, CG14s are not as spinny as those--a good middle of the road option for those wanting decent feel, some additional forgiveness and a nice heavy head but not the highest spin (or wear on the ball), I think.

Same here--I have the 42 degree Niblick and really wanted to like it, but have never been able to control the release adequately enough to get confident with it as a greenside club. Wedges are more accurate for me. It is, however, a great approach/recovery club in deep rough or muck--I generally only carry mine nowadays if I'm playing a links-style course, particularly on a rainy or very wet day.

At Golf Galaxy: One 1" shaft extension and new Lamkin Crossline Cord grip for the new 3W (off ebay) that I'm trying for a better off-the-deck option than its predecessor (with, ahem, questionable success so far--I am embarrassingly susceptible to the fallacy of believing I can buy my way out of a swing fault). Guy also gave me a bunch of lead tape to play with on my driver. In fact, they were quick and nice enough that I went ahead and purchased a new Sun Mountain cart bag for my dad as a Christmas present instead of buying online. Customer service still pays!

Frank Lloyd Wright sends his greetings to the world of golf: http://www.fourteengolf.com/product/detail.shtml?P=25

+1 for the Srixon AD333. An outstanding ball for distance off the tee and feel/spin/stopping power around the greens at its price.

For us high-cappers, I think this is good advice. I am still working on the 3W off the deck; it is high risk (banana ball), high reward (240-250 if caught well) for me. Nine times out of ten, I'd much rather use a 19* hybrid (Adams A4) for a pretty consistent 220 off the deck and wedge the rest of the way (followed by a three-putt )

Under Armour coldgear gloves are a little hard to find and expensive at retail ($30) but are remarkably thin for a winter glove. I have also used Mizuno Thermagrips, which were good for grip (especially in wet weather) though they're a little thicker. For 45 degrees and rainy, a pair of rain gloves might also do the trick by keeping your hands dry and keeping the wind off of them but without adding too much bulk. FJ weathersof are decent; personally, I like Mizuno Rainfits better for that purpose.

Not that I can blame all of the problems with my golf game on my height (6'6"), but every teaching pro I've ever talked to has said it's a handicap in every way except in generating distance (though technique is better than mass, strength and length in that regard--ask Anthony Kim, for example). Sure, a tall golfer's arms are longer to offset some of the height and properly fitted clubs will be longer than normal, so there's no problem reaching the ground, but as a matter of physics it's a much longer torque arm (arm length + club length) to have to stabilize to strike the ball cleanly. Same principle applies to clubs alone; easier to control the shorter-length wedges and short irons than a 45" driver, and most makers have now added on even more length to try to squeeze out more distance, to the detriment of most golfers.

As a horrible hack beginning golfer, I have no trouble skulling my lob wedge and sending it 100 yards along the dirt--if it doesn't go into the bunker or pond I was trying to carry first. I don't think some of the long distances in this thread are necessarily the product of "lying" as several have said, as much as the natural human tendency to pick pure shots rather than mistakes for setting ranges. At 6'6"/230 with reasonable athleticism, I can easily hit my lengthened 6i 180-200 (including a little rollout) despite being a terribly inconsistent ball striker, but I could (and sadly often do) also hit it fat or top it and have it go 120, or I can hook it if I short-arm the swing because I'm nervous/tight about something and pull across my body on the follow-through. But if I'm on the course and need a shot for a particular distance, I have to work from the assumption that I'm trying to hit it well and should use the club that goes that distance on a good swing with good contact. Doesn't necessarily mean that anyone is claiming they hit every swing with a 6i 200 yds.

If it's primarily an off-the-tee option you're looking for, I highly recommend the Callaway X Hot from 2007 (same vintage as the Sonartec GS Tour mentioned by others--also a great 3W), which can be had new for around $100 nowadays. Stock shaft is 44" instead of the standard 43" for a 3W, and it has a biggish head, so it may take a little getting used to (I'm 6'6", so didn't bother me particularly), but it's a monster once you get comfortable with it. I'm having driver problems (again) lately, and where my G10 driver regularly yearns to send the ball screaming 200 yds into the woods on the right (with a loud mocking thwack into the trees just to add insult to the injury of a hopelessly lost ball ), the X Hot is 240-270 right down the fairway on a relatively easy swing. The driver is pretty much dead weight in my bag with a #2 option that's so much more solid.