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I use my 54* and 58* depending upon the shot. Most chips are a shot where I want to let it roll out a little and for that the 54* works best for me. I often get too much spin on the 58* and end up leaving it short. The 58* is used when I need to get it up and then stop it quick. I use it more for short pitches and to get out of the sand though, and probably use the 54* for about 80% of my chipping duty.

I have the same issues. I played a lot as a youth, but always just for fun and never seriously. Developed a pretty bad swing at the time and still fighting it to this day. I'm steep in my back swing, over the top on my down swing. Causes a nasty slice on my driver, too big a divot with the irons that sometimes leads to catching the toe, laying the face open and shooting it about 80 yards out at a 45* angle for where I wanted to go. Tought stuff. Just started playing again last year after 15 years of playing maybe 3 or 4 times a year at most, and many years less then that. I have my moments and my good shots but consistency is the issue. This year I have yet to have a good day on the course, though I've had some solid days on the range (and some terrible ones). I do love this game though, frustrations and all, so I'm getting out about 4 or 5 days a week either playing or practicing in hopes of seeing some consistency in the somewhat near future. My goal for this year is to get into the mid-90's on a regular basis and by next year be in the upper 80's playing bogey golf or just a hair better.

I play what I like the feel of but I like some consistency in groups. I couldn't have three different wedges for example...they all need to be the same for me. I also like my fairway woods and/or hybrids to be the same brand for some reason....and obviously a matched set of irons. Beyond that not a big deal to me either way and I just try to pick clubs that fit my needs best. I think Titliest does the best short game stuff with Vokey and Cameron and I love Mizuno irons. My woods/hybrids are ok but these are not clubs I'm really tied to but they are doing their job well enough for now.

Nice! I really want to redo my whole back with midsize New Decades but don't want to pay for it since most of my grips are still pretty new. Great feeling grips though. Also...love the Seiko Orange Monster!

haha....I have a Ping Karsten headcover I've been thinking of using instead as well for just that reason :)

I just got my first Scotty a few weeks ago. It's a NP 2.5 and I love it. I really like SC putters and while it's an excessive purchase for someone of my skill level, putting is the only part of my game that I'm actually somewhat decent at so I figured I might as well have a nice putter :) I have to admit though...I don't get the headcover thing. People collect all sorts of these headcovers and spend a lot of money on them. I just want a black AM&E; cover so I can get rid of the silver and red dot cover my putter came with as it's just too flashy for me. Maybe even a nice black Scotty cover would work, but not at the prices that they go for. Still, the putters are awesome though and for an avid player I could even see spending more on some of the more rare SC style putters if that is your thing. There is nothing like having a putter that you are perfectly comfortable with and enjoy using as it makes both play and practice a more enjoyable experience.

Easy to get them off. Used a tee to pry an edge up, pulled them off then cleaned off the adhesive left behind with a little acetone. There is no evidence of them anymore and they look so much better without them IMO. Here is a crappy iPhone pic showing them side by side:

You can play whatever you want...the question is can you play them well :) I'm about the same handicap as you right now with goals of getting a lot better in the next couple years and I play a forged club. I have Ping G5's but couldn't get used to the offset and recently switched to the Mizuno MX-200's. I love these clubs. Almost as forgiving as the G5's but with less offset and a more traditional appearance...plus a great feel. I took the blue stickers off and now they are a nice, clean looking forged club with lots of forgiveness. The MX-300 are nice but more of a players club with a smaller head. I looked at them and decided the MX-200 would be a better choice for my game and I'm glad I went with them. I tried the Cobra S2 forged at a recent demo day and I have to say, i did not find them easy to hit. I think these are definitely more of a players club and they were just too much club my for me.

Lately it has been my 4 iron surprisingly enough. Been having trouble finding my swing this year but over the last few rounds just about every time I have pulled the 4 iron out of the bag the ball has flown a straight 190-200 yards pretty much exactly where I wanted it to go. After that it's a tie between my putter and my 58* wedge...both have been treating me pretty well lately.

A forged Ping iron...now that is interesting. Will definitely check that out when they become available. Enjoy your G15's, great clubs for sure.

stupid question but to what point at the bottom of the club is the shaft length measured? I had an 1" taken off of my '07 Burner last year and liked the change...I can't remember where it started and I would like to measure to see where it is at now but I'm not sure exactly where to measure to.

I have trouble setting up for a shot with an offset club. I spent all of last year trying to get accustomed to the huge offsets on my G5 irons and this year I finally decided I couldn't do it ( I could still slice the heck out of them on some shots though so the offset didn't even help with that in my experience). Made the change to something with much less offset and it has been so much easier for me to get comfortable over the ball and I'm really not finding much difference in forgiveness. Seems like many people are comfortable with lots of offset but I'm not one of them unfortunately.

I'm curious...where are these studies posted? Would love to read them and look into this more. I could feel a big difference between my forged carbon steel blade, my MX-200 cavity back forged clubs and my Ping G5's. Maybe it isn't the material or the process, but I'll just keep playing what feels better in my hands and that just happens to be my forged cavity backs right now.

I think technically this is correct...as in if you had two clubs made of exactly the same materials and one was cast and one was forged you couldn't tell the difference in feel. That being said, the difference when people talk about a forged club is usually the difference between a hard cast stainless steel club and a soft forged carbon steel club head....it is the material that makes them feel different rather then the manufacturing process. I can feel a difference between my MX-200's, Ping G5's and old forged Vulcan blades. The two forged clubs, because of the material used, feel incredibly soft and smooth when struck pure. The Pings just never felt quite like that, even on the best of shots.

I have a 45* PW, and then three Vokey's coming in at 50, 54 and 58. I started with just a pitching wedge and then added the 58* first. It's got enough bounce that I can use it as a sand wedge or a lob wedge and it really is my go to club for all short pitch shots and to get out of the sand. I found myself needing a 100-115 yard club a lot (my PW is typically about 130y) so I then added the 50* which has filled in that gap nicely...I guess that is why it's called a gap wedge. The 54* I just picked up and used on the course for the first time today. I got it because that will give me nice 4-5* wedge gaps and I got is used for $65 so I figured why not. I haven't quite found what I'll use it for but so far I'm liking it for chipping or short pitches from uphill lies which make the 58* too lofted in a lot of cases.

Nice, the AP2's seem like great irons. Stopped into the golf shop today and they had a used set of 3-P with Project X 6.0 shafts for $500 used. Lots of bag chatter marks but still decent looking and the faces were good. Took a few swings with the 6 iron and really liked the feel. In the end I decided they were too much club for me and went with a new set of Mizuno MX-200 instead, but those AP2's were cool.

You'll get no argument from me about it being all in my head....I can hit the G5's just fine, just not with consistency. Those things that are "in the head" can be tough to get over sometimes though and in this case the Mizunos are just working great for me so far, we'll see how a few more trips to the range go before the final decision is made. Also, I wonder if the shafts have something to do with it feeling better with the Mizunos. My G5's are stiff, the MX200s are regular. I've always had a fast swing but that is something I have been trying to dial back a little lately as my swing was always inconsistent and I used to have a bad slice. Slowing down and focusing on my form has helped me keep from coming over the top like I used to.

Well, I stopped into the local golf shop today and started looking around at the different iron offerings. Ended up finding a set of use Mizuno MX200's in 5-PW (which is what my G5's are). They have some nicks and dings here and there from bag chatter, but the face and grooves hardly look used. Priced at $400 I started talking to them about my situation with the G5's and in the end they offered them to me for $300 with a one week refund policy and a 30 day store exchange policy.....so I walked out with a new set of irons today and took them to the range to compare to the G5's. Totally didn't intend to buy any irons today but the price was right and I can either return them or keep them and sell my G5's for something at least close to the price of the Mizunos. I have to say...I'm hitting these things so much better! They look so much better to my eye at address and I was hitting great shots with them. With my G5's I was chunking them and shanking them all over. With concentration I could get over the offset for a shot or two but never with any consistency and they didn't feel as natural as the MX200's. I think one issue for me is that I play Vokey wedges and I practice a lot with them. They have no offset so transitioning from them to the G5's is hard for me. Maybe if I had offset wedges too I would have an easier time getting used to them, but with the Mizunos the offset is so minor I don't notice it at address making it easy to go back and forth. So, what do you all think? Good move or bad move? I have a whole week to try them out with a refund option at the end so I see at least a few more trips to the range this week to see if my shot making with them holds together, but so far I'm thinking they are showing a lot of promise.

I agree that it is in my head, no argument here, just not sure if I can overcome that (didn't quite happen last season) or if it's just better to find some clubs that appeal to my eye a little more at address.

Nice choice. I just got my first SC last weekend and I love it. They are pretty pricey (I paid full retail, sounds like you got a deal which is great) but really, considering my previous putter lasted me more than a decade I consider it money well spent for something that I know I'll enjoy using.

Last year I switched from some hand-me-down blade irons to my current Ping G5's. I liked the Pings pretty well last year but never quite got fully comfortable with the look of the offset at address. Made it out to the range for the first few times for the year this week and my iron shots are killing me. I was chunking them and shanking them all over the place...until I grabbed my old blade 7 iron and I just started hitting solid shot after solid shot. Not I have nowhere near the ball striking to hit blades so I'm thinking it might have something to do with how the club looks at address and was helping me. The offset on the Pings have always looked weird to me and they tend to sit rather closed on the ground which I find myself fighting. Does any of this make sense? Any suggestions for clubs I could look at that are nice and forgiving but have little offset and look a little more like a traditional blade at address?

I had a similar experience with Ping. I bought a Pal 4 putter well over a decade ago and didn't get a head cover with it (not sure if it was supposed to come with one or not). For some reason I decided I wanted one so I emailed Ping asking about purchasing one for my very old putter....they said no problem, one was in the mail to me free of charge. Few days later I had it. Awesome service!

2 dozen Srixon Trispeeds used 54.10 Vokey wedge Scotty Cameron Newport 2.5 Good but expensive weekend at the golf shop...but that is ok, my last putter lasted me 10+ years and so will this one I'm sure. The other items were things I needed and got cheap.

Yeah, I'm really not that concerned about the headcover...mostly just being facetious. It is ugly though... ;)

When I got back into golf last year I went on a hunt for the perfect bag. Thank god I have an understanding golf shop because it was a bit of an ordeal. I first bought a Nike Sasquatch which was a great bag feature wise and originally I liked the individual slots, but that eventually become what I disliked about it. I walk a lot and the separation of the clubs from the individual slots means then swing a lot and bang into each other....makes for a very noisy walk. Also I had trouble where I would slide it off my shoulder to set it down for my shot but the strap system got in the way of me reaching for the handle...very clumsy. I returned it after about a week or two. So, then I went on my brothers recommendation and bought some sort of Ping (their high end stand bag) and hated it. Only three slots, clubs got tangles and the way the dividers work with the stand feature made them sag and catch the grips. It was returned after a few days. Finally I tried an Ogio Grom. This bag is perfect. Individual putter well (awesome feature!) and 4 individual slots I use for my woods and hybrids (works perfect since I have a driver, 3 wood, and 3 & 4 hybrid). Then there are three slots for my irons...3 in each. Unlike the Nike bag though this lets my irons "nest" together a little and so they tend not to clatter nearly as much. After using it all of last season I have zero complaints...great pocket layout, size, and also very comfortable to cary and put down. PERFECT!