TheHacker

Hey all, I got on this forum like less than a week ago, and I already know I am where I should be on the 'net. Anyhoo, I am going to Austin TX, (Round Rock to be specific) to do some consulting work for a few weeks and was wondering if anyone knew of the cheap/good golf venues to play at least four or five times a week... Oh, and I broke my TaylorMade R5 over the barbecue today with not even a swing rep, but a wrist excercise rep, and I killed that poor club after owning it a week from new....cry me a river. I just had to get that in after suffering over my dead club...and its true, God I can be a dumbass... Thanks!

I agree with you on that count about being incomparable regarding players of different eras. I think the best example of that being a "problem" for the armchair quarterbacks is comparing Babe Ruth to anyone from basically 1960 on, because the game of baseball, and the dedication and conditioning of the players had changed so much. Comparing Barry Bonds (even minus the 'roids) with Babe Ruth is impossible because those eras were so different. The only reason I would put Hogan in a different light is the magnitude of the challenges he dealt with. I can't think of another golfer who was that successful after getting crushed in a car wreck, to be that broken physically and within two years hobble to winning five of the six events you could enter in a season, I think that's incomparable in any era.

I would probably be going out on a limb here, but I would think overall that Ben Hogan is probably the best golfer I have heard of. The reason I say that is when you look at how good his swing was, how well he did despite his best years being interrupted by World War II and then that horrible car wreck, I can't think of more challenging scenarios to overcome and still win like that. The one qualifier there would be putting. Hogan had legendary yips from what I understand. As far as depth of competition getting better in today's world, I am not sure I buy that. If the average tour player today was really better than the average in Nicklaus's day, then you would I think see that reflected in the average score...and you don't. This is especially true given the fact everyone nowadays has so much better clubs and balls, not to mention launch monitors to fit them. Indeed, I would say all that stuff has maybe made the average joe better, but not the pros. Give Tiger a off-the-shelf persimmon driver and one of those old golf balls, and put him up against Hogan in a game, it better come down to putting for Tiger's sake I think because ball striking and consistency I think Hogan would still own. Or change the scenario and give the Hawk a set of top o' dee line computer fitted TaylorMades and a box of Titleist Pro V1's and it would be the most amazing ball striking ever seen. That said, Woods is easily the best today, and I think probably better than Nicklaus, he just wants it more.

I was using an ERC Fusion driver of ten degrees loft until a few weeks ago, and I can say ERC's put a great deal of spin on the ball for a driver. If you are not putting a perfect perpendicular (to the ground) spin than it will slice or hook, and with all the spin the ERC puts on it that makes for an unforgiving club to hit for sure! My ERC had a ProForce shaft, but I have heard the stock RCH shafts on the Fusions are quite whippy, and maybe the club is getting behind your hands because of that if you have a quick swing. I personally glommed onto an R5 8.5 degree and I get a big kick out of it, really hits the ball far and almost feels like its on an oiled track when I swing it it's so smooth. Big metallic noise when you connect too. I got the Neutral one, but a Draw I hear is pretty good if you are slicer. However, if I was going that route I would get an R7 because you can actually tweak the weights and as your swing gets better, you can adjust the club's bias to evolve with you. I would never get a club that has a built-in bias unless I was sure I was keeping the same swing for a couple of years, and no way am I that consistent! Since you're used to looking at a 360cc ERC at address, I would say give a smaller-volume R7 425 a shot (no pun intended!).

Its kind of funny that this subject just popped up, as I just got a R5 instead of the G5's ancestor, the G2. I was hitting a Callaway ERC Fusion with ten degrees of loft and a x-stiff ProForce 65 shaft. I could hit that club about 240 yards on a good rip but the shots REALLY ballooned into the sky, so I made up my mind to get a lower lofted club that still had a forgiving CG (because I suck). The G2 and the R5 8.5 degree were the final contenders (G2 basically G5, but without the ugly sole markings IMO, and you still find new ones in shops all the time). I would say it was a tie between them, but the R5 I think is a little better when you consider them both with their stock shafts. The Ping always seems a flex behind the Taylor. Stiff on the Taylor was X-Stiff on the Ping's TFC shaft, plus I lucked out on the R5 with a deal I couldn't turn down. But my friend's lawyer-father has a G5 with a Grafalloy Blue mid-kick (not the ProLaunch) shaft and if you can find a G5 or G2 with that shaft in your flex, (and can afford it!) get it...the club is a madman with that shaft from my experience on the driving range, easily the best feeling driver I've ever hit.