patriot07

Nope. I had a lot of the 280-360cc clubs in high school when I was in great shape and hitting the ball a ton (or so I thought). Played a ton of golf at a certain course and hadn't played it since high school til last year. I still feel like I hit the ball pretty well, but not nearly as "hard" as I hit it in high school. Anyway, I took my superfast 2.0 TP out there last year to play it again and I was easily 40-50 yards past where I was used to playing from. These new drivers blow the old ones out of the water. My dad, who I was playing with, had the exact same experience. And he is 67 now and has definitely lost some distance from 3-4 years ago but was easily past where he was with those older, smaller drivers.

I used to work at a very nice country club growing up. I started there when the course opened, and I was a sophomore in high school. We started with very, very few members (30 or 40) and they've now got 400-500 last I heard. But I was the guy who picked you up from the parking lot and load your clubs and clean them after the round and take the cart back from your car. We certainly never expected tips. We were already getting minimum wage ($5/hr), not waiter pay ($2/hr). But they were always a nice bonus. Average tip was probably between $2-$5. Had one guy that gave us a $10 to load the clubs and a $20 to clean and unload the clubs. Obviously, there was always a race to his car and we made sure those clubs sparkled. Heck of a nice guy. I still remember his name and his car 10 years after I graduated, so we obviously really appreciated that. In all honesty, I would rather have cleaned the clubs and not got a tip than be told not to worry about it. It was always awkward when we would walk up and they'd say to leave them alone. But that's just me. We understood that some guys didn't have extra cash or didn't want to tip after the round or whatever. But it was nice to get some extra cash when we could. $5/hour doesn't pay for anything any more. I don't play courses like that but maybe once a year at most. But if it's anybody older than high-school age, I don't bother tipping them. I like helping out kids who need the money and will appreciate it. But if you're just doing it to avoid getting a real job, you can support that habit on your own money.

My least favorite is the slowest one. As soon as he speeds up, my least favorite will become the new slowest one. These guys play way, way, way too slow and it's bled over into the amatuer game. I don't even think a 4-hour round should be acceptable, but I'd love to be guaranteed a 4-hour round every time out with how bad it is now. You can guess that I'm a Snedeker fan.

Major wedge overkill in my opinion. But my main question is what kind of course you play? I vary my set by what type of course I'm playing. I carry a driver (280), 3-wood (245), 23* hybrid (205), 4-PW, 51* GW, 56* SW and a putter. I'll add in a 60* lob wedge or a 19* hybrid (225) depending on the course. I don't have to have the 60 all the time because I only use it when I absolutely have to. My personal opinion is that nobody who's an amateur golfer has any business with a 64*, and you're much better off learning to play one wedge and vary your swing and the club to achieve different shot shapes and distances. For me, that's the 56* wedge. 98% of shots from inside 90 yards are either the 56* wedge or a putter for me. I'm more likely to use my hybrid for a bump & run off the green than I am to use my 60* wedge.

I don't believe TM will confirm a club's authenticity anymore, although they will tell you if it's definitely a fake. All a counterfeiter has to do is go into a golf shop and find one serial number and print that on every club they make and they would show up in TM's database. But that doesn't make the club real. However, if your club has a fake serial number, then obviously they can confirm it's a fake. Just an FYI from the last time I called them, which was about a year ago. I've got a Superfast 2.0 TP driver being shipped in soon so I'll be calling again soon.

That is a sick putter. Nice!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've hit them on the launch monitor before, but never on the course. I was impressed at the monitor, but obviously not enough to buy one yet. That will probably be my next 3-wood when the price comes down a bit.

That is a ridiculous question for a single digit handicap.

Workability is the ability to draw or fade the ball without having to drastically change your swing path. Clubs with high "workability" will more easily put sidespin on the ball with small swing changes, which is great for pros and scratch golfers that have consistent swings, and are able to intentionally make small changes to create different ballflights. For the rest of us, clubs with less "workability" are usually better, in my opinion, because we make small swing changes unintentionally all the time, and we'd prefer if these didn't create unintended changes in ballflight.

Congrats on the new X-24s. I'd love to have a set. Did you get them new or used? Where from? I took my wife (then girlfriend) to the range and we almost broke up it went so bad. I had bought the irons cheap on ebay the week before and they were back on ebay "lightly used" that afternoon.

The Burner Plus irons are a fantastic starter's club. I actually just got done hitting them today at the local golfsmith since a buddy of mine is picking up a set. They're very forgiving, and Taylormade stands behind their product. And now they're down to $400, which is a great price for a new set of name brand irons. And I'm sure you can get them used for a little cheaper than that. I don't buy into Maltby's ratings at all. In my experience (granted, I have an odd swing for a 6-8 handicap), Maltby's ratings really have no direct correlation to the forgiveness a club will have. Of course, all clubs are highly subject to personal preference, and you need to try out a set before spending that kind of money. But that would be a great place to start, in my opinion. As for macman's suggestion, none of Ping's irons have never felt very forgiving to me (and yes, I've tried them all, multiple times). I hate the look and hate the feel even more. The only 3 clubs Ping has ever made that I liked were the I15 driver, G10 driver, and Anser putters (don't ask which one, they're almost all great). I've never been able to get the same feel from them that I do any of the Taylormade or Callaway offerings. Not to say that they're awful clubs for everyone, because some folks love them, but I wouldn't play them if you gave them to me. Bottom line, go try them out before you buy. Try out everything, even clubs you think you have no interest in.

I used to love the "workability" of player's irons, but I switched to Callaway X-18s about 6 months ago and haven't looked back since. I hit so many iron shots close to the hole and so many of my bad iron shots still end up on the green that I'm still kicking myself for not going to them earlier. On the other hand, the other guy who mentioned the Adams A7s is also right. Those irons look like players clubs but have the forgiveness of GI irons. They're fantastic. Prior to my X-18s, I had a mix of Cleveland, Titleist, Ping and Mizuno irons that never really stuck.

Just hit them today. I think they hit slightly better than the X-20s. I would probably rate them right along with my X-18s as my favorite in the X-series in terms of feel, trajectory, and overall performance. Also, I think the uniflex shafts are slightly improved. I'm not sure if they're identical to all the other uniflex shafts Callaway has put out or not, but they felt good. Also, I thought they looked better than they do on the internet. But I've always been partial to the looks of all the X-series. I'm with tfauss, I think I'd like a blue or red with the dark a little better, but I don't think the orange looks as bad as some others have made it out to look. I may look into buying a set when I can get a used set for around $350, but I'm not dropping $700 on some irons unless I get some sort of 10 stroke per round difference guarantee, which obviously is never going to happen. Just my $.02

I guess the Ping irons fit some folks, but those things have less feel and forgiveness than any other GI iron I've seen. I may be in the minority, but I really hate the newer Ping irons. If I have someone asking for my input on GI irons, I steer them to the Callaway X-series first and any of the TM r7 cavity back sets second.

IMO, the X-14s are absolutely nothing like the X-22s. I've hit both extensively. I love the X-series and can't wait to try the X-24's, but my list of preference of the X-series goes as follows: Favorite: X-18 X-20 X-16 X-22 Least Favorite: X-14 Never hit anything older than that. I do think they 24s look a bit different than the 22s. Seems like they may have a bit thinner topline, which may be due to the fact that they're not making a tour model and they're hoping to cater slightly more towards the lower handicap players. Also, hopefully they hit a little different, because I didn't like the 22s very much. I'm with everyone else wishing they would offer something other than the uniflex as the stock shaft too. TT DG S300s (or whatever other flex you prefer) would be a great alternative.

jamo makes a great point. You don't see single digits hitting number 3 off the tee. And short game, short game, short game. Beating your 7-iron on the range all day is great, but it doesn't matter if you're laying 3 because your first shot went OB, or you put your 7-iron to 6 feet and can't make the putt. I was down to a 3 in college when I was playing a ton. It's gone up since then, but that's because I only play about 18 holes a week (in 2 or 3 different outings combined). When I was really playing well, I beat balls on the range like it was going out of style. I was very Walter Hagen-style, 3 bad shots and one great one are good enough to make par. But you will plateau playing that way because like I said, you can only hit #3 off the tee so many times and still shoot a 75. After I stopped playing all the time, I ballooned up to about a 12, but I've worked it back down to a 6-7 To get to the 6-7, I learned to keep my driver in or very near the fairway at all times. If I miss, I miss on the side that means I won't be teeing up #3. Also, I worked very hard on my short game. One less out of bounds per round and 2-3 more up-and-downs or made birdie putts is all it takes to get from a 12 to a 7. I rarely, if ever, go hit my irons at the range. That's why I play the forgiving X-18s I guess, because I can stick them close without having to practice. My home course has a HORRIBLE range, and I don't feel like making the drive anywhere else just to hit range balls. The biggest difference between then and my game right now is my game from 20-70 yards. Now, I'm better off being at 85. If I'm between 85-105, I've got a good chance of putting it within 15 feet and making a birdie or a par at worst. Between 20-70, I used to be able to consistently stay within 10-20 feet and always be down in 3. But now I lose a lot of shots from that range because my distance control suffers with the lack of practice.

I agree with this.

The local Golfsmith here will occasionally do a day or weekend where they regrip your clubs for $1 labor. If you already have the grip tape and solvent, it's always cheaper to do it yourself. If not, I'd either learn to do it or find a deal like that.

Wow, that looks awesome!

It's sometimes very hard to judge distances. I know I was playing with my dad 10 years ago and he hit into a single in front of us that was hitting his 2nd shot and we had no idea he could reach him. The guy yelled something and threw the ball back towards us and then went and told the pro shop that we'd hit into him. Needless to say, he looked like a fool. Funny thing was that I knew the guy because the course was private and I worked there (only reason we were playing that course is because I worked there), so he never got much service from me after that outburst. Never heard of the putting a tee next to the ball. That's a nice approach for the calmer folks. I've never hit it back at folks, but I've thought about it before. On the few occasions that folks have hit into me (I play fast so nobody hits into me unless I'm behind someone), I usually just give the ball a good 10-20 yard kick backwards. Least I can do is make sure they're hitting a 5-iron into the green instead of a 7-iron.

That's an interesting idea. I'd lose by a mile, but it'd be fun.

I've had good luck lately with the Taylormade TP black. I seem to be a pretty similar player. single digit handicap, play a high draw. 5-iron swing speed is about 90-95. I don't hit my 6-iron 185, mine only goes about 175. Anyway, the TP blacks seem to be a very good fit for my swing, whereas I really don't like the ProV1 or ProV1x very much. My top 5 favorite golf balls purely in terms of performance are: 1. TM TP Black w/ LDP 2. Bridgestone B-330 RX 3. Burner TP w/ LDP 4. Bridgestone E7+ 5. Callaway HX Tour The ProV1x isn't too far behind that list. I'm not too high on the regular ProV1 though. All that being said, I don't think the TM TP blacks necessarily last any longer than a ProV1 or ProV1x.

The new burners are pretty good, but I like the r7s better. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority with that opinion. I'm with the other guys who say they don't care about the lofts. As long as I know the distance, I don't care if it says 6, 7, 8, squirrel, lucky or Fido on the bottom of my club, as long as I can hit it consistently.

Yeah I can totally understand why a golf company would want to stay away from clubs that mask swing flaws and make a straight shot out of a bad swing. For people who really want to improve their swing in hopes of making the tour someday, I guess you may want to at least practice with some less forgiving irons to get better feedback. But it's a fact, in my experience, that more forgiving irons mean lower scores for almost all amatuers. I'm a 7 handicap who recently went from tour-style irons to super-game-improvement X-18s, and I've taken at least 3-4 shots per round off my score. I love having the extra forgiveness. I'm not trying to make the PGA Tour, so hitting the ball "correctly" or "not masking a swing flaw" isn't nearly as important to me as the 76 I just shot that would've been an 80 with my previous less-forgiving irons. I'm not an Adams fan club member, but they make some of the best, most forgiving, most affordable cavity back irons available. I happen to really like their A7 line, which isn't cavity back, but I've hit plenty of their CB irons also and haven't seen any that I disliked very much. And to disagree with you one more time, I really like the look of their clubs too, especially their irons.

I don't know anyone that I play with who keeps their clubs indoors. No one has ever had shaft issues. I don't think indoor vs. outdoor is much of an issue (at least not here in Texas where our temps go from 20F-110F, rather than Wisconsin which is lower). The trunk or inside a vehicle is different because the temps can get so much higher, but I still don't think it's a problem for shafts that have been properly installed.