patriot07

If it's a steel shaft, you have to rough it up some for the epoxy to bond well. He may not have done that. Even if heat does hurt the bond, it hasn't been hot enough anywhere in the US in March and early April to do anything like that. If this was August, I might be more willing to blame it on the heat, even though I've never had a problem like that, like I said earlier.

I work 30 minutes from home and play 2 minutes from work, so I routinely leave mine in the blazing hot truck 8-9 hours a day 2-3 days a week during the summer in Texas when it's 100+ degrees outside most days and well over that in the truck. I've never had any problems with heads coming off. I've got stock clubs and re-shafted clubs and still never had a problem like that. I think it was more likely a sub-par re-shafting job. Just my opinion... Maybe he didn't rough up the shaft or use enough epoxy or let it set long enough. Is the shaft steel or graphite?

+1, money well spent.

The speeder shaft was $200 new, but it's not really rare or expensive in the Titleist line of clubs. They offer most of their new drivers with that shaft option and don't charge any extra over any of their other shafts. I never really liked the 905 line very much. I had good luck with a 907D1 that I had for awhile. But I think the 909 is a better club. I really like them quite a bit. Not as much as my TM r9 460 TP, but they're very good.

I agree too. I swing about 105 and hit the ball a good ways, but the V2 is way too stiff to help my distance. A lot of the pros love it though. It'll be interesting to see on your Burner. Are you going to install it at the stock Burner length, which is about 46 inches, or cut it down some? Increasing the length over the standard 45 inches will loosen that shaft up a bit and might make a big difference.

Look at the average sale price on ebay. r9s (TM's 2009 driver) are going for about $140-$170, and the 905s (Titleist's 2005 driver) is going for about $50-$60. Looks to me like he'd have to put some money with his driver to get it anywhere near being fair. But if you're happy with an even trade and you know you hit the 905s better, then go for it.

Awesome, the G15 is a great club. I can't believe you hated the sound of the TM. That's one of my fav parts. Anyway, I'm sure the G15 will serve you well. At least you know they won't replace it for a couple years, as opposed to the rest of the big manufacturers who release a new driver every 3 months.

I've had 3 very, very good experiences with TM customer service. This thread doesn't surprise me at all. I had an r5 that a sticker came off of (they gave me a brand new club), my r9 460 TP face caved in after about 6 months of use (sent me a brand new club) and I had a bag that a pocket tore after about 7 months of heavy use (sent me a brand new bag nicer than my original). So I buy TM any chance I get unless there's something else I just like a ton better (I'd have r7 irons if I could afford to drop $350-$400 right now, but I love my X-18s too). Customer service like that is way too good to ignore.

shaun, wish I could play with your guys. I'm with the "if you have to line it up, it isn't a gimme" group. Anything over a foot needs to be putted out all the way. If you give yourself putts that you have a >1% chance of missing, you might as well just write down whatever score you want, because it doesn't mean anything. I especially love it when 30+ handicaps give themselves 3-footers. They say they want to improve, but they're not 30+ over every time because they can knock in 3-footers all day long. I'm a 7 and I HATE looking at those darn 2-3-footers in competitive rounds. I'd almost rather have a 4-5 footer so I don't feel as bad when it lips out. All that being said, if it's not a competitive round, who cares? If it is, putt it out.

drglew is right. Normally those are both against the rules. I always putt with a ProV1x #2 and play the rest of the hole with any of a number of different types of balls (the entire hole with the same ball). Usually folks don't care if you putt with something different. The real advantage comes from using distance balls off the tee and spin balls into the green. The other place this can come into effect is during scrambles, where a player can hit a distance ball off the tee, and easily switch to a spin ball because everyone's putting their own ball down every time they hit into the green. This is also against the rules and should be understood by all players. Sometimes they'll make mention of this during rules before the round, but not usually. In any case, it's almost always against the rules in the scramble format too, even if they don't mention it explicitly.

Congrats man! I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it's harder to get from 100 to 90 than it is to get from 110 to 100 and it's harder to get from 90 to 80 than it is to get from 100 to 90. Just my opinion. But enjoy getting in the double digits right now, you can worry about those others later. Double digit golf is good golfing.

I played a draw when I started playing golf 10 years ago. I played it for 5 or 6 years and then started playing some narrower courses. I hated the occasional duck hook when I started playing the narrow holes, so I eventually worked my way to a fade. But I was never able to play the "power fade", so I lost a ton of distance and my scores ballooned like crazy (went from a 4-handicap to a 12 within a year and a half). In the last year, I've gone back the draw and my scores are very good for my talent level and the amount of golf I play. A couple months ago, I switched to the X-18 irons (kind of odd for a 7 handicap, I know), and my scores dropped quite a bit. I was playing Cleveland TA7's, and the X-18s are soooo much more forgiving. I played in a tournament Saturday and shot a 75 and won a closest to the pin contest with a 112 yard punch PW that I started about 5 yards right of the hole and it finished about 10 inches left. All that being said, you should play whatever you feel most comfortable and confident with. Whatever shot you can play most consistently is the one that will give you the best scores. I tried to force a fade and it was a bad idea. If your fade is coming in naturally, I wouldn't fight it.

I'll be interested to see how this turns out. I'm a fan of Kenny's and a TM guy. His website does still list TM as a sponsor, and he's got updates from the first 3 days of the Masters. So, I'd guess they're still sponsoring him, but who knows. FWIW, those VR Forged Split Cavity are some sweet-looking irons.

None yet in 10 years of playing. Ironically, the closest I ever came was this past Saturday in a tournament. 112 yards to the pin against a 10 mph wind. Punched a PW to about 10 inches. Won the closest to the pin (which was a dozen Pro-V1x's).

I'd double each and add 5 shots to each and post them as 2 18's... only kidding. I'd post them as one 18 hole score since they were on the same day. But I doubt it makes much of a diffference.

For what it's worth, I think you'd be well-served to get a "boxed set" and work on your swing for awhile. Then when you get your game in good shape (be it a month, year, 5 years), you can buy a set that fits your swing. No point in going to the store and trying out a bunch of stuff if you're just starting back and your swing might not be the same from one hole to the next, much less one round to the next. I think you'd be hard pressed to do much better than buying an Adams boxed set, if you really want something new. I'd definitely go with them over Top Flite. Their irons, wedges and hybrids are top notch, and you can replace the driver after awhile if you really hate it. Just my $.02.

Lower bounce is going to be better off of the fairway. Higher bounce is usually better out of bunkers. But it really depends on what kind of bunkers you have and what kind of bunker shot you typically play. For thicker sand, I like the low bounce version. For lighter sand, I'm fine with standard or low bounce.

I wondered how those sponsorship deals worked. Making them carry a certain minimum number of clubs from your own line makes a ton of sense. 10 or 11 is a good number. I'm usually a TM guy, but I'd have a tough time carrying any more than 9 or 10 of their clubs. I only carry 2 right now.

I'll go with Els. He's got some demons at Augusta and it'd be a good story. Duval is my 2nd choice.

I carry a Cleveland TA900 60* wedge wit low bounce. It's really, really awesome for flop shots with bite or sand shots with bite. I think I paid $50 on ebay for mine about 3-4 years ago. I'm sure they could be had for less now. I got the RTG (raw tour grind, aka raw/rust) finish, and I really like it. It's easy to flop it up high or play a normal shot that's just slightly more lofted than your sand wedge. One of the few clubs (if not the only) I haven't replaced in the last 2 years.

How much do you have to spend? The uPro is good if you have some money. If you spend the $400 and then get the rebate, it's only $300. But the price for your first 10 courses is like $80 or something. That's crazy. If you only play 3-5 courses, it's not bad. But if you play new courses all the time and are somewhat strapped on a budget, I'd steer clear of this. The skycaddie SG2.5 is a good unit from what I've heard. $200 plus $30 annually gets you every course in your state. But you don't get the flyover views like you do with the uPro. On the other hand, mapping your own courses is easier with the skycaddie and they've been doing this longer than anyone. I don't have any experienced opinions on the golf buddy, but some folks seem to like those. I think those are the big 3 if you don't have an iphone or some other phone that has an app you can use.

Fred Couples, no question.

My current "home" course is pretty easy, but the par 5 3rd hole at Oak Creek Golf Club in Greenville is pretty tough. It's about 570-580-ish from the tips (when they're all the way back). Trees left the whole way. OB right, but it's not terribly close. But the left half of the fairway is totally useless because of the sharp dogleg left that starts at about 160 yards from the hole. If you try to hit your 2nd past the elbow of the dogleg, the fairway only has about 15-20 yards of useful width (trees on both sides). And if you don't hit it past the elbow, you're hitting a 7-iron or more to a postage stamp, turtle shell green that is difficult to get up-and-down on when you miss. I usually try to drive it at the right edge of the fairway, pull out something that will put me in the 100-120 range, and then aim for the center of the green and hope to 2-putt. It takes 5 good shots to make par. Going for it in 2 from the tips isn't an option if you don't drive it 310.

I'd have to go with A. No point in calling the guy on a rule that's mostly pointless if you have a big lead. I'd probably be even less likely to call it if it was close, because it would actually affect the match. I'd be more likely to mention it to him on the 19th hole, like one of the other posters said. All that being said, he should know the rule and I wouldn't fault anyone for calling it on the spot. C is just cheap.

I don't agree that 1 inch of length adds 10 yards of left/right (at least not for everyone), but I definitely agree that manufacturers should make woods with adjustable lie angles. I wish my woods could be set about 1-1.5 degrees more upright. As far as length goes, when I choke up on my r9 460 TP an inch, I lose about 10 yards, so I don't think 2-4 yards is right either, at least for everyone. And my driver is 46-ish inches and I know I'm more accurate with that than I am with some other shorter drivers I've played. It's more of an individual thing, and it's easier for people to cut off length if they can't control it than it is to add it if they want to hit it farther.