avguy

Just a hacker's view, but I personally believe the 200 yd. distance left is the toughest target in golf. Most of us overswing the club that is supposed to go that far in the bag, and we are left with some type of silly wedge recovery shot around/over a tree or sand trap . Anyways, I carry two hybrids, my 17 deg. Mizuno MX-700 with stock R Exsar HS4 shaft and a Ping G10 21 deg. with R UST v2 shaft. The Miz is a 5w replacement, the Ping a 3 Iron. Well, I usually hit that Ping the best. I would gauge its carry as 185-205. My Miz is any shot past 205 from the fairway (I won't hit my 3w off the deck). Maybe its the shaft(custom order), but I can wholly vouche for a Ping hybrid. It is easiest to hit for me at a 200 yds. target. With my 2 clubs that could reach that range mentioned, I fing the Ping is most consistent, despite being nearing the end of its range. Many more worse shots with the Miz hybrid for me than that more lofted Ping.

Nice thread. U can all see no handicap here, just your basic hacker who golfs for the outdoors experience but here in the desert SW heat, I almost Always drive a cart to prevent death, so amount of clubs and their wt. is no problem. I could easily carry 15-16. Why not? I am not competing nor will I ever. I have a Mizuno MP Fli-Hi #2 I like and my MP-32 #3 & #4 irons sit at home in favor of my hybrids. I'm going to look at the slots on the bag again, if there is room for another 1-2 beyond the 14 in my sig, may add them back . BTW, Once I make the conversion back over to bass fishing again in 3-4 yrs, I will have 5-6 rods in the boat. Yeh, it's weird, we can only hit one club at a time (or fish w/one rod), but the option is so nice! Finally, most rounds I play I am quite certain that I only end up playing 7-8 clubs from the bag. So all the rambling above is just that in my application....just enjoy the outing!

My last 18 holes are living proof of the thread's theme. Right now, my biggest issue on the course is I am push-fading or slicing 80 per. of my drives. The last outing had several tree-lined right rough areas. My drives landed typical 230 yds down in there, under the trees. For several of those par 4,5 holes, I at first grabbed my normal 2nd club from the bag, one of the hybrids. Well, I saw a hole in the trees fwd towards the green, why not? Bad idea, I have no finesse/control game, and even though I hit flush solid balls - they smacked right into trees anywhere from 10-30 yds in front of me and bounced haywire. Later in the round on the back nine, things actually became more manageable when I just accepted those lies. Looking at my sig. with the clubs, I grabbed that Adams 37 deg. chipper and just punched the ball back out in the fairway - sometimes gaining some forward progress. That is the game I have. I can't hit it flush often, nor can I hit it flush solid on a narrow path under trees. But small control chips around the green are working, and they work as a better "out" from my too familiar right treeland rough I live in most days on the course. I need to find more driving holes that resemble the wide open driving range!

On my father's cart ran, I thru/into an exposed tree root, causing steering alignment issues. Just one tire hit it, but at a high speed. Was still driveable, could steer it, but the wheel had to be turned off-center. Looks like the streering rod(?) linkage bent abit, anybody have a an electric 4-wheel cart with similar issues in the past and a dollar figure on it? Can't be more than repairs on full sized autos.....

Players w/o a glove look uncomplete to me. Sorry, I come from the Quirky uniform awareness school like the loyal followers of www.uniwatchblog.com On this site, many of us so obsessed look at pro and college athletes and critique their "looks". From this, I think a pro golfer look right to me wearing a hat or visor, and a glove. As far as Myself, I look at it for function. I am a lefty who plays right handed. My other swing sport - racquetball, required a glove on the dominant hand - for me, the left. One thing I picked up from that is that the racquetball gloves are better than our golf gloves. Seriously, everyone on here should just try a Ektalon or Neumann glove with "tackified" leather. These gloves also are made for heat dispersion, and our usually more durable with sweat and the like than golf wimpy gloves. My issue about golf is slippage on my driver swing. At the top of my backswing, I occasionaly losen up and have to "re-grip" during the swing. Results are horrible hitting behind the ball or toppers off the tee. I am going back to racquetball gloves starting today on the left lead hand, & hope to report back with the world of difference results on my drives.

Here in the PHX metro area, many of the courses do not allow denim. I emphasize DENIM. The public munis are the exception. Of all the posts on this thread I suffered thru on a quickie skim, it seems nobody figured as to one of the reasons the courses don't want the jeans. Think of those kid-powered local parking lot charity car washes that show up around your neck of the woods each summer. Guess what happens to your paint job on your car sometimes when these good intentioned youths finish your auto? You got little extra scratches & dings on the upper doors and fenders. From the kids jean shorts Rivets! The health of the golf carts seats is one of the major reasons many courses don't want us wearing "jeans" or just denim on the course. They don't want torn up cart seats. Here in the searing heat of the desert, we have a higher proportion of cart riders than most areas, so this policy makes sense. And, damn those jeans are too hot! Personally, the "pro golfer" attire of slacks and collared shirt is abit non-functional in the sports world. We should equip our top golfers and down in a higher tech. rock climbing breathable pants with muscle-supporting compression shirts and better golf gloves. I use racquetball gloves. They are built stronger, made for heat, and have a surface that actually holds on to your club better in some - tackified leather.

This thread proves that golf is more mental than physical. If one can actually make solid contact, get good aerial ball flight off grass at a range (that's me! ), and then proceed to course play and hit wimpy thin shots with the same clubs - it's a psych case! For myself, I play the game seeking a decent day outdoors, an alternative to my less accessible (but more liked ) hobbies of fishing, hiking, and mtn.biking. For the golf day to be good, I don't need to beat anyone on the scorecard or shoot par, my day is greater with more solidly hit shots. I'm certain my esteem in golf rides on the proportion of squared hit shots. Landing the ball correctly and scoring would just be gravy on this all, a surprisingly positive side effect. With that, I join the thread author in range-to-course play frustration. I am a literal "bucket of nerves" on most any course, especially around others. If I could hit the same percentage of solid shots range vs. course ( it might be inverse 4 me, 75 to 25 percent!), I'd think of golfing more with others. Now, I need to go out in the summer heat here in the desert when nobody else is around. No pressures, no one watching my drives. Better chance to not fall apart. When I play a round, my nerves shake me so severely, It shoots up my metabolism into the clouds and I need to start eating energy bars and the like to prevent physical collapse. I am hugely more tense on a course compared to the range. I tend to hit thin fades and pushes, and my chronic back pain issues are common there. I think the higher percentage of nicely hit range balls are what keep me in this game. They keep me reading (mostly) and sometimes posting here. That shouldn't be what the game of golf is about, but at least I get some satisfaction in part of it. I could not phantom playing weekly w/o any range practice, should that advice follow. cheers to range junkies!

Hit my new 58-10 Nike VR in black finish today on the practice area for small shots up onto a landing green, some bunker splashes from sand - went ok with my own golf balls. Later, over on the driving range I tried it in full swings using the range balls. Yikes! I can hit it fine. I wanted to change from my current 56 deg. F-2 wedge cuz I never could hit that thing on full shots. I went only about 65 yds regardless of swing speed or contact. With more loft on the Nike, I am back to 100 yds or more on wedges. I will try and get a 52 next, I use my Adams chipper alot around the greens, so that would do it. My question is does anyone know if the Nike VR forged wedge in its chrome satin finish have a different effect on the ball compared to these black one? Mostly, what could be an issue was after every full range shot with the black Nike, I was picking out huge lines of white plastic ball cover out of its grooves. With that outcome, I know I'll be shredding a few out on the courses this summer on my full wedge shots, but maybe the Nike in chrome satin is less harsh? Anybody?

Due to major desert heat and the shape of my head - visor for me. I am a hat/visor guy most the time in life - due to wind. Sorry, but even b4 golf, I hated wind blowing my hair which I have no style for but "random". So, the lid on top controls that issue, and outside golfing in the sun here is bright prompting a sun shield need. I think hatless or visorless golfers in the sun look incomplete. Even if they got good hair - as I do. p.s. No glove golfers look incomplete to me as well. I got all these sports uniform and look hangups....

I wear one all times, try to remove it for putting. This thread seems to be good to vent my frustration on golf gloves. They are mostly cheapy in quality, and don't improve grip, IMHO. Just a blister preventer. Anyways, I am a natural lefty who golfs right handed. One of my former sports of younger days - racquetball - is more reliant on gloves than golf. It's been over a decade since I hit that court, & I won't play that for now but one thing I recall is the superior Quality and grip ability of racquetball gloves. They have "tackified leather" are more durable and are also made for heat dispersion. So, my dilema now is I can't find the kind of l eft-handed racquetball glove I want in a sporting goods store locally! Tried a Sports Authority, Big 5, Dicks. My Ecktalon from the 90's had great sticky leather on the palm and lycra backing - it didn't tear like cheap golf gloves do and the control on a leather-handled racquet is something I would like to duplicate in golf. I have some tendency to lose control at the top of the swing, and regripping happens. That throws me off and sometime it results in sky shots or blocks out right. Next step is looking online for left-handed premium racquetball gloves. Any directional help is welcome.

The ten-finger is a minority player in the world of grips with overlap no. 1 and interlock no. 2 favorites. A player as myself, a natural lefty who plays right handed, is more comfy with all of my fingers on the grip. I could never go back to the overlap - my right hand & arm is naturally weaker than my left lead hand/arm and that grip seems to lessen the right side the most. I have felt confident at times with the interlock, but seem to slide back into 10-finger for control, confidence, and comfort. I get a little sore in right hand with interlock. The concern voiced above about a disconnect with a 10-finger is valid and to defeat that I first put the club down holding it in an interlock style, hands neutral facing each other. Then, I unlock them, barely moving at all the right into the nearly same position into my completed 10-finger. For most of you, natural righties, I don't think the 10-finger would work as your right hand could over power your lead left hand. But in my unique shoes (lefty playing right-haned) the 10-fingers is stronger and more confident. I do have to tape up my right thumb abit for blisters, but it works enough to play the game with my skillset - a basic hack enjoying sending the white ball into the wild blue yonder.

Here in the dead heat of summer (Mesa, AZ) I always go alone and love the open courses! The rate is lowest then and due to my super cool work schedule (I work 4 10-hr days Tu-Fri), I can get on Mon or Tues. and still have Sun. to hit the range prior. Being a runner much more than a golfer, I probably am one of the few here who can take the 110 degrees of June and July, so I rarely have company. My only potential golfing partners are a bud from work (who works the opposite days of me) and my 74 yr. old dad (who would not nor would I put him thru that heat!) Actually, I do like getting one partner to pair up with on those courses that they put me with somebody as compared to joining 2 or three others. One of my favorite pairings was at a muni about 8-9 yrs. ago early in the summer, about a 90 degrees day. More of a hacker then, this guy I went on the same cart with was a literally a scruffy pirate compared to me. He had the Tats, smoked, and drank beers all the way on the course. (It was like noon). All these were the opposite of me, including his skill. He shot a 76 that day on a par 72 - I recall one hole where he holed out an eagle 5 iron just over 200 yds! The amazing thing to me was he had me take his money up to the clubhouse to get him two more cans of Bud at the turn - guess he had sort of a conscious on that.... I think he drank 6-8 beers that day, but man he could rip that ball! Can't wait for my mostly solo summer outings again.

That Chinese OEM Factory supply for www.••••••••••••••••••.com is going to NOT be Genuine Callaways, Pings, Mizunos, or Titleists. They are doing a very good job over there making extremely similar items to the original in all industries. The scariest things coming over from the big red machine now are so called OEM auto parts. Many of our replacement parts for the auto industry and even some of our own new assembled cars now have parts from China - land of little restrictions in order to build & promote their economy. Even medicines. Yep, they don't care about the consumer who uses these items, they just keep making the sales and we sucker up. Ingest too much of their product and for certain life is short will be your epitaph. http://www.drsambenjamin.com/blog/lead-in-purses I wouldn't buy any golf clubs from that site. Pay $100 more from a respectable online site such as TGW, Watts, or Rock Bottom and get closeouts or older models still around at the discounts. You'll get a more solidly built golf club than these imitations and they will last longer. The Chinese must be capitalizing websites such as this above based on the premise that many of the current major golf manufacturers now have made in China stamped on their clubs. (see Taylormade) I long for the days when import items were made in Japan!

Hello jaj23 and fellow AZ golfer. Just curious, are you aware of the practice complex & pro shop over in Mesa West of McKellips & Val Vista? It's the Golf Discount of Arizona, a large driving range, short par 3 nine holes, putting @ chipping, and good prices on clubs & gear. The reason I mention it is they frequently feature major manufacturer demo days where vans full of the big name clubs/reps show up and let you hit all their lineups off of real grass outside. I haven't tried it yet, but I will the next time they have one. Otherwise, from a smaller stature guy (Mike Wier size!) with less athletic talent than you, I still recommend Mizuno irons. I can really carry my MP-32's far and straight. My 7 also goes 160, I just don't drive as long as you. I hope you are able to demo numerous clubs in your search for some better playing experiences ahead. I've gone with a wide variety in my bag, and part of that reason was I didn't want to feel less confident in any One of my clubs out on the course. If you have Mondays or Tuesdays available and can play Mesa and Gilbert courses during the hottest days in the summer (when I can afford them all) - drop me a post or message here.

As a walk-in, I am willing to drive over 10 mi. to the PGA Superstore as they have the widest selection - including demos on clubs. And, will frequent smaller nearby Vann's Pro Shop (a chain) and I give some biz to a local called Sierra Golfworks. I have sympathy there in this economy, I hope they can survive it. However, I buy alot online. Ebay has worked so far as had TGW and Edwin Watts equally. Once in ahwile, I even look on Amazon. Oh, if you want a real discount on the newer dri-fit style shirts that may be last year's model, try Ross. That secret could save all of us hundreds of dollars - look how most places charge $30-65/shirt in the newer tech. collared versions. I get 'em at Ross for about $15 ea. - Nike, Adidas, generics, etc... Finally, I'm jealous of anyone living on a course as I would do the same ( Randy4h - Don't need to buy balls (live on a course).) In my high school days, I lived about 1/2 mi. from the Country Club in small town and I often fished out balls from the pond near the 8th hole in the eve around the sprinklers. I'd still do it now if I had the opportunity! Or, maybe the yard just serves up as a nice bait trap for errant shots - all good stuff!

Here in the baking heat of the Phoenix metro area, they encourage cart use on most courses, and it is difficult to warrant walking when there is no discount rate for it. In the name affordability, one like me who does not have a lawyer, doctor, or banker salary must wait out the higher rates now for the summer of more open courses and lower fees. And in the name of death prevention, when it says 108, walking is a horrible option for myself trying to carry enough gatorades/water/energy bars at just a tad over 150 lbs. I used to walk on the muni's around here where there was a discount - but I found I generally was jogging around (with a pull cart!) trying to keep up with the majority of the other players who prefer a cart. Oh, don't go fitness with me here....I consider myself a workout maniac who has this golfing problem. Too bad my knees after 26 years of 25-30 mi/week are starting to scream, but what I like is to follow my solo round out on the cart (in which I can complete in about 3 hrs.) with a nice evening run along the canal or stretch out on my weight machine. I do agree walking is better for mental parts and a nicer time. But around these desert realms, we see mostly carts with less of them during the summer inferno - and the hotter it is, the more greens and fairways are left for me!

As a sports fan (mostly of pro football - Go Vikes!) I could care less on the tone, style, or setting of jocks talking to the press and/or their fans. I am not paying for "that". If I paid for a motivational speech circuit guy in my town and got some shaky note-driven or prompter reliant speel (our Prez?), what a joke! With the TW speech, the thing that I didn't like was some of his anger. I had a Buddhist roomy way back for a couple of years and remember him as being so care -free and relaxed, and this guy was trying to write a Master's thesis. TW was mad that the press was hounding his mom,wife, & kid. Yeh, that seems wrong but who didn't say anything for over two mo's to bring this on? TW should be mad only at himself for the press/paparazzi for doing what they are paid to do. He could move to Tibet for awhile and avoid the dreaded reporters and cams. That main camera that went down half way thru must have got his ire up. We saw black and heard audio before a switch to cam 2. I think I would have been p** off on that! Bogus over-the-shoulder look the rest of the way and bkgd chatter....looked like a very college-level sports wrap show student project - I should know, that's my frickin bachelor's degree! Overall, I think TW will come back a better golfer in the short term, and likely a better family guy. I still am a fan of his super fast tempo swings and work-out mentality off the course. Even though I am cruddy on the golf scorecard, when I go out a single player on courses locally and get paired up with dudes who always out shoot me, I rest easy in that I can conquer them in owning my own demons just as good or better than them, or at least look better hitting the running trails and weights at the ripe age of 46. Just keep doin' it TW!

Hey, welcome fellow terrible golfer. WE Need to stick together out there on the courses! Anyways, I score like you but have 10 years of age more and in the similar weather area that you have - play about the same frequency. Before my own plight on the right irons, here's a view from a PGA instructor I currently follow the regular advice. 1. Bigger clubheads like the cavity backs get hung up in the rough more or are slowed down in easier in divots. 2. A bigger face means more room to miss the sweet spot a & thus hit a bad shot. 3. The smaller and more compact tour blades put higher ratio of mass behind the sweet spot as opposed to cavity-backs that xfser the weight around the perimeter for stablity to reduce twisting on off-center shots. Think of getting punched in the nose with a sledge hammer vs. an iron skillet for visual on energy transfer being the product of mass X Velocity squared. If you can swing and hit a big head you can hit a small head. I have hit larger game-improvement type for years until last summer. In fact, my last set was even considered a fine one in that category, my 2000 Titleist DCI 981 with graphite stiff shafts. I can actually hit the bladed Mizunos just as solid, may have lost some height on my pw and 9. I decided the Mizzy set looked great and that with golfers as myself that factor alone goes a long ways on the course. I do believe on flush shots, there is a noticeable difference in the blade forged iron. It seems like I don't even hit the ball, like a practice shot! I would rather hit hybrids instead of 3 & 4 irons, but I doubt I would go back to cavity-back or even cast irons. My only exception could be Ping some day, as they don't do a forged iron. Probably another factor that I really noticed was the degree offset. I have lots of it with my old Titleist, barely any on these Mizzy (which are a 2004 model). I can't stand that factor, I used to have some bad hooks on the mishits, I almost can't hook MP-32 and I never did slice my irons being a lefty who plays right-handed. Check the offset no's if you can, maybe you don't need it either. Final point - forged irons require more babying, they can rust and do ding up. On desert rough-lined courses, I will carry an older cast Titleist in the bag just for that purpose, or play another provisional. ps. I actually have a high swing speed - so my mishits with any club are what sink me into the bad scores - nasty lost shots!

Quickly, b4 mods move this - go MAC if you can afford. I'm in the video biz, have used them for work for years and started full blown home conversion about 4 years ago. You can cruz the net and download music files from everybody and they don't crash. I run an IMac of 1.83 GHZ with 150 GB Hard drive in the back office, and a stronger MacBook Pro 2.66 GHZ w. 320 GB HD that spins 7200 RPM. We have an Apple wireless Appletalk router, and even our IPOD 8 GB Touch hooks up into that network. We have two printers hooked in to choose from. When I had PC, yep, more docs. are easier to read from other places. But crashes were common every week. Now, if you want, one can run many MS Office prgms. in stability on the faster Macs. Must add, I am not a PDA type, but tried a Blackberry Pearl a few days and it didn't sync up with the Macs. You will need to go IPhone on that one. I can play HD video from NFL rewind off the MacBook thru two cables into my HDMI inputs on the Panasonic HDTV and see it quite clearly with out digital errors on a middle tier cable provided ISP. Good, stable equipment are Macs - I cherish that in similar fashion to my Mizuno irons. My Macs just don't have the issues of PC's - sadly, my current employment in the "distribution" end of TV doesn't have this figured out yet. Good luck converting.

I got my whole set of Mizzy MP-32 irons on ebay at a good price. The dealer has a mailing address in my area. After reception, I emailed the serial no. into Mizuno and got feedback that those are authentic originals. Heck, the few other individual clubs in my bag that are from ebay I would bet the whole bag on that they are real. If it's "way cheaper" than the reputable online retailers such as TGW or Watts, then I suggest doing some research as I did with the manufacturer. Otherwise, I think many of the ebay sellers are just trying to compete in the online market. One thing we can all agree on is that current year models of clubs are never discounted on new buys very far below a set value - ANYWHERE. There is more price collusion in golf clubs than almost any industry other than Apple computers - another area of my sick hobby addictions!

Just to follow up, Mizuno replied back to my email inquiry verifying the authenticity of my new MP-32 iron set. It was indeed a great buy and find. I love 'em! Driver: R-7 460 (2007) 3-wood: Adams Tight Lies ST (2003) Hybird: G-10 21 deg. Irons: 3-pw mp-32 SW: F-2 56 deg. Putter: F-2 Hamilton mallet Last but favorite: 27 deg Orlimar wood (replace 5-iron!) Bag:Orlimar Arctic cart - AZ heat beater!

I just bought mizuno mp-32 3-pw on ebay. They came in an official mizuno factory box, the seller had noted he was an authorized mizuno dealer, and the serial no. is same whole set. I had been using Titleist 981 irons from 2000 with a Select Light graphite stiff shaft. After one bucket of balls, I am very pleased and I think I got a great deal on that buy. You can find my transaction quite easily on ebay as not many sellers are offering such clubs. I did send a quick email with serial no. to mizuno just to check up after reading numerous posts here. While caution should be the norm with ebay and used on Craig's List, there are authentic clubs out there, and with the economy as such, us buyers are more empowered.

Satellite TV Operations Tech. What's cool about this job is the 4 ten hour shifts at our 24-hr. facility. It gives me Sat. night thru Sun. with the family, Mon. and Tues. available to golf! Oh, I love Macs , and I am under the same handle on viking update purple thoughts since 2001, very responsible but economical poster (I listen/read more than talk/post). So, can I please have signature access here, to? 3-pw mp-32