WUTiger

Drawbacks on SGI irons: SGI clubs have more metal in the heads. With SGI, I can't tell just how I hit it a shot until I see the ball coming down. With GI iron, I can tell at impact what kind of shot I have. Also, stock SGI clubs tend to be paired with high-launch shafts. In short irons, the ball can balloon and cost you distance. An SGI head with mid-launch shaft can sometimes control for this. On a well struck shot, SGI irons have more range dispersion than GI or Players clubs. Working the ball: IF you understand how the golf swing works, you can hit a basic draw or fade with any golf club - even SGI. The limits you have with SGI irons is trying to flight the ball down. With the super-low center of gravity, it is difficult to hit lower shots. (Club designers suggest it works better for average golfer to take an extra club or two into the wind, rather than trying to flight the ball down). SGI irons have lots of offset. I'm a bit handsy in my swing, so a touch of GI offset is all I need. Fitters tend to put me into GI irons with lighter shafts.

With Callaway at least, this is starting to change. Since backing off from the 2014 arms race with TM, Callaway is going more to a "run out" model on its product releases. Let's say a new model of irons is ready for manufacture. Callaway will let the comparable previous iron model start selling out before it launches the new model. If you want something other than a stock shaft, you may have trouble finding what you need from the discounted remnant sets. Or, if it got some quick trade-ins, you may find some variety on Callaway PreOwned. An exception is the standard Rogue long clubs. More of those seem to be available - clearance and preowned - than recent prior models.

I suggest it would be difficult to come up with a set rule about tipping that covers all of golfdom. The rules for tipping depend both on local custom and the club's business model. In St. Louis area, the upscale private-equity clubs have strict rules on tipping. Most of them charge a set gratuity for food and services members or their guests receive. The tip is added onto the charge slips the members sign - no money actually changes hands in this genteel setting. At the end of the month, management divides up the accumulated gratuities among employees. In some clubs, the inside personnel get percentage gratuities and the outside personnel - the bag and cart crew - can accept cash tips. IF you're going to be a guest at such a club, see if you can access the guest's portal of the club's web page. This will give rules on dress code for different parts of the club grounds, and rules on tipping. At public courses, most of the tipping is food-and-beverage related. On semi-private courses, it's harder to guess the rules. At the club where I have a year-to-year membership, most of the tipping is cash related to food and beverage. Around Thanksgiving, the management sends out a request to both deeded and yearly members for contributions to the holiday fund for the for the hourly employees. As for course monitors, their employment status varies. Clubs hire monitors that match the club's style. I'm not sure an extra $5 is going to make them push the group ahead of you to play faster. In resort zones, the starters and rangers sometimes get tips because they put the bags on the carts. Also, your group might get to tee off a bit earlier with a tip - kind of like tipping the head waiter to get a better table.

I prefer to wear shorts, but I will wear long trousers on a wild course with lots of sticker bushes.

You need to do some practicing out on the course. At your home course, are there times during the week when the course is fairly empty? If so, go out and hit a 5i, 6i and 7i from different spots around the landing area. You may find the lie is slightly uphill or downhill, unlike the ideal flats of the range. Also, let's say you think you can hit a 9i over a tree to No. 7 green, from first cut of rough. See if you can really do it. It you can't, punch out to in front of green when this occurs - much better for score and mindset than tracking down ricochet shots in the forest. Use the range for mechanics. But, have drills where you step back, visualize each shot and take a stance before you hit it. You don't get much from machine-gunning twenty 6i shots in 5 minutes. If O-T-T is a persistent problem, take a lesson. It's not hard to clear up if the pro can spot your primary cause.

Lead off with lessons. If you have a club or two that really hurt your swing, your instructor will tell you.

Here's the specs on Uniflex shaft from the Callaway 2008 golf catalog: X20 irons: Uniflex 121-106 grams...midkick Big Bertha irons: Uniflex 111-101 grams...Low kick Uniflex came in as Firm flex, between Regular and Stiff. Designed to be an OK shaft for a wide range of golfers. In 2009 I switched out my irons for the first time in 14 years. I initially went with the X20 irons. I had tried both the BBs and the Ping G10 models, but both had high launch Uniflex shafts that caused the short irons to balloon. In Maltby MFP rating, the X20, BB and G10 all came in as Ultra Game Improvement. For me, the X20's midlaunch "U" had the best shaft of the three. You may find old TST threads where people disparage the Uniflex shafts. It depends on your goals. If you focus on your swing rather than endlessly swapping out clubs, the Uniflex may work fine for you.

A cautionary warning, my friend: IF the little ol' ladies tee off nine minutes ahead of the guys, what do you want to bet the LOLs finish a half-hour ahead of the guys?

@Double Mocha Man, Diece may be tour-bound, but the OP (Golfer6969) was considering multiple options. BTW, I met a couple of McKenzie Tour players down in Myrtle Beach this April. Had good conversation on bridge clubs - FWs / hybrids / long irons / driving irons. Made notes of their names, but can't find them on short notice As far as the tour goes, is there any way to track McKenzie circuit members? The online McK site is pretty lean on information.

I'm a recently retired college business professor. Along the way, I have encountered college golfers from all NCAA and NAIA levels. For those interested in golf industry careers, including club pro, the two most reliable paths seem to be these: Attend a college that has a PGA-sanctioned Professional Golf Management program. The PGM programs are normally housed in the college's business school. You simultaneously pursue a business-related degree and PGM activities - including passing the PAT - leading to PGA membership and certification. Persons must be accepted into both the university and the PGM program. http://jobfinder.pga.org/helpwanted/empcenter/pgaandyou/universities.cfm? Work through an apprenticeship program in your local PGA section. This involves OJT while you complete PGA correspondence courses and prepare for your PAT. Apprentices often pursue a business degree at the same time. Assorted golf career colleges also exist. These are for-profit golf trade schools, tend to be very expensive, you normally don't earn an academic degree, and career placement help varies widely from place to place. What to do? Talk to people in the golf industry, see what path they took, and gain appreciation of the pluses and minuses of each path. For what it's worth: Quite a few successful club pros I know have degrees in either finance or marketing.

For a long time, TM made OK wedges that were perceived as second tier. A couple of years ago I assembled a backup bag based around TM SLDR irons, 4i - AW. For higher wedges, I got good used deals on the Tour Preferred 56*/12 and the R Series Tour Grind/EF 60*/10. Both proved to be excellent wedges. Since the Milled Grind and Hi-Toes, it appears TM is making a push on their wedges. Still not where Vokey, Cleveland and Callaway are, but pressing ahead.

I can handle clinking clubs. Just don't do something tacky like yelling "Fore" when I'm at the top of my backswing.

Call me shallow, but I found the most interesting part of the article to be the description of the air blower-vacuum system under the Augusta National greens. Other than some 2019 tournament vignettes, the story mirrors past works about the culture of the Masters. The attempts at social and political commentary revisit the 2003 sparring match between reporter Martha Burk and Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson over the club's then male-only membership policy. At any rate, the Nick Paumgarten piece likely scored points with the left-of-center readership of The New Yorker.

A pro at a high-grade local public course has a reputation as a good clubfitter. He told me than when he fits and orders a set for a golfer, he always has it shipped to his shop. Then, he checks the loft and lie of the irons against factory specs. He said that for most OEMs, he finds two irons enough off of spec to require tweaking before he hands over the set to the golfer.

One of my management professors gave us this warning about our professional careers: "Your enemies will try to portray you as being either weak, or devious or arrogant. if you can choose, be arrogant." TM entered 2014 as highly arrogant, until its near-implosion triggered by too many new models and missed spring shipping deadlines. Financial ripples of TM's 2014 troubles contributed to the demise of Sports Authority and Dick's decision to fire 500+ in-store PGA pros. In the aftermath, Adidas* unloaded TaylorMade (plus Adams and Ashford) to KPS Capital Partners in 2017. KPS has a reputation for taking over off-vector manufacturers and forcing them to focus on more efficient processes. This article suggests the sale will shake out to a more disciplined TM for the future: Five major takeaways from the TaylorMade sale - Golf Digest Back to your original question. TM makes good gear - as do most of the top OEMs. But, some people like you flaw them for being arrogant. Others like TM's hard-charging image. Overall, I suspect it's a wash.

Word from GolfWorks Academy: Wrist-to-floor is just a rough starting point for fitting a golfer for clubs. You do not want to cut shaft length or buy golf clubs based on w-t-f measurement. Your posture at address and data from your swing motion are much better indicators of what shaft length and lie angle you need. You get this from an actual fitting with launch monitor data.

@tdkrod, a local pro who does clubsmithing for me did what you suggest: first he dropped his 3W in favor of a 5W. Said he only lost about 20 yards distance, and the 5W was much more reliable. Then, after a few months, he put a 4W length shaft into the 5W. Your experience with 3W is fairly common. Golf club tests indicate that the average golfer can hit a 4W more reliably than a 3W - and sometimes just as far. A couple of degrees extra loft really helps with launch. A few demo days ago the Tour Edge rep was showing off new Exotics FWs. For most of us the 4W flew better than the 3W - this including a couple of the really long hitters too. I am in my 8th season playing 4W + 7W at the long end of the bag. An outdoor session with launch monitor is an excellent way to audition FWs. Shaft and clubhead design also influence how the ball flies; a fitting can help find the best for you.

During the 2011 season,KJ Choi sometimes carried four and YE Yang carried three or four. https://www.golf.com/equipment/2011/04/masters-augusta-kj-choi-ye-yang-hybrid.html Choi said the hybrids were quite useful in holding the greens on longer par 3 holes at Augusta National. More recently, Choi carries a 4H and a 4i. In 2017, I volunteered as a caddie at a Symetra Tour event (LPGA developmental). About half the women carried a single fairway wood and two hybrids (usually 3H and 4H). Many Champions Tour players carry multiple hybrids.

Some summary comments... Low clubhead speed will keep a golfer from getting a good launch with a long iron. Consider getting a gap analysis for your irons. You and your fitter would be looking for the point at which your iron distance bunches up. If you 4i goes as far - or even not as far - as your 5i, a change is due. Some would swap the 4i for hybrid, others might go for a lighter shaft. Fitting helps you decide. On hybrids, golfdom has thrown you a curve ball. In fact, there are two types of hybrids: Traditional. These have shaft lengths and often lofts that fall between fairway woods and numbered irons. You probably have one of these if your 4H flies 20 yards past your 4i. Iron-Replacement. These hybrids are paired with a given model (or models) of irons. So, the 3H would have the same loft and shaft length as the 3i, 4H matches 4i, etc.

I have encountered golfers who have excellent driver distance, and opt for all hybrids and no FWs. If you want to do that, go for it. That said, have you ever been fitted for your 3W? The average golfer hits a 4W more reliably - and sometimes farther - than a 3W. For starters, put an impact decal on the clubface. If you hit 10 shots and the impact points are all over the clubface, probably the shaft is too long for you. A too-long shaft also can cause left misses, because the upright lie tends to point the clubface slightly to left. Trimming the shaft can flatten the lie a bit.

This brings up the importance of understanding the clubhouse rules at upscale clubs. Many private clubs have a rule that "no money changes hands" for food, greens fees and tips: it goes on the member's bill. Many clubs have variations on a "no tipping" policy. All food purchases and catering events have a percentage gratuity tacked onto the bill. At the end of the month, the gratuities are divided among staff by some formula. Locker room attendants and caddies sometimes are exceptions to the tip rule. Key thing is to ask your host what rules govern such transactions, hopefully get it covered ahead of time. In S. Louis, It can get silly for us muggles from semi-private courses who play district am events at private clubs. Most private clubs want us to sign for everything, which they bill back to our home course "account." But, our s-p operation doesn't maintain such accounts - you pay as you go. The workaround is our pro handles this on the side - when the upscale club bill shows up, he sends us an e-mail and we pay for it next time we play at home.

hp, Keep them both and swap out for weather and course design. (I assume the 16* Fli-Hi is the driving iron in question).

I do this on par 3 courses. I take along a driver / 4H / irons 5,7,9 / three wedges / putter. Yes, I take along the driver. It serves only as a handle so I can keep the bag balanced on my back.

@billchao and @ChetlovesMer both had good points. On the Rogue X, the ball goes a long way but some people have trouble with the yardages overlapping between clubs. A local golf shop had a monthly-get-together, and several of us hit a trade-in set of Rogue X irons. A 7 iron would range from 150 to 165 yards, and the six iron would range from 160 to 175 yards. A Rogue X 4i might be good for a clearout club, but the whole set could give you a hazy distance yardstick. As @IowaGreg suggested, take a look at the Cleveland Launchers. The CBX version is more a benevolent GI model, while the HB version is SGI. For the CBX, you might find the stock shaft is a bit light. A local fitter said he has sold quite a few Launcher CBX sets over the holidays. He said players would come in looking for TaylorMade or Callaway, and deciding on the Clevelands after a side-by-side test. Finally, being you are 61, consider graphite shafts to save wear and tear on tendons. Graphites absorb the vibration much better than steel. Take a look at the Recoils and the lighter SteelFiber shafts - solid and with good balance.

I have a slit-sole SW from another model year. If by chance you do, I'm interested!