WUTiger

In the last 15 years, a lot of work has been done on fairway wood heads. This includes moving around the center of gravity (see diagram of RBZ Stage 2 FW). 1. Higher and more forward leads to lower spin, more penetrating shot. This works best for golfers with high clubhead speed. 2. Lower and more rearward leads to higher spin and higher launch, which can maximize distance for the average golfer. In 2006, Tour Edge launched the Exotics line of FW. Exotics used titanium cup-face, and steel maraging (removes dead weight from hitting area) to develop some very hot FWs and hybrids. This year's EXS model uses a new high-density carbon steel alloy Callaway, Cobra, Mizuno and Ping likewise developed FWs with a variety of head options. Of course, the FW works best if you fit it with a shaft that matches your swing. Go to a demo day, and do a side-by-side with your 3W and others. And, if you carry a single FW, also try 4Ws. Many players - including some big hitters - get more out of a 4W than a 3W. This depends in part on how you come into the ball.

@GAA Can you tell me the exact name and model number for these MT irons? Online they are generically describe at "MT blades." Below are pictures of the MacGregor MT irons. I played them from 1974-1994. (I borrowed pix from an online ad, as my MTs are off-site in storage. ) They likely were manufactured circa 1971, according to bit on horizontal picture. Note: The set's most lofted club was labeled 10 iron, instead of PW. (It didn't quite have the bounce help you get from a modern PW). The set had MacGregor Tourney Lite #1 (stiff) steel shafts, and felt just a touch livelier than the Dynamic Golds of the era. I bought them in Spring 1974 from the pro at the country club where I had been a caddy. (price: $130 total!). He was a MacGregor guy. I've kept the MT irons, and some MT woods and a SW I bought later, in a more-or-less period bag. (I'm missing the original 7 iron - head flew into a lake circa 1979 - and would like to replace it.) The MTs were great in summers when I could play five or six times a month, but weren't very user-friendly if I only played sparsely. (Uhh, they were blades...)

Here's a follow-up suggestion. Get the 4W and learn how to use it. To learn, move up one set of tee boxes and use the 4W off tee instead of a driver. If you hit 14 drives with it and maybe three or four more shots from the fairway, you'll get the feel of it. And as GOATee cautioned, don't go wild trimming shafts. Trimming back a 4W a half inch to 42.5" is a good idea for control, but more than that throws the club all out of balance. If you order from factory you can get one made with a shorter shaft and tweaked to recapture swingweight. If you get a used one, a good clubsmith can trim it and tweak the swingweight.

Tour Edge has the Exotics and CBX lines for more serious golfers, the Hot Launch for casual golfers, and boxed sets for both the Hot Launch and Bazooka lines. The Exotics and CBX tend to bump into the pricing of larger OEMs. In the Exotics EXS line, the driver is $299, the FW $229, and the hybrid $199. Pros who play TE buy their clubs - no promo contracts to raise prices. (The EXS line less expensive than prior Exotics long clubs). If you wait a release cycle, you can get a much better price - assuming other golfers have traded in the model/loft you want. For the Exotics line, FWs and hybrids tend to have square faces, less worry about hooks. I have played Bazooka and Exotics FWs in the past, and now have TE irons (see below). Good solid clubs. And, TE has a lifetime guarantee for their clubs.

I have seen two players who did this: Both had a 17* and 22* combo. One person I just saw in the bag. The second person I played 18 with him as he prepped for PGA Player Ability Test at our course. With a driver + hybrid, he had the range to put the ball on the fringe in two shots in two of our four Par 5 holes. Before you do this, you might try a 4W - a lot easier to hit for many than a 3W. You hit decent drives, but you're not truly a long-ball guy. Be aware that a 2H takes quite a bit of clubhead speed to hit well. You might try a 2H first just to make sure you can get good hits with it.

The TRAction (Tour Reflex Action) shaft weights 85 grams in both R and S flex. Specs bill the shaft as Mid-launch. With a lighter shaft, I doubt you would feel much difference in the two flexes. The TRAction was a proprietary shaft for Cleveland. A WedgeFlex version also showed up in their CG12 through CG15 wedges. See if you can hit the MT irons OK - make sure the TRAction 85 is not too light for you.

I got fitted for both the X20 (blue) and X20 Tour (black) irons in 2009. I played the X20s for two seasons, and then switched to the X20 Tours. I had a lot of trouble with range dispersion with the X20s, and they tended to hang up in the rough. The stock shaft was the Uniflex; I liked it OK, but not everyone does. The X20 Tours have better feel, and tighter range dispersion, and move through turf more cleanly. I did replace the PX 5.0 shafts... just a bit hard to handle. The X20 Tours have slightly higher lofts.

Quick drop-in from hiatus - Someone clarify the sport... Do we want to play fast... or play golf? In tournaments, you have to go through the ritual drops or you get DQd. One factor in speed of play is course maintenance and cutting. If you have 25-yard fairways, and everything outside the 3-foot wide first cut is 6+ inches deep, play will be slow. And, everyday golfers don't have a hundred spectators along the trees to help them find a wayward ball. See you all later!

For average golfer, club fitting is damage control: Get clubs that won't hurt your game.

The newspaper and the PGA Championship Program list the yardage as 7,316 yards, Par 70. The 7547 would be from the tips, Par 72. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 are short of the tips, as is No. 11. And, the tournament has options on No. 17, a 597-yd. par 5: The tees could be be moved up on Sunday to encourage more people to go for the green in two. Also... 10 of 14 long holes are dogleg left, an extra consideration for the power-fade people.

I dropped by briefly from my hiatus. St. Louis golf historian Jim Healey reports that, since golf started in St. Louis circa 1898, more than 40 courses have faded away. For interesting account, see StL Courses Lost. I had played several of these StL ghost courses: Crystal Lakes CC. Part of the (tiny) city of Crystal Lakes Park, the semi-private operated from 1929 to 1979. Curious old-style 36 + 34 = 70 layout, with front nine about 400 yards longer than the back. Served as Meramec Community College golf team's home course circa 1970. It got subdivided, as I found out circa 1983 when I was visiting home and decided to go play it, only I couldn't find it! Southmoor GC. A public course in south St. Louis Co., it was down to nine holes when I played it in the 1970s; course had lots of league play. Two solid par 4s highlighted the round, before it got subdivided. Duwe GC. (Operated as Lakewood GC at end). Short, fun course popular with women and beginners and those needing a golfing morale boost. Now the site of St. Clare Hospital; at time of sale, the course was largest undeveloped plot of land in south county. Creve Coeur GC. Now reduced to a nine-hole course, it sets aside a business park. The original 18-hole layout stretched to about 6,600 yds., the longest public course in the area. It was popular among golfers who wanted to develop their game. A curious par 70 that closed with back-to-back par 5s. Westhaven Course. A Belleville, IL., nine-holer affiliated with the local Elk's lodge.The owners had discussed me running it for them during the summer, but their kids talked them into subdividing. It played to par 35: eight par 4s and a par 3, a bit boring as one patron said. I was going to propose this change: swap two par 4s - No. 9 too tight - for a par 3 and par 5. But the sale closed before I could.

You might try hybrids with pro or tour heads. These tend to have a more square club face, and would be less likely to end up to the left. (Last long club changes I made were to driver and hybrids. Both types had offset faces, while irons and wedges had square face/much less offset. Now everything is square face, and I have much fewer left misses). Before you spend money, check your ball position. If you play hybrids too far forward like a wood, the clubface may be closed down at impact.

Also the mini-driver would likely have a 12* or higher loft. She's not very tall, and could use the loft to make up for leverage deficit of her height. My wife is even shorter, so I hope your gal gets the club she needs! (Note: I am on hiatus, and only check in about once a month.)

Dear TST crew, For the next few months I have extra work, family and professional matters which will occupy most of my time. Because of this, I will be going on hiatus from TST until about Thanksgiving. I should be able to get in some rounds of golf this summer. I will not, however, be able to play the local Amateur circuit - just too many conflicts. I'm volunteering at the PGA Championship in August, but must miss the final round to head for a conference in Chicago. I will check back this Friday for any final business. Have have a good summer. And remember, Lowest Score Wins!

Early Recoil 660/680 shafts were popular as replacements for the superlight 85 gram steel shafts from circa 2014 - more solid feel without too too much weight. The 2018 upgrade for irons is called the Recoil 660/680 SC. Recoil 660/680 SC appear to have taper tip available on custom order. The new 660/680 has similar specs to the Recoil Hybrid ES. Using the Maltby Playability Factor for Shafts, the 660/680 by has moderate codes for its flexes. F2 (Senior) = 2B2M F3 (Regular) = 3B2M F4 (Stiff) = 4B2M What you might do is order one 660/680 ES shaft, put it in the DBM 7i, and see how it works out. Golfworks could help you on your selection. You'll have to hunt up reviews on your own for the 2018 models.

Looks like you are a higher (not superhigh) swingspeed player. One factor would be how aggressive your move from the top is, and what flex shaft you use. A local golf pro who is an accomplished clubsmith did this for his low-end iron: a large-size long iron head with an R-flex shaft, tipped for control. (I'll call him and see if I can get the exact recipe.) I'll give you the standard TST response to your inquiry: Do a side-by-side and see what works best. And, let us know what you select.

OTH, I'm confused... with your new Exotics CBX Blades, don't you get mainly GIR on your approaches? 😕

If you have good clubhead speed, the standard hybrid may have too much offset for you. Consider a pro or tour head which has a more square face. Not all pros have abandoned them... A sampling from GD's What's In the Bag... Webb Simpson - Titleist 913Hd 20* and 915Hd 23.5* Paidrig Harrington - Wilson Staff D300 at 17* Russell Henley - Titleist 818H2 at 21* Ian Poulter - Titleist 816H2 at 21* Phil Mickelson - Rogue Hybrid 19* (also owns X Forged UT driving iron; assume he bags one or the other) And, if you really fear left misses, try the Tour Edge CBX hybrid; the TE reps claim it is "left-proof"

Especially for woods. Because of the hundreds of varieties of graphite shafts, trying to find that one single wonder shaft will drive you crazy. Happy shafting!

Whether last cycle's shaft will work again for you depends on two things: Is your swing basically the same. Are you in the same physical stage of your life. On irons I got fitted for Dynalite S300 shafts at age 44, but opted for lighter regular shafts when i got a new set at age 58. For most golfers, you do OK if you have rods from your shaft band, a cluster of shaft models that tend to fit your swing on fittings. The last four years, my shaft band seems to be: NS Pro 8950GH (R) or 950 (R), KBS Tour 90 (R or S), KBS Tour 105 (R), Ping AWT 2.0 (R), Recoil 95 (F3).

I have seen single-digit HDCP players who won't touch a 60*, and I have seen guys break 90 only because they hit a couple of super 60* shots. A couple of years back, Golf Digest reported on the wedge mixes of the PGA Tour pros. About half carried a 58* as their highest lofted club. Many golf instructors encourage beginners to stay away from the 60*, mainly because it takes a lot of practice time to get the hang of it. Beginners can better use the time for other phases of the game. As with many things in golf, go with what works - as long as it's within the rules.

When my wife and I play golf out of town, I always look for women's tees that are just under 5000 yards in length. At this length, she can hit most par 4s in regulation if she hits two decent shots. Strokes are lost when she misses a shot that goes 20 yards. As far as course designs go, it's more than just length. At my home course we have four par 4 holes that are 320 yds. or less from the men's tees. Two of them are those *%$*! risk-reward holes that often produce the highest scores of par 4 holes for the average golfer. The pair have well-bunkered funhouse greens, and unless you're a dart-thrower with your wedge you can run long or back off the green into bunkers. The scorecard puts these two at #15 and #14 HDCP, but the Senior Group has designated them as #5 and #6 HDCP for our weekly best-ball scoring.

I know several golfers who were baseball players or softball players and complain of slicing the driver. They hit their irons OK, but slice the driver. A lesson can help you find the root cause of your slice.

Two guys at my club cracked the face of Calla Epic FWs last summer. I suspect it's an industrywide problem: in the bid for extra trampoline effect, the faces are too thin for survival.

I have a cluster of the Callaway Hawk Eye FWs from circa 2000. A couple of years ago I got the 3, 5, 7, 9 for $40 each (in great shape and just regripped), and the Deuce #2 for $15. Have only hit 3W a couple of times; may try a mix for a couple of rounds to see what happens.