golfmark8621

9 handicapper myself and a certified club ho for many a year! Personally I have played 735cm's, many versions of Hogan Apex and modern Hogan irons, Ping G's, I's, S's, Becu's, the lot! Maxfli A10'S, Maxfli Rev's, Taylormade, Adams, Callaway, Macgregor, Wilson Staff........basically the whole damn shaboom!! Decided a few months ago to make the game as easy as possible. I picked up 5-pw Cleveland HB Turbo irons, Callaway 50*56*60* Mack Daddy CB wedges and a Ping Craz-e vault 2 putter. Threw in a Taylormade Sim2 3 wood and a couple of Ping Karsten hybrids 4+5. Tell you what give the Cleveland HB Turbo's a chance, IT IS LIKE CHEATING. Great length, good trajectory, can get some gentle fade or draw movement with a little club face manipulation. If the technology was there a few hundred years ago they would be the norm!

I am currently "between" drivers myself as a habitual buyer/seller of clubs to find the perfect blend. Have I missed it? no. My SIM2 3 wood @15 degrees is my new driver! Averaging 250 yds from the tee with it and finding so many more fairways leading to more GIR. A much simpler game of golf from the fairway and the confidence has spread to other aspects of my game. Find a club to tee off that you are confident with and you will swing smoother and with freedom-this will lead to more FIR and lower scores. It can be a 3 wood, 5 wood even a hybrid, I for one am content sacrificing a few yards for less sideways recovery shots from rough and trees!

Welcome to the real world OP, no matter how hard we try range play and practice rounds are a million miles away from scorecard in hand stroke-play. The ultimate test for all us golfers! I used to fear Medal (stroke play) competitions after having similar "out of the blue" blow ups. Over time I have learnt to embrace the challenge and temper my strategy accordingly. Try to find some stableford events to ease yourself into competitive golf-much more forgiving as a blow up hole and loss of stableford points can be recovered more easily than an 8 marked down during stroke-play. As has been said, from a gameplan for each hole, relax and try your best to execute it. When trouble pops up extract yourself minimising scorecard damage and move on!