GolfBear

I played the ProV almost exclusively for about 5 years. Last year I switched to the Penta and barring some dramatic change in Titleist's balls I won't be going back. Both balls were equal for me off the tee. The ProV feels softer off the driver and the Penta has more "click" but both performed equally well. I didn't notice a big change in distance or ball flight with the driver. Off the irons I found the Pro V had a tendency to balloon a bit more but it didn't lose much distance despite the climb. My concern is that I don't like a higher ball flight because I tend to hit the ball high anyway. I've never tried the ProV1x which may have fixed that. What made me switch to the Penta though is the short game. Both balls perform very well off the full wedge but where I find the Penta blows away the ProV is in the low speed, short range chips and flops. On a quarter to half swing out of the rough it is absolutely insane how much spin you can put on the Penta. When hit properly the ball is a hop and stop machine. This week during league play I missed my approach to the 9th just short and right of the green. The ball was in medium rough with an ok lie with about 20 yards to the pin. I only had about 10 feet of green to work with so I decided to take my LW and just throw it way up in the air. I don't normally like doing that because it's easy to slide a LW under the ball in the rough and it's not usually a high percentage shot for me. I hit the shot, flew the ball about 3 feet short of the pin and thought I'd hit a perfect shot. I wound up about eight feet away because the ball BACKED UP. I didn't know it was even possible to back a ball up with a 20 yard shot. The other three guys in my group looked at me like I'd just performed some kind of voodoo. One of them asked me "how in the hell did you do that". I was dumbfounded but damn I love that golfball!

Duct tape, a mask, vaseline, some condoms and a knife..

I've played KZG forged CB's for about 12 years now. I have absolutely no complaints about them. The quality and workmanship is evident and you are right, they look very nice. I can tell you that the forged CB's play more like a blade than a do a conventional cavity back. The cavity isn't all that deep but they are still somewhat forgiving. Well struck shots feel like buttah!

This guy is fantastic!

Frankly, I'd rather watch an LPGA tour filled with lesser players that look like Gerina than the weekly Korean & Japanese tour events we've been watching lately. No offense to the Asian ladies, they can flat out hit the ball! I'm just far more interested in the visuals of the American girls. :)

I was listening to the Edwin Watts golf podcast earlier this week and they were talking about the center shafted putters versus the heel shafted. One thing that they pointed out is that the putters are really for two different styles of putting stroke. The center shafted putters are for people who take the putter straight back then straight through while the heel shafted putters are better for a more in-square-in stroke. One of the designers was saying that if you're an "in-square-in" putter then the center shafted versions will fight you. Just something to consider.

I'd like to help you but I can't help staring at your avatar. She's absolutely captivating. Who is that?

It's a new program that strives to make the rounds 4.5 hours. The rangers are everywhere and they do a great job keeping everyone moving. If you fall too far behind they'll ask you to pick up the pace, use a more forward tee or they may ask you to skip to the next hole. Considering that it used to take 6 hours to play a round there its a welcome change! ESPECIALLY during track season :)

I won't argue that inserts and better machining have helped but that is really unrelated to grooves. I've always been told that the grooves on irons don't add much spin to shots. The frictional coefficients are responsible for the spin. The grooves are there to displace water or grass that gets between the ball and the club face. I believe that's also the reason the new drivers don't have grooves. Considering you're swinging a driver or an iron about 90-100mph faster than a putter I can't imagine that the grooves would have any noticeable effect.

Billions of putts have been made with Bullseye putters, Anser putters etc. It ain't the bow, it's the indian behind it!

I love the course and the the new pace of play program is fantastic. We finished 18 in 4.5 hours, last time I played there it took 6! I was a bit dissappointed with the conditions though. The greens were solid but the tee boxes were a disgrace. I don't mind the divots but the weeds everywhere was just lack of effort on the crew. As to my OP, it may in fact just have been personal variances. Either that or I'm trying to convince myself that I really need those new AP2's, S57's or S2's!

It may be the video angle but something about your grip doesn't look right. I looks like your left hand is extremely strong. It almost appears as if the back of your hand is point to the sky at address.

I think Tiger is going to come back with a VENGEANCE in 2011. He hit absolutely rock bottom this year and despite the fact that been hitting the ball all over the earth he was still in 2 majors until the final day.

You really should change the title of this thread, it's a bit misleading.

I play with Vokey spin milled wedges and on a clean lie they will shredd off some of the cover. I usually only play a ball for 1 full round then they go into the practice ball basket. I haven't had any problems with durability.

I switched to the Penta this year after playing Pro V's for the last ten years. I still like the Prov V a lot but from tee to green the Penta performs as well, if not better than any ball I've ever played. Yes, it does feel different than the Pro V but it performs equally as well from tee to green. Here's the thing that made me switch though, when it comes to low speed shots (chips & short pitches) this ball spins like a gyroscope on crack. I don't know what they did with the cover/core combination but I can hit a wedge from 50 yards or less and this ball spins like a mother. It truly is a hop and stop ball. It took some getting used to and the first few weeks I was consistently coming up short on chips and pitches. With the Penta you can literally throw the ball at the flag from 50 yards and it's like throwing a lawn dart. Once I figured that out I knew I was hooked. I LOVE this ball and I won't be switching back any time soon.

Pete Dye started out designed decent but challenging layouts. He peaked at Sawgrass and has now turned into a mad scientist. Designing a course that is functionally unplayable doesn't make you a great designer, it just makes you a douche bag. I played a Jones Jr. yesterday that was absolutely uninspiring but still very enjoyable. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about Nicklaus' designs. Some I like, others are terribad!

I had a very weird experience yesterday while playing the course at Saratoga Spa State Park. I was hitting the ball pretty well (shot a 76) but was getting really bizarre distance variations with some of my clubs. Most notably, my 8 iron was producing variations of as much as 30 yards. One one swing it's going 130 and on the next it's going 160. The lie and contact appeared to be virtually identical and I believe the swing speed was pretty close. I've notices some other variations this year but I thought they were an anomaly, now I'm not so sure. I've had these irons for almost 11 years but the shafts are probably closer to 15 years old. They're stiff Rifles that I had in my old Nicklaus irons and I just pulled them and re-shafted when I moved over to my KZG CB's.

I'll disagree with you here. He was the only player that was caught and penalized this week. I'm willing to be there may have been a number of similar infractions during the tournament that weren't caught by cameras.

Here's my take on this situation: 1. When a course has so many bunkers that you can't count them then everything that's not in the fairway is probably in a bunker 2. If that dirt patch was in play as a bunker then spectators should not be standing/walking in them. You don't see a lot of fans sitting in the church pews at Oakmont. 3. This course is a perfect example of why Pete Dye's designs aren't brilliant, they're just excessive. 4. If you hit the ball 60 yards offline and it winds up resting in the sand on a course with 1200+ bunkers, it's probably in a bunker. If there is any doubt, don't ground your club.

That's a great chart Zeph. Help me understand the Angle of Attack column. Does a negative number represent a delofting of the clubhead when compared to the loft of the iron. For example, the PGA pro hits a 48 degree PW as if it's 43 degrees?

I have to say, I think this trend of club stamping and club personalization is one of the coolest things to every happen in golf!

Something tells me that if I lubed up the undercarriage with Vaseline I'd have a LOT of trouble concentrating during my round. I've got enough stuff moving where it's not supposed to during my swing without the family jewels acting like otters on a mudslide!

I really don't understand why you're upset. You started out saying: Most people would agree that "regularly" means most of the time. I think you're being less than truthful and I called you on it. Then you followed with: You follow that up with: So I offered to come out there and give you the opportunity to prove it and all of a sudden you haven't played in years. You really expect me to fly to LA so I can watch you hit balls on the range? No thanks. Lets see if if we can bury this hatchet. Years ago I was a scratch golfer but that was YEARS ago. Job and family have much greater time requirements now and I don't have the ability to play and practice 5 days a week. Unless you're exponentially gifted maintaining a scratch handicap requires an extraordinary commitment. You may very well have been a great golfer and you may hit some shots 290 but at your size and weight I don't believe it's "regularly". You have to recognize though that I'm not alone in my doubt. This forum is filled with some VERY knowledgeable and very experienced players. We can sense shenanigans a mile away. I'd encourage you to keep contributing but maybe you should dial the rhetoric down just a bit.

No arguments here!