motius

I often hit fat shots that can land several inches early (before the ball) if I start the transition/downswing with my arms rather than my hips. When I start with my hips first and then have the arms follow, I usually hit it pretty well.

I don't know my swing speed, but I usually hit my 8 iron between 130 and 150 yards (depending on how well I made contact with it). I have been playing the maxfli noddle "long & soft", it really has a nice soft feel, and it seemed fine around the greens (at least in somuch as someone with my astronomically high handicap could judge). I would agree that it doesn't have as much distance as some of the other value distance balls I have hit. I am in the same boat as you trying to find something a litle bit better, so I recently picked up a box of the Bridgestone e6 and the Top Flite D2 "Feel" balls and will try those over my next few rounds. I will be interested to see which ball you like the best - please be sure and post your results!

I agree with joey, I would also go with costco nicklaus set between those two options.

I wouold stay away from the RAM product, especially the "G-force" line. I got the 'G-Force' complete box set (included driver, 3w, 5w, 3h, 4i-pw, putter & stand bag). The driver shaft was so soft you could twist the head 90 degrees from the handle with your hand ~! (making it impossible to hit). In a year of playing these clubs, both my 5i and PW broke (snapped at the middle of the hosel) and the heads went flying down the fairway (lucky I didn't kill anyone). Upon closer inspection of the broken heads/hosel, the hole boring was really off centre, creating a strong side and a weak side. The one club that was surprisingly nice was the putter, although the laminated decal on the back side delaminated and fell off (strictly cosmetic).

Sun Mountain C-130 is what I have (the '07 model) and it is great, although not perfect. As long as you don't anticipate having to carry it to far I would go for it, but if you might have to do a fair bit of walking to/from clubhouse or whatever, then it may not the be the best option. There was an excellent discussion on cart bags you should read in this thread: http://thesandtrap.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6660 Here is what I had to say about the C-130 in that thread:

When you get fitted for clubs, what do they do exactly? Is is specific to one type or line of clubs, or is it generic and applicable to any clubs? After you get fitted, say you want to buy some new irons based on your fitting. Do you have to custom order them, or can you take a stock set of irons of the shelf and then adjust them? If they have to be custom ordered, does this cost more than the same set of clubs off the shelf? Thanks

I don't know what the official rules say, but in a casual game you could really have some fun taking this to an extreme... Can you imagine the possibilities? - Golf Glove - Bottle of Water - Driver Head Cover ! Seriously though, anything larger than the size of the actual golf ball is pretty pointless. I use a small plastic ball marker that is the size of a dime (but flatter), and has a small plastic spike in it.

I don't carry my Driver on the course at all, and since I don't have a 3W, I tee off with my 5W for longer holes. I have been working on my driver at the range and it is improving, but definitely not to the point where I would trust it on a course. My 5W goes around 160 yards and I can usually keep in on the fairway. With my driver, I can't hit it any further than the same 160 yards I get with my 5W, and it is way more likely to have a huge slice or hook and costing me far more strokes (and balls) than just hitting a shorter straight shot.

As a high handi-cap player, I would definitely go Callaway. If money was no object and i had to outfit fully with only Callaway product it would be the following: DRIVER: FT-5 WOODS: Big Bertha '07 5i-GW: X-20 3h-4h: X Hybrid SW: X-Tour Putter: Odyssey Black #1 I would also be fine with the Callaway selection of balls, bags, gloves, umbrellas and even golf attire!

Good tips here, especially the one about the height of the tee impacting the height of the ball flight (and hence distance). I have noticed that aswell, although if I tee the ball too high I tend to run my iron right underneath it and it dribbles away from the tee a couple feet. Usually I just go with a hair above grass height. If you do want to tee the ball a bit higher for more height and less distance (and more stopping power), do you need to move the ball a bit more forward in your stance? Normally I hit my irons with the ball exactly in the centre of my stance, regardless of if I am using a tee or not.

How important is your swing speed to the ball selection? My swing isn't very fast, although I don't know the exact speed as I havn't ever used a launch monitor. I usually hit my 9 iron around 95 yards. I know some people use the 5 or 6 iron distance as an indicator, but unfortunately my iron distance seems to max out at my 7 iron, which goes around 115 yards. After that, my 6, 5 and 4 are about the same ~120 yards (assuming I can even hit them). I hit around 150-160 yards with my 5 wood (and the same with my Driver). Obviously I would get no benefit from the high performance balls, but in the value/distance ball category I was thinking of trying the Bridgestone E6 or the Srixon AD333, but then I read somewhere the AD333 was designed for players with swing speeds over 80 mph (which I don't think I am). What happens if I hit a ball like that at only 70 mph? Maybe I would be better off with something like the D2 Feel or the Callaway Warbird or Big Bertha balls ?

I bought a "new" Callaway FT3 Driver last summer from an ebay online store located in Canada (as am I), that had a 99.9% positive rating with thousands of feedbacks, which was supposed to be shipping from Canada. When I received it, it actually had shipped from China (not Canada) and was fake. I might not have noticed (it was pretty authentic looking with a serial number and everything), but the shaft had a very small crack in it, which lead me to suspect a problem, and I discovered it was infact a counterfeit. I went down to my local retailer and carefully looked over one of theirs and noticed that the grip on my fake, while looking the same, had a funny smell and different feel, and also the "plasma weld" around the face and body of the head was just a shiny black metal groove, rather than the duller, coarse plasma weld on the real thing. I confronted the seller about the fake (and damaged) club, complete with pictures - they claimed that they didn't know, and got it through a distributor. Fortunately, I had paid via PayPal, and the seller didn't want me to file a fraud claim with them and they gave me a full refund. Since then, I have not purchased any more golf equipment on ebay (well, except a replacement head cover for my 5W).

Thanks everyone for the advice!! Clearly the overwhealming concensus is that a tee should most definitely be used... advice which I will be using! Thanks!

I should have also asked how high you tee the ball, I have been teeing it very low aswell (just about the grass), when using a tee. Are you still supposed to hit down on the ball when it is on a tee, or should it be more of a hit through like a wood shot ?

When using an iron for a tee shot, especially the short and mid irons - do you use a tee? I have tried both with and without a tee, but my swing isn't really consistent enough to be able to to tell if one way is better than the other. I know that when using a tee, I don't get the nice "click" sound I get when the ball is just on the ground and I hit down on it properly, but otherwise I can't notice much difference. How do you all decide when to use or not use a tee, and what effect does using a tee have vs. no tee (only talking iron shots here).

I have the 2007 Sun Mountain C-130 Cart Bag. I liked the look of it, the huge array of compartments, the external putter well, external umbrella sleeve, plastic lined cooler pocket with drain, the 14 full length dividers, etc. A really nice full featured bag. I use it about 80% of the time on a pull cart, and 20% on a power cart. The only cons of this bag and the sheer size and weight. If you have much of anything in the side pockets, it can take up more than its share of space on a power cart... It would be hard to put two of these suckers side by side I think. It barely fits in my trunk. It also is pretty darn heavy and a bit akward when you have to carry it (such as going to the range, especially when the main level is full and you have to take it upstairs!). It does have an extra wide padded shoulder strap, but the balance isn't quite right on it, and it tends to want to slip off your shoulder while walking.

I have been extremely satisfied with my Footjoy Contours. They are very comfortable, breath pretty well, and easy to clean (lots of muck on the courses around here after it rains)

I bought a Ping G5i Anser the other week, and so far I love it. I have to say, the stock grip (made by Winn) is by far the nicest feeling putter grip I have ever put my hands on !

I didn't notice any improvement in my game going from runners (I wear a walking/hiking type runner with rough leather and mesh) to golf shoes, however if you live in a climate like I do (Vancouver) where it rains often and the courses can be soggy and muddy, it is *much* easier to clean off a my golf shoes than my runners !! This of course leaves more time for apres-golf beverages !!

I use my sand wedge (56 deg CG11) probably more than any other club, other than my putter. I do have a 52 deg GW, but it is not a cavity back and I often his mit with it, and as a result my SW usually ends up going further and straighter (not to mention with more confidence).

Thanks for the advice. I have looked at the Callaway Big Bertha irons as possibly being a good upgrade, it is bit more than I was going to spend (and I definately would not be able to also get a driver or wood aswell), but if the consensus is that I should just stick with my 5 wood and not bother with a 3 wood or driver for now (and instead get better irons) then I will take that advise. On the irons, I know you should always get irons a bit better than you are... should I be looking at the Big Bertha irons, or the X-18? I think both are considered "Game Improvement Irons", just one moreso than the other. Thanks again!

Hi All, I just started golfing last spring, took some lessons from a teaching pro at my local range, and have been rapidly improving (went from extremely sucking, to just strait sucking!). Currently I probably would shoot around 108 on a par 72 (avg double bogey per hole) One thing that became obvious is my clubs were not very good. Because I wasn't sure if I would like it, and didn't know much about gear, I started with one of those "Ram G-Force" box sets that includes a 4-PW Cavity Back Irons, a 3 Hybrid, 3 & 5 Woods, and a Driver. I found out quickly (with the help of my pro) that the graphite shafts on the woods and driver I had were all way to flexible (like super seniors or kids flex) which explained why I couldn't hit a decent shot with those, but was doing ok with the irons. Since then, I pulled out all the crappy shafted RAM woods and driver from my back, and got a Callaway Big Bertha Titanium 5 Wood which I have been extremely happy with, and hit around 150-160 feet (and usually onto the correct fairway). I do have a Ram 3 Hybrid (Steel Shaft), however I cannot hit it consistently at all. My bag currently looks like this: Callaway Big Bertha TI 5 Wood (18* 42.5 Regular Flex 42.5") - works very well for me! Ram G-force 3 Hybrid (Steel Shaft, cant hit worth a darn) Ram G-force 4-PW Irons (these I can hit pretty well) Ram Laser 52 & 58* Wedges (I hit these great!) My question is this... I have some money to spend on another club purchase/upgrade. I don't have enough to buy a whole new iron set, but I can pretty much afford any fairway wood/driver/hybrid that I want. Since I already have a very good 5 wood, I am leaning toward getting a 3 wood. I could get a driver, but I am not confident that my swing is good enough to be consistent with a driver. I am not sure about a hybrid given how poorly the one I have now is working for me. I am primarily using my 5 wood for shots off the tee (it is effectively my driver right now) If I get a 3 wood, I can get the matching Callaway Big Bertha TI 3 wood, which is 16* and 43.5" shaft. However, that is only 2* less loft than my 5 wood (normally wouldn't there by 4* of difference between a 3 and 5 ?) and I am a bit concerned that the 43.5" shaft is maybe too long. I supposed I could get it and have them shorten the shaft a 1/2" ? I could also get the Callaway X Fairway 3 Wood, which is 15* and only a 43" shaft, although it does have a bit of a smaller head (maybe not as good for shots off the tee?) What would you guys recommend? Thank you in advance.