MGP

According to a couple people I know who've tried them they don't work. Save your money and spend more time searching for your balls.

Different company. Burton has been making golf bags for something like 50 years. It appears they have been acquired in the last year or so by ForeFront Holdings, Inc. This same company also owns Datrek, according to their website. Hopefully their marketing will get better because Burton bags are very high quality -- I'd put them up there with Sun Mountain any day.

Most cart bags are on the huge side, especially with 14 full-way dividers. The bag designers figure if you are going to be lugging the bag around on a cart that size isn't that big an issue -- it only has to fit in the bag space on a cart. I have a Burton CXS hybrid bag that can be used as a stand or cart bag. It has 14 full-way dividers, is medium wight (about 6 lbs.) and has legs that lock closed and carry straps that stow away in their own pocket for cart use. No putter tube but it does have an external putter well/clip. I generally keep my putter in one of the club slots but I have used the putter clip and works ok. It's quite a good cart bag (riding or push cart) and a decent stand bag. Burton CXS Hybrid Bag Burton CXS Hybrid Bag Burton CXS Hybrid Bag

Sure he is. A GPS or rangefinder provides the same function to a golfer as a caddie with a yardage book. And for the record, I have a GPS and love it.

Not only that, every professional golfer in the world knows at least a year ahead of time what it takes to qualify for an automatic invitation. Monty had plenty of time to prove that he belonged there, he just didn't play well enough. He's not the only one but he seems to be the one whining the most about it. The other players who get discretionary invites from the committee can be seen the same was as players that get sponsor's exemptions on regular tour events. There are no guarantees with these -- they are not necessarily the best players not in the field but the committe (or sponsors) want them in the field for whatever reason they like.

No, what they are saying is forged or cast... doesn't matter. It's the material the club is made of and it's shape/design that make a difference in feel. Every study I've seen on this (inlcuding with tour pros) and everything metallurgists I know tell me make me believe this is the truth.

The D2 Feel is a great ball. For the money it's an exceptional ball. It was my gamer most of the time all last season. I'm really looking forward to trying the new Top Flite Gamer ball, the recent Golf Magazine ball test issue rated it longer and higher in spin than a lot of much more expensive balls. Basically a D2 Feel with more spin and longer. It will still be a bargain at $20/doz. if they play they way the testers said they play. Maybe it's just the courses I play but I find lost Top Flites (usually some model of Top Flite XL) 3:1 or 4:1 over any other ball model. Of course that could also be because really bad golfers play the ol' Rock Flites and lose more of them. As for the D2 Feels, give them a shot -- they are a very good ball. Also try the Gamer as well, word is they are even better and only slightly more expensive.

I've been playing golf for almost 35 years. That entire time Titleist has been the #1 ball in golf, that should tell you something. That said, I don't play a Pro-V1. They are great balls but when I do play a Titleist it's usually a NXT Tour. I spin them plenty and like the cost a lot better. I also play a few other "top mid-range" balls, mostly I stock up on them when they go one sale at the end of a model year. Basically anything that's got a relatively soft cover and fits a 95 mph swing works for me.

I "upgraded" my hybrid shafts to steel during the later part of last season and it was the best thing I ever did. I pulled the tip weights and used slightly heavier and shorter shafts than the original graphite. The swingweight of them is only a couple points higher now but I honestly can't tell the difference. The big difference for me is I hit them as long as I ever did but much straighter and I find it easier to work the ball with them now. There are a lot of great lightweight, high quality steel shafts out there to choose from so it isn't necessarily a "downgrade". Just an alternate opinion and a little thinking outside the box. As for your original questions: What is the hosel bore diameter of your hybrids and what shafts are you considering? If the shaft you are considering is smaller diameter than the hosel bore then it may be quite possible to shim the shaft. If you are looking to put a .335" shaft in a .370" hosel that can be done but it's stretching the limits of what I'd feel comfortable shimming. A .350" shaft in a .370" hosel or .335" shaft in a .350" hosel is no problem, I do it all the time.

Almost all the SK Fiber shafts are black. The best golf shafts (almost) no one knows about and reasonably priced too. SK Fiber Shafts

1. Pull grip 2. Prep inside of putter shaft butt and outside of extension. 3. Dry fit extension to putter shaft. 4. Epoxy extension to putter shaft. 5. Trim extension to length. 6. Install putter grip. Be aware that lengthening the putter shaft will cause the swingweight to go up. This may or may not matter to you. You can counter the effects of this by backweighting the putter in the grip end of the shaft. There are a couple different systems available to do this, they are available at the same places that sell clubmaking supplies.

I voted fairway wood because if I added a 15th club it would probably be a 3+ wood, although I'd really use it as a 2nd higher lofted driver. It wouldn't get used but for maybe 2 or 3 shots a round at most. Otherwise I've got all the clubs I need in my bag for pretty much every shot I need to make. I doubt if adding a 15th club would help most golfers. According to the USGA statistics I've seen the average handicap hasn't changed much in about 25 years and we all know clubs and balls have gotten much better in that time period. Crappy hacker golfers (like most of us are) are still crappy hacker golfers even with all the great equipment we can afford.

I prefer a more compact hybrid myself. Here are some possibilities for you to look at -- I've demo'd most of them and they are all good clubs, just depends exactly what you're looking for and what fits your game. Tour Edge Mens Bazooka JMAX Iron-Woods Adams Mens IDEA a2 Hybrid Utility Clubs Adams Mens Tech OS Hybrid Woods Adams Mens IDEA Pro Hybrid i-Woods Nickent Mens 3DX DC Ironwoods Titleist Mens PT 585-H Utility Woods I build a lot of my own clubs and as soon as these heads are in stock I'll be building a set of them to replace my TaylorMade hybrids: MALTBY MFH HYBRID HEADS

Yep, I've seen it several times. It's not a bad show even though it's not a hard core "golf show"... more of a travel show with golf mxied in. Chad was good but I'd rather play a-round with Gia...

None of my wedges are truly "low bounce" (< 5°). My gap and lob wedge are moderate bounce and my sand wedge is higher. Between my gap and lob wedge I can hit off almost any lie, the sand wedge I really only use for bunkers and softer lies. I don't generally hit full shots with anything but my pitching wedge and occasionally my gap wedge.

My experience this past season playing with a GPS all season long and measuring a lot of drives is that most people think they carry the ball 20-30 yds. further than they actually do and think they get a lot more rollout than they actually do. I played with a lot of guys that thought they drove the ball 280 yds. but in reality it was more like 240 yds. I got a lot of "That thing can't be right!" comments when I measured those guy's drives. I didn't keep any stats but I'd say the majority of people I played with drove the ball well under 250 yds. as measured by the GPS. I do play regularly with a long hitter and he routinely hits it 280 yds and dead straight with an occasional 300 yd. bomb. He is very much a minority though, I played with maybe two other guys all year (about 60 rds.) that hit it as long. Me, I average about 230-240 yds and keep the ball in play. It took a while to get used to being outdriven on every hole by 40-50 yds.

I have a ton of different headcovers but I just got some great magnetic covers for my Driver and Fairway woods this past year. I love 'em and I use 'em. I have iron covers too and use them. I'd like to post this picture of my bag in jfrain2004's honor

Good Answer. My best shot ever didn't have as happy an ending as it could have. Par 3, 143 yds, very narrow two tiered green. The pin was tucked in the far right hand corner on the top tier and there was a pretty stiff right to left breeze. I hit a nice little cut 7 iron that held against the breeze and tracked right on the stick the entire way. It flew in the cup on the fly but sadly popped back out. I had a tap in for birdie which was a letdown. That may have been the most purely I've ever struck a ball in my life. I saw the shot in my mind, executed it and it flew exactly as I envisioned it. The group waiting on the next tee watched the whole thing said they'd never seen anything like it before. The best shot I ever hit that actually went in the hole was when I was in college. I used to play with a friend and both he and I were the #1 player on our high school teams. We were evenly matched and had a lot of great match play games, we almost always played for a 12 pack of beer -- which to a college student was better than money. One match we came to the par 4 18th all square. He was a better driver than me but I was better from 150 yds. in and had a better short game. As usual, we both put our drives in the middle of the fairway but he outdrove me by probably 25 yds. I had around 150 to the pin and he was looking at a wedge in. I was more than a little worried as I really didn't have the money to buy the beer so the pressure was on. I pulled my 7 iron (favorite club) and hit an absolutely perfect shot. It landed about 6 ft. in front of the pin, hopped twice and gently rolled into the middle of the cup. That was probably the best eagle I've ever made and it came with the pressure on. My buddy just looked at me and shook his head.

The hybrid cart/stand bags are pretty nice when you ride a lot or play with a push cart (which I do). I have a Burton CXS hybrid bag that works really well for push cart or golf car use. It's reasonably light, has 14 full length dividers, plenty of storage and the legs lock shut when you've got it on a cart. Burton CXS Hybrid Bag

That's classic Seve. I could almost hear him saying... "I will play a beach stone with a little white paint on it if you like!"

Doesn't work with Windows 2000. Bummer. I was really looking forward to using this software too.

Quite true but nothing wrong with that, it's good marketing. How ironic, given your first statement. Maybe you ought to fix your swing.

I was going to suggest the same things, in fact that's what I've done with my bag this past year. I don't play a 3i or 4i and play hybrids instead but they are re-shafted to play more like long irons (DG S300's, 1/2" short) so my gaps between 5i and 4W are quite even now. The same concept should work with someone that plays a 3i and 4i well too, I think. I agree about not dropping any of the wedges either -- I added a lob wedge this past year and find I use it a lot more than I thought I would. I find that I hit several low punch shots a round with it, the ones where you play the ball back in your stance and hit a low shot with a lot of backspin that drops, bounces once then checks to a stop. I can toss those right at the pin with confidence now and wouldn't want to give up that kind of control around the green.

Those are Champ Stinger spikes. Quite a few shoes are coming with them as the standard spikes -- most Nike golf shoes have them now but Nike gets them colored to match the shoes. I have them in a couple pairs of my golf shoes too, they're great spikes. Champ Stinger Spikes

Peter Dawson should drag his butt over to the U.S. and play a course he's never played before with no caddy or yardage book and see what he thinks then. I think one of the reasons the R&A; is so against them is that it's much much more common for courses in the UK to have caddies with lots of local knowledge. You can hardly find a caddy anymore here in the US, let alone one with local knowledge.