GolfCats

[Stupid Fitz]

Golf clubs question for the better players on this blog: 

I am improving, but still a high handicapper.  When I got started agin this summer I knew I needed more modern clubs than my 2002 Bertha irons and my 1998ish Biggest Big Bertha Diver, so I used mygolfspy.com to research “super game improvement” irons and just bought the ones that seemed to be a wise choice for a near beginner.  I got the 2024 third place club in their Super Game improvement category, which are the Cleveland Halo’s, just because they seemed the most stupid friendly and I wanted it make things as easy to get re-started on golf as possible.

https://mygolfspy.com/buyers-guides/irons/best-super-game-improvement-irons-of-2024/

I like that the halos have good distance, and they definitely seem to have a large sweet spot. I could probably be happy with these clubs for quite a while, but I am wondering if I would be better off moving to a “Game Improvement” iron instead of “Super Game Improvement” at some point in the near future? Is it better to start getting used to an iron that I am likely to like a lot longer as I improve? Or, do I wait quite a while longer to do a fitting and only dare to change when the data shows I absolutely hit better with a different club?

I practice almost every day and take regular lessons. My current rate of improvement is pretty darn good (or at least I am super pleased by it).

The best advice I can give, based on experience, is to get your clubs fitted.  I did this a couple years ago when buying new irons (TM P790s), and my handicap dropped from a 20 to a 13.  A good fitting company can tweak literally everything on the club according to your swing.  If you feel like your current irons aren't going be long term for you, I would go to get a fitting and chat with them about what you are looking for long term.

I am going to give it another few months and get fitted before the spring. I want a full blown no holds barred fitting. Need to find somewhere that does an exhaustive job of evaluating across brands with no limitations based on what they are pushing. Also a place that can swap and try loads of different shaft, lofts and lies. None of the big box stores or chains even come close to doing this.

A friend of mine used Golf MD here in KC. He went away from his regular club just to get a different opinion. They will use all brands. They actually told him that he was fine with what he was using currently so they obviously didn't pressure him to buy anything specific.

[Pete]

Golf clubs question for the better players on this blog: 

I am improving, but still a high handicapper.  When I got started agin this summer I knew I needed more modern clubs than my 2002 Bertha irons and my 1998ish Biggest Big Bertha Diver, so I used mygolfspy.com to research “super game improvement” irons and just bought the ones that seemed to be a wise choice for a near beginner.  I got the 2024 third place club in their Super Game improvement category, which are the Cleveland Halo’s, just because they seemed the most stupid friendly and I wanted it make things as easy to get re-started on golf as possible.

https://mygolfspy.com/buyers-guides/irons/best-super-game-improvement-irons-of-2024/

I like that the halos have good distance, and they definitely seem to have a large sweet spot. I could probably be happy with these clubs for quite a while, but I am wondering if I would be better off moving to a “Game Improvement” iron instead of “Super Game Improvement” at some point in the near future? Is it better to start getting used to an iron that I am likely to like a lot longer as I improve? Or, do I wait quite a while longer to do a fitting and only dare to change when the data shows I absolutely hit better with a different club?

I practice almost every day and take regular lessons. My current rate of improvement is pretty darn good (or at least I am super pleased by it).

The best advice I can give, based on experience, is to get your clubs fitted.  I did this a couple years ago when buying new irons (TM P790s), and my handicap dropped from a 20 to a 13.  A good fitting company can tweak literally everything on the club according to your swing.  If you feel like your current irons aren't going be long term for you, I would go to get a fitting and chat with them about what you are looking for long term.

I am going to give it another few months and get fitted before the spring. I want a full blown no holds barred fitting. Need to find somewhere that does an exhaustive job of evaluating across brands with no limitations based on what they are pushing. Also a place that can swap and try loads of different shaft, lofts and lies. None of the big box stores or chains even come close to doing this.

A friend of mine used Golf MD here in KC. He went away from his regular club just to get a different opinion. They will use all brands. They actually told him that he was fine with what he was using currently so they obviously didn't pressure him to buy anything specific.

That’s fantastic. I hate the sales pitch part

[Pete]

Sometimes I can hear a swing instruction or tip for what seems like forever and it never works, then suddenly someone comes along and explains it a different way and it clicks for me. It’s so maddening.

For example, I’d always heard people talk about having the “same swing” for all the clubs, and Jack Nicklaus would say that. However, fairway woods always troubled me…50-50 chance I was going to hit it thin or chunk it instead of catching it clean. Then I heard someone suggest I take a wood and choke down to about 7 iron length and try and hit the wood just like it was a 7 iron…good shoulder turn, descending attack angle,  plenty of acceleration through the hitting area, etc. and that clicked for me. 

Overall, I like the way Nick Faldo and Danny Maude both explain things. Both talk about what stuff is supposed to “feel” like quite a bit.

[Stupid Fitz]

Pete is gone so someone else has to help me with golf now. I've been doing much better. I had my clubs regripped and I much prefer the feel so things have been going pretty good on the range......until yesterday. So I was just killing it. Wind was blowing like crazy and i'm still nailing everything. I actually had this thought in my head that this may be the best I've ever consistently hit at a range session. Start with G, then 9, then 7, just crushing it. Got out the 5, hit a couple of decent shots then it all just went to crap. Like, I couldn't hit anything solid and everything just felt uncomfortable again. I started shooting everything to the right. I got out my gap again to try and recalibrate, and was able to hit a couple of ok shots, but I had to leave because I just couldn't hit anything again. My assumption is that I stopped turning my hand over at contact for some reason leaving the face wide open causing the awful contact and me almost killing people to my right. I hate not being able to self correct still. Any pro tips here? Also, make your kids play golf everyone.

[ben ji]

Pete is gone so someone else has to help me with golf now. I've been doing much better. I had my clubs regripped and I much prefer the feel so things have been going pretty good on the range......until yesterday. So I was just killing it. Wind was blowing like crazy and i'm still nailing everything. I actually had this thought in my head that this may be the best I've ever consistently hit at a range session. Start with G, then 9, then 7, just crushing it. Got out the 5, hit a couple of decent shots then it all just went to crap. Like, I couldn't hit anything solid and everything just felt uncomfortable again. I started shooting everything to the right. I got out my gap again to try and recalibrate, and was able to hit a couple of ok shots, but I had to leave because I just couldn't hit anything again. My assumption is that I stopped turning my hand over at contact for some reason leaving the face wide open causing the awful contact and me almost killing people to my right. I hate not being able to self correct still. Any pro tips here? Also, make your kids play golf everyone.

Sometimes you just have to take a break to clear your head and stop overthinking.

I always play some of my best golf on the first 18 of the year just because I'm not overthinking anything. I played at Falcon Lakes on saturday and shot a 93 (which included some 3/4 putts) and only lost 1 ball which is ridiculous for me.

I'm really looking forward to my 104 and losing 8 balls next round!

[ben ji]

Also if you have trouble hitting a 5 or any other club just don't use it. I can smoke my 7 and 5 Iron's but can't hit the 6 iron to save my life so I just don't use it.

It's definitely a mental block but I just avoid it by skipping that club. 

[Phil Titola]

Okay I'm getting back in this year. I need tall clubs that don't cost a billion dollars, any cheap ones that aren't crap?

[ben ji]

Okay I'm getting back in this year. I need tall clubs that don't cost a billion dollars, any cheap ones that aren't crap?

Get the Costco Kirkland brand set.

[DaBigTrain]

Playing 18 this morning at Painted Dunes. First time playing here and just in general in a while. Probably shoot a 74 today.

[Pete]

Playing 18 this morning at Painted Dunes. First time playing here and just in general in a while. Probably shoot a 74 today.

The one in El Paso? How was it?


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[Pete]

Pete is gone so someone else has to help me with golf now. I've been doing much better. I had my clubs regripped and I much prefer the feel so things have been going pretty good on the range......until yesterday. So I was just killing it. Wind was blowing like crazy and i'm still nailing everything. I actually had this thought in my head that this may be the best I've ever consistently hit at a range session. Start with G, then 9, then 7, just crushing it. Got out the 5, hit a couple of decent shots then it all just went to crap. Like, I couldn't hit anything solid and everything just felt uncomfortable again. I started shooting everything to the right. I got out my gap again to try and recalibrate, and was able to hit a couple of ok shots, but I had to leave because I just couldn't hit anything again. My assumption is that I stopped turning my hand over at contact for some reason leaving the face wide open causing the awful contact and me almost killing people to my right. I hate not being able to self correct still. Any pro tips here? Also, make your kids play golf everyone.

When this happens to me, I focus on hitting some short punch shots with a good shoulder turn and no arms. Fixed me right up. My low point feel comes back and my left-right dispersion seems to kinda reset


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[Pete]

Okay I'm getting back in this year. I need tall clubs that don't cost a billion dollars, any cheap ones that aren't crap?

You can get any clubs you want and just have them add length and re-grip them at the same time. Edwin Watts is cheapest/best/fastest unless you play at a private club.


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[Pete]

I rough ridin' worship the mygolfspy.com buyers guides on clubs, and played several highly rated  Begginner to mid-handicap “super game improvement” and “game improvement” clubs over the past year getting back into golf. Al different used sets that I picked up.  Cleveland Halos were great for when I needed a ton of help figuring out the low point of my swing. Very forgiving and lots of distance. Very easy to find the sweet spot on these clubs…honestly they felt amazing and I’d still be using them if I had no vanity, but alas I do.

Mizuno hot metal 923 HL were super accurate and forgiving. I like these a lot. I found some Taylormade Stealth’s on marketplace for cheap and I recently switched to these. I do love the feel, and they aren’t better than the Mizuno’s but I hit the Stealth’s 1 club length better with barely adequate height so I decided to go with distance to have 1 less club and added another fairway wood. I go with 6-gap with the stealths.  My son has the Calloway Rougue Max OS and they are easy to launch high and far, I’d be happy playing those as well.

I only carry one specialty wedge. rough ridin' old man style Cleveland smart sole full face. I hit it way better than three other god damn Vokey’s I have tried. It’s money out of the sand because of the enormous sole, and has 14 bounce.  It works well on fluffy lies, but can never use it on a tight lie or I will launch it like a 1 iron.

I now have a ton of rough ridin' fairway woods. Ping 5,7,9 and a Calloway 11 wood. I hit the fairway woods with towering height (for me) and I find them to be just as forgiving as hybrids. 

My current driver is the best driver (for me) that I have ever hit. Ping G440 SFT 9 degree.  I am like Tiger woods good with this thing.  I had the earlier version G430 SFT and loved it too but the G440 version is no joke 20 yards longer when I find the center of the face. That’s a super big deal with me…my accuracy on approach shots improves a ton if you give me 20 more yards.


I have a lab putter and liked it, but I tried the mygolfspy top rated mallet putter this year and I rough ridin' love it. It was a $120 rough ridin' Wilson! It’s great I’m very happy with it and lab stays out of my bag.


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[Pete]

I bought a membership at a public golf course in MN this summer and it has been great. I can play at anytime, so play a lot on weekday evenings and then try and grab the first tee time of the day on Saturday and Sunday, and if my back is feeling good I will go play again on Saturday or Sunday evening.

I started an official GHIN handicap number for the first time this summer. Started in May as 17.7 have worked down to 14.1 now. I play from the “White” tees, which most dudes my age play from. My handicap is prolly going to go back up to 15 tho.  I had a few super low rounds from the old man tees playing with my father-in-law.  We decided to play it tough and by the book and post the rounds to handicap. I rough ridin' dominated now that my driver is doing what I want it to! Those short distances from the Red’s are rough ridin' fun…pounding (for me) driver and hitting short irons and wedges into greens is a blast. Even with the scoring differential of the tees favored in, I was shooting rounds with a differential of 11, and that is lights out good for a dude with my low-mediocre athleticism


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[wetwillie]

Sounds like that Golf Simulator is starting to pay off

[Pete]

Sounds like that Golf Simulator is starting to pay off

It really has. Very pleased with the whole process.


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[DaBigTrain]

Playing 18 this morning at Painted Dunes. First time playing here and just in general in a while. Probably shoot a 74 today.

The one in El Paso? How was it?


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Yeah we played the East/West course. It was well kept and really pretty there. If you got outside of the fairway it was all desert and hard to find your ball but I finished 18 over so I was happy. Wasn’t that busy and I would def play there again.