New Golf Clubs

Well, I was definitely due for a change. I splurged a bit in 2001 and bought brand new clubs, bag, putter, etc. I am a slightly better golfer now, so I figured it's time to splurge some more (although in retrospect, this should have probably been an incremental spend rather than an all-at-once thing, as my face-to-face sit down conversation with my wife this afternoon can attest). Oh well, what's done is done...

OK, so my bag is predominantly TaylorMade now. Yes, even got a new bag. What can I say - I am not much of a shopping spree type of guy, but it was bad this afternoon (yes, I took some vacation hours off work, but what can you say). Anyway, here's my current bag (and contents, if anyone is wondering).

TaylorMade Essex Stand/Cart Bag (black/silver)
TaylorMade R580XD 10.5* Regular Flex Neutral Bias Graphite Driver
TaylorMade Rescue TP Dual 16* Steel Shaft Hodysseyybrid
TaylorMade RAC OS Steel Shaft Wide-Sole Irons 3-PW
Cleveland CG11 60* Loft Wedge
Odyssey White Hot XG-3 Putter

Carrying the bag is my ultra-light BagBoy LT440 Pull Cart (complete with beverage holder, scorecard holder, very large detachable wheels).

I am probably going to pick up one more compoent for the bag - a Ping G5 Graphite 7-Wood - I'll get this in the next week.

I did forego the 3W and 5W this time around. I never used the 5W in my previous Jazz set, and the Ping G5 7W would be sufficient enough for the loft and some distance. I've never used a hybrid club before, but the 16* Rescue club will basically replace the need for a 2I or a 3W. I was going to go for a G5 hybrid, but TaylorMade basically invented the hybrid club, so I have to go for that. I did not hit the hybrid clubs at all on site, and the reason why is that I expect to use them mostly in the rough or tough lies. I doubt I'll be teeing off with it much.

All that being said, I did test all the clubs after at the range/practice compound, where I spent around 2.5 hours this afternoon. The irons feel really nice weight-wise. I had a harder time with the hybrid at first, but I figured out how to get the most out of it - I tend to top a lot of my balls, but I made a mental adjustment to basically "dig" at the balls with driver and hybrid, and to my shock, it worked well. I didn't care if I got a ton of dirt - since I topped it mostly before, I wasn't even near dirt. Now that I make a conscious decision to dig at it with my shot style, I made tremendously good contact and get good distance (and I tend to not hook it as much). I generally play well with high irons and my pitching/putting is the better part of my game.

In terms of balls, I have historically used Maxfli exclusively with Strata occasionally (harder to find). That may in fact change this year. No, I am not interested in feeding the Titlelist corporate machine and am not good enough to use V1x balls (at around $8-9 a ball, I'd say no thanks). I know that Callway balls suck really bad, so I may go for one of two things: 1) a totally different flavour of Maxfli, or...believe it or not...try the Nike balls. We'll see. I can't keep using the same ball without trying out other stuff.

Despite the fact that my wife was not entirely thrilled with my purchase (she did seem to come to an understanding as the day wore on and as I pleaded with desperation), this purchase came at a good time. I've been invited to one of my client's annual golf tournament (this is a large Canadian IT staffing firm) next month. It's at one of those ritzy courses, so I may as well tune up with new gear, so I don't embarrass myself...too much.

If anyone is looking to play a couple of rounds before then, you can contact me.

It's Not a Myth - Golf Clubs Do Improve Your Game

Well, with the Masters coming this weekend, it's a good signal that it's almost golf season again. Ah, last year was the best. From July to about September, I golfed with my brother every week and he beat me every week pretty badly until I switched to some new equipment, and then he barely beat me (and I mean barely - like one or two strokes rather than 20). Here's what I got last year which I highly recommend:

TaylorMade R580XD driver - this driver came out in 2004-2005 and was around $800.00 - many pros used this and I can now see why. I picked mine up for a a bit less than that, and it was still brand new/sealed (oh, loft on it is 10.5, fade). Man, does this thing rock. I actually didn't have a driver before - was using my Jazz FatCat2 1W - of course, it was steel shaft, so not much snap and power. The 580XD got me some good yardage...when I made contact.

Cleveland Golf CG11 Loft Wedge. Got this from a golf dealer in the area through eBay. This really helped my short game near the greens - before I used my pitching wedge and often launched it - also, when I had to turn my clubface and not really play the natural lie of the PW, my game sucked. The distance was hard to gauge. With the GC11, I no longer have to yell audibly at the ball to stop rolling. It's a nice pitch under 60 yards.

By far, the greatest weapon I got last year to improve my golf game was my Odyssey White Hot XG #3 putter (R/H, 34" shaft). I can tell you for a fact that not all putters are made the same. I know most pros on the PGA use the Odyssey, but man, oh man, did it ever feel nice on the hands and it was easy to stroke the (hmmm...that doesn't sound very good, but I digress). I was able to cut down my 3 and 4-putts on the green. Very nice addition.

Don't underestimate that dragging your clubs in your bag will have an effect on your body movement and positioning (not to mention exhaustion level). No wonder the pros all have caddies. Anyway, I don't have the cash to pay for someone to caddy for me, so I got a Bag Boy deluxe golf pull cart (brushed aluminum construction, massive wheels which are removable). Very space-tech, but man, I have more energy on the course now and with a historically bad back (and bad neck last year from the car accident), I had to get the BagBoy. It was a nice addition. Also holds my beverage, has a writing area (weatherproof) and has a nice adjustable handle with grips.

My standard set, aside from the above is a Jazz FatCat2 steel shaft. It's a really good set (particularly the irons), but I'm glad I got the extra clubs last year.

This year, I may work on the balls - I've historically always used Maxfli A3, Maxfli Patriots (no longer made) and Maxfli Revolution. My brother swears that there is a reason the pros all use Titlelist V1x balls. I can't convince myself to cough up enough cash to justify a $7-8 per ball golf budget. I spent a mint on A10 balls, which I subsequently lost in a week. Besides, I think the pros know how to take advantage of the strengths and features of the ball like spin, etc. I can't do anything close to that, anyway. Actually, I probably will go with Strata Tour Professional or Tour Ultimate balls...I think I can find them.

By the way, I'm picking Mickelson to win the Masters this year, though my patriotic favourite is Stephen Ames, though my cultural favourite is K.J. Choi. I just love his name...