PGA / LPGA / personal golf

[MagpieRacer]

When I was learning how to play, the guy that ran the clinics at one of the local ranges casually mentioned that I could probably go with larger grips when I got my clubs. I was using one of his irons first the first month or so. Because I wear a 3XL golf glove, I figured the bigger the grips the better. Then Bryson and Jumbomax became a thing so I figured I'd try them. I didn't know any better. I could never really hit them well, then I figured it was because of my right hand so I tried the non-tapered jumbos on a few of them. I actually got my Titleist irons because some huge guy in New Jersey had them on ebay with a whole bunch of the JMX STR8 non-tapered grips which were hard to find and almost as expensive as his whole ebay listing. He also sold me my gamer putter because all his stuff was +1 inch. You can't exactly find 36 inch Evnrolls, and they stopped making the center shafted ones as well.

But, anyway, after buying a few hybrids that still had normal grips, I noticed that I was all of a sudden missing left instead of blocking everything. At that point I knew the grips were the problem. I was looking for a set of irons for my mom and stumbled upon my Cleveland halos used for a great price. They're the same length as my Apexes but with the midsize (and quite heavy) GP tour wrap rubber grips. I like those irons, but they're a senior flex and a bit light. The soles on each club are massive, too, so while it's great for CG I found it really hard to strike the ball into the ground and take divots. They would bounce up and into the ball if I didn't clip them perfectly. The seincluded 3 wedges, too, which have awful grinds (not really any grind, lol) and were really hard to play because they'd dig or shank and you couldn't open them up without making it worse.

Takes so much trial and error sometimes to figure out where ability and equipment crossover. Kinda like me and one length, need to try it to know if it's right and then it's still difficult to know if I was just crap or if it was the clubs 🤣 .

So I've finalised my 2024 setup, added 2 new wedges alongside the 56° Snakebite. Here's some pics:

Cobra RadSpeed driver with regular flex Fujikura Motore X F3 shaft.
Cobra SpeedZone 3 wood with regular flex Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue shaft.
Cobra SpeedZone 3 Hybrid with stiff flex UST Recoil shaft.
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke 4-PW with stiff flex True Temper Elevate 85 MPH shafts.
Cleveland CBX4 ZipCore 50° and 58° with KBS Hi Rev 2.0 115 shafts.
Cobra Snakebite 56° with KBS Hi Rev 2.0 125 shaft.
Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft 4 with Lamkin Soft pistol grip.

Everything has a Lamkin Crossline grip except the 3 wood which has a Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360.

Going to shootout 2 balls, TaylorMade Tour Response, which I've used before and enjoyed and the new Titleist Tour Soft. See which one makes the bag.

The Cleveland wedges are the new additions, a 50° that can act as a lower loft wedge option naturally, but is also good on full shots and should gap from the PW nicely, and a 58° for the lofted shots. They're a cavity back style wedge for a bit more forgiveness but without sacrificing shot making, very, very good wedges. Even better when I got an insane deal from the pro shop at the Golf club. Another local shop were doing buy one get one half price on wedges, including the Cleveland CBX, didn't notice they were the 22 model, went to my club to price match and even though they only had the CBX4 which was only released last week, he still matched the deal.

 

[Omnis]

Well, the new grips are definitely a hit. Just got done with an awful round. Putter couldn't sink anything and driver was top-spin city, struggling to get past the ladies tees. BUT the 3W and 5H were hot, and all my irons were right on the money. It feels so awesome to finally hit a pitching wedge a solid 110 feet and plonk it down on the green, or have a 7-iron actually go way up and land like a dart where you wanted it.

I stopped by the PGA Superstore and played with their demo Ping S159 wedges. I don't think I'm going to keep my PM Grinds in the bag, or maybe I should switch their grips, too. They feel like Ping's Eye2-style E grind, but the Ping felt better for what I would use it for (greenside bunkers) and their H grind felt a lot nicer for everything else I try to do around the greens. There's just too much hosel sitting in the way with how offset the PMs are. I have no way to aim them, I just know to make such and such move with my arms and turn my body, and they'll pop out 10-15 feet before rolling somewhere lol.

 

[Omnis]

Oh, and I gotta say that the Tour Response is one of my favorite balls. Always plays great. I've gotten them every year from TM's site with the GolfNow coupon. You only pay like 2$ for a dozen balls shipped, so that's been nice. TM has one of the best yellow balls out there. It's got a lot of green in it so it pops in twilight. I don't like the broad stripe though. I find that it breaks up the ball too much and makes it easier to blend into the ground instead of popping out at you.

This year I'm gonna grab the new TP5s though

 

[MagpieRacer]

Got a chance to hit the range tonight, first time in over a week, still can't hit the course due to the weather keeping it closed. Meant I could finally test the CBX4 wedges, they felt ridiculously good, very close to zero effort to hit good shots and the 50 on full swings is pretty epic. In all, a good session. Aside from my driver swing just flat out leaving me.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Finally played some golf today. 18 holes of Wentworth followed by 18 holes on the St Andrews Old Course. Played terribly, but given the time since my last round that was to be expected. Particularly struggled with driving, was hitting my 3 wood further and more consistently off the tee than the driver.

Wentworth - 125 gross. 97 net.

St Andrews - 110 gross. 84 net.

 

[Omnis]

I put my best-ever 9 on the scorecard the other day: a 46 with 20 putts on absolutely awful greens. Can't stress enough how utterly awesome it feels to get your irons airborne and land them on greens. It's so much more satisfying than always running them up. It's wild how big of a gamechanger the grip situation has been.

The back 9 was horrid, though. I didn't even keep track because the greens were even worse, I was 4-putting, and I was hitting water left and right. I drove a ways to play there because I found a deal for $20, but I'm not going back to that course for a while lol. The thing I hate most with golf courses is when their greens are trashed so they grow the grass long and roll it flat. It's never consistent. I'd rather play on cow pasture fairways with perfect greens than to be on amazing fairways with marginal greens. But, hey, it's hard to find a morning time at all, let alone anything under $45 (for afternoon) around here.

I think I'm at the point where I shouldn't be worried about breaking 100, but should focus on breaking 90. It was a beautiful day so I ran over to my local course after having lunch and got a bunch of slomo swing video to see what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I was hitting high bombing draws with the driver all day so I wanted to capture that. The UW was the same. The shorter clubs are still a little steep and I'm kind of throwing my right arm at the ball instead of having a more natural path. I think it's because I'm playing with a spine angle that's appropriate for driver but I'm not bent forward enough for the smaller clubs.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I put my best-ever 9 on the scorecard the other day: a 46 with 20 putts on absolutely awful greens. Can't stress enough how utterly awesome it feels to get your irons airborne and land them on greens. It's so much more satisfying than always running them up. It's wild how big of a gamechanger the grip situation has been.

The back 9 was horrid, though. I didn't even keep track because the greens were even worse, I was 4-putting, and I was hitting water left and right. I drove a ways to play there because I found a deal for $20, but I'm not going back to that course for a while lol. The thing I hate most with golf courses is when their greens are trashed so they grow the grass long and roll it flat. It's never consistent. I'd rather play on cow pasture fairways with perfect greens than to be on amazing fairways with marginal greens. But, hey, it's hard to find a morning time at all, let alone anything under $45 (for afternoon) around here.

I think I'm at the point where I shouldn't be worried about breaking 100, but should focus on breaking 90. It was a beautiful day so I ran over to my local course after having lunch and got a bunch of slomo swing video to see what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong. I was hitting high bombing draws with the driver all day so I wanted to capture that. The UW was the same. The shorter clubs are still a little steep and I'm kind of throwing my right arm at the ball instead of having a more natural path. I think it's because I'm playing with a spine angle that's appropriate for driver but I'm not bent forward enough for the smaller clubs.

Real nice driver swing there, left arm extension is what I need to work on. Also very jealous that the weather looks real nice where you are there.

Speaking of driver, decided the RadSpeed wasn't giving me enough room for error with mis-hits so it's gone and ive gone Callaway. Last years Paradym X, got an irresistible deal on one. Project X HZRDUS Silver Gen4 stiff shaft.

And then today I was perusing the pro shop at my local driving range and stumbled across a Paradym X 4 hybrid, ex demo in top condition, stiff shaft, so bought that on a whim. It will replace my Cobra 3 hybrid, which I was going to lose anyway as frankly I just didn't like it and couldn't hit it. This Paradym X is ridiculous, it's 21° and I've lofted it down to 20°, perfect weight and it should be an absolute weapon on course.

 

[Omnis]

Great pickup on the Hybrid. I absolutely love the Callaway hybrids with the adjustable sleeve. They're so versatile. I have a 4H Epic Super, a 5H Apex, and a 6H Apex. Only difference is the Supers have the Ti face, whereas the others are steel. Comparing data from 2nd Swing and other videos with launch monitor testing, they all test out the same. Anyway, I can loft them up to replace 5-6-7 irons or I can loft them down to play 3-4-5 with my 6i-AW irons. I throw them in the bag for certain courses or when I start blocking or slicing my woods too much, since they will always miss left. The 4H is probably the most versatile club and should see tons of 2nd shot use.

Just do yourself a favor and take some polishing compound to the top of that Paradym driver. The spiderwebs would drive me crazy.

 

[MagpieRacer]

First hit of the Paradym X driver today. Far more consistent than the Cobra already, need to work a bit more with it to build confidence and speed, none of my castle tees sat the ball in a good place with it either but overall a positive first impression. The Paradym X Hybrid is an absolute weapon, I understand why you like the Callaway ones @Omnis . Felt like I couldn't miss with it, everything was straight and flying between 180-210 yards, a proper fairway finder.

Driver video:


Definitely need to start bringing the backswing higher and need to get the momentum flowing a bit better, looks like I'm rushing the backswing to generate power but all I'm doing is hurting the downswing.

Short snippet of hitting the hybrid.

 

[lilcat89]

I played a round a couple of weeks ago at my local course. I started strong with some pars on the front, but the back kinda fell apart. I finished with a par too, so that helped. My putter was pretty hot all day. Considering it was only my second time playing since I moved in September, I'm not too mad about it. All of my yardages are messed up now that I am not at altitude anymore! I need to find a little par3 course here to work on yardages and the irons. A driving range without mats is a must too. I will have to post some of the equipment later.

 

[Omnis]

First hit of the Paradym X driver today. Far more consistent than the Cobra already, need to work a bit more with it to build confidence and speed, none of my castle tees sat the ball in a good place with it either but overall a positive first impression. The Paradym X Hybrid is an absolute weapon, I understand why you like the Callaway ones @Omnis . Felt like I couldn't miss with it, everything was straight and flying between 180-210 yards, a proper fairway finder.

Driver video:


Definitely need to start bringing the backswing higher and need to get the momentum flowing a bit better, looks like I'm rushing the backswing to generate power but all I'm doing is hurting the downswing.

Short snippet of hitting the hybrid.

I used to have a backswing like that but couldn't generate any speed. I'm shocked that your clubhead speed is that good-- you must have a real hammer of a right arm.

Don't bother getting your backswing higher like that, because your shoulder won't move any higher than where you have it. You have to internally rotate the left shoulder and turn the chest back more to give room for your arm to swing upwards and away from your shirt collar. I used to come back with my lead arm against my chest and raise it back from there, but it's actually more like lifting your arm straight in front of you but having it track along the swing plane with chest rotation and side bend. Watch this at like 3 minutes in...



I still struggle with the top of the backswing, especially if I'm golfing first thing in the morning, because you really need to train the rotation in order to hit the right position. Those guys like Rory and DJ have elite spinal/trunkal flexibility and strength. Rory can turn like 270 degrees left to right and that's how he's able to hit bombs so easily.

edit: here's another better video of their on the topic:



Their whole Pros vs Ams series is priceless.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I used to have a backswing like that but couldn't generate any speed. I'm shocked that your clubhead speed is that good-- you must have a real hammer of a right arm.

Don't bother getting your backswing higher like that, because your shoulder won't move any higher than where you have it. You have to internally rotate the left shoulder and turn the chest back more to give room for your arm to swing upwards and away from your shirt collar. I used to come back with my lead arm against my chest and raise it back from there, but it's actually more like lifting your arm straight in front of you but having it track along the swing plane with chest rotation and side bend. Watch this at like 3 minutes in...



I still struggle with the top of the backswing, especially if I'm golfing first thing in the morning, because you really need to train the rotation in order to hit the right position. Those guys like Rory and DJ have elite spinal/trunkal flexibility and strength. Rory can turn like 270 degrees left to right and that's how he's able to hit bombs so easily.

edit: here's another better video of their on the topic:



Their whole Pros vs Ams series is priceless.

Appreciate the tips and resources 👌.

Had another 2 hours on the trackman sims yesterday as the course was still closed. Followed last week's pattern of playing a difficult course and then an easier one. This time taking on the number 1 course in the UK and number 3 in the world, Royal County Down. Played it from the yellow tees, with auto-putting set to match the average make % for my handicap range. Shot 101 gross (+30) 72 net (+1).

For the easier course, went for another UK course, Dorset Golf and country club. Some tricky holes with some water hazards and well placed bunkers but much kinder than Royal County Down. Played a very good 86 gross (+14) net 66 (-6) which I was chuffed to bits with.

Course was open today, tried to play but got halfway up the 4th hole, picked up and went home. Not sure how they deemed the course playable, was like trying to play in Shreks swamp.

 

[lilcat89]

Do you like using the simulator to play a round, @MagpieRacer? How accurate do you feel that they are? I have only used them in golf stores to try out new clubs, but there are a few close by to me that I have thought about trying.

 

[Omnis]

They're accurate. What matters more is how good the mats are. It's hard to gauge wedges and bounce on mats.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Do you like using the simulator to play a round, @MagpieRacer? How accurate do you feel that they are? I have only used them in golf stores to try out new clubs, but there are a few close by to me that I have thought about trying.

Yeah as Omnis said, they are accurate, the different brands have different methods of measuring but typically get the same results. My club use Trackman, my local driving range uses Foresight with GCQuads, there's another one near me that used Skytrack. All get similar results for me and are accurate. The software will vary, the Trackman sims are very user friendly and seems very feature rich compared to Foresight, lots more courses to choose from and options and variables to tweak if that's what you want to do, very nice graphics as well when running on a good computer.

But yeah the mat quality is a huge thing, the driving range near me has very slick smooth mats that get used a lot so they don't feel as good to hit from for realism and they used crappy rubber tees. At my club they have really nice fairway like astro turf which feels great to hit from and is very receptive to wedge play and feels great with irons, plus I can use my own tees as you can just tee up in them like you would on a course.

Do I like them? Yeah I do, they're good fun, and whilst they will of course never replace playing on a proper course, they are a dam good substitute, with modern tech and good software, it really good fun. I've found them great for trying out different courses that I'll never get to play in real life and although putting isn't a thing, I think it does well enough at basing putting % of your handicap to feel like your not cheating a score.

 

[Omnis]

Are you guys subbed to Paddy's channel? It's like the guy has read my mind with all of his videos being about stuff I've worked on and had eureka moments about over the winter.



Just solid gold.

 

[lilcat89]

I decided to leave a little early from work and play a par 3 course I found across town from work today. It was in great shape overall, but it was overpriced for what it is. I mainly was working on getting my yardages right again. I was hitting the ball pretty well, but I definitely need to work on getting more distance out of every club. The Houston skyline wasn’t bad either!

 

[MagpieRacer]

Hit up a different course today. Another 9 hole local to me, rained all day but the course was open and playing well (unlike my usual course). Some interesting holes and elevations to work out, the 90° dog leg par 4 2nd is steep uphill to the turn and then back downhill to the green. The 4th has an electricity pylon to contend with. All in all, a lovely course which gave some interesting challenges and my first chance to really gun the new driver and irons on course. Only missed 1 fairway out of 4 with the driver and the irons were pretty dialled in aside from a couple of chunks which still flew a good distance.

 

[lilcat89]

Nice! I played today as well. Same overpriced par 3 course, but I now have my short irons dialed in. Only missed 2 greens.

 

[Omnis]

I didn’t keep score cuz I played alone for the first few holes, but then I joined up with a mom and her daughter ahead of me, because the people in front of them were slowwwww. I initially figured I wouldn’t play with them, but the daughter was really good and so was mom. They only played one tee up from me and we were all in the same spot on each fairway. Worked out well.

But, man, since going to midsize grips I’m kind of astonished at how well I’m striking the ball with my irons. I’m hitting greens right on my numbers, high and straight. I only chunked it once. It’s such an awesome feeling to drop a dart right where you visualized it going.

 

[lilcat89]

I love daylight savings time. I’ve gotten out the last 3 days straight. I played the front 9 at my local course yesterday. Shot 45, but certainly wasn’t happy about how I played. Putter was good, but they sanded the greens this week, so they were slow and a bit overgrown in places. I went today and just pounded balls on the range, working on getting more consistent and generating more club speed. I’m getting there, but need more work.

 

[Omnis]

Just picked up a used 52-56-60 set of Glide 2.0 Stealths from my local ebay golf charity. They're Green dots at +1 inch or maybe 3/4, so that my Apex AW is at 36.5", then the 52 is 36.25", 56 is 36", and 60 is 35.75". They also have the microsuede GolfPride wrap grips that are discontinued and impossible to find... and they're in midsize. Talk about an ultra rare find. Figured I'd have to try them even if they don't work out. I think these guys get donated/discarded clubs from some seriously good players because most of their wedges are trashed right on the sweet spot. These looked halfway decent so I hope they'll work out for me.

 

[lilcat89]

Finally got the clubs out and cleaned them last night, so here’s what I’m playing with.

The 3-wood and 60 degree are hand-me-downs from my dad and I put new Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips on everything last spring. As far as what ball, it really depends. For the short par 3 courses, I like using the TP5x for the feel around the greens. As for the full courses, I may change to a more forgiving ball.

 

[Omnis]

Clubs came in. Didn't realize the heads were so massive. They're HUGE lol. Teh finish is a bit worn but the grooves look almost new. Gonna go play a round in an hour, will post pics later.

Love the wedges. Much much easier to hit off the grass than the PMs. I think they’re a little longer than advertised though, but that’s still fine. The grinds may not be the most perfect fit for me, but just having a flat leading edge is incredible.

 

[lilcat89]

I played today as well at my local course. Played terrible to be honest. Just zero distance and all over the place today. I even switched from the whites to the next tees for the back 9. Definitely need to do some lessons and work on distances.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Clubs came in. Didn't realize the heads were so massive. They're HUGE lol. Teh finish is a bit worn but the grooves look almost new. Gonna go play a round in an hour, will post pics laterView attachment 1337789

Love the wedges. Much much easier to hit off the grass than the PMs. I think they’re a little longer than advertised though, but that’s still fine. The grinds may not be the most perfect fit for me, but just having a flat leading edge is incredible.

That grip is 👌. As is the Gengar heheadcover.

I played today as well at my local course. Played terrible to be honest. Just zero distance and all over the place today. I even switched from the whites to the next tees for the back 9. Definitely need to do some lessons and work on distances.
View attachment 1337870View attachment 1337871

If you can play terrible and break 100 then you're doing something very right. Nice round 👌.

I've thrown one more ball into the mix to test for this season, TaylorMade have just released the Speed Soft. On paper it's the ball I've been looking for, affordable (£25 per dozen), soft (sub 50 compression 😮) without sacrificing ball speed and distance. Whether all the marketing holds up on the golf course I'm yet to find out but I'm excited to give them a go. Also doing an ink version alongside regular plain balls and I'm a sucker for interesting designs. But it's the tech I want to give a go here.

I played half my 9 the other day with a TaylorMade Tour Response and half with a Titleist Tour Soft and I'm slightly favouring the Titleist at the moment.

In gear news, the final piece of my bag will fall into place this week. I'm getting a 'custom' putter from Cleveland through my golf club. Nothing crazy or expensive, RRP is £129, my clubs doing it to me for £90 and I'm part exchanging my current putter and old Cobra hybrid so will be paying £10 for it. Its a Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft 2 11s putter (fang/mallet style), just been released, felt the 11 in the shop and fell in love with the headshap and profile, I currently have a HB SOFT 4 blade style. The only thing was the 11 has a different grip and hosel as its suited to straight putting strokes and ive got an arc stroke so need the 11s, but I like the feel in the hand of the jumbo grip the 11 had so Celeveland are sending the 11s with the jumbo grip for me at no extra cost. So I'll have the right head weighting and hosel for my stroke but with the nice jumbo grip. Should be in the club for me to pickup during the week.

 

[MagpieRacer]

Haven't spoken about pro golf for a while but today's final round at The Players was a cracker, Scottie Scheffler shot a 64 from 5 shots back of the lead to win the championship and become the first player in the 50 year history of the tournament to win it back to back. Incredible.



Wyndham Clark had a putt lip out on 18 to force a playoff. Very unlucky indeed.

 

[Omnis]

As much as Scottie played great to win it, I still think Xander, Wyndham, and Harman lost it. Their clutch putting was just atrocious. How Xander lets that birdie go on 17 is unforgivable.

In gear news, the final piece of my bag will fall into place this week. I'm getting a 'custom' putter from Cleveland through my golf club. Nothing crazy or expensive, RRP is £129, my clubs doing it to me for £90 and I'm part exchanging my current putter and old Cobra hybrid so will be paying £10 for it. Its a Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft 2 11s putter (fang/mallet style), just been released, felt the 11 in the shop and fell in love with the headshap and profile, I currently have a HB SOFT 4 blade style.

I almost impulse bought an HB Soft 2 Retreve. Loved the feel and the grip. They did a much better job than Ping with their Fetch.

 

[lilcat89]

If you can play terrible and break 100 then you're doing something very right. Nice round 👌.

Thank you. I just felt like I had zero distance the entire round. I had a lot of ~60yd shots in to greens.

I've thrown one more ball into the mix to test for this season, TaylorMade have just released the Speed Soft. On paper it's the ball I've been looking for, affordable (£25 per dozen), soft (sub 50 compression 😮) without sacrificing ball speed and distance. Whether all the marketing holds up on the golf course I'm yet to find out but I'm excited to give them a go. Also doing an ink version alongside regular plain balls and I'm a sucker for interesting designs. But it's the tech I want to give a go here.
View attachment 1338117

I played half my 9 the other day with a TaylorMade Tour Response and half with a Titleist Tour Soft and I'm slightly favouring the Titleist at the moment.

How do you like the Tour Responses? I actually just picked up some to try next time I play. I’ll have to look at the Speed Softs too.

In gear news, the final piece of my bag will fall into place this week. I'm getting a 'custom' putter from Cleveland through my golf club. Nothing crazy or expensive, RRP is £129, my clubs doing it to me for £90 and I'm part exchanging my current putter and old Cobra hybrid so will be paying £10 for it. Its a Cleveland Huntington Beach Soft 2 11s putter (fang/mallet style), just been released, felt the 11 in the shop and fell in love with the headshap and profile, I currently have a HB SOFT 4 blade style. The only thing was the 11 has a different grip and hosel as its suited to straight putting strokes and ive got an arc stroke so need the 11s, but I like the feel in the hand of the jumbo grip the 11 had so Celeveland are sending the 11s with the jumbo grip for me at no extra cost. So I'll have the right head weighting and hosel for my stroke but with the nice jumbo grip. Should be in the club for me to pickup during the week.

Nice addition! My next purchase will be a new putter.

 

[MagpieRacer]

As much as Scottie played great to win it, I still think Xander, Wyndham, and Harman lost it. Their clutch putting was just atrocious. How Xander lets that birdie go on 17 is unforgivable.


I almost impulse bought an HB Soft 2 Retreve. Loved the feel and the grip. They did a much better job than Ping with their Fetch.

Retrieve is cool, just didn't like how it looked behind the ball for me. I'm also a bit of a Fitzy-flag-in putter so the retrieve part would be wasted on me 😅.

Yeah Xanders putt on 17 was shockingly bad.

Thank you. I just felt like I had zero distance the entire round. I had a lot of ~60yd shots in to greens.

How do you like the Tour Responses? I actually just picked up some to try next time I play. I’ll have to look at the Speed Softs too.

Nice addition! My next purchase will be a new putter.

They're really nice, I notice losing distance on drivers and long/mid irons, but the feel from 100 yards in and putting is as good as any ball I've used. The Titleist tour soft is close to that feel but offers a little more on long shots too. Hoping the Speed Spft can bridge them together.