I bought some new gear this week and some of my peeps want to know about that first range experience.
This might be a bit technical, so I apologize for those who want a bit more humanity and story telling.
When I go to the range, the first thing I do is some chipping. This gets me started and clears the mind and on a good day will help me recall all the stuff I was trying to from the last session. But none of the new clubs I use for chipping, and I was time limited, so I skipped that and headed out to the grass tees.
One of the reasons for getting the new clubs is that the last ones were wearing out quickly. I had been replacing individual irons yearly. I warm up and practice with the same irons. The tees are pretty sandy and the clubs pretty soft, so they don't last. Replacement clubs are not cheap.
I was thinking about the new Ping G700, which are hallow with very hard faces welded to the front of the club. My wedges are that way and I like them and their faces are holding up pretty well. But they were not out yet and I didn't get to hit them.
The fitter had me try these, Mizuno JPX 900 Forged. I also tried some Srixons, but these seemed to fit better. They have very little offset, which is fine with me. I tend to close the face a touch and with an offset the club looks more open than ever. I shudder to think what I might do to those. That eliminated most of the Pings and some of the other game improvement irons.
I was also hoping for more distance -- some of the new clubs have hotter faces than my old ones. My old clubs are Ping S56s and about 10 years old. The new clubs have stronger lofts by 3 to 4 degrees and more trampoline effect faces.
So I get to the range and it's a two club wind right into my face. But I'm there to hit some clubs and by the old gods and new, I'm going to hit some.
With this wind, I was not going to draw any conclusions about distance. At the fitting, the 7 iron was a solid 13 yards longer than my old one, with a 150 yard carry. Maybe 145 with a bit hit.
But what I found was that the clubs are very straight. I had seen some left bias at the fitting, which was a bit worrying. I like to hit them straight. The irons being the saving grace of my game and my driver being short and crooked on occasion, this is important.
But even with the wind, the shots were very much on target. They didn't seem to get blown around much.
The feel of the new clubs was softer than my old ones. The old ones are very blade like and there is not a lot of "soft" that they generate. The new ones are more butter like. I've had soft clubs in the past, some of the Hogans were quite soft, but as noted that was quite a while ago.
I was able to move the ball left and right and low. That seemed to be pretty easy. It felt quite doable and didn't require tremendous effort to do so.
The club heads are traditionally shaped. Forgiving clubs can be bigger and club like, but these are about the size of the old blades. I like that.
My old clubs were 1/2 inch long and 2 degrees up. But times have changed and we added 1/4 inch to the length and a bit more upright. Grips stay the same as Lamkin midsize.
I also bought a used Excite hyrid three wood in 20 degrees. Yes, no wood, but what else shall we call it? I liked this one as well. It seemed to fly pretty high. There seemed to be a tendency to drift to the right, which fits my eye. I would be happy to play a fade with everything.
I bought this because it looked like the 5 iron from new irons was going to cover the distance of my old hybrid and this new one is about 15 yards longer than old one.
Finally we come to the driver, which is a Calloway Rogue model in 9 degrees. It's setup for me with one degree less loft and one degree upright.
I like the look of this club. And I've always liked the sound of the Calloways. The Pings have a loud, unhappy clang to them and it never was welcomed into the ear.
But the Rogue is a bit different than the older Calloways. Less of a "hit the side of beef" sound more the sound of a suppressed air rifle. Which, if you are not familiar with, is more a muted click than anything else.
The club head felt quite light and then it would click and off the ball would go.
I was able to control it well. Hits off the heel were still strong.
Distance? Can't really say, the hill I was hitting over was about 180 from where I was and I hit them over that. Remember this was a good two club wind. More to say after I get it out the course. I would be happy to carry the ball 220 or more and that seems doable with no wind. I did manage to hit one 265 last week, threading an arroyo and a bunker -- a dream to do that every time.
I was able to draw and fade it too. It did seem to like to go straight. Straight and up in the air would be pretty nice...
So we have clubs that are a bit longer -- I tend to grip off the end of the shaft; I'll try and do better. More upright too. Note that irons have been the hallmark of my game and I don't see issues with the new clubs. How long they are remains to be seen.
I'll play them as a club longer than the old ones and see what happens.
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