I've been asked by Jay to provide shot by shot details in re the new toys.
Well, I won't bore you all with that. But I can spin some stories and conclusions from today's play.
From my limited time at the range, I was pretty confident that I could hit the new clubs pretty straight, but the distances were a bit unknown. The flight monitor at the golf shop said I was going to gain about 1 club's worth. If that would be more true at lower lofts than higher ones was ground for speculation.
I also was concerned with a gap between the pitching wedge and my gap wedge. I hit the old PW about 110 and the gap about 100. But if the new PW was going to go 120, aka nine iron distance, then I'd have a problem.
I decided to leave out the old PW and figure out something as I went along.
I expected the irons to be longer and decided to play one less club than I would with the old set.
So first tee is a layup in front of a pond, then a long iron to get to a long green. I normally hit a hybrid on this tee, which gets me pretty close to the water. I'd be happy to be able to hit an iron here, as the layup area is small and I'm pretty straight with the irons.
The virgin 5 iron clears the bunker and has a great line. There is a very buttery feeling to the clubs and the shot feels great. But when I get to it, I'm about 10 yards back from where I like to be.
I should mention that it's about 45 degrees this morning. I'm not really expecting the balls to be hot off the club face.
Ok, then new hybrid to the back pin. I come out of the shot a bit, but get close to pin high and chip to 4 feet and miss the putt. About the only 4 footer I would miss all day. I didn't miss it by much.
The second hole is a par 5 and out comes the new driver. I push it and catch a trap, but the distance is good. I hit a 6 iron fat and then have about 175 in. Mr. hybrid gets hit thin and short, but chip and putt for an easy par.
Another target hole is the third. I hit hybrid to the middle of the fairway. Now it's 140 to the pin and it's normally a 7 for me. But I grab the 8 and pull it a touch, but it gets about pin high and 20 feet left. Two putts for another par.
This is a lot of detail and there are holes I don't want to remember! Let's skip ahead to 5, where the drive is a push, but I can hit a 7 iron from the trees and once again chip closely enough.
Then 6, par 5, drive is hit quite well to center of a narrow fairway. Then I smooth a 5 iron 180 yards that leads to a 90 wedge and a ticklish down hill two putt.
Hole 7 is an iron off the tee. I hit 5 and find myself in good shape. I've again substituted an iron for a hybrid and it's working. Now 130 out and hit 9. I'm about a club short, but dead on line and on the green. Two putts.
We'll skip 8 as I don't carry the water. The shot was a little off the toe, but I didn't try to hit it very hard. Certainly an error not to be repeated!
On 9, I hit a driver off the heel a bit. This is the shot I'd normally expect to hook hard. But it goes straight and with reasonable distance. I miss the green from 180, but get it up and down.
So the front goes well except for the butchery at the par 3s. More mental errors than equipment.
The back nine starts with a driver, nicely struck, leaves me 120 in. It's up hill and there is some wind, so I take a 9 and hit it high and pin high. Par again.
Now for the first par 3 on the back. I hit a thin 7 iron and it gets pin high - a lot of that today - and I chip ok, but miss my first short putt.
On 12, drive to the top of the hill, not well struck, but the driver delivers. I can get used to this.
Nice 8 iron in, though I could have hit the 9. Two putts. The ball did land pin high, but ran on a bit. There was some right to left wind at this point. Have I mentioned the nice divots? Yes, square! and about 3 inches on a side. The Mizuno irons are very flat at the hitting area. I think of this as different to the old clubs where there was a little roundness here.
I think the new lies of the clubs are better fit for my swing.
Now on to the par 5 13th, which is an honest 500 yards. I pull the drive with a heel strike and catch a bunker. I'm fat out of it, but then a nice 5 iron to 90 yards and a wedge in. Two putts for a bogey.
The 14th is about 370 or so; a longish hole for this course and since 220 is considered a long drive, enough hole for any of us. I push this, but hit it pretty well. I've got 125 in over trees and a trap. I clear the tree with a 9 iron, but hit the top of the trap and it bounces into the rough.
I chip and one putt and we are off to the 15th.
Which is a par 3 and playing about 160 today. I have trouble getting to this and while the weather is warmer, it's still a long cold haul.
I think I've grabbed the 5 iron, but it's the 6 when the smoke clears. However the ball has come out a bit low and ended up in the back trap! Quite the surprise and I would have said that in French if I remembered how to spell it.
I plop out of the bunker a bit shot and my putt, which is nice, doesn't drop.
On 16, I cream a drive down the middle and have 120 to a back pin. The wind is cross and I decide to hit an 8, but try to keep it right and see if the wind will bring it in. I don't pull it off as I push a bit and I'm in another trap.
A reasonable explosion and a good putt, but it doesn't drop.
17 is a short par 4 and hit driver. It's short and left but I'm in play and have a 9 in from 130. I hit it to two feet and make the only birdie of the day.
18 is the last par 5, ok, it's the last of everything. For some reason, worthy of thought, I hit a lot of good drives here. And this is no exception. It's up the middle with a tiny draw. The sound of the driver is still quite strange. There also doesn't seem to be a lot of feed back with the club. It just seems to go straight and pretty much on line.
I hook a hybrid around the corner and I'm hitting a 60 degree wedge pin high with 12 feet to putt. I can't make up my mind on the break and decide to play right to left. A lot of putts look right to left to me. I think it's my eyes. Alas, the putt was straight, but I rack up a final par.
I'm quite happy with the new clubs. The driver seems to be very helpful and while I've lost a couple of shots by being in bunkers, I've avoided disasters on the left side of course and have hit some real good ones.
The irons seem to have the length that the fitter promised. I'm happy with trajectories. The feel of the clubs is very nice. I can get used to that. They make the Pings seem quite harsh. I do hope they will be durable.
The new hybrid is quite easy to hit, it's an Tour Edge Exotics EX10 20 degree and it's proving to a club of "high confidence" as my father used to put it. Even bad hits are going well.
It was not a great day for scoring and I had some doubles, which are pretty rare for me. But I was confident with the new clubs and it was fun to use new tools around the course.
The good drives did get me off the tees pretty well. I was very happy with the 5 iron as a means to layup. I didn't need to hit it into a green all day, which is a good thing. The short irons had good distance, great feel and trajectory. They seemed to bite pretty, but not exceptionally more than the Pings. I was using a Calloway supersoft in deference to the cold conditions.
By the way, I tried a TaylorMade TP5X ball the other day. This is 5 layers and it felt very soft, but distance everything else was great. If you like that feel, they are worth trying. They are not cheap, so keep your eyes open when walking the rough!
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