Golf Thread

[SKILL]

Played Stockwood Vale yesterday afternoon, kinda 'usual' scruffy golf but do like the place. Shot 90 which is 1 worse than my PB of 89 so not terrible at all just could've been better. Was a touch warm though, walking and quite a hilly course and was sweating buckets at times but I survived!

Today was out for a quick 9 holes at my local but needed some gloves/balls so headed out to my local shop, whilst I was there it would be rude not to peruse the shiny new clubs Looked basically at all of the kinda players cavity type ranges like the T100's, Ping Blueprint S etc, I kinda like them all tbh, do really like the look of that smaller club/thinner top line etc

For the 9 holes I decided to just have a fun round and take a partial set, so then I thought aha, why not take the blade Terrible set of clubs really for playing but I had a 5w, my Mizuno 241 Pro 7-iron, 48 and 60-degree T-24 wedges and swapped to my Wilson Infinite blade putter too. I hit the 7 iron pretty well both off the tee and the deck, and overall shot a 47 which whilst not great really isn't that bad considering the limited options I had.

So, full set of 241 blades I guess is the way to go...

 

[inflames]

Haven’t played for the last two weeks, i managed to play this afternoon. Felt really rusty on the front 9 specially first 4 holes. Then I started to find my rhythm again, not my best score with 106 but I was very happy with my back 9. My friend who plays off 13, he usually plays really well, was getting grumpy as he lost 6 balls made me chuckle…..

 

[iGiDK]

Golf, 3 lost balls today (don't think I've actually lost any balls this year) two of which were totally innocuous and the third was a shank out of bounds on a 90yd pitch. 1 missed putt from 2 ft

And an eagle lol

 

[SKILL]

Gotta love the golf rollercoaster

Out for a society game today at Shrivenham and it was a goooood day

Not like I've played bad recently but my back 9 especially was something 'special' for me...

Started off with a birdie, did think the old 'no good round starts with a birdie' but pushed that to the back of my mind and got an easy par on the second and some decent-ish golf from there, couple of double bogeys on tough holes but the only real standout was the 5th. Tee shot faded into the trees, thought I'd find it but no luck, the society runs a rule where you can drop for 2 penalty shots so did that and went on, had a shot for a 7 (par 5, with a shot, so 1 point) but just lipped out. Of course then walking back done the 6th I found my first tee shot from the 5th. D'oh.

Back 9 though, not really a huge amount to note as particularly good (or bad) golf but I was 3 over on the back 9, been 3 over before through 9 (two over even) but this was with no birdies, just 6 pars and 3 bogeys, really really solid if uneventful golf. Really happy with that.

One change thinking about it is I left the blade putter in the bag after yesterday and I putted well, 31 putts total always helps

45 points and the win, happy days

 

[stephenb]

Had a very enjoyable day out at Cams Hall repping the club. Day started out with a very nice full English and concluded with sandwiches and chips Oh yeah, there was some golf in the middle.

Unfortunately we lost 4¹/² - 1¹/², my partner and I responsible for the half (5 won, 5 lost, 8 halved). In the match we won one of our team shot a score that would have netted 47pts stableford!

In my match we were the welcome beneficiary of seven and eight shots net. Opponents both off around ten and my partner and I off 18.x. I got off to hot start, was +1 gross through four having birdied the 3rd, to leave us 3 up. Opponents then woke up to leave us 1 up at the turn. I hit one of my shots of the day on the 11th, a 162y par three playing into a stiff breeze. Flushed a 5w which would have been a 185 carry in calm conditions right to the middle of the green (only one to find it), only to be upsurped by my partner who hit a worldy of a chip over the front bunker to finish on the lip of the cup . This got us back to 2 up. We then went half/lost/half/lost/won/lost to leave the match level standing on the 18th. Luckily my partner had a shot as after a good drive I put my second in the water. They played around it and hit a great putt from off the green to leave a tap in, conceded , to make a 5 nett 4 for the half. The two of us dovetailed nicely throughout the round .

Course itself has lots of variety and with the wind up it was a stiff test. To counter the 5w on eleven, earlier at the ninth I'd driven through the green into the back bunker on what is a 267y par four! Really good day out and I wouldn't mind going back to sample the other nine. There is a nine hole park course which can be combined with one of the nines from the creek course that we played. The creek back nine and park being the hardest of the available combo's.

 

[OldKitMan]

This US open is great viewing, can see it going to a playoff, not sure I'll be able to stay up to watch it all though, MacIntyre currently in a tie for the lead but with a few still to play 17 might not be good enough but he's just hit a great drive down 18.

 

[SKILL]

So I've been thinking about the iron 'situation', and doing some man maths, and think I've got a plan...

I kinda want blades, I know that's silly but I still want them I know if I get something sensible like the P790s/ZXi-5's/T200's which is probably where I 'should' be that I'll wonder about blades still.

So why not get blades, 'cheap', put them in the bag and get into my thick skull how bad of an idea blades are for a mid-handicapper

I looked around at a bunch of second hand sets and it seems like you either get a cheap set from the 50's that's beat to hell or you're spending like £500+ anyway. So thought of Takomo (other direct to consumer brands are available ) and can their 301 combo set for £649 delivered which is 4-7 iron in the CB for some tiny bit of forgiveness and 8-PW in MB/blades.

Then in a few months I can get the sensible players distance type irons.

That's also less than my tax refund which was unexpected and only found out about recently, so it's basically free right?

 

[booyaka]

So I've been thinking about the iron 'situation', and doing some man maths, and think I've got a plan...

I kinda want blades, I know that's silly but I still want them I know if I get something sensible like the P790s/ZXi-5's/T200's which is probably where I 'should' be that I'll wonder about blades still.

So why not get blades, 'cheap', put them in the bag and get into my thick skull how bad of an idea blades are for a mid-handicapper

I looked around at a bunch of second hand sets and it seems like you either get a cheap set from the 50's that's beat to hell or you're spending like £500+ anyway. So thought of Takomo (other direct to consumer brands are available ) and can their 301 combo set for £649 delivered which is 4-7 iron in the CB for some tiny bit of forgiveness and 8-PW in MB/blades.

Then in a few months I can get the sensible players distance type irons.

That's also less than my tax refund which was unexpected and only found out about recently, so it's basically free right?

Big fan of man maths.... But direct to consumer blades sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. You won't enjoy playing with blades, honestly.....You genuinely need to be elite in terms of consistent ball striking to benefit / enjoy blades

Played 3 weeks ago with our club champ and also runner up.... One is +2.3 handicap - other is +1.9

One plays with Titleist AP-2 and the other plays with Mizuno 921 Tour. No blades in sight. Honestly don't know anyone that does

 

[SKILL]

Big fan of man maths.... But direct to consumer blades sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. You won't enjoy playing with blades, honestly.....You genuinely need to be elite in terms of consistent ball striking to benefit / enjoy blades

Played 3 weeks ago with our club champ and also runner up.... One is +2.3 handicap - other is +1.9

One plays with Titleist AP-2 and the other plays with Mizuno 921 Tour. No blades in sight. Honestly don't know anyone that does

See, I know you're right, but I also know that if I don't try blades I'm gonna wonder 'what if'

I guess I basically think of this as spend (/waste? ) £650 to put to bed any ideas of that kind of thing and then actually making a sensible choice in a few months.

The alternative could end up being spending >£1000 on a poor choice like full set of T100's or Blueprint S.

 

[Superpatsy]

See, I know you're right, but I also know that if I don't try blades I'm gonna wonder 'what if'

I guess I basically think of this as spend (/waste? ) £650 to put to bed any ideas of that kind of thing and then actually making a sensible choice in a few months.

The alternative could end up being spending >£1000 on a poor choice like full set of T100's or Blueprint S.

Why not go for a fitting, even at American Golf, to see what blades are like?

That's a fair whack of cash potentially waste just to prove something to yourself.

 

[jaybee]

This US open is great viewing, can see it going to a playoff, not sure I'll be able to stay up to watch it all though, MacIntyre currently in a tie for the lead but with a few still to play 17 might not be good enough but he's just hit a great drive down 18.

I was torn watching it. On the one hand, it's lovely to see players truly tested and to start feeling the pressure when they get made to look less like gods rather than scores of 22 under. I like making it hard for them.

On the other hand, the course is pretty much a joke at this point and it becomes a bit of a lottery as to whether decent shots even get a result. I mean hitting the middle of fairways only for the ball to literally fall off the slopes into thick, unplayable rough. Greens were just silly quick. The course has no soul. No features. They are all very straight, samey holes. The course has a freeway running through it. A freeway. No variation. No trees. Just ugly AF. Felt bare.
This is the US open. I'd expect a nicer looking course.

 

[SKILL]

Why not go for a fitting, even at American Golf, to see what blades are like?

That's a fair whack of cash potentially waste just to prove something to yourself.

I was/am planning to do a fitting of some sort before ordering anything, if only to get shaft spec more than anything.

Also got a simulator session booked for tomorrow afternoon and plan is to get some numbers from my current Dynapower, Mizuno Pro 241 and 2-3 'others' and see how that goes.

And I guess makes sense to take the mizuno blade out a few more times at my local for the lols... Got 3 rounds booked there this week, 2 roll-ups and a general play, so plenty of opportunity

 

[MR_Punk]

I played Saturday and Sunday this weekend and shot 80 & 79. I felt a really bad to work for the 80 on Saturday. No birdies and no doubles but nothing seemed simple. Sunday was a different case I could easily have shot 7-8 shots better. I was one over for the first 14 with the exception of the 8 where I lost a ball and got a quad bogey. Finished with a birdie which got me under 80. Handicap now at 8.5.

 

[SKILL]

Spent some time in the sim today, trying to get some numbers from both my current Dynapower and the Mizuno 241 blade as well as some new clubs... Ended up picking the Srixon ZXi7, Ping Blueprint S and Taylormade P770 as the other clubs.

In general I was for almost the entire time hitting it really quite badly, with everything, but hit 10 shots with each club and took pictures (find that better/easier than emailing myself the data) to review at home, the below is largely restricting the numbers/analysis to the 'good' numbers and ignoring the many bad ones

So starting with my Dynapowers and I think fundamentally showing what my issue is with them I got:
~150 carry with a launch of ~16 degrees, ~3800 spin, ~20 yards peak height and descent of ~36 degrees

Good carry but pretty poor in terms of flight/descent/'stopping power' which mirrors what I've been thinking of.

Long story short the best option probably was the ZXi7, where the rough numbers were:
~145 carry with a launch of ~18.5 degrees, ~5700 spin, ~25 yards peak height and a descent of ~43 degrees.

That to me looks like a much more functional flight with actually not much in the way of drop in yardage.

The P770 I didn't really hit well but both at the time and looking at the numbers I think the lie angle was wrong, the dynamic lie in foresight was ~3 up for the Blueprint and ZXi but ~0.5 down for the P770.

The Blueprint S was nice, kinda want to try again but I only managed 1 decent strike really so perhaps not forgiving enough, that 1 decent one was decent though! Numbers were:
144 carry, 21.0 launch, 6470 spin, 29 yards peak height and a descent of 46.3. Tasty.

The Mizuno Pro 241 I struggled to hit oddly enough But went back at the end and hit a few more with it that were a bit slower swing speed (~77-78 vs 81-83-ish for above) but got:
~130 carry, launch ~20 degrees, ~6200 spin, ~23 yards peak height and a descent of 43 degrees

So I think overall it shows there's a good argument for getting a new set and probably the ZXi7 or something similar is the sensible option.

I was quite happy with some elements today though, although the strikes weren't amazing the path which has been a problem for a while was 'ok', still out to in but usually between 0-2 degrees, few outliers but mostly in that range and a bunch <1 degree so some good bits.

Still tempted by the Tacomo CB/MB combo though, cause of course I am

 

[stephenb]

Long story short the best option probably was the ZXi7, where the rough numbers were:
~145 carry with a launch of ~18.5 degrees, ~5700 spin, ~25 yards peak height and a descent of ~43 degrees.

Just for reference I get more peak height out of my P790, bent 2° weak so playing @ 32.5° I imagine we're pretty close in swing speed as I get 145-150 carry on a typical good strike, mid 18's launch. Trackman range so no descent angle but no problem with stopping power on greens.

Did you have the heads stickered up to measure AoA? Bear in mind those ZXi7's are designed for someone who hits down on the ball, takes a good divot. The sweet spot will be higher on the face than your Dynapower's or my P790's. It's why I love my irons as you can get away with murder on thin strikes (within reason)!

 

[SKILL]

Just for reference I get more peak height out of my P790, bent 2° weak so playing @ 32.5° I imagine we're pretty close in swing speed as I get 145-150 carry on a typical good strike, mid 18's launch. Trackman range so no descent angle but no problem with stopping power on greens.

Did you have the heads stickered up to measure AoA? Bear in mind those ZXi7's are designed for someone who hits down on the ball, takes a good divot. The sweet spot will be higher on the face than your Dynapower's or my P790's. It's why I love my irons as you can get away with murder on thin strikes (within reason)!

I was actually hitting down on it a bunch, more than I expected and not really numbers I've seen before so I guess 'steep', probably why the strikes weren't amazing in general. Not really sure exactly what effect that has on the strike but has to have some

The ZXi for example I averaged 7.1 down across all strikes with arguably the 'better' ones being closer to 8 degrees down on it. My understanding is more like 2-4 degrees is where you want to be...

The ZXi-7 7 Iron is 32 degrees stock for reference, so kinda makes sense to get similar numbers to your P790s I guess.

 

[stephenb]

^ yeah, that is very steep. This video might be worth your while in terms of a general reference point.

 

[SpeedFreak]

Need to compare the ZXi5 and JPX 925 Forged. Currently in P770 and have been in Srixon ZX7s. May be time to step down from X stiff iron shafts as I can feel the speed going a bit. A summer of testing ahead.

Hit the P790s and I think they are too hot, 8 iron was going almost 180yds.

 

[SKILL]

^ yeah, that is very steep. This video might be worth your while in terms of a general reference point.

Interesting video, do like his stuff tbh but don't watch religiously.

I definitely could do better at de-lofting the club at impact, but I have improved, it was another interesting thing I took away from the data. I remember a good while ago using the sim and realise I was adding loft, my 27-degree 7 Iron had a dynamic loft of 32 back in the day. Don't have numbers for the dynapowers, mizuno 241 or Blueprint S as they were all 1-dot but for the P770 my average dynamic loft was 28.4 (static 33), ZXi-7 was 28.1 but is 'only' 32 static. So around 4-4.5 degrees de-lofted, compared to my old +5 degrees of dynamic loft

The bit he was talking about at the end, getting that weight onto the lead leg and rotate 'before' the downswing is what I need to work on now, based off my last lesson at least.

 

[MR_Punk]

I put my old putter back in my bag for a round this morning and I seemed to putt so much better. I believe it has nothing to do with the style or weight of the putter just a confidence looking down and seeing something different. 1 3 putt for the entire round which is about 17 less than recently it seems