Saturday, March 29, 2008

What's In the Bag?








Somebody asked me what kind of golf clubs I have...I said, "How long do you have?" I decided to go out on the back porch and take some pics of my clubs...I guess the money that I have invested kind of snuck up on me. Time for some "golf geek" stuff.

When it comes to golf clubs, I'm a mutt. I'm not entirely loyal to any one brand, but I have found Taylormade to be a great company when it comes to customer service. Nike's customer service is almost non-existent (bastards).

Here's the laundry list:

Nike Sasquatch Driver, 10 degree, with a Fujikura stiff shaft (Banzai Speeder line, Extreme Edition...don't know the specifics, but it rocks).

Nike Sasquatch 3 wood with Mitsubishi stiff flex "Diamante" shaft. This thing is more forgiving than my Chaplain, but the shaft is pretty pathetic---stock Nike junk (it's not a REAL Diamante shaft; Mitsubishi licensed Nike to make their stuff...bad move). The cool part is that I can hit a draw with this sucker and get tons of roll out of it. It would probably be easier to work the ball with a better shaft...one of these days...

Taylormade 320 irons with Rifle steel shafts in stiff flex. Normal lie, and 8 through P are D +1 weighted (thanks to Gawfer for telling me about the importance of swing weight). If you look closely, you can see the marks from a vice; they got re-bent for me, which is a bad move with casted irons. Oh yeah, almost forgot, the TM guy was amazing! My boss was pissed that he didn't get to go see the guy when he came here. Life goes on.

Taylormade Rossa Lambeau 7 putter with center shaft. I never knew how much a center shafted putter helped until I tried it! The special insert on the face gives tremendous feel. (yes, that's dog hair on the rug...sorry). Putters are just something that you have to mess around with and discover...some wise dude told me that one time (name rhymes with Rob).

Nike CPR hybrid 1 iron...I used to think that a 1 iron was unnecessary and dangerous; I was wrong. I can hit that club out of lies that I can't even think about with a fairway wood, and hit it LONG.

Titleist Vokey Design, Spin Milled, "Oil Can" wedges in 56 and 60 degrees. These wedges are actually designed to rust. The more rust that builds up, the more abrasive the club face becomes, and the more spin you can impart on the ball. Great feel too, but I'm still trying to master how they work with a full swing. I love them for pitching and chipping though. This is why the old guys will always rule...they have mastered the short game.

Ogio Grom stand bag. I love this golf bag! It works great for walking or riding, and has some great features. The stand mechanism is tougher than nails, and the straps are actually comfortable. The 'Woode' club arrangement system has been a big seller for Ogio for years now, and I can see why; it just works great.

Nike One Black, and One Platinum balls. Some people think that the choice of golf ball is not important...I don't think that they could be more wrong. I've used cheap golf balls before, and was amazed when I used high end ones...they really do perform better, and give you much greater control around the greens. They also allow you to "shape" your shots, and get some decent movement on the ball. I wouldn't recommend the high end balls for players that are struggling with a slice or hook...they spin more and will REALLY slice or hook.

Oh yeah; the monkey's name is Mojo; he helps me at times with club choice and shot selection.

I used to use some "knockoff" clubs, and thought that they were fine. How wrong I was. There's really no substitute for name brand golf equipment. This is one of the areas where the money that has been dumped into research and development has truly paid off; name brand clubs are head and shoulders above the cheap stuff.

I'm still a "weekend golfer," but I've broken into the 80's (at times) and have surpassed 90% of the other weekenders. In other words, I'm a legend in my own mind!

What's in your bag?

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