@kcchief - I get the feeling that selling the gift card (I've consolidated them all into one so I don't have to carry 10 of them around) is probably not an option. Our club is very small (~50 members, only 20-30 of whom are regularly active and around), and I don't know of anyone else who is currently looking for clubs. It's a good idea that I hadn't thought of, and I'll have my buddy ask around to see if anyone would be interested (I live almost an hour away from the course, so little interaction with anyone else in the club outside of tournaments). I'm sure I'll have fun whatever I choose
@corbes, in no particular order:
My old irons were Wilson Deep Red with FatShafts. I'd say the biggest thing I want out of new irons is distance and control. I hit my driver as far as anyone I play with these days (~260 average, won a long drive with a 300-yarder this summer), but my irons are consistently 10-20 yards shorter than my playing partners. As for control, I have next to no ability to shape my shots. This is probably just as much of a me problem as it is my clubs, but while reading up on new clubs, the Wilsons (especially because of the FatShaft) are apparently known to make it difficult to work shape into your shots.
Know that the following are extremely rough guesstimates:
I'd say I have a birdie opportunity from 125 yards (and good conditions) about 10% of the time. If we broaden the definition of "birdie opportunity" to inside of 20 feet, we could kick that up to 15-20%.
Easy two putt range from 160 is probably 25%? Putting is not exactly my strong suit, so defining "easy two putt range" is tough. I've been putting much better lately, but it hasn't been long enough for me to label it as an improvement, versus small sample size noise. If I assume what I consider to be decent putting, I probably get to "easy two putt range" 30-35% of the time. I'm pretty strong with short chips right around the green, and I'm rarely further than that. Many of my pars are one putt pars from the fringe or the collar.
Qualities I want:
PW - I'd like to have a little more "feel." I currently have a hard time taking a little bit off with my PW...if I'm between clubs at all, I have a hard time finding the right distance. I mention feel because I can be really happy with the swing, impact and trajectory...and then it ends up 10-15 yards shorter than I expect it to.
7I - Probably the best club in my bag (big surprise, I'm sure). Hard to think of anything (aside from the aforementioned distance) that I want out of this club that I'm not already getting.
3I - I'm a little weird in that I don't have much trouble with my longer irons. I'm not at all afraid to bust out my 3I and let it rip. I'm a little more inconsistent with it, but not all that much. That being said, my longer irons (3 & 4) are the ones that suffer the most from my lack of distance. One part of that distance is that the long irons are the only part of my game that I haven't been able to completely eliminate my old slice from. While I've worked the slice out of my driver and have developed a nice straight shot with a hint of draw, and I can get my shorter irons to have a nice little bit of right to left, I struggle to do anything more than get my long irons to a straight shot. The other part of the distance problem is that I seem to get little to no roll out of them. I can check up a 4 iron like you wouldn't believe. Typically, that would be great...but I'm only hitting it 180 or so, and it's typically only swung when I need all the distance I can get out of it. It appears that with almost any new set of irons I get, they'll only go as low as a 4 iron, and apparently hybrid irons are a thing now. Not sure I'm a fan...then again, I haven't swung any yet, so I should probably try before I bad mouth them.
As for what I want out of new clubs that are the same as the ones I currently have, I'd say consistency. Irons are probably the strongest part of my game now, and I'd like to remain as consistent as I currently am with them. I'm aware that getting away from the hugely forgiving clubs that I have now is probably going to do the opposite of that to begin with, but I'm willing to go through the growing pains.
What I want that is different...mostly distance and an ability to shape my shots better than I can now. Feel would also be nice - while my main problems with feel are from the more touch-oriented clubs and shots (wedges and short irons), I'd love to get a better idea of how much backspin I'm putting on the ball and how to control that.