The OS Golfer's Thread!

[BDKiiing]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Awesome. I have generally had a good feel with Callaway drivers - I currently have the 1st gen TaylorMade Stealth in the bag, and honestly...I don't love it. I may go back to Callaway, as I've always just liked the way they felt when I swing them.

If any of those old Callaways are burning a hole in your garage, I'll swing by when you're free!

Stealth was okay, I still don't know how I feel about the carbon fiber face. After playing 5 or 6 TM drivers in a row (while working them for half of that), the carbon face turned me off. They're solid, but I'm not keen on the feel.


Unfortunately I send back my head each year when the new one comes in. Ha.

[pietasterp]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Stealth was okay, I still don't know how I feel about the carbon fiber face. After playing 5 or 6 TM drivers in a row (while working them for half of that), the carbon face turned me off. They're solid, but I'm not keen on the feel.

Yeah, it's got sort of a 'dead' feel like you're hitting the ball with a plastic club or something, which I'm not totally fond of. It also feels like it swings 'heavier' than Callaway drivers. I don't know what the actual swing weights are and I don't really care, I just know they feel a bit clunkier to swing.

But really I just need to improve my swing.

[jb12780]

The OS Golfer's Thread!

Stealth was okay, I still don't know how I feel about the carbon fiber face. After playing 5 or 6 TM drivers in a row (while working them for half of that), the carbon face turned me off. They're solid, but I'm not keen on the feel.


Unfortunately I send back my head each year when the new one comes in. Ha.

I wanna pick your brain a little bit:

1. How did you get into club fitting?

2. What trends are you seeing so far with years equipment? Certainly brand selling more than others?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BDKiiing]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

I wanna pick your brain a little bit:

1. How did you get into club fitting?

2. What trends are you seeing so far with years equipment? Certainly brand selling more than others?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Long post coming. Few Budweisers deep.



1. That's a really interesting questioN.

Spoiler

It happened by accident. I graduated college in 2015. Played golf and tended bar to recharge the batteries for like 10 months. Spring 2016 my pops and I went to golf galaxy near Green Bay on a random Saturday. We ran into an old acquaintance who used to run one of the area golf courses, but now worked for TaylorMade. He asked if I still golfed and needed a job at all. He brought me on as a "trial basis" for the first year to see if I could pick it up. Well according to my boss' boss, he hadn't ever seen someone pick it up so quickly. I just became a huge nerd for it and got really good, I guess. After being on the road traveling Wisconsin and upper Michigan, I didn't really want to be on the road so much after spending like 3 of my last 30 days in my own bed. So I moved to Michigan to work for Carl's Golf land since I had heard of them, since my brother has lived in Michigan for about 20 years now. Business has been insane the last 5 years. So I made the move, and now drive 10 mins to work each day, and still get to fit for product. I miss being at a different course everyday, but I don't miss the drives, and a lot of cool opportunities have happened over the last six years, like my trips to Oakmont, Firestone, etc. So one random Saturday drive with Pops has turned into almost a decade of a wild ride.

2. Oh yeah. Plenty of trends. FULL DISCLOSURE: TEST THE PRODUCTS YOURSELF. I'll walk down the bag.

Spoiler

Driver: The last few years Ping has been insane. If I had the choice on what to play driver wise, it would definitely be the G440 or G430 10K. They're both spectacular. G430 10K is easily the most forgiving driver ever created. Ping has been on a heater. Callaway Elyte and Elyte X are doing really well early. The X head does wonders in the neutral setting for an insanely stable driver. Titleist GT2 or 3 are worth trying. TaylorMade's Qi35 core head has been fine. But TM hasn't had the greatest reputation around the last few years. Fine driver though. This year Wilson's Dynapower even stepped up it's game too.



Fairways: GT2, unbelievably good. Very spicy. First Titleist wood I've ever even considered playing. G440 Max, super stable, super forgiving, super consistent. Hence why I play one of each for different reasons. Qi35 continues a trend of reliable FWs from TM. Elyte Ti, very expensive, incredibly long. If price isn't a factor, for good ball strikers, it might be the longest one out there.


Hybrids: G440. That's all. Qi35 is adjustable now so that's cool. But I personally don't see a ton of innovation when it comes to hybrids. Companies just rehash similar things for a few years before they really make changes to them.


Irons: For game improvement irons, G440 is hard to beat. Qi continues a strong run. Elyte offers a nice variety based on profile. Big step up for Mizuno Hot Metal, the 925's are some of my favorites right now, good offering with three different profiles, just as good as anyone's.
Now for players/players distance/forged irons. P790 continues to be good as ever. I do think Callaway Apex, unfortunately took a step back going hollow bodied this year. Ping i530 is solid, but for more playersy irons, Blueprint S is hard to beat. Titleist is just steady across the board. The best kept secret in golf remains to be Srixon. ZXi5/7 and even the 4's are so sick. Some of the best feeling irons ever. I'm honestly contemplating getting a set as a backup. They are really breaking out of being just a cult following.


Wedges: SM10's and RTZ's run the show. Callaway Opus is okay, consensus is they feel very head light, but the Platinum version is really good.


Putters: Cameron and Odyssey still rule the world. However, LAB Golf has crashed the party, probably the craziest trend in golf right now. Odyssey and TaylorMade now copying their concept. They're insanely stable. I actually use one simply for practicing my stroke. They're so impressive what they are capable of for average to bad golfers.


I have a group of 5 customers of mine turned good friends in the last few years, if I could sum up their bags:
G440 driver
GT2 Woods
ZXi 5/7 combo irons

SM10's
Lab Oz1 or Mezz


Just a weird trend of how I've seen "my guys" end up putting their bags together.


Hope that wasn't too long or boring. Gimme a shout if you have any other questions at all, in here or my twitter is the same user name. Hope that helps.

FIRST TEE TIME OF THE YEAR ON FRIDAY.

[jb12780]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Long post coming. Few Budweisers deep.



1. That's a really interesting questioN.

Spoiler

It happened by accident. I graduated college in 2015. Played golf and tended bar to recharge the batteries for like 10 months. Spring 2016 my pops and I went to golf galaxy near Green Bay on a random Saturday. We ran into an old acquaintance who used to run one of the area golf courses, but now worked for TaylorMade. He asked if I still golfed and needed a job at all. He brought me on as a "trial basis" for the first year to see if I could pick it up. Well according to my boss' boss, he hadn't ever seen someone pick it up so quickly. I just became a huge nerd for it and got really good, I guess. After being on the road traveling Wisconsin and upper Michigan, I didn't really want to be on the road so much after spending like 3 of my last 30 days in my own bed. So I moved to Michigan to work for Carl's Golf land since I had heard of them, since my brother has lived in Michigan for about 20 years now. Business has been insane the last 5 years. So I made the move, and now drive 10 mins to work each day, and still get to fit for product. I miss being at a different course everyday, but I don't miss the drives, and a lot of cool opportunities have happened over the last six years, like my trips to Oakmont, Firestone, etc. So one random Saturday drive with Pops has turned into almost a decade of a wild ride.

2. Oh yeah. Plenty of trends. FULL DISCLOSURE: TEST THE PRODUCTS YOURSELF. I'll walk down the bag.

Spoiler

Driver: The last few years Ping has been insane. If I had the choice on what to play driver wise, it would definitely be the G440 or G430 10K. They're both spectacular. G430 10K is easily the most forgiving driver ever created. Ping has been on a heater. Callaway Elyte and Elyte X are doing really well early. The X head does wonders in the neutral setting for an insanely stable driver. Titleist GT2 or 3 are worth trying. TaylorMade's Qi35 core head has been fine. But TM hasn't had the greatest reputation around the last few years. Fine driver though. This year Wilson's Dynapower even stepped up it's game too.



Fairways: GT2, unbelievably good. Very spicy. First Titleist wood I've ever even considered playing. G440 Max, super stable, super forgiving, super consistent. Hence why I play one of each for different reasons. Qi35 continues a trend of reliable FWs from TM. Elyte Ti, very expensive, incredibly long. If price isn't a factor, for good ball strikers, it might be the longest one out there.


Hybrids: G440. That's all. Qi35 is adjustable now so that's cool. But I personally don't see a ton of innovation when it comes to hybrids. Companies just rehash similar things for a few years before they really make changes to them.


Irons: For game improvement irons, G440 is hard to beat. Qi continues a strong run. Elyte offers a nice variety based on profile. Big step up for Mizuno Hot Metal, the 925's are some of my favorites right now, good offering with three different profiles, just as good as anyone's.
Now for players/players distance/forged irons. P790 continues to be good as ever. I do think Callaway Apex, unfortunately took a step back going hollow bodied this year. Ping i530 is solid, but for more playersy irons, Blueprint S is hard to beat. Titleist is just steady across the board. The best kept secret in golf remains to be Srixon. ZXi5/7 and even the 4's are so sick. Some of the best feeling irons ever. I'm honestly contemplating getting a set as a backup. They are really breaking out of being just a cult following.


Wedges: SM10's and RTZ's run the show. Callaway Opus is okay, consensus is they feel very head light, but the Platinum version is really good.


Putters: Cameron and Odyssey still rule the world. However, LAB Golf has crashed the party, probably the craziest trend in golf right now. Odyssey and TaylorMade now copying their concept. They're insanely stable. I actually use one simply for practicing my stroke. They're so impressive what they are capable of for average to bad golfers.


I have a group of 5 customers of mine turned good friends in the last few years, if I could sum up their bags:
G440 driver
GT2 Woods
ZXi 5/7 combo irons

SM10's
Lab Oz1 or Mezz


Just a weird trend of how I've seen "my guys" end up putting their bags together.


Hope that wasn't too long or boring. Gimme a shout if you have any other questions at all, in here or my twitter is the same user name. Hope that helps.

FIRST TEE TIME OF THE YEAR ON FRIDAY.

So how’d you play?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BDKiiing]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

So how’d you play?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I hit it well ish. Shot 79, with 24 putts. The new Toulon was cooking early on. Greens were in surprisingly wonderful shape considering the time of the year. I didn't have great feels with my irons yet, but everything else felt solid. Probably won't play again until next week. But we're getting there.

[jb12780]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

My old man who is trying to get back in the game just told me he just got 6 free lessons courtesy of the PGA Hope program, which is for vets and active military personnel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pietasterp]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

My old man who is trying to get back in the game just told me he just got 6 free lessons courtesy of the PGA Hope program, which is for vets and active military personnel.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice! Can't have too many potential golfing buddies...

I'm thinking of getting back to working with an instructor as well. I've done it on-and-off over the years, but I can't find anyone that I really jive with yet. If I could find that person, I would want to work with them long-term, because I feel like I'm a few swing changes away from being decent.

[countryboy]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Played for the first time yesterday as part of a work meeting and despite it being the first time out, I didn't play all that poorly. I shot 48 out and 46 in breaking 100 which was my goal for the first time out. I could've shot better, but my putting was off as I had a difficult time finding the pace of the greens.

Still I drove the ball fairly well and from 100 yards in and around the green I had good touch. My approaches were a little inconsistent and like I said my putting was off.

Supposed to play in a golf scramble on Friday and then with my golfing group on Saturday at a course I love to play, so hopefully I find the putting stroke over those 36 holes.

[pietasterp]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Gotta love that it's officially golf season across the country! Glad everyone's getting out and getting their spring rounds in.

I've gotten out a few times and like everyone, I have a lot to work on. But the longer days are glorious and with good light until at least 7-7:30, it's full-on golfing season for the foreseeable future!

[countryboy]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Rain and storms in the area cancelled the golf scramble for today.

With the amount of rain that has fallen, I'll likely not play tomorrow morning with friends.

Sigh....was really looking forward to playing 36 holes this weekend.

[legendkiller5]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Rain and storms in the area cancelled the golf scramble for today.

With the amount of rain that has fallen, I'll likely not play tomorrow morning with friends.

Sigh....was really looking forward to playing 36 holes this weekend.

That's the worst. Nothing more frustration than looking forward to a round (or two) and having it rained out.

Always seems to happen with I set my outfit out the night before, lol (like last Saturday).

[BDKiiing]

Re: The OS Golfer's Thread!

Finally got a day off when the weather was nice. Got up to 75° today. Was able to play one of the usual local courses today. Fired a smooth 5 bogey, 12 par 77. Should have had one birdie, but left it on the lip. The new putter is rolling very nicely to start the season. And if I cant replicate my driving that I had today, it's going to be a great season. Made a little change with the weight in the driver, seemed to be a quality adjustment. Hit my first two bunker shots of 2025, and weirdly splashed both out to inside 3 feet, so that's a nice start. All things together, it going to be a good season.