CountryClubChef

we will have to see how the fitting goes, but I landed on my 13 degree driver due to issues with my inability to get high. With a 9 degree every tee shot looked like a stinger. I know ping had a 12 degree, we will see what the fitting says about my driver. The tech in swing analysis with the new launch monitors should help diagnose what the issue is. All my past coaching and fittings were done by eye.

The Retro Blueprints are something I’m interested in. I’ve never struggled with getting my irons to a comfortable loft, it’s more so my Driver/fairway/hybrid clubs that i just don’t get enough hight to ever feel comfortable aiming over an obstacle. Their range is fine, playing into wind is fine. It’s also a probably a product of playing a lot of Florida golf where the only way to make courses challenging is to add length and bunkers/water so a low flight links style of golf hasn’t been the worst for me. Being able to comfortably drive 260 down the fairway and have a reasonable iron shot into the green has always worked well for me. I’m not getting a lot of eagle looks on a par 5 though.

Been playing since I was 8, never been a long hitter. I’m a small guy, been 5’10” 145-150 pounds since high school. Suffered a major setback in my game in my 20s when I was run over by a car and fractured my spine and had to have my leg reconstructed. I’d say my iron play is very reliable, consistently hitting my numbers with very little dispersion. Anything inside of 165 is a sure thing. Really the only thing I’d like to improve on irons is stopping power. My driver and woods I’ve always struggled to get a lot of hight out of my shots but I don’t struggle with getting it in the fairway. Putting is consistent, nothing special. Now that I’m in my 40s I don’t see myself gaining much in terms of distance with my woods, I feel like 240-260 carry is respectable for a small guy with life changing injuries. Not looking to be a competitor’c just looking to enjoy myself and constantly striving to improve my game.

Wow, thank you for the detailed response. I do think I went a little overboard with going 16/19/22 hybrid with the last set but at the time my 4 iron and 3 wood were just not doing what I wanted them to. What I’m currently thinking is 3 or 4 wood to replace the 16, one hybrid to replace the 19 and a driving iron(Mizuno hi fli, Wilson Utility, Ping iDi) to replace the 22. This would give me a little more in terms of options off the teebox, from the rough or a fairway bunker than just 3 hybrids. I am also going to look at possibly doing a combo set with something like the Ping T/S or the Mizuno S-1/S-3 where I go with CB 5/6 and Blade 7-PW. Really depends on how things feel, last time I had a combo set I got rid of them. I’ll probably play with what I have for a few months and do a few lessons with the local pro to get a better sense of where my swing is before my fitting, Maybe Santa will be kind to me with a new set of clubs.

The biggest issue with the putter is that when i use it now my hand gets stained blue from the grip coming off on my hand. I’m not emotionally attached to it enough to try and find a grip I would want to replace the current. Mizuno and Taylormade both have a putter that looks nice, I’ll have to try them out at the store to see if they suit me.

I’m really hoping all the stuff I’ve read about newer woods is true, the whole “the new tech has advanced to basically a yard per year” If I can get 20 yards on my current driver I’ll lose my s***. I’ll probably replace my Woods/Hybrids first and then consider what the numbers show for new irons. If I can get a Driver, 3 Wood and probably like a 3/4 hybrids that are more consistent than mine I’ll be happy. The 440s do like a contender.

See, my perception of it is that they’ve changed the lofts a lot for the advertising, like a “more distance than ever!”, well no s***… the 7 iron is lofted like my 5 iron. Currently my gapping from 160 in is very consistent and accurate. I’m worried that if the loft on these newer clubs makes me hit my PW-5 iron further that it would create yardage holes. I could be wrong and I’ll listen to what the pros say at the fitting about it.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I have glanced at some of the suggestions that people have made like sub 70, hogans, Miura, Ping. The loft on the sub 70s seemed a little bit off, i don’t think the place ill be getting fitted at has hogans, Miura might be worth checking out and the Ping has this “Retro spec loft” option which I hope is available to try out. I’m really happy with the gapping of my current irons and that’s mostly why I’m trying to find clubs that have similar lofts. I have also noticed that some of the brands do offer a CB in the same loft and I have played a set of J36 combo irons before switching to the full set of blades and I’m not opposed to trying other CBs. Something else that seems to be aa little more popular now is this whole “larger grip” thing. I would at least like to try some different grip sizes, but last time I. Changed my grips out I don’t remember that being a thing. The putter sadly has seen better days, I lost the head cover a few years back and the last few times I’ve played I’ve noticed that the grip is beginning to crumble apart. I’m sure there’s options to re grip a putter, but I have noticed that there are some nice looking center shafted putters on the market. It did me well, but I think it’ll go the way of my old bullseye putter. Hopefully the replacement serves me as well as the Barbados has.

My oh my has it been a long time since I posted here, 14 years to be precise. A lot has happened in that time: moved, bought a house, got married, had kids, moved, bought another house, and now after years of career building and moving around my wife and I(at 40 years old) are building our dream home at a private golf course/community down south with this new move and better yet… my kids are both in school now. I’ll actually be able to get back to playing 5 days a week instead of the 5 rounds a year these last few years after mistakingly moving from FL to the frigid north. My game has definitely suffered after years of putting family first. I’m really curious what clubs I’ll land on when I go in for a fitting. I have done some reading up on modern clubs and it’s wild to me that my 5 iron is the same loft as new 7 irons. Even the new “players irons” have huge heads and major offsets compared to what I’ve played. I did get some sessions with a local pro a year or two ago and he was telling me I should get some new clubs even though I was still hitting my blades fine. Has anyone else been in this situation where they’ve played blades forever and all the new stuff seems huge and strange? Currently my bag consists of: Nike Sumo 5000 Driver Graffaloy Proto Black R Bridgestone J36 Hybrid 16/19/22 Aldila VS Proto R Bridgestone J36 Blades 5-PW PX Flighted 5.0 Mizuno MP T-10 Wedges 52/56/60 Rife Barbados center shaft putter I know 100% for sure I need a new putter, driver and hybrid/woods. From what I’ve read the tech in those clubs has evolved leaps and bounds since 2008 when I last purchased clubs. My irons/wedges I’ll have to try out some of the newer stuff and see if anything feels better. Has the tech in blades changed much in the last 20 years? I really feel hesitant to stray away from blades since I’ve played them and played them well for so long, especially since once you go away from blades the lofts/offsets seem to get really wonky. It seems the most popular Woods/Hybrids right now are TaylorMade/Titleist, are there any sleepers or something in the works that I should keep my eye out for? I do like the look of the SIM 2s, but when I mention those people are like “Why not the QI35s”… I know my clubs to new clubs is a big jump in technology, but is there a significant jump from clubs that came out a few years ago to now? I did read an article that mentioned Mizuno is about to release some new woods with some “breakthrough tech” soon but lacked any specifics. I have considered going back to a more traditional Driver/3wood and 2 hybrid clubs since apparently the newer woods are a lot easier to hit than they were 20 years ago. Any other woods/hybrids worth testing? Looking at the current options for blades the one’s I’ll probably try at a fitting would be: Mizuno S-1 Titleist 620 Wilson Staff Taylormade P7MB of these the only ones with the same loft/lie as my current J36 are Taylormade/Titleist, although the others are only off by a degree and the shaft length/offsets are fairly similar on all sets. Any recommendations on things I should try when I go in for a fitting? I’m more than willing to try some suggestions. Sorry this post has gotten a little long winded… I’m just really excited that life has brought me back to the game I love. Thanks in advance for any feedback.