me05501

I used to be biased against shallow faced fairway woods because I was afraid of getting under the ball, especially off a tee, but then I could never hit one off the deck until I gave up that thinking and tried one. Now it's no big deal. My tool of choice is the AI Smoke Max 3HL.

Accuracy of both distance and direction is so much more important than raw distance. I'd say 145 yards is a long way to hit a pitching wedge. Maybe a gapping session with a good fitter would be worthwhile?

When it comes to building and setting up clubs I suppose I fall into the category of knowing just enough to be dangerous. In other words I'm more willing to experiment than my knowledge base will support. Sometime last year I built up a blended set of Srixon irons on MMT 125 stiff shafts soft-stepped one time. I did a great job gluing them up, turning down the ferrules and getting all the grips aligned. They look fantastic and I've played them for about 15-16 months. I hit this set quite well most of the time though recently I noticed my Trackman path number was severely in-to-out...like 11-14* from the inside. No matter what adaptations I tried every full swing was at least 10* from the inside. This confounded me because my path numbers with woods and wedges were in good ranges. Eventually I got the wandering eye and ended up ordering in a different set of irons. When I was comparing them to my current set I realized the new irons were an inch shorter. I was angry for a minute thinking the seller hadn't disclosed that the new set was under standard but when I measured them I found them to be bang on spec. This obviously meant that I'd been playing my old irons significantly over length this entire time. Oof! It was time for new grips anyway so I trimmed my old irons by 3/4" to get to standard Srixon spec. Since then I've noticed my path numbers are much improved as is my center-face contact. The swing weights feel better as well. My next step is going to be having the lofts and lies checked and adjusted to make sure they're correct. Again, I've played a ton of rounds with these clubs and my scores have generally been good. My guess is that after the epoxy dried I got excited to add the grips and get them out on the grass, neglecting the fact that I had soft-stepped and would need to butt trim them first. All better now. 🙂

I'm still digging mine. For a 10K head it does a great job at controlling spin.

I'm continuing to shoot them out against my old irons. The performance results are so similar on good strikes. The feel advantage goes to Srixon for sure. Despite the hype about the feel of the Elytes they are still pretty clicky compared to my forged ZX7's. I think the differences will show up more the more I use them. I was impressed on Saturday with how well my poor strikes turned out. That may be the deciding factor. I'll use the Elytes on the course again this week. I don't think this is a decision that can be made on an indoor simulator.

The places in South Korea include: Simulators with moving hitting areas that tilt to approximate various terrain and multiple different hitting surfaces that offer different lies (rough, sand, etc). Practice bunkers Large putting greens as well as moving putting greens A pro shop Lessons etc. The average South Korean golfer plays the majority of their "golf" indoors. Outdoor golf is relatively inaccessible so far, though I'm sure that's changing a bit with the success they've had in producing pro players. When it comes down to it they have the same issues Nashville has: too many players and not enough space.

I know Nashville has several indoor golf places. Seems like there might be demand for a big one similar to what they have in Asia with practice areas for every aspect of the game. Would take a lot of dough to put one in the right location, but there are probably plenty of abandoned big box stores that would be suitable.

Low. Mini driver faces are hot below the midline because they're designed to be used off the deck. I push the tee down until my first and second fingers are trapped between the ground and the crown of the tee. So the ball is off the ground by about the thickness of my fingers. Such a low tee probably adds more spin than would be optimal for distance. That's part of what keeps the flight so straight. I don't hit my BRNR from the fairway but if it happens to be sitting up in the rough I'll give it a whack.

The influx of people is problematic for golf on multiple fronts. More people with more money means more demand, more crowding and more expense. We all see that. But there's more. Any piece of property that would be suitable for a new course is going to be developed for homes instead. Homes are in such demand that there's no reason to build a course as an amenity. Just put more houses there...they'll sell regardless.

Srixon Z765's too.

I chose The Stack because I feel like I really need to retrain my neural network to learn how to move the clubhead faster. I just completed my first baseline yesterday and will do my first Foundation training on Wednesday. I'm a 10 handicap with lack of speed being my weakest link. I can sometimes hit 92-93 MPH with driver on Trackman but more often it's 89-90. I think I'm swinging even slower on the course. Occasionally everything syncs up and I hit one 255 or so but my average has been stuck around 235 for a few seasons. I've never been athletic or good at any other sports and my instincts for swinging faster are the opposite of what they should be. I get tighter instead of looser. I'm sure I shift my weight later than I should. My swing works really well for accuracy and control but not so much for speed. I'm also taking lessons with a local pro and the main drill he's suggested for this is the step drill. Maybe I could reach the same place by doing a million of those...who knows? I have a Swing Caddie SC200 and my iPad set up now to do the program in my basement. I have the app set on "Dictate" for the speed readings. Sometimes it hears the SC200 but other times I had to repeat the speed so it would be logged. The other thing I had to buy was a beat up old Callaway head to put on an extra shaft I have at home. This will save me from having to get my gamer out of the trunk before every session.

Look into the Porzak clinics, which are held intermittently all over the country. From the online vids I've seen the audience seems to be heavy with seniors. The swing method Porzak teaches is easy on the body so this would be a good combination IMO.

Some reviewers are pushing the Elyte HL as the best option of the bunch. Interesting for sure.

Maybe not if you don’t mind your current way. Another option is to enter the clubs used on the Garmin Golf app after your round.

Still having some issues and it seems to be common with the hardware combo I have. Garmin just released a software update for the S44 meant to fix shot tracking inconsistencies. We shall see.

I trimmed my old clubs down by 0.75” yesterday and regripped them. Now they’re around standard Srixon spec. These are ZX5 5-7 and ZX7 8-P. I took the Srixon 7&9 irons to the Trackman bar today and did a head to head comparison with the Elytes. There wasn’t much difference in dispersion or distance. The main difference was in spin with the Elytes coming up about 10% shy of the Srixons. But this was a limited test on mats with only 5-6 shots per club. I think the feel of the Elytes is better than the ZX5’s but not as good as the ZX7’s. Understandable really considering the differences in construction. My ZX5’s are the first version which are a little harsh compared to the more recent ones. Going to keep comparing and contrasting. I could definitely play either set happily.

Playing the Senator is not much fun at all IMO. All I remember are winding narrow fairways lined with 3’ tall overgrowth. Anything that misses the fairway is lost/unplayable. Hated it. If you need a good course to add between Montgomery and Birmingham I would recommend Timberline. The Judge is a classic.

I could see using the bigger head in the 5/6 irons. I like to combo.

Got mine out for a range session yesterday and had them in the bag for a round today. My set is 5-P + A + G on Recoil Concept 105 stiff shafts. Honestly I was as interested in trying the shafts as the heads but I’ve been Elyte-curious since they came out. I doubt the AW or GW will ever make the bag as I’m really happy with my wedge situation. If anyone wants those heads hit me up. I’ll keep the shafts. When I was comparing these to my current irons I initially thought they were an inch short. Turns out my old irons are an inch long. Whoops! That’s what I get for building them myself. The Elyte heads are nice and compact with moderate sole width. Easy to aim and set up too. They launch well and the trajectory I’m seeing with these shafts is moderate. The flight is strong and biased toward being very straight without much draw or fade. It’s been a while since I played a head that prioritized forgiveness. The Elytes are far from a cheat code but they do a great job of preserving distance on all kinds of mishits. I had a couple of approaches I hit fat and I expected those shots to come up a club short. Instead they reached the front fringe. I’m really pleased so far and would have no issue keeping these in the bag. I’m also going to cut down my old set by at least .5” to give them a fair shake. I can’t believe I’ve played them over length for a year or more without realizing it.

We see having kids through a modern lens where parents prioritize them. Back in Nelson’s and Hogan’s day dealing with kids was largely considered women’s work.

I’m open to experimenting. Seems like these might benefit from a 1-2 weak bend which would also reduce offset. My set is due to arrive today.

Funniest comment I saw under the interview clip: "Jail changed him." 😄 From a human perspective I agree with Scottie's comments and I think it's good to have a top athlete sharing this perspective. From a financial perspective I would say that it's much easier to have Scottie's point of view having accomplished what he has in terms of trophies and wealth. It's very easy to assess those things after you already have them and very difficult when you don't.

Most fittings are meant to result in gear sales of some kind. They can be fun and helpful but not always perfectly agnostic. It's a strong clue when your fitter promotes the idea of applying your fitting fee to the cost of anything you buy. He's not doing that for your benefit...he's just protecting the value of his time. And if you're inclined to buy it can give you and excuse to go through with. "I'm already $150 in the hole...what's another $500??" This is a mind game that isn't worth playing. A really good fitting starts with your current bag as a baseline. I want to see the fitter measure all the lengths, lofts and lies on irons and wedges. Let's talk about what I like to see behind the ball. Which parts of my current set are questionable or cause me the most stress? Where am I losing strokes? Also, what's my budget? How much am I willing to commit if great solutions can be found? There should be a solid chance that I leave with the same stuff I brought in, maybe with some adjustments to lofts, lies or collar settings. IMO the best fitters are also instructors. If they happen to see something in your setup or transition that's causing your issues, I'd rather them discuss it and coach me up rather than just fit around it.

OP here. I spent last week working through this feel and had a couple rounds over the weekend. This refined my thinking and feeling of what I'm trying to describe. I think it comes down to having adequate patience in transition. My negative tendency is to cut my backswing off a bit short and try to hit from the top to make up for it. I can correct this by focusing on finishing the turn and having more patience as the club changes directions. I hit some of the best iron shots I can imagine hitting during my weekend rounds. That was the confirmation I needed to continue down the path I'm on. FWIW it's a lot easier to be patient with a mid/short iron than with a full-length driver! But the gains in path, face control and contact are worth it.

To the OP, congrats and I hope you get a lot out of it. These kinds of things can focus your intentions and hopefully be a launching pad for a leap forward. Probably depends on your starting point and the work you do coming out of it. As much as I obsess over golf I don't think 2.5 straight days of intensive training would be effective for me. I need time to digest and adapt what I've learned. But everyone is different.