SkolChicago

Also, the lines are blurring between clubs at all levels of the bag. There are utility woods/super hybrids that basically are a 7 wood/hybrid mashup. There are utility irons that are meant to replace irons in a set (some OEMs make a 5 utility). Iron sets are becoming blended. Vokey and Cleveland make a 44 degree. Is it that hard to fathom a mini driver striking a balance between driver and fairway wood that some people could benefit from?

I’ve tried super hard to make a G425 Thriver work as a draw based tee club that would take out the right side. At 43.5”, I started with 35g (max available, 26g is “standard”) in the heel. The ball flight was great on 80% of the drives, but I had the occasional double cross hook, and 1-2 tops a round, that I attribute to the swing weight being too light. I tried to work through those bad misses but they were too thorny to not blow up a round. To add weight, I tried a second weight in the toe (“animal style”) of 7g that felt like the right swing weight, but I hit it to the moon, like an 8i trajectory. It also brought the push fade/slice back into play which was the whole point. Then I tried lead tape near the front, but too much would reduce the forgiveness a lot and too little would still hit it too the moon. As someone said above, I think the club just isn’t built to provide a good ball flight at that length. The mini being designed for the 43.75 length, and easier to draw, is a big factor in this equation I think.

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I think it’s this. More mass lower in the head could cause ballooning, I think CBs have a pretty high CG? Two anecdotes from this year: I bought Mizuno 245s bent two degrees weak. Could NOT get distance with the pitching wedge (then 45), was struggling to even hit it 110. After bending iron lofts for gapping reasons near the top I changed to 43 degrees, which is stock. Suddenly going 130, which was what I’d expect. My buddy has incredible swing speed, and switched from some Mizuno blades to T100s. Same exact lofts. Says the 8 and 9 irons keep coming up short on him compared to the Mizunos. Edison wedge could help with this, I have a 49 and have never, ever ballooned it. Goes about as far as my old 46 Ping (which I also had distance issues with, though my swing is better). Great on partials too.

Lots of new options for 2025, so I'm wondering which people have had the most success making an "anti-fade" iteration. Some background: I've been playing with a G425 Thriver build (12 degree at 13.5), but it seems like it's too hard too add enough weight without introducing the right side for me. I'm at 43.5", 35g in the back w/ Evenflow 85g 6.5. The ball WILL NOT go right on me - BUT, I've had some pretty nasty tops that I think are associated with low swing weight; think I need about 6-10g. But adding a 7g weight to the toe side affects the draw bias A LOT as well as makes the ball skyrocket. Lead tape towards the front seems to help bring ball flight down, but still brings in a push fade/slice that I'd like to reign in as a worst-case miss. SO, think I'll do a fitting, but wondering what options people might recommend. Seems like best draw options would be R7, Elyte Mini, and Secret Weapon given the adjustable weights. Has anyone tried these looking for a draw iteration and can make a comparison? Is the GT280 even worth considering given no draw/fade adjustability with the weights? I'm comfortable making this a tee only club.

Doing an Upper Peninsula trip - definitely doing Graywalls but wondering which 2 everyone would recommend: Heritage (Marquette Golf Club), Pine Grove CC, Timberstone, Sage Run, Sweetgrass. Originally was thinking Timberstone and Sweetgrass but the Heritage and Pine Grove have my interest piqued.