Jerry Kelly... 9!!! Sets of clubs this year

[JermWRX]

Just watching Golf Channel and they had a recap of The Champions Tour season, with interviews. They asked Kelly to grade himself and he said it would be a C because amongst other things, it took him until his 9th set of clubs to feel right. Is this normal!!?? Would he be the biggest club ho on WRX???

[roundersmitty]

21 minutes ago, JermWRX said:

Just watching Golf Channel and they had a recap of The Champions Tour season, with interviews. They asked Kelly to grade himself and he said it would be a C because amongst other things, it took him until his 9th set of clubs to feel right. Is this normal!!?? Would he be the biggest club ho on WRX???

I think this would bring him to “average” ho on wrx

[OnTheBag]

29 minutes ago, JermWRX said:

Just watching Golf Channel and they had a recap of The Champions Tour season, with interviews. They asked Kelly to grade himself and he said it would be a C because amongst other things, it took him until his 9th set of clubs to feel right. Is this normal!!?? Would he be the biggest club ho on WRX???

9 isn't a big number for tour players testing iron sets and it isn't a new thing either.  I remember a conversation with my player in the early 80's on the range.  He kept complaining that his irons didn't feel right, even though they were identical to the set we were replacing.  The Titleist tour rep had 5 or 6 sets shipped to the next stop (a big deal in those days).  We spent Wednesday morning on the range in sweltering humidity hitting balls, he would switch from his old set to the new set and back and forth for hours.  Finally he hit a shot that matched the feel and flight he wanted and we were on to something.

 

Jerry plays ZX7 and I'm sure the trial and error was something similar to above.  These guys are so consistent with impact that they notice things we can't fathom.  

Edited November 14, 2023 by OnTheBag

[Phabs]

There’s dudes on here that’s one month of movement. 

[sharkiesj]

9 sets. Pffftt.  Rookie.  

[getair23]

Rickie sees Jerry”s 9 and raises him 33. 

[NotoM]

56 minutes ago, getair23 said:

Rickie sees Jerry”s 9 and raises him 33. 

And then didn’t use those. 

[Shilgy]

Where’s @MtlJeff ? This thread is right up his alley.  His season up north starts in May and he was on set 9 by July.🤣

[Streuner]

those are proffessionals... and the clubs they are using are tools. if a tool is not working correct, it will be changed. It is the same as in any kind of business.

to switch into other sports, cycling for example, the better bikers are having 4-6 bikes in permanent rotation + 2 bikes for competition and maybe 3-4 bikes when season starts to select and specify their needs. and there is no crash replacement calculated

Edited November 14, 2023 by Streuner

[MtlJeff]

8 hours ago, Shilgy said:

Where’s @MtlJeff ? This thread is right up his alley.  His season up north starts in May and he was on set 9 by July.🤣

 

I literally ordered new woods last night as you were posting this LOL....New TSR2's on the way!

 

9 sets of irons is a lot! I only used 4 last year haha

[cardoustie]

I read Stadler used 3 sets of irons in his 30 years on tour

 

i think my “worst” year was 4 or 5 iron sets in a 6 month season … I was churning thru pretty blades like butter on a 70’s dairy farm 

 

now I’m the opposite, can’t quit s55’s … or the g400 line up 

[Pepperturbo]

To the OP, yes, it's quite normal for Pros even better amateurs to test iron sets before putting clubs into tournament play.  How many are tested depends on each person's circumstances.  Pro's have OEM support, so looking at many sets for perfection is more normal on tour.  On tours, wood shafts change more often than scoring clubs.

 

IMO the difference is in motivation.   Pros don't change irons hoping to buy a stroke off the card or to be the coolest, like the average Ho.  They test until they find the set configuration, distances and gapping that fits their desired specs; otherwise they don't change what works.  Neither do I. 

 

I played one set for umpteen years, then switched back to MBs for multiple years before my recent change.  I went through 3 sets of irons and four sets of iron shafts over the last year to find my current set.

 

Ho's chase a stroke or two, seldom finding that stroke or what works because they either don't know what works, or don't care about their game enough to see fewer strokes come from the head, first.

 

[OnTheBag]

25 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

Pros don't change irons hoping to buy a stroke off the card or to be the coolest, like the average Ho.  They test until they find the set configuration, distances and gapping that fits their desired specs; otherwise they don't change what works. 

This is the point of my post as well.  The professionals that I worked for would never change irons if they didn't have to.  At some point, due to the sheer number of balls they hit a week, spin drops off and shots start leaking more than normal, so they are forced to.  In those cases, they are looking for a feel and a flight window.

[OnTheBag]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

I read Stadler used 3 sets of irons in his 30 years on tour

True, but Craig wasn't known as someone who worked hard on the range.  Those 3 sets of irons probably saw fewer range balls in 30 years than these current players hit in one year.  Haha.

[Pepperturbo]

41 minutes ago, OnTheBag said:

This is the point of my post as well.  The professionals that I worked for would never change irons if they didn't have to.  At some point, due to the sheer number of balls they hit a week, spin drops off and shots start leaking more than normal, so they are forced to.  In those cases, they are looking for a feel and a flight window.

Agree.

 

An old now retired buddy worked for Titleist in their tour dept, building custom sets for staff players.  Heard plenty of stories.

[MtlJeff]

52 minutes ago, OnTheBag said:

This is the point of my post as well.  The professionals that I worked for would never change irons if they didn't have to.  At some point, due to the sheer number of balls they hit a week, spin drops off and shots start leaking more than normal, so they are forced to.  In those cases, they are looking for a feel and a flight window.

 

It's also their job so their motivation is to play as best as they can, to win events and money etc.

 

For amateurs , sometimes part of the fun is trying new things and there's way less, if nothing at all, at stake for us. 

 

If i was being paid for scores i'd probably change this out far less

[QuigleyDU]

The crazy thing is they very well could have been 9 sets of the same clubs. Just different set ups. 

[mat562]

2 hours ago, cardoustie said:

I read Stadler used 3 sets of irons in his 30 years on tour

 

i think my “worst” year was 4 or 5 iron sets in a 6 month season … I was churning thru pretty blades like butter on a 70’s dairy farm 

 

now I’m the opposite, can’t quit s55’s … or the g400 line up 

 

I think I read somewhere that Jack Nicklaus only played seven sets of irons from the early 60s to the early 90s, and had the same 3-wood from the late 50s until something like 1992.

[iNeedMoreGolf]

Hmm let me count my  iron sets through the past 16 yrs... carry the 2... add the 4... divide by 7.. minus only 1... multply by 6... should be about.......14 iron sets going on 15 but i have 5 sets of irons that work very well for me at the moment. 9 putters. 6 drivers.. at least 10 wedges.. 4 3woods.. 6 bags... 3 turtle doves... and a patridge in a pair treee... happy thanks giving and meryy x mas. God-Jesus bless!

Edited November 14, 2023 by iNeedMoreGolf
....

[jomatty]

2 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

It's also their job so their motivation is to play as best as they can, to win events and money etc.

 

For amateurs , sometimes part of the fun is trying new things and there's way less, if nothing at all, at stake for us. 

 

If i was being paid for scores i'd probably change this out far less

100%.  The risk of me changing irons is minimal.  Heck, sometimes it even helps, and it’s fun to try new things.  If my livelihood  depended on my scores I would be much less inclined to mess with something I was very familiar with.  Since I’m risking a few small bets with my friends I can have some fun seeing if X, Y, and Z works better or is more fun to play than whatever I’m using.

[Lobby]

Imagine how much range time you have to put in just to optimize your clubs. 
 

ugh. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Lobby

[TiScape]

17 hours ago, JermWRX said:

Just watching Golf Channel and they had a recap of The Champions Tour season, with interviews. They asked Kelly to grade himself and he said it would be a C because amongst other things, it took him until his 9th set of clubs to feel right. Is this normal!!?? Would he be the biggest club ho on WRX???

Not even close.

 

*If this has already been said (and I’d b surprised if it hasn’t) I apologize 😊

[Dutch1008]

What does 9 sets of clubs even mean? Are we actually talking about 9 different sets of clubs or 9 different configurations? 

 

In my head, the former is starting out w/ something like the MP 221, wanting more help so you move to the MP 223, not liking the turf interaction so you move to the T100, being unsatisfied with your carry numbers and changing to the T150, etc etc etc. That's bananas and and you need therapy or at least, a little more patience during the fitting process. If it's the latter, and we're simply talking about set up tweaks, lie / loft / shaft / grip or maybe some small set make up changes, adding more forgiving long irons, adding in a driving iron, etc, that's not really 9 sets of clubs and not that wacky. Tons of pros tweak their wedges depending on turf conditions for the weak. Play around w/ the long irons and fairway woods depending on course set up and weather conditions.    

[mat562]

On 11/14/2023 at 1:18 AM, JermWRX said:

 Would he be the biggest club ho on WRX???

 

He'd have to take a set of irons he hit fantastically well, sell them, and then reobtain and resell similar sets, all for other clubs he'd never hit and was taking a chance on, sight-unseen, at least five times to even get through the door of the GolfWRX Club Ho AGM without the bouncers throwing him to the gutter.

 

 

Edited November 15, 2023 by mat562

[cardoustie]

5 hours ago, iNeedMoreGolf said:

Hmm let me count my  iron sets through the past 16 yrs... carry the 2... add the 4... divide by 7.. minus only 1... multply by 6... should be about.......14 iron sets going on 15 but i have 5 sets of irons that work very well for me at the moment. 9 putters. 6 drivers.. at least 10 wedges.. 4 3woods.. 6 bags... 3 turtle doves... and a patridge in a pair treee... happy thanks giving and meryy x mas. God-Jesus bless!

Lightweight 

[bladehunter]

9 ain’t nothing.  I’m a reformed member. But I know some folks that will try half the new sets that come out each year.  And drivers ?  Please. Try ALL of them.  

[JermWRX]

From all the responses, I can comfortably say that I love trying different stuff and tweaks, but I am nowhere near on your level!! You people are nuts!!!!😂 (Which is why I love it here)

[straightshot7]

He should try the new Kirklands. 

[Jayjay_theweim_guy]

13 hours ago, cardoustie said:

I read Stadler used 3 sets of irons in his 30 years on tour

 

i think my “worst” year was 4 or 5 iron sets in a 6 month season … I was churning thru pretty blades like butter on a 70’s dairy farm 

 

now I’m the opposite, can’t quit s55’s … or the g400 line up 

He was fairly blase with them...  I've told the story here before of how he had a laugh about his sticks at my expense.  Hilarious at the time, once I got over my mortified look.

 

I guess I'd understand club ho'ing if my swing was stable instead of improving.  As it is, I can hardly blame inconsistent performance on the clubs.

[isaacbm]

9? Hilarious. I’ve had 6 different sets on a 10 day trip to Phoenix.  
 

amateur ho!