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

[iBanesto]

[BIG STU]

On 11/13/2023 at 8:47 PM, OnTheBag said:

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.  

Yep those type of players have an uncanny sense of feel. One hustler that you and I have talked about before that played some Tour Events and a US Open was like that. He was up on our range one day with the Wilson rep with 5 different sets of the same Wilson irons same model shaft and everything. He had his empty bag and he would hit like one 7 iron then the other and would say I am keeping this one. At the end of the day he had like one club he liked out of each set in the bag. Basically one brand and shaft to the naked eye but like 5 different serial numbers. A guy named Mike Winn I caddied for in 2 Kemper Opens and one GGO did not have a matching iron in his bag period brand or anything. Only thing in common with his Irons was he used the Old GP Cord grips. He was a minor Ram Staffer with a Ram Bag but the only Ram club in his bag was a Zebra putter.

Now days with the technology of frequency matching etc I would say a set of tour player quality matched clubs are darn near on specific specs for the player when they leave the bench.

[BIG STU]

16 hours ago, jomatty said:

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.

Back when I was able to play vintage all the time I switched around a lot. All in fun for me score did not matter. I worked for a metal recycling company and found stuff darn near every week. Part of my fun in those days was taking a set I found on the scrap pile that week and see what I could shoot that weekend with them. I had a bad accident in 2020 breaking my back and shoulder. Now days to be able to enjoy my retirement and play 3 or 4 days a week I play what is in my signature. I do sneak out maybe 2 times a month for 9 hole rounds with the steel shafts and persimmon

[BIG STU]

On 11/13/2023 at 8:58 PM, Phabs said:

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

You are one of 5 people on here when you post I read with interest to see what you have bought and are hitting this week or putting with this week

[jomatty]

56 minutes ago, BIG STU said:

Back when I was able to play vintage all the time I switched around a lot. All in fun for me score did not matter. I worked for a metal recycling company and found stuff darn near every week. Part of my fun in those days was taking a set I found on the scrap pile that week and see what I could shoot that weekend with them. I had a bad accident in 2020 breaking my back and shoulder. Now days to be able to enjoy my retirement and play 3 or 4 days a week I play what is in my signature. I do sneak out maybe 2 times a month for 9 hole rounds with the steel shafts and persimmon

I’m 45 but am fairly banged up.  When I started playing again 3-4 years ago I could only play once or twice a week max with the DG s300 I was accustomed to using.  Now that I’m in graphite throughout the bag I can play pretty much every day.  Like you I will sneak out every so often with the VIP’s my dad gave me that he used in his prime.  I pulled the s400’s from the evens and put some steelfibers in them with the hopes of walking 9 a little more often with them.  Messing around is fun!

[BIG STU]

26 minutes ago, jomatty said:

I’m 45 but am fairly banged up.  When I started playing again 3-4 years ago I could only play once or twice a week max with the DG s300 I was accustomed to using.  Now that I’m in graphite throughout the bag I can play pretty much every day.  Like you I will sneak out every so often with the VIP’s my dad gave me that he used in his prime.  I pulled the s400’s from the evens and put some steelfibers in them with the hopes of walking 9 a little more often with them.  Messing around is fun!

Great we can relate. Yep I played VIPs for years and have 2 sets plus 3 sets of Muirfields. I have entertained the thought of putting a set of Steel Fiber shafts in one of those. In all honesty I am not as able to practice as much as I used to and I somewhat need some forgiveness of those TM CBs. I do switch around with the vintage irons some 7 thru PW on a weekly basis plying a little Par 3 course up the street from me. My wife loves the place and it is fun for me being with her and playing with the vintage sticks and Balata and wound balls

[dmeeksDC]

22 hours ago, QuigleyDU said:

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

It is mostly this. I heard an interview with Kelly months ago. I want to say late August. He said he had played the og ZX7 irons and loved then but went to the new one upon release. He said he was not immediately adjusting to the ZX7 MKii and that they played a little different to him. So there has been lots of tweaking to dial them in. 

[mat562]

As someone else with a banged up body, in my case my lower back and right shoulder, I toy with the idea of putting an old set of 681s with Sandvik titanium shafts into play that I built up a year or two back.

 

They were a bit of a fun, shot-to-nothing exercise after I chanced on a set of shafts gathering dust on a pro shop rack, that ended up being a failed experiment owing to my having trouble with dispersion and finding it hard to get consistent distances out of them next to a set with DG X100s at the time, particularly in the short irons, but I may yet resurrect the titanium set and persevere with them.

[Phabs]

4 hours ago, BIG STU said:

You are one of 5 people on here when you post I read with interest to see what you have bought and are hitting this week or putting with this week

I try not to whore through irons for consistency purposes- just have an excessive amount of putters.   Now that I have the two sets I've been after I doubt I'll ever buy another set of irons. 

[Pepperturbo]

On 11/14/2023 at 9:43 AM, Lobby said:

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

ugh. 

Not sure many on this DB can imagine that, least of all Club Ho sect. 😛  Most people don't put in remotely enough practice time so optimizing a set is more of a crap-shoot.  

 

Someone like Jerry Kelly, doesn't need to practice with a set very long to notice the subtleties that are off or not to his liking.  Whether irons or iron shafts, it takes me a 2–4 months, and I have the time.  I suspect, JK's bigger problem has more to do with available time to assess, so it takes him longer to find the right set.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Pepperturbo

[BIG STU]

22 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

Not sure many on this DB can imagine that, least of all Club Ho sect. 😛  Most people don't put in remotely enough practice time so optimizing a set; it's more of a crap-shoot.  

 

Someone like Jerry Kelly, doesn't need to practice with a set very long to notice the subtleties that are off or not to his liking.  Whether irons or iron shafts, it takes me a 2–4 months, and I have the time.  I suspect, JK's bigger problem has more to do with available time to assess, so it takes him longer to find the right set.

Well said---- With me it was not about time per say because I am retired but it was the fact of my broken body being able to put in the reps needed for the drastic changes from blades to CBs and steel to graphite. It was hard for me per say to go from playing blades and steel for over 50 years to CBs and graphite. Guys like JK even though they have the skills are in the twilight of their careers and they do not want to put in the hectic practice time and they have grandkids etc they want to enjoy time with.

[Pepperturbo]

1 minute ago, BIG STU said:

Well said---- With me it was not about time per say because I am retired but it was the fact of my broken body being able to put in the reps needed for the drastic changes from blades to CBs and steel to graphite. It was hard for me per say to go from playing blades and steel for over 50 years to CBs and graphite. Guys like JK even though they have the skills are in the twilight of their careers and they do not want to put in the hectic practice time and they have grandkids etc they want to enjoy time with.

I am partially retired, yet face the same dilemma, blades/steel to T100/graphite.  Even though they play somewhat the same, my beat up body has a contribution to the results.

 

My current goal is to get back to 3 index; hovering at 4, not sure if that's possible at my age.  We shall see what we shall c.  Like most on the Champions tour, even older guys on the PGA Tour, choosing to put in the practice time while families looking on is a difficult choice when we don't need the money.  My other issue is finding a quality practice range... but that's a different topic. 

[BIG STU]

2 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

I am partially retired, yet face the same dilemma, blades/steel to T100/graphite.  Even though they play somewhat the same, my beat up body has a contribution to the results.

 

My current goal is to get back to 3 index; hovering at 4, not sure if that's possible at my age.  We shall see what we shall c.  Like most on the Champions tour, even older guys on the PGA Tour, choosing to put in the practice time while families looking on is a difficult choice when we don't need the money.  My other issue is finding a quality practice range... but that's a different topic. 

With me as you can relate to it is my battered body plus getting old. I can't hold up to beating balls a lot. With my full membership I have a decent range with decent balls to practice at. I am however playing (counting the Par 3 rounds with my wife) playing 3 to 5 times a week. I am however getting stronger and stronger but have learned not to push the issue. At first I had pushed myself too much and it resulted in not only one but two serious setbacks. Yeah I learned the hard way not to push it too much

[SnowbirdTom]

Sets in play for the winter at the apartment.  Three current sets of Mizuno 223/Srixon Z-Forged/TM P770/7MC combo and the rest vintage. 😂 There's a set in the Jeep for tomorrow already.

 

[TiScape]

1 hour ago, SnowbirdTom said:

Sets in play for the winter at the apartment.  Three current sets of Mizuno 223/Srixon Z-Forged/TM P770/7MC combo and the rest vintage. 😂 There's a set in the Jeep for tomorrow already.

 

Here is to hoping for ur sake some super deft internet sleuth can’t ascertain the location of this “winter/cold months apartment”.  I’ve gathered from my time on WRX that the locals don’t appreciate the “snow bird” migration to their courses! 😂

 

*basing all this on assuming you are from Canada 🇨🇦 and have an apartment in either FL or AZ (it’s also just a joke) If I am wrong plz ignore and happy golfing! 😊

[Murphy76]

 

 

 

I remember reading that Parsons of PXG fame used to buy 10 sets per month before he founded the company.

[SnowbirdTom]

1 hour ago, TiScape said:

Here is to hoping for ur sake some super deft internet sleuth can’t ascertain the location of this “winter/cold months apartment”.  I’ve gathered from my time on WRX that the locals don’t appreciate the “snow bird” migration to their courses! 😂

 

*basing all this on assuming you are from Canada 🇨🇦 and have an apartment in either FL or AZ (it’s also just a joke) If I am wrong plz ignore and happy golfing! 😊

I’m sorry.  Wait, I’m not from Canada.🤪 We’re actually north of Windsor tho. And i’m paying reasonable money to play private in Texas.  A couple here know where.  😜

[mizuno player]

He's definitely NOT a WRX'er.  We pay for ours his a free... ,😁