Odyssey Chipper

[eric61]

OK, rant coming...

 

I'm baffled by Odyssey deciding to make this 37 degrees, and Ping making its chipper 38 degrees. Are these really only supposed to work for people who play links-style courses or courses with super-short rough and fringe around the greens? 

 

I'm decent around the green for my handicap and am not somebody who needs to carry a chipper. But I also strongly agree with what others have said about being open-minded and not ridiculing people for non-conventional ways of approaching the game. So I wanted to try the Ping ChipR when it came out, and ordered one just to give it a try and see what happened. I figured, hey, worst-case scenario, it's not for me and I sell it; best-case scenario, it turns something I'm not bad at into something I'm great at.

 

I found it useless around the greens if I needed to carry more than like a foot or two of rough. The ball just comes off too hot with no spin. If you play on a reasonably fast green, with thick enough rough around it that you can't land the ball short of the green, there's just no way of stopping it. And if you're short-sided, don't even bother. If you read threads about it, I'm definitely not the only one who came to that conclusion. 

 

Cleveland is making a much more useful version of this club, at 42 degrees. Odyssey should have gone with something similar, like around 42-44 degrees.

 

A related rant: I hate that the old adage of chipping with your 7 iron has stuck around so long. It comes from a day when 7 iron lofts were what 8 or almost even 9 irons are now in most game-improvement sets ... but beginner golfers don't know that! They're following what seems to be tried-and-true golf wisdom, and don't realize how hard they're making it on themselves to have any sort of control over the ball. I play a lot of golf as a single paired up with randoms, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen beginner golfers trying to chip with a 7 iron (which they heard they should do on YouTube or from their instructor at a beginners' group lesson or something, but they don't realize it only has like 29 degrees of loft and don't know why that would matter) and either watch a hot ball that doesn't get more than 6 inches off the ground speed over the green, or a ball that needs just a little more time in the air land in the rough and take a terrible bounce right before getting to the green.

[manVSgolf]

5 hours ago, NNJ said:

No - you’ll know it when you see it. Thin top line, more square, low bounce K grind on the bottom for turf interaction. Might want a different grind if your course gets wet though 

Can we be best friends please 

[NNJ]

3 hours ago, eric61 said:

OK, rant coming...

 

I'm baffled by Odyssey deciding to make this 37 degrees, and Ping making its chipper 38 degrees. Are these really only supposed to work for people who play links-style courses or courses with super-short rough and fringe around the greens? 

 

I wonder if modern chipper design has been emphasizing a lower COG for more forgiveness which may require stronger lofts, otherwise would be too spinny…

 

this thread might be my finest work yet on wrx 

Edited June 23 by NNJ

[NorthMNgolfer]

22 hours ago, eric61 said:

OK, rant coming...

 

I'm baffled by Odyssey deciding to make this 37 degrees, and Ping making its chipper 38 degrees. Are these really only supposed to work for people who play links-style courses or courses with super-short rough and fringe around the greens? 

 

I'm decent around the green for my handicap and am not somebody who needs to carry a chipper. But I also strongly agree with what others have said about being open-minded and not ridiculing people for non-conventional ways of approaching the game. So I wanted to try the Ping ChipR when it came out, and ordered one just to give it a try and see what happened. I figured, hey, worst-case scenario, it's not for me and I sell it; best-case scenario, it turns something I'm not bad at into something I'm great at.

 

I found it useless around the greens if I needed to carry more than like a foot or two of rough. The ball just comes off too hot with no spin. If you play on a reasonably fast green, with thick enough rough around it that you can't land the ball short of the green, there's just no way of stopping it. And if you're short-sided, don't even bother. If you read threads about it, I'm definitely not the only one who came to that conclusion. 

 

Cleveland is making a much more useful version of this club, at 42 degrees. Odyssey should have gone with something similar, like around 42-44 degrees.

 

A related rant: I hate that the old adage of chipping with your 7 iron has stuck around so long. It comes from a day when 7 iron lofts were what 8 or almost even 9 irons are now in most game-improvement sets ... but beginner golfers don't know that! They're following what seems to be tried-and-true golf wisdom, and don't realize how hard they're making it on themselves to have any sort of control over the ball. I play a lot of golf as a single paired up with randoms, and I can't tell you how many times I've seen beginner golfers trying to chip with a 7 iron (which they heard they should do on YouTube or from their instructor at a beginners' group lesson or something, but they don't realize it only has like 29 degrees of loft and don't know why that would matter) and either watch a hot ball that doesn't get more than 6 inches off the ground speed over the green, or a ball that needs just a little more time in the air land in the rough and take a terrible bounce right before getting to the green.

 

Buddy has the Cleveland Smart sole "C" wedge.  Pretty much a chipper.  I have hit it a bunch for fun.  If you open the face a bit you can hit nice little spinny high pitch shots with it.

 

Side note....  I want to secretly buy one and hard core train with it to use like a gap wedge.  Then piss my buddies off when they get beat with a guy with a "chipper".  LOL