The Golf Thread - 2018!

[Blackpuddin]

Although I would never describe myself as an establishment sort I actually like the old-fashioned discipline of a golf club.

[samsock]

Blackpuddin said:

Although I would never describe myself as an establishment sort I actually like the old-fashioned discipline of a golf club.

I can certainly see the appeal, it's just a shame it's not optional. It seems a shame there is this huge, massive amenity on my doorstop, which I can't use, despite being able and willing to pay for it.

[yorky500]

samsock said:

Blackpuddin said:

Although I would never describe myself as an establishment sort I actually like the old-fashioned discipline of a golf club.

I can certainly see the appeal, it's just a shame it's not optional. It seems a shame there is this huge, massive amenity on my doorstop, which I can't use, despite being able and willing to pay for it.

I agree, I like the old fashioned approach. When I first took up golf in the dim and distant past, if you wore shorts you had to have long socks! Where I play now, golf shirts must be tucked in and you have to wear a belt - I like it. Even the caddies bring it to your attention when your shirt is not tucked in.

[samsock]

yorky500 said:

I agree, I like the old fashioned approach. When I first took up golf in the dim and distant past, if you wore shorts you had to have long socks! Where I play now, golf shirts must be tucked in and you have to wear a belt - I like it. Even the caddies bring it to your attention when your shirt is not tucked in.

I can live with the dress code, and the prices, but the membership criteria is impossible for a 'migrant' to the area. I guess this is half the point!

[Blackpuddin]

samsock said:

yorky500 said:

I agree, I like the old fashioned approach. When I first took up golf in the dim and distant past, if you wore shorts you had to have long socks! Where I play now, golf shirts must be tucked in and you have to wear a belt - I like it. Even the caddies bring it to your attention when your shirt is not tucked in.

I can live with the dress code, and the prices, but the membership criteria is impossible for a 'migrant' to the area. I guess this is half the point!

If it's just the proposal issue you're struggling with, I'm sure the pro shop or the Sec will be able to help/advise - unless they're in the slightly unusual situation of being fully subscribed.

[SpeckledJim]

samsock said:

yorky500 said:

I agree, I like the old fashioned approach. When I first took up golf in the dim and distant past, if you wore shorts you had to have long socks! Where I play now, golf shirts must be tucked in and you have to wear a belt - I like it. Even the caddies bring it to your attention when your shirt is not tucked in.

I can live with the dress code, and the prices, but the membership criteria is impossible for a 'migrant' to the area. I guess this is half the point!

Golf on nice courses has never been easier to find or less expensive. If your local course is making life awkward, just use teeofftimes or 2fore1 or if there's a member course local to you, something like playmore.golf.

I like that there's a bit of decorum around the golf course, including a reasonable dress-code, but stuffy dinosaur members-only clubs that are trapped in the 1980's are quickly finding that the world has changed a lot and they're going to either fail, or be dragged kicking and screaming into the light.

[samsock]

Those websites look really promising, thanks.

[yorky500]

A question to all those that swapped from cavity backed clubs to bladed clubs: at what point did you switch? Was it when you achieved a consistently low handicap or .......................?

I used use bladed clubs (Mizuno MP something - I forget) a long time ago, but at that stage I was playing a lot of golf. I then stopped playing for over 10 years and found when I did occasionally play, I was not up to it.

I would like to go back to using bladed clubs (its a personal goal of mine) but wondered when the best time to switch would be?

[SpeckledJim]

yorky500 said:

A question to all those that swapped from cavity backed clubs to bladed clubs: at what point did you switch? Was it when you achieved a consistently low handicap or .......................?

I used use bladed clubs (Mizuno MP something - I forget) a long time ago, but at that stage I was playing a lot of golf. I then stopped playing for over 10 years and found when I did occasionally play, I was not up to it.

I would like to go back to using bladed clubs (its a personal goal of mine) but wondered when the best time to switch would be?

It's less to do with your handicap than the quality of your iron strikes, IMO.

And of course you can always use a mixed set, keeping to cavity back for 3,4,5 irons (for example) and switching to blades from 6 iron upwards.

[Blackpuddin]

SpeckledJim said:

yorky500 said:

A question to all those that swapped from cavity backed clubs to bladed clubs: at what point did you switch? Was it when you achieved a consistently low handicap or .......................?

I used use bladed clubs (Mizuno MP something - I forget) a long time ago, but at that stage I was playing a lot of golf. I then stopped playing for over 10 years and found when I did occasionally play, I was not up to it.

I would like to go back to using bladed clubs (its a personal goal of mine) but wondered when the best time to switch would be?

It's less to do with your handicap than the quality of your iron strikes, IMO.

And of course you can always use a mixed set, keeping to cavity back for 3,4,5 irons (for example) and switching to blades from 6 iron upwards.

I'm thinking about doing something like this with my Ping G10s and Titleist 714MBs.

[SpeckledJim]

Blackpuddin said:

I'm thinking about doing something like this with my Ping G10s and Titleist 714MBs.

If your gaps are about right, and shafts either the same or very similar, it seems a reasonable idea to me.

[yorky500]

SpeckledJim said:

yorky500 said:

A question to all those that swapped from cavity backed clubs to bladed clubs: at what point did you switch? Was it when you achieved a consistently low handicap or .......................?

I used use bladed clubs (Mizuno MP something - I forget) a long time ago, but at that stage I was playing a lot of golf. I then stopped playing for over 10 years and found when I did occasionally play, I was not up to it.

I would like to go back to using bladed clubs (its a personal goal of mine) but wondered when the best time to switch would be?

It's less to do with your handicap than the quality of your iron strikes, IMO.

And of course you can always use a mixed set, keeping to cavity back for 3,4,5 irons (for example) and switching to blades from 6 iron upwards.

That's a bloody good suggestion, I will have a think about this option. Not sure if I could leave half a set of shiny blades out of the bag though!

[DuncanM]

yorky500 said:

SpeckledJim said:

yorky500 said:

A question to all those that swapped from cavity backed clubs to bladed clubs: at what point did you switch? Was it when you achieved a consistently low handicap or .......................?

I used use bladed clubs (Mizuno MP something - I forget) a long time ago, but at that stage I was playing a lot of golf. I then stopped playing for over 10 years and found when I did occasionally play, I was not up to it.

I would like to go back to using bladed clubs (its a personal goal of mine) but wondered when the best time to switch would be?

It's less to do with your handicap than the quality of your iron strikes, IMO.

And of course you can always use a mixed set, keeping to cavity back for 3,4,5 irons (for example) and switching to blades from 6 iron upwards.

That's a bloody good suggestion, I will have a think about this option. Not sure if I could leave half a set of shiny blades out of the bag though!

When I did a gap test - something I would heavily recommend every doing btw - It showed up that a 4iron onwards was kinda pointless for me, as the carry numbers were only 5 yards more than a 5 iron. So, Hybrids from 5>, and lovely lovely blades <5.

If golf is supposed to be enjoyable, and it is, I would say that using blades instead of cavity back irons, has made golf far more enjoyable for me.

I previously used high quality 'players' cavity backs, and blades are in a different league.

[48Valves]

I've had a set of McGregor VIP 1050 CM since they were first released. They are muscle back to a 7iron then progressively more cavity back to the 3 iron.
I got them I think when I was off 8 or 9 and got dow to 5.5 with them.

I stopped playing many years ago. I've had a few sets of cavity backs over the last few years thinking they would make the odd round I play every year easier. But I just don't like the look of them in the lower irons. Even so called players cavities have more offset than I like to look at.

So yes. A blended set is well worth exploring. Just make sure yoh get your gaps checked as said earlier.

[HaplessBoyLard]

If you fancy a mixed set then be careful of the lofts. A bladed 6i will have roughly the same loft as a game improvement 7i, so you’d need to carry two 6 irons(or wherever you split the set) to achieve the correct gapping.

Unless you can somehow make up a split set that are all forged so you could easily adjust the lofts.

I’d guess the mizuno JPX 900 forged would be a good shout to mix in with some blades.

[bodhi]

SpeckledJim said:

Blackpuddin said:

I'm thinking about doing something like this with my Ping G10s and Titleist 714MBs.

If your gaps are about right, and shafts either the same or very similar, it seems a reasonable idea to me.

Ping G10 Lofts - http://dw4golf.com/iron-specs/ping-irons-specs/pin... (columns aren't lined up properly)

Titleist 714 MB Lofts - http://www.golfwrx.com/147256/review-titleist-714-...

So the G10's are a degree less lofted, club for club - but interestingly the 714's are slightly longer, so they should fit surprisingly well. Not entirely sure if I could look at an offset Ping after the lovely blades, but your scorecard don't care how pretty your bag looks, so definitely worth a try. I'd try to organise some time on Trackman to experiment if you can, such as a Gapping Session or just rent Trackman for a while. Most places round here charge £20-£30 for sole use, and it's a perfect way to get some golf in at this time of the year without getting cold/wet/muddy.

If worst comes to the worst a set of 714 CB's will blend perfectly, and look to be around £200 - £250 on Golfbidder. With the way Pings hold their value you may be able to make it cost neutral.

I switched to Blades around 15 years ago, just as I had tried many sets of irons whilst trying to find one I could use all the way through the bag - tried a set of the Original Nike Blades just to see what would happen - turned out I hit them better than the CB's I had at the time (TaylorMade 300 Forged), and they only got kicked out the bag earlier this season.....for a newer set of Nike Blades (the VR Pros). The "new" ones really are incredible, feel fantastic and are remarkably forgiving - I can see why Tommy Fleetwood wouldn't give his up, and Tiger got TM to make him a set with TM Logos. A combination of these and some swing changes I've been making, means that whereas before for me a 7 iron was good for around 145 yards, now it's good for 165....

[HaplessBoyLard]

bodhi said:

Ping G10 Lofts - http://dw4golf.com/iron-specs/ping-irons-specs/pin... (columns aren't lined up properly)

Titleist 714 MB Lofts - http://www.golfwrx.com/147256/review-titleist-714-...

So the G10's are a degree less lofted, club for club - but interestingly the 714's are slightly longer, so they should fit surprisingly well. Not entirely sure if I could look at an offset Ping after the lovely blades, but your scorecard don't care how pretty your bag looks, so definitely worth a try. I'd try to organise some time on Trackman to experiment if you can, such as a Gapping Session or just rent Trackman for a while. Most places round here charge £20-£30 for sole use, and it's a perfect way to get some golf in at this time of the year without getting cold/wet/muddy.

That really surprises me. Ping only jacked the loft down a full club on their irons from the G30. They’d been at 32° for a while before that for a 7i and at a traditional 34° for the G10.

I’d assumed it would be earlier than that as a few manufacturers have been at it for a while now for the annual “longest iron ever” dick swinging competition.

[bodhi]

HaplessBoyLard said:

bodhi said:

Ping G10 Lofts - http://dw4golf.com/iron-specs/ping-irons-specs/pin... (columns aren't lined up properly)

Titleist 714 MB Lofts - http://www.golfwrx.com/147256/review-titleist-714-...

So the G10's are a degree less lofted, club for club - but interestingly the 714's are slightly longer, so they should fit surprisingly well. Not entirely sure if I could look at an offset Ping after the lovely blades, but your scorecard don't care how pretty your bag looks, so definitely worth a try. I'd try to organise some time on Trackman to experiment if you can, such as a Gapping Session or just rent Trackman for a while. Most places round here charge £20-£30 for sole use, and it's a perfect way to get some golf in at this time of the year without getting cold/wet/muddy.

That really surprises me. Ping only jacked the loft down a full club on their irons from the G30. They’d been at 32° for a while before that for a 7i and at a traditional 34° for the G10.

I’d assumed it would be earlier than that as a few manufacturers have been at it for a while now for the annual “longest iron ever” dick swinging competition.

I was quite surprised to read that as well, but I'm guessing the jacked lofts craze is much newer than I thought. It's getting ridiculous now though, I was reading this morning that the Callaway Rogue X 7 iron is around 28 degrees, which in my view is a 5 iron.....

In fact I remember a couple of years ago I was wanting to get lofts and lies checked on my old Nike Blades, and I made the mistake of asking in the local American Golf, who had it advertised. Of course this was a cover for them trying to sell me new clubs, and the guy I was dealing with was trying to get me to move from a set of Nike Blades to some Ping G's, and was beaming with pride when the Ping 8 iron was going further than my 7 iron.

Given the Nike 7 iron was 37 degrees (true old school lofts) and the Ping G 8 iron was 35 degrees....well, you can see why they Ping went so far. Shame it felt awful and I couldn't hit a draw or fade for love nor money....then he starting suggesting my Nike were on "their last legs", so I made my excuses and left.

[yorky500]

I guess given the weather you UK golfers experience at this time of the year, you very rarely play?

I am lucky enough not to be hindered by weather (except for thunderstorms/torrential rain), so i will be out playing golf this coming Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesday.

Its bloody hot and humid here.

[Noodle1982]

I haven't been a contributor in this thread but have been playing now for about 2 years with the last year more seriously. Best round to date on my home course is 80 (shot that 4 times). Sub 80 is getting closer!

Anyway my home course is right on the coast and despite the heavy rain and strong winds today I went out for 18 holes but only took 6 clubs... driver, 4hybrid, 7 iron, PW, SW and putter.

The plan was to work on course management and play 'safe' golf as well as get around as quickly as possible.

I shot 83. If it wasn't for my horrendous putting today sub 80 would have been achievable. With just 6 clubs.

It's a strange old game.