Golf Talk Tuesdays - 2021

[frayne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by robnplunder I scored my personal best today - a 78.

Anytime I break 80 is cause for celebration.

[jcretire77]

A new personal best is most definitely a cause for celebration! Well Done.

[harllee]

I need new irons--my irons are old ( they are Nancy Lopez irons., that is how old they are!!) and the irons need new grips so I thought I would just get new irons. My woods are newer and OK (Cobra Bafflers). My problem is that I am a tall female--5'10". I cannot play with regular women's clubs--too short. I have tried senior mens clubs in the past but I like the womens shafts better, at age 70 my swing has slowed. My old irons are womens tall. I have searched locally and on the internet for womens tall irons and there seem to be very few made and what is available is "out of stock". There are a few used sets on Ebay. I am hesitant to buy clubs I cannot try but none are available locally for me to try.

Any ideas?

[f35phixer]

https://www.golfworks.com/shaft-extensions/c/2555/

maybe go to a golf store, try some irons that they can put an extension into say 7 iron and see how it feels.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harllee I am hesitant to buy clubs I cannot try but none are available locally for me to try. Any ideas?

You should get fitted for clubs, just about every golf store has a fitting section where you get try out different clubs and shafts. Most golf courses have someone on their staff that can do fittings but they are often tied to one particular brand of clubs, still worth a try.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harllee I need new irons--my irons are old ( they are Nancy Lopez irons., that is how old they are!!) and the irons need new grips so I thought I would just get new irons. My woods are newer and OK (Cobra Bafflers). My problem is that I am a tall female--5'10". I cannot play with regular women's clubs--too short. I have tried senior mens clubs in the past but I like the womens shafts better, at age 70 my swing has slowed. My old irons are womens tall. I have searched locally and on the internet for womens tall irons and there seem to be very few made and what is available is "out of stock". There are a few used sets on Ebay. I am hesitant to buy clubs I cannot try but none are available locally for me to try. Any ideas?

Your height may/not indicate you need longer than standard clubs. Your wrist-to-floor measurement is a better indicator.

Though maybe not ideal, I doubt you can't play with regular women's clubs. If through a fitting it's determined you need clubs 1/2" longer than standard (it's unlikely to be any more than that), that means for example you'd have a 45" driver and a 35" sand wedge instead of a 44.5" driver and a 34.5" sand wedge and everything in between - there will still be a range of 10" graduated throughout you bag. The only club that might be genuinely too short will be your wedges. Everyone who plays golf adapts to up to 14 clubs of varying lengths over a range from longest club to shortest of about 10". With regular clubs the lie angle might be off by 1º or so...

But if you really want clubs that are tailored to you, get fit. Any Golf Galaxy can fit your for free, it's pretty rudimentary but they should be able to determine proper club lengths. Or to be sure go to a Club Champion or GolfTec - it'll cost you and custom fitted clubs will probably cost about twice as much as off the rack.

Quote:

..the standard size of golf club for women is shorter in length and is designed for women that are between 65-inches (5'5") and 69-inches (5'9") tall.

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 You should get fitted for clubs, just about every golf store has a fitting section where you get try out different clubs and shafts. Most golf courses have someone on their staff that can do fittings but they are often tied to one particular brand of clubs, still worth a try.

Yes, I have been to the local golf shop and the golf course but they don't have any ladies tall clubs for me to try. And they say that most all clubs are now on back order--there is evidently a shortage.

[aja8888]

Nice job Rob....78 is good golf.

I have been playing in scrambles with my 70+ year old buddies (one guy is 85 and still plays well.). This month I turn 78 and will be trying to score that number as I will be playing less scrambles.

We are lucky here in the Houston, Texas area as there are many courses to choose from. I gave up my country club membership when we moved into a 55+ community years ago and I was limited in playing with a bad hip. Now that both hips are new, I am playing each week.

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Your height may/not indicate you need longer than standard clubs. Your wrist-to-floor measurement is a better indicator. Though maybe not ideal, I doubt you can't play with regular women's clubs. If through a fitting it's determined you need clubs 1/2" longer than standard (it's unlikely to be any more than that), that means for example you'd have a 45" driver and a 35" sand wedge instead of a 44.5" driver and a 34.5" sand wedge and everything in between - there will still be a range of 10" graduated throughout you bag. The only club that might be genuinely too short will be your wedges. Everyone who plays golf adapts to up to 14 clubs of varying lengths over a range from longest club to shortest of about 10". With regular clubs the lie angle might be off by 1º or so... But if you really want clubs that are tailored to you, get fit. Any Golf Galaxy can fit your for free, it's pretty rudimentary but they should be able to determine proper club lengths. Or to be sure go to a Club Champion or GolfTec - it'll cost you and custom fitted clubs will probably cost about twice as much as off the rack.

Thanks Midpack, I have been fitted by the pro at my golf course, according to him I need 1 inch longer than the standard womens clubs (same as the clubs I have now). When I bought my current irons many years ago I remember having several tall womens clubs to demo. Now there seems to be very few and they are all on back order due to the club shortage (the pro said no idea when they would be available). The golf pro suggested I buy mens clubs and have the shaft changed out but that made the clubs very expensive.

Really there is nothing wrong with my current clubs, they have graphite shafts (except I need new grips) but I thought there might be some new technology.
I might just get the old clubs regripped and continue to play with them until the club shortage is resolved.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harllee Thanks Midpack, I have been fitted by the pro at my golf course, according to him I need 1 inch longer than the standard womens clubs (same as the clubs I have now). When I bought my current irons many years ago I remember having several tall womens clubs to demo. Now there seems to be very few and they are all on back order due to the club shortage (the pro said no idea when they would be available). The golf pro suggested I buy mens clubs and have the shaft changed out but that made the clubs very expensive. Really there is nothing wrong with my current clubs, they have graphite shafts (except I need new grips) but I thought there might be some new technology. I might just get the old clubs regripped and continue to play with them until the club shortage is resolved.

You must have very short arms for your height.

[harllee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack You must have very short arms for your height.

I just measured and my wrist to floor is about 33 inches and my height is 5"10 and a half. My arms are actually pretty long for a women, the sleeves of most womens shirts are too short for me. I assume your chart is for men's clubs, based on that chart I would need a standard mens golf club. My club pro says that most mens clubs are about 1.5 inches longer than a womens clubs. "Tall" womens clubs are 1 inch longer than a standard womens club. I hit the tall womens club better than I do a mens club. I can hit a standard woman's 5 iron OK but the 7,8, and 9 iron in the womens clubs are just too short and hurt my back. With the golf club shortage there are just not any tall womens clubs available locally and everything is on back order. Strangely enough, there are several sets of "petite" women's clubs available locally. Midpack, thanks for all this information. If I still played a lot I would just have some custom clubs made but I only play once every couple of weeks and just cannot justify the cost.

[zinger1457]

Harllee, if you're going to change the grips on your current clubs then it's a good opportunity to extend the length. They sell shaft extenders for both graphite and steel shafts, just need to make sure you get the right size. Fairly easy to install with the grip off, just slide the shaft extender into the end of the shaft using epoxy to secure it, when the epoxy cures cut off the shaft extender with a hacksaw to give you the total length you want, then install the new grips. If you are having someone else install the grips for you they should be able to do both.

https://www.amazon.com/Extension-Ext...s%2C233&sr=8-1

[f35phixer]

Well, I just got my successful application for OPEN Championship tickets for July 10-17 2022 at St Andrews.... I had applied for practice rounds July 10-13, 300 GBP for four days, 2 people. Whole point was to see the course and watch players practice, I enjoy that more then competition rounds.

Anyone else get a successful email?

Going to put this in BTD thread too, Went and looked at hotels that ~500 GBP / day..
Got great perk of flying standby for CHEAP....

[RetiredHappy]

My husband and I went for club fitting at Club Champion. The conclusion was that my 2-year old Cleveland Launchers (women's) irons were "perfect" for me, based on smash factor, and they believed the Miyazaki shafts on those irons were great. I promptly went home and ordered new Cleveland Launcher XL Halo irons. I have been playing with them for about a month now and really like the feel of them. The old irons will go back with me to California as my spare set when I play with my son.

Unfortunately, my husband's fitting ends with a sad tale, so far. He had also been playing with Cleveland Launcher irons for the past 2 years. He had gotten a couple of Callaway sand and gap wedges earlier this year. With his fitting, Trackman showed that the Titleist T300 gave him slightly longer distance when compared with his Cleveland's.

He ordered 2 new Ping hybrids and a full set of Titleist T300s (P to 5) and it took 2 months to get here, because they had to be "built". He got them last week and the Titleist irons were playing much shorter than his old irons. He is very upset and we are going back to Club Champion tomorrow with both his old and new irons to see what Trackman says. At this point he is about ready to give them to Goodwill and order a set of Cleveland Launcher XL Halo. Yesterday, on one hole, he used my new (women's) 7 iron and it went as far as his old Cleveland's and further than his new Titleist. I suspect they gave him old man's shafts instead of standard. We don't know when looking at his shafts.

[Midpack]

While Club Champion has happy customers, mostly advanced players who already know what they want/need, they have many unhappy customers too. Their methodology is highly suspect statistically. I’ve been thru that in detail elsewhere, and it won’t help after the fact.

I went for a driver fitting to reduce dispersion off the tee, they recommended a new driver for $950. Since they told me the shaft was 80% of the benefit, I bought the shaft for $400 and kept my Callaway head (just a 2 year old model of what they’d recommended). I used that new shaft for 6 weeks, believing and determined to make it work, but I found my dispersion got measurably worse - I have always kept detailed records of all my rounds. I ended up selling the shaft Club Champion recommend for 20% of what I paid, and went back to the standard shaft I had before.

Club Champions guarantee is useless, you won’t get your money back, more likely it will cost you more. In fairness there are undoubtedly some great fitters at CC, but repeat customers who know what they need/want are more likely to get them. They have plenty of newer fitters who follow the Club Champion fitting script and really don’t know much other than how to sell you a new club, at great expense.

Great fitters are invaluable, but they’re very hard to find. Sort of like the investing analogy. ‘By the time you know enough to choose a great investment advisor, you don’t need one anymore (because you know all you need to know).’

Fittings aren’t always the silver bullet many people think these days. They can help you find clubs that MAY improve your distance - though some of that is stronger loft slight of hand. In most cases, custom fitted clubs won’t help you deliver the club at impact on the right path, dynamic loft and face angle - the player has to develop that skill.

[RetiredHappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack Fittings aren’t always the silver bullet many people think these days. They can help you find clubs that MAY improve your distance - though some of that is stronger loft slight of hand. In most cases, custom fitted clubs won’t help you deliver the club at impact on the right path, dynamic loft and face angle - the player has to develop that skill.

I agree with you that clubs don't help a lousy golfer - that's me... well, I am passable as an amateur golfer. However, my husband is a really good golfer and I think that's why he is so pissed. He carries a 5 to 7 handicap.

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredHappy I agree with you that clubs don't help a lousy golfer - that's me... well, I am passable as an amateur golfer. However, my husband is a really good golfer and I think that's why he is so pissed. He carries a 5 to 7 handicap.

You should be able to tell exactly what shafts they put in his new irons, I’ve never seen any brand that wasn’t clearly marked. Cleveland Launchers and Titleist T300’s are unusual choices for a 5 to 7 HI player, but if that’s what he prefers. And unfortunately a low handicap doesn’t guarantee a good fit at any fitter, CC or elsewhere. Very sorry, I know the feeling - I wasted $400+ at CC, probably a lot less than your DH.

[RetiredHappy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack You should be able to tell exactly what shafts they put in his new irons, I’ve never seen any brand that wasn’t clearly marked. Cleveland Launchers and Titleist T300’s are unusual choices for a 5 to 7 HI player, but if that’s what he prefers. And unfortunately a low handicap doesn’t guarantee a good fit at any fitter, CC or elsewhere. Very sorry, I know the feeling - I wasted $400+ at CC, probably a lot less than your DH.

The shafts on his Titleist T300s are Accra 50i series. When we go to the Accra site, we have no clue because under each weight (50, 60 etc..), there is also Flex which is not printed on the shaft itself. I suspect these shafts were ordered by Club Champion as opposed to off-the-shelf shafts on the Titleist irons.

He paid $2800 for his 2 Ping hybrids and the set of Titleist irons. The Ping hybrids are fine, the irons, not so much.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredHappy Unfortunately, my husband's fitting ends with a sad tale, so far. He had also been playing with Cleveland Launcher irons for the past 2 years. He had gotten a couple of Callaway sand and gap wedges earlier this year. With his fitting, Trackman showed that the Titleist T300 gave him slightly longer distance when compared with his Cleveland's. He ordered 2 new Ping hybrids and a full set of Titleist T300s (P to 5) and it took 2 months to get here, because they had to be "built". He got them last week and the Titleist irons were playing much shorter than his old irons. He is very upset and we are going back to Club Champion tomorrow with both his old and new irons to see what Trackman says. At this point he is about ready to give them to Goodwill and order a set of Cleveland Launcher XL Halo. Yesterday, on one hole, he used my new (women's) 7 iron and it went as far as his old Cleveland's and further than his new Titleist. I suspect they gave him old man's shafts instead of standard. We don't know when looking at his shafts.

Never used Club Champion so not sure how their guarantee works but worse case he could sell the T300's on eBay and get a decent price. Would like to hear how things went with the follow up trip to Club Champion, will be up in Scottsdale AZ next month and was thinking of stopping by the facility there.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredHappy I suspect these shafts were ordered by Club Champion as opposed to off-the-shelf shafts on the Titleist irons. He paid $2800 for his 2 Ping hybrids and the set of Titleist irons. The Ping hybrids are fine, the irons, not so much.

Are you saying the shafts you ended up with weren't the same shafts that were used during the fitting? That seems very odd and kind of defeats the purpose of the fitting.