I have both the 9° and the 10.5° models and various shafting options for both. For some reason, the combination of the 10.5° head dropped 1° to 9.5° has played the best for me. I am also running the 11g weight in this model, which could be a bit of a help as well. My tee shots with the 10.5° model tend to be a bit more “fade” biased, so I wonder if there is a bit more of an open face angle to the 10.5° model than the lower lofted model, but even if it’s just a head game, right now, the 10.5° playing at 9.5° with the Aldila Rogue shaft is playing amazingly well for me this winter and I will continue to roll it out this summer.
These are the new bad boys in my bag this winter. I really needed something that was a go-to club off the tee that could replace my 1 iron from the FG49 set. I also saw from my GolfPadGPS stats that my longer irons, the three and four in particular, were not nearly as accurate as I wanted them to be. I had a range session with my Dad when we played back in October where I hit a few of his hybrids with good results, so I ordered up the F5’s in the three available lofts to try out. Since it was the end of their life cycle, they were far less than the $229 price tag that they originally went for, but so far, these guys are priceless. I’m getting that ‘almost perfect’ tee shot with the 17° on a regular basis and the 20° fills in for the 3 iron very nicely. The 23° plays down to my 4 iron distance pretty well also. I almost regret not getting the X-Stiff in the 17°, but with the performance of it so far, I’m perfectly happy with what I have.
I love these irons. I love them so much, I’m not sure if there is another club around that I could play, much less that I want to play. Despite the issues that I had with the 3 and 4 irons over the last few months, the 7-PW in this set are rather deadly. The clean top line and narrow sole are exactly what my game needs and I can pretty well control my ball flight without any issue. The 5 and 6 iron are starting to get there, but with more practice being done at the shorter end of the bag, I need to prioritize those mid irons a bit more to get them feeling 100%. That said, I really wish I could track down the Lamkin Performance Plus 3Gen grips that the wedges use to put on these guys. I’m not loving the Crossline feel, especially in the summer months, so I’ll probably be spending some cash upgrading the set to the Golf Price MCC4 New Decade or another multi-compound grip to improve the feel of the clubs during the summer months.
How much do I love these wedges… With a perfect gapping at 90, 105, 120, these guys not only fit perfectly in line with my FG 100 irons, but they also feel phenomenal out of almost every shot I take with them. From clean fairway lies, to embedded bunkers, I just have 100% confidence in these to get the ball near the hole. I’ve really been “over-thinking” my wedge game lately, and the last round I played I even went completely crazy with the thought of playing every shot from 125 in with my 51° wedge. Ever since the 5 wedge guy conversation happened, I’ve just not been 100% sure that I needed 4 wedges (including my FG 100 Pitching Wedge) in my bag. Still, with my bag set the way it is, I feel that I have the perfect gapping with my wedges to get things just right, so the three options will stay in my bag unless I need to make room for another club in the bag.
Putter: 34” Wilson Staff Infinite Grant Park with stock Wilson branded large grip.
Is there anything better than a putter that rolls the ball well and gives you a huge amount of confidence? This is how I feel when I line up the Grant Park over a putt. I love the longer sight lines, the contrast between the whites and darks and the impact line at the top of the face. It’s a stellar looking head and for lack of a better term, makes my putting pretty darn good. Moving from my aged Tri-Hot, the Grant Park is just 100% better for my game. I honestly think I’d make another putt or two a around with the TaylorMade Spyder Tour gizmo that I checked out at the same time as the Grant Park, but considering I could purchase 5 GP’s for the price of 1 of the TM’s, I’ll keep that $400 in cash and save it for more rounds. Overall, until something floors me, the GP will be my putter of choice.
Shoes: Skechers Go Golf Elite V3 – Black on Black
After years of being an Adidas shoe guy, I tried on some Skecher shoes at the store recently. I purchased two pairs of street shoes and love them. When my wife mentioned getting me something golf-related for Christmas, it was an easy thought to go try on some new shoes. First off, the Elite V3’s are top notch in the comfort department for me. They push in just the right places, and feel like walking on a cloud. The next important part for me is the price. I paid under $100 for these and I should get a full 2 seasons out of them with ease. I think that’s a pretty good value. The Adidas shoes I looked at were closer the $200 than $100 and were just as comfortable, but just like the putter above, I couldn’t see spending the extra on a “golfing name” when these worked just as well. For the record, the waterproofing on these is fantastic. I wore them during the monsoon round I played last week and my feet were totally dry. Needless to say, I’m really stoked with the purchase and plan on staying a Skechers Go fan for a while.
As far as the rest of the gear goes, I will be playing a few different balls this year – depending on the weather conditions. First off, the Wilson Staff Zip ($19.97 at Wal-Mart for 24 balls) is my winter ball of choice. It has good performance and a fantastic $0.86 per ball price tag. As we get closer to Men’s Club starting, I’ll be switching up to either the Duo Soft Spin or to the Duo U for more playability in harder conditions. I’m really impressed with the new Duo Soft line for this year, but the Duo U was a very consistent ball for me in the past, so it will be a check them both out for a few rounds before making a decision. I’m keeping my Ionix Lite bag for another season as it it wearing extremely well and still looks brand new. I was lucky enough to land a beautiful new Columbia all weather rain coat that will be perfect for the next few seasons at a local department store on clearance for $30. I love finding deals that good!
That’s my what’s in my bag for the beginning of 2018. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below.
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