HickoryShaft
Tour Rookie
Otherwise known as the fortunate 3 go to Wentworth!!
Epic Day – big big thanks to GM and TM
My journey began the day before with a drive down from ‘ooop North’.
Mike H had said bring something colourful so I had to dig and dig until I found something that Poulter would be embarrassed to wear on course – a nice lime green number!
Bags packed and checked (several times) I set off bright eyed for the adventure ahead. Several miles down the road and suddenly the farming program on the car radio re-tuned to Northern soul classics and I realised that I had left Lincolnshire behind.
On and on the journey went, the top 40 on the radio came and went (did you know DLT has retired?) until finally I approached London. I was learning new things all the way, little did I realise before that 50 mph meant that this was a minimum speed limit (especially through road works) or that they drive on the right close to London (right hand lane anyway) unless its time to overtake someone then a trip to the left hand lanes is permitted. Maybe I was getting a bit close to the channel tunnel!
I hit the M25 and rather than a small roundabout like to looked on the t’interweb it was actually a great big parking lot. Stood still for several hours my mind was racing. Not golf this time but I started worrying about the volatility of Government bonds due to the Euro zone crisis, about the possibility of a tube strike, what was happening to me!. I started to get angry about the smallest of moves by other drivers – raging in fact! To take my mind off it I thought I could try and get the Peter Kay channel on the radio –(its constantly on up North you realise
) but surprisingly I could not find it, I did chortle at a jolly funny ditty about the amusing occurrences that happen in suburban life though !! Strange – not usually my cup of tea – must something in the air!
Finally we lurched back into motion and at the end of the long line of traffic there was a single car broken down. Everyone was tooting their horns in support as they passed but funnily nobody stopped to help the chap – still I thought, they must all know him and realise he is a mechanic or something or they would surely help a fellow Londoner – probably they all will chat to him down the pub later. It wouldn’t happen up North like this – only recently a friend of mine had a similar occurrence in Liverpool and the local youths helped him move his car in about 10 minutes – as they couldn’t lift it they just dismantled it and carried it off the bypass for him (and carried his bag away for him). He reckoned they must be training as apprentice mechanics. Come to think about it I have not seen him driving it recently maybe they couldn’t replace the damaged wiper!.
Finally at my turn off the A30 and the last thoughts about the how the FTSE was performing faded as I again found myself in countryside.
Then I am back in golfing dreams again – the names on the road signs roll off the tongue with ease Wentworth & Sunningdale – names that give every golfer a tingling feeling. I found myself beaming from cheek to cheek. I had booked a room at Sunningdale and my heart jumped as I approached.
After my journey I was a bit dry so I headed down to the local bar to grab a pint and pie. At first I thought I had bought the whole bar a drink – then realised that the classy barmaid probably earns more than Doris at my local. Mind you the clothing must be expensive down here also – the stuff she was wearing was so tight I think she must have had it since she was a lass – and she clearly wasn’t that now!! No wonder these guys down south are prepared to pay good money for beer. Not a suggestion that I will be taking back home with me –the price or tight clothes for Doris!
I headed to bed full of expectation for the following day and dreamed of hitting a decent first drive during the fitting session.
Up early and things were really looking up – an English breakfast to get me started. I pointed out to the waiter that ‘Full English’ was a bit of a misrepresentation as I had never had one without black pudding before. He stared but didn’t respond. I am not sure if it was the accent or the flat cap that was putting him off. Still I did root around and find some PG tips in between the Darjeeling and Camomile teas on offer so things were set for a great day.
Then, still beaming like an idiot, this time dressed in lime green, off I went to Wentworh and an introduction to the GM team of Mike, Paul and Tom, Taylormade team of Ralph, Shaun, Luke and Tomplus the other 2 lucky forumers Sam Larrimore aka WeekendWarrior and Brendan Nelson aka Brendy.
First off was a great presentation on the new gear by Ralph from TM including answering any questions from the three of us who had the fortune to be the first amateurs to try these clubs in the world!
The main discussion point on everyone’s lips was why Rocketballz? Seeing the footage of Dustin Johnson hitting the new 3 wood soon answered that!
Down to the main event
Being the high handicapper of the day I was a little nervous to say the least so pushed Brendy into the limelight first based on him being the lowest Handicap.
Some really nice hits followed as the team worked with Brendy to find the best clubs and settings for his swing. It was already impressive on the Trackman but as they worked on it you could see the results improving both on distance, carry and dispersion..
I did chuckle when it was suggested to Brendy that he would not see much difference using a womens shaft in the driver – I should have asked if it would be pink
He even tried the hybrid (after some persuading) and despite some protests on his behalf the results were impressive again – nice and long carry but a soft landing – I can see that 3 iron being ditched! I made sure Tom was on hand to record the moment for the forum.
Next up was Sam and as soon as he picked up the club and gave it a swing you could tell the power was there to hit some impressive stats. He jumped straight into the 3 wood fitting and as soon as he had hit a few and lost them right the team were looking for stiffer shafts to perform with his swing speed – the one he had picked up first was a regular I think and looked like bamboo in his hands. Things improved dramatically when a stiff shaft was fitted and the settings tweaked a little. In the end the the ball was leaving the face at ‘tour equivalent speeds’ (not my words but Taylormade’s words) The RBZ 3 wood stats were extremely long and I think they suggested a tour shaft / head for even better performance gains. That looks like a driver does in most peoples hands – very impressive stuff.
He then took on the R11S driver – again with a stiff shaft and you could make out the ball land toward the back of the range. Bearing in mind this was 3 – 4 degrees outside the was carrying 250 - 260 ish and with roll 270 – 280 was regularly coming up. Now if there is ever a forum thread on 300+ drives this guy will be on it for sure as for a first hit this really was big stuff. Although knowing my fellow forumers are not interested in distance on drives it will probably go unreported beyond this
So my turn, I knew I wasn’t as long hitter as the previous two but how good were these clubs and could they do anything with my 20 handicap swing?
I had sneaked one of 7 irons in to warm up with (it is a TM Burner so I managed to get in there without too much trouble – imagine if it had been a Ping!!) so while the room went silent in expectation (or nerves that I would shank it) I was happy to fire a few decent shots to get off the mark.
First test for me was the RBZ driver, with a regular shaft and neutral set up on the head. Thankfully I hit it – not straight but a fair distance – so I began to relax a little . The tweaking began. I explained that my current set up on the R9 is 10.5 deg, reg flex closed a little so we moved a bit in that direction and the results improved. Then Shaun from TM suggested we tried the R11S with the 10.5 deg head but de-lofted to 10 using the adjustable hosel is and a little closed to help the direction a little (this was his gentle was of saying I was slicing I think !) the results were instant. Sure I wasn’t getting the 270-280 yard drives the other guys were but I was getting decent stats with the new set up and for me fairly long – averaging between 240 and 250 yards on a very cold day – I reckon this was 10 – 15 yards gain. But 10 – 15 yards in the right direction - straight. All helped by the Aldida RIP reg flex shaft that has replaces the older shafts in the previous model.
Yay – I may be able to leave my tree recovery shot at home.
After a discussion on angles and lofts and all the options available we dialled in the settings for me even more and when the drives were as straight as I have ever seen them we decided that miracles do happen and moved onto the 3 wood fitting.
cont !!!
Epic Day – big big thanks to GM and TM
My journey began the day before with a drive down from ‘ooop North’.
Mike H had said bring something colourful so I had to dig and dig until I found something that Poulter would be embarrassed to wear on course – a nice lime green number!
Bags packed and checked (several times) I set off bright eyed for the adventure ahead. Several miles down the road and suddenly the farming program on the car radio re-tuned to Northern soul classics and I realised that I had left Lincolnshire behind.
On and on the journey went, the top 40 on the radio came and went (did you know DLT has retired?) until finally I approached London. I was learning new things all the way, little did I realise before that 50 mph meant that this was a minimum speed limit (especially through road works) or that they drive on the right close to London (right hand lane anyway) unless its time to overtake someone then a trip to the left hand lanes is permitted. Maybe I was getting a bit close to the channel tunnel!
I hit the M25 and rather than a small roundabout like to looked on the t’interweb it was actually a great big parking lot. Stood still for several hours my mind was racing. Not golf this time but I started worrying about the volatility of Government bonds due to the Euro zone crisis, about the possibility of a tube strike, what was happening to me!. I started to get angry about the smallest of moves by other drivers – raging in fact! To take my mind off it I thought I could try and get the Peter Kay channel on the radio –(its constantly on up North you realise
) but surprisingly I could not find it, I did chortle at a jolly funny ditty about the amusing occurrences that happen in suburban life though !! Strange – not usually my cup of tea – must something in the air!Finally we lurched back into motion and at the end of the long line of traffic there was a single car broken down. Everyone was tooting their horns in support as they passed but funnily nobody stopped to help the chap – still I thought, they must all know him and realise he is a mechanic or something or they would surely help a fellow Londoner – probably they all will chat to him down the pub later. It wouldn’t happen up North like this – only recently a friend of mine had a similar occurrence in Liverpool and the local youths helped him move his car in about 10 minutes – as they couldn’t lift it they just dismantled it and carried it off the bypass for him (and carried his bag away for him). He reckoned they must be training as apprentice mechanics. Come to think about it I have not seen him driving it recently maybe they couldn’t replace the damaged wiper!.
Finally at my turn off the A30 and the last thoughts about the how the FTSE was performing faded as I again found myself in countryside.
Then I am back in golfing dreams again – the names on the road signs roll off the tongue with ease Wentworth & Sunningdale – names that give every golfer a tingling feeling. I found myself beaming from cheek to cheek. I had booked a room at Sunningdale and my heart jumped as I approached.
After my journey I was a bit dry so I headed down to the local bar to grab a pint and pie. At first I thought I had bought the whole bar a drink – then realised that the classy barmaid probably earns more than Doris at my local. Mind you the clothing must be expensive down here also – the stuff she was wearing was so tight I think she must have had it since she was a lass – and she clearly wasn’t that now!! No wonder these guys down south are prepared to pay good money for beer. Not a suggestion that I will be taking back home with me –the price or tight clothes for Doris!
I headed to bed full of expectation for the following day and dreamed of hitting a decent first drive during the fitting session.
Up early and things were really looking up – an English breakfast to get me started. I pointed out to the waiter that ‘Full English’ was a bit of a misrepresentation as I had never had one without black pudding before. He stared but didn’t respond. I am not sure if it was the accent or the flat cap that was putting him off. Still I did root around and find some PG tips in between the Darjeeling and Camomile teas on offer so things were set for a great day.
Then, still beaming like an idiot, this time dressed in lime green, off I went to Wentworh and an introduction to the GM team of Mike, Paul and Tom, Taylormade team of Ralph, Shaun, Luke and Tomplus the other 2 lucky forumers Sam Larrimore aka WeekendWarrior and Brendan Nelson aka Brendy.
First off was a great presentation on the new gear by Ralph from TM including answering any questions from the three of us who had the fortune to be the first amateurs to try these clubs in the world!
The main discussion point on everyone’s lips was why Rocketballz? Seeing the footage of Dustin Johnson hitting the new 3 wood soon answered that!
Down to the main event
Being the high handicapper of the day I was a little nervous to say the least so pushed Brendy into the limelight first based on him being the lowest Handicap.
Some really nice hits followed as the team worked with Brendy to find the best clubs and settings for his swing. It was already impressive on the Trackman but as they worked on it you could see the results improving both on distance, carry and dispersion..
I did chuckle when it was suggested to Brendy that he would not see much difference using a womens shaft in the driver – I should have asked if it would be pink
He even tried the hybrid (after some persuading) and despite some protests on his behalf the results were impressive again – nice and long carry but a soft landing – I can see that 3 iron being ditched! I made sure Tom was on hand to record the moment for the forum.
Next up was Sam and as soon as he picked up the club and gave it a swing you could tell the power was there to hit some impressive stats. He jumped straight into the 3 wood fitting and as soon as he had hit a few and lost them right the team were looking for stiffer shafts to perform with his swing speed – the one he had picked up first was a regular I think and looked like bamboo in his hands. Things improved dramatically when a stiff shaft was fitted and the settings tweaked a little. In the end the the ball was leaving the face at ‘tour equivalent speeds’ (not my words but Taylormade’s words) The RBZ 3 wood stats were extremely long and I think they suggested a tour shaft / head for even better performance gains. That looks like a driver does in most peoples hands – very impressive stuff.
He then took on the R11S driver – again with a stiff shaft and you could make out the ball land toward the back of the range. Bearing in mind this was 3 – 4 degrees outside the was carrying 250 - 260 ish and with roll 270 – 280 was regularly coming up. Now if there is ever a forum thread on 300+ drives this guy will be on it for sure as for a first hit this really was big stuff. Although knowing my fellow forumers are not interested in distance on drives it will probably go unreported beyond this
So my turn, I knew I wasn’t as long hitter as the previous two but how good were these clubs and could they do anything with my 20 handicap swing?
I had sneaked one of 7 irons in to warm up with (it is a TM Burner so I managed to get in there without too much trouble – imagine if it had been a Ping!!) so while the room went silent in expectation (or nerves that I would shank it) I was happy to fire a few decent shots to get off the mark.
First test for me was the RBZ driver, with a regular shaft and neutral set up on the head. Thankfully I hit it – not straight but a fair distance – so I began to relax a little . The tweaking began. I explained that my current set up on the R9 is 10.5 deg, reg flex closed a little so we moved a bit in that direction and the results improved. Then Shaun from TM suggested we tried the R11S with the 10.5 deg head but de-lofted to 10 using the adjustable hosel is and a little closed to help the direction a little (this was his gentle was of saying I was slicing I think !) the results were instant. Sure I wasn’t getting the 270-280 yard drives the other guys were but I was getting decent stats with the new set up and for me fairly long – averaging between 240 and 250 yards on a very cold day – I reckon this was 10 – 15 yards gain. But 10 – 15 yards in the right direction - straight. All helped by the Aldida RIP reg flex shaft that has replaces the older shafts in the previous model.
Yay – I may be able to leave my tree recovery shot at home.
After a discussion on angles and lofts and all the options available we dialled in the settings for me even more and when the drives were as straight as I have ever seen them we decided that miracles do happen and moved onto the 3 wood fitting.
cont !!!
