Its All Changed - Help Required

[theshrew]

Hi im new to this site hope you guys can help me out.

Anyway im in need of a bit of help. I used to be a fairly good player (played off 6). Then i found women and beer etc which kinda ended me playing golf for a few years.

I now tempted to start back again but because ive been away from the game 10 years or so im a little lost on the equipment side of things.

I havent even got a clue which Balls to use. I looked at some online shops dont recognise any of them. What would now be on a par with the Titleist PTS 90 or a ball similar to that.

 

[JustOne]

Titleist NXT are probably quite close to the old PTS ball but a bit like hitting rocks.

Balls of choice for distance and spin....

Srixon z-star, Titleist ProV, Titleist ProV-x

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I guess the imprtant questionsa are what standard are you now and what are you looking for from your ball. If you are spraying it a bit more than the old days then a middle of the road like the AD333 or NXT will give you distance and some control. If spin around the greens is your main concern plus low driver spin a premium ball may be a better match but will dent the pocket more so you need to weigh up the cost v the average number lost per round

 

[minigolfer]

if you are looking for a a ball i would recomend the titelist ProV and if you are looking for a putter i would strongly recomend a odessy white hot tour 5
look into them and take a few trips down to your local golf course and ask the memebers about it

 

[CrapHacker]

If you are lterally just restating out again, I wouldn't bother with the pro-vs etc unless you are either A) immediately playing to good single figure stuff straight away, or B) you are rich enough that paying £25- £30 a dozen doesn't dent your pocket.

But even then, if you are spraying your drives at all, the extra spin of the tour balls is going to do you a disservice because they are tougher to keep straight. You can still get good quality lower spin balls that are playable enough around the green, but are more forgiving off the tee.

The general consensus is the Srixon AD333 is the one to start out with. At £14 a dozen at AG it's not mega cheap and cheerfull, but it's affordable with a good all round performance as well.

If you are struggling with your balls, wait until you start thinking about drivers. And fairway woods vs hybrids. And with irons it's not even just a choice of blades or cavities nowadays.

Do you want forged or cast ? Player irons or GI ? Blades ? Full cavity or split cavity, maybe ? How about Dual muscle or Cut muscle ? Blended hybrids ? ( This is just Mizuno btw, multiply this by however many manufacturers you want )

Oh and the new Tour ready dual muscle range look pretty fine just in case you had nearly made your mind up.

But the shafts are more important than anything.

Basically it's a minefield, compared with those halcyon days of last century when you picked up a club, waggled it about a bit and smiled if it felt good.

Happy hunting

 

[theshrew]

Thanks for all the help chaps.

Ive not even hit a ball yet so not sure how bad its actually gonna be. As you say probably better going for a cheaper one at the moment.

 

[RGDave]

Thanks for all the help chaps.

Ive not even hit a ball yet so not sure how bad its actually gonna be. As you say probably better going for a cheaper one at the moment.

Good luck. It might be quite bad . I found the first few games torture. I went to the range a lot and then for a lesson or two. First proper effort on the course, I managed an 89 and although nothing went well, I was relieved to not lose many balls and made a few pars.

I used pts 90s back in the days, if you played off 6, you must known what you were doing.

For the first few games, I'd not even recommend Srixon AD333. Too much money (unless you don't care) if you start losing balls all over the place. I used cheap balls for a while (Dunlops/Donnays/Bay Hill/Top Flite) then started using Tesco specials and the like.

The first "proper" dozen balls I bought were NXT (not the tour ones) and I thought they were remarkably similar to the PTS as I remember it. I tried a few AD333s and although tolerable, not to my taste. For £15, I'd rather use Wilson Staff Dx soft. I still have a few new ones knocking around.

These days, I use a mix of Wilson Staff (Dx/Px and sometimes Tx) Nike Vapor, Srixon (most types) and if I'm feeling good, Pro V 1s.

I played yesterday and having swapped bags found I only had my spare balls.....I used a Top Flite distance ball all the way round. Managed to get up and down more with these than a high spin ball... :confused - typical.

14 holes, 9 pars, 5 over for 14.....hardly bad!!! (for me)

t.b.h. I have 3 dozen Donnay titanium balls for range practice. I could easily play with these, just need to hit plenty of putts before the game.

Welcome btw...theshrew - I should have thought of this name!

 

[theshrew]

Quite bad ? I think its gonna be a mere probably like starting again lol

Got my clubs out of the bag last night to give em a clean up ready for some practice. The grips a absaloute knackered. Gonna try to get away with them tho for the moment as im gonna have to buy some different clubs if im hacking it big time. Mizuno TP9 aint the most forgiving things. I cant remember what it is people put on the grips to give them a bit more bite back. Was is fairy liquid ?

Cant believe the size of stuff now my Big Bertha was HUGE when it came out. Had a look at next doors King Cobra thingy last night, its like having a boat on the end of the shaft lol

 

[RGDave]

When I re-started the grips were shot. No surprise, they'd been in the shed for 5+ years. If you are short on cash, why not find a pro shop that'll do something cheap and decent for £27 (£3 each) like Procise. I got these on my Tommy Armour 845s. t.b.h. after trying a few sets of newer irons, I was sold. I got some MacGregors which served me well for a year.

It won't be like starting again....it'll just feels like it!

I had a great big bertha (250cc) and soon went out and found a Callaway 460cc (FT-3) which I still have and use from time to time. It's good for distance and forgiving but nowhere near as straight as a square-type driver, which i.m.o. has pushed the boundaries further.

Short game will frustrate. I'm only getting close to what I was 2 years in, but it's nearly there, and once it is, I reckon 9.4 or less is going to happen.

The other thing I did, and has proved well worth the trouble was to get a Custom Fit putter. I may not make a lot of long ones, but at least the ones coming back are getting easier every day.