Playing tomorrow with clubs I have never hit before - quite excited...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Snelly
  • Start date Start date
Snelly said:
Morning,

I am looking forward to playing at Swinley Forest tomorrow, not just because it is a fantastic course and one of my favourites but also because I have got new clubs bar a couple of exceptions.

I will be using my existing 3 wood and lob wedge but the rest will all be completely new to me, having never hit a ball with them. The new clubs are a Titleist 909 D2 driver with a Voodoo shaft. Looks quite nice. The irons are 2-SW Ping Zing 2's. I have no idea what the shaft flex is as they just say JZ on them. New putter too - Ping Pal 2 which feels nice on the lounge carpet! I am really looking forward to playing with them and am pondering what effect they may have, if any on the score I post.

Obviously the biggest variable will be me. My last two rounds were worlds apart. I shot 100 at Bearwood Lakes recently then last week played Littlehampton in 1 over par including a hole in one!

Me aside, I think the clubs will take a bit of getting used to, especially the irons. They are much chunkier than my previous irons and will probably fly further as all Ping irons seem to be that bit longer. The lofts are almost the same but they just ping off the face a bit more I guess.

The driver won't get used much. 2 irons off nearly every tee I would think. Anyway, I will see what happens and will try and get some photos too as Swinley is a very pretty course.

If I play well and the clubs perform, does this form the basis for a counter-argument against custom fitting and the overbearing technical babble that we get from the manufacturers? I think so albeit a very unscientific and quite random test. I am viewing this as a bit of an interesting experiment and can't wait to get to the course....
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I can't say how disappointed I am Snelly, surely this is the epitome of the tedious sort of thread you despise?
 
Crow said:
I can't say how disappointed I am Snelly, surely this is the epitome of the tedious sort of thread you despise?
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It is now that you've posted. There really is no beginning to your talents.......
 
I like Swinley and it should be in great nick at this time of year. The annoying thing about Snelly is he is good enough to master most clubs in a heartbeat and so don't be fobbed off with his old bull. Expect a very good score
 
The lunch at the Berkshire is still superb in my opinion, and loads of it !!! Swinley lunches are great as well, but not good if you have to play again in the afternoon.:eek:

Our society are playing at Tandridge on the 17th October if you fancy joining us Snelly. Never played the course so looking forward to it before my trip to St Andrews.:whoo:
 
The zing2's will be fine, touch round the green may feel a little lively if you o up and down lofts for run. I used to use a bladed sand wedge instead of the sets, also I dunno if it was just mine but hey were a 1/2" longer than some clubs. Mine were standard black dot, made to measure, with JZ shafts.
 
I'm very interested to see how you get on Snelly. I picked the same set up 2 - SW a short while ago for use in the winter time but have been tempted to give them a bash recently.
Always been a thin, minimal curves kinda guy but recently had a bit of a fetish for a chunkier model at the moment.

Must be something in the water.

Hope you enjoy lunch at least! Will await a full report.
 
richart said:
The lunch at the Berkshire is still superb in my opinion, and loads of it !!! Swinley lunches are great as well, but not good if you have to play again in the afternoon.:eek:

Our society are playing at Tandridge on the 17th October if you fancy joining us Snelly. Never played the course so looking forward to it before my trip to St Andrews.:whoo:
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Red; Lunch; Blue is the best day's golf in England in my experience. Courses both great and just long/short enough that there is no rush over Lunch. Sunningdale similar, though seriously pricier normally, and Old, New seems wrong way around. Swinley/Hankley fine but the second round requires concentration and fitness (not quite so much Swinley) RSG can be a bit of a slog in the afternoon - possibly more enjoyable to reflect on than experience! Not experienced Tandridge, but heard good reports.
 
photo 4.jpgphoto 3.jpgphoto 2.jpgphoto.jpg

Here are a couple of Swinley pictures. Only from my phone so not the highest quality and they don't do the place (or the elevation) justice.

The course was terrific as usual and we had a really nice day there. The greens were not what I would call quick but they were true and perfectly fine to putt on. In general, the course is holding up extremely well given all the warm weather and the layout is exemplary. Well worth a visit if you ever get the chance.

Oh, and lunch was roast lamb and was fantastic, as was the club claret, although neither were quite in the Sunningdale, Tandridge, Berkshire, Hankley, St Georges Hill league. And no waitresses that looked like Scarlett Johannssen either, mores the pity....

Clubs? The Ping Zing 2's were really good actually. There are three main differences between them and my Callaway X-16 Pros. First, and as anticipated, they are about three quarters of a club longer. This led to me going through a lot of greens in the first few holes and cost me two blobs and a lost ball today.

The second difference is that they are not easy to hit a chip and run with as the ball leaps off the face much more. I think this will be okay with practice.

The last difference is that they obviously feel a bit clunkier as you hit the ball but not in a bad way and it is still very satisfying when you hit the middle of the club. The long irons are particularly nice and so are the wedge and sand iron on approach shots. I haven't hit this kind of club as a wedge (had forged wedges for years) for a long time and I was really pleasantly surprised with how good they felt and the results were very encouraging. I am definitely going to keep them in my bag and play with them for the foreseeable future.

I suppose the fourth difference would be that they aren't as pretty but I don't really care about that. Pretty is as pretty does when it comes to clubs for me.

Titleist 909 D2 Driver - very good and felt much nicer when you hit a good shot but other than that, no discernible improvement over my Ping Rapture driver so I will stick with what I know and keep the Ping. Distances are about the same and the Ping is easier to hit I think.

Ping Pal 2 stainless putter - great and I didn't miss anything under five feet all day. A design classic and if you putt badly with one, it is not down to the club.

I played alright with a good back 9 - all the 3's! 33 points with 3 birdies and 3 blobs, playing off 3. It would've been a sorry medal card though.


All in all a nice day's golf and I thoroughly recommend Swinley to everyone. A special occasion but quirky club in a delightful setting.
 
Recognise 3 of them (5, 17 and 18)

Heather looks quite 'benign' or is that just an illusion!

Aas once at a Xmas do (in Feb) sat next to that lovely (late) gentleman Bernard Hunt and described my joy of having played it a short time before. He laughed and mentioned that it was the only course he'd ever been ejected from!
 
Last edited:
Foxholer said:
Recognise 3 of them (5, 17 and 18)

Heather looks quite 'benign' or is that just an illusion!
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10th hole in the first picture.

Heather had flowered so past its thickest phase and yes, pretty benign.
 
Swinley looks lovely - one of the guys I played with yesterday said that they had trashed the greens and were even suggesting that societies didn't bother coming and offering refunds.....obviously that situation was resolved.

Update from SGH:

Now my 2nd favourite course just behind Valderamma. A very special place to play indeed. :)

Tried to think of a weak hole or filler on the drive back home - maybe the short par 4 12th at a push?? Only because the blind tee shot to your lay up yardage can easily roll another 50yds closer down the undulating fairway - that's being very picky.

Will be first on list for next years comps!!

Two rounds makes me feel that a score can be had here, conservative play and placement is the order due to some big green slopes large drop offs from elevated greens. Two 78s from short sided misses and getting above some treacherous pins. They really tuck the pins too, many were 3yds from edges and none more than 7!!!!

Not an sniff of stuffiness either! Golfing heaven :) now for Hankley on Monday :)
 
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