Reality check for Madandra

[madandra]

Confessional time guys and gals.

I had a set of Cobra 2300 for the best part of 3 years and after seeing all the new shiney clubs in the shops I convinced myself that I had to get shot of the 2300's 'because it was only 5-pw' I beat myself up telling myself I had to get a 'real' set of irons. So I splashed the cash and got a set of Cobra forged CB's 3-9 for £320. The guy I got them from told me I needed a stiffish regular shaft and recommended the R400.

I got them and they looked stunning. I took them out and .. well..... let's just say I never set the heather on fire.

Anyway, I perservered with them and lost a couple of bounce games but the final straw came today when the teaching pro I am pals with put me on the swing monitor and wet himself laughing at me trying to use regular shafts. He told me to get shot of them and get myself S300 in any irons I buy.

I am now the owner of a set of Cleveland CG4 tour irons 3-pw
with S300 shafts and after a big basket at the range I am over the moon. I was hitting my 8 iron all over the place and getting 135 yards with the Cobras but that has gone back to 160 and straight. I will never be lured to the dark side again just because strategically positioned downlights make new irons irresistable.

So what have been your biggest mistakes with golf gear?

Is there a putter or a driver you wish you had NEVER got rid of?

 

[tpred]

HI Madandra.
Just like you about 18 months ago i went to Am glf dscnt
and saw the new t made r7 tp irons all shiny looking at me.I took a couple on the range and hit them well enough to WANT them(even though i didnt NEED them).The assistant said he'd order them once hed gone through the lofts and lengths.They always seemed a little short in length but i tried to convince myself that £500 wasnt going to be wasted.(It Was)
When i went to pings a little while ago the clubs which i had fitted were totaly different lie and length.
In future when i walk into a golf shop im only going to look at the floor until i get past the clubs lol.

 

[John_Findlay]

I've learned never to change my gear unless I have to. Especially if you've won it!

When I was much younger I played lots of golf as a student over the summer months, getting down from 17 to 10 one summer.

At the time I owned some lovely woods and a lovely mallet putter which served me well. So well, in fact that I won the low handicap trophy of my club's annual 4 day open and reached the semis of the equivalent event at Nairn in the same summer. Nightmare. I won a Ping Anser putter for the Nairn event and £75 of vouchers for the win at Nairn Dunbar. Bought 3 new woods with that and my game went off...for 15 years!!! Oh, how I wish I'd stuck with the gear that suited me.

I've "learned" not to win anything except 1 medal since.

 

[tpred]

what did you do with the anser putter ?

 

[John_Findlay]

Still got it, tpred. Never holed a putt with it. Actually, having checked...it's an A-Blade. It's burning a hole in my spare bag in the hall 20 years on. Got an Odyssey 2 ball blade to replace it 3 years ago.

 

[RGuk]

There's loads of stuff I've kept over the years, basically, if I've played well with it, it doesn't get sold on, although I'd like to sell my 2002 versions of my irons.

So, I'm left with 2 sets of irons (gave away my custom fitted T-zoids, never liked 'em, don't know why, just not as pure as my 845 Silver Scotts)
2 drivers (an FT-3 and a GBB 12 degree, which would fetch about £20 on ebay, so as it's good and usable (if I'm struggling with my game) I'm keeping it
2 x 3 woods (old and new) the old would get £15?
a 2 iron (now worth £5 tops, cost £90!!!)
a 1 iron (never used)
2 callaway "tour" wedges
4 putters.

t.b.h. most of this could go, but I'd rather pass 'em on to mates or someone who needs it! At least I have a complete set for any guests that "stay and play" and old gear is worth nothing at all.

Dave

 

[tpred]

some of the older ansers are worth a lot of money.
I am told that the 1st scotty camerons were modeled on the design of the ansers.

 

[John_Findlay]

That's right, tpred. The A-Blades were basically just a curvier edged version of the Anser and some of the Scotty Camerons are just the same.

In spite of the fact it has a sweetspot which is harder to find than a g-spot I hold onto it for sentimental reasons.

 

[RGuk]

J-F, you've got an A-blade.....wow, never seen anyone with another.
I picked mine up 2nd hand, soaked it in denture tablet water for an hour or two, then duraglit'd it, so it came up all bronze and shiny!!
Looks lovely, feels amazing, but, what an unruly piece of kit , never ever found a sweet spot on the damn thing, always came up short (does it actually have an ooomph??) and it's a bugger to get aligned straight.

I have four putters.....marks as follows....
1) Ping A blade.....1/10 (£20)
2) Odyssey dual force (won it in a side bet!) 9/10 on fast greens. 0/10 on winter greens
3) Nicklaus TB3 (ping craz-e copy) (£14.99) 8/10
4) NEW Macgregor "the fat lady swings" from 1994? (£35 ebay) 10/10 so far!!!!

Dave

 

[RGuk]

In spite of the fact it has a sweetspot which is harder to find than a g-spot I hold onto it for sentimental reasons.

this is the best description of this I've ever seen! D'you reckon Ping spotted that they invented a premium putter that was actually less sweet than a £9.99 special from argos.......

 

[John_Findlay]

Spot on, Dave. The A-Blade is definitely not aligned square and it's useless for long putts. You might as well kick the ball!

 

[RGuk]

J-F, you've made my day! (I'm so depressed about my day, it's all gone pear shaped since winning 4&3 this morning)
I'd fancy my chances better with my 1984 steve davis snooker cue!!!

Dave

 

[Parmo]

Bought some adidas golf shoes from Fleabay, they seemed a bargin but leaked faster than the titanic and had to replace them after two months.

 

[thecraw]

Went to Mizuno, splashed out £600 on a lovely set of MP60'S and binned them 9 months later for £330.

Beautiful irons, I was just not consistant enough to get the best out of them. Infact I have still got that extremely painful memory of catching the 4 iron thin in Feb at Machrihanish on a cold and wet day!! That was bloody painful, the vibrations shook me to the core! HAHAHA.

Memories.

 

[John_Findlay]

Ah, Macrihanish. Played there for the 1st time back in March and was delighted to score 80. Did you get a day like this, thecraw? Aren't they all? Would be a delight to play it on a sunny, windless day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgGHWPq2crI

Was too windy to take much other video.

I've got the Mizuno MP30s which I'm guessing are just the old version of the MP60s. Not the longest irons in the world but lovely feedback.

 

[USER1999]

I swapped from Cleveland TA5 cavity backs to Macgregor 1025M muscle back blades a while ago. I have never been a great iron player, but really have not noticed any difference in difficulty to hit. I am either hitting them fantastically well, or not at all, just like the Clevelands. (well struck shots feel fantastic though, which happens rarely but is nice). Before that I had Callaway big berthas.

The only difference to me, is that I love the look of these irons, and that gives me a somewhat misplaced confidence (the short irons 7 and down are great). Wouldn't even think of changing them. Well... Titleist 695MBs maybe, but I don't think they will improve my game much.

 

[thecraw]

John it was quite similar to that although possibly not quite so windy. It was a clear enough day when we tee'd off. However the temp was only about 3 or 4 degrees then an icy rain came on about the 11th which really chilled us. Hands were numb in seconds.

I am tempted to join Machrihanish on a country membership and make a few trips a year.

 

[John_Findlay]

C, have you played the Machrie Links, over on Islay?

http://www.machrie.com/golf/index.html

I did it on the same trip and it's a hidden gem. Better than Macrihanish, I thought. We got free golf by staying at the Machrie Links Hotel. Course to ourselves, not surprisingly at that time of year.

 

[thecraw]

Played Machrie on three different trips mate and loved it to bits. Some amazing golf holes.

The third green with that slope is incredible, the fourth is an awesome hole five and six are also fantastic, true links golf of the highest order.

Only the 10th lets the course down in my opinion, weakest hole on the course and by some distance, out of keeping with the rest of the wonderful links terrain.

The par 3 12th, day one I hit a medium iron, day two I hit an 8 iron and on the last day I hit a full blown driver onto the back of the green.

Machrie is a magnificent course and a wonderful experience, hotel staff and food are excellent, only a lack of facilities lets it down slightly in my opinion. Special mention to the greenkeeper, Simon who cant do enough to help you and make your stay more pleasurable.

We have a fourball going to Machrie in March hopefully, if they are doing the Machrie Spring Challange again! I will keep you posted.

 

[John_Findlay]

Ah, you're a lucky man! The food at that Hotel was amazing....and the choice of whisky not too shabby, either. Only got a tiny wee bit of footage of the first hole as my video camera broke that day..but can remember every hole.