What Gear setup would you have been happy staying with.

[Cernunnos]

Following on from technology verses skill thread, & the fact that many of us have bought numerous sets of irons, Drivers, Putters, etc... over the years. Now think back over all the changes we've made for one reason or another. Think back to the first time for each piece of equipment, you've known you've gotten it right & perhaps should have stopped there & concentrated upon your game.

I'll start. Now although I just about have the optimum setup now, I know I had it right with the following.

Irons : Lynx Black Cat CST-1 These were produced prior to Lynx going downmarket. And the CST-1 clubs were not the easiest clubs in the world to hit, but gave me suficient challenge & therefore satisfaction to have stayed with those. I'm probably going back to 2005/6 with these. I've loved playing the Yonex & then the Ping I now play, but those Lynx clubs were/are great.

For Driver I could have stayed with the Yonex Cyberstar Nanospeed for even longer than I did, but I'll admit its only now with my Titleist 907 D1 I know I've gotten it about right. especially as my swing has changed over the last few years.

For my other woods I've found the perfect ones with my Yonex cyberstar MII 3 & 5 woods.

As far as putters are concerned I've experimented a lot with all sorts of putter. Quite frankly I could have actually have stayed with the one I was given by my Dad a very bashed & battered thing, as that never let me down while I used it. Though I wouldn't part with my Yes Tracy putter. So will quote that.

For wedges, well, I've enjoyed using the Titleist ones I've used so could simply say that I could stick with that, though as wedges wear out a lot quicker than most clubs in the bag I must say I'm satisfied with the MD Wedges

So setup would have saved me a lot of money & could have concentrated more on practice, lessons & could have also spent more on membership than I have.

Irons: Lynx CST-1
Driver: Titleist D1
Fairway woods: Yonex Cyberstar MII
Wedges: Titleist
Putter: Yes Tracy

 

[thecraw]

My current set up of

Titleist D2 909 10.5 driver with stiff Matrix Ozuk Shaft
Ping G10 4 wood Aldila NV shaft

Wilson DF6 19 degree hybrid with V2 stiff shaft

Ping S59 4-PW
Ping Tour W 52 and 58 degree wedges

Odyssey Sabertooth putter.

That to me is an ideal line up and I'm very happy with my bag thank you.

Old skool though it would have to have been my PING EYE2 irons which I saved for months from my paper round to buy second hand. I thought I was a pro, then I bought the matching lob wedge brand spanking new and I was in the toilet!!!

 

[Redwood]

Well, I don't think I've been playing long enough to say any of my old clubs were the ones for me, but I'll give a run down of my current bag.

G5 driver - think I need to move to a stiff shaft, as I am so inconsistent with my G5. Sometimes I hit straight bombs, other times massive slice. I've demo'd a few drivers recently with stiff shafts and the ball flight is much more consistent. Straighter with less ballooning, which is great for me at Bude.

G10 3 wood - not really hitting it at the minute, but when I was (just after I bought it) it was going well. Again, may have to switch to stiff shaft.

G5 Hybrid - rarely use this except for tee shots on long par 3's, which it works well on. Very rarely make good contact off the deck with this thing, so don't use from the fairway at all.

I5 irons - the jury is still out. I think I'm going to like them (just moved from G5's to I5's) but still not sure. Again, the shaft may not be spot on for me.

Vokeys - love them. Along with my Redwood putter they are the only clubs that will be staying in the bag.

Redwood - as above. Very confident with this flagstick and will be staying in the bag. Love the feel off the face, and the looks. Moved from an Odyssey 2 ball mallet to this and didn't cause any problems with alignment and gave me much better distance judgment, especially on being able to lag longer putts. Rarely three out now.

 

[USER1999]

No plans to change any time soon, so will go with my current bag.

 

[EchtLoon]

No question my current set up is the best, Callaway FTi driver (cheers Craw), Ping G5 3&5 woods, Mizuno hybrid, & Mx25 irons & mizuno Sw, and Rossa Monza putter.

Doesn't mean I won't change, still need to work on fairway woods, and a new putter isn't far away I don't think, but defo best set up I've had.

 

[Twire]

I'm not happy with my irons, their the next thing I'm looking to change. Not sure what model to replace them with yet, but pretty sure they will be TM

 

[GB72]

Much if my current bag is fine as it is:

MD Square diver: Giving me the consistancy that I need so will stay for another year.

Adams Insight XTD 3 wood: Only 3 wood I can hit consistantly off the fairway so going nowhere

Orks FK2 gap wedge: Possibly my faourite club and great for chipping, may be with me forever.

MD Norman Drew Lob Wedge: Great for tight lies around the green and greenside bunkers, another favourite

Taylormade Rossa Fontana Putter: Rarely 3 putt now so may have finally found a putter to stay long term.

The problem areas are:

5 wood/hybrid: Have 3 options now (MD and Adams 3i hybrids and Wilson Staff Fybrid) but none have set the course alite. Probably wish I had stayed with my Nike SQ 5 wood.

Irons: Reasonably happy with the Taylormade Burner Plus irons but the graphite shafts are giving me a bit too much righ tot left movement and the big heads are becoming a bit off putting. No guarantee that I will change but some shiny new sets are starting to turn my head.

 

[StuartD]

I would take my Swilken Cavity Sole irons back. Have been strugling with my irons for some time now. When i had the Cavity sole irons i played about five/six times a week and now only play twice at most. using these old irons again, just once a week, would proove that it's me who is the problem and not any new fangled set of irons

 

[minty18]

I too am really happy with the contents of my bag

Ping G5's - Considered some of the best irons to have been on the market, i'm hitting them well at the moment other than a slight pull creeping in but thats my swing not the clubs.

Odyssey putter - I tried a taylor made putter and it just didn't feel right, went back to this old girl with a slight change of putting grip and it seems to be working.

Nike sasquatch Utility - gets me about 180 yds, slight problem is that it does get the ball high very easily so not to great when hitting in to the wind.

Nike sasquatch 3 wood - Great club, probly hitting it about 200yds and i've got confidence to hit it off the deck with some decent results.

Cobra ld 08 driver - Fitted recently and working a dream. Getting between 220-250yds and hitting most fairways, as a result my scores have all been sub 95's since getting it.

Maybe looking to get a new bag and possibly a lob wedge. Still not convinced about the lob wedge though, definitely gets me in more trouble than a normal SW OR PW would.

 

[Redwood]

To be honest Minty, I wouldn't (personally) bother with a lob wedge.

I recently exchanged my 60\6* Ping Tour W for a 58\08* Titlest Vokey SM. The great thing about that wedge in the 09 model is the sole grind. Lets me play normal pitch shots, and doesn't dig to much like a low bounce LW, and when I open it up to play delicate touch shots around the green it doesn't raise the leading edge too much because of the grind. Very versatile!!

Take a look at one.

 

[rgs]

Happy enough with my current set up, only club that is underused is the TM rescue i just cant get on with it. However i am very happy with my 3 & 4 iron so no worries over the rescue.

 

[HogansAlley]

A great question, Cernunnos. There's three that stand out for me… 1) The first time I hit a Taylor Made Raylor (cira 1993) it was true love. I've used one ever since. 2) I used to own a Ben Hogan Special Si beryllium sand wedge. I wore down the grooves in the end and they stopped making them a long time ago. 3) When you get hold of a Scotty Del Mar 3.5 with black finish you never get rid of it.

 

[brendy]

Before I gave the game up for a few years I had a set of mizuno tzoid pro 2's, they were fantastic for that moment in time for my game. I dunno how I would get on with them now though as my swing has been shortened a little and I dont blast everything as far as I can these days.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think my original Ping Anser. Everything about it was perfect and I was pretty hot with it. Not sure what happened to it.

The only irons I really should have kept were my X14s. They were doing me a great service until but I got offered a set of R7's at silly money and so switched. I also wish I'd kept them instead of trading them in when I got the X20's

The only woods I wish I'd kept were my Cally steelhead + 3 and 5 woods. So versatile and went a mile.

 

[fastmover2]

I had a great set of Wilson Staff Fluid Feel blades back in the early 80's that were very sweet. I do not really know why I came off them.Just loved the feel. From there via Ping Eye 2 to Miz Comp EZ/Miz MP30/MP33 to my current set of TM TP Forged which I just love.

Before I traded in for the Wilsons I carried a Petron Ferret 1 iron and that was just awesome. Should never have chopped it for the Wilson 1 iron.

Never been as loved up about a driver as I am with my present one although did have a cracking MacGregor Persimmon for awhile before the metal drivers became the thing.

3 wood had a lovely Wilson Persimmon but eventually the face cracked on that so it had to go but is still hanging on the wall in my games room, it is an artwork.

Best wedge I ever had was a Miz Comp EZ SW but that got worn out.

Best putter is my current Scotty though an original Futura lurks off stage.

Overall I guess my current bag is my best total set up to date but nothing is forever!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I had a hand made persimmon 3 wood for my 18th. Now that was a thing of beauty and had a pure feeling any modern club can't come near. I took it out last year to hit a few on the practice ground. All I can say is I must have been a hell of a golfer or have been pampered in the last few years (OK we all know its the second one) as it was really hard to hit and get any meaningful distance. It needed a much slower backswing but then you really need to whip the arms and hands through to get the shaft working. Hit one pure and I felt 16 again. SC measured it at 221 which is only about 9 yards short of my average driver distance.

 

[Imurg]

The Great Big Bertha Driver. Had I not had a few years away from the game I would still have this. But the swing went west and I needed all the help I could get from a bigger headed one.

I had the original Callaway Steelhead 3 and 5 woods with the steel shaft. I don't know what it was about them but I wore them out - literally after 4 or 5 years they were dead. I got some more but they never quite felt the same and I've struggled to find a fairway set-up to match them since.

 

[Cernunnos]

Now I've been happy with every iron I've used since & including my Lynx. Infact I can't fault anything in the iron department I've used over the last few changes. I really love my current setup with the Pings. My setup is about right, with only minor fiddling with setup needed every now & again.

My Point, which some have latched onto, is that there are irons & other clubs that we all had no need to move away from, even though we maybe using equipment even better now. The essence is imho, we all have things in the back catalogue of gear we've used that I think we know would have done it for us, had we not felt the need to change for whatever reason.

Must say some of the posts make interesting reading. I was particularly interested for instance in Homer's reference to the Persimmon wood he has, which he'd brought out of mathballs, so to speak, & esentially highlights for me how lazy the uber-forgiving equipment makes us become. And his were not the only comments regarding classic equipment. I know a chapat work still uses an original set of eye2's, they work for him.

 

[andiritchie]

I only have had 3 sets of proper irons 695cb's,690mb's and my junior clubs

Ping Eye 1's i belive they came out 1984,i was only born 83 so nearly as old as me,still got them in the cupboard, noway i getting rid,£140 2nd hand i could still play with them now cracking irons

Apart from the snapped 4 and 9 iron but thats a different story