Random Golf Thoughts

Not solely off the tee but I managed a pretty impressive meltdown in a major, about 20 years ago. 1 Under after 15, playing off 9. 7 over for the last 3 holes to lose on a countback. As Doug Sanders said, 'Some days I go 5 minutes without thinking about it', referring to his Open loss to Jack Nicklaus.

Actually this is worth a thread all on its own!

I've a pair of Callaway ones that for me are sufficient - about €20. The model is "thermal grip". They feel comfy without being thick and I think they do protect enough from the wind/cold. My hands generally aren't too bad in the winter fwiw. However I'd still feel like a set of mittens or warmers on your trolley may be needed for some people regardless of the glove. This callaway pair are okay in drizzle or light rain too. Better than a leather option anyway.

If it's a proper wet day, then I'm using a pair of footjoy rain grip gloves. Note they have a suede like finish that becomes grippy when wet. However the waterproof statement needs to be qualified imo. They have to get damp to actually work as intended. It doesn't keep out water but it works in wet conditions, that's the "waterproof" feature.

Cheers lads, I'll have to get myself one of those, took an awful drowning today 😞🚿

My lowest is a 24', 5 iron. I did have a 4i cobra utility that was adjustable from the stock 22.5' but swapped back in my old Mizuno CLK 4h adjusted to 24'. I ended up selling the cobra iron. The low part of my bag is now:

• 7w @ 21'.
• 4h @24'.
• 5i @24'.

I love the 7w and I'm just stuck on what to do with the next club. The hybrid is great in shite conditions and rough. However, I just find it a bit prone to turning over or basting 10 yards long. I'm thinking of a 3i/4i in a forgiving utility-style head, great for tee shots and punching through the trees in my home course. The hybrid is easier off the deck and rough is always in play for me. Unsure what to do their next year though. My pro said that it's probably worth keeping hybrid and iron options to swap on the day. Wind or course dependent.

As someone with a weaker lofted set, I find it absolutely vital to know the lofts... How else would you be able to remind playing partners that their 8i is your 7i...

There's probably different levels in terms of knowing... Maybe 95% wouldn't get them all correct if put on the spot, but I think more than 5% would make it their business to know if buying wedges, hybrids, a new set etc...

Saying that, 95% in probably about right when they suddenly get a new set / gain an extra 10 yards 😂 I might choose to be in that 95% myself.

I always know the lofts of the irons I have. I think it’s a useful thing to know. Especially if comparing SGI irons vs more player type irons.

A playing partner of mine had a set of Ping G series irons with Set PW and SW. he had no idea there was a 9 degree gap between them. I was recommending he get the Gap wedge.

My lowest iron is my 23.5 degree 5 iron, now what it would be in the real world I'm not sure.

Funny i've been toying with the idea of getting a 22 degree hybrid to replace my 4 iron. I do love my 4 iron for chipping out of trees but very rarely ever use it for full shots and when i do they aren't exactly consistent.

Feel like i should be able to get away with 5 iron for punching from the trees and investing in a new hybrid.

It would leave my bag looking like the following:

Driver

3 Wood 15 degree

5 Wood 18.5 Degree

Hybrid 22 Degree

5 Iron 24 degree.

Thoughts? I'm reluctant to get rid of either 3 or 5 wood because i strike both very nicely.

Mine. Have the full set here. Also have a 52 degree and 58 degree lob wedges matching the set. Although I did swap out the 58 in favour of a 56 vokey. I had all lofts and lies checked, adjusted and set by fore golf.

i think these are softer lofts than the standard nowadays so they don’t go quite as far? They are lovely clubs though.

added to this I have

Driver, M2, set @ 11.5 degrees

OLD 3 wood,TM 200 steel (90’s?). 15 degree. Did upgrade once but this was better 🤣

not quite as old 5 wood, TM R5 dual . 18 degrees

Nicely spaced overall.

hah ya do get it checked

Old iron sets were often 3i to SW or PW

Now you’re lucky to get 4i to PW - that’s because gaps have been adjusted drastically enough so there’s no need for a 3 iron anymore to an extent

It will depend on your gapping, there is a strong likelihood there will still be good gapping between your 22 hybrid and 24 5 iron. There are some videos on YouTube of like for like lofts of fairway woods, hybrids and irons. The fairways go furthest generally then the hybrid and then the iron.

There can be a huge difference, my 5i is 27° which is basically a 7i in the new Taylormade Stealth irons 28° for example...

It's all marketing, as Callaway92 was saying, most people aren't told or aren't aware that their 7i was really a 6i, or even a 5i, in their old set.

Those "gains" have to made up somewhere and it's usually in the shorter / scoring clubs where, rather than having good sensible 4° gaps as was standard, you can now have 6 or 7° gaps between them.

You're "gaining distance" but there's a price to pay for it.

If you can go with an adjustable 4h, you can definitely add/remove a few yards to suit. Otherwise, I'd suggest testing some hybrids for distance alongside the 5w and 5i. On stock 22' loft my 4h nearly matched the 21' 7w - when my old 5w was barely further. Below were my distances from Trackman a few weeks back. It was a crappy cold day but I was happy with the gaps and normalisation actually made the carry distances match on course for me.

• 3w 220yds
• 7w 205 yds
• 4h 190 yds (set to 24')
• 5i 180yds

FWIW my 4h @ 22' was easily further than my best swings with the 4i @ 22.5'. Probably 10 yards on average swings and just much more consistent. I definitely got more all-around use from it. I never had any fear of ploughing it through the rough and it could still trundle on up to 170/180yds. If I didn't have the hybrid, I'd probably have to hit a 7i and never get more than 130/140yds from similar lies.

I may still buy another 3/4 utility iron but the hybrid is probably still more useful overall for me. Probably not good enough on the ball striking for the 3/4i atm. There's always next year.

Think it was Mark Crossfield who had a related video recently. It's really the distances between clubs that's the important thing. Think he had some example of how a lot of us (due to not so great striking) probably end up hitting very similar distances with both our 4i and 5i... He was saying to forget about the number or loft, work it out by how far you hit each club and make sure the gaps are correct on that basis.

I.e if you hit you 5i 180y and the 3h 210y, then you could probably do with one in between without bringing lofts into it.