What’s In the Bag? ***GOLF EQUIPMENT THREAD***

PXG Driver (0211) just got it re-shafted to a lighter shaft since my original one on my driver was SO HEAVY.
TaylorMade M2 5 wood (My favorite club in my bag, especially if i am spraying my driver)
G400 4I Hybrid
Srixon ZX7 Irons 5-PW
TaylorMade Milled Grind Wedges 52-60
Cleveland Huntington Beach #1 Blade

I'm probably not going to upgrade much of anything. I don't play nearly enough anymore which is a shame, kiddo and her activities are priority now.

Curious, what balls do you all use? I was Vice Pro Plus only for a while, then I moved over to Titleist Pro-V 1s. Not much of a difference, but i like the feel of Titleist better lately.
I play TaylorMade Tour Response. Have to order them online though, because the only ones they have in stores look like Easter eggs and I hate those.

My progression has been:

- whatever I had in my bag (many moons ago)
- Titleist Pro-V (too much spin for my liking)
- Bridgestone e6
- TaylorMade Project(a) (now Tour Response)
- Vice Tour Pro (liked them for a while, but didn’t really feel the greatest)
- TaylorMade Tour Response

For me, the Tour Response just feels most consistent. The ball I played the longest before the TRs was the Bridgestone e6, but they got progressively “worse” with each iteration, I think. They changed the dimple construction and cover, and not in a good way.
 
PXG Driver (0211) just got it re-shafted to a lighter shaft since my original one on my driver was SO HEAVY.
TaylorMade M2 5 wood (My favorite club in my bag, especially if i am spraying my driver)
G400 4I Hybrid
Srixon ZX7 Irons 5-PW
TaylorMade Milled Grind Wedges 52-60
Cleveland Huntington Beach #1 Blade

I'm probably not going to upgrade much of anything. I don't play nearly enough anymore which is a shame, kiddo and her activities are priority now.

Curious, what balls do you all use? I was Vice Pro Plus only for a while, then I moved over to Titleist Pro-V 1s. Not much of a difference, but i like the feel of Titleist better lately.
Couple years ago, I bought a bucket of ~90+ Srixon balls secondhand from https://www.lostgolfballs.com/ and have been happy with the condition of them for the price. That many balls for ~$70 at the time. Bought the near-mint condition and don't even think I've had 5+ balls that looked like they shouldn't play. In the meantime I've come across a bunch of different TM and Bridgestone ones, I am a little partial to the Bridges. ProV1s tend to be spinny, and Kirkland balls also tend to be super spinny.
 
All for an old golf thread getting resurrected... it's new to me.

Current setup:
Driver: Elyte triple diamond
3W/5W: Paradym
irons: Ping i540 (UW thru 4i)
wedges: ping i159 (58 and 52 degree)

grew up playing a ton thru college. Work/wife/kids/life took over, and played less and less. Barely played at all in my 40's. Kids in college, so went out and bought all new equipment (fall '23). That was ping g430 irons. More game improvement, because wasn't sure how much of game would come back. Upgraded to the i540 this spring.
 
Current setup:
Driver: Taylormade Qi10
3 wood: Cobra Dark Speed
5 wood: Taylormade Sim 2
Irons: Mizuno JPX 919 Hot Metal Pros
50 Deg: Mizuno T1
56 Deg: SM10 Vokey
60 Deg: Bettinardi HLX 5
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 5.5
 
Wagner's in Ames. The focus was a little bit on distance but also on dispersion some. What happened was that I tried some heads that simply didn't work out in the simulator that exact day, but two things did: the regular TM Stealth an the time, and the Cobra LTDx LS. I was hitting them the about the same dispersion-wise in a sim but the Cobra a little longer, so that's what I went with. Then set the club gappings somewhat based on what the fitter expected to happen. I think the fitter was also convinced I was a better golfer than I actually am and that might've influenced it some? Hard to say. I think what mostly happened is I had a wonky fitting that particular day and gave inflated results, 'cuz I hit some of these clubs really well that one day and haven't really gotten those same results back on an actual golf course. I do hit the irons I fit into fine, just not as long as measured at the time. That was also a few years ago now, so it's possible I've just lost some speed in that time.

I've basically got polar opposites in my bag. The irons and wedges are SGI types (Hot Metals, which I hit pretty well). The woods were not, they're more targeted for advanced players, which I totally am not as a ~22 cap. The issues I deal with on woods are simply that I can't launch them, at that showed up at a store simulator yesterday also. Typical launch was <10 degrees off the ground, giving me very little carry and just hitting wormburner piss-missiles every direction. These clubs feel very, very unforgiving on mishits. I'm not the guy that finds the dead balls center every cut.

The Ping I was hitting felt very different. Mapped out some impact points and found it to be very consistent in flight and distance across the whole face, with the only cost that dead center hits weren't really any better than off-centers. What I deal with now is that I basically can't hit the Cobras if I don't hit the center. The sim results for the Ping were shorter versus ideal strikes on the Cobra, but significantly more forgiving and consistent on mishits. Even balls with off-center strikes were somewhat straightened and still had much better launches, it wasn't a wormburner-fest. The other major thing I noticed is that despite both being Stiff flex, the shaft on the Ping had noticeably more play in it, and was a bit lighter. The shaft on my D and 3W feels like a rebar pole. I did try the reg flex on the ping and on another club, but in both of those cases, it felt too much like swinging a wet noodle.
I was fit into the Cobra LTDx MAX, which sounds like may have been better for you. I do love my Ping G425 irons. I've hit the G425 driver and 3 wood once and I really liked the driver.

I'm considering going to Wagners when I need to regrip my clubs just because I like their social media.
 
I play TaylorMade Tour Response. Have to order them online though, because the only ones they have in stores look like Easter eggs and I hate those.

My progression has been:

- whatever I had in my bag (many moons ago)
- Titleist Pro-V (too much spin for my liking)
- Bridgestone e6
- TaylorMade Project(a) (now Tour Response)
- Vice Tour Pro (liked them for a while, but didn’t really feel the greatest)
- TaylorMade Tour Response

For me, the Tour Response just feels most consistent. The ball I played the longest before the TRs was the Bridgestone e6, but they got progressively “worse” with each iteration, I think. They changed the dimple construction and cover, and not in a good way.

lol, I play the easter eggs because I never have to worry about whether it's my ball or not. I'm not good enough to be too picky but I do like them quite a bit.
 
  • Funny
Reactions: enisthemenace
Kind of in the same spot with my Driver, probably don't really need one but mine is old enough I want to get a new toy to play with. I'm using a Taylormade M4, the version they rereleased the same year as the Stealth iirc. Was thinking about trying out a Ping but the prices are crazy, even on the versions that are 2-3 years old.
 
Driver: Taylormade Stealth 2
3W: Taylormade M2 (seldom used)
Irons: Titleist T200
Wedges: Vokey SM11
Putter: LAB DF3
Ball: Srixon Z-Star Diamond or Pro V1

Kind of want a set of blades to mess around with but my game is not consistent enough to warrant that kind of purchase
 
can't go wrong with Taylormade

For whatever reason, I LOVE the taylor Made woods and wedges. I tried getting fitted for TaylorMade Irons, but i couldn't hit them at all, they just felt very bottom heavy, picked up the Srixon for ***** and giggles, fell in love with them.
Probably a me thing, but it was really weird.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lineup
Curious, what balls do you all use? I was Vice Pro Plus only for a while, then I moved over to Titleist Pro-V 1s. Not much of a difference, but i like the feel of Titleist better lately.
I played in a single person best shot scramble this spring. One ball I used a pro-v1x and the other I used the Maxfli tour-x. The tour-x was pretty consistently 8-10 yards farther than the pro-v1x. Both played about the same around the around the green, but I have never been a high spin player. At ~$120 for 48 vs ~$60 for 12 of the pro-v1x I will be switching when I finally get through what I got for Xmas gifts last year.
 
I played in a single person best shot scramble this spring. One ball I used a pro-v1x and the other I used the Maxfli tour-x. The tour-x was pretty consistently 8-10 yards farther than the pro-v1x. Both played about the same around the around the green, but I have never been a high spin player. At ~$120 for 48 vs ~$60 for 12 of the pro-v1x I will be switching when I finally get through what I got for Xmas gifts last year.
Maxfli has really upped their game the last couple of years. I liked Maxfli many, many years ago, but they hit a patch there where they weren’t much different than Top Flites. Not any more. Very good golf balls these days.
 
Maxfli has really upped their game the last couple of years. I liked Maxfli many, many years ago, but they hit a patch there where they weren’t much different than Top Flites. Not any more. Very good golf balls these days.
****'s usually has a deal on Maxfli Tour for 4 dozen, $119.98. I've been playing those for a while now, excellent ball.
 
  • Like
Reactions: enisthemenace
I was fit into the Cobra LTDx MAX, which sounds like may have been better for you. I do love my Ping G425 irons. I've hit the G425 driver and 3 wood once and I really liked the driver.

I'm considering going to Wagners when I need to regrip my clubs just because I like their social media.
The Max version would've treated me better. I just made a call into Callaway pre-owned and placed an order for 3 replacement clubs... not quite what I hoped for, but close enough. Getting a G430 Max 10.5* driver, G410 14.5* 3W and a G410 22* 4H. Was really hoping for a 5W or 7W but they didn't have any in stock for lefty (parents: prevent your kids from being lefty, it sucks all the time).

They actually treated me pretty well I think. Sales guy I talked to gave me a flat 15% off my entire order, which they don't usually discount the non-Callaway stuff much. They also gave me a $260 for trade in for my 3 LTDx's. Got the clubs swapped out for under $300 spent with close to $100 in price discounts.

I don't really blame Wagners for how my fitting went, I think it's on me somehow. I picked the wrong things to test or had the wrong mindset going into it. If I did it again today, I'd lead off with how I just want the most forgiving, easiest thing to hit in existence and go from there.
 
****'s usually has a deal on Maxfli Tour for 4 dozen, $119.98. I've been playing those for a while now, excellent ball.
I just dug into the history of the Maxfli brand. They peaked in the early 2000’s. TaylorMade bought the brand but had no intention of keeping the name. They bought it for the technology, the engineering and as an entry into golf ball division, which was dominated by Titleist at the time. TaylorMade was already a power broker in terms of woods and irons, but had nothing in terms of golf balls.

TM used the Maxfli tech to develop their own TM branded balls, and basically scuttled the Maxfli brand, turning them into junk.

They sold the name to ****’s, who turned around and developed their own ball. ****’s can sell a premium Maxlfi cheaper because they cut out the middle man.

Pretty interesting.
 
For whatever reason, I LOVE the taylor Made woods and wedges. I tried getting fitted for TaylorMade Irons, but i couldn't hit them at all, they just felt very bottom heavy, picked up the Srixon for ***** and giggles, fell in love with them.
Probably a me thing, but it was really weird.
That's kind of what happened to me, but with Mizuno. Hit those up against Stealth and was just roundly better with the Mizunos and still like them today.
 
That's kind of what happened to me, but with Mizuno. Hit those up against Stealth and was just roundly better with the Mizunos and still like them today.
I’ve wanted Mizuno irons since I was a kid. For some reason, I never hit them as well as something else when I get new irons. It’s weird. I have Srixon’s now, and love them. Maybe one day I’ll click with Mizuno, but it may just be one of those things and I’ll end up never owning a set.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MeowingCows
The Max version would've treated me better. I just made a call into Callaway pre-owned and placed an order for 3 replacement clubs... not quite what I hoped for, but close enough. Getting a G430 Max 10.5* driver, G410 14.5* 3W and a G410 22* 4H. Was really hoping for a 5W or 7W but they didn't have any in stock for lefty (parents: prevent your kids from being lefty, it sucks all the time).

They actually treated me pretty well I think. Sales guy I talked to gave me a flat 15% off my entire order, which they don't usually discount the non-Callaway stuff much. They also gave me a $260 for trade in for my 3 LTDx's. Got the clubs swapped out for under $300 spent with close to $100 in price discounts.

I don't really blame Wagners for how my fitting went, I think it's on me somehow. I picked the wrong things to test or had the wrong mindset going into it. If I did it again today, I'd lead off with how I just want the most forgiving, easiest thing to hit in existence and go from there.
Next time I get fit I need it to be outside. I hit all of my clubs great on the sim. Less great outdoors but still fine. I don't know if I set up different indoors or what.