shootinthebreeze

Hello Again!  Well, 2007 is just about in the books and I haven’t written anything in nearly 2 months.  So, I decided an update is in order for a number of reasons.  For those who know me, I have often said that a $500.00 driver will not fix a 20 cent swing.  That is why I took lessons in 2007.  As I said earlier I took 6 lessons earlier in the year and those lessons along with the hard work I put in caused a good amount of improvement — 25 stokes to be exact.  With the goals I set in the last post, I knew I needed to do more work.;

Golf Galaxy lowered its prices on lessons.  This is great as money does not grow on trees.  The reduction allowed me to take some more lessons.  I signed up for a four pack from Todd who is my instructor.  I took one in October.  I also took one in November and about 5 days ago I took lesson number 3.  We are still working on the release.  This is working fine and feels normal now. We just started working on stretches and things to get a bigger shoulder turn.  This will result in more clubhead speed with the same amount of effort.

As you also know, I have been looking to update my equipment and have done so as money allowed.  At the end of 2006, I added Ram FX 60 and 64 degree wedges.  In 2007, I replaced my Dunlop driver with a Ram FX Driver.  I replaced my Cougar II metal 5 wood with a Ram FX 5 wood.  I wanted to replace the Cougar II 3 wood with a Ram FX 3 wood.  However, it seems Ram stopped making the FX clubs.  So, I had to change my plans.  I play a hodge-podge of irons with most of them being the Palmer tru-matic perimiter weighted irons that have a rather bladed appearence.   So, I needed to get my irons replaced with a set made by the same company.  So, about September I began to look at what was available.  I tried a lot of clubs.  Some of them I really liked.  Some of them I really didn’t like.  However, it came down to 4 options.  They were custom made clubs by Ralph Maltby, Distance Master — Also made by Maltby–, Adams Golf Tight Lies, and Wilson Pro Staff clubs.  I was going to get a Christmas bonus and would be able to use some of that to get the new clubs.  After hitting some demo clubs by Maltby, I decided not to go that route.  The available components for left handers were not all that thrilling and it would have been a lot of work.

The Distance Masters were nice and I did get some good results with them.  I usually hit a 6 iron 140 yards and did get 1 shot that travelled 160.  I did like the Driver.  Another plus is the set I had picked also had a gap wedge in it.

The Adams Tight Lies was also pretty good.  However, the driver did not send me over the edge and when I hit them on the final cut they were the worst performing clubs.  Therefore, they were cut from final consideration;The last set was Wilson Pro Staff.  My very first set of clubs was a set of Wilson Pro Staff clubs and I really liked the driver and 3 wood on that set.  When I hit the 6 iron on this set, the distance and direction results were fine.  An added bonus was that the standard Wilson grips seemed to be a bit smaller and fit my hands so there would be no need to replace the grips.      

After the final test, it came down to 2 sets — the Distance Master and the Wilson Pro Staff.  I hit both sets well.  The price was the same and the Distance Master did have the gap wedge.  Wilson did not make a gap wedge.  The Distance Master did not have a 5 wood.  I liked the graphite shafts on the Wilsons better.  I hit the Wilsons more consistantly.  I chose the Wilson Pro Staff set.  Then, to my suprise they were actually $50.00 cheaper than the Distance Masters.  So, when the 2008 season opens. here is what will be in the bag:;Wilson Pro Staff 1,3,and 5 woods with Graphite Shafts Wilson 3 and 4 Pro Staff Hybrids with Graphite shaftsWilson 5 – 9 Irons and pitching wedge