What's new In The Bag for your 2020

[wcdixon]

Everything old is new again. After 6 years away from the game and 20 years since purchasing a new golf club much less a new set of clubs I got hooked again end of this summer and spent the fall researching and testing most major brand's latest offerings...and was surprised to find myself coming pretty much full circle to a newer version of what I had before.

In 1998 I lucked into some cash and went down to the local golf equipment store and after hitting a few range balls settled on a new set of the just released Callaway X-12 irons stiff steel and Big Bertha Steelhead 1,3, and 5 wood stiff steel plus a sand wedge for around $1,400.00 Cdn I believe. Maybe I got a bag too...I don't remember. The entire process lasted maybe an hour...ninety minutes tops. And I stuck with the same bargain bin Wilson putter i'd used since the mid 80's. And until 2013 continued to play 3-4 times a month during Canada's shorter golf season and maintained around a 10 handicap with a couple of brushes with even par rounds in there...no complaints (until a combo of life and golfers elbow intervened).

Cut to 2019 and I decided it was time to upgrade after getting itch again...not that anything terrible about the old clubs - managed a 79 fifth round back out - but figured equipment had changed so much that if I was planning to take playing a little more seriously again I should look into it at least. And I decided that 1,400.00 Cdn was the max I would spend this time as well...thus ended up mostly only considering demo's or last year's models, or in the case of the Srixon driver - a half price Black Friday sale (Edit: traded in the Srixon 585 for a demo Rogue driver - hitting it 20 yds further). But stayed within budget and got everything new or near new in the case of the demo clubs. And surprisingly (or not surprisingly) Callaway more or less won again.Driving Stick: Callaway Rogue 9.0 Aldila 50 reg flexFairway Sticks: Ping G 3 wood 14.5* ALTA 65 reg flex; Callaway Steelhead 5 wood 18* TENSEI DK Blue 65 Reg flexHybrid Stick: Taylormade GAPR Hi 4 21* KBS hybrid reg flexIron Sticks: Callaway Steelhead XR irons 5-PW Recoil 760 reg flexChipping Sticks: Titleist Vokey SM7 50*; Titleist Vokey SM7 56*; Callaway SureOut 60* graphite reg wedge flexPutting Stick: Odyssey White Ice RossieGot somewhat overwhelmed by all the options and possibilities available in 2019 vs 1998 - technology changes and improvements, shaft and grip choices, going from steel to graphite shaft (age and the previously mentioned golfer's elbow dictated this one), massive driver heads?!, hybrids?!!! (I'd never hit one before), wedges with SO many lofts now...oof - researching and testing took a few months - it's easy to get lost in the golf equipment and technology weeds today I must say. But did find the Callaway Steelhead XR irons and fairway wood very familiar-feeling in my hands in terms of look and balance and style compared to my old sticks....that ended up being the main deciding 'buy' factor. And I'm sure there are better putters out there but I've always liked and wanted to try 'the Phil' (Edit: found a used Odyssey Rossie - a putter I also really liked when trying it 10 years ago...regripped it and ready to roll)....we'll see. At any rate am happy with what I ended up with (even a new bag) and can't wait for next spring.

What's new in YOUR bag for 2020?

UPDATE: even though very happy with very good used set of Steelhead XR irons i was since seduced by a like-new set of Recoil 760 shafted Rogue Pro irons for half price...so much for much budget haha. So now have a backup set if needed.

[ChipNRun]

Bag 1: Listed in my Sig line. Two tweak changes:

Reshafted 4i with hybrid shaft; picked up a little yardage off tee, and now get enough launch to hit it off the fairway.Callaway "in house" shift: Dropped MD.PM 60°/10 U-grind for a MD4 58°/8 C-grind. Early tests show 58° more stable on distance control; and, I can probably use in 3/4 swing, which didn't work well with 60°.Bag 2: My back-up is fairly stable, except for one hybrid tweak. By chance all TaylorMade, including bag itself.

Burner Superfast Driver | RBZ Stage2 3W/HL (17°)Burner 2008 Rescues 3H and 4H (traded older 2006 TM Rescue Dual 4H to get matching Burner 4H)SLDR irons (2014) 4i-AWWedges: Tour Preferred 56° SW and R Series Tour Grind 60° LW Putter TPA.VIII

[tdelam]

I got a new glove for 2020, a couple sleeves of balls too. We'll see if anything changes!

[GSDriver]

Nothing club wise, though I did buy a new 2019 USA themed C130 on Cyber-Monday as price was too good to pass up, and my 2016 model was getting a little dirty.

[wcdixon]

I like this answer way better than my long-winded ramblings haha.

[ProjectX]

Just about everything.

Driver: Old Cobra F9, New Titleist TS3. Had to make some concessions with the Cobra. In order to get the lie angle I wanted I had to open the face more than I wanted. And while the ball speed and dispersion were right there the length was not due to the head being a bit of a high spinner. Being able to adjust lie angle and face angle separate from one another on the Titleist is a much better fit for me. Having the added convenience of moving weight for draw or fade bias is another plus. Overall seeing the same ball speed but lower spin equating to longer distance with the same dispersion.

4 Wood: Old Cobra F9 Tour, New Titleist TS3. While the reason I played the F9 was for the upright lie angle it ended up being a little too upright. The adjustability I get from the Titleist clubs is superior to Cobra full stop. I think Titleist and Callaway got it right on the hosels compared to the other companies. While I prefer the Callaway Hosel because you don't need to spin the shaft I couldn't get the lie angle upright enough in the Callaways and thus landed on the Titleist clubs.

Irons: No change here except that I added the Pitching wedge from my MP-18 SCs back into the set. reason for this is being that I switched from Vokey to TM wedges and TM doesn't make a 46* MG2 wedge. I'll be looking at potentially moving over to a full set of MP-20 HMBs if I can see a difference between my own make shift combo set in testing.

Wedges: Old Vokey SM7 Raw, New TM MG2 52,56 & Raw Face Hi Toe 60. I never really loved the feel of Vokeys and the TPU insert in the MG2 makes them feel much closer to my MP-18s than the Vokeys while still giving the benefit of having a raw face. Otherwise I had all year especially one some bunker shots I occassionally miss out on the toe causing the ball not to spin as much as needed. I felt like I was throwing away a technological advantage by not having a Hi-Toe or PM grind with grooves across the entire face. The PM grind had too much offset and didn't suit my eye as well so TM Hi-Toe it was.

Putter: Old: Evnroll ER5 Hatchback, New SeeMore Nashville z3c. My best rounds in my life were with the old SeeMore M1 and I got rid of it for no good reason. Found a home for years with the Metal X #7 and then the ER5 Hatchback. While the ER5 was insanely forgiving and I saw the benefits of the Evnroll grooves, I still would occassionally miss putts that I thought I hit well because of setting the face up slightly open or closed. The RST on the SeeMore putters completely gets rid of that for me. I have instantly dropped back into scores I haven't seen in 10 years since putting it in the bag. That said I do miss the Evnroll insert and wish SeeMore and Evnroll would merge to make the perfect putter lol.

Ball: Old ProV1x, New ProV1. Prefer the feel of the softer compression ball and see almost no difference in performance in long game and irons. Even though the V1x supposedly spins more I get much more check out of the regular V1 in short game shots and the feel off the putter is far superior to me.

[MattyO1984]

Well I confirmed my order for a set of T100’s earlier today so there will definitely be them.

[MattM97]

Only thing that will probably change in my bag is my 3W, hybrid/UI and the shaft in my driver.

For the most part I'm happy with my bag after I was fit last year just going to finish my bag fitting soon.

The other thing is I hope to thin down my putter collection and just stick to a few putters in my collection since I really want to drop my handicap and playing various putters can't help that.

[ProjectX]

I tend to agree with you, but there is something to be said for the fact that nearly every time Justin Rose changes putters he wins. I believe in an interview he said when he switches putters it forces him concentrate more on what he's doing.

[leo the lion]

Sticking with my current WITB for 2020

 

 

 

 

[BostonWRX]

P760s and low bounce hi toe 60

[MattM97]

I get what he's saying and agree as well but I was thinking about most normal players. When Rose gets a new putter he'll roll what a few hundred putts with it before it even makes it in the bag? Where most other guys it's a few putts at the store, at home and on the practice green.

 

My reasoning for what I said is that I tend to overthink my putts and something small like my grip feeling off can throw me off. If and when I'm comfortable when I'm putting I don't overthink, just line, weight and make the stroke. If that makes any sense at all.

[Sean2]

I will get wedges. Mine aren't feeling so groovy anymore.

[MtlJeff]

In terms of what I didn't finish the 2019 season with....an F9 driver and 3 wood

[puttingmatt]

Put a set of Srixon 785's and a Cleveland rtx wedge

In the bag, on the to do list, is a new driver , and

maybe a u85 or 585 4 iron by spring.

[tannyhoban]

I'd say, but they're likely to change.

[tdelam]

 

haha, nothing wrong with yours either :)

[tannyhoban]

I picked up a Callaway 2018 X Series 3 wood with red X and accents on the sole. Project X 5.5 LZ production (not Hand Crafted) shaft. It's a very solid club. Had store credit, it was lightly used and dirt cheap.

I am getting good launch with distance and it's easy to find the center of the face. Very good performance for a made for club.

Thought I'd throw that one out there for those on a tight budget.

[Fraserdave45]

I just got a 5-PW set of T100's and a U500 4 iron. All with KBS $ Taper stiff shafts. For me, the numbers justified a switch from 718 AP2's and T-MB with the same shafts.

I love the look, and reduced offset, as well.

[getitdaily]

New driver: m4 to m5

New 4i: just not sure which one yet t200 or mp20 hmb

New shafts in irons: from ctaper to $taper.

[caniac6]

Thinking about switching from 3w, 5w, to 4w, 7w.

[macedan]

I'm hoping to keep change to a minimum in 2019.

Currently I have switched from a FlexTech Lite to a Flextech Crossover. Still light enough to carry but much better for pushing/riding than the Lite was.

Although I am content with my current bag, I'll be switching to an all Taylormade bag, so last week I traded in for a new '17 M2 driver.

Wedges will either be replaced around Christmas or in the new year. I aim to replace my 58* RTX-3 with a Hi-Toe or Milled Grind Black and my CBX with a Milled Grind in Chrome.

 

[macedan]

Edit: also looking to replace my ST180 3w to a newer TM sometime in the new year

[Nixhex524]

Z785 irons and a Ping Anser Milled 0... Like every other year, I will try and limit the changes... :)

[wcdixon]

I hope that works out for you if you try it...I went similar switching 3w and 5w and 4i for a 4+w and 19* and 22* hybrid and only got a couple of games in before snow started to fall but liked change so far.

[ZNDavis]

M5 (replacement from TM for my cracked M3) -- currently having tryouts between the Tour AD BB and GP

Epic Flash 3W came in partway through the season this year and it's staying

718 AP2s are new -- KBS Tour 130 X (finally replacing my J40 DPCs after a brief stint with Taylormade MBs)

Replacing set 4i with a T-MB 4i, KBS

Reshafting my 2i with the KBS Tour 130 X that's in the rest of my irons. Launching way too high with the Tour AD UT shaft that's in it now, I'm wanting to move to something that automatically hits low bullets and nothing else

 

[gripandrip]

Grips. Going to give the new tour wrap microsuede a try.

[macedan]

I hadn't thought about grips, debating whether to stay with Tour Velvet or switch to ZGrip. I've tried MCC in the past but they wear and get slick so fast. Also considered the Pure DTX, had one on a preowned set of Vapor Flys in the past and it was about the grippiest grip I've owned albeit very rough on the hands.

[gripandrip]

I'm coming from the Lamkin Z5. It's a great grip, but looking for a change without cord. If they don't work out... ti will be right back to the Z5.

[macedan]

I'm definitely not opposed to Lamkin. My budget is fairly small with student loans starting soon, and from what I've seen full cords with Lamkin are usually cheaper than Golf Pride. How would you grade the durability on the Z5? Just looking at it the lower non-corded section looks like it would last much better than the MCC.

What I like about the ZGrip is the firmness, I'm in between on cord vs. no cord and something like this would be where I would want with cord. Wonder if it would compare closer to the UTX or Crossline Cord from Lamkin.