Help Rebuild My Bag

[jjschafe]

I was a competitive golfer through high school (late 90's through 2002). Played sporadically through college and my early adult life, then got married and started racing cars... and only played 2-4 rounds/year from about 2010 until a year or two ago. I'm still in the mid 80's regularly, but I'm making a concerted effort to play more, work on my game and hopefully score better. I realize that a big part of that is getting my equipment back up to date. I recently replaced a Mizuno MP001 driver with an M3 440, and bought an M6 4 Hybrid. I've spent most of quarantine reading about and convincing myself to replace pretty much every other club in my bag (including my bag, which is an original Ping Hoofer). Unfortunately, I have a wife and two small kids, and the wife doesn't see golf clubs as a spending priority for some crazy reason. I could swing (pun intended) replacing one or two sections of my bag. Based on budget, I'd be looking at slightly used or new clubs 1-2 generations old. Also, my miss has always been left, so I HATE looking at anything that appears closed face or draw bias.

My current bag and current thoughts about each club are below. Looking for thoughts on what should be highest priority to replace, or even what specific club(s) would be a good bang for my buck purchase for each section. Driver: TM M3 440 - Not planning to replaceFairway Wood: Mizuno MP001 4 wood (16.5 degree) - On the chopping block. This is my ~240yd club. I need more forgiveness off tee and deck. Thinking a 3HL. Considering maybe an M2, M4 or F8Hybrid: M6 4 hybrid - Not planning to replace3 - PW: Mizuno MP-37 - It pains me, but I think these could/should be replaced. Blades are the coolest, but I think I need more forgiveness in my life. I love a soft feel, small head, small offset and traditional loft. Considering Honma 747v (but the lofts are screwy) or 718 CB's. Wedges: 53 and 56 Cleveland 588 RTG - I've played no other wedge, ever, but these are getting to be on their last leg. Considering RTX4's.Putter: Cleveland TA 1 Milled (gun blue, newport style) - I have always thought I could only use a traditional style putter, but recently tried a spider X. My head almost exploded at how impossible it was to get it off path. Could be a big gain since I haven't really putted much over the past decade. But buying a putter is also boring So that is the story. Now... what should I replace first, why, and with what? Hive-mind: activate!

[Hawkeye77]

Your wife.

[Hawkeye77]

JUST KIDDING!

[jjschafe]

You got me, end thread.

[Hawkeye77]

I don't know where things stand right now with Callaway's trade in/trade up program, so you may have a bit of a wait and you'll have chances to try out some other irons, but you could trade in your Mizunos and get some decent money from Callaway for them and look into some Callaway irons. That's one possibility for stretching that budget a bit. Of course, you could sell them otherwise, but that's an easy way to handle the transaction. Sometimes, and I'm sure it will happen again, Callaway will have some extra incentive with that program. I got rid of some decent AP2s when I got my wife some new Callaways last year (just get her golfing someday!). Callaway has as good of options for irons as anyone, but you aren't going to go wrong with other CBs or even blades if that is the direction you want to go. Sounds like an opportunity, if they ever happen again, for some demo days or finding a shop with a nice range to hit some different irons. Fun.

Edit: the MP37s are $50 per club and sometimes they have an extra 50% incentive to watch for if you join the site, which has benefits. Not bad and you can always look at eBay, etc. to see whether you can do better, just easier for me and no hassle, others are great at horse trading.

[jjschafe]

Good thought... but if I'm reading it right that is $50 for the set, not $50/iron. Agreed on the demo days... we can dream, right?

[granata10]

Start with the irons! I'm a ping fan so I would tell you to look at i200 or i210 or iblades (Ping is about to replace the iblade and you can find at a decent price), both very forgiving in a players look. Another iron to look at is Srixon 785 or the older 745. If you want to stay with Mizuno the MMC, MP18 or Mp20 could work but also look at the JPX line, the tour is the smallest but maybe look at the JPX Forged.

[Hawkeye77]

LOL, sorry, if that's the case then hardly worth the consideration for sure, my mistake.

There are so many good irons out there, it should be fun to search.

[Myherobobhope]

In my experience, the best value purchases are old 2nd tier equipment... Cobra, Mizuno (to some extent), Srixon... Plenty of decent deals out there, especially if you are in a standard Length, Loft and Lie...

I'd gander through the Classifieds and see if anything catches your eye... I'm currently looking to replace my irons, but need longer and more upright... so my current plan is to buy Sub70 irons... I don't need much tech, so the CB/MB combos will probably get my money... but I also just bought a set of $50 adams CMB heads, and spent another $150 getting them shafted and gripped... They've been a fun set to tinker with, but I need the lofts adjusted and I don't love the shafts (also, I used old pulls my pro had lying around to lower the cost).

Wedges, I recommend buying new versions of old ones... RTX4s or whatever are just fine, I'm sure... I went SM6 as my pro had them laying around ($60 per club).

Really, you just need to decide what you want and start shopping. Between here and EBAY you can find some deals.

[wgpinc]

Maybe take a look at the Mizuno 919 series, either the Tour or the forged model. Some game improvement and a lot of game for a good player. Playing Mizunos now it might be an easy segue to the 919 series. I believe you can get some of these new or used for not a lot of money right now.

[TheBear95]

I go wedges and putter. Wedges because you will see a difference in spin with new wedges compared to the old ones. And, putter because it's the most used club in the bag.

[jwadds19]

Funny to me that I have all of the clubs that you suggested and love them all (F8, CBs, RTX 4, spider X).

F8 is a great fairway wood and can be found new for super cheap right now.

718 CBs are great and I really do like them, but may not be as cheap as some others. Honestly you could go for a set of JPX 919 tours from discount dans for a very good price right now and get your grips and shafts too.

Picked up the RTX 4 raws when the price dropped and i really like the look and feel. These can also be found at very reasonable prices right now.

I have a spider X, 34 inch copper and i love it. Probably wont get this one on the cheap, but its awesome.

[jjschafe]

Appreciate all of the comments so far! Plot twist, my finished basement flooded yesterday... so that should help the golf budget

Seems like most are leaning toward new irons first. That was my inclination as well... kind of a balance between practical, and what is the most fun to buy, ha. I hadn't considered the 919 Tours, as I thought (mistakenly) that the whole 919 line was Game Improvement. Looks like a touch more offset than I was hoping for, but certainly should be put into my contenders.

I had the same completely rational and logical thought. Those are the least exciting to buy, though.

I guess you should sell me your set for pennies on the dollar?

 

 

[jjschafe]

So I went to a local simulator/fitter today and hit a bunch of irons... Mizuno MP20 MMC, 919 Tour, and 919 Forged. Callaway Apex Pro, Titliest 620 CB, Srixon Z785... whew. I was really hoping to like the Srixon's, but they had a noticeably lower launch and I struggled to keep them from going left. The Callaway felt too clicky. I hit them OK but did not care for the feel at all. MMC's and the 620 CB's were by far my favorite, although the two 919's were great as well. If my stupid basement hadn't flooded last week, I would have said screw it and splurged. $4k later I have a dry basement and I'm on the hunt for a bargain...

[Z1ggy16]

You didn't give a budget. It sounds like you want to do this cheap... and how cheap will determine what you can get. Looking to replace an iron set, a wood, possibly wedges AND the putter? That's almost your whole bag. Lightly used Spider X will run you $180-200 best case, a used iron set of something like P760's/Ap2 will still be $500-600 right now... even a cheaper fairway wood from 2016 or 17 is still prob $100. You get the picture.

Hope you're good at hiding large boxes and that your wife doesn't see your bank statements.

[Myherobobhope]

Standard length and loft? Go shopping in the classified section... I’ve bought a couple sets there.

as long as you don’t want players distance, you can find some good stuff.

[jjschafe]

Whelp, after watching the classifieds and Ebay for the last two months, hitting a bunch of new stuff in a sim, and dumping almost $4k into my flooded basement... I pulled the trigger on a new set of Honma TW-747v tonight. My budget was $500 hopeful and absolutely no more than $700. Realizing that it might be a year or two before MP20 MMC or 620 CB drops to that price range, I took a flyer on the smoking ebay deals on the Honma's right now. I leave for Hilton Head next Friday morning, so I'm hopeful they come before then!

 

I think wedges will be next, but I need to figure out my distances on the new irons first. I've always used a 56 for everything 110 and in, but I'm thinking a 50/54/58 might gap better now.

[jjschafe]

Looks like the Honmas are here to stay. 3 rounds in and I am very happy with them. Great feel, definitely more forgiving than my blades but same great look at address. Still need to get distances dialed in at the range, soon hopefully.

Sold my MP-37's and an old driver, now I have budget for wedges and maybe putter

[jjschafe]

Keeping this alive with updates. Added these two beauties to the bag.... still searching for a good deal on a 54* to complete the set. Final changes are... casually looking for a 3W and a Spider X, but not large needs like the irons and wedges were.

 

[jjschafe]

Continuing on my DIY path without a real fitting... I went to a local range this weekend that has Top Tracer available for very cheap. I went through my whole bag to try to get a grip on carry distance of all my new clubs, see if there are any large gaps, and also compare the stock Tensei Blue vs a Tensei Orange shaft I picked up in my driver. Distances looked good, besides a bunching at the top (5i, 4i and 4H). I question if it had less to do with the clubs, and more to do with how well I was hitting those clubs, especially the 4H as I've had it on launch monitors before that had me carrying it 5-10yds farther. Still, now casually thinking about switching some things around up top. Meanwhile, Tensei Orange increased my driver carry by almost 9 yds over the blue I had been playing, so good stuff there.

Then I got home and found a smoking ebay deal on this. To say that my wife is fed up with me buying golf clubs would be an understatement