Pure745's 2014 Shootout - Update 6/15/14

[swizbeatz]

Can you try to describe how it feels to hit it off the ground? I'm looking at pictures and not can't figure out how you'd hit the sweet spot without taking a divot or something. Is it forgiving enough for someone who hits a lot of 3 woods off the turf or will you only use it off the tee and the occasional perfect lie? With your SS I can't imagine your hitting 3 wood on every par 5 like the rest of us.

[knock it close]

[quote name='swizbeatz' timestamp='1399435785' post='9247707']
Can you try to describe how it feels to hit it off the ground? I'm looking at pictures and not can't figure out how you'd hit the sweet spot without taking a divot or something. Is it forgiving enough for someone who hits a lot of 3 woods off the turf or will you only use it off the tee and the occasional perfect lie? With your SS I can't imagine your hitting 3 wood on every par 5 like the rest of us.
[/quote] I hit it today albeit off a mat in a sim, feels very solid and you do not have to try to elevate it or have to hit down on it to find the sweet spot, keep in mind I was hitting off mats though. I was carrying similar concerns as you were prior to hitting it but was pleasantly surprised. I went in just wanting to try it just to say I could but came away with the plan to test it further on real grass and the course

[Pure745]

[quote name='leakywader' timestamp='1399434930' post='9247649']
[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1399430954' post='9247129']
The TS is definitely more demanding, for now I think I'm going to stick with the Mini and replace the BB7x with a ATX Green.
[/quote]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this question, but are you going to use the Mini as your 3 wood (replacing the TS) and carry the 460 as your driver? Thanks and I thoroughly enjoy this thread

Shane
[/quote]

Yes, 460 will stay in the bag and the Mini will be used as my 3 wood. Thanks for the comments!

[quote name='swizbeatz' timestamp='1399435785' post='9247707']
Can you try to describe how it feels to hit it off the ground? I'm looking at pictures and not can't figure out how you'd hit the sweet spot without taking a divot or something. Is it forgiving enough for someone who hits a lot of 3 woods off the turf or will you only use it off the tee and the occasional perfect lie? With your SS I can't imagine your hitting 3 wood on every par 5 like the rest of us.
[/quote]

I had the same exact thoughts and reservations on judging this book by it's cover but after reading some posts by fellow WRX'ers I just decided to get one and see for myself. Bottom line, it looks very clunky off the fairway, but it has better launch conditions than my TS does. Makes no sense, but it does. Off the tee, it looks very confidence inspiring and just makes you feel like you're going to hit it solid. The TS is a gorgeous head, but honestly, it's not so confidence inspiring when I'm not swinging really well. Good for good, I would say the TS is better.. but the Mini so far has shown to be more consistent already.

I know that everyone is different, so I can only speak to my game and how the Mini fits me. I use the 3 wood off the tee more than the fairway, and [i]IF[/i] I am using the 3 wood anywhere else, it is usually a fairway lie, or a really nice lie where it is sitting up in the rough. Usually if I am that far out I'm either laying up or will hit a hard hybrid if the lie is bad. Not sure how this will work out for golfers who use their 3 wood a lot, but I can only think that they would see similar results off good lies and find it less playable out of bad ones.

[JC671]

[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1399430954' post='9247129']
The TS is definitely more demanding, for now I think I'm going to stick with the Mini and replace the BB7x with a ATX Green.
[/quote]

I really want to try the mini, I just wish it was adjustable. I don't feel like having to spend the extra coin to test shafts. I just got the TS and have only two rounds in with it but I know what you mean when you say it isn't that forgiving.

[GooseHook]

[quote name='swizbeatz' timestamp='1399435785' post='9247707']
Can you try to describe how it feels to hit it off the ground? I'm looking at pictures and not can't figure out how you'd hit the sweet spot without taking a divot or something. Is it forgiving enough for someone who hits a lot of 3 woods off the turf or will you only use it off the tee and the occasional perfect lie? With your SS I can't imagine your hitting 3 wood on every par 5 like the rest of us.
[/quote]

Having demoed the Mini recently as well, I think the club is fine off the ground but it's a huge mental shock to look down at it at address. It seems to be very forgiving low on the face, so I doubt you'd need to consciously try and take divots.

However, if you use 3w a lot off the deck and have one that you can rely on now, I wouldn't get a Mini unless you 1) tested and got a huge distance gain or 2) plan to use it off the tee a lot.

[bjno1300]

This has me pumped for demo appointment Friday

[shakey]

Not sure if I should say "Epic" or just "Damn."

Either way...well done Tai.

[Pure745]

Got the SLDR Mini on the Trackman last week, 2 of the shots were off the tee and two off the ground.. not much differences. On course.. it's okay, not in love with it yet.. I think it's the shaft, but does not hold it's line as well as I need it to. If I find a better shaft for it, it will be a hit.

 

 

 

[bd59]

Not a fan of the BB in that head? I've got a 14 mini coming in the Aldila Tour green.

[Pure745]

[quote name='bd59' timestamp='1399952283' post='9284205']
Not a fan of the BB in that head? I've got a 14 mini coming in the Aldila Tour green.
[/quote]

Trajectory is good, the ball just wants to move off intended line.. ATX Green most likely for me too.

[AspiringScratch]

Seems to be spinning too much. Have you thought about tipping it before trying something else?

[Pure745]

[quote name='AspiringScratch' timestamp='1399976803' post='9284967']
Seems to be spinning too much. Have you thought about tipping it before trying something else?
[/quote]

It's already tipped 1", going to try a different shaft.

[Boydr12]

Got the SLDR Mini on the Trackman last week, 2 of the shots were off the tee and two off the ground.. not much differences. On course.. it's okay, not in love with it yet.. I think it's the shaft, but does not hold it's line as well as I need it to. If I find a better shaft for it, it will be a hit.

 

 

 

 

Would LOVE to possibly take that BB-7x off your hands if your be willing to let it go.

[Krt22]

Any chance you will put a 2deep toe to toe with the mini?

[Dizz]

[quote name='AspiringScratch' timestamp='1399976803' post='9284967']
Seems to be spinning too much. Have you thought about tipping it before trying something else?
[/quote]

Most people would kill to spin a 14 degree lofted club at 3500 with his speed. Those numbers are still very good... but the biggest concern is hitting it where you want it to go. The Mini is a worthless club if it doesn;t go where you point it and you're not comfortable with it.... Sign me up a guy that doesn't like the BB either.... its definitely not "Rogue straight."

I can't remember the last time I've been jealous of someone else's clubs but I want a Rogue. I had a chance to hit one for a bit the other day and very much enjoyed it... however I can't get one at this time unless I wanna shell out some serious coin for it. It didn't perform too too much better than my 6.3 (for whatever reason that shaft just flat out works for me) but it looks awesome and you're right the one thing it seems to do is just straighten out... on the slight misses for me as well.

When I was invited onto the PGA Tour Van at The WGC Bridgestone Invitational last year we BS'd for while on what works, what doesn't, what shafts flat out perform and which ones they feel are overrated that may get a little more play with certain OEM's versus what they like to use for their players for specific flights and feels. Anyway, finally they said hey, we're willing to build you any three clubs you want to any spec you want for the most part... what do you want?"

My eyes lit up and obviously the first thing I said... "I want a Tour Cameron can Kelly (Cameron PGA Tour rep at the time) work with me for 5 mins and tell me what he sees? "Anything but a Tour Cameron, sorry-- those are VERY closely guarded now unless you're actually playing in an event like this... we don't even give those away anymore to the low level guys that aren't extremely well known on the tour or have a relationship with Titleist." OK, understood, how about a 913D2 with an Aldila Rogue.... "Man, you know your stuff eh?" That's the only shaft off limits.... they're VERY new (and even more popular) to the tour and the Aldila PGA Tour rep is out of them already... we have 4 left. If I have to explain to Scott Stallings or Scotty Piercy why they can't have a new driver with the hottest new shaft on tour because we built one for JW then I'm gonna be in trouble!!! LOL, thought you'd enjoy that story.

[Whiskey_fire]

Haha that's a cool story JW. What did they end up building you?

[Pure745]

LOL @ that story Dizz.. you definitely asked the exact questions I would have asked You are right though, my #'s with the BB don't [i]seem [/i]bad, but I really don't like hitting too big of a draw, which this definitely does. Typically I like to hit a cut from the fairway or a shot with very little curve either way, especially with a 3 wood. My goal with the mini, much like my driver, is to have it go very straight and I am willing to give up distance to achieve that. I spoke to the fitter at Cool Clubs, he said he would recommend a different shaft, and just got his demo Mini's in for me to try out at a later date. This is the route I will eventually go, I do like the extra forgiveness the Mini has, and I think that is the most important characteristic of the club, once I can dial it in, it will be a nice addition.

[Dizz]

[quote name='Whit' timestamp='1400087326' post='9294567']
Haha that's a cool story JW. What did they end up building you?
[/quote]

I got:

913D2 9.5 that's 9.25 degrees (Tour Issue T serial sets) with a Fujikura VC 6.3 Tour Spec tip trim 1/2", 44.75", little hot melt in there (they add hot melt to every tour head-- one for sound per the players request and two simply so that if anything were to break off inside the head the melt will make it stick and it shouldn't ever rattle), New Decade MCC Black/White 58 Round. That shaft was pretty new at that point.

I'm Titleist Advisory Staff so I get clubs early, I had my AP2's at that point since they had been out to the tour for a few months but not out to the public until November so I got new wedges... which I will never relinquish. Combination of the best and coolest wedges I've ever owned.

Both Tour Issue RAW TVD-K wedges-- 56.10 bent to 55 that has slight hand work to the sole by Aaron Dill to my specifications... which is Vokey's right hand man. Then I got the low bounce 60K with 6 degees of bounce... the Dufner, Adam Scott, Furyk and a lot of those guys are playing out there. Some are playing the 6, 8, 9, 10 but they're blank heads. Voke himself did the hand work on that one. Got them both with Tour Issue S400's and the same grips. Pretty cool to have two tour only K's with hand work by the world's best working and doing wedge work for the best players out there. The one tour rep said for wedges "its a Tour Issue S400 world and everybody else is just living in it..." LOL.

Pure has been big on the new Aldila line of shafts.... Tour Green especially. The guys out there said they absolutely loved them. Said they were the most consistent shaft to shaft available and both shafts do exactly what they're supposed to do and exactly what Aldila says they will do... play they're not expensive. Charles Howell had two build sheets

[J13]

Drop an 80g shaft in the Mini at 43" you'll still get a swing weight of D3 and you'll have much more control and still maintain swing weight.

[prhiam]

I have to say a few things after a demo day at my course. First of all I had a pretty good day swinging so it was a great day to get fit up for some equipment. I tried the Covert Tour in the 757 Speeder TS and I have to say, that thing was a missile. I was hitting it long and straight, but there was an occasional left to right, the club wants to fade. That is ok though because I would rather it go straight with a possibility of a slight fade than a draw, plus they were a long way out there and crushed the BBA into the ground. Not sure what was going on with the BBA I was testing, but that thing was not getting much further than the Covert 3 wood. BBA is not for me, plus it looks ugly.

Went to the Mizuno tent to hit some irons, because why not. Started talking to the rep there and he asked what driver I was hitting and told him. He asked shaft information and then told me I should hit the JPX. Put it in my hands and it is a MONSTER! I was shocked beyond belief in how this thing was launching, high, straight (draw biased a little) and repeatable. This might be my next purchase it was that good, Donald should put that SLDR away and bag this thing.

On to the Taylormade area, this is where my story takes a turn for the worst. I had passed it a couple of times because I really wanted to get the SLDR fit up and see what this thing could really do. Well the reason I kept walking around the area is because the rep wouldn't give me the time of day. The three best words to describe him are confrontational, arrogant and uninformed. Not great, I can't get him to acknowledge my existance so I grab an 8 iron TP MB and swing away. I work up to a 6 iron which I liked but thought the DG would hit better. I asked him if he had the ability to get one with the DG in as I was interested in how it was hitting. His response is, I could switch it out, but why would you want to hit that club? I'm thinking, REALLY? Did you just ask a customer why he would want to hit a club that he might buy? Then goes on a rant of about 2 minutes that no one on tour plays bladed irons at all. Even when questioned he ignored the fact that DJ, Rose and Garcia all have at least a couple of these in their bag currently. In fact, he argued that they don't, even though it isn't hard to find out what they are playing.

That is neither here nor there, I don't play blades very far into the bag and I was stripping these things if he had been paying attention. Either way, I then have to grab my own driver off the rack and hit it. It was the super light X flex and I was hitting it a little low and toward the heel, it was leaking a little right and low. I then ask a question about the sliding mechanism and he asks, is it going a little right? I said yes and low, he then puts the S flex in my hands and tells me to hit that. Well it was worse by far, not even close to a good fit. So he then puts some random shaft that I don't recognize or take the time to get to know. It is a slightly heavier S flex that also does not yield very long or accurate drives. He fits one with a DI-7X for one of the pros that I know and so I watch him hit that one. Goes pretty good, so I grab it for a second and was immediately hitting it straighter and farther than the S the rep put in my hands. So I gave up on being fit properly by this guy because he wouldn't put me in a good fitting piece of equipment AT ALL. Went to the Titleist tent and grabbed a d3 with D+ 72 X and continued to hit long straight bombs past the club the TMAG guy gave me, to which his reply on what shaft I was swinging stated I should swing the S.

Idiot, I don't have a problem with the idea of swinging S but if you continue to put me in loose fitting S flex shafts with no regard to watching me hit to get an idea of how it was reacting is not good service at all. The clubs he put me in were not fit to my swing and not optimizing the ball flight. The SLDR was behind in distance and accuracy to the 913 D3 and D2, the Covert Tour and long behind the JPX, in that order from shortest to longest. So to some it up, the SLDR placed 4th in my demo and because of the rep I will not be buying another piece of Taylormade equipment. This coming from a guy who had an entire bag of TMAG only a year and a half ago. Sorry for the long story, but thought I would put in my two cents about this shootout and one of my own (sort of).

[Whiskey_fire]

J.W that is a super cool story man. I would hold onto those two wedges pretty tight.

[Pure745]

[quote name='prhiam' timestamp='1400166019' post='9300599']
I have to say a few things after a demo day at my course. First of all I had a pretty good day swinging so it was a great day to get fit up for some equipment. I tried the Covert Tour in the 757 Speeder TS and I have to say, that thing was a missile. I was hitting it long and straight, but there was an occasional left to right, the club wants to fade. That is ok though because I would rather it go straight with a possibility of a slight fade than a draw, plus they were a long way out there and crushed the BBA into the ground. Not sure what was going on with the BBA I was testing, but that thing was not getting much further than the Covert 3 wood. BBA is not for me, plus it looks ugly.

Went to the Mizuno tent to hit some irons, because why not. Started talking to the rep there and he asked what driver I was hitting and told him. He asked shaft information and then told me I should hit the JPX. Put it in my hands and it is a MONSTER! I was shocked beyond belief in how this thing was launching, high, straight (draw biased a little) and repeatable. This might be my next purchase it was that good, Donald should put that SLDR away and bag this thing.

On to the Taylormade area, this is where my story takes a turn for the worst. I had passed it a couple of times because I really wanted to get the SLDR fit up and see what this thing could really do. Well the reason I kept walking around the area is because the rep wouldn't give me the time of day. The three best words to describe him are confrontational, arrogant and uninformed. Not great, I can't get him to acknowledge my existance so I grab an 8 iron TP MB and swing away. I work up to a 6 iron which I liked but thought the DG would hit better. I asked him if he had the ability to get one with the DG in as I was interested in how it was hitting. His response is, I could switch it out, but why would you want to hit that club? I'm thinking, REALLY? Did you just ask a customer why he would want to hit a club that he might buy? Then goes on a rant of about 2 minutes that no one on tour plays bladed irons at all. Even when questioned he ignored the fact that DJ, Rose and Garcia all have at least a couple of these in their bag currently. In fact, he argued that they don't, even though it isn't hard to find out what they are playing.

That is neither here nor there, I don't play blades very far into the bag and I was stripping these things if he had been paying attention. Either way, I then have to grab my own driver off the rack and hit it. It was the super light X flex and I was hitting it a little low and toward the heel, it was leaking a little right and low. I then ask a question about the sliding mechanism and he asks, is it going a little right? I said yes and low, he then puts the S flex in my hands and tells me to hit that. Well it was worse by far, not even close to a good fit. So he then puts some random shaft that I don't recognize or take the time to get to know. It is a slightly heavier S flex that also does not yield very long or accurate drives. He fits one with a DI-7X for one of the pros that I know and so I watch him hit that one. Goes pretty good, so I grab it for a second and was immediately hitting it straighter and farther than the S the rep put in my hands. So I gave up on being fit properly by this guy because he wouldn't put me in a good fitting piece of equipment AT ALL. Went to the Titleist tent and grabbed a d3 with D+ 72 X and continued to hit long straight bombs past the club the TMAG guy gave me, to which his reply on what shaft I was swinging stated I should swing the S.

Idiot, I don't have a problem with the idea of swinging S but if you continue to put me in loose fitting S flex shafts with no regard to watching me hit to get an idea of how it was reacting is not good service at all. The clubs he put me in were not fit to my swing and not optimizing the ball flight. The SLDR was behind in distance and accuracy to the 913 D3 and D2, the Covert Tour and long behind the JPX, in that order from shortest to longest. So to some it up, the SLDR placed 4th in my demo and because of the rep I will not be buying another piece of Taylormade equipment. This coming from a guy who had an entire bag of TMAG only a year and a half ago. Sorry for the long story, but thought I would put in my two cents about this shootout and one of my own (sort of).
[/quote]

That sounds like a cluster%@$# and almost a waste of your time, aside from hitting that JPX, which does look really sweet! I started doing these shootouts to avoid situations like that, where they send some corporate DB out to a club and just rushes you through there or doesn't really have the expertise or proper equipment to conduct a proper fitting. I think one of the biggest takeaways for me this year is the value of having a good, objective fitter that can properly fit you into multiple brands and is not pushing certain brands they may have a bias towards. Previously, I had access to a couple of local fitters, but I didn't really trust a few of them and others just didn't have a setup that was that great with all different shaft offerings I wanted to try. So, I just bought a bunch of stuff to try on the courses I typically play and get a side by side comparison of them in the real world. This process is very time consuming and costly. I recently stumbled on to Cool Clubs, and I feel places similar to this, although not located everywhere, can give great information that will cost more up front, but in the long run save a ton of time and money as opposed to just going into a few high $$ setups cold turkey. It has been and is still amazing at how good the information on GolfWRX is, but getting PROPERLY fit is the only way to remove and confirm any doubts in your setups.

Currently going through this process with my irons.. next will be my 3 wood and hybrid.

[prhiam]

[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1400188362' post='9303743']
That sounds like a cluster%@$# and almost a waste of your time, aside from hitting that JPX, which does look really sweet! I started doing these shootouts to avoid situations like that, where they send some corporate DB out to a club and just rushes you through there or doesn't really have the expertise or proper equipment to conduct a proper fitting. I think one of the biggest takeaways for me this year is the value of having a good, objective fitter that can properly fit you into multiple brands and is not pushing certain brands they may have a bias towards. Previously, I had access to a couple of local fitters, but I didn't really trust a few of them and others just didn't have a setup that was that great with all different shaft offerings I wanted to try. So, I just bought a bunch of stuff to try on the courses I typically play and get a side by side comparison of them in the real world. This process is very time consuming and costly. I recently stumbled on to Cool Clubs, and I feel places similar to this, although not located everywhere, can give great information that will cost more up front, but in the long run save a ton of time and money as opposed to just going into a few high $$ setups cold turkey. It has been and is still amazing at how good the information on GolfWRX is, but getting PROPERLY fit is the only way to remove and confirm any doubts in your setups.

Currently going through this process with my irons.. next will be my 3 wood and hybrid.
[/quote]

You hit that one squarely on the screws! I feel lucky that you read it, haha. But yes, Cool Clubs is a great idea, I just wish they were in more places. My instructor should be able to fit me as well, but I've only got the selection of Mizuno, Taylormade, Callaway and PING. So I've only got the selection of Mizuno, I kid I kid. I shouldn't really go to far away from that Mizuno JPX anyways I suppose as well as I hit it, that this was FLYING! Just pair it with a Speeder or Fuel TS and maybe call it a day. But yes, that was a horrible experience with that guy and his know it all attitude. The worst part is his side of the argument was stated loud enough to have everyone hear him, and him commenting on the combo prepaired by the Titleist guy was over the top. I get it, you have no idea how to fit me, thanks.

Anyways, I would be interested in hearing the direction and potential models you are looking at for the irons. Is this going to be something you will be doing at cool clubs now that you've found them? I'd love to see a different thread on your experience there. I agree that even though you will have plenty of great information that everyone here needs to go in to fit their specific swing, it will be different. But knowing that you have the best equipment is not something that people outside the tour get too much experience with.

[dpb5031]

Bad demo days are a huge disappointment. This year I was all pumped up because my club was going to have 6 manufacturers at demo day, plus the TMAG rep was bringing a Trakman.

All is well and good until I get there for my Trakman session to learn that they were fitting people using really crappy rang balls. Waste of time...

[Pure745]

Just a quick little update to this.. tomorrow I am going in to get fit for the top of my bag (driver and 3 wood). I have been so impressed with my iron fitting that I want to complete the rest of my bag. It will be interesting to see what a true fitting will yield vs. my setup I put together on my own.

[GC70]

I'm sure you'll have some very impressive #'s

[Boydr12]

[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1402619570' post='9483995']
Just a quick little update to this.. tomorrow I am going in to get fit for the top of my bag (driver and 3 wood). I have been so impressed with my iron fitting that I want to complete the rest of my bag. It will be interesting to see what a true fitting will yield vs. my setup I put together on my own.
[/quote]
Don't you mean 3 wood and hybrid?? This particular thread is all about the driver experience..

[stage1350]

I will be interested to see if they recommend a different shaft than the Rogue. I would love to see how you would respond with a Speeder 9.2 or PX-10A2 in your Mini. Should be an absolute fairway finder, even if it isn't the longest.

[Pure745]

[quote name='Boydr12' timestamp='1402620253' post='9484079']
[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1402619570' post='9483995']
Just a quick little update to this.. tomorrow I am going in to get fit for the top of my bag (driver and 3 wood). I have been so impressed with my iron fitting that I want to complete the rest of my bag. It will be interesting to see what a true fitting will yield vs. my setup I put together on my own.
[/quote]
Don't you mean 3 wood and hybrid?? This particular thread is all about the driver experience..
[/quote]

Not even sure why I still post on here.

[highergr0und]

[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1402625902' post='9484727']
[quote name='Boydr12' timestamp='1402620253' post='9484079']
[quote name='Pure745' timestamp='1402619570' post='9483995']
Just a quick little update to this.. tomorrow I am going in to get fit for the top of my bag (driver and 3 wood). I have been so impressed with my iron fitting that I want to complete the rest of my bag. It will be interesting to see what a true fitting will yield vs. my setup I put together on my own.
[/quote]
Don't you mean 3 wood and hybrid?? This particular thread is all about the driver experience..
[/quote]

Not even sure why I still post on here.
[/quote]

Lol.... The difference between reading and comprehending is occasionally lost on folks