My 2015 bag

knh555 · May 15, 2015

I thought I'd share my primary bag for this year. I do drop clubs based on the course, so for example, this morning I played with 4w, 1,3,5-E,56, and putter for 11 clubs. My back was thanking me.

Anyway, here's the bag:

1,4 Ping Eye2 woods, ZZ-Lite

'73 Hogan Apex (the shiny '76 version), Apex 4 shafts, 1i thru E

Hogan Special K-Grind 56

Hogan Special K-Grind 62

Maltby putter

My 13 year-old son's been playing Pings but discovered my '99 Apex Irons this week. He's hitting them quite well - better than the Pings for sure - at least from the 6 iron on up. The shafts are a bit much for him, but there's no arguing with results, or, more importantly, that he's having a blast playing with them.

HoldenCornfield · May 15, 2015

Very nice looking bag! And welcome to the forum, btw.

How would you compare the '76 Apex with the '99? Which one do you like better, and why? Thanks in advance.

knh555 · May 15, 2015

[quote name='HoldenCornfield' timestamp='1431714112' post='11564898']
Very nice looking bag! And welcome to the forum, btw.

How would you compare the '76 Apex with the '99? Which one do you like better, and why? Thanks in advance.
[/quote]

My Hogan collection includes:

Original Radials w/Apex 3
Underlined Radials w/Apex 3
'73 Apex w/Apex 4
Apex Grind w/Apex 4
'99 Apex w/Rifle 6.0 flighted

At the beginning of the season, I decided to let all the above clubs fight out for a spot in my bag with a fair amount of range time and rounds when I could get them in. It quickly came down to the Grind vs. the '73. I decided early that, after years of playing with Radials, I now prefer the straighter sole line at set up of the Apex.

I also prefer the shorter, squared off shape on the '73 and Grind to the '99. I find something about the way they sit and set up allows me to make better contact with the center of the club, and as such, the clubs feel softer to me. Given that I played Radials for years, I like the slightly wider sole of the older Apexes to the '99s. Again, they sit better to my eye. The Grinds have a bit more offset, particularly in the low irons, and are built up a bit heavier as compared to the '73. For these reasons the '73 design, at least as mine are built up, just seemed right.

I also prefer the traditional lofts of the older sets. The '99s are OK, but I like a 50* wedge, not a 48*, which forces me to carry another high lofted wedge to fill the gap to my sand wedge. By having a useful set-matched wedge, I have more consistency in my set chipping around the green using anything from a 6i to a my E club. Even the K-Grind sand wedge blends is reasonably nicely.

Note that I have mid-size GP Tour Velvet on the the '73, Grind, and one set of Radials, but standard size GP full cords on the '99s. I have no doubt the thicker grip contributes to a softer feel than the standard cords. I'm going to keep the standard size grips on the '99s now that my son is playing them. Perhaps I'll put in some Apex3 shafts that I have as well if he sticks to to them.

BIG STU · May 15, 2015

Nice all the way around. I really like the old Ping bag and the headcovers. In fact I have a couple of those covers I dug up the other night and they are half dry rotted. I bet you get some looks at your home course with that set up especially with the 1 iron in the bag!

jonnygrouville · May 15, 2015

Nice. Two wedges, two woods, lots of long irons. Magic.

I never used to have anything between a 13 degree Taylor Made spoon and my Mizuno two iron. Never seemed to bother me... but did probably hit it further and into the fairway more often.

Driver and a four wood (something around eighteen degrees) was a popular set-up. Used to play regularly with an ex-Ryder Cup player and this was always his choice.