bunkersarebigcups' WITB - Rogue ST and Radspeed additions

[Bunkersarebigcups]

UPDATE Nov 5th, 2022

Added a new driver and 3 wood after my fitting and also got fit for new irons. Details are found in my latest reply

 

 

 

 

I've been a member on here for quite a while now but never did a WITB so far.

 

As I have always enjoyed this section  and am planning to change a couple of things in my bag and game during/after the 2021 season, this is kind of a diary for my 2021 golf journey. 

 

First, a couple of words about me: I am a 28 years old german and have been playing for about 15 years now. However, I did not play alot from 2013-2019 due to University and not being able to spend as much time (and money) on golf as I would have liked to. This is also why most of my clubs are somewhat "experienced" to avoid the term "old".

Graduated in 2019 and joined a local club for 2020, which was supposed to be my golf comeback year. Except for a lot of golf from May to September, I was held back by Covid and an ankle injury playing football (or soccer for you), so I am now uber-motivated for the 2021 season to start, once the temperatures go up a little (course closed during frost periods).

 

I have an 14.7 index, but scored around 85 to 90 (Par 72) all year, with my best score being 82. Plans for the season are pretty clear for me:

1. Get a status quo on my game and equipment. My ShotScope V3 literally is shipping to me right now.

2. Identify weak parts of my game and practice more.

3.a. Get lessons.

3.b. Depending on where the problems are, maybe get some new clubs to help me improve.

4. Break 80 at least once.

5. Enjoy playing a lot of golf (hopefully)

 

But now to what this is all about.

 

 

1. Driver:

Titleist 910 D2, [email protected], Aldila RIP alpha 60s

Have had this driver since 2012 and absolutely love it from a looks/sound/feel perspective. Probably the most streaky club in my bag, which is why I go down to a hybrid or fairway off the tee very often. Its great on my usual big draw, but when I got my swing plane a little more neutral last year to get away from my duck hooks, I started overspinning it quite heavily. I am planning to get fit for a driver sometime this season after my swing is back somewhere. Eyeing the new PING stuff or TSi line as I have a Titleist National Fitting Centre nearby.

 

 

2. Fairway wood/Power Hybrid:

Mizuno MP Titanium 4 wood or Rocketballz (stage 1) Tour 3 hybrid

Used the Rocketballz for several years now as my course can get really windy and dries out to almost linksy conditions in the summer. Do like it for that but it's rubbish of the turf for me. Got the Mizuno for a bargain and those two will have a shootout in the upcoming month but from my twi range sessions so far, the Mizuno is longer, higher and more consistent. Probably not going to change that part of the bag as it kinda works for me if I can manage to hit the 4 wood at least "okay" of the turf as I do not need that shot very often anyway.

 

3. 3-hybrid

 

Nike VR hybrid from 2008 or so. Regular graphite shaft, actually like it into par 5s as I can hit it really high if I need to. Like all my (longer) clubs, it is a little streaky which most likely is down to me swinging it like crap. Pretty sure this one needs replacement as well.

 

 

4. Irons

MP 52 4-PW, Project X 5.5

Love them. Could do with a little more help on the long end of the spectrum but in general, I hit these well, but not great. Love the feel of the PX (weird I know) but havent really hit any other shafts in the last 10 years apart from a couple of range swings.

This is a part of my bag where I definetely could improve massively with a fitting and a new set but other areas need it even more =D

 

5. Wedges.

52 and 60 are from Mizuno and the 60 is so old, it technically is non-conforming right now. I do like it when the course gets firm in the summer, but I really dont use it very much.

56 is the latest addition from a couple of month ago, as my old Mizuno 56 was completely worn out. 56 is my very favorite around the greens and from 100 yards in, and the PMP has worked nicely so far

 

6. Putter

Mizuno/Bettinardi BC1

This is the heartbreaker. Most expensive club I ever bought and I was the proudest boy in town when I finally had the money together as a kid. I absolutely love the look, feel and everything about it. I just suck at putting. Lag putting is really good, probably due to the very light headweight (330g) which in turn makes short putts a mess. After a couple of rounds with missed short putts, I almost developed a Yips and could not put a Putt in the hole from 3-5'.

This will be the very first club to be exchanged, I have already decided on giving the LAB Golf DF 2.1 a got, I will do the remote fitting video just after this post.

 

7. Golf ball:

I got a steal on 6 dozens of Chrome Soft X Truvis balls (2019 version) that I will use for the year. This ball is great from hybrid to lob wedge but my accelarate the purchase of a new driver as it spins a lot more than my Tour B330 before.

 

Last but not least, the grips. I did experiment with different grips and grip sizes this year after starting to do the regripping myself. As of now, all grips have fresh TV + 4 Midsize grips on them which BY FAR was the most comfortable grip in my hands even though I have pretty average sized hands (M/L grip size).

 

I am very excited about committing to this and getting better this year which I will accompany by some new golf clubs to reward myself. Hopefully I will be able to update this journey soon when this damn cold gets away.

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by Bunkersarebigcups

[Drivingrangehero]

👍 

Nice to see the MP-52’s I used to have a set of MP30s which was similar.

💖🇩🇪 

 

 

 

 

[Bunkersarebigcups]

7 hours ago, Drivingrangehero said:

👍 

Nice to see the MP-52’s I used to have a set of MP30s which was similar.

💖🇩🇪 

 

 

 

 

I do have an MP 30 6 iron for practice, great feeling and looking club. Its bent severely upright (3*) vs 1* flat in my MP52s as I have been fighting a shallowish plane with ugly hooks for years. My pro gave me that club with the words: Try to make that thing fade and your plane might correct itself. It worked to some degree ;)

[Qqq123xx]

Nice writeup and good luck on the coming year. 

[Matt Romond]

sweet setup!

[PureDivots]

Automatic liek for the MP-52s my favorite iron of all time

[Bunkersarebigcups]

First update:

1. I bought a mini-Tripod for my iPhone and took my swing on camera. Did some minor fixes to setup. I noticed that I was very close to the ball. I focused on getting my hands right below my shoulders and my strike improved quite a bit. I also ordered some impact tape as I seem to hit everything really heely at the moment, which kind of confirms the "to close to the ball" theory.

2. I had 2 range sessions in freezing cold conditions for doing a 4 wood vs hybrid shootout. Result: Golf is golf and makes no sense. I bought the 4 wood because I dont hit the hybrid high or consistent enough. Since then, I've been striping the hybrid lol. Weird game. Will have to get it on grass as it is only matts on the range at the moment.

3. I actually did hold out from buying the L.A.B. putter as I want to get some lessons and Shot Scope Data in before deciding which end of the bag I want to start with.

[j_giesler]

So many classics in there. Pure class irons and wedges.

[Brattina1221]

Great looking set for where you're at in your game. My biggest takeaway may be you'll need to continue to learn those irons. For that type of index perhaps a more focused game-improvement iron would help out quite a bit as those may be a little more forgiving. 

 

OR, keep enjoying the game and perfecting the sweet spot on those. Either way, it's golf, and perfection doesn't exist. Enjoy your club, cheers to the 2021 season!

[Bunkersarebigcups]

On 3/21/2021 at 1:39 PM, Brattina1221 said:

Great looking set for where you're at in your game. My biggest takeaway may be you'll need to continue to learn those irons. For that type of index perhaps a more focused game-improvement iron would help out quite a bit as those may be a little more forgiving. 

 

OR, keep enjoying the game and perfecting the sweet spot on those. Either way, it's golf, and perfection doesn't exist. Enjoy your club, cheers to the 2021 season!

I did try bigger irons, they‘re Not for me. My misses are either very small and are fine with my irons. Or they are BIG (chunks or blades) and no iron will save me from those. I do think a little help would benefitial but it’s not really the most urgent thing in my bag to replace.

 

BTW: my DF 2.1 shipped today 

[Bunkersarebigcups]

There is a new putter in town. Only had about an hour on a sanded and aerified green but like it so far. I did write down my first thoughts in the LAB Golf thread. I will post my findings after I get on course with it and will also take some more pictures when the weather/light is a bit nicer.

 

The DF 2.1 is off to a good start but actually my putting cant get much worse at this point so the bar is quite low

 

 

[Bunkersarebigcups]

Some additional pics, my experience with the putter is in the L.A.B. golf thread, page 53.

Additional thoughts: Love the headcover, its super high quality and the magnets are strong enough to "hang" it on an iron while I am on the green. Only negative so far is the amount of space the putter takes in the bag but other than that it is a huge game changer for me. It just performs.

)

[vaughnpereira]

Looks great 

[Bunkersarebigcups]

After I have some rounds in with ShotScope, it does point out 2 weaknesses in my set makeup that I kinda solved in one step.

 

1. my 21* hybrid is onle 5-7 yards longer than my 4i (190 yards tops)  and I really dont use it all that often. I do not have that yardage very often and its usually on a par 5. I tend to either use my other hybrid (220 max) or my 4i with those, depending on pin position and the ideal miss.

 

2. 3 hybrid is my second longest club after my driver and there is a big gap. I do have 4-5 holes where driver brings a lot of trouble into play (doglegs, water and bunkers mainly) but the hybrid makes the second shot a lot longer. 18.5* hybrid is around 225 avg off the tee, while driver is 260+. 

 

So i removed the 21* and put a new "old" 3 wood in the bag, my RBZ which I abandoned some years ago because I hit it like crap.

 

 

But my swing has improved since and in the two rounds I used it in, it did pretty much what I want it to do: 245-250 (total yardage) off the tee and also good off the ground. Its not a 250-yards-and-stop-on-a-dime club off the turf, but in reality, there is only two Par 5s where I need that kind of yardages and one is pretty much a forced carry so I lay up anyways. If the experiment works out, i might look at a fitting for an easier to launch 3wood, but right now it seems like it does what I need it to do.

 

Apart from that, the putter is still great (and still improving) and my swing is trending in the right direction. Still dont hit a ton of greens, but its getting better and I cant remember ever striking the ball in the middle that often. Hard work paying off I guess.

[Andygolderson]

nice setup 🙂  Old irons are nothing to complain about, the headcovers on the other hand ..... 😛 They look pretty disgusting (sorry)

 

Really jealous of your new putter !  Looks great. Ivhad been looking for a blue one, but i wasn't willing to buy it new, so they were pretty hard to come by second hand.

 

3W has a nice low profile.

[Bunkersarebigcups]

6 hours ago, Andygolderson said:

nice setup 🙂  Old irons are nothing to complain about, the headcovers on the other hand ..... 😛 They look pretty disgusting (sorry)

 

Really jealous of your new putter !  Looks great. Ivhad been looking for a blue one, but i wasn't willing to buy it new, so they were pretty hard to come by second hand.

 

3W has a nice low profile.

I'd say the headcovers are 'well experienced'! I am currently searching custom headcovers for 3wood and hybrid, as they are not going to leave the bag anytime soon. Driver is about to be replaced some time this summer and I might stay with the stock headcover depending on what brand I go for.

Putter is really nice and the pics dont do the blue any justice

[foamhead]

Have you been enjoying the LAB DF?

[Bunkersarebigcups]

23 hours ago, foamhead said:

Have you been enjoying the LAB DF?

Yes, absolutely. Still getting used to it in terms of distance control, but it is getting better every round.

short and medium putts with it are insane. As long as i have got setup and ease my grip pressure, every single putt starts on line. Its so good, its ridiculous

[foamhead]

Good to hear, I saw one on my local BST, kinda regret not giving it a go now. 

[fridgey]

Nice bag mate, good luck for the season .

[Bunkersarebigcups]

Finally, I can add something here. Had a couple of regular lessons (every 3-4 weeks) this season. My pro also works in a retail store that has a nice fitting bay, so I figured this is the way to go for me. Hit most drivers from this year, including TSR and Stealth but hit nothing as well as the Callaway Rogue Max. I expected the Max LS to be the one, but the standard Max in a 10.5 degree head with a heavier shaft (Tensei White 75 in stiff) was actually by far the best for me in terms of consistency. Besides that I bought a used Radspeed Big Tour 3 wood with a Motore F3 6S after hitting it really well on the range. I play it at 15.5* and it launches really well for me. Took both to the course before the winter break and they are big improvements over my previous clubs, especially driver. Hit some absolute bombs (for me) up to 300 yards in freezing cold weather and blowing winds. My bad shots are so much improved as well.

 

On a side note, irons are about to be switched as well soon. Hit some irons after my driver fitting because mine are - to be polite - beyond their best days.

Hit mostly Mizuno Pros, but also T100 and lastly the i230. To make it short, 4 - U i230s with PX IO 6.0 will be in my bag next season. Update with pics once they arrive (have yet to place the order)