Trades and Tinkering Log

[tannyhoban]

TLDR:  Long layoff due to injury so I do LOTS of experiments as therapy, ha.

 

Follow along and chime equipment junkies. I know you're out there, ha. 

Setup scene:

 

So I was laid up all of 2020

with age related stuff, only way to keep my hand in the game was to step up club experiments. Mostly putters then, cause ya know.

 

Slowly recovered to the point where a

small bucket or 9 holes is manageable now.

 

In May I purchased a set of Srixon Z565 4-A with Miyazaki 8S - the premise: these will be my forever irons. Or at least last as main irons for a year.

 

Driver is Srixon Z785 9.5 with Hazardous Yellow HC 6.0 purchased early 2019 new and it quickly became the stalwart replacing a Ping G 10.5 which enjoyed that totle for 3 pkus years.

 

Everything else up for grabs.

 

That said it's been a pretty manic year of trades, club work and testing, lol.

 

Rather than devoting many pages of 2021 continuous improvement projects-some good, most not- here are this weeks entries.

 

Purchased: Titleist TS2 11.5 with KuroKage 50g A. 
Result: no go, too inconsistent.

I had hopes on increasing launch and potentially distance to match the 100 foot apex bombs I see others launching on the range.

Conclusion: 45 years of low launch fades cannot be solved with an A shaft 1 oz. less than bench mark setup. What was I thinking 🤔 

 

Trade: TS2 driver for 2008 3-P King Cobra CB forged irons S400 shafts, 8 grips (SS Soft Wrap grips, my new favorite grip) and store credit. Why irons you might be asking yourself? See tinkering.

 

Tinkering: So my swing is still erratic based on pain management and a year layoff but dammit I have not cracked the code of the Srixons. This week bent them weak 1-2 degrees and upright 2. Added lead tape to bring up swingweight to D2 from D0.

 

Premise: I am intermittently regripping these irons at the top to locate where the face is, I simply cannot tell and on course I will hit 2 perfect shots followed by the ugliest stubs ever. Loft up tricks my eyes to see the leading edge via hand position closer (reducing offset slightly) to the turf. Moving them upright? I knew they were likely too flat when purchased. The extra head weight should give better sense of where the head is.

Trials: Nope, still intermittent re gripping at top. BUT ballflight was truer to what I expect and solid contact more frequent.

 

Forward action: regrip with SS soft strokes. I like the velvet 360 grips and these are  tight to the shaft which I prefer- but I can feel inconsistency in each as if there are labels or out of rounds. Drop the lead tape, didn't make difference in overall feel and it looks fugly.

 

Current Bag:

D - Z785 9.5 no change

4W - Epic Speed w/ Smoke im10 6.0  recent pickup new, like it. 
Hybrid- TM Sim 19 - stock Ventus Blue 7S, recent pickup really like it.

Irons - tbd

filling it out is SM8 54/10S and Cleveland 60 Precision Forged with Newport 2 Studio Select ( unsure of authenticity but i like it).

 

Extra: it was raining  pretty hard this week so out of sheer boredom I sharpied a well worn TP Mills t.p.m. 3.  I live that putter but I can't bring myself to replace the orignal TPM grip which is slick and cracking for fear of changing the feel. I'd play it save for that conundrum. Up close it looks meh but when soled on ground it looks so much better 😁

 

Whatcha all been up to this week?

 

Edited July 18, 2021 by tannyhoban
tldr

[tannyhoban]

Pics or it didn't happen, lol.

[tannyhoban]

Pics or it didn't happen 2

[boggyman]

18 minutes ago, tannyhoban said:

Pics or it didn't happen 2

Those Pro CBS are one set I wished I’d never gotten rid of. They’re an awesome set of irons. 

[tannyhoban]

Forgot to add I needed a gap wedge to go with the Cobra CBs. That was in the trade too. Went back in time to a design I really liked and forgot about. 

The original Cally Forged 50.  SPC sticker under the original grip. Long time ago already. 
 

Chipping in the backyard today it feels great. 
 

Update: searching ebay for pristine 54 and 60 Cally forged wedges. 🤣

Edited July 18, 2021 by tannyhoban

[tannyhoban]

Re-gripped the TPM and while I was at it shmooshed the Sharpie with some naptha to even it out. Figured why not? Now I can play it, it is such a gooood putter.