OEM Surprises

[fixyurdivot]

Anyone else had big expectations for a particular OEM's offerings only to test them and find them no bueno?  Mine is Titleist irons and woods.  I've tried them at 3 fittings and they just don't make the short list.  I even took a leap of faith and purchased a TSi 3 wood (based on fitting) and bagged it for a dozen or so rounds before going back to my G400. Next up is Steelfiber shafts.  So many great reviews on them and folks gaming them but we are just not simpatico.

 

So what equipment have you tested that you thought would work but didn't?

[Honman]

Forgiving irons. Have always played small forged irons. But have lost a fair bit of club speed, and haven't played much because of having a 2 year old. 

 

About four years ago picked up some Callaway epic forged. Indoors the numbers were great. On course, I can't get to the back of the ball, and on firm ground the club literally bounces off the turf. Played with some blades the other day, which while still aren't right, I played much better because I was making proper turf interaction. 

 

I think the sweetspot for me is around the T150/Mizuno 223 level. Some face tech, but relatively narrow soles. 

[North Butte]

I've played so many diiferent irons, wedges, fairway woods and drivers over the years it's pretty impossible for me to be more than mildly disappointed when something doesn't work as well as I would hope. Happens all the time, you never know until you try. 

 

I guess the closest example I could think of would be Ping G700 irons, pretty much the only fully hollow "players distance irons" I'd ever tried so I didn't necessarily think I'd love them. But I could not get any sort of decent shots out of them at all, not even occasionally. Three or four rounds of golf and I got rid. 

 

Still, that was hardly a huge surprise given it was a totally new style of iron for me and I had no idea what to expect other than "Ping usually makes pretty good clubs". 

[the bishop]

10 hours ago, fixyurdivot said:

Anyone else had big expectations for a particular OEM's offerings only to test them and find them no bueno?  Mine is Titleist irons and woods.  I've tried them at 3 fittings and they just don't make the short list.  I even took a leap of faith and purchased a TSi 3 wood (based on fitting) and bagged it for a dozen or so rounds before going back to my G400. Next up is Steelfiber shafts.  So many great reviews on them and folks gaming them but we are just not simpatico.

 

So what equipment have you tested that you thought would work but didn't?

I really, really want to like PING woods.  But I don't, or rather they don't like me.  Sometimes that's just the way it is.

[gvogel]

PIng G425 irons, stock graphite shafts.  I guess the shaft were just too light.

 

Also Steelfiber shafts.  I have tried i95 (R) and i80 (R).  They just don't kick for me. 

[fixyurdivot]

8 hours ago, Honman said:

Forgiving irons. Have always played small forged irons. But have lost a fair bit of club speed, and haven't played much because of having a 2 year old. 

 

About four years ago picked up some Callaway epic forged. Indoors the numbers were great. On course, I can't get to the back of the ball, and on firm ground the club literally bounces off the turf. Played with some blades the other day, which while still aren't right, I played much better because I was making proper turf interaction. 

 

I think the sweetspot for me is around the T150/Mizuno 223 level. Some face tech, but relatively narrow soles. 

Interesting.  I bet not many think too much about sole design and turf interaction.  When I had decided on the ZX5's, a several forum members suggested I actually hit them on turf as the v-sole is great... if it works for one's particular hitting mechanics.  I did that and it felt great, so I went ahead with the order and have really enjoyed them.

1 hour ago, North Butte said:

I've played so many diiferent irons, wedges, fairway woods and drivers over the years it's pretty impossible for me to be more than mildly disappointed when something doesn't work as well as I would hope. Happens all the time, you never know until you try. 

 

I guess the closest example I could think of would be Ping G700 irons, pretty much the only fully hollow "players distance irons" I'd ever tried so I didn't necessarily think I'd love them. But I could not get any sort of decent shots out of them at all, not even occasionally. Three or four rounds of golf and I got rid. 

 

Still, that was hardly a huge surprise given it was a totally new style of iron for me and I had no idea what to expect other than "Ping usually makes pretty good clubs". 

I moved from PE2's to G410's before realizing that I had to get away from steel shafts (best change I ever made btw).  My last fitting ended with either G425's or ZX5's; data was pretty much throw a hat over them, slight edge to Srixons.  I've always hit PING well, but wanted to move more towards a PD category.  The ZX5's/MMT80 have been fantastic.

 

As similar as so many of these make/model clubs seem to be, it is kind of odd that we find one or more to be such an outlier.  It's also great that we have lots of choices.

[Ghostwedge]

2 hours ago, the bishop said:

I really, really want to like PING woods.  But I don't, or rather they don't like me.  Sometimes that's just the way it is.

Those damn turbulators strike again. 😎

[BCC1898]

Titleist Drivers....I want to love them, but for whatever reason, TM and Callaway ALWAYS do better for me.

[drn92]

A few surprises, both recent and over time …

 

Anser style putters. Always wanted to use one but just have not worked as well as either double bend or slant neck putters. 
 

New tech irons (but maybe just PXG). I was much more consistent with the PXG 0311CB and the Mizuno 223 than any other option I tried, but especially over the 0311P (current and v4) and 0211 options. 
 

Graphite shafts and light weight shafts in general. With my foundational years in a Dynamic or Dynamic Gold, losing 30-50 grams of overall club weight is noticeable even if the swingweights are similar. 
 

drn92

[BlkNGld]

For me, it's frequently a matter of expectations.   It seems like whenever I go in with high expectations for a particular club, when I demo I'm rather unimpressed.   OTOH, there have been times a fitter has handed me a club that I think I shouldn't be playing or a brand I don't normally gravitate to and find myself pleasantly surprised.

 

I suspect the differences in the clubs' performance is much less than the differences in expectations.  It's like when you go to a restaurant not really sure what you're in the mood for, pick something out and think it's one of the greatest things you've ever eaten.    Go back a bit later knowing you're ordering THAT again and it's not nearly as impressive.

[philly2kuk]

Callaway for me. I try their stuff and want to like it, even tried it blind testing and it just doesn’t work for me.

[eric61]

For me, the problem usually comes when it's a club with an upright lie angle and no adapter sleeve option to flatten it out. In those cases, it's just hooks all day.

 

I really want forgiveness as I can get, but for a lot of manufacturers, forgiveness = slice correction, so those forgiving clubs come with very upright lie angles. The standard Stealth fairway woods are a perfect example. Cleveland and Wilson fairways and hybrids are another really good example. Same with Callaway -- the standard Paradym fairway woods are super easy to hit, but there's no way to flatten them out, so I just hook them.

 

What DOES often work for me are clubs from Ping and Titleist where there's a flat lie angle option built into the adapter sleeve, as well as some Mizuno stuff with flatter-than-typical lie angles, and the supposedly less forgiving versions from TaylorMade and Callaway. 

[North Butte]

3 hours ago, eric61 said:

For me, the problem usually comes when it's a club with an upright lie angle and no adapter sleeve option to flatten it out. In those cases, it's just hooks all day.

 

I really want forgiveness as I can get, but for a lot of manufacturers, forgiveness = slice correction, so those forgiving clubs come with very upright lie angles. The standard Stealth fairway woods are a perfect example. Cleveland and Wilson fairways and hybrids are another really good example. Same with Callaway -- the standard Paradym fairway woods are super easy to hit, but there's no way to flatten them out, so I just hook them.

 

What DOES often work for me are clubs from Ping and Titleist where there's a flat lie angle option built into the adapter sleeve, as well as some Mizuno stuff with flatter-than-typical lie angles, and the supposedly less forgiving versions from TaylorMade and Callaway. 

I've typically used a lot of loft in my drivers and so I've tried a couple of high loft 12 or 13.5 degree) Callaway options over the years. They made the higher loft even more upright than the 10.5's. That 13.5 degree one I tried about 7-8 years ago had to be sitting 6-8 degrees toe-up in my usual address position. I can't possibly trust a club to go straight when it sets up like that. 

[Clemente80]

13 hours ago, the bishop said:

I really, really want to like PING woods.  But I don't, or rather they don't like me.  Sometimes that's just the way it is.

Same. I bought a G425 LST untested because it seemed to be what I was looking for. But I think the heavier weight of ping drivers throws off my swing. Going from the G425 to my Sim2 Max feels like swinging a weighted baseball bat in the on-deck circle and then walking up to the plate with your Louisville Slugger.

[PJE]

14 hours ago, gvogel said:

PIng G425 irons, stock graphite shafts.  I guess the shaft were just too light.

 

Also Steelfiber shafts.  I have tried i95 (R) and i80 (R).  They just don't kick for me. 

Same experience with the Pings and Steelfibers. Hit the Steelfibers fine but reminded me of a Dynamic Gold. They are stout. 
Recoil 95s ended up being pretty good for me. 

[Enjoi]

20 hours ago, North Butte said:

I've played so many diiferent irons, wedges, fairway woods and drivers over the years it's pretty impossible for me to be more than mildly disappointed when something doesn't work as well as I would hope. Happens all the time, you never know until you try. 

 

I guess the closest example I could think of would be Ping G700 irons, pretty much the only fully hollow "players distance irons" I'd ever tried so I didn't necessarily think I'd love them. But I could not get any sort of decent shots out of them at all, not even occasionally. Three or four rounds of golf and I got rid. 

 

Still, that was hardly a huge surprise given it was a totally new style of iron for me and I had no idea what to expect other than "Ping usually makes pretty good clubs". 

Those were such awful clubs for me too. Went in thinking they’d work and i absolutely hated the feel and flight. Just not for me. 
 

And I always struggled with Titleist irons too. Ap2 and t100 just never felt right to me. Im interested in trying the t150, we will see. 

[NRJyzr]

For me, it's higher MOI putters.  They're quite forgiving, put great roll on the ball.

 

And I completely lose feel using them, my distance control vanishes.  It's not instant, but its happened every time I've tried.

 

I haven't completely given up on them, I'd like to unlock that issue.  But, for now, in the golf room they stay.

 

[NRJyzr]

19 hours ago, eric61 said:

What DOES often work for me are clubs from Ping and Titleist where there's a flat lie angle option built into the adapter sleeve

 

Every adapter has this.  It's just not marked explicitly as being flatter.  🙂

 

There are two points on each adapter that place the head in its natural face angle and natural loft, the one marked standard, and the point completely opposite, 180* around the adapter.  If that opposite setting states "upright," it means the Std setting is the flat one.

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by NRJyzr

[eric61]

Just now, NRJyzr said:

 

Every adapter has this.  It's just not marked explicitly as being flatter.  🙂

 

What do I do, then, on a Callaway, TaylorMade or Cobra fairway wood or hybrid adapter to make it flatter than its standard lie angle? Their charts show the standard setting as the flattest lie angle.

[NRJyzr]

Just now, eric61 said:

What do I do, then, on a Callaway, TaylorMade or Cobra fairway wood or hybrid adapter to make it flatter than its standard lie angle? Their charts show the standard setting as the flattest lie angle.

 

You were to quick for me.  🙂 I just added an edit to my post.

[eric61]

18 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

You were too quick for me.  🙂 I just added an edit to my post.

Gotcha. That’s really the issue I was trying to point out though — those other brands’ standard lie angles are too upright for me, and there’s no way to go flatter than standard, unless you know somebody in a tour department.

Edited August 10, 2023 by eric61

[NRJyzr]

7 minutes ago, eric61 said:

Gotcha. That’s really the issue I was trying to point out thought — those other brands’ standard lie angles are too upright for me, and there’s no way to go flatter than standard, unless you know somebody in a tour department.

 

Clubs having gotten more upright is great for someone like me, slightly above average height with short arms.  Or, my #2 stepson who's mildly mutant at 6'8".  But, for a great many other folks, not so much.  😐

 

[North Butte]

Yeah, most of them it's like "We have two options, upright and way-the-heck-upright, which would you prefer"? 

[eric61]

4 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

Clubs having gotten more upright is great for someone like me, slightly above average height with short arms.  Or, my #2 stepson who's mildly mutant at 6'8".  But, for a great many other folks, not so much.  😐

 

Totally, for us average height, longer armed, portly types, upright is a disaster!

[Orchardist]

Titleist AVX   Yuck

[getitdaily]

TM fairways until stealth2+.

 

The + models were way too low spin and always sat super closed. Everyone loved them and I just couldn't do anything with them.

 

The non + models are 60 degree lie and non-adjustable and I can't play with 58+ lie fwys.

[jarediogolf]

Only club I can remember hitting and really really not getting along with was a Sim Max Driver that I had bought cheap to flip on eBay. It was a Ventus 5R 12* so I thought it would be easy to hit. 
 

I had such high hopes for that thing because sim has been hyped for years. It’s also a club that I once saw a sturdy woman absolutely smashing at the driving range. 

It was the first club that ever really perplexed me when I hit it.
 

For context, I like pretty much every club I’ve hit. Obviously not all clubs are optimal, but I always find them playable. But that Sim made me feel like I had never swung a club before. 

[Baconator]

I agree with the earlier comment about forgiving irons. About 15 years ago when I first started playing golf on a semi-regular basis I bought some Adam's a2os irons, buying into reviews saying they were super easy to hit. I couldn't even make consistent contact with them due to the amount of bounce and the massive leading edge relief and when I did I was prone to huge hooks. Every few years since then I've tried something that's supposedly "point and shoot" and nine have been close. I must have tried at least 5 different ping irons after reading the massive praise of the brand and I haven't had success with any of them. I want to believe that there are irons that will work better for me, but I'm becoming convinced that my current Apex cf16s that I've had for 7 years are likely as good as anything else I can try and with 2 kids in university that's probably just as well.