6 Years off golf and Back and Holy Crap has technology changed!

mr.haha · October 21, 2023

So took about 6 years off of golf due twins and a 3rd child. Ive played probably 3 times (all scramble) in 6 years with maybe 12 range sessions. Life has been crazy but wow technology has really changed. My "gamers" are about 6-10 years old and I just wrapped up a fitting with Club Champion and Titleist here in San Fran. I cant believe how poor my old clubs fit. So getting a full bag shortly and cant wait. Feels so good to be back in the game after about 6 years. I was shocked at how good the technology has become and I am very glad i did a couple of fittings. Both were 100% worth the cost and time as technology has changed so much from 10 years ago when i last really put my bag together.

Incoming set:

TSR3 8* Mitsubishi Tensei AV Xlink Blue 55 TSR X

Ping G430 3w LST Fuji Speeder Green NV S

Srixon 2i ZX MX Graphite Design Tour Ad 85 S

Titleist T200 4-6 and T150 7-GW Proj X 5.5 LZ

t** SM9 54 and 60

BB14 LA Golf

bobfoster · October 21, 2023

Interesting to have that perspective @mr.haha, that reminder. A lot of the fanatics here get engaged in perpetual comparisons, but mostly comparing between the current OEM offerings and the new ones. Comparing Mizzy MP20 MMC to the 223 (and now to the first pictures of the 243 🤣). Is the Titleist TSR line better than the TSi drivers and FWs, etc. But (with a few but definite exceptions), comparing current to new is usually about incremental improvements. Well, probably more accurate to say incremental changes - now and then the consensus seems to be that some changes aren't even improvements. There's always at least slight differences, but different doesn't necessarily always mean better. While things rarely get worse, sometimes different might just mean different.

Key word, though, is "incremental". Annual changes are often not that significant (well, bi-annual maybe, as many OEMs release in two year cycles). But widen the lens to 3, 4, or 5 release cycles (as you're talking about ... 6 - 10 years) and those multiple increments can add up to pretty noticeable differences. I did switch from a TSR from a TSi driver. Positive changes, but only at the margins. Slightly longer, slightly more workable, slightly more forgiving. I really do like it better, but went back to the TSi for a couple weeks this season (while a new shaft was getting put into the TSR), and there really isn't that much difference between the TSR and TSi. If I went back a decade however, there's a big difference between the TSR and (for instance) the 910 or the 913.

And in your case, your "gap years" happened at a very particular time in the development of ancillary golf technology - as you mentioned in your post. 10 or 15 years ago different swing characteristics could be measured, but it was very expensive to do so, and the technology itself wasn't yet that accurate. Really, it was mostly just the pros, or the scratch/single-digit level of amateurs that bothered (or even had access) to what we now call club fittings. Amazing how quickly that technology not only developed, but commodified. These days the average guy can walk into a local big box, have about a dozen different swing variables measured with pretty great precision, and have that result in recommendations for the optimal clubheads and shafts for his swing. What mostly only the pros did in 2010, my next door neighbor was doing in 2020. For all of a couple hundred bucks - in fact often a lot less ... a lot of places will buy a $20K Trackman as a loss leader - the fitting itself will be a minimal cost, or even free, if you buy the recommended clubs through the store.

So, welcome back to golf! It's kinda like a needy mistress. It will never leave you, and even if you leave it (for a time), it always welcomes you back with open arms. And I can understand why you might be pleasantly surprised at the scope and scale of the development of the clubs and technology in the game. I am too - but it takes stepping back and looking at a bigger picture to realize how significant that development really is.

Nice reminder.

Edited October 21, 2023 by bobfoster

Maine Golfer · October 21, 2023

Welcome back. I bet that Srixon 2i is great.

mr.haha · October 21, 2023

@bobfoster thanks so much for your thoughtful response. the perspective i've gained just by the two fittings i had this week provided so much insight into my game. I actually played D2 golf here in the Northeast but that was in the late 90s/early 00s and fitting back then from what i can recall was very rudimentary which holds up with your comments. I think the last real fitting that i had was for a Callaway FT3 driver and that must have been around 2005 give or a take a year. So from a pure fitting perspective, the 15 year hiatus is extraordinarily eye opening.

From an equipment perspective, since my clubs are about 7-10 years old, i realized through the fitting process how poorly my clubs actually fit. Unfortunately i basically fit myself as i have a ton of Mitchell equipment in my basement. However, i lacked the overall ability and knowledge to build a full set with DATA behind the build. Rather, i bought components, built and tested via trial and error.

What surprises me the most is that i am longer and straighter now than i ever have been in my golfing life. i wasnt coming close to a 270 carry back in my college days. Maybe i was lucky to fly 240 yards on a good day.

At this point in my life, early 40s, im just trying to make this game easier for me to play and in college i was definitely one of those types of players to had to have the blade irons. I wont knock anyone for playing blades but there is no way im going back to my mp33s in my basement.

This weekend i am off to Golfmart with my sis in law to put in some orders. Im very fortunate to have a family member in the golf industry. Prices are certainly more expensive now for clubs. 3 woods back in my day might have gotten to $300. the Ping G430 LST is at $549.

Its great to be back though!

mr.haha · October 21, 2023

@mainegolfer hey neighbor! im in Mass. My close friend and family member plays in alot of Maine tourneys. he did ok in the Maine Amateur this year....top 20. He was pissed but still solid.

Srixon is pretty awesome but thats in a simulator. Looks good and feels good too.