WITB? mat562...

[mat562]

The shaft's got carbon in it, Jeff. The rest of it's ancient by modern standards.

 

The truth is, I hit it well, I get a good flight with it, and I like the shape and the slightly smaller profile. It also, for whatever reason, sits very upright. After a lifetime of being a natural drawer of the ball, I struggle to turn a lot of modern drivers over. This one has a sort of built-in draw bias, thanks to the lie angle, so it works well in my mitts. It must be a Nike thing because I had another one, which sadly threw a double six when the face cracked, that was the same; very upright out of the box.

 

I've tried newer ones, and they do go a bit further, but it's hard to get a comfy club out of the bag once it's settled in. My take is, if the face is maxed out, CoR-wise, and the launch conditions are optimal, they're all going to go a long way, and there won't be much between them.

 

Edited September 24, 2022 by mat562

[mat562]

[mat562]

The 3-wood's set in stone. It'll be a very special club that knocks this one out of the bag. I've never been one for changing 3-woods, always being a subsciber to the notion that it's the hardest club in the bag to get right and, once you do so, it's equally hard to switch.

 

I like the traditional pear shape and I like the unfussy look at address. It's also nice and deep-faced, which keeps the spin off, and it's long when you peg it up and turn it over, even though it's reasonably lofted at 15 degrees, but I can still chuck a ball down and whack it away off the deck or off a little man-made lump and get a spinnier fairway finder when I need one. Like a lot of older fairway woods, it doesn't have the all-over hotness of face of the newer models. Akin to a lot of early early metal woods, there's a hot spot high up, but a shot off the bottom part of the face launches low, spins more and while it doesn't have the same ball speed, it gives you that soft flight. I like that. The new fairway woods go absolutely miles, but you don't get the same versatility with them.

 

 

 

Edited September 20, 2022 by mat562

[mat562]

A nice man at Ping UK, just down the road in Gainsborough, did a great job with this. I was able to forward them a few photos of my beloved old beryllium one from my teenage years, and they were able to replicate the grinding on it, pretty much to perfection. Sadly it's never going to have the patina of my old one, but I like this one nonetheless. It still has a bit of bounce when playing a square-faced shot, but the heel relief means that it can be opened up and laid pretty much flat, but with the leading edge staying flush to the turf. I've hit shots off hardpan with it, with a full swing, and been able to catch the ball. There are lots of tight lies in my part of the world, and in autumn and winter you frequently get tight, wet, greasy hardpan lies where a wedge like this works fantastically well. My old one finally wore out, after well over a decade in the bag, and I then used a ground 588RTG, a few low bounce Vokeys, and a really good NIke raw forged wedge in the 60-degree slot over many years, but I like having a familar Ping lob wedge back in the bag, with the bonus of CC-conforming grooves.

 

It's not for everyone, and I know a few people whom the combination of a tight lie, a shot over a bunker, and this wedge would give nightmares, but I've always liked a lob wedge with very little bounce and always loved the Eye 2 shape. I played an Eye 2 sand wedge for years, and left those alone; but I don't use the L wedge from sand, except for  a few circumstances like plugged lies or really hard packed wet sand, so the stock L wedge was always too clunky-soled for me, with way too much bounce as stock. If you butcher the back edge though, they come alive. Plus, it's always fun when you nip a little low spinner in from forty yards, stone dead, and when someone asks you what club you hit, you can, with a completely straight face, reply '1-iron.'

 

Edited September 16, 2022 by mat562

[akap4surf]

Your setup is a thing of beauty and class!!!!

[mat562]

I went out for a dab with one of my stash of old sand wedges earlier. 
 

I’d forgotten how good the old Eye 2 was from the sand. I’m now on the lookout for a decent XG or Gorge sand wedge. 
 

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by mat562

[mshills]

Original Eye2 SW and LW are my favorite golf clubs of all time.

[J_Tizzle]

That lob wedge is so cool.  And the T60 is so good if you can handle the club head being about the same size as the ball itself!

[mat562]

Went out for a dog walk/short game session earlier and took an old stager out for a roll. I may be imagining it, but I’m sure my hands got a bit higher, my stroke a bit poppier and the holing pace a bit more confident. I didn’t see anyone else, but If I had engaged in conversation, I reckon I would have unconsciously assumed an affected Kansas City accent. 

 

 

Edited November 5, 2022 by mat562

[mshills]

Jam that thing into the cup!