bryanr's WITB

[bryanr]

~~~UPDATED 3/28/2011~~~

 

 

Driver:

Adams Speedline Classic 8.5° Graphite Design YSQst 75x, 45"

Originally had this head set up with a Kai'li 70x which was probably the best shaft I've ever played. The YSQst is very consistent and a high-quality shaft but I don't have the same joyful kick I had with the Kai'li. It's also launching lower which is quite pleasant on a well struck drive but on slight mishits I lose more distance than I did with the Kai'li. I'll be testing a Speedline Classic 10.5° with a Kai'li 60x in the near future.

Update: Leaning towards the 10.5° w/Kai'li 60x

Update2: Back with the 8.5°/YSQst

3 wood:

Adams Speedline 3446-F 14.5° Graphite Design P9003x, 43.25"

Never messed with this setup. I bought this on the BST a year ago and made the mistake of passing it along to another member. Fortunately, they moved on to something else and I was able to buy it back. It's long, pretty, and very versatile. After my driver shaft broke, I was hitting this off the tee and getting a solid 270 - 280. For whatever reason, I struggled with it late in the Fall and as such I've been leaning on its use more from the fairways, where it's shallow profile makes it much easier to connect. I'm keeping an eye out for a nice 13° head, something like a V Steel, to experiment with as an alternate when I'd like to hit 3w off the tee more on a given course.

 

5 wood:

Taylormade Burner Tour Launch 17.5° Aldila RIP 90x, 41.5"

Ah, what a find this was. Picked this up in the second half of the season and it does exactly what I wanted it to do - provide me with a go-to club off the tee. I get about 250 out of it with a smooth swing and find the fairway more often than with my driver or 3 wood. I haven't been able to hit it well consistently off the deck on a full swing yet but I did find a an interesting 3/4 knockdown shot with it on my second to last round of the season.

 

Hybrid:

Nothing here at the moment. I had success with the Titleist 909H early last year but I never found the right yardage gaps with my MP-14 irons. I hit my 3 iron well for most of the summer but there were plenty of days where I would have benefited from a forgiving hybrid in its place. I'll be keeping an eye out for a good deal on a hybrid around 22° with a slightly softer shaft than I have in my woods.

 

Irons:

Mizuno MP-14 3-W Precision Rifle Flighted 6.5

My first set of irons. Really no reason to mess with these. I've tested other sets and had good days but there just hasn't been anything that makes me say "Wow - these really upgrade my game". I liked the Titleist AP2, Scratch AR-1 and Miura CB202. They would probably help me out on average. If I played them for a year, though, I doubt I would look back and think they were worth it. The MP-14's look great and I'm familiar with their head shape now.

Update: Bent the PW to 48° (originally 50°) and 9 iron to 44° (originally 45°) to line up better with my wedges. My PW was 4° flat! It was actually 1° flatter than my 9 iron so I was glad to catch that and adjust. Overall lie through is still about 2° flat compared to modern irons.

 

Wedges:

Scratch 53° JLM-SND with an S300 shaft and a Scratch 58° TD WLD grind with a KBS Black Nickel shaft. These make a very solid pair of wedges. I'm very comfortable with the 58° - when I get to within 50 yards, I always grab that and my putter and I'm good to go. I have a second 58° Scratch wedge which is a JLM-SFU S300. I've hit great shots with the JLM-SFU but I'm getting the hang of the TD WLD and it's sharper leading edge. My miss is now more likely to be a fat duff than a skull over the green. I'm also getting more spin and better feel on the swing with the KBS counterweight shaft.

Putter:

Scotty Cameron Studio Select Newport 2 Circle H 35", black Studio Design grip. I gamed a 34" California Monterey for most of the season but was starting to feel like a change was in order by the end of the summer. I stopped by a local shop to test out a few putters before deciding what to order online and to my surprise they had a recent trade-in on the rack that was well-gamed but not abused and fit me well. They gave me a deal too good to pass up and I walked out of there within a few minutes with my new gamer. I like the square topline better and the sweet spot is noticeably larger. This is important for me as my putting stroke is not consistent enough to find a small sweet spot every round.

 

Grip:

White/black Golf Pride multicompounds. I deliberated between these and Lamkin crossline cords back when I decided to standardize my grips on all my clubs. The crossline cords were great on my MP-14 irons before the big regrip but I'm happy with the multicompounds and really like the way they look. Something about pulling an iron out of the bag with the multicompound gives me a more technical feeling, like it's time to get to business. Or something like that. The Scratch TD wedge has a black/red Lamkin Torsion Control grip. Part of me wants to put a white/black multicompound on there to keep consistent but the black/red grip just looks too cool on the black shaft with red label and antique finish with red paintfill. I also usually take my glove off when using a 58° wedge so a tackier uncorded grip feels a bit better.

 

Ball:

Taylormade TP Red LDP. Picked a box of these up back when Walmart had their big sale last year, then went back and bought 5 more when I found out how much I like them. I have to be a bit more technical around the greens as they don't check up like when I gamed Vokeys and Pro V1s, but the improved distance on my woods, increased cover durability, and the fact that I could get these for $20 - $25 per dozen sold me. I have plenty of these stockpiled now.

Update: All previously new TP Reds are RIP. Currently playing used balls off eBay which aren't bad at $25 for 3 dozen.

 

Bag:

Ogio Grom 2010 Stealth. My old TM stand bag was falling apart and I'd been in the market for a new bag for a few months. Just could not decide between an Ogio or a Sun Mountain. When a deal too good to refuse popped up for the Ogio, I jumped on it and so far I'm quite happy. I haven't walked a course with it yet so I don't know for sure whether it will be my only bag this season but the solid feel of everything and the little touches in the design have impressed me.

Update: Have walked several rounds with the Gtom and the ergonomics and club management are much improved over my old bag. It is a bit heavier than other bags when empty but I can't say I noticed the weight much when loaded up. I do wish the stand mechanism was a bit more solid in snapping into place like with the Sun Mountain Four 5.

Update2: One of the Arclite legs snapped off. Time to see how Ogio's customer service is.

 

Headcovers:

Recently tumbled across a vintage set of poms that I'm really digging. I'd been planning to refit with a set of white/black Ju Jus, which I still may do, but these were a great deal and very high quality. I'm finally off the OEM headcover wagon. The poms are enormous and thick. The driver cover is unfortunately not made for a modern 460cc head but I was able to yank it on there and hopefully it will stretch out a bit. There's even a 4th "X" cover which I've toyed around with as a putter cover (aka attack of the poms).

Update: Continuing to email Ju Ju. Pretty much narrowed it down to a simple black headcover with white/black tassels. Still fighting the urge to get white headcovers.

 

Clothing:

Currently playing in 40° weather so rocking (and loving) my matching Galvin Green Elton top and Evo bottom. I highly recommend these for a compression base layer for weather under 60°. http://www.galvingreen.com/galvin-green/productinfo/509577/ http://www.galvingreen.com/galvin-green/productinfo/509677/

 

Rotating a pair of JL shirts that I like along with a pair of white JL Troon pants that fit perfectly and are quite comfortable over the base layer. Shoes are primarily a pair of black Puma Course Saddle shoes which tore my heals apart the first day but have since become more comfortable.

 

For my outer shell, I either wear a Lulu Lemon windbreaker (which isn't really meant for golf, but is slim fitting, breaks the wind and has great features like hand sleeves that stretch out from the arms) or a Marmot Gravity jacket which is just all around amazing but does add some bulk. I generally prefer wearing the Marmot and taking it off on tee shots and approaches.

 

 

Additional pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[davewalji]

Nice bag. those irons are classic

[tigerfan23]

excellent bag!

[tr0ddd]

Very nice!
-Tyler

[williamo]

Great setup man, wish I had your clubs....

Especially your driver, that whiteboard is ......expensive.

[size=4][color="#FF0000"]Titleist disease have infected you too. [/color][/size]

[elchene]

Great setup! classic irons for sure

[bryanr]

Thanks all for the responses!

The MP-14s are indeed classics. My scores might be better with some GI irons but I enjoy playing the blades. I'm getting fit for irons next week and planning to get a set custom built (I really like the Scratch SB-1s) when my game has improved to a point where the irons can really be dialed in. For now, the MP-14s are perfect and helped me keep down the overall cost of the bag. I didn't know much about shafts when I bought them but the Rifle 6.5 ended up a good fit for my SS.

The 909D3 is probably my most valuable club. I hadn't planned on bagging one with a whiteboard given the high cost. Being a persistent bargain hunter, I snagged mine Buy-it-Now from a non-golf seller on eBay and it's probably the biggest bargain I'll ever get. I'm glad it's worked out well (though part of me thinks I'd be better off if it hadn't so I could sell it and put the money elsewhere in my bag).

[greyman09]

Great bag. I have a set of mint Mp-14 that need some shafts. I am tempted to shaft them up and game them.

[bryanr]

[quote name='greyman09' date='05 January 2010 - 03:52 PM' timestamp='1262724772' post='2163047']
Great bag. I have a set of mint Mp-14 that need some shafts. I am tempted to shaft them up and game them.
[/quote]

Awesome, let me know how it goes

[bryanr]

Updated for 2011!

[Puppetmaster]

Wow that's nasty... I mean nasty in sweet nasty. Not sure why I like it so much, but I do. Nice blend of older and newer stuff. I'd game that bag any day, assuming I can hit those irons, lol.

[bryanr]

[quote name='Puppetmaster' timestamp='1294424272' post='2880692']
Wow that's nasty... I mean nasty in sweet nasty. Not sure why I like it so much, but I do. Nice blend of older and newer stuff. I'd game that bag any day, assuming I can hit those irons, lol.
[/quote]

Thanks!

[Zach Heusser]

Great set of irons! One of my all time favorites....

[kweezy216]

Those wedges are sick! plus thos are irons arte the ish

[bryanr]

A few minor updates and a couple on-course pics added.

[fighting_irish]

Speak of the devil. MP14s. Beauties. Was only just holding mine the other day and reminiscing.

[CANgolf]

Nice setup!

[jbrunone]

Nine bag, love the kaili shaft also and I have it in my driver right now. Hopefully see you around the courses in Boston at some time

[bradley2424]

Solid bag I have gamed the mp14 irons and wish I never sold them. Love the Adams driver and 3 wood set up. I love my 9032ls driver and speedline 3 wood. They are hard to beat. Nice solid set up. check out my all Adams bag Brad's 2011 Bag.

[Creepin]

Nice bag!

Really like the fairway wood with the p9003x. If you look to move I am interested. Lol.

Good luck this year!
B

[blantz]

Nothing like the sun shining on a nice set of blades