My 49 degree Niblick qfter 3 rounds.

[weissdabigman]

Out of the bag for now...

Greetings all.

Picked up a 49" special order Niblick and I just wanted to share my experience with you.

Already have a 50 GW, 55 SW and 60 LW. I bought this club to see if it could replace my GW and provide some more flexibility especially around the greens. I tried to change the order to 56 degree, but alas, I was too late.

I guess the main reason I'm shelving it for now is that when I'm addressing the ball, I'm not quite sure how to set up and how to execute shots. The end result is that I become very hesitant. Maybe I'm just better off with my traditional wedges and a 7 or 8 iron for chips.

I have no plans on taking a full swing with this club. It's more for chipping, sand, and whatever else I can think of.

Your input would be greatly appreciated.

[RossGolfer70]

They take time to get used to, but, in all honesty mine have [i]helped [/i]my wedge game with my 54 and 58, I swing much better and have a much better dispersion.

But, a full swing is where these things shine. My 42* is a legit 9i/PW replacement for me, I love it to death, high long and soft landing straight shots, the 49* is much of the same but has really been a GW replacement for me and is my go to from 75 and in. Don't trick yourself into thinking of it as a "chipper" like so many do, these are do it all clubs and that includes a full swing. Some think them to be a crutch but they've shaved strokes for me and that's all I need to know lol.

I hope I'm not too rambling here, just give it full fair shake, it just takes a bit of time to get used to and in the end they will sine wether it be a full shot or even a putting stroke near the green, up easy and down soft.

[highergr0und]

I liked my old Niblick a lot for 3/4 shots from about 105 out (42*) and if I was far from the pin. Close to the pin? Forget it on greens that don't accept a ton of spin. I returned it, but sometimes I kind of feel like I miss it.... It seriously was like firing a laser beam approach at the green.

[shuncker]

I have a 49 and have practiced with it frequently. I also have a 52 cleveland and 56 cleveland. So far it is great for chipping/pitching from 10 ft. or longer from pin. Anything closer, I will use my 56. I have fooled around with having the blade closed and it becomes more of a bump and run and I've opened up slightly with open stance and it does add a good amount of loft.

The story for me goes like this - I used to be a great pitch/chipper. My buddies would say, "If we do a scramble, you are the guy that would save us since you are by far the best pitch/chipper of the group". Then I practiced so much on my driving and putting that my pitch/chip went to the dogs. I have been awful the past 2 yrs. so that's why I bought the niblick.

You don't realize how important chipping is until you count 5 strokes a round where you shot one across the green or chili dipped one. 11 handicap shouldn't be doing this stupid stuff so I am giving Niblick a try this season. It has more bounce and gives you better hits on those one's you don't hit crisp. Give it some more time and let me know how it goes.

By the way, the line on it does nothing for me. they say it makes you feel like you have a putter in your hands...no not so much.

[rajohnson]

I gave up mine, I had the 49. I really started practising, and I found that once my technique improved, I could use standard wedges. For me it was hard to control the distance of the 49, I would over shoot most greens, or my chips would run farther than I wanted. I have been much happier with my 56 chipping.

[sdiver68]

Last year was the year to revamp my swing and with it I evaluated all the drivers-irons-hybrids-balls in my bag and switched several times. Often I would play solo and hit the contenders against one another on the course or at the practice range. This year it's short game. I'm working on a Pelz-Mickelson "hybrid" approach. I've gotten much better already thanks to a combination of the knowledge, an indoor putting/chipping set-up, and devoting much more of my outside practice time to short game work.

I've assembled the following club combinations to square off against one another perhaps mix-match:
1) Currently game 52 and 58 Cleveland CG14 standard bounce
2) New Callaway Vintage 52-10, 56-14 MD, 60-10 MD
3) New Cleveland Niblick 49 and 56

The Callaways should arrive any day now and the Niblicks early next week. Don't worry I'm an extreme bargain shopper and keep excellent care of equipment so disgarded choices are resold for close to what I paid for them. I consider the difference a "rental" or "instruction" fee <----[i]ho justification clause[/i]

My biggest trouble shot is over obstacles into the short side from a very tight bare clay lie which I seem to face at least 3 times per round. Yes, this says something about the courses I play and my course management. Give me any grass to work with and I can generally hit the flop. I'm hoping the 56 niblick can become my go-to club for this shot. I'm thinking the following wedge configs are most likely but then again I've been surprised by head-to-head results before (such as my similar ball tests)

49 Niblick, 56 Niblick, 60 Callaway [u]or[/u] 52 Callaway,56 Niblick, 60 Callaway [u]or[/u] All Callaway wedge set.

I'll detail my findings as I pit these clubs and various methods against each other.

[weissdabigman]

I guess I need to give it a few more rounds and actually committ to the thing and then see what happens. Is the 49 gonna work ok from the sand, or am I better off with my G15 SW.

I cannot wait to hear your findings on the wedge combos!

[sdiver68]

1st round of testing, simulated green side shots.

Current Handicap 14.2 with average chipping ability among my playing partners (handicaps in the 7-15 range) and being the worst putter in our group.

Well my Niblicks 49 and 56 arrived much earlier than anticipated. Don't you love it when that box shows up at your door? I did not get home until late so only had a chance to try them in my basement putting/chipping green which consists of [url="http://www.trulinegreens.com/Home_Page.php"]This Green[/url] with a stimp of about 10 and 2 different chipping mats which represent 3 types of lies. I have about 27' maximum (~12' green, 15' off green) and can simulate "smooth ground" or "rough" in front of the green. In each case I tried a variety of different methods and judged results by average distance from cup.

[b]Fairway lies:[/b]
5ft from green, must land on green: No doubt, the 56 with a putting stroke is very accurate here. More so than the variety of methods I've tried with conventional wedges.

10ft from green, must land on green: Tendency to run 3-6' past the cup with 56 with putting stroke. 49 blasts past the hole. 56 can be used with a forward ball placement "hinge-and-hold" to the same result as a conventional wedge to get more loft and stop the ball sooner.

5ft from green, "fairway" roll: See above with 56. 49 will work here as well with a softer touch, but really no need.

10ft from green, "fairway roll": 49 works OK, but the 56 works just as well.

[b]Rough lies on top of 3-4" Field Turf, against the "grain":[/b]
I could get neither Niblick to perform any better than a standard wedge with a fairway roll. From 5' off the green, the 56 still worked very well and landed on the green. I could not get either wedge to perform as well as a standard wedge in "must land on green" scenarios from 10' off the green.

[b]Buried rough lie:[/b]
I could not get either wedge to perform as well as a standard wedge in this scenario.

OK, well that's my synopsis of very limited scenario testing round 1. Still a long way to go. If I were [u]forced[/u] to choose 3 wedges right now, I'd go conventional 52,60 and Niblick 56 but fully expect each new round of testing to change my preferences.

[sdiver68]

2nd round of testing, outside green. Shots from variety of lies within 20' of green, pins 10-35 ft away.

The 56 putting stroke shot works very well to a tight pin from fairway or thin lies. From rough and particularly buried lies it does not work nearly as well my 60* wedge. For that matter, I modified my approach with the 60 in those same fairway/thin lies and was stopping the ball within 3 feet of the green.

I really don't see a point to the 49 greenside for the average competent wedge player. In no situation did it perform better than the 56 Niblick or a standard 58-60* wedge or a rule of 12 type shot.

I got a chance to hit 3 full 56 shots from the rough, stray balls from the range back to the range. Each one felt great and flew exactly as I expected. I usually don't hit any wedge full shot higher than 52 with consistent distance control, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Sand shot, more full shots, 1/2 shot testing to follow.