Roland's WITB

[Roland]

Plenty of Random Musings!

I don't think I have done one of these in a couple of years, alas the sun is shining and I bought a new bag so no better excuse to clean the clubs and take some pictures. Heres the spec on me and my game.

Age: 24

Height: 6,4"

Weight: Heavy

Dexterity: Left Handed but have always played righty.

Golf history: PGA Trained and currently studying for my Advanced Diploma, I qualified nearly 2 years ago and started my training in 2005/2006. I don't play a lot anymore. Just days out with friends or the odd member game here. I simply don't have a lot of time. I'm also at the point in my game where swing-wise. I won't get any better unless I improve my Range of movement and flexibility. My current body movements give me a unique golf swing but a consistent one to an extent. Turned Pro off three. I probably swing it better now than I did then. I just don't play or practice a huge amount like I used to. This time of year I’m thinking more about cricket than golf!

Golfing tendencies:

I swing quite steep and fight a fight going across the target line every so often. My worst shot is a heavy pull (hands moving too much to correct hip movement), or a heely cut (hips slide and hands can't keep up. Right shoulder charge ho!) Because of this, I use as much technology as I can to keep my spin levels down. It costs me dearly distance wise and bugs the crap out of me when I pop one up in the air!

I like to play lots of ½, ¾, and cut off shots so my distance gaps are quite compacted although the lofts may leave a big gap.

I used to change clubs like the wind, however now I’m turning into a bit of a hoarder, I don’t get rid of much. And not a huge amount of clubs will make the bag. Purely because I like to keep the old club and test it against the new before I even think about selling anything. Before as a less off assistant I had to sell the old to fund the new. Not the best of ideas!

I have a reasonable wedge game and the long game does not put me in huge amounts of trouble. The flat stick is often my nemesis purely because I do not roll enough putts on the putting green. When I am putting well it is a bit streaky.

So the Golf bag:















Driver:

I currently have 3 drivers, all 45” long.

Ping G10 9 Degrees, Graphite Design Pershing 75 x

The “Ye olde faithful” I can’t get rid of it. I works very well for me. I go back to it from time to time.

Ping i15 9.5 Degrees, Graphite Design Pershing 75x

Got this at the start of the year. Works very well but a touch unforgiving. The shaft is a favourite of mine. I have a history of liking Graphite Design shafts. I was also once a purple ice fan boy. I take a liking to the feel of these shafts and the performance they offer. As they are longer offered I need to find alternatives shortly. The driver itself is low spinning but it launches reasonably high which may leave the loft stamped on the bottom a bit suspect.







Ping Rapture v2 9 Degrees, Graphite Design Aura Red x Tipped 1”

A little tester put together over the weekend. I had this shaft in a G15 that felt very soft to flex so I beefed this one up a little bit with the hacksaw. I have only hit half a dozen shots with it but feels very nice.










Fairway Wood:

Ping G10 14 Degrees, Graphite Design Pershing 75 x tipped ½” 43” long

I will use most of the time a fw under 14 degrees. Again because of spin issues. This head feels nice although a touch draw biased (hence the lead tape). Good flight and the shaft feels as expected.







Hybrid:

Adams a7 17 degrees, Graphite design Pershing Prototype hybrid 85x 41 ½”

Hybrids are a bit of a mystery to me. Because of my lie angle and club length I find them hard to get into. Also because of my angle of attack, having a leading edge a long way in front of the datum line causes me much discomfort! This club feels pretty upright (the length of shaft helps me). The shaft didn’t exist to me until GD put them on ebay. I wish I could buy 10 of them! Great hybrid shaft for me. The head is very nice. Nothing like the pro Adams hybrids that seem hard to hit for me. From time to time on windy days I’ll substitute this for a Mizuno Flihi 18 degree.







Irons:

Ping i10 3-pw, kbs tour 6.5 +1” maroon colour code

I’ve had these 18 months. My first dabble into the Ping iron market and I can say I have no regrets (other than forgetting the don’t have ferrules, pulled shafts hang over the top). Feel is different than forged as most will think. But I like the firm click of the clubs. Shaft have their own reputation. They are very good. The way I would describe them is Project x with feel. Nice amount of offset and a finish that would survive a nuclear blast. What you would expect from ping. No frills but a solid set of irons.













Wedges: Pictured above

Ping Tour-W 52 & 58, AWT stiff +1” Maroon Colour code

I was a little skeptical with these at first but I’m now sold on them. I used to be a custom grind man and tailor vokeys to my liking. With these there is no need for me. The soles are very versatile. Grooves do not over power the ball flight but spin enough to pull the ball back when needed and check up pitches & Chips. I used the AWT shafts as I wanted something a touch softer. The feel very good. Although I may need to replace the 58 at the end of the season for a fresh one.

Putter of the month:

Rossa Spider 34” (shamelessly borrowed from someone)

I like the square shape of this putter, It give me the feeling of the putter staying on the target line for longer. I’m very much part of the roll groove brigade. It certainly helps me on poor pace days with the flatstick. I have a big passion for Rife putters also







Grips of choice:

Golf Pride Tour wrap Cord normally 5 layers, may differ depending on mood. Sometimes I’ll build up the bottom hand on my wedges to keep the face open for longer etc. I love a full cord grip.




Misc bits:

Golf Ball: Bridgestone B330 Tour Or ProV1x

Golf Bag: Ping 4 Under

Headcovers: Hotbaws Specials, Love them

Glove: Sciflex xxl when I can get them

Shoe: Classic Dry Premiere or Reelfits.

[Roland]

Just had a look through the tour bag.

"Spares"

Ping TIsI Tec 14 (on the way from the bay)

Flihi 18 dgs300
Hogan cft 23
Adams bty 12.5 Pershing 75x tipped 1/2"
Cobra FP 3 & 4 Iron. X100
Macgregor v-foil blades
Mizuno Tp-9's
1/2 dozen vokeys with no grooves left
Rife barbados
Rife Imo
Rife Aussie ibf mallet
Macgregor gt 5

[lionXheart]

Great bag! I just purchased a i15 driver myself and love it.

[Roland]

[quote name='AlexW' date='17 May 2010 - 09:11 PM' timestamp='1274127065' post='2448010']
Great bag! I just purchased a i15 driver myself and love it.
[/quote]


It's still not quite right for me but I am going to keep with it for now. I really like the look of it but the higher launch is worrying me. It may bed in

[crose]

I love my A7's, and I love your headcovers.

[Roland]

The rapture experiment continues. Looks like I probably went a bit gun-ho on the tip with the aura as I have a serious case of the rights with it. I really like the head though

[davewalji]

sweet bag, i am a dear fan of the gd pershing shafts myself,

how do you find the hybrid shaft? ive been looking for a new one and the pershing was on my list.


also what course are you based at? ive been down to batchworth park a few times which i know is down your neck of the woods.

dave

[doof_dizzler]

Great looking setup, and an amusing read, as WITB threads go. Thanks for posting it.

I like the PING drivers, really like my G10 and ordered a Rapture V2 when the van was through here last time. I'm also a Pershing fan, great shafts for the price. I can't even imagine an [i][u]inch[/u][/i] tipped X! Do you notice any difference in feel between the Pershing in your driver and tipped 1/2" in the fairway wood? How did you decide on 1/2"? FWIW, I've tipped the last few shafts 1-1/4" in my 3 or 4 wood builds to try to get a little tighter dispersion.

[Roland]

[quote name='davewalji' date='24 May 2010 - 08:57 AM' timestamp='1274687829' post='2463148']
sweet bag, i am a dear fan of the gd pershing shafts myself,

how do you find the hybrid shaft? ive been looking for a new one and the pershing was on my list.


also what course are you based at? ive been down to batchworth park a few times which i know is down your neck of the woods.

dave
[/quote]


It's a very good shaft if it can be found. The hybrid shaft was tour only and I found it on close out. If I could get more I would.

I'm the Assistant Professional at Batchworth Park!

[quote name='doof_dizzler' date='24 May 2010 - 08:57 AM' timestamp='1274687850' post='2463149']
Great looking setup, and an amusing read, as WITB threads go. Thanks for posting it.

I like the PING drivers, really like my G10 and ordered a Rapture V2 when the van was through here last time. I'm also a Pershing fan, great shafts for the price. I can't even imagine an [i][u]inch[/u][/i] tipped X! Do you notice any difference in feel between the Pershing in your driver and tipped 1/2" in the fairway wood? How did you decide on 1/2"? FWIW, I've tipped the last few shafts 1-1/4" in my 3 or 4 wood builds to try to get a little tighter dispersion.
[/quote]


I tipped the aura an inch purely for an experiment. The one that came in my G15 felt like such a wet noodle I thought i'd give it a try. In the fw it was a little experimentation. I had a spare driver shaft and put it in the fairway wood at 43.5" thinking i would need to tip it. I did eventually and it feels probably the same in the fw in comparison to the driver

[Jtraskal]

nice head covers!

[Roland]

New toy inbound, always wanted one of these, just need to decide what shaft to install

 

[LBlack14]

[quote name='Roland ' date='17 May 2010 - 04:53 AM' timestamp='1274086402' post='2446819']
Irons:

Ping i10 3-pw, kbs tour 6.5 +1” maroon colour code

I’ve had these 18 months. My first dabble into the Ping iron market and I can say I have no regrets [size="4"][i][b](other than forgetting the don’t have ferrules, [color="#FF0000"]pulled shafts hang over the top[/color])[/b][/i][/size]. Feel is different than forged as most will think. But I like the firm click of the clubs. Shaft have their own reputation. They are very good. The way I would describe them is Project x with feel. Nice amount of offset and a finish that would survive a nuclear blast. What you would expect from ping. No frills but a solid set of irons.

[/quote]

Please explain this to me. Nice setup BTW.

[Roland]

[quote name='LBlack14' date='05 July 2010 - 08:48 PM' timestamp='1278359293' post='2555927']
[quote name='Roland ' date='17 May 2010 - 04:53 AM' timestamp='1274086402' post='2446819']
Irons:

Ping i10 3-pw, kbs tour 6.5 +1” maroon colour code

I’ve had these 18 months. My first dabble into the Ping iron market and I can say I have no regrets [size="4"][i][b](other than forgetting the don’t have ferrules, [color="#FF0000"]pulled shafts hang over the top[/color])[/b][/i][/size]. Feel is different than forged as most will think. But I like the firm click of the clubs. Shaft have their own reputation. They are very good. The way I would describe them is Project x with feel. Nice amount of offset and a finish that would survive a nuclear blast. What you would expect from ping. No frills but a solid set of irons.

[/quote]

Please explain this to me. Nice setup BTW.
[/quote]


The iron shafts came out of an old set. They were prepped about 1 1/2". Ferrules normally cover the prep but as pings don't, it's quite visible up close.

[Puppetmaster]

Nice collection there... I've been curious about the Aura shafts myself. It's also good to see that I'm not the only one still using Tour Wrap Full Cords. In fact, I recently regripped my entire bag sans putter with some midsized ones. Even my backup hybrid and driver. Love em.

[Roland]

New Driver shaft in, Aldila RIP 70x.

Pictures to come

[lizzz]

Very strong machines, do you have.

[Bill Brasky]

like the headcovers. nice setup

[DJBucko]

Great stuff!!

[Roland]

Aldila RIP has been tested quite a bit and I'm still undecided. Considering my past relationships with the Pershing, it's feel like the RIP is my mistress. The Pershing is a solid performer but the RIP has something special about it however it doesn't feel right afterwards.

No changes otherwise. However with Regional (uk) pro's having to switch to the conforming grooves 1st January, the irons are surely for the chop (and wedges) I may go down the ping route again with i15's. Or perhaps look at cobra's offerings next year.

[Benzo]

love the headcovers

[calc61]

Solid bag!!

[Roland]

Some new toys,

 

all 3up +1" KBS Tour x, same tour wrap cord but with 4 layers +1 on the bottom hand

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Iron

 

 

 

7 Iron

 

 

 

Wedge

 

 

 

Wedges

 

 

 

 

[Puppetmaster]

As I posted in the other thread... sweet irons and wedges... can't wait to try a set out myself.