Make room for an old friend.. Hot Driver

A cautionary tale... I'd warn: There are some old driver's around that beat the yards out of the "new" ones. 

This info is not new: A friend (really-sitting at a computer most of the day, I still talk with people face to face and develop relationships!) who works in a Super Store and has played at the National amateur level for many years plays a bag that is unavailable today (no retailer has sold his equipment new in years) and, because he "works" in the business, he has tried to "get current" but when tournament season comes around he always goes back to his faithful irons, wedges and driver (which is His bag-not mine).. 

I on the other hand have spent a small fortune trying to find 10 yards off the tee and a few more greens in reg.. buy a game? you sorta can but I'll get onto that subject some other time. I have two friends now..  make that three that use drivers that are more than 5 years old .. and they are Callaway drivers. FT-3's and an X-460. Introduced about the same time I think. Providing distance and accuracy that I've haven't experienced in a long time. I swing right around 102 and now with the FT-3 and a tour platform 26.3 shaft (stiff) I am into an area on my home course I've never seen before off the tee. If I miss the driver on 11 (mid length par 4 ...generally into the wind) I'll have 145-50 into the smallest green on the peninsula.. catch it and I've got 120-125..  used to be 175 if I missed and 145 if I caught it.. Earlier reports of my success with the tour Octane were true but I seemed to spay it now and then.  I hit a drive 273 yards the other day with the FT-3 and 255-260 is not uncommon. You can play from there. You can't get around the dogleg on 15 (two very big trees guard it) for a clear shot at the green without a 250 yard shot.. I have had 110 in with other drivers but I think I may have had a very fortunate bounce. 

I got a razr Hawk tour in the mail last week to try and had some hope for it. Love the sound and feel (really!) It is being reshafted today. Perhaps it is an FT-3 with a hosel.. we shall see. I don't have another one of those "old" shafts to try it with. 

The other heads on the Oldies but Goodies list are the original Cleveland comp and the 425 Orlimar. I have seen guys in competition crush these and have been told by fitters that they are very difficult to beat for ballspeed. 

Hear the reigning US Open champ (who left Cally for Srixon this year after a great 2010) tried a few drivers and now is back using his FT-3. Think Stenson also kept his FT-3 when he left Callaway. 

If you want to try one, the heads are inexpensive on Callaway pre-owned and eBay's good as well. I sure am pleased with what I found. 

In the racing I used to do when much younger (Tri's, Bi's, Cycling, Running) we used to say that so and so "found a friend" if they showed marked improvement due to weightloss, diet, drugs, or say a new aerobike. I just found one in a headcover tucked away in a travel bag.. I shafted it before and got nothing.. a new lease on life I guess. A hunch with an old shaft in the corner and my game has been issued a new lease on life. Get used to the sound.. It's easy with the performance. 

BTW-The Hawk is being outfitted with a MotoreF1.. We'll see!

Year of The Wedge --

Short Game! So I'm stocking up (a little)... it is critical to have the right tools that you are used to (or do they become used to you?) when it comes to wedges. And it seems somewhat crazy to abandon a system that works. Have always tried to play a gap wedge that matches my irons (which I do now) and I play a 54 and a 58, 59 or 60 depending on the bounce configuration required for the course(s) I'm playing a lot. Currently I play most of my golf on a course that has fluffy bunkers. So a lob wedge with extra bounce is helpful. I rarely use any club other than my lob wedge for bunker shots. I match my iron shafts to my wedge shafts (currently nippon 950GH) .. this year I'm playing Mizuno MX-300's and am very pleased with them. 5 iron through Gap Wedge. My 54 degree wedges is a Mizuno MP T-10 and my lob wedge is a Callaway x-forged 58 bent to 59 for a little added bounce to help me get out of those fluffy bunkers I mentioned.. but I've been trading some notes with a friend who has proclaimed the Cleveland CG15 the game changer and Cleveland Golf  has certainly caught the attention of the "raters" winning the Hot List wedge category at Golf Digest. So I'll be constructing some CG15's with nippon shafts and look forward to reporting back.. I have played the callaway lob wedge for nearly 6 years.. not the same wedge mind you but the exact same model.. This year I will improve my bunker play which is currently a "concede a shot" strategy. Hard to shoot par when you give up a stroke every time you drop it into a bunker...My home course has tiny greens that are well protected. This is the year I get as good from the bunkers as I am chipping around the greens.

The following is a current ad featuring Cleveland's CEO Greg Hopkins:

Some recommended reading on short game improvement: