My new clubs

(To skip the blah blah and see what I've got in my bag just scroll down to the bottom!)

Until last week I played with ancient clubs that I took over from my dad. I started playing golf approximately three years ago, at which time my dad felt like moving on to newer technology. One of my resolutions for 2008 is to play much more regular golf (last year I only handed in four or five score cards). Having not done too badly in following that resolution, I've decided it's time for new clubs. My birthday (today) was the perfect excuse for purchasing the new set.

My budget at present does not allow for expensive, top of the range, clubs. I went around to a couple of pro shops and other suppliers to see what was available on the market. I was considering a set of irons from Walmer Country Club's pro shop at approx. R1 450 (South African Rand). By the way the Club's course and pro shop are both more than worth a visit.

What I found interesting is that the various suppliers offer a limited number of 'straight' iron sets (3-9, PW, SW), most clearly prefer to market boxed sets (i.e. a bag, a set mix of irons & hybrids plus one or two woods). With the latter the reduced cost is a great advantage, but provides no freedom to choose between an iron and hybrid for example.

Eventually I ended up in Game (a hypermarket type chain offering a limited product range but low prices because they push through volume on their selected items). Not being too brand conscience this turned out to be a good move. I found a Spalding 'V Force' boxed set for just over R1 200 (I was happy with the mix). It is the only set of clubs in Game's offering! While the above set of irons may have been marginally better clubs, in addition to irons I now got two woods, a putter and bag thrown into the deal for ±R200 less! My impression is that I still got a solid set of clubs. Time will tell.

Here's what I have in my bag now
All the below are Spalding 'V Force', all iron club heads are stainless steel.

• 1-wood (driver) - 'R-Flex', 'High Modulus', graphite shaft; Forged 400cc head.
  
• 3-wood (fairway wood) - 'R-Flex', 'High Modulus', graphite shaft; 250cc head.
  
• 3-hybrid- 'R-Flex', 'High Modulus', graphite shaft.
  
• 4-9 irons - 'True Temper', stainless steel shafts; perimeter weighted, stainless steel heads.
  
• Pitching Wedge - specs as per irons above.
  
• Sand Wedge - specs as per irons above.
  
• Putter - specs as per irons above.
  

7-iron club face

7-iron, back of club head

7-iron, foot.

Update - My first round of golf with the new clubs
The below comes from a report on 18 holes at Port Alfred played on 23 April 2008:

...My new clubs ....This is the first time I put them to the test. In general I'm more than satisfied, actually pleasantly surprised. Although not reflected in my round's score today, I'm convinced that it will assist me in lowering my scores and handicap. I definitely got more distance and have more options out of the rough.

Two clubs stood out for me. The 3-wood definitely has a larger sweet spot than my previous one. I hit much straighter and even my bad shots had significantly better results than with the old wood. The 3-hybrid is incredible. It's my first time playing with a hybrid and it was an absolute pleasure. I'm comfortable playing it out of the rough in lies for which I would previously have resorted to a 5-iron and obviously get more distance as a result. It also plays very sweetly from the fairways.

The biggest adjustment for me is the Pitching Wedge. My pitches were terrible today. The one or two times that I hit it sweetly were great - but it was mostly disastrous. At least it was only the one club. It could have been the case with all of my new clubs. The putter is heavier to what I'm used to , which meant that my weight on puts was often a little out. But I like the putter. I hit one good drive with the 1-wood at 190m, which for me is good distance. But I'm putting the 1-wood aside until I get a chance to hone it on the driving range. I'm not used to teeing the ball high enough for a driver....