For as much as I’m obsessed with equipment and finding out about the latest and greatest, I am somewhat slow to make wholesale changes. Having said that, there were some key changes to the bag in 2022 that made a huge difference. Parts of the bag are still giving me fits though, so there will be some major changes I already have planned for 2023.

Driver: Cobra F9 10.5 degrees with Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke Blue 60g 6.5 shaft

This club has been in my bag the longest but is constantly undergoing tweaks. For the Club Championship (of which I won the A-Flight for the second straight year) I had the old Cobra turned down to 9 degrees with a medium JumboMax Ultralite (Bryson’s grip), and I hit low cuts for two days. It worked, for the most part to just keep the ball in front of me and basically play to my handicap on back-to-back days to get the win by one stroke. Afterward, I put back on the midsize Golf Pride MCC grip I have throughout the bag, put a 2g heavier weight in the front weight port to keep the swing weight the same, and turned it back up to 10.5 degrees. My driver swing fell apart before and during the Metro Amateur Series Championship and I shot 90+ both days. I have to find a driver set up in 2023 that can travel. The low running cuts work when it’s the middle of summer and the course is fast and running. I want the high bomb back that can play anywhere. When I am confident in the driver it frees up the rest of my game. When it’s going poorly, I get sped up and begin pressing with everything else trying to make up for it and that is never good for your score.

3-Wood: Callaway Epic Flash 15 degrees with Mitsubishi Tensei AV Blue 75g Stiff shaft

I bought this used from Golf Discount a year or so ago. It definitely has the right ball speed, but my problem with fairway woods has always been launch. Off the tee, this thing rips. Off the deck, it is a crapshoot. I need to play with the loft or possibly a higher launching shaft next year to get a higher ball flight so I have more consistent distance.

U-Wood: Callaway Apex Utility Wood 19 degrees with Project X Hzrdus RDX Smoke Black 70g 6.0 shaft

This club is magic. I bought it used from Golf Discount midway through the year and it completely changed my long game. At Whitmoor you have to have a tee club that you can carry more than 200-215 and that won’t runout more than 230. This club is so easy to hit and simplified all the holes where they take driver out of your hand. It’s easy to launch from the fairway and even the rough, so it’s great on Par 5’s too.

4-9 Irons: Sub 70 639 CB irons with Nippon Modus 105 Stiff shafts +1/2 inch

After playing the blades from Sub 70 for over a year, I realized the Missouri rough just really hurt me. From the fairway, I loved the 639 MBs. From the rough, I got enough out of the top of the head that came out so dead I went looking for answers. I found this set from Sub 70’s pre-owned section, and they were basically brand new. As an added bonus they had Modus 105 shafts and were a half-inch long. Both of those things, I was interested in testing out, and the price made it so going back to the blades or re-shafting was not a huge burden. I found that I loved them as is though. As a lowball hitter, the combination of shaft and head brought the ball flight noticeably higher and were undoubtedly easier to hit.

Wedges: PW- Sub 70 639 MB with KBS Tour Stiff shaft; 50-degree- Vokey SM7 12F; 54-degree- Vokey SM7 08M; 60-degree- Vokey SM7 08M (All Vokey wedges have stock “Wedge Flex” shafts)

The one place I didn’t like the longer and lighter shaft was in the pitching wedge. The ball came out floaty, and I like the stronger flighted wedge flight the MB gives me. I am still playing the SM7 in the rest of my wedges. I doubt I will ever play anything other than Vokey, but it might be time for a refresh because the grooves are starting to show some wear.

Putter: Mizuno M-Craft VI 34 inches with 13g weights and Golf Pride Pro Only grip

This is the only club in the bag I have actually been fit for. I went to Club Champion in January for a putter fitting and decided on this one. I love the feel of the forged head and milled face. The very heavy weight helps my stroke that can get quick and jerky. It gives you so much more confidence over the ball that you know it’s only up to your stroke and read. The putter will do what it’s supposed to do. This is also the reason I put the slim rubber grip on the putter. I used a Flat Cat for the first part of the year, but took it off because I felt it was masking problems and not letting me figure out why I’m not returning the face square when I’m off. The old school grip also gives me great feel and helps with speed control. I am still a streaky putter, but now I never blame the putter and know it’s all on me.

Ball: Snell MTB-X

This will be my third year playing this golf ball, and I still love it. I will play it as long as Dean Snell can still crank them out. It is indistinguishable from the Pro V1x, and is $20 cheaper per dozen. I love the firmer feel off all my clubs, especially the putter. Softer balls feel like marshmallows now, so it’s hard to go back. It spins and flies in a great window and seems to be a stable ball in the wind.

Rangfinder: Precision Pro NX7 Slope

I heard about these on No Laying Up a few years ago, and I think I’ll buy another one when the one I have breaks or gets lost. For less than $200 you get a very accurate rangefinder with pin locking and slope that you can switch off for comps (the newer models have built in magnets too). On top of that, you get free battery replacement. The process is super simple, so I always have an extra free battery in my bag and have never been the guy halfway through a round who has to start finding sprinkler heads and walking off yardages.

Stats/GPS: 18 Birdies

I began using the free version of this app and this will be the fourth full season of paying $99 a year for it. I’m not sure it’s the best option, but it’s the one with all my stats for years, so I am pot committed. The GPS/ Satellite image of the course is great. The stat keeping capabilities for regular stats (Score, Fairways, GIR, Putts per hole, Up-and-downs, Sand Saves, Penalties) is very easy. It has strokes gained which I am going to try to use more and club distance tracking which I keep in my head. It also has AI swing analysis which is interesting to play around with and somewhat useful for self-taught golfers like myself. Systems like Arccos and Shotscope are definitely intriguing to me, but switching and losing all that data feels counterproductive to charting growth. If they can perfect the technology to the point they still aren’t missing shots and it is totally seamless where it keeps everything without ever having to manually enter any data I am definitely in.

Planned Changes for 2023

Hybrid for 4-iron

I love hitting 4-irons. My left to right dispersion is great with my CB. However, it is way to flat. They come out like stingers. They are smoked, but have no shot at stopping quickly. I need something that flies higher with a steeper descent angle, so I have a more consistent distance dispersion. I am going back to the hybrid well to try to find an answer. The last time the Cobra Speedone hybrid had a shaft that was too soft that resulted in a bigger left and right dispersion as well as a still large front-to-back range. Sometimes it would spin up and land shorter than a good 5-iron and sometimes it would come out as a low bullet. I ordered a used on-sale Sub 70 949X hybrid that was named My Golf Spy’s Most Wanted Hybrid for 2022. It has an Adila NV 85 Hybrid shaft in it, so if this doesn’t work I am probably done with hybrids. My next idea is a more game improvement 4-iron. Sub 70 just launched their new 699 hollow-body irons. They are very intriguing, but might be a pain to gap because of their lofts.

The Cobra F9 is finally leaving

I hit the Callaway Rogue ST Max in the bay at Golf Discount a few months ago. It was the easiest driver to hit I have ever had in my hands. Club Testers have called it the easiest to hit driver ever. Sign me up. You can get a good deal on drivers after a company announces their new line, so Callaway drivers have come down about $100 since the game-changing carbon fiber Paradym was announced this week. You play somewhat of a dangerous game waiting too long though hoping for even further price drops with limited supply, so I finally pulled the trigger late one night a $300 “like new” Rogue Max with a Tensei AV Blue Stiff shaft from Callaway’s pre-owned site. My hope is the weaker shaft and ultra-forgiving head finally solves my driver woes.

Wood Fitting

I have already turned up my 3-wood to 17 degrees to try to get more launch and it’s worked, but it is also spinning like crazy. That’s fine for accuracy and flight, but it is far from efficient and will get eaten up by the wind. If the Rogue plays like I think it will, I plan to go to Club Champion before April for a fairway wood/ hybrid fitting. If the driver is still a mess, it will be at minimum a driver fitting and possibly a “Long Game” fitting. Hopefully, I can just plug fitted shafts into clubheads I already own, or taking the next step in my game could get thousands of dollars expensive in a hurry.