Dave's Bag Lotto and Club Reviews

[Ferrins]

A real Jekyll and Hyde round yesterday, so much good golf mixed with lots of wtf stuff! I ended up with 26 points with 6 wipes! I didn't have a 1 pointer till the 2nd last hole, all 2's , 3's or wipes otherwise! And a few of the wipes were from the centre of the fairway as well, seriously deflating!

My transition was all over the place, and rather than just hitting the ball, I tried too often to finesse it, and just did it so badly! It was very windy, but that is no excuse, just poorly thought out shot selections, and not a lot of luck at times either.

Very mixed results with the 816. Poor swings didn't help, but I did find the address view somewhat off putting. That flat black finish doesn't really work for me. Performance wise it wasn't too bad when I managed to put a good swing on it. The sound/feel was similar to the 815, and the 816 was probably the lowest spin of them all.

According to my Game Golf data there is only a few metres difference between the 3 models in terms of average length. The Alpha 10.5* was longest, then the 815 10.5*, followed by 816 9* (set at +2*) and last the Alpha 9*. They were all within a few metres of each other, and I suspect loft had as much to do with it as which model.

First time out with the Fly Z 3 wood. I only used it once from memory, and it went well. I ended up in the proverbial mayor's office, but in a horrible lie ( I hate cart drivers!) and wiped the hole from there!

I was Jekyll and Hyde with the VR Blades as well. But it had nothing to do with the clubs, more bad swings = bad results! They actually seem reasonably forgiving for a true blade, and I was getting excellent distance when I managed to swing them properly! They are also very workable, but I over did it a few times, and the wind did the rest!

I struggled on slowish greens with the Spider S, and only made a few good putts. I thought they might be a bit quicker with the wind we had, but they were instead slow and stodgy. The Spider's low loft just doesn't seem to work if green speed is slow. The putts tend to dig in, and it is hard to get them to roll out properly. This is the putter you want if the greens are quick though.

So which Alpha was the best?
There was a 9* 816 DD today that caught my eye.

[Daves]

So which Alpha was the best?
There was a 9* 816 DD today that caught my eye.

There wasn't much between them. The original Alpha has a slight margin in distance for me over the subsequent 2 models, the 815 and the 816 DBD;

[Daves]

Driver: Callaway V Series 10.5* with PL Blue Reg
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Callaway 815 18*
Irons: Callaway Apex 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 49*, 53* & 57*
Putter: Medicus MM1 CS CB 38"

A rained out round and a 4BBB have seen a gap between handicapped comp rounds for me. I finally got to play a counting round on Saturday. My score was solid but could have been so much better. Putting was the difference in the end. The whole group struggled on the greens and I managed to rack up 5 x 3 putts. Despite this I actually putted pretty well most of the time, and only had 18 putts on the other 13 greens in the round. Distance control was the issue that lead to the 3 putts.

The V Series was super solid. I hardly missed a FIR all day and my GIR number was also very solid. After a few poor swings early, I settled down and started hitting some very good iron approaches. I just didn't convert enough, and then faded over the last few holes trying to make up lost shots.

[Daves]

I have been a bit slack getting my comp round write ups done. This one was for last Wednesday's round;

Driver: Ping G Series LS Tec 10.5* with PL Blue Reg
Fairway: Cleveland Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Adams Red 18*
Irons: Ping i15 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 49*, 53* & 57*
Putter: Yes Stacey 12 CS 38"

This was a medal round off the blacks. I started terribly, 6 over thru the first 4, but I righted the ship and finished the front nine only 5 over. But I went off the rails again on the back and tried to forced it over the last few only to finish ugly.The main issue was the same as the last round, 5 x 3 putts!, 4 of them on the back nine. Whilst I have the odd 3 putt ever now and again, 5 in a round isn't at all normal. And in 2 rounds back to back is something that I have never done before! I did ultimately work out the problem, but you will have to wait for the next write up for how I did it!

The LS Tec was very solid for the most part. It was only when I started to try and force my scoring that I started to miss a few fairways. Ditto the i15s.

Despite they fact that I had 5 x 3 putts, I actually putted very well for the most part. The issue was distance control, when I got it wrong. On the 13 other holes I had only 18 putts and sank some very good putts.

[Daves]

This write up is for Saturday's round;

Driver: Tour Edge Exotics E8 with PL Blue Reg
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Adams Pro Gold 16*
Irons: TM Burner 2.0 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 49*, 53* & 57*
Putter: Nike Method Matter M5-10 CS CB 38"

So the first thing to say is there wasn't a single 3 putt in this round! Not even a hint of one. I worked out my distance control issue was due to where I was gripping the putter. I was setting it too high on the CB grips and losing my feel.

I started the round a bit tentatively, chunked a chip on the first and scrambled a bogey with a good 2nd attempt. Then my game kicked in and I was on fire. Back to back birds on the 2nd and 3rd, a little wobble with 2 bogeys and then birdied the 6th to be even thru 6. Got tripped up on the 7th by a horrible sand divot lie in the middle of the fairway and pulled my 2nd into an unplayable lie. Then parred the last 2 for a two over front (22 pts) that could have been anything.

Then the wheels fell off for a while, and I managed only 6 points thru the next 6. I steadied and managed to par the last 3 home. Something I have not done for a while.

The E8 was solid and pretty straight. It is definitely a low spin head, and somewhat harsh off the face. But it does feel solid, though a touch loud.

The Burners were working well. But I started to hit little pulls with them on the back, that did not end well. This is my bad shot, and a case of trying a touch too hard to hit them closer.

The M5-10 worked very well. Only 27 putts this round. And I sank some very solid longer putts. It has a moveable weights adjustable CB grip set up, but I have not yet played around with the weights positioning, or even opened the manual for it.

[Daves]

Another couple of overdue write ups.

Last Wednesday was a 4 Ball Stab, but with a single Stab in conjunction so it was handicapped.

Driver: Cobra F6 with PL Red Reg
Fairway: Cobra F6 3 Wood
Hybrid: Cobra Baffler Pro 18*
Irons: Cobra Fly Z Pro Combo 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 49*, 53* & 57*
Putter: Medicus CM2i CS CB 38"

I started fairly average, but somehow managed to keep somewhere near handicap for most of the front nine, but I was struggling off the tee. The back was a similar struggle as I lost control of my Driver. My short game kept me in it for a while, but it faded eventually under the pressure. A similar story with the irons, I really was not finding middle very often.

Not much to say about any of the clubs really. My poor swinging wasn't good enough to give them any chance to shine at all.

I backed up on Saturday for another single Stab with PeteyD. I didn't get a chance to change much in the bag for this round;

Driver: Cobra F6+ with PL Blue Reg
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Cobra Baffler Pro 18*
Irons: Cobra Fly Z Pro Combo 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 49*, 53* & 57*
Putter: Yes Stacey CS CB 38"

Nothing much had changed with my swing, and it got gradually worse as the round progressed. I was slapping the ball, mostly out of the toe, and getting really frustrated with myself. I eventually worked out the problem, but it was way too late to recover the round.

Again not much to be said about the clubs used, as my swing just wasn't up to it on the day.

[Daves]

Today's bag;

Driver: Cleveland Classic XL 10.5* with Miyazaki Mizore Tour 6S
Fairway: Cleveland Black 3 Wood, CG Black 5 Wood
Hybrid:
Irons: Cleveland 588TT 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eildon V Sole 48*
Putter: Affinity Touchstar CS CB 38"

[Daves]

Today's bag;

Driver: Cleveland Classic XL 10.5* with Miyazaki Mizore Tour 6S
Fairway: Cleveland Black 3 Wood, CG Black 5 Wood
Hybrid:
Irons: Cleveland 588TT 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eildon V Sole 48*
Putter: Affinity Touchstar CS CB 38"

It ended up being a very average score yesterday, and a very mixed round from a swing point of view. I managed a whole 28 points with 4 wipes. I started quite well, good drive down the 1st and on close to the hole for a chance of an opening par, which is always a good start on our index 2 opener. But I rushed the putt and pushed it a tad left.

Then I started to struggle after a bad kick on the 2nd, but I still scrambled a 2 pointer. Wiped the 3rd after a horror lie in the front bunker, and staggered to the turn from there. The back nine was more of the same. A real mix of good and bad.

But I did learn a few things from an equipment point of view. The Miyazaki Mizore shaft is good one, though a touch too stiff from my powder puff swing. It is quite firm in the tip and gives a very nice feel if you manage to catch one well. But for me at the moment it was more a case of losing them left a bit. The shaft came with the Srixon Z765 Driver I purchase recently. I gather it is a stock shaft for that model.

The Cleveland 5 wood was a recent addition to try a few things. As the extended Cleveland Black 3 woods I have are comparatively long, I was 1) trying to back fill the yardage gap they leave, and give me a high launch fairway option 2) see if a 5 wood can substitute for a Hybrid? and 3) explore a 3/5 wood, no Driver set up. Initial results were mixed, but showed a lot of potential for 1) not so much for 2) as I struggled for good contact with anything but a good lie, but off the deck it was a weapon, and therefore 3) seems quite viable. Shot of the day was my 2nd on the 10th hole, some 190 out and needing to work it L to R, I hit a screamer low draw to the back of the green. Not shot of the day was an attempt out of wire grass on the 12th that came right off the toe and ended up in an unplayable lie nearly 2 fairways left! I also ended up with another distance gap, as though the 588TT is only 21*, the extended 5 wood is more a 3 wood distance club for me. Dropping Driver out would enable me to carry an 18* Hybrid to fill that gap. So something to try at opportunity.

I have been struggling with full shots with my Yururi 49* PW. I seem to dig huge long divots with it, and end up with high on the face ball contact. The Eildon 48* was still in plastic so I extended and MOI matched it. I did not really get a chance to test it for a full shot, but it worked fine for anything short of that.

The Affinity Touchstar is another interesting experiment. This is a cheap, dept store golf brand. It and an Orlimar CS Putter cost me less than $100 delivered, both still in the plastic. I extended the Touchstar to 38" and put the standard pistol grip back on. The alignment aids are quite good and it sets up quite nicely at address, but I struggled a little initially with distance control and feel. So on went a counter balanced Winn 15" grip and that transformed it. Whilst I didn't make anything of any distance yesterday, I was solid as with 30 putts and no 3 putts with it. The Orlimar will now get the same treatment!

[Daves]

Today's bag;

Driver: Ping i25 with PL Red stiff
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Adams Proto Gold 16*
Irons: TM RSi 1 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eildon V Sole 48*
Putter: Medicus CM2i CS CB 38"

[Daves]

Today's bag;

Driver: Ping i25 with PL Red stiff
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Adams Proto Gold 16*
Irons: TM RSi 1 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eildon V Sole 48*
Putter: Medicus CM2i CS CB 38"

Two very ordinary rounds of golf on the weekend. Friday was our Black Marker and it rained for much of the round, to put a dampener on everyone's golf! No one broke handicap on the day, and the DSR ended up 3 over ACR. My golf was way worse than that though. I started poorly and never really got back on track.

I discovered on the 1st tee I had forgot to swap Drivers over, so the Cleveland XL with Miyazaki was it again. I managed to keep it mostly on the fairway, but I struggled with any distance in doing so.

The rest of the round is a bit of a damp blur now. There were no real highlights. It was a struggle all the way round!

[Daves]

Saturday's round was the 1st round of the Club Champs, same tees and pins as the Black Marker yesterday. At least its wasn't raining!, in fact the weather was glorious, but the golf was the opposite. It seemed the harder I tried, the worse it got. My bad shot pulls with my irons turned into full blooded pull hooks. Whilst my shots with the Driver were going the other way hard! I somehow managed to avoid raising the bat, but not by much!

Bag for the day was;

Driver: Ping i25 with PL Red stiff
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Adams Proto Gold 16*
Irons: TM RSi2 4 - GW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*
Putter:Yes Stacey CS 38"

[Daves]

Driver: Cleveland Classic Tour 290 with Miyazaki c Kua 43 Reg
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood Lite
Hybrid: Titleist 915 Hd 18*
Irons: Adams CB3 with Matrix Program 8.1 Reg 4 - GW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*
Putter: Medicus MM1 CS 38"

Wednesday’s round was much better, though I wasn’t consistent enough to get my score to where it should have been. 34 points with 2 wipes was the final result. I started really solidly, but wiped the 7^th when my bad shot pull approach shot found the water. The back nine was more of the same, very solid golf mixed with a couple of very ordinary holes. I somehow managed to wipe the last, after a really good Drive and 2^nd left me closer than normal. I got a touch tentative on my wedge in and left it in the bunker. Not usually a problem, except it stopped on top of the down slope and my attempted shot out scooted across the green and OOB.


The Cleveland Classic was very solid. It is a very easy to use club for me, and gives me good distance and control. And it was good to have control back after my poor Driving in recent rounds.

The CG 3 wood was a bit of an experiment. The soft lite shaft could potentially give me a bit of extra whip and distance. Which it did, but it was a bit hard to control and the tendency was to turn it over too much, and turn a draw into a running hook too far right.

The CB3s were very solid as usual. I am always reasonably confident with these in the bag. The short game and putting were also solid.

[Daves]

Yesterday's round was mostly solid, but inconsistency again on a couple of holes meant the score was very average. It was the 2nd round of our Club Champs and I ended up with a net 78, but 8 shots over par were accumulated on just 2 holes! And one of those holes included snapping the head off my 7i when the shaft let go at the ferrule on my approach shot! Bugger.

Bag for the day was;

Driver: Callaway BB 2014 with Aldila Tour Blue ATX - 55 Stiff
Fairway: Callaway BB 2016 3 Wood
Hybrid: Callaway XR Pro 20*
Irons: Titleist AP2 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter:Tour Special Pin Sight CS CB 38"

The BB was super solid and reasonably long. My swing was a bit iffy at times, but I was mostly able to put the ball in play with the BB.

My first time out with the BB 3 wood and it was super impressive, albeit the swings I put on it were very mixed. Shot of the day was a drive on the 9th that measured at 241m by my Game Golf reckoning.

Ditto the XR Pro Hybrid. I thought it might be a bit short at 20* vs my usual 18* Hybrid, but distance wasn't problem and I was hitting very solid. It has a nice solid "tonk" about it as well when you catch it well.

It has been quite a while since the AP2s (2009) have been in the bag. They were my gamers for quite a long time when I first bought them. I was hitting them very solidly and hit plenty of greens when I needed to.

The Tour special putter is a recent arrival. Not a flash putter at all, but it is the style (Face balanced CS mallet) that suits my stroke, and some extra length an a CB grip help transform it. It has good alignment markings, but looks a bit different to most at address, with the face looking like it has plenty of loft on it? (I can't find any specs for these). It also has an epoxy style face insert, which felt OK, but looks quite different. My putting was a bit mixed with it. I sunk some good ones, but I managed to rack up a few 3 putts as well. Mainly due to mixed distance control and impatience (not sticking to routine!). My short length putting was pretty solid with it though.

[Daves]

A very windy Wednesday for the Monthly Mug round yesterday.

Driver: Ping G LS Tec 10.5* with Alta Blue Reg
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Titleist 915 Hd 18*
Irons: Titleist 710 CBs with Nippon 105T Reg 4 - GW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Yes Stacey CS CB 38"

I played OK, my short game was very sharp, but I over stretched on a few swings that cost me shots. My bad shot was a pull hook into trouble, trying to work the ball in the wind.

The LS Tec was perfect for the conditions. I was mainly trying to hit knuckle balls down the middle, and it worked most of the time. The fairways were damp from rain the previous night, so there wasn't any run. The Cleveland 3 Wood and Titty HD were also suited to the conditions and I got good length into the wind when I needed it by keeping the ball low with less spin.

The irons had a lot of work to do, and were pretty accurate for the best part of the round. I didn't make a lot of GIRs, but I wasn't far away with my misses, and the short game kept me in it most of the time.

My wedge game was super solid. I made some exceptional up & downs from difficult positions. And I was good hitting the ball high or low. I have been practising a dead hand bump and run shot, and it was super effective at times in the conditions. My putting was very good as well with only 25 putts, but it could have been even better with a half a dozen lipouts in that.

My first time using the Truvis Yellow/Black Chrome Soft ball and I was very impressed with it. I have been using the Red and White version for a while and like it a lot. The Yellow/Black is even better visually, I found. Easier to see, easier to focus on, and it seemed very easy to align and putt with as well.

[Steve57]

Dave I wholeheartedly agree with the yellow Truvis, it is very easy to putt with. I love it!

[Daves]

Today's bag selection;

Driver: Callaway BB 2016 with Aldila Tour Blue Stiff
Fairway: Callaway XR 3 Wood
Hybrid: Callaway XR Pro 20*
Irons: Cobra Fly Z 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Cleveland Smart Square Blade 35"

[Daves]

Today's bag selection;

Driver: Callaway BB 2016 with Aldila Tour Blue Stiff
Fairway: Callaway XR 3 Wood
Hybrid: Callaway XR Pro 20*
Irons: Cobra Fly Z 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Cleveland Smart Square Blade 35"

Much better scoring yesterday in perfect weather conditions, but another tough course set up. My iron swing was variable though, thankfully my short game and putting were hot again.

The BB 2016 was very solid, and very comparable to the 2014 I use a couple of rounds ago. They don't look at lot different at address. All the differences are underneath, though mainly visual as the tech is very similar. I could easily game this Driver. Not because it is one of my absolute favourites to hit, but like a Ping G, it is so easy to use and keep the ball in play. And it can be sneaky long when you are in tune with it.

The XR 3 wood is another success for me with MOI matching. My heavy bias saw it lengthened it to 44.5" to get my MOI target. The extra length equals more swing speed for me, and MOI matching means more solid strikes. The end result is a 3 Wood I can hit as long (or longer) as my Driver and control better on tight driving holes.

As mention my iron play was very mixed. As best as I could tell, I was getting a bit steep on some shots. A bit of range time might be needed. Though playing as a 3 in a slow Championship field did nothing for the tempo! I find it hard to play at a more relaxed tempo in this situation. I am quick at the best of times, minimal set up, fast tempo and aggressive transition. Speed that up further at all and it can get ugly!.

My short game was very warm indeed. I made a lot of U & Ds that kept me on track. And my putting (29) supported that, though it could have been even better if a few lipouts had dropped instead. The Cleveland Putter was a cheap pick up from GolfBox. I have always liked the look of a Blade putter, but my stroke is more straight back and through and toe hang and I don't usually get on. The combination of the Alignment Bar and only a slight toe hang seemed to work for me. Though it could have also been that a Putter that sort of did my head in at address, made me focus on my putting more! Either way it worked! The Truvis Yellow/Black might have also helped. It really is a great ball to putt with imo.

[Daves]

Tomorrow's bag selection;

Driver: TM M1 2016 with Miyazaki Kusula 61S
Fairway: TM M1 2016 3 Wood
Hybrid: TM M2 2016 #3/19*
Irons: Mizuno MP54 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: TM Spider S 35"

[Daves]

Tomorrow's bag selection;

Driver: TM M1 2016 with Miyazaki Kusula 61S
Fairway: TM M1 2016 3 Wood
Hybrid: TM M2 2016 #3/19*
Irons: Mizuno MP54 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: TM Spider S 35"

2 steps forward, one back. I have been struggling off the tee with Driver in recent times and it has become a great frustration. I twigged to a couple of things during a practice round earlier in the week, and yesterday was a test of whether I was on the right track. It seems mostly yes is the answer. I realised I had been teeing the ball too high, way too high as it worked out. And I also seemed to have become Face Focussed i.e. way too much focus on the clubhead/face at impact. I found initially that focussing back i.e. zooming out to include the hands etc made a big difference to the contact I was making. As with most things swing related, whilst my success early was very noticeable, I started to struggle a little after a while to maintain a consistent routine for this. I think it will come good with some time and patience though.

My round yesterday was pretty solid for the most part. I started very solidly on both nines, faded a little toward the end of each, and then finished each nine with a birdie! My short game wasn't as hot as it had been. But my putting was very good for the best part (27 putts) and could have been so much better, with 2 lipouts and 7 putts left hanging in the jaws!

It is a while since I bagged a TM Driver, and it was good to be using the M1 and putting half decent swings on it. My badish shot for the day was my usual pull right, but it was pretty moderate at worst and most drives were well in play. And occasionally sneaky long, even though I wasn't going after it at all. I think I have said this before, this is one of the better feeling TM Drivers I have used.

The M1 3 wood was a bit more of a struggle at times, though that coincided with my poor holes, so I will put it down to the swing going off. The M2 19* on the hand was pretty good all day and sneaky long for a 19* club.

And it has also been sometime since I last had some Mizzys in the bag. The 54s were pretty solid for most of the day. The S300 shafts mean they were coming out lowish, but I still seemed to be controlling them pretty well. The PW I hit into the 9th was like a dart and didn't get much higher, but basically dropped and stopped dead where I landed it.

It has been nearly than a year since I last used the Spider. My fascination with CS putters has kept it off the radar. I putted very well with it as mentioned, though I never felt entirely comfortable with it at address. And as also mentioned, I struggled to get the ball to the hole at times, on reasonably quick greens. I think familiarity would fix the issue, but I suspect that the loft is a touch weaker than my usual Putters.

The Chrome Soft Yellow/Black Truvis continues to work for me, especially on the greens. But I did drown one yesterday!

[Daves]

Final round of our Club Champs today. Bag selection as follows;

Driver: TM R15 12* with Fujikura Pro 50 Reg
Fairway: TM R15 3 Wood
Hybrid: TM SLDR 19*
Irons: TM RocketBladez 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Odyssey DFX 2 Ball 35"

[Daves]

Final round of our Club Champs today. Bag selection as follows;

Driver: TM R15 12* with Fujikura Pro 50 Reg
Fairway: TM R15 3 Wood
Hybrid: TM SLDR 19*
Irons: TM RocketBladez 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Odyssey DFX 2 Ball 35"

This was one of my worst scoring rounds in a long, long time. Nothing I did worked, everything kept turning to shite. The hard I tried, the worse it got. The thing was I wasn't hitting the ball badly at all, only my putting stank. I had 3 perfectly approach shots end up over 30m over the greens I was hitting to, and 30M+ further than my normal distance for each club in question. And all from the fairway, so no fliers involved either!? And add 3 plugged in the face bunker lies, and 3 shots that ended up dead up against trees, just to rub the salt in a bit further.

I was hitting the R15 pretty well for most of the day. My bad shot was the usual pull right, but even those were moderate (though costly, as they ended up dead). The 12* face does my head in a bit, but I was hitting it pretty well anyway. And it was sneaky long with the Pro 50 shaft.

On the other hand I was sub par with the R15 3 wood for some reason?. I have hit it well in the past, but struggled with it on Saturday.

I was hitting the R'Bladez well early, but as I struggled to score, my striking started to slip a bit. Just enough to start missing greens, catch bunkers, not clear the water etc.

The worst struggle was with the putter. I had no feel for the 2-Ball at all. It arrived on Friday and I put it straight in bag, thinking a 2 Ball would be an easy transition, but it just did not gel with me. I have no idea why? It is currently sitting in the garage with an extension added to take it out to 38"+, and then add a CB grip and try it again.

[Daves]

Tomorrow's bag;

Driver: King Cobra LTD 10.5* with Aldila Rogue 60S
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Cleveland CG Black 19*
Irons: Cleveland CG Black 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Yes Natalie CS 35"

[Stuart]

I love the Cobra Ltd Pro driver - will be very interested in your thoughts comparing the normal version to Cleveland Classic.

[Daves]

Tomorrow's bag;

Driver: King Cobra LTD 10.5* with Aldila Rogue 60S
Fairway: Cleveland CG Black 3 Wood
Hybrid: Cleveland CG Black 19*
Irons: Cleveland CG Black 4 - PW
Wedges: Yururi Tour 53* & 57*, Eilodon 48*
Putter: Yes Natalie CS 35"

I love the Cobra Ltd Pro driver - will be very interested in your thoughts comparing the normal version to Cleveland Classic.

Cobra don't make the Pro in LH, so the LTD was the only option for me. With the Rogue Black in it, it was very low launch and low spin, so I can only imagine how low the Pro would be! Which Cleveland Classic were you referring to? Totally different flight to any of my Clevelands, but similar sort of distance I would say.

Yesterday's round was a 21 shot turnaround on Saturday's (7 shots on one hole alone!). I scored a lot better, but still left a lot out there.

My first time out with the Cobra Ltd and the results were pretty good. As mentioned this a very low launch and spin combo for me. But it was also very straight, and sneaky long with plenty of runout. I will try it with a higher launching shaft next time out and see if that makes a noticeable difference.

The CG Black Irons arrived with the Cobra Driver on Friday. I took them for a run on Monday without any adjustment and struggled to hit them. They felt way too light (Nippon 950s). I MOI matched them Tuesday and the transformation was huge based on Yesterday's striking. These are the model with the club loft * engraved with the Iron number on the toe, and the micro milled faces. They are true GI irons, with plenty of Sole, Topline and Offset. But they don't look all that bad at address. Perhaps it is the Black finish?

My striking was better than it has been, though a couple came out of the toe, for no significant distance loss. I thought they might launch super high, but they were only moderately high, which I quite like.

The Yes Natalie arrived in the same shipment, and I put it in the bag unmodified. I putted well with it, but didn't have a lot of luck. Though I did manage to pot a couple of good ones. It has a funky grip, that I quite like. So I might resist lengthening it for the time being.

[Stuart]

Cobra don't make the Pro in LH, so the LTD was the only option for me. With the Rogue Black in it, it was very low launch and low spin, so I can only imagine how low the Pro would be! Which Cleveland Classic were you referring to? Totally different flight to any of my Clevelands, but similar sort of distance I would say.

I've got a 2013 Cleveland Classic XL (7.5 degree) which is a low spin bomber, but pretty unforgiving (with my crap swing anyway). I've found the Ltd Pro to be very similar in spin characteristic to that head, which is why I was interested in your experiences, but I found the Cobra WAY more playable on 'bad swing' days.

I paired it (purely on a gut feel) with an x-flex 75 gram Oban Kiyoshi Gold, which is a higher launching shaft, and it is the best driver combination I have ever used. Probably not the longest driver ever in terms of 'one-off fluke' hits, but is the most consistently long driver I have come across, and is remarkably forgiving.

From what I have read (and this may be wrong), the Pro version head is fundamentally no different to the standard Ltd, other than having a different adapter that allows for both lower lofts and a fade bias.