golfrewind.com

Random Stuff about Golf Equipment


Who am I?

Some here will remember me - I've just been playing golf a little again recently and felt like posting some thoughts (after going to a few golf retailers - ugh, the ignorance with some of them)

Kevin Downey – former golf professional & sales executive at Slazenger / Dunlop, Callaway, and former owner of Innovex Golf Company. Also, author of The Art and Science of Breaking 90.


What’s in the bag?

Innovex CfD 12* w/ Fuji 150 Stiff (still the best driver I’ve ever hit, and this includes my years on staff with Wilson, Mizuno, as well as working at Callaway)

Innovex 5, 7 w/ Steel Stiff

Golfsmith P2 G irons – 4 iron through LW – w/ Stepless Steel Stiff

Belly Putter no one has ever hear of


Why am I posting this?

Felt like putting some information out there for those that are confused about golf equipment.


My Values

I want the best product for the money possible. I don’t buy brand names in general (with respect to any products) because I know (coming from that end of the business) that a good % of what you pay for is marketing / PR. Of course, I have brand name stuff – in some cases that’s all there is. That said, it’s easy for me with golf equipment to play any brand – even something with NO name on it – because I know what I am looking at with equipment. The more knowledgeable one is, the easier it is to try different things. The less one knows, the more necessary it is to use something familiar – i.e. what we see on TV, in pro shops, and what others play.


OEM vs Component is Actually OEM (Tour Played) vs OEM (Cheap & Box Sets) vs Component / Custom (High End) vs Knock Offs

This is such an in-depth conversation that I couldn’t possibly put everything in a post, but I’ll simplify for the sake of giving some good information to people who are asking questions and sometimes getting incorrect information from people in response.

Tour played OEM stuff is generally good quality. Some are better than others. The heads are good. Graphite shafts used to be garbage, but are now much better. If not fitted, can be a huge waste of money – i.e. need flat or upright quite a bit, or way off on driver loft purchase, or way off on shaft weight / flex / torque. If fitted properly, will likely perform very well. Pay more for the brand name, but some people are more comfortable that way – for any number of reasons – and that’s okay. (Being out of the business, I now have a greater appreciation for this customer type. It used to INFURIATE me that some people wouldn’t play something because the brand wasn’t played on tour or whatever. Now I understand that person much better.)

Box sets and really cheap OEM stuff is on the level of cheap knock-offs – you might as well buy a used set of decent clubs.

Premium custom component clubs – Golfsmith, Golfworks, SMT, Bang, Geek, Wishon, Ashton, Innovex, Nakashima, (there are a lot of them) etc – are great products, and better when fitted properly. This is the way I personally go myself – mostly because I can get EXACTLY what I want / need when putting clubs together.

Now, there are OEM products that aren’t very good. There are products from some premium component companies that aren’t very good – especially those that cover the price spectrum, such as Golfworks, Golfsmith, Hireko / Dynacraft.


Graphite vs Steel

Play what feels better and what you hit better. Graphite shafts won’t make you hit the ball farther necessarily. Steel isn’t more accurate. I play steel in everything but the driver – mostly because at that length steel is just too heavy for me. I don’t have the swing I used to.

Graphite shafts were pushed hard by manufacturers for a long time because of the increased profitability. They were paying a buck more for the shaft (okey… a slight exaggeration) and charging $100 more for the club (in the case of a driver) – what would you push? $10 to $15 more per iron and $50 to $100 more in a wood, and the cost difference is pretty minimal to the manufacturer. Easy to understand why they pushed graphite so hard. That said, now golfers expect SHAFT company shafts to be in OEM clubs – so that’s more common these days, especially in drivers.


Custom Fitting

Most important club to fit IMO is driver loft, and shaft (to a lesser degree). Then iron lie angle. Some people need to be fit more than others. The more you are unlike the “norm”, the more you should consider custom-fitting.


Driver Length

Tour players average driver is 44.5” for men. Why are OEM drivers 45”? Because people hit the ball a hair farther when they make center-face contact with a longer driver. However, The longer the club, the harder it is to do. The most important thing about the driver length is to find the length where you hit the center of the face most often. Of course, you can only go so short – due to swingweight and other factors. But, most men should be 44” or less and most women 43” or less. My driver is 44.5”, but I also choke down 1/2 “ to 1” on the club.


Driver Loft

To me, this is the MOST important part of fitting the driver. The fact is that most golfers I see could hit the ball much farther on average if they had a driver with more loft. I swing the club 95 mph (used to be 103 or so… what happened?), and I play a 12 degree driver. Could I play a 10 or 11? Sure, but why would I give up the consistency I get from a little more launch angle for a couple of yards on a “best drive” situation? My mis-hits on the 12 are better than they would be with a 10 – that’s for sure.

Most men should be playing 12 or so, and women should be looking at drivers in the 15 range…. Speaking of average golfers of course.


Iron Distance vs Loft

Innovex was started because of this issue with golf equipment, and when I got my set of clubs a year ago, it was an issue for me then. I had so little to choose from because most iron sets are set up with short irons with lofts that are too strong.

Clubs used to have 4 degrees between each through the set. Then in the 70s MacGregor started the crazy thing of de-lofting the PW and all irons in the set in order to back up their guarantee that people could hit their irons farther than any other brand. So, the PW went from 52 degrees to 51 to 50 and so on. Now there are sets out there with PWs that are 43 degrees. What sense does this make?

A good set of clubs should have irons / hybrids / woods that are set up so the golfer has a similar distance gap between each club. If the clubs have only 3 degrees – or 2 for that matter – there will be no reasonable gap between the clubs.

My set goes (and I can’t hit hybrids due to the rear horizontal CG):

19* 5 Wood - 220
23* 7 Wood - 205
24* 4 Iron - 190
28* 5 Iron - 180
32* 6 Iron - 170
36* 7 - 160
40* 8 - 150
44* 9 - 140
48* PW - 125
52* GW - 110
56* SW - 95
60* LW - 80

Now, I’m not saying every golfer should mimic my setup, but one has to take into consideration the gap between clubs. What good does it do to have a PW you can hit 140 yards if the next club down only goes 90 yards? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Who cares how long you hit 7 iron? Just so long as you know how far you hit each club – and so that you have a club for just about every distance. 10 to 12 yards between irons, and 12 to 15 yards between wedges, as well as fairways and long irons or hybrids, is a “sensible” setup.

The biggest problem with so many irons today is that there’s a 3 degree gap between irons through a lot of the set – and the shorter irons are way too strong.


Golf Balls – Should you play ProV1 (or any other $40 ball)?

Golf balls have gotten really expensive. I play the Bridgestone e5 – because it is a $25 ball with a urethane cover. Would I play a B330 or ProV1 if I was willing to spend $40? Yes, but I’m not.

Should you? That’s up to you, however my feeling is that you should find a ball that has enough feel around and on the greens, that spins enough with short irons and chipping, but doesn’t spin so much that you’re hitting it out of play all of the time. It’s about balance.

If you’re a high handicapper that loses a lot of golf balls – especially hitting it out of play off the tee – find a ball that spins less. Better players, and shorter hitters that don’t lose many golf balls, should focus on what ball offers the best balance of feel, distance, spin, and value (if you are at all frugal).



That’s it – feel free to ask questions if you want my feedback at Kevin@leawoodoffice.com.

I hope this information has benefited you – even if it’s just a little.

Kevin Downey

awesome stuff. I wish many people would read your material above and take it to heart. Soo many golfers just buy the 2009 model without thinking about getting fitted or looking at component makers. Plus, every manufacturer has different models that work better or worse for your swing, so testing as many different options can only help you in choosing the right club.

I actually believe the right shaft is more important than the loft for me. I believe I will have a greater dispersion hitting a different shaft (either in flex or kick point) than I would if I adjust my driver 1 degree.

I have a 45.5 inch shaft in my driver and feel that I control the club just as well as a 45 inch shaft. I even have a 46 inch model as my backup, and I keep that ball in play as well. I wonder if that will be one more driver adjustment we can make on the fly in the future.

Yeah, good info. here.

So what's the longest regulation driver shaft?

Mahalo

Maybe 48"?

I'm checking out the Innovex website now.

I would like to see more pics of the equipment. Like on the drivers I want to see shots of the face, side shots, top shots, etc. There's currently only one pic from one angle.

Interesting

Hasn't been my company in almost 3 years, but I agree.

KD

Most of what you have posted is nothing new, and it's been stated many times before. I've been recommending component clubs for years, as have others. As for golf balls, I go one step farther in terms of saving money. I just buy last years tour balls on sale for around half price. One example is last years MaxFli C3 ball, Was selling for $42 and I just picked up 3 dozen at $14.97 a box. The C3 is just the 2007 model TaylorMade TP Red, which was a great tour quality ball 2 years ago.

One thing I really agree with is the graphite shaft issue. Look at most any set of irons, and the graphite shaft set sells for about $200 more compared to the steel set. And most of those graphite shafts are not what I'd call GOOD quality shafts, Nothing I'd want in MY irons for sure. If they were TOP quality graphite shafts in those irons, the the $200 extra price would be fine, but they're not.

I will also add that Innovex has made some really good clubs over the years. I've played a set of their irons and wedges in the past. Pretty nice set of clubs.