It’s what’s in the bag that counts

This is the official “what’s in the bag” V2.0:

Driver: Titleist 913 D3 (9.5 degrees)
Setting: D4
Shaft: Fujikura Motore Speeder VC 7.2 X (Tipped 0.5 inches, 0.5 inches under standard)

3 Wood: Titleist 913F D2 (15 degrees)
Setting: D4
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana White Board Plus 82X (Tipped 0.5 inches, 0.5 inches under standard)

Hybrid: Titleist 913H D3 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Rayon Diamana Blue Board plus 82X

Irons: Titleist AP2 (4-9, bent 1 degree strong)
Shafts: KBS Tour (S-Flex)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey (SM4 46-08 and 50-08.  TVD M Grind 54 and 58 degree)
Shafts: Dynamic Gold S200

Putter:  SeeMore mFGP

Ball: Titleist Pro V1X

The sticks arrived today!  It was an exciting morning out at Columbia Edgewater when the FedEx guy arrived carrying some long Titleist boxes.  Out of which these were produced:

Just purely awesome buttery delicious golf clubs.  Never did I ever think I would get this excited about golfing gear, but a lot has changed in my life in the past 3 years and never has proven to be too permanent a word.  I was blissfully excited to get all of the irons, the fairway wood and hybrid today.  Add the Vokey wedges that I picked up in February and the only club that is missing from the list above is the driver, which is being built with an “exotic” shaft that may take another week or two to be finished.  For the time being, though, I have a lot of new toys to keep my engagement at a new high.

I left the plastic wrap on them for a while, almost nervous to take it off and scuff the smooth metal for the first time.  They just look so pristine:

But, alas, all things need a ding or two and it was a perfect day for getting a little dirty so the plastic wrap had to come off.

I hit them on the range for a while before deciding to break them in officially on the course for 9 holes.  My first couple of hits with them were overcooked draws, but then I remembered what the fitters said about the difference between my old and new sticks and how I needed to trust them through my swing without making a compensatory wrist flip and as soon as I started calming the hands down and letting the body/arms swing my results quickly improved.

I hit this little guy for the first time on the third hole:

My last bag didn’t have a 4-iron and instead had a 4-hybrid.  I thought that having a 4-hybrid gave me more reliable distance, but I was surprised to knock this stick 204 yards down the fairway, which is about 10 yards further than my hybrid of the same loft degree usually flew.  It was pretty interesting and I was curious if I was getting more distance out of all my mid-irons.

A few holes later I pulled the 6-iron out on a 180 yard par 3 that I used to hit a 4-hybrid on.  My “normal” distance with the 6-iron was about 160 yards so I didn’t know if it would make it to the green, but I wanted to see what would happen.  I gave it a good turn and to my surprise the ball ended up pin high with about 15 feet of putt between me and a nice birdie:

I’ll take that all day!

But, of course, it wasn’t all easy birdie putts.  With new gear comes an adjustment period and especially in the early holes there were some errant shots as I tried to adjust to the new weight and balance of the sticks.  Here’s a video from a 170 yard par 3 where I tried to make a good turn but left the club face way open:

After that shot I found square and hit the next par 3 as described and also had a wonderful approach shot to a tough-to-stick green on the 8th hole from 160 into a little breeze:

It’s hard to see it, but the ball stuck about 5 feet past the cup and came in with a nice little baby draw off the face of the new 7-iron.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with the new sticks and am excited about breaking them in over the coming weeks.  Once I feel completely comfortable swinging them (probably by early next week) I plan on gathering some TrackMan data on them to see if and what are the differences between the new sticks and the old bag.

Speaking of the old clubs, this officially ends my relationship with Nike on a couple of levels.  I sent off the last payment check to my original swing coach, a Nike guy, earlier this week (I had an extended payment plan to settle up with him, but that is a long story which may be best suited for the Dan Plan book down the road) and now have phased out almost all of the original Nike gear outside of the driver and a couple articles of clothing.  When the new driver arrives and a pair of FootJoys is delivered it will pretty much finalize the transition.  I truly appreciate working with the Nike clubs out of the gate and would like to thank them for assisting me with my first set of clubs.  It is somewhat a shame we couldn’t keep working together as they are in my backyard, but you don’t always marry the first girl you kiss and sometimes “it’s not you, it’s me” can be said by both sides.

The reason for this switch: Originally, I wanted to visit Carlsbad back in late January, 2013 to switch out my wedges as Countless good golfers had suggested I try Vokeys and when I tried out a buddies lefty Vokeys I was surprised at how easy it was to control the ball with them.  When I was down in Southern California I was blown away by their resources and ability to help golfers; it was beyond anything I had experienced and I had an incredible time.  (for more about that trip, please read this entry: http://thedanplan.com/full-day-meeting-with-titleist-and-my-first-ever-wedge-fitting/ )

When I got back to Portland and started playing with the Vokeys I realized that I had been truly fit for those clubs.  They performed at a top-notch level and I was curious to know if the rest of my gear could feel as good as those Vokeys.  I had complete confidence in my wedges and wanted to have that spread through the bag.  So, I booked a flight and revisited Carlsbad a couple of weeks ago.  I had the same great experience and came away with a heightened knowledge of both my golf swing and what it meant to be fit for clubs.

Already, I have gained confidence in my irons and finally have a 3-wood in my bag (which went 245 off the tee the first time I used it yesterday) that will be a huge help in hitting par 5s in two down the road.  The experience, trust and knowledge I have gained all add to this confidence and is what will help me be the best golfer that I can be as I enter this next chapter of The Dan Plan.

For the record, I am not officially sponsored by Titleist as I was not officially sponsored by Nike. Like everyone out there, I can play any sticks I choose and am not being paid to endorse any one company.  As I figure things out I write about them.  Opinions can change over time and the best chance for success is to remain open to new ideas and pliable in mind, but resolved in your immediate decisions.

Side note:  I was reading a friend’s blog the other day:  http://davidshiking.com/ and he ends each blog entry with a “this blog brought to you by” statement.  I think it’s a good idea and will include that from here on out.  To start:

This blog is brought to you by the French institution: Académie Goncourt, who’s member Jules Renard wrote, “Truth is more valuable if it takes you a few years to find it.”