FairwayFred

I went to the range today and spent alot of time hitting some balls with these 3 different hybrids. The Taylor Made Rescue Mid was the TP version #3 at 19* loft with a S400 shaft. The TourStage Air Muscle is the #2 18* with a S200 shaft. The Hogan CFT is the #2 19* with the Apex #4 shaft. The Taylor Made and Hogan are pretty simular clubs, the Air Muscle is a totally different animal. The Air Muscle is pretty much just a forgiving 2 iron. It sets up just like an iron, it is pretty small for a "hybrid" is shaped just like most TourStage irons and has very minimal offset. Out of these 3 clubs the AM looks the best and feels the best by far. It is also the least likely of the 3 to ever make it into my bag. The trajectory is simply too low for me for the club to serve its intended purpose. It went a good 20 yards shorter than the other 2 in carry distance. I am sure that alot of this is made up for in roll but I am looking for something that can hold a green like a 5 wood. It is pretty forgiving, simular to a Big Bertha long iron but without the draw bias. If you are looking for something that is essentially a driving iron for tee shots I think the Air Muscle is exactly what you are looking for. It will also appeal to someone who carries a normal 2 iron and is looking for something traditional looking but more forgiving. Simular to a FourteeN but better IMO. The Hogan and Taylor Made performed very simularly for me. I was very surprised by both clubs to be honest. The Mid Rescue TP is probubally the best Taylor Made clubs I have hit in a long time and definetly something I could put in the bag. (those who know me know I am not a TM fan at all) The Hogan looks alot better IMO. It has less offset and sets up slightly open which I love. Although simular, I like the shape better and the fact that the face is deeper in the toe area. The TM sets up better than the standard Mid Rescue but I have always found it to be somewhat distracting looking. For some reason I find the Hogans 2 tone paint alot less distracting than the TM 2 tone paint. The TM feels better than than the Hogan. It is very solid and has a great sound. Very un-TM like. The Hogan has a very solid feel but has a louder slightly more tingy sound. I hit them almost exactly the same distance, about 200 yards of carry with the range balls. The TM had a slightly better trajectory, a little more boring. The Hogan seemed to apex a little higher. I think this is mostly due to the shaft difference. I have always found the Hogan Apex shaft to balloon a little compared to Dynamic Gold. The Hogan seemed to be a little more workable and wanted to draw less. The TM is pretty neutrally weighted, I hit it pretty straight or with a little draw. The Hogan didnt seem to want to go left unless I really wanted to draw it. Normal swings (i draw everything and hate it) wanted to go straight and I could hit a little fade if I tried (my prefered ballflight) The Hogan is noticeably more forgiving. The TM is easy to hit but the Hogan is really really easy to hit. Much better on thin and toe shots especially. Overall these clubs are very close IMO. In the end I liked the Hogan better, it performed a little better for me and the better looks outweighed the difference in feel. I ended up getting the Hogan and am throwing it in the bag right away. I was not planning on buying a new club but at $74.99 for a club with a "Speed Slot" how could I say no??? :lol:

This is the new Bobby Grace/MacGregor small mallet prototype MOI putter that Lee Janzen is using. Looks pretty good to me. I like the idea of these high MOI putters getting smaller and more normal looking.

Eric, I will send you some pics of our new CBs tomorrow when I get to the shop. I had been playing MR23 CBs for about 2 years and these proto CBs that I have in my bag now are noticeably better. They look almost the same at address but they are noticeably more forgiving and surprisingly softer. I know nobody will be surprised to hear me rave about our clubs but I had very high expectations for these CBs and have been amazed that they have surpassed them. Aside from the incredibly soft feel the thing I was most impressed with was the ability to work the ball high and low and hit punch shots especially with the short irons. They look like a true blade at address and feel better than any iron I have hit. We really have a winner with these CBs. I cant wait to get them in peoples hands. We should have our first run of CBs with our S logo in about 2-3 weeks. We will also have sets available of our 2 blade models. Price for fully custom sets is $1250. Project X is a $100 upcharge. Delivery time is about 6 weeks after we get your order. Aftwe we get sets to all our retail accounts we will have about 12 of each set for sale untill we get our second run of heads. Feel free to email or PM me with any questions.

I heard about March 15th for the new lofts and black heads. Contact Scott at TourTunedGolf at [email protected] He can set you up with your choice of loft and face angle. He also does incredibly good clubwork and can get just about any shaft to put in it.

I love my Gemini 355. It is incredibly easy to hit. IMO the double face is not hype. I have hit numerous range balls now and played one round with it. It iis kinda hard to make a distance determination after only 1 round but I hit some pretty deep drives with it and I wasnt swinging very good at all. (havent touched a club in over 8 weeks due to injury) I dont think it is longer than any of the newer drivers from other companies out there but it seems to be just as long. I have made some bad swings and the Gemini performed amazingly well. One ball that I hit off the lowest scoring line went still went 260 in the fairway and looked like I had hit it pretty good. I love the shape of the 355. It is as good as any driver I have ever seen. I even like it better than the shape of the Maru. IMO it is much better than the 395. With the incredible forgiveness of this head I dont see a need to goto the 395 at all. The feel and sound are okay, not bad but not great. Again much better than the 395 IMO. It has a higher pitched sound but not too pingy like a TM driver. The feel is solid although it is kinda hard to tell where on the face you hit it because the whole face is a sweet spot. Trajectory is very good, high and flat with a good amount of roll. It plays very true to loft. My 9.5* only hits the ball a little bit higher than my 8.5* Maru. I can hit a draw and fade with it although it is harder to work it high and low. It seems to be very neutrally weighted and mostly wants to go straight. I heard March 15th or so for the new lofts and black heads. I am excited to get some more experience with this driver. I am just looking for something that will get me in the fairway consistantly and this things seems like it will be perfect for that. I am not sure that if I were given the choice I would make this technology legal but since it is I will play it. I miss the feel of my Maru for sure (that Maru is a club I will probubally keep forever) but the Gemini is just so user friendly and good looking it is impossible for me to ignore.

I was very impressed with the way the Air Muscle looked. It is not that big at all and sets up very much like any other TourStage iron but with that back part sticking out. It has very little offset and a nice toe shape, not at all flat like the FourteeN. I can't wait to hit it on saturday.

Alcap, I am definetly not TourSpecRefinishing and I know that Joe is not either. His name is Craig and he runs a plating shop that does all the plated finishes for Scratch. I know they do not do putters, just irons and wedges. They mostly do plating on airplane and car parts. I know he has been incredibly busy but hopefully he will get on to answer any questions for everyone.

HAHAHAHAHAHA :lol: 8)