jeffy

Joe is based in the San Francisco Bay area. You can PM him here at joey3108, email him at [email protected] or call him at 650-757-8310. Or you can call Ari at Scratch (scratchcustomwedges.com) and have one custom made; he'll help you in deciding what sole grind should work best for you: [email protected]; 248-420-1585. Ari is in Eugene, OR. Jeff

I wouldn't trust just any clubmaker; find one that customizes wedges for good players and that can show you examples of his work or give you references. More than just the bounce will effect the wedge's performance: sole width, camber, heel and toe relief and leading edge grind are all important elements. A wide sole wedge will play as if it has more bounce, for example. Heel and toe relief will make the wedge less stable in sand but easier to open up for lob shots around the green. In the New York City area, Custom Golf of Connecticut in Stamford knows what they are doing. I think they charged me something like $15 to put an M grind on a 56/14 Vokey, plus add the lead tape needed to restore the swingweight and stamp "56" on the flange since the original engraving was ground off (they threw in my initials for free!). Jeff

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what works best for me is to practice long putts from all parts of the practice green (uphill, downhill, sidehill) using just one ball and holing out. long putts need to be controlled by instinct, not conscious effort, and this is a good way of developing it. to develop a good lag stroke, one drill i like is to putt, right hand only, with a sand wedge, really long putts, 40 to 60' (david lee, the gravity golf guy advocates this). one can't make an unnatural dave pelz straight-back-straight-through stroke this way, so if that is your method, don't try it. if you're into the stan utley "mini-swing", "releasing" putter stroke, this is a good one. jeff

You'll probably like the NS Pro 1050 S flex...feels to me to be about a 5.0 to 5.5 flex, but more responsive than the Rifles. My SS is similar. Jeff

Like I said in Canadian Mike's thread, the best "causes and cures" handbook available is Manuel de la Torre's "Understanding the Golf Swing". He goes through all the causes for pulls, as he does for all faulty ball flights, and prescribes simple, effective corrections. Blessedly, it is not complicated and position oriented like so much instruction but focuses on the swinging motion and balance: of the right and left side as well as the upper and lower body. I highly recommend it! Jeff

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You could be slicing for a bunch of different reasons (left arm too stiff, coming over the top, taking club back outside, laying the club off, etc.). I have found that Manuel de la Torre's "Understanding the Golf Swing" is perhaps the most effective "causes and cures" handbook available. I highly recommend it. Jeff

Yesterday, a used Royal Collection Type H 15* 3 wood sold on eBay for $204.52...nice price since these were going for $400-$600 earlier this year. Today, shockingly, a more desirable 14* Type H went for $41!!!!! The fool had it listed as "Sonartec 3 wood"; looks like that cost him at least $160...Wish I'd picked it up! Jeff

Could be an outside-to-in swingpath with the left-to-right spin being accentuated with the lower lofted clubs. I read this article (recommended by hue) http://d4358519.s74.snitz.net/forum/topic.....asp?TOPIC_ID=4 and found it helpful when hitting balls over the weekend. You might also look at a book that is very good at identifying flaws and prescribing cures: "Understanding the Golf Swing" by Manuel de la Torre. Jeff

I pm'd you yesterday but got no response...I'd like asking price, pix, condition, shafts, length, loft, lie, grip info. Jeff

I agree with TourSpecGolfer; bag the combo idea. I have a proto set of tour blades made by Ishihara for Scratch (it's the unstamped set of Tour Blades pictured on the Scratch site) that were ground, polished and finished in Japan by Ishihara: they are essentially a set of "Moz" irons. They are surprisingly easy to hit and I no longer have any interest in CB's (though my index is 11). Worst case, you might dump the 3 iron for a 7 wood, a hybrid or driving iron, but if you are going to get a set of Moz, get the blades! Jeff

I never went to a Pelz clinic, and since I've read his books, seen him on Golf Channel, etc., wouldn't go. I also have found the techniques he recommends (ball back, open stance for chipping; straight back, straight through on putting) not only unnatural to perform but inconsistent with the techniques of the great champions. There is a ton of good research in the Pelz's books: for example, he conducted an exhaustive test to determine whether or not leaving the pin in is a good idea on shots from the fringe (it is) and has good advice regarding strategy on where to land shots, set make-up, etc. But, for technique, Utley's methods are more natural and more consistent with what the best players actually do. Sadly, Stan doesn't have any books or manuals to refer back to and is becoming very difficult and expensive to book for lessons. I'm glad I got to see him last spring as I'm not sure I'll ever get to see him again! Jeff

rsu wrote: Interesting set-up guys. Always wanted to add a super-lofted wedge but could never decide on a club to leave out. Guess you just have to tweak some irons in the set. BTW.....nice looking irons - especially those blades!!! Tweaking a couple irons is OK but really doesn't do it. You need to redo the loft, length and lie of the irons such that a couple are eliminated but step down consistently. For the most part, my clubs increase 5* in loft versus the standard 4* and decrease in length 0.625" instead of the standard 0.5". Ari at Scratch obviously knows how to do it; Miura NA has told me they will do it. The advantage with Scratch is that the sole grinding will be done after the lofts are bent on the raw forgings. That way you don't disrupt the bounce. BTW, I have the Tour Blades throughout my set and they play as awesome as they look...I highly recommend them! Jeff[/b]

Great looking set. I've had a similar set make-up (six irons from 21* to 45* and four wedges 50* to 64*) all season and am convinced it is the way to go; I'm glad to see someone else has gone this route! Keep us posted how they work for you! Jeff

See below. I recently bought three new Royal Collection BBD heads (16* and 19* Super S.S. Pro and 22* Super S.S.) that I plan to have Joe Kwok make up for me this fall. The Super S.S. Pro's should sit square; the 22* Super S.S. is a little closed so Joe will have to open it up, making it play about 23*. The 16* will have a 3 wood shaft to produce a strong 4, 5 wood and 7 wood combination. We'll probably use a little lower kick shaft than the Vista Tour 70 in all of them and something a little heavier in the 7 wood. Depending on the course and conditions, I'll pull the 3 iron or the 64* wedge to make room for the 7 wood (or just leave the 7 wood out!). Jeff

Incredibly, Japan tour van Royal Collection BBD fairway heads are being given away on eBay. Last week I picked up a 16* and a 19* for $61 each. I am going to have Joe Kwok shaft them with something exotic and wind up paying less than for I would for an ordinary stock fairway. I already play the 15* and 19* with Fuji Vista Tour 70's (a little too much shaft for me, perhaps) and these heads are super nice: great shape, nice boring ball flight, reasonably forgiving, bore through hosel that provides a nice dampened feel at impact. The Super S.S. Pro's have a square face angle; the Super S.S.'s are closed but can be opened by grinding the sole (according to Joe Kwok). Anyone looking for a serious fairway should snap these heads up. Jeff

Andy- PM sent... Jeff

I'm still looking...will accept lightly used, shafted, whatever...will pay top dollar! Jeff

I played the last few years with Tour Flighted Rifles, switched this spring to Project X, then switched this summer to the NS Pro 1050s. I wouldn't play the Flighted Rifles again (they feel a litle dead). I'm sticking with the NS Pro's for now: great feeling shaft with a nice tingle at impact. Jeff

Mizuno and Cleveland for stock, Scratch for custom. Jeff

I posted in July that I had reread Manuel de la Torre's "Understanding the Golf Swing" and that I found it helpful. By the beginning of September, I had sort of forgotten his principles and was focusing on other approaches, including the very intriguing "Tour Tempo". By the end of September, my game was a shambles and I had some important matches approaching. Two weeks ago, after a Thursday practice round of left and right drives, topped fairway woods and fat irons, I picked up de la Torre's book again, because it very precisely diagnoses these problems and offers concise cures. Well, this book really works. It helped me mechanically immediately the next day and that Sunday I won my match easily. Last week, I continued to study the book and found that his advice on the mental approach to the game, putting and bunker play was also very helpful. After this past weekend, I'm a disciple! This past Saturday I won my handicap flight of the club championship very easily: I was 6 up after nine holes. On Sunday, an eight hole stretch of even par golf (including back-to-back birdies; my index in 10.9) helped put my partner and me 5 up after ten holes in the final of a season long team event; we won easily. I should mention that critical to these good showings was also the chipping and putting skills I learned from Stan Utley last March. I've never putted or chipped better. It's too bad, though, that Stan doesn't have a book out that I can turn to when I need help! In any case, if you are struggling with your game, particularly if you think you have decent mechanics but can't "tie it together", give de la Torre's book a try. Be aware that it is a total method, so picking out bits and pieces may not be that effective. But the system is straightforward and simple and really not that hard to adopt (in fact, my team event partner said my swing looks the same; the ball is just flying a lot better). Jeff

As I've mentioned in other posts, I really love my Scratch Tour Blades. I bought the unstamped prototype set pictured on the Scratch site, mostly as a lark as I was then playing a set of Scratch CBs (with PX 5.0s) and loved them. But the combination of the surprisingly forgiving modern blade and the very sweet NS Pro 1050 S shafts quickly won me over. I'd seriously talk to Ari about the Tour Blades. Jeff

hornyjuan wrote: 64* !!!!!!!!!! yeah...I need to be careful that the ball doesn't knock my hat off when I use that sucker! Jeff

I can't see the logic of going strong; that only creates big distance gaps in the wedges, the most important scoring clubs. Whether you like David Pelz or not, his research exposes the drawbacks of this approach. My lofts are as follows: 21* 3 iron 25* 4 iron 30* 5.5 iron 35* 7 iron 40* 8 iron 45* 9 iron 50* PW 55* SW 60* LW 64* XL The 3 through PW shafts step down in 0.625" increments (instead of the standard 0.5"), the PW through XL drop in 0.25" increments. I also carry a driver, 15* and 19* fairways and putter. I highly recommend this set up for those who play on severe, fast greens like I do, where the 64* comes in very handy. I also have the flexibility to drop the 64* and add a 7 wood if the greens aren't too severe. The extra 1* loft gap/0.125" shaft increment in the irons adds only 2 to 3 yards to the distance gaps, which is very manageable. Jeff