Ground Zero

[pabsquid]

Guys-

I'm back to building a bag up from the ground again. I went into Hong Kong on Tuesday to renew my mainland China visa and came back to find a window from my car smashed at the border parking lot, thanks to what I think was a result of me carelessly leaving my iPod Touch in the center console. They got my stand bag that had my MP-29 set, my Yes!Golf prototype putter, my Yamaha V201 TourModel + 9003S I owe to bngolfer, my TM Burner TP driver, and my DP-2010 wedges, not to mention my wedding ring, rangefinder, 3 sleeves of Pentas, spare contacts, and other random stuff.

I'm pretty much working on rebuilding from scratch here and will be gaming a borrowed SuperTri and my Gold's Factory blades in the meantime.

I have Robb40's 9.5 Degree Legacy Tour Head coming from the USA in a few days which I'll now need to buy a new shaft for, but am leaning towards biting the bullet and purchasing a 10.0 degree Epon AF-102 but the shaft is undetermined. My current swing speed is 113mph, with a 166mph ball speed with 2037 rpms of backspin so based on that I think I need a mid-kicking shaft at about 265 CPM's. Any suggestions for a shaft? Quadra, Crazy, etc?

For irons, I'm considering ordering some Callaway X-Forged Prototype blades. They come 2-PW and I think the combination of Endo forged, blade + a teeny bit of technology, and US type weights and minimal offset will be a nice combination. I hit the Epon 302's recently and like those as well - gonna be a tough choice.

For wedges I really am in love with the DP-2010's, but want to know a little more to see what the "proto" version is and if that's still available.

For a putter, I'm liking the looks of the Odyssey #9 in the black finish, but with all these new purchases this will be the last priority.

Besides feeling a bit destroyed (Goodsie can attest to just how much we've done sending clubs and shafts back and forth between Japan, Austin and Dongguan, China), I guess it's an opportunity to get the bag 100% right so if there's anything you guys love and would recommend for a low single digit that appreciates clean and traditional looks and great quality please give me some input as I'm going to need to get on it ASAP.

*sigh*

[Spoon]

Hey man so sorry about your less. there were no guards or cctv in the border parking lot? was it a public paid parking lot or a park at your own risk sort of thing? no many guys that lost golf stuff in their cars in the usa. for what its worth glad you are ok.

take this as an oppurtunity to build your second bag. you already know what works and Goodsie knows your specs so it should be easier to get the second time. go what works with you, you must have had a set in mind before your set got stolen so why not just base it on that? you were interested in my aftours before why dont you go for them? for the driver weve exchanged a lot of times for me to know you really like the af102 go for it. for shaft why dont you try the new GD di 7x?

let us know how it goes.

[pabsquid]

I wish it happened in the USA - at least there people have good security cameras and reliable insurance, etc.

China is frustrating to say the least.

I think for the gear, the rough specs I know - but there's so many options. The AF 102 is really nice - I'll probably do that, just need to pick a shaft. Would love to hear how people are liking their Quadras and Crazys.

For the irons the shafts are determined, it's more of which heads - the callaways would be bought on theory, the epon's i've hit before. Have you ever played the callaway protos or seen them? I'm assuming that the S20 steel should be pretty top notch out of endo and with US weights, etc. they may resemble my late MP-29's + variable weighting.

-d

[gocchin]

Damn I am so sorry to hear that. Been to China many times... I know it can be bad for things like this.

D, just contact me if you need anything and I will help you out.

[pabsquid]

Thanks Tario. Will definitely be sending over a list once the dust settles.... Clubs are so much more personal than just the monetary value as I'm sure you know.... It takes a while for them to feel like part of the "family". All the pureing, flo'ing, bending, cutting, weighting, etc, etc. *sigh* it's depressing.

Do the DP-2010's exist in two forms? The proto and the regular versions? Any difference?

-d

[pabsquid]

Also, T, are those new RC wedges the same size and shape as the Sky Jump Dream wedges?

I've got to use my old clevelands for a while and just can't go back to the large size....

-d

[Vineman23]

Hey pabsquid, sorry to read about the loss,

I have hit the Callaway protos and found them a bit hard, the top line is razor thin which is appealing and from the top the shape looks pretty good although they are not what I would call traditional. I was playing mizuno MP30's at the time and the head size on the proto's was slightly smaller than mizuno's and as I said not as "soft" both sets had S300 shafts so there was no difference in shafts confusing the issue.

I hope that is some help, let us all know what you come up with, good luck.

Vineman

[pabsquid]

Hey pabsquid, sorry to read about the loss,

I have hit the Callaway protos and found them a bit hard, the top line is razor thin which is appealing and from the top the shape looks pretty good although they are not what I would call traditional. I was playing mizuno MP30's at the time and the head size on the proto's was slightly smaller than mizuno's and as I said not as "soft" both sets had S300 shafts so there was no difference in shafts confusing the issue.

I hope that is some help, let us all know what you come up with, good luck.

Vineman

Thanks Vineman, that's super useful feedback. I think I could be tolerant of the hardness so long as the top line is thin, the of set is minimal and they're of "USA" type weight. The gold's factory blades were almost too soft for me. Small is good too and the real kicker is that a good friend could help pro deal them for me for about $600, 2-PW with my shafts of choice (kbs's). I think the Epons may run me double that so this might be a good option, letting me save some cash for a good driver.

Thanks again V. Generally speaking, did you like the proto blades?

D

[Vineman23]

Thanks Vineman, that's super useful feedback. I think I could be tolerant of the hardness so long as the top line is thin, the of set is minimal and they're of "USA" type weight. The gold's factory blades were almost too soft for me. Small is good too and the real kicker is that a good friend could help pro deal them for me for about $600, 2-PW with my shafts of choice (kbs's). I think the Epons may run me double that so this might be a good option, letting me save some cash for a good driver.

Thanks again V. Generally speaking, did you like the proto blades?

D

No worries D,

Yes in general I did like them, sit well look good from the top, I just prefered my mizuno's (oh I wish I didn't sell them!) and the protos were a bit too much club for me to handle as I prefer the slight cavity, I can't remember what the offset was like though sorry.

Sounds like a good price and from what I have read by you "blades" may be a good option for you rather than the 302's. Plus at that price if you got them and dicided that you didn't like them you could sell them on easily I would think!

I am looking at the 302's and the fourteen TC910's at the moment although aparently the fourteen's are quite long in the blade compared to other players cavities.

Good luck let us all know how you go,

Vineman

[pabsquid]

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone again. A number of members have reached out and have been super helpful, generous and it's a great community we're a part of here so thanks again bngolfer, spoon, goodsie, vineman, fatman, and especially Chris and Tario for creating this.