Most golfers have a preferred brand when it comes to golf equipment, mainly for reasons that aren’t very clear to anyone; it’s usually superstition. Unlike the more modern club manufacturers, Ping golf clubs have a small group of loyal followers who support them due to the long-lasting history of success. Right now, there are about 6 top-notch club manufacturers in golf. These include Ping, Callaway, Titleist, Taylor Made, Cobra, and Mizuno, and each has its own pros and cons. In my opinion, Taylor Made makes the best wood golf clubs, with Callaway being a close 2nd. I consider the best irons are from Ping while Mizuno and Titleist come 2nd and third, respectively.
While doing the Golf Club benchmark data collection, the golf clubs used were a set of custom-fit Ping i15 blades that have steel shafts. I bought a brand-new Ping i15s 2011, and I had them custom fitted for two main reasons. First, because I understood the importance of having accurately sized golf clubs, and second, which also made it equally justifiable, was my height. Being a tall lad, it’s almost impossible to purchase golf clubs right off the rack.
They might say old is gold, but I’m not sure if that remains true for golf clubs. I have clubs that have lasted me more than 10 years, so it becomes difficult to justify buying the more recent ones. However, the more updated ones still get better reviews than the ones that are available today.
The 3 Wood that I normally use is a Wilson Deep Red with a Graf-Alloy Pro Lite+ .428 fat shaft, stiff flex. I usually look to pick up a new one of these as this particular club was featured quite a while back, just about during the cavemen times. The Wilson Deep Red Fat Shaft was introduced in 2003, and I instantly loved the club because it was one of the few clubs I had that could hit and control the ball.
When it comes to the driver I use, it’s the Taylor Made R9 460, with a 9.5-degree loft. I use an Aldila voodoo snv6 with the stock shaft, stiff flex. However, both my Driver and 3 Wood are not custom made. The Taylormade R9 460’s adjustable Flight Control Technology apparently has a greater effect on the ball flight. You can have 8 different positions for the shaft, and you can surely find one that accommodates your game. The adjustment with a single screw and wrench is also easy to understand and change.
Another thing, the Grips I use are jumbo Golf Pride Grips, as these are bigger than the recommended size and fit perfectly for my hands. It’s better for me to use jumbo grips because they’re the only ones that fit my hand without being too tight. Additionally, when wearing the grips, I did not need to squeeze the club handle as much. Playing with the jumbo grips for a while made me realize I didn’t have the same amount of control I had when I used improper grips, which is a topic for another day. If you need more information about the above or anything related to Golf, be sure to check out the site – Golfing With Rob.