Fishin' Fore Chips
I've been braving the cold wet weather we've been having here in North Central Texas lately, hoping to finally reassert some sort of semblance of a grip on my game again. The soap box I stood so proudly upon in my last post has become my new battle cry.---"If you want to go low, go short." The ability to judge my chip shots by a matter of feet rather than yards has improved my score immensely. We won't talk about how bad my game got after the recent heart attack, (I was actually struggling to break 100 for a while there--but I digress), let's just say that my picture was in the dictionary next to frustration, and even served as a back up shot for "high-handicapper". The ability to chip within a few feet of the cup from several locations and 1 putt not only saved many a par, but even led to a few birdies this last round. I enjoyed my first single digit (8 over) round in 2 years, and I had a total of a mere 28 putts. After going over my bag something stood out loud and clear---1/2 of my 14 allowable clubs are short game oriented. Pitching Wedge, Approach Wedge, Gap Wedge, Sand Wedge, Lob Wedge, Flop Wedge, and Putter. Fact of the matter is--as weird as that may sound, once I get within 110 yards, I have at least one club I can use for almost any distance, and that each club (save the putter) has at least 2 (if not 3 or even 4) different swings I use regularly. This virtual panapoly of shots has helped my game more than anything since finally settling on a make and model of ball I can stick with for more than one season.
One Make and Model
Now a lot of us will jump at the chance to play a tour level ball. If you have the club head speed for that sort of thing and a nice fat wallet I say--"Go for it!" I used to have a much faster swing, and a little bit fatter wallet. At that time I played the then 3 Piece Bridgestone B-330 S which fit both my swing and my short game. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to stick with one make and model for both your practice and your game. If you chip with range rocks on the practice green--you should know that they are going to release as much, if not even more so, than your average 2 piece ball. If you're out on the real course hitting a 3 or 4 piece tour level ball it's not going to release anywhere near as much. Why this matters is for the very reasons I was talking about earlier---if you can't judge your chip shots to the nth degree of yardage (which you won't be able to do if you're constantly practicing with a different ball than the one you're playing with) than good luck sticking one close when you've short sided yourself off the green. Good luck judging how that ball is going to react to the green when it comes flying out of that bunker. Good luck judging the distance on that putt-----(Well--you get the idea.)
Now I'm not here just to beat up on 2 piece balls. Lord knows that immediately following the heart attack, and the tremendous drop off in swing speed from that point that I was back to 2 piece balls just to get some distance back in my game. But the fact of the matter is that I practiced with the same ones I played. As my speed came back I found a good 3 piece budget ball that fit my new in between swing--and the Wilson Staff Zip actually ended up fitting my game better than either the Srixon Tri Speed, The TaylorMade Burner TP LDP, or The Top Flite Gamer. All of these other 3 were very fine balls mind you--just seems that The Wilson Zip fit "MY" swing. As my game gets better and better I'll eventually be looking for a new tour level ball for next season. (One that fits my swing and one I can afford to practivce with as well as one that fits my swing.)
Three Courses
I realize this isn't always practical for most people--but I recommend it if at all possible. Find a course that challenges you for distance, one that challenges you for shot shape, and one that you feel challenges your putting. If you only have one course you can get to time and again--hopefully it will be the one that challenges your shot shape. After all--you can always move back another set of tees if you need to work on distance, and as far as putting goes, just playing on any course is a challenge in and of itself. Distance and speed are everything, and the greens I'm putting now will be different than those in the summer---even on the same course. I like the three or four different courses in my usual rotation as they stop me from getting too complacent. It's important to get to know a course, and a home course is something we should all have, but familiarity can breed mediocrity if one is not careful. Personally--I'm just glad to be back after it at all. Have fun----and hit 'em long and straight.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Like Losing A Good Friend
On Recessions and Casualties
One would think that after all the years I've spent around financial types, and all the recessions I've seen in my 50+ years that I'd get used to it. But when one forms emotional ties with their golf equipment, and eventually the companies that make it (in some sort of weird gnostic hope of figuring out each and every club's deep dark secrets) the deaths of the companies still cause some sort of deeper sense of loss for me than most people. I was a big MacGregor Fan. What a great idea--lets bring them back from the brink. A proud tradition, and all that. Hell even Greg Norman couldn't save them.
More recently, however, a name that's been very near and dear to my heart for years, with several clubs in and out of my bag over the past several seasons struck deeper than most. Oh sure I felt bad for Orlimar, but Jesse Ortiz did seem to land on his feet. That 420 driver he designed was part and parcel of the cult of golf underground. What a great club, which, until very recently, could hold its own with anything coming of the newer assembly lines. I had one of those, and I did have a set of Orlimar Irons in the bag. Lots of us had an old TriMetal or two, or three in the bag. We all mourned the loss of that company. They looked like they had made it, but recessions do cruel things to sporting goods companies.
I realize I tend to be more of a Nickent freak than most. I remember them when Michael Lee was CEO and Hoeflich was still hacking it out at TaylorMade before the big defection from that company sent him to Nickent and some of their better club designers to Adams. I used to shoot a set of Hyper Forged Irons and had the matching Hyper Forged Woods. No one could believe the quality of those products---and Callaway was so impressed they hired Nickent to due their castings for them. Most people were already playing Nickent Clubs and didn't even know it. Remember the Super Concorde brand of fairway woods? They were the most popular fairway wood in golf history. (It looked like a Trimetal Clone mixed with a dash of Adams Tight Lies. It hit further, straighter and better than either of the other two--and at 1/2 the price.) The success of the Super Concorde line financed the Hyper Forged line, which took over from the exceptionally well built--though somewhat funky looking Musketeer line of irons and Great Hawk Woods.
Most people never really became aware of Nickent till 2005 when their 3DX line of hybrids took the Nationwide Tour by storm, and became the number 3 Hybrid on the PGA Tour. They showed themselves to be a superior club to the competition in every way, and it wasn't until the aforementioned TaylorMade Designers hooked up with Adams that there was any real serious competition in the hybrid market. The Arc Wedges, though never a real commercial hit are still in my bag, and lots of people are scarfing up the 4DX Tour Clubs. The 4 DX Driver which eventually became "The Evolver" was not only one of the most revolutionary clubs to hit the market, but it was also what sounded the death knell for Nickent.
One need only remember that Nickent built their foundation as a value company. (Sort of on The Tour Edge Line of Logic) Unfortunately, though The Evolver was absolutely revolutionary in the sense that one could switch out shafts on theor own based on course and weatehr conditions (Sort of like a DIY Tour Van) it came at a hefty price. At $500 for a Nickent driver, tools and shaft it wasn't exactly a gyp--but during a recession the demand for such a luxury just wasn't there. They had bet a lot of the farm on this concept---and when they didn't pay there tour staff--the PGA said--Your van is no longer welcome on any of our premises. A $500 driver is a hard sell for any company when the nation finds itself in the midst of such a nasty recession--but for a value company--well.....
I will mourn the passing of Nickent more than most. I have 3 Arc Wedges in my bag, my back up driver is a 3DX Square for days when I suffer from CHS(Can't Hit Shit), my previous driver was a 4DX Tour Prototype, and I carry the 3 and 5 4DX Fairway Metals in my bag (with a 7 on reserve.) I really am sadder than most to see them go, as they always gave me something to write about at Epinions. They offered, until their recent miscue and demise, real value for the money. Guess I'll have to continue to plug Tour Edge, and Wilson Staff.
Some other soon to be victims of this recession, according to my sources, are Rife Putters, Heavy Putters, and Yes Putters. All of them seem to be a little deep in inventory, but at least they're still getting lots of display space (at least Rife is) at the big box golf stores. (Something Nickent rarely if ever achieved). I used to have to really source their stuff. I guess I'll keep this last generation alive as long as possible, but I will surely miss the opportunity to write reviews on new products that blow the doors off the competition--especially on a dollar spent vs. actual performance basis.
One would think that after all the years I've spent around financial types, and all the recessions I've seen in my 50+ years that I'd get used to it. But when one forms emotional ties with their golf equipment, and eventually the companies that make it (in some sort of weird gnostic hope of figuring out each and every club's deep dark secrets) the deaths of the companies still cause some sort of deeper sense of loss for me than most people. I was a big MacGregor Fan. What a great idea--lets bring them back from the brink. A proud tradition, and all that. Hell even Greg Norman couldn't save them.
More recently, however, a name that's been very near and dear to my heart for years, with several clubs in and out of my bag over the past several seasons struck deeper than most. Oh sure I felt bad for Orlimar, but Jesse Ortiz did seem to land on his feet. That 420 driver he designed was part and parcel of the cult of golf underground. What a great club, which, until very recently, could hold its own with anything coming of the newer assembly lines. I had one of those, and I did have a set of Orlimar Irons in the bag. Lots of us had an old TriMetal or two, or three in the bag. We all mourned the loss of that company. They looked like they had made it, but recessions do cruel things to sporting goods companies.
I realize I tend to be more of a Nickent freak than most. I remember them when Michael Lee was CEO and Hoeflich was still hacking it out at TaylorMade before the big defection from that company sent him to Nickent and some of their better club designers to Adams. I used to shoot a set of Hyper Forged Irons and had the matching Hyper Forged Woods. No one could believe the quality of those products---and Callaway was so impressed they hired Nickent to due their castings for them. Most people were already playing Nickent Clubs and didn't even know it. Remember the Super Concorde brand of fairway woods? They were the most popular fairway wood in golf history. (It looked like a Trimetal Clone mixed with a dash of Adams Tight Lies. It hit further, straighter and better than either of the other two--and at 1/2 the price.) The success of the Super Concorde line financed the Hyper Forged line, which took over from the exceptionally well built--though somewhat funky looking Musketeer line of irons and Great Hawk Woods.
Most people never really became aware of Nickent till 2005 when their 3DX line of hybrids took the Nationwide Tour by storm, and became the number 3 Hybrid on the PGA Tour. They showed themselves to be a superior club to the competition in every way, and it wasn't until the aforementioned TaylorMade Designers hooked up with Adams that there was any real serious competition in the hybrid market. The Arc Wedges, though never a real commercial hit are still in my bag, and lots of people are scarfing up the 4DX Tour Clubs. The 4 DX Driver which eventually became "The Evolver" was not only one of the most revolutionary clubs to hit the market, but it was also what sounded the death knell for Nickent.
One need only remember that Nickent built their foundation as a value company. (Sort of on The Tour Edge Line of Logic) Unfortunately, though The Evolver was absolutely revolutionary in the sense that one could switch out shafts on theor own based on course and weatehr conditions (Sort of like a DIY Tour Van) it came at a hefty price. At $500 for a Nickent driver, tools and shaft it wasn't exactly a gyp--but during a recession the demand for such a luxury just wasn't there. They had bet a lot of the farm on this concept---and when they didn't pay there tour staff--the PGA said--Your van is no longer welcome on any of our premises. A $500 driver is a hard sell for any company when the nation finds itself in the midst of such a nasty recession--but for a value company--well.....
I will mourn the passing of Nickent more than most. I have 3 Arc Wedges in my bag, my back up driver is a 3DX Square for days when I suffer from CHS(Can't Hit Shit), my previous driver was a 4DX Tour Prototype, and I carry the 3 and 5 4DX Fairway Metals in my bag (with a 7 on reserve.) I really am sadder than most to see them go, as they always gave me something to write about at Epinions. They offered, until their recent miscue and demise, real value for the money. Guess I'll have to continue to plug Tour Edge, and Wilson Staff.
Some other soon to be victims of this recession, according to my sources, are Rife Putters, Heavy Putters, and Yes Putters. All of them seem to be a little deep in inventory, but at least they're still getting lots of display space (at least Rife is) at the big box golf stores. (Something Nickent rarely if ever achieved). I used to have to really source their stuff. I guess I'll keep this last generation alive as long as possible, but I will surely miss the opportunity to write reviews on new products that blow the doors off the competition--especially on a dollar spent vs. actual performance basis.
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