What's in my bag?

Oftentimes, when I am out on the course with a new group, the other players are curious about the clubs I am playing with. Similarly, I get emails from time to time from visitors to the site asking me what clubs I play. There is no better testimonial to the quality of well made custom-fitted golf clubs than having people see a great drive or clutch chip or putt, and being able to pick the club up and give it a close inspection--or try it themselves right there on the golf course. Well, it is hard to do that over the internet, but I can at least tell you what's currently in my bag. One of the fun aspects of my job is testing new offerings from component manufacturers, and trying out new configurations of heads, shafts, even grips. Sometimes, out of all the testing,  clear winners emerge: those are the clubs that go in my bag.

My current set make-up consists of Tom Wishon Golf Technology (TWGT) 550C irons (5-PW), TWGT 785HF hybrid (3,4), TWGT 949MC fairway metals (3,5) , all with TWGT Inter-Flex graphite shafts (stiff); CER oil-soaked wedges (56 and 60 deg.) with Aldila VX graphite shafts, carryovers from last year's set. For my driver, my current favorite is a 10.5 degree Bang Bang-O-Matic 460cc titanium head with an Aldila DVS 65-S graphite shaft. Of course, the anchor of the bag is an Old School Putters OSPII hickory shaft putter.

At the bottom left of this photo, you can see how the wedges are starting to oxidize. This is normal, and I love it. To keep the oil-soaked (aka "oil can") wedges shiny, regularly reapply a thin coat of oil.

I like Winn grips, especially their old wrap designs. But I have Winn PCi grips on my irons and hybrids, and I am learning to love them. They're a little hard on the hands at first, but once I got used to them, I really appreciated the "grippiness" of these grips.



My choice of ball right now is the Wilson i-Wound. I don't think they make these any more, but they are still available out there if you hunt for them. Like most golfers, I have hit just about every ball there is, just by trying whatever I happen to find in the woods or pull out of a pond. But, I definitely have a preference for a soft (even buttery) feeling when I hit the ball, and a ball with medium spin and distance.

Down in Myrtle Beach, back in early April, my golfing partner and I pulled up to the tee of a par 3 and there were two balls, freshly washed, tossed next to the tee (apparently by the greenskeepers). I teed one up and hit it. I loved how it felt at impact and--perhaps more influentially--how close to the pin it landed. It was a Wilson i-Wound. I played this single ball for the rest of the round, and became a convert right there. Bought a few dozen on the Internet, and now that's my ball.

Throw in some tees, a couple snack bars, a towel or two, and that's what's in my bag.