WITB - ryang13

[ryang13]

So long story short, I’ve had the same bag for about a decade. I bought most of this set up new while on leave from Afghanistan in 2011, and have not changed a single thing until this summer (except for adding some hand me downs) when I got fit for new woods to replace my Callaway Diablo Octane driver. I was never really a “serious” golfer but after this season of keeping track of my handicap and making a checklist of how I wanted to improve my game I realized I had some yardage gaps in my set up, which started the pondering about new irons, wedges, etc etc etc. Except for the woods and putter, all of these clubs are living in the bag on borrowed time, and my new set up should be arriving at some point this week so I thought I would do an update to this post after I get settled in with everything shiny and new. Big shout out to all you guys for amazing write ups on new gear, it helped me a ton in narrowing down what I wanted to try and see if it was right for me - I’m the guy asking people in parking lots if they like their vehicle before I even take it for a test drive so this forum is amazing.
Current set up:
Ping G425 10.5 LST driver
Ping G425 5-wood (lofted down to 4)
Taylormade Burner 2.0 hybrids/irons - 4-PW
50 degree - Callaway XR (hand me down)
58 degree - Callaway X Tour raw
Putter - Cobra Vintage Stingray
Headcovers - Pioneer Golf Co and Cayce
Bag - Cleveland and Ping Pioneer

 

[zoveracker]

Nice set up.
Thanks for your service in Afghanistan!

 

[Golfers Anonymous]

Good looking setup!

 

[Mmaynard11]

Great looking set up…what sticks do you have coming in!

 

[ryang13]

Great looking set up…what sticks do you have coming in!

Tried to stay agnostic but every piece of Cobra I touched this year I fell in love with (except for the Radspeed driver apparently). Going to be a lot of venom in the bag very soon!

 

[Muchmore]

Good looking bag, even if it is temporary!

 

[Thrillbilly Jim]

Nice setup!

 

[LSMO]

Good looking set up!

 

[YukonLiving]

Nice setup! And great headcovers!

 

[ryang13]

Definitely did not see this coming . Thanks to a tap on the shoulder there are some upgrades to the set-up.
Driver - have rotated between the G425 SFT and the Radspeed. Still unsure as of this spot.
FW - love the Epic speed 3W, it hits absolute rockets and it’s great off the tee. The Ping 5W has hit some great shots for me…..BUT my irons are getting a facelift thanks to the Quest Cup and these spots are now in flux.
Hybrid - the King Tec is a monster but the same issue. Now that the door has been opened I might as well ponder.
Irons - The players distance category has been good to me. I wanted something that would inspire me to put good swings on the ball and get rewarded for them, and not be ultra punished if I didn’t deliver.
Wedges - see the SMS Wedge thread, I’ve got nothing but good things to say.
Putter - currently back in the Vintage Stingray until the Edel 1.5 shows up, thanks to a Team JB victory.

 

[Wkndhookr]

Putter - currently back in the Vintage Stingray until the Edel 1.5 shows up, thanks to a Team JB victory.

Gawd, all you do is rub it in my face all the time. I'm telling mom.

 

[ryang13]

It’s the end of the season here, and I’m washing my clubs, so I figured now would be a good enough time as any for an update.



Driver:
TSR2 - looks and performs like a rocket ship. I love this thing. I was talking with my buddy about stroke hole #1 on our course earlier this year and saying how someday I’d like to be long enough off the tee to hit into the dogleg and cut the corner (about 280-300 yards, depending on what tee box your playing from). With this driver I’ve hit it not only there but farther on that hole. My fitter was not joking about getting me 20 extra yards of carry.

Fairway:
Ping G425 Max
Has been a pretty reliable club for me this year, when I swing it well. Have a shaft from Excalibur waiting to get an adapter installed and will give that a test run in the off-season. The stock Alta is probably my least favourite part of this thing.

Utility:
Taylormade SIM DHY 2i
This thing is a lot of fun. Was great for me off the tee this year during windy days, and I used it fairly often for 2nd shots on par 5’s.

 

[ryang13]

Irons
Edel SMS 4-GW
Really wish I had more time to get out and enjoy these, but I am looking forward to lots of time with them this winter. These things feel like butter, and are starting to pick up little nicks and scrapes like a true forged iron. Even with my work-in-progress swing, I was able to hit some really nice shots with these, and I think they will be helping me hit great shots for a long time. The SMS weights are the real deal, it truly feels as if your swinging 3 different irons just by moving the weights around, and when you find “the spot” it makes it much easier to get the club moving. I am headed to my fitting shop later in this month to try out some different shafts and see if we can find a better fit, and I will definitely be replacing the grips with a smaller midsize grip - probably the ST2 hybrid.


Wedges
Edel SMS 50T, 54T, 58V
My short game got some firepower this year courtesy of the Quest Cup, and went through a major overhaul in the process. I got much better from 50 yards and in, from greenside, and out of the sand, and picked up a bunch of confidence in the process. These are getting rebuilt soon with some Rapid Taper shafts, I’m looking forward to trying a different feel than the Kinetixx.

 

[ryang13]

All cleaned up and ready for some off-season work.

 

[LSMO]

Looking good!

 

[USAF Retired]

Looks like a great bag! How many clubs do you use?

 

[Pops]

Awesome bag. Hope you get some sim time in with them this winter.

 

[That post]

So prirdy. Get that work!

 

[leftygolfermn]

Sweet bag!

 

[ryang13]

Looks like a great bag! How many clubs do you use?

Good catch! This is sort of where I’m having a bit of a bag battle. I swapped between the 50* and the set gap wedge, they gap really well together so the easiest way to keep them both in the bag would be to drop the set 4i. The only problem is, I love the 4i. I’ve never really been able to hit long irons consistently but these are much easier to launch for me. However, the set gap wedge was a monster for me both on full swings and around the green, so I’m kind of torn. My 54* isn’t a full swing club, and neither is the 58, and they have both proven their use around the greens and out of bunkers, so I’m hesitant to not use either of those. I may ask my swing coach for some advice on this, but I’m guessing having more options at the bottom end of the bag will win out in the end.

 

[ryang13]

 

[ryang13]

2023 early season update.
Driver - TSR2 w/ HZRDUS Black
FW's - Ping G425 Max 5/7W
U - Titleist U505 4i
Irons - Edel SMS Pro 5-PW
Wedges - Edel SMS D-Grind 50/54*, P-Grind 58*
Putter - Yes

At my fitting appointment in October, my fitter encouraged me to take a closer look at the top end of the bag and add some options. The 2U and SMS 4i were replaced with the 7W and 4U, and so far I'm really liking the change there. The SMS Pros are new additions thanks to the Quest Cup with , and I'm really looking forward to playing out the season with them and comparing them to the standard SMS. Wedges were also replaced at the Quest Cup, the D-grind seems like a really good fit for me, and the P-grind just might be as well depending on how I use it.

 

[Trmpt98]

View attachment 9164970

Man those are

 

[jbb2388]

Those Edels look so damn good!

 

[ryang13]

Man those are

Those Edels look so damn good!

They are definitely a great-looking iron. The milled soles throughout the set look so good, and the angular surfaces on the Pros are really well done.