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Low lofted (13*-17*) hybrids out of the rough???

Pa Jayhawk

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Nov 15, 2005
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I currently have a 14* 3w and 17* 5w which I am looking to replace with a 13-17* hybrid that is longer distance wise than my 5w to free up a club. Most likely a Cobra, Sonartec or Taylormade. I generally do not have a problem hitting a 5w out of the rough, although my shy away from even thinking of doing so with my 3w. Does anyone have a similar experience where they could not hit a 3w out of the rough but can in fact hit a lower lofted hybrid out of the rough.

The idea of freeing up a club and adding a few yards to the distance of my 5w seems nice, especially since I use my 3w very little, but I do not want to do it at the expense of not playing it out of the rough and would prefer just dropping my 3w and keeping the 5w if that is the case. I understand one of the pluses of the hybrid is play out of the rough, but 15* or lower just seems like a tall order.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 

Chas

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Dec 10, 2005
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I have a 18* hybrid to cover the 5w, 2-iron/3-iron range. Still, for consistency, I just hit the 5-iron or even 7-iron out of the rough, then go on my happy way. Unless, of course, I have a terrific lie. Then I might go with the 7w or whatever, depending.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Thanks for the Posts. I went to Golfsmith and a driving range that allowed demos today. They did not carry the Sonartec. Speaking with 3 or 4 individuals, they indicated they use a Lower lofted Hybrid under similar circumstances to my own. I tried the Cobra, TM Dual, TM Mid, Ping G5 Hybrid 19* and 16*, all with Stiff Shafts. I own the 23* Cobra and love it. I did not really care for the 18* model that they stocked. Both TM were much shorter than my 5w and are out of the question, which actually surprised me. I tried both Steel and Graphite (Fujikora SP?). The Mid was a Hook machine for me, although they do have the TP model, which I could not find. The Dual with the Fujikora was my best fit but I would still opt for my 5W. I only tried the Ping for kicks, as I do not like my G2 Fairway woods. In all honesty, it was the best I hit. The 19* model with a TFC shaft was longer than my 5w, the 16* model with the Aldila 85S was not much longer than the 19* witht he TFC, and although I have a NV65 on my driver and love it, I think I would go with the TFC 16* over the Aldila if i can try one and it has similar feel to the 19*. I almost bought the 16* with the Aldila, but decided to wait and try out a Sonartec and try and hunt down a Ping 16* with a TFC and possibly the Graffalloy. They had the Graffalloy, but since I knew I would be waiting, I thought I would try it at the same time.

Anyways, I think it is down to the Ping or the Sonartec. I also looked for a Halo in a 16* or similar, but 22* was the lowest I found. I will be going to a Golf Galaxy and other place in 2 weeks 2 hours south of here, in hopes they have the rest. I am not convinced yet that there is enough difference in my 5w to buy based on what I hit today. I hate waiting.
 

VtDivot

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Apr 16, 2005
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If you can't find a sonartec, keep a look out for the bridgestone j33 U.

It's a neutral face so you won't hook it.

I have one in 21 degrees. I was looking for an 18, but got the 21 instead and am glad that I did. 18 would have been way too long.
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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VtDivot said:
If you can't find a sonartec, keep a look out for the bridgestone j33 U.

It's a neutral face so you won't hook it.

I have one in 21 degrees. I was looking for an 18, but got the 21 instead and am glad that I did. 18 would have been way too long.
Thanks. I looked for the Bridgestone as well, but I have never seen them in the stores. Maybe Golf Galaxy will have them, if so I will give them a shot.
 

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast

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Sep 6, 2005
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FKA Pa Jayhawk said:
Anyways, I think it is down to the Ping or the Sonartec. I also looked for a Halo in a 16* or similar, but 22* was the lowest I found. I will be going to a Golf Galaxy and other place in 2 weeks 2 hours south of here, in hopes they have the rest. I am not convinced yet that there is enough difference in my 5w to buy based on what I hit today. I hate waiting.

I can agree with how waiting stinks. Especially when you finally reach a decision about what you want to do, but then you have to wait on the decision's results.
 

VtDivot

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FKA Pa Jayhawk said:
Thanks. I looked for the Bridgestone as well, but I have never seen them in the stores. Maybe Golf Galaxy will have them, if so I will give them a shot.

Good luck finding one ;)

I'd try ebay if I were you. Buy an 18 and if you don't like it, I bet R35 would buy it (he's hoing hybrids now), if not, I might :D
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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VtDivot said:
Good luck finding one ;)

I'd try ebay if I were you. Buy an 18 and if you don't like it, I bet R35 would buy it (he's hoing hybrids now), if not, I might :D
I went to a place today, and the 2 people there said the same about the Sonartec and the Bidgestone. Although I refuse to buy a club that I have not hit into at least a launch monitor or range. Made that mistake enough, it only paid off one time with my first driver, an old Mchenry Metals. Although I already owned one of their woods so it was worth the gamble.
 

VtDivot

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LOL - I'm the opposite.

I'll buy to try and then sell if I don't like. So far I've been lucky, played everything for at least 1 season
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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VtDivot said:
LOL - I'm the opposite.

I'll buy to try and then sell if I don't like. So far I've been lucky, played everything for at least 1 season
I'm too lazy to sell, I got about a bag and a half of old clubs that people will use when they come to visit. Probably why I am not a big club ho. Even looking at my G2 fairway woods, they only give you about $50 a piece trade in, and about the same on eBay. I will just keep them for when I play longer courses and can swap out my others.

I figure I probably would have only got about $50-100 for all of my old clubs, as they are 5 years old, and so far I have saved 5-6 friends club rental fees in the last 2-3 years when they visit. Heck 2 of the guys insisted on paying for my round for giving them a place to stay and letting them use my clubs. So I guess they really payed for themselves. I guess I can say I am now starting on a set of Stiff Shafted clubs :)
 
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Pa Jayhawk

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Just reviving an old thread from the dead. My wife won a Titleist 980f in an outing and generously gave me the club. The head was to small and the Shaft was a regular flex. So I decided to swap out my 3 Fairway woods with 2 hybrids as opposed to my initial plan on getting one low lofted. I demoed a bunch and decided on the Cleveland Halo 16* and 19*. Picked up the 1(8 and regripped it on Thursday, and found the 16* yesterday and regripped it today. Because of the 5-6 inches of rain we had this weekend, I have been unable to test them on the course. However, with the 4 day 4th of July weekend, I am sure I will have an opinion next week. I will update how they compare to my G2 Fairway woods on distance and consistency in a couple weeks in hopes of helping someone in the future.

In short, thanks for the opinions, hopefully I can return the favor after I get a chance to try out the new clubs
 

Hangfire

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Be sure you look at the Cleveland HALO, the club face is a bit different than just about any other hybrid. I have no problems using it out of the rough.:miz:
 

Eracer

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Oct 31, 2005
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Good post Jayhawk. But can anyone explain to me why the performance of two clubs from the same manufacturer can be so radically different? I was using a 25-degree Halo, and I really liked it (it has been replaced by a 23-degree Cobra, which is so automatic it should be illegal). Anyway, I liked the Halo and bought a 19-degree Halo. Same shaft. I couldn't hit a decent shot with that club. Wildly inconsistent. I mean really, really bad.

Jayhawk, you mentioned that you like your 23-degree Cobra, but didn't like the lower lofted Cobra that you demoed. Did you have the same problem of inconsistent ball flight? Or did you not like it for some other reason. I ask because I've been thinking of buying the 18-degree Cobra, and I'm afraid I'll have the same problem as I did with the Halo. Thanks.
 

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