Equipment
Forum Thread of the Day: “Best driver for a short-hitting senior?”
Today’s Forum Thread of the Day comes from platgolf who is on the hunt for a driver suited to a senior player in the 240 yards off the tee category. Currently playing a Fusion 12-degree driver, platgolf is looking to change things up, and our members give their suggestions on the big-stick that could work best.
Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.
- stmike: “I’m in the same “senior” hitting situation, and tried a couple of different new drivers last year. The one that gave me the most success is the Callaway Epic 10.5. But we all have different swings, and what works for others may not be for you.”
- Markrip: “Sounds like your experience with the F8 weren’t good. You should try the F7. I have one, and the ball goes a long way. It also has an extra weight port the F8 doesn’t, and it really helps keep the ball from going right. I don’t use it in that setting because it makes the ball go way left for me. It also has draw settings with the loft adjustments if you needed that.”
- CarolinaGolfer2: “Titleist TS1 10.5 with the Fubuki 45g shaft beats them all for me, and I’ve played or demoed them all. Titleist got it right with the weighting in this one. Usually, I can’t stand ultra-lite drivers. But this doesn’t feel too light, and I picked up 3 to 5 mph swing speed with it.”
- golftejas: “You might demo a Ping G400 Max at 10.5* if you get a chance … this is a higher-spin head, so you might find it provides enough spin to provide good stability/accuracy/height for your shots. I’ve found this head to be extremely forgiving with good shot heights for me. And if you loft-it-up 1* to play at 11.5*, the face will be a little more closed to help with any right-miss tendencies.”
Entire Thread: “Best driver for a short-hitting senior?”
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- Patrick Reed what’s in the bag accurate as of the PGA Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G400 (8.5 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125 MSI 70 Tour X
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (15 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 125MSI 80 Tour X
Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (18 degrees)
Shaft: Aldila RIP Phenom Hybrid 100 TX
Irons: Titleist 716 TMB (2), Grindworks PR-202 (4), Grindworks PR-101A (5-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore (50-10 Mid), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (56-08M @55), SM10 (60-04T)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Odyssey White Hot RX Pt Customs No. 2
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
More photos of Patrick Reed’s WITB in the forums.
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Welcome to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky.
In the last two PGA Championships held at Valhalla, Tiger Woods won in 2000 – when he famously pointed his golf ball into the hole during the historic duel with Bob May – and Rory McIlroy won the 2014 event, basically in the dark on the final hole.
The point is, history shows that Valhalla tends to produce top-tier champions and plenty of drama.
This week at the 2024 PGA Championship, GolfWRX got its first up-close look at what some of the LIV Tour players have in their bags in 2024. We also caught back up with a few PGA Championship legends, such as Rich Beem and John Daly, and we dove into the bags of PGA Sectional qualifiers, too.
In total, we captured 47 different photo galleries this week, including 32 individual What’s In The Bag (WITB) forum threads. Click here to see all of our photos from the event, or continue reading to see my 10 equipment highlights from Valhalla.
1) Brooks Koepka’s new putter
Koepka was previously using a Scotty Cameron T5.5 putter with a slant neck, which he used to win at the beginning of the month in Singapore on the LIV tour. This week, however, he tried a T5.5 with a plumbers neck instead of the slant neck, and it’s immediately going in the bag. According to Scotty Cameron Tour rep Drew Page, Koepka already loved the head, and now finds the plumbers neck a bit more familiar to the blade-style putters he’s used throughout most of his career.
2) The lead tape king returns, with putting goggles
Phil Mickelson has always been one of the GOATs when it comes to lead tape usage, so it was no surprise to see his 64-degree custom Callaway wedge slathered with slabs of lead tape on the back.
The big surprise was that lefty was spotted using ProAim putting training goggles on Wednesday during his warm-up session.
The ProAim goggles are helpful to find center lines and ensure proper alignment to the target.
See Phil Mickelson’s full WITB from the 2024 PGA Championship
3) Dobyns’ old-school gamer setup
Speaking of lead tape, check out Matt Dobyn’s old Titleist 718 T-MB irons, which are so loaded with lead tape that the club is nearly unrecognizable.
Respect.
The head professional at Meadow Brook Club is making his sixth start in a PGA Championship, and he’s using a throwback Callaway GBB Epic driver with MOI-boosting lead tape and adjustable weight placements.
As GolfWRX Forum user “InTheBag” pointed out in our Matt Dobyns’ WITB thread, he has the type of setup that makes you want to hide your wallet: “I don’t know Mr. Dobyns, but one look at that bag tells me he can take your money,” writes InTheBag.
Spot on.
4) John Daly’s custom Sub70 irons and wedges
We first saw John Daly using $750 direct-to-consumer Sub70 659-CB irons and TAIII wedges at the 2023 PNC Championship, and he still has them in the bag, but he’s since stepped up the customization on the Sub70 clubs.
Does Daly ever NOT keep things entertaining?
View this post on Instagram
A true showman.
5) DJ’s custom putter
Dustin Johnson has always been one to test multiple putters week-to-week, and he has a keen eye for different alignment lines and crowns. This week, he’s opting for a completely gray TaylorMade Spider Tour “T3.0” prototype with a short slant neck.
See the rest of DJ’s WITB from the week here
6) Patrick Reed still rocking GrindWorks irons
Patrick Reed knows his stuff when it comes to equipment, and he’s a prolific tester. Still, however, the GrindWorks PR-101A irons are squarely in the bag after his departure to the LIV tour.
The most notable new addition to Reed’s bag is this Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond 3-wood.
Click here to see Reed’s full WITB from this week
7) Beem’s Scratch set
Rich Beem, who won the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine National, came to the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla with a bag full of Scratch Golf irons, which are loaded with lead tape and equipped with some of the coolest custom ferrules in professional golf.
See Rich Beem’s full WITB here
8) Jon Rahm’s 10-iron
Before going to LIV, Rahm was using a Callaway Apex TCB pitching wedge.
Now, he’s using a Callaway Apex TCB “10 iron.”
He’s also since upgraded to three Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke metalwoods, and fresh stampings on his Jaws Raw wedges. Click here to see Rahm’s full WITB from the 2024 PGA Championship.
9) “Why so serious?”
Tyrrell Hatton, another LIV player in the 2024 PGA Championship field, channels his inner Joker to ask everyone, “Why so serious?”
10) Block’s “Proto” iron, from address
As you probably know by now, Block switched out of his old TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2014 irons, and into a full set of TaylorMade’s new “Proto” irons. We’ve already seen the Proto 4-iron in the bags of Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa, but this is our first look at the higher-lofted irons in the set.
Here’s a look at the 7-iron from address:
See what GolfWRX members are saying about the Proto irons in our Forums
And, with that, we say goodbye to Louisville, and the second major championship of the 2024 season. We’ll see you next week at the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas after a champion has been crowned.
Until then, don’t forget to check out all of our photos from this week at the 2024 PGA Championship!
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We will be one quarter of the way through Thursday night men’s league season after this week. BK played much better last week, so he is hoping to continue that success and post another good score.
Here are the 14 clubs that will hopefully win him some skins!
Driver: PXG 0311 Black Ops (9 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X (2024)
3-wood: Cobra Dark Speed LS Titanium (14.5 degrees, set +1)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD IZ-7x
Fairway: Callaway Apex UW (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura ATMOS Tour Spec Blue 8 X
Hybrid: PXG 0311 Black Ops 4h (22 degrees, Flat Setting)
Shaft: KBS Tour Graphite Hybrid Prototype 85 S
Irons: TaylorMade P770 Phantom Black (5-PW)
Shaft: KBS Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (50-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (56-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Wedge: PXG Sugar Daddy II (60-13 BP)
Shaft: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 Stiff
Putter: L.A.B. Mezz.1 Max
Shaft: Accra x L.A.B. White
Ball: Titleist ProV1 Enhanced Alignment
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Mike Barnard
Nov 5, 2019 at 3:10 am
240 yds… short , give us a break and get real.
Why publish such utter nonsense , oh wait I’m forgetting , all WRX non seniors hit it over 300yds with XX-stiff shafts weighing 85g, so it all makes sense now.
Nonsense but made WRX forum of the day…
john flavia
Oct 11, 2019 at 8:07 am
I would suggest dropping down in shaft stiffness. I’ve done that recently with a club that had a ‘stiff’ shaft, although I liked the way the shaft felt compared to other shafts, I got a ‘Reg’ flex in the same brand of shaft and it went ~10 yrds further. After hitting that Reg-flex for a while, I got to thinking, let me try the Senior flex in the same brand, so I got that and jumped another 10-15 yards (although with each jump my dispersion increased, but I learned to play it. So other than dropping flex, there’s always going to a more forward tee as has been suggested. I feel sorry for lady golfers who only have the 1 tee to work with.
Morris
Sep 30, 2019 at 7:19 pm
Seriously? Best driver for SHORT HITTING SR’s who can only hit it about 240 off the tee. I’m 66 years old, I’ve played golf for 40+ years, and I’m a 9 handicap. I play golf 3-5 times a week pretty regularly. When I hit my driver on the “screws” I may hit 220-225 yards. I watch 50 other 65+ seniors play every week and MAYBE 10% of the seniors I know can hit their driver over 220 yards. Once again, another article not targeted to 90% of the amateurs playing golf every day.
myron miller
Oct 28, 2019 at 2:52 pm
Fully concur!!! I play with a lot of true Seniors (well over 70 most of them) and very very few hit it average of 240. Best hit it about 220-230 at best. 240 is very very unusual for most seniors, in fact it seems unusual for the average golfer as well. Especially considering several major studies that say the average golfer carries it 200 and rolls it another 25 for a total of 225. And that average is for all ages. And most studies say the average senior 65 and over are lucky to average 200+ total. So 240 is not typical of the normal senior in my experience.
Me, I’m in my mid 70s and seriously disabled as well as old. Severe arthritis and a severely torn oblique muscle that hasn’t healed well at all limit me to about 150 average on good days with a lot of days an average of 135-140. Would I love more distance, sure, but it isn’t going to happen, I fully realize and new drivers make zero difference. I’ve done extensive testing with many many different combinations of new drivers and shafts, including several fittings and so far nothing exceeds my current driver. And I do play forward tees. Fully recognize back is too long for me. Some courses don’t provide ratings for tees short enough for senior men. Only rate to normal white tees.
Stephen Pearcy
Sep 23, 2019 at 4:45 pm
The best driver for a short hitter is called “Forward Tee”
Jim Barnett
Sep 23, 2019 at 9:24 pm
Precisely. And the best club to use If the swing speed is less than 95 mph swinging at 80% of effort is most likely a Wishon 919 with a 13° loft with Its GRT ( graduated roll technology ), and a shaft no longer than 44 inches using Wishon’s s2s (swing to speed) shaft. You will hit it further, straighter, and will not spend anywhere near $500 for an overhyped “major brand” club. Try it, you will like it
A 71-year-old senior.
M Gaston
Sep 23, 2019 at 10:57 pm
Best thing is get a driver custom fitted to your swing dynamucs. Ive been building and teaching golf for years. The proper fitted and designed club will give you all the performance you need. Send specs and ill send reccomendations.