TaylorMade Men’s RAC HT Irons 5-PW Steel £169, use the savings to get a solid 3 and 4 hybrid with a bit of pocket change for a lob wedge in place of the SW

Mizuno Men’s MX-19 Irons Steel 3-SW £249

MD Black Hawk Combo 3h 4h 4-SW Graphite £249

Cobra FP 2008 Irons (Steel, 5-SW) £275

Ignite Irons (Steel H3, Steel 4-PW) £279

Wilson Staff Di7 Steel Wilson (4-SW with Fybrid Fairway Bridge Graphite free) – £299

Nike Ignite (graphite 3h and graphite 4 –PW) £317

Cleveland Hi Bore Irons (Steel) 4-PW £299.99 + Cleveland Hi Bore 3h for £69.99

The rest of the cash will go on shoes, bag, clothes etc too

Any guidance will be great.

Thanks

Adam

Adam,

I would recommend you go to the Belfry for a custom fit which costs £50 but this is taken off the bill if you buy some clubs. The session takes about 2hrs & they will determine which clubs, shafts & loft & lie is best suited to your swing. They will do this for all clubs - driver to putter.

This is much better than hitting about 5 balls off a mat on a driving range.

John.

Pat, thanks for the endorsement of the TaylorMades, you have confirmed what all the marketing speak blethers on about!  Sometimes I am very worried looking at all these chromed and colourful 'new tech' and wonder how good they really are for my high h/c game.  The big plus about the TMs is the respected name and the price so they are right up there - I won't get to try them out though, just have to trust reviews.

John, I would love the opportunity of a fitting at the Belfry, but it is 600 miles round trip and would cost £120 in petrol alone and about 8 hours of travel!  I am down in Manc once in a while, so I could maybe make a weekend out of it.  If anyone can recommend somewhere closer to Scotland it would be a great help. 

I have had about 8 lessons and played about 10 rounds in the last 6 months and improving all the time - do you think I should invest so heavily in custom fitting this early in my game when maybe I should just play with standard lies and get a retro fit when my swing is predictable?

A.

Chris, you are dead right about what I should be doing ultimatley (i.e. have a swing with them all and see what fits best) but I don't know if they are all really designed for high handicappers?

Also, where the set doesn't have SW or hybrids or even a 3 and 4 iron - what would people suggest as good makes and models to try for high h/c's?

Just a note, with my previous set I didn't find the 3 or 4 iron hard to hit, I could crack over 220 yards quite regularly, just want the hybrids to get me up to driver length (as I can't control my Ping G5 with stiff graffalloy, which I used to get 250 yrds plus dead straight).

I'd like to back up the guys on try them. 

As for the budget the mizuno mx15s are a cracking high handicapper set and as older model can be got for less that £200. My mate got them and never looked back, high straight forgiving. At tha price leave you enough to treat yourself to a decent putter.

spend £60+ on that and you will see the benefit. 

Steven,

Thanks for the Mizuno endorsement, I will definitley give them a shot - my playing partner is 6ft 6" and has a set of Mizunos which were custom fitted by the Mizuno centre in Cumbernauld (a 30 minute drive from me) and he swears by them too.

The local custom fit centre is the reason they are on the list actually.

Definitley want a good quality putter as I have developed good feel with an older style blade (but just not quite right, thus kept getting those agonising, arse clenching close putts) I think the extra weighting and feel given with the new tech will help - I was draining them with a friends Odessey not so long ago.

Well had a great weekend going round Nevada Bobs and World of Golf to try as much of the above as possible and have concluded that

1.  I really don't like nikes, even the SQs - everything struck in to the air like a 9 iron - i.e. high and no distance.  Maybe that is a bit unfair to the ignites - they were ok.

2. I dont really gel with anything from the King Cobra range - they just didn't feel clean off the face or very accurate.

3. Wilson were ok, I enjoyed playing with them but lacked the distance I was looking for.

4. Cleaveland Hi Bores are just fantastic to strike off the tee, but going through the ground (or off the deck at the range) I just didn't feel I could get under the ball cleanly, the large sole striking off the ground a fraction early.  They don't look a nice at address as all the hi tech carb on it maks you think.

5. MD Golf Back Hawks are absolutley superb, both the hybrid sets and the tungsten TI inserts - consistent, straight and far, and looked great on address too.  Wasn't absolutley sure weather the graphite shafts worked for me as I  didn't feel I was getting club head speed.   Can't fault really though and a great price.

5. Wildcard entry here, and one which I wouldn't normally choose, but I had a set of Callaway Big Bertha 08 irons put in my hand.  MY OH MY everything clicked! - power, strike, feel, flight, distance and accuracy - I felt I could thrash all my playing buddies with these.  Perfect.  The large chromed soles will get absolutley wrecked but maybe that is worth it!  I need a bit more time to make sure the large soles won't interfere with my play.  But a bit expensive! 

So I have my heart set on the Callaways now, can't wait to get my hands on them and a matching Callaway Hot Stand Bag!

A 

Hi Adam. looks like you had a good weekend well spent.

I've not used the callaways myself but have read good things about them and they look very good so i'm sure you will go far (just hope it's down the middle!).

Good to see some thought and time spent rather than just what's in fashion

Steve

It was well invested time indeed, and the callaways? Well, they added about 30 yards to my 6 iron alone, and were 9 out of 10 bang on straight ot I could induce fade which is no joke!

A

Why ask the question? 

I was trying to shape each shot particular to my style of play (which is usually draw or straight, depending on circumstance, eg dog leg left) 

Somehow, I think a combination of my swing path, the weighting of the club, and 'feel' off the face (which hitherto has been an enigma) let me just play wherever I wanted to, when I wanted to. 

The paths that happened to fade (and not just a miss-hit slice) occured because I wanted to and because I was trying to aim at a target with greater accuracy.  It worked.

A