129 - Long Time No Skill...

I’ve just returned from my first trip to the driving range in months and it is fair to say I’m in bits. My back is killing me, my arms are aching and curiously my arse is sore. The night wasn’t a complete success but there were enough positives to give me hope that I might be good enough to actually get a handicap this year – high hopes I’m sure you’ll all agree.

I decided to have a varied session so took my MX-560 driver, my new MX Fli-Hi 20* hybrid, my MP57 7-iron and my trusty 52* MP-R wedge, all Mizuno, all quality – too good for a cack-handed clown like me if I’m being honest but I’m hoping that by using good kit I might receive some small advantage to make up for my chronic lack of ability.

I was accompanied to the range at Aintree by mate called Tommy who used to play a bit and swore blind he hadn’t hit a ball for three years…as shot after shot flew arrow straight down the range! Ok, some of the shots flew arrow straight to the right but never the less he was very consistent with his shots. The force is strong in that one methinks!

I started with my driver and after a few wayward bombs managed to produce a couple of decent shots. Next time I practice I’m taking my F-60 3 wood as I have so much more control over it without losing a significant amount of distance. It has a stiff shaft (oo-er) which helps rein in the immense power my perfectly honed physique produces. Ahem...

Next off the rubber tee was my new Mizuno hybrid which I bought, if I’m being honest, to match the rest of my set. I already have a Howson hybrid that works perfectly well but I’m too much of a snob to keep it in my bag. Having read tons of reviews I was convinced the MX Fli-Hi (right) would be a step up but after 20 balls I’m not convinced, more work needed I think.

The last time I took my 7 iron out I had a bit of an epiphany as I hit shot after shot exactly the same. As any golfer will tell you, consistency is the key to good scores so I was looking forward to proving it wasn’t a one off. I failed. Actually I failed at first but started to get the accuracy back after a few shots but I didn’t hit the heights of last time.

Finally it was some scoring shots with my wedge. The owners of the driving range have decided to remove the small chipping baskets from the range. I don’t know who come up with this but if I ever find out I’m going to go medieval on their baby makers with my 60* chipper. The ‘blue basket challenge’ was my favourite game.

With the baskets gone I had to improvise by trying to hit a big 40-yard marker, pretending it was the pin. Although still useful it wasn’t nearly as satisfying as landing a ball sweetly into a basket. After a couple of wayward chips I was managing to get close enough to be happy with where the ball was ending up.

Overall I was disappointed with a lot of the shots I made but every now and then there was a glimmer of hope as the ball went exactly where I wanted it to. I came back to the same conclusion though, I need to pull my finger out and get some practice in.

108 - Glorious...

I woke up on Sunday relatively hangover free despite going to a lovely dinner party in a friend’s house (fantastic homemade meal, wine and bubbly around the table – we even had candles and napkins!) so I decided to visit the driving range to blow off the remaining cobwebs before going to the match to scream abuse at a load of overpaid Nancy boys who don’t deserve my continued support. Ahem...

Like just about every time I have ever been to the range, it was raining. Not only was it raining but it was blowing a gale too which only helped accentuate my cripplingly bad beginners slice. I warmed up with a few bombs from my 3 wood (I’ve all but given up on trying to tame my driver for now). All was good with my new weapon of choice from the tee but it was my iron shots that impressed.

When I go to the driving range I try to simply hit the same shot twice (immense ambition eh?) Consistency is the key to decent golf apparently but for the last year or so the only thing consistent about my shots is their inconsistency. At the weekend I had an epiphany as I successfully managed to hit the same shot over and over again.

I worked out how to set myself up the same way each time to produce a repeatable shot – the casual observer may have thought I knew what I was doing! Time and time again I hit my 5 iron long, straight and true. I could even pick out a spot and hit it. This may not sound like a big deal to those of you who can play golf, but for me it was the equivalent of monkeys using tools for the first time.

Just to check it wasn’t a fluke I tried the same thing with my 7 iron and found I could use that properly too! The frustration, anger and depression I had suffered at the hands of this son-of-a-bitch game melted away with each glorious, straight down the middle shot. I went through about 50 balls with a gormless grin on my face.

With my confidence soaring I moved on to my 52* wedge knowing that I was now an international ball striking legend. Things didn’t go as well as I had hoped as I discovered that I had completely lost any skill I had with wedges with my lovely little MP-R (above) taking a bit of a pounding as I slammed it into the mat with regular and bone juddering regularity. It took a lot of effort to get the ball in the air at all but it eventually came back to me.

I walked to the car happy that I now have something to indicate that all the practice, all the effort all the frustration wasn’t in vain. For the first time in 12 months I could say that I had something approaching a repeatable swing – something to build on and refine. I’m going back to the driving range later to confirm that the Sunday morning session wasn’t just a fluke.

73 - Chip Around The Clock...

I love wedges; I think they are some of the sexiest pieces of golf kit on the market right now. They are some of the most lovingly created tools in your bag (to me woods, hybrids and clubs can be exercises in engineering these days) yet wedges haven’t changed much in design over the years. Look at this years offering from Callaway and it won’t be a million miles from the wedge released 10 years ago and the one 10 years before that.

Technological advances in chippers seem to be cutting slightly different shaped grooves (which will soon be banned) or adding a swirling pattern to the face. None of this multi-composite materials malarkey, no lowering the centre of gravity, none of this increasing the MOI tomfoolery just a classic shape, good quality metals and plenty of that illusive feel the magazines talk about so much.

But a quick look at any online store will show there are so many different wedges out there and how come some stand out more than others? All the big manufactures produce a wedge to compliment their range and I’m sure they all perform admirably but there are a few clubs that seem to rank higher than others.

Titleist, TaylorMade, Callaway and Cleveland are renowned for their wedges as are my favourite manufacturer Mizuno. The Titleist Vokey is arguably the right now delivering tour standard spin and control with the rest of the field hot on it’s beautifully crafter heels. I came close to buying an Oil Can finished Vokey a few months ago but I had a bit of a run in with Acushnet – the parent company who own Titleist and FootJoy – so I boycotted them.

Instead I turned to Mizuno who, after a bit of research, are apparently famed for producing quality wedges that deliver bags of feel. Perfect for an international ball chipping legend like me! Ahem. I purchased three wedges via the internet saving myself around £160 on the RRP and, from my limited experience and testing, they are mint.

I’ve got two MP-R Series wedges and an MP-T Series. The difference between the R and the T is the shape. R stands for round and, as the name suggests, the face is bigger and slightly more rounded to give more flexibility and make it easier to hit better shots. The T stands for teardrop and it is a more traditional, classically shaped wedge.

The MP-R’s are 50* and 56* and are finished in Black-Ni (above)which gives the club a sort of gunmetal finish that is claimed to reduce glare when used on sunny day and makes the club look fantastic. The MP-T is 58* and has what Mizuno call Raw Haze finish (below). Basically it looks like it has started rusting straight out of the box (it will rust for real over time to increase spin) – it is stunning I reckon.

Both are gorgeous, both are useless to me at the moment as I can’t use them properly. This will change soon though as I’ve been onto Richie who has confirmed he will be happy to help me get my ‘A game’ on using a method he read where you break the chipping stoke into three zones with the average distances are calculated to help distance control. I like the sound of this; it arouses the engineer in me.

So how does it work? Each wedge is swung to a set distance which is equated to three times on a clock. Imagine that when the club is sat behind the ball it is at 6 o’clock (straight down on the clock face). The first swing sees the club is drawn back to 7 o’clock, the second 9 o’clock and the last one 11 o’clock to produce three levels of swing and therefore three different chip distances (still with me?)

The idea is that I focus on just three chips and then simply use a different wedge to produce different distance results. Once the distances are mapped with each wedge I should be able to predict roughly where the ball should go thus taking some of the guess work out of chipping.

Obviously there will be more to it than that as there are a lot of other variables like lie, weather, type of shot needed etc but having a pretty good idea of where the ball should land will be one less thing to worry about. That is the theory anyway; I’ll give you all an update of what happened once I attempted to put this into practice.

67 - We Bow Down To The Big Wedge...

Just because I haven’t been playing golf recently doesn’t mean I haven’t been obsessing over it or buying stuff to play it. I’m up to three golf magazines a month now although one of them is a mostly rubbish American one I picked up from Borders because it had a review of the Mizuno MX-200 clubs I’m thinking of getting.

I have been taking advantage of the January sales that just about every golf equipment selling website has had on. The first purchase was a gorgeous Mizuno MP-T Raw Haze wedge. This copper coloured beauty is 58* with 10* of bounce (whatever that means). What I do know is that it looks stunning new and is designed to rust like the hulk of the Titanic to make it work even better.

It can be found on certain sites for a whopping £85 but I got it for £30 delivered! Absolute bargain I’m sure you’ll agree. I now have a full set of Mizuno wedges ready to conquer rough/bunkers/fairway around the green.

To go with my new 58* Raw Haze I’ve also got a 52* and a 56* Mizuno MP-R Black Nickel. The three of them should weigh in at over £250 but I got the lot for just £90, which is, if I’m being honest, giving me a semi!

I’m going to put in a lot of practice with these babies as I ready somewhere that 70% of golf is played within chipping distance of the hole (although I’m not sure how true that actually is). Both Richie and Terry have both offered to help me learn how to chip the ball accurately and Alan is always there to give me advice at the driving range.

Yep, the addition of the Mizuno wedges is going to see me chipping like a champ although if I’m still useless I’ll just blame the cheap arsed bats I have just bought…

62 - Back From Where I Came...

Right, golf, yeah that is it. It seems SO long since I updated this blog I had to remind myself what it was supposed to be about although regular visitors (yes, the both of you) would argue that there are times where I have wandered onto topics that are anything but golf – Gemma Atkinson anyone?

After a long lay off due to a knackered ankle I finally returned to the driving range to see if I still had the magic. The truth is that I haven’t. I was rustier than the face of a Mizuno Raw Haze wedge (new golf porn added to my list now that I’m boycotting all things Titleist). I thought my right ankle had recovered enough to flex like a pro but all I found was that it hurt like a bastard.

Undeterred I continued practicing, desperately trying to remember everything I learned from my one lesson but it wasn’t to be. Saying that, I was still hitting the ball further than I did before the lessons but my accuracy has gone to pot. I’m now slicing the ball more that I ever did but I’m sure it won’t take much to sort that out with the aid of a Pro and a few more lessons.

There were a couple of good things to come out of the session though. I’m hitting Dougie my Howson hybrid better than ever, it was flying further and more accurately than my driver which kinda freaks me out! When you read reviews about hybrids they gush about how forgiving they are and I can confirm this isn’t just journalists getting a back hander from the golf manufacturers. If you haven’t already, try/buy one and see for yourself.

The highlight of the night was testing one of my almost new Mizuno MP-R wedges. I took the 52* fella to the range to take part in the Yellow Basket Challenge and it didn’t disappoint. The magazines talk about the buttery feel of Mizuno wedges but it isn’t until you have chipped a few balls with them do you really understand what they mean. When you connected cleanly with the ball – which is easy as the head is so large – the ball glides off the clubface into the air. Feels fantastic.

I have fists of ham yet I was able to control the distance the ball travelled relatively easily which was a major surprise to me. With the exception of one shot, every ball I hit landed within a few feet of the target. To anyone passing by it would look like I knew what I was doing!!! The difference between my new wedge and the £10 Mac the Knife was like chalk and cheese.

At the end of the session I reflected on my workout. Overall I have took a step backwards slightly but encouragingly I’m not completely back at where I begun. I’m going to have a serious think about lesson’s…who knows, I might actually pay for them this time!!!

60 - No Vokey No Cry...Well Maybe Just A Little...

I have only gone and done it; I’ve turned my back on the Titleist Vokey and bought myself two Mizuno MP-R wedges instead. I feel a little sad, but after the snooping around my blog by the manufacturers of the world most popular golf ball I felt I had to take a stand. It had nothing to do with the fact that the Mizuno clubs got rave reviews in Golf Whine Monthly or the fact that I got them at a knock down price, no Sir!

After searching the internet I found the wedges cost around £90 each and come in all manner of loft and bounce options depending on what you need. Personally, I needed the cheapest I could find to be perfectly honest as I hadn’t budgeted for wedges in my running total. When you need crap at discount prices there is only one place to go; eBay! Boy was there some crap on eBay.

After a couple of weeks searching I was almost ready to give up. The clubs on offer were either brand new and cost the same as in the shops or had been battered into submission by cack-handed municipal hackers who were trying to convince gullible tools that the scrapes, dings and wear actually provided more spin. I know clubs designed to oxidise help increase spin but chrome clubs that have been abused just don’t.

All I was after was a club that had been used for a few months, had been looked after and was being sold because the person was getting a new wedge for Christmas. As I was about to give up my search I found a pair of clubs that were new this year, had been looked after and were being sold because the person was getting new wedges for Christmas. Spooky.

The more observant out there may have noticed I said ‘pair of clubs’. That’s right; I had found two bats that fitted the bill. The seller had a 52* and a 56* up for sale in the same auction and the best part was that they were up for sale at a reasonable price. What’s more, he was even willing to accept a ‘Best Offer’ for them that would save me 18%. It sounded too good to be true but I decided to take a gamble and bid on them.

After a couple of days I received an email saying I was the winner. Result! I paid and then waited for the clubs to arrive. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t best pleased to hear later that day that staff at the main sorting office in Liverpool were planning strike action over the proposed closure of the facility (oh I agree with them 100%, just not when I’ve got golf clubs winging their way to me!!!) but I hoped they would arrive before the staff started sitting around burning oil drums at the main gate.

I got a phone call yesterday saying that a box with Mizuno had arrived. Whoohoo! I was certain that the whole deal was too good to be true and that some battered auld crap would fall out of the box when I opened it but I was delighted to find that the clubs were exactly as described and showed little sign of wear. You can tell they have been used but it doesn’t look like very much, in fact the 52* looks almost brand new. I’m a relieved man.

New, the clubs cost £90 each but I had managed to get two in excellent condition for just £65. I honestly cannot complain. In fact if the clubs had been a bit more battered I STILL couldn’t complain at that price. The face of both clubs is excellent, the grooves are still sharp, the shafts are unmarked and the grips look virtually brand new. I’m a happy camper today but still have a tinge of sadness about turning my back on the Vokey.

57 - Black Nickel Not Oil Can...

With possible impending legal action from those lovely people at Titleist hanging over my head I’m rapidly going off Vokey wedges despite the fact that they are fantastic. Recently I have been looking around at other makes to see what they have to offer. I need a club that works and, most importantly, looks fantastic (I’m as shallow as piss on concrete).

It seems that the likes of Cleveland, Callaway and Taylor Made make some excellent wedges but so do my latest crush; Mizuno. I know I’ve gone on about them in the past but it does look like Mizuno’s Grain Flow Forged wedges are up there with the very best. The more I read the more I’m convinced.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, I’m gonna plump for a Mizuno MP-R wedge in Black Nickel. They don’t spin as much as the Vokey but what does? What is lost in ultimate spin is gained in control as the Mizuno has something called a C-Grind sole, which basically means that the company asked PGA Pros how they ground the bottom of their clubs for playability and then, erm, copied it.

I may have simplified that a little but that is essentially what those clever chaps in Japan (or the USA if you watch any of the promotional videos) did. It is claimed that because of these extra grinds the club is easier to manipulate around the green, gives more shot options and makes it easier to perform difficult chips.

This type of flexibility is exactly what I’ll need once I graduate from ‘complete golf clown’ to ‘seasoned municipal hacker’ (it is important to have a goal I reckon). Seriously though, even with my knackered ankle I can practice my chipping at the driving range so my stumble on Saturday might be a small blessing in disguise.

I’m going to get a grip of Richie, Terry and Alan (not in THAT way) and get them to show me how to chip the ball properly. After to speaking to them I know that Richie and Terry have spent a lot of time working on their short game and I’ve seen Alan hit the ball perfectly onto the green with a wedge with irritating regularity.

Jason (the Pro at Widnes) showed me the shot that he claims I’ll use on almost every hole I play. I was amazed when it worked and I’m hungry for more success. Hopefully the combination of a decent wedge, some tuition and a lot of practice will result in at least winning the Blue Basket Challenge at the driving range!

54 - Knackered Ankles and Treacherous Thoughts…

On a recent drinking expedition around the many and varied bars of Liverpool I managed to ‘hilariously’ go over on my ankle. Oh how the lads laughed as tears welled up in my eyes with every electric shock that shot up my leg when I put any weight on my foot. Bunch of bastards. I tried to drink through the pain but it was no good, I’ve knackered my ankle.

The initial diagnosis, admittedly made by a mate who had “been on a health and safety course and done a bit of first aid an that”, was that I had “done my ligaments”. Great news. When asked what I should do I was advised to strap it up, apply liberal amounts of ice and then wait a month until it sorts itself out. And like that, I’m not playing golf again this year.

After four days of rest I can walk on it again but if I twist my ankle, say in the way I would at the end of my now almost perfect golf swing, I get those lovable little electric shocks up my leg again. Typical isn’t it? I finally get some professional tuition, now know what I’m supposed to be doing and I can’t practice. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; this game is evil.

Now that I’m not playing I’m back to looking at all the pretty, pretty golf things. I was again drooling over the Titleist Vokey wedges and it got me thinking about Mizuno’s wedge range. It turns out that those clever chaps in Japan have only gone and made a wedge that not only looks as good as the Vokey but is apparently almost as good…no seriously!!!

The Mizuno wedges come in two flavours namely the R Series and the T Series (the R and T stand for Round and Teardrop and refer to the shape of the head with the former having a slightly fuller look while the latter looks more traditional). Both come in two finishes; chrome and a pant tighteningly gorgeous Black Nickel. You can see where this is going…

After a bit of research it turns out that Mizuno are the shit when it comes to grain flow forging club heads which is handy when producing wedges as clubs made in this way are softer and have more feel – exactly what you need according to the experts I’ve been listening to online. They rave about how buttery the wedges feel and how easy they are to use.

In their video review, Today’s Golfer praises the wedges for the quality of the materials (it seems plating the clubs in Nickel makes them more durable and softer than traditional chrome), their cool design and their playability. They are slightly heavier than the other wedges they tested (including the Vokey) meaning that you just need to swing it and it does all the work for you.

New they actually cost about the same as a Vokey but a quick look around shows they can be had at a decent discount, especially by eBay shops (£40 delivered in one place) so they are definitely more attractive to my wallet. I haven’t budgeted for a new wedge or two so the cheaper the better in my opinion.

Do I turn my back on the object of my desire for the last few months for the sake of a few bob? Nah, but I might turn my back on it because the Mizuno is a fantastic iron that looks really, really good, it the same wedge as my clubs and because I won’t feel such a beut using it on the course.

Oh and they make one called the Black Ox which starts off black and rusts to shit like the Vokey! Get in...