By Mark Roberts, City Manager
GolfTEC South Lake Union
Seattle, WA
I am currently on staff with Tour Edge and play 13 of their clubs. Tour Edge Exotics line of golf equipment represents the cutting edge of technology with their titanium cup face technology in the driver, fairway woods, and hybrids. The traditional design characteristics of their EX-1 and CNC forged blades give me the look that I’ve become accustomed to in over 40 years of playing and the advantage of today’s latest technology.
Driver: My driver is the XCG 9-degree that was launched last year with a Diamana Blue board 83-gram S-flex shaft. This combination of the XCG head which has a low center of gravity and high launch and the Diamana shaft allows me to maximize my launch conditions for the best overall combination of carry distance and roll. The heavy and stiff Diamana shaft helps me to minimize my tendency to hook the ball. I also play the driver at a length of 44 ½ inches that gives me more control with no loss of distance.
Fairway Wood: Currently I am using the XCG 15-degree 3-wood with a Aldila DVS 75 gram X-flex shaft. The purpose of this X-flex shaft is to again help control my tendency to hook the ball. Many of today’s drivers, fairway woods, and hybrids are weight biased towards the heel that helps the average player to square up the clubface through impact but encourages a right to left ball flight that many better players find troublesome. Tour Edge just unveiled a new Tour spec XCG-V fairway wood with less weight biased in the heel and a 2-degree open clubface. I can’t wait to test this new club.
Hybrid: Last year I put the Tour Edge XCG 18-degree hybrid in my bag but it is up for review. I have an 18-degree tour version of a hybrid from Tour Edge that has less offset and a flat face like an iron that was in my bag for three years. I love this club and it may very well make it back into my bag this year.
Irons: My irons are a mix of two different models from Tour Edge 6 iron thru PW. I’m playing the CNC forged blades that gives me the traditional shape that I grew up with and are pleasing to my eye. The 3-, 4-, and 5-irons are EX-1s also from Tour Edge. The EX-1 design incorporates a tungsten sole weight that gives the iron a very low, deep center of gravity that helps me to launch the ball higher with my long irons. All irons are a ¼ inch longer than standard, 2-degrees upright, and have Rifle Project-X shafts with a flex of 6.5.
Wedges: Once again Tour Edge Exotics fill this position in my bag. I’m using the Extreme spin 54-degree and 60-degree wedges with the same specifications as the rest of my irons. With their CNC milled faces and grooves these wedges give terrific ball control around the greens. The reasoning of the 54-degree wedge instead of the more traditional 56-degree wedge is to keep my distance gaps with my wedges as consistent as possible. My pitching wedge is 48-degrees. My sand wedge is 54-degrees and my lob wedge is 60-degrees. This gives me loft gappings of 6-degrees between all my wedges.
Putter: This is the one area of my bag that has changed the most through the years. It is common for me to try out one to two new putters a year as I am always looking for that magic wand. There is something about a new putter that just seems to inspire confidence for me. I often go back and put in to play a putter that has worked well in the past. The one I have used most over the last seven to eight years is a Scotty Cameron studio design series one. I like the small compact shape and minimal offset of this design. The Scotty Cameron putters also seem to have that wonderful soft feel that I have come to like so much.
Ball: My favorite ball over the last three years has been the Bridgestone B-330-S. This ball has the right combination of feel, spin, and distance for my game.
