WHAT'S IN THE BAG?

Peggy Gustafson
Store Manager/Director of Instruction
GolfTEC Arrowhead, LPGA Class A Professional
Golf Digest Top 50 Women Teacher

Driver: TaylorMade R-9 9.5 Driver Matrix Ozik X-Con 5 Shaft

This is the straightest driver I have ever hit. It is set up with the Neutral Shaft option and the weights are set up with the two lighter weights in the heel and toe and the heavier weight in the center. I play a 45.25" length.

I like the 430 CC head for stability. With the club set up with a neutral bias I can still work the ball left-to-right or right-to-left off the tee very easily.

I also have the R9 Super-Tri 9.5 with the same shaft at 45.5 inches but like the controllability of the smaller head and slightly shorter shaft. Being 5' 9", I have found that 45.25" is the longest I can play and still hit the ball in the center of the clubface and not in the heel.

Fairway wood: I carry a 17 degree TaylorMade, R9 4-wood with a Motore R Flex; the shaft is also placed in the neutral position; standard men's length of 42.25".

I also have a 19 degree TaylorMade Raylor with the Reax-65 gram R Flex shaft at 40.25 inches. This club has a raylor sole that makes it easy to hit out of the rough or tight lies. A lot of times it is my "go-to-club" on par 5s or when I need to hit the ball high.

Hybrid: I carry three hybrids, TaylorMade TP Rescue 17 and 22 degrees; shafts set in the neutral position; Aldila Voodoo 58 R flex shafts at 41 and 40 inches.

I also have a TaylorMade Rescue 25 degree with the Reax 65 gram R Flex at 39.5 inches. I absolutely LOVE the hybrids. I use the 17 for long approach shots that I want to keep low and running. In the summer in Phoenix it will run forever and is used a lot to set up my incoming shot into par 5s. The 22 replaces my 4-iron and the 25 degree replaces my 5-iron. I find that I can hit the 4- and 5-hybrids into greens higher and softer with better control than my old 3-, 4-, 5-irons. I also like to use the 22 degree off the green for chip and run shots off of tight lies or wet lies. I grip down and use a putting stroke, the wide bottom makes it easy for the club to glide along the ground and not bounce or dig into the turf.

Irons: TaylorMade R9 6-, 7-, 8-, 9-, PW Motore 65 Gram R Flex shafts; men's standard length; lie angle is 1 degree flat. I turned 50 this year and have lost clubhead speed that I had as a younger player. The lighter graphite shafts allow me to create more speed without feeling like I have to exert extra effort. The Motore Shafts have 3.0 degrees of torque so they play very similar to steel as to ball flight.

Wedges: TaylorMade XFT 54 and 60 degrees with Aldila NV 85 Gram Graphite R Flex shafts. I believe that it is important that my wedges play and feel similar to the rest of my irons thus the lighter graphite shafts. My 54 is bent to 55 degrees and has 12 degrees of bounce for longer bunker shots. The 60 is bent to 59 degrees and has less bounce; 6 degrees that gives me more flexibility and options for higher softer shots around the greens. Both are bent 2 degrees flat and play 35.25 and 35 inches. I also like that these wedges have the replaceable inserts so as the faces wear out I can replace them or in 2014—when as an LPGA Teaching member—I will have to have conforming grooves I can just replace the insert and still have the wedges that I trust.

All of my TaylorMade clubs have Golf Pride Decade ½ cord .60 grips. I wear a men's small cadet glove and use men's standard size grips.

Putter: I have two putters that I use depending on speed of greens. For slower greens I use the Coutour Dornach 365 gram at 32.5 inches with a Winn Midsize Grip. For normal or fast greens I use a TaylorMade Rossi Balero same length and weight as the Coutour with a Winn Midsize grip. The TaylorMade has a softer insert and has a larger head. They are both slightly heel shafted with similar offset. Because they are the same length, weight and have the same grip they "feel" very similar in my hands. The difference is the insert, the ball comes off slower. Being fit correctly for a putter makes a world of difference for each individual. My putting has improved greatly inside of 10 feet just by having the right length and headweight.

Ball: TaylorMade Penta is the first five piece ball on the market. It is long of the tee, spins well into the greens and feels soft off the putter. I had previously played the TaylorMade Burner TP ball and liked the distance but it did not spin as well as the Penta into and around the greens.