“Gigga Gigga Yeah”-McLovin

You might have recalled that we mentioned this company back during the holidays when we did our round-up (fond memories here) of neat things to buy.  Well, since it was time for me to get some new clubs, I thought I would give them a shot.

I by no means am a great golfer.  I go out once or twice a month just to get out into nature and hang out with my Bros.  I’ve been playing the same set of clubs that I bought online in the late 90’s because I hadn’t wanted to invest a lot of money into something that I was only marginally good at and that I only did 10 times a year.  But as my game evolved I realized a few things, 1.  I want to get much better at this game, and 2.  My clubs are two dang short for me.  Standing at a full 6 foot 5 inches tall, you can imagine what it is like trying to play with clubs that are just a bit on the short side.  Frankly, they are a pain in the back..err.neck. Just try to imagine a giant playing with really short clubs ok?

I finally decided that I was going to fork out some cash for some new clubs.  Not wanting to spend a ton of my own money on fancy clubs, I fired up the internet and asked it for some golf club suggestions.  Google never failed me and lead me to Gigagolf.com.

Ordering from the site is fairly painless.  You find a club that you like, and you can either buy them stock off the shelf (for most players that is ok) or you can go through their very intuitive custom fitting guide online.  Where you enter such things as height, wrist to floor measurement, hand size, 5-iron carry, and the system makes suggestions on how to adjust your clubs for your needs.  In my case, the system suggested an extra inch (what guy doesn’t want that?) in length for my clubs as well as an 3 degree lie change.

I decided to go with new irons first.  Of course since the last time I purchased clubs there has been a lot of advancement in golf technology.  Including the invention of the hybrid club.  I have to admit, at first I was a little opposed to owning these clubs simply because I felt that I was a purest and wanted to play the game with traditional irons.  But it is hard to be stuck up when you have a handicap in the low 30’s.  I started to come around after taking a friends hybrid clubs for a test drive.  Pretty much every time I hit them, I liked the result.  So I decided to go with Revelation Hybrid Set ($160).  What is great about these clubs is the that they make a gradual transition from a traditional shaped club such as your SW-7 irons, to a modified hybrid 5 and 6 iron, to a full hybrid 4.  I choose not to get a 3 hybrid because I currently own a 7 wood that I really like and figured that I wouldn’t need it and so far that decision has been ok for me.  If you wanted the 3 hybrid with the set, it easy to add to your order for another $20.

Since I was overhauling my stuff, I figured I should pick up a new driver as well.  Like most right-handed golfers, I have a little more slice in my game then I would like.  I’ve tried a lot of swing corrections to get this corrected, and while I have it mostly under control, sometimes with a graphite shaft driver I get all over the place again.   I ran across Gigagolf’s GX2 Ti Draw ($80) titanium driver and thought I would give it a shot.   First of all, I like the way the club has a more square club face.  In the past I have success hitting clubs that are more square, especially with the larger heads on clubs these days.   And I figured the special weighted club to promote a slight draw would only help my slice a bit.

I also picked up a new putter, since the one I had been using was probably not the best. I mean I only paid a dollar for it online about ten years ago.  There is nothing wrong with it, but I wanted a putter with one of those nice inserts in the face and a little more weight behind it.  Upon searching the site, I settled on the Center Cut 19 ion ($25) for my bag.

Then on one cold January morning (shut up, we have them sometimes in California) I got my new clubs.  After my heart beat regulated, I unpacked them, threw them in my new bag and headed out to the range.  I will have to admit, when I first saw the 5 and 6 irons, I was a bit skeptical.  I love my current 5 and 6 irons now because I hit them very consistent.  And as I mentioned, these two clubs in the new set were kind of hybrid of a hybrid.  Part iron and part hybrid.   I knew that there would be some slight adjustment for me since I was playing with longer clubs and a different lie angle then I was used to.  But on the first swing with each club I made great contact and the ball just flew!  After hitting about 15 balls with each I noticed the ball came off the club nicely, had a nice flight to it, went about 10 yards farther than usual, and was on target 90% of the time.  Sometimes with my old irons I would tend to have some fall off to the right at the end of the ball flight.  As you can imagine, this makes hitting greens rather tough.  But with the new upright lie on these clubs, that was gone.   As I worked through the rest of the set, the same attributes of the 5 and 6 stayed true.  These clubs were very easy to hit and the ball just took off.   Even the  with the hybrid 4  I was been killing the ball.

Then is was time to tee up the driver and take it for a spin.  First couple hits were just crap, mostly because I was swinging too hard.   Once I slowed my swing down to normal human speeds, I was making decent connection with the ball.  I was not disappointed with the distance that I was putting the ball out on the range.  Easily clearing 200 yards a couple of times.  Which for me is a plus.  I don’t drive the ball very far for a guy my size.   The sound of the ball coming off the face of the driver was a little different then what I expected.  It sounded a lot like a metal bat hitting a baseball.  Not distracting, but just different.  One thing I did notice is you could tell a difference in sound when you hit the ball flush or you miss hit.  I don’t know if that was by design or not, but it was a nice touch.  The results on the driver were a little mixed for me.  But I think with more practice I will get it dialed in.

The next day I decided to go take them out to the course for some real world practice.   I decided that I wasn’t going to keep score, because I knew I would be a little all over the place with new clubs as I was still adjusting my swing a bit.  First couple holes were a little brutal for me I will admit.  I couldn’t drive the ball for shit, and for some reason I was hitting every iron shot off the toe of the club.  Uh-oh, long day here we come.  About the 5th hole I realized I was more than likely over swinging the clubs trying to make them do more than what they could.  After that I made an all out  effort swing easy and concentrate on making good contact with the ball.  Let me tell you, amazing things happen when you do that.  One hole in particular, I had to carry a lake with a 7 iron.  With my old clubs I wouldn’t have tried that, or if I did I would have put one in the water.  The new clubs helped me get over the water and stick on the green.   On a par three the new 5 iron put me 8 feet from the pin.   One thing I noticed is that these clubs do a great job of stopping roll on the greens.   The putter was great too.  It was heavier than my old putter, so I did find myself hitting the ball a bit harder than I should have.  But practice time will solve that.

All in all in all I am very pleased with this set.  I’ve been to the range a few more times to get used to them, and am planning on playing a real round this weekend to see how they help my score.  If you are in the market for a set of clubs, and don’t want to shell out $1,000 for some name brand stuff, Gigagolf.com might be the place for you.  I got a brand new set, that has added distance to my irons, and drives for under $300.  Plus I got some customization on the deal too.  You are not going to get that if you pick up a set for the same price at your local sporting goods store.   Best yet, is Gigagolf offers a full 30 day return policy.  If you play the clubs and don’t like them, you can send them back for a full refund.  If you ask me, that is some confidence in your products.