What’s (currently) in my bag in 2025?

H2NO cart bag bag topped off with a special No Laying Up towel for the My Name’5 Doddie MND charity

It's been a while since I provided an update on my clubs. With a few changes early this season, but nothing else planned, I thought now was the perfect time.

Driver: Titleist GT3 with Ventus Red Velocore+ 5S shaft

If you've read my fitting post, you'll already know my driver was fitted by SGGT back in February. You can read the details of that experience HERE or watch the video HERE. After playing the Ping for two seasons, it's taken a while to get used to it, especially at setup, but I'm happy with it overall. Any early issues have been down to me, not the club. I've spent time working on my swing, and I'm starting to see the benefits. The sound and feel with this driver are superb.

Fairway: Taylormade Qi35 3HL (core model) with Ventus Red Velocore+ 7S shaft

This was fitted by Adam Legg when I reviewed the new Auchterlonies fitting studio a couple of months ago. You can read about that experience HERE. This has to be the best 3W I've ever had. My priority was finding a 3W that I was comfortable hitting from the fairway, and tee shots were a secondary consideration. This club performs brilliantly with both shots. Having become accustomed to the shallower face of my Ping fairway, I was slightly concerned with how I would find the deeper Qi35, but it's been absolutely fine, and I've had no issues launching it from grass. The slightly higher loft helps get the ball airborne, and I've also been very impressed with the carry distances I'm achieving.

Hybrids: 3H Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke, 4H&5H Callaway Apex Pro - all fitted with Graphite Design Tour AD-DI 85s hybrid shaft

These have effectively been fitted through a process of trial and error. I first bought a Callaway XR OS 16 3 hybrid and Apex Pro 4 hybrid back in 2017 when the AD-DI shaft was only a £35 upcharge. This was a speculative upgrade based on reading the paper specification of the shaft and thinking it would fit my swing. It worked, and these clubs have become a bit like "Trigger's Broom” / Theseus's Paradox with new heads and grips over the subsequent years. I like the Paradym Ai Smoke so much that I may consider looking for a head to replace the Apex Pro 4H at some point, but the gapping I have with the current clubs is perfect, so I don't need to mess with that.

Irons: TaylorMade P770 5-PW with Accra iz95s shafts

These were also fitted by SGGT, and you can find the blog post for that session HERE. I love the P770 heads and played the previous model before being fitted for these. The only reason I changed was the switch to graphite shafts to help with tendonitis issues. They are excellent irons and I am very happy with them. I would also thoroughly recommend the Accra graphite shafts and believe they have helped alleviate my elbow tendonitis issues (along with physio).

Wedges: Vokey SM9 - 50/54/60 with KBS Tour Lite S shafts

These were fitted by SGGT back in early 2022, before I started blogging. Videos of their wedge fitting process can be found HERE and HERE. These were originally fitted with Modus 115 shafts, which fit with the irons I was using at the time, but I found them a bit heavy last year and switched to KBS Tour Lite, which were also in my then P770 irons. They progress nicely from the Accra shafts I have in my new irons, and I am happy to keep the KBS shafts in them until I need to replace the clubs (at least another year away). They've been fine-tuned with a bit of lead tape so they match the swing-weight of my P770 pitching wedge. After my putter, the 54° wedge is probably my most used club.

Putter(s): Toulon Atlanta (Garage) vs Odyssey Eleven

I'm a sucker for putters and have written several posts about them, most recently when I found the Atlanta pictured above (link HERE). I've always been curious to try a mallet head with no alignment lines, so when I spied the Odyssey Eleven in the Auchterlonies second-hand shop, I thought I would give it a try. There are things I like about it, most especially its stability through the swing, the size and shape of the head and the consistency of my start line. But, I don't like the way the WhiteHot face insert feels (dead and lacking feedback), and I lack confidence with pace control. It's had 3 weeks in the bag and lots of practice time, but the Toulon Atlanta remains the first-choice putter and is back in the bag.

There's a review of the SeeMore M7 Tour Platinum putter coming to the blog soon, and I will also be trying the new Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5 with Versa alignment. The Fastback looks slightly larger than my Atlanta (which I like), and I am intrigued to see how I get on with the Versa technology. It's interesting to see Scotty Cameron introduce that on a couple of their new models.

I also plan to spend more time working on my green reading skills. After all, what's the point in having a fancy putter and a good, repeatable stroke if I send the ball on the wrong start line? With the available practice greens at the academy and the Duke's, I have no excuses not to practice.

Grips: Lamkin Sonar + blackout (woods+irons) and Lamkin Deep Etched (putter)

I've been using both grips for some time now and like them. The Sonar + grips provide a bit of additional vibration dampening, which is a bonus. The blackout model is quite hard to get, but thankfully, I've got a stash in the garage! The Deep Etched putter grip just fits my hands nicely and gives me a lot of confidence with the putter.

Ball: Mizuno Pro X

Over winter, I picked up some of the previous model Mizuno RB Tour X balls and really liked them. They appeared to perform just as well as the ProV1x that I was using previously, but they cost considerably less. Earlier this year, Mizuno brought out their upgraded Mizuno Pro ball, and initial reviews were excellent. When I saw them on a 4 for 3 offer, the price was too good to resist, so I gave them a try too. I am very happy with the ball and have subsequently bought another 4 dozen, so I will be playing these for a while. I've also still got a couple of dozen of the RB Tour model to get through. I'll likely keep them and use them through next winter.

If you've never tried Mizuno golf balls, I would certainly recommend them. Performance is every bit as good as the other "tour" balls on the market, but at a much more attractive price point.

Glove: GX Gloves

These gloves represent excellent value for money, especially if you receive one of their discount codes and buy one of the larger packs. There is information on the site about their sizing, and I've been happy with the fit using their measurements. For the price, I have absolutely no complaints. I've included a link to their website HERE and a link to a recent YouTube review HERE.

Rangefinder: Tangent + Bushnell

I use a combination of the Tangent golf app with Apple Watch (review HERE and HERE) and a Bushnell laser. I try to use Front/Middle/Back more than the precise measure from the Bushnell, but use it to check things like carry distance for hazards, distance to trees etc. I've got almost 200 rounds logged in the Tangent app now and continue to be a strong advocate for it.

Conclusion

Hopefully, my bag is settled for the rest of the season. As mentioned above, there might be a change to my 4H, but there's no burning need to do that. I will undoubtedly keep trying other putters (it is an illness), but it will take something truly special to permanently replace my Garage Atlanta.

If anyone is wondering, the big yellow thing poking out of my bag is, it's an Amazon Basics swing trainer (link) and I use it mainly when warming up pre-round. It also keeps my towel in place!

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