What's in the bag?

I put together my set of clubs in 2008, changing all fourteen over the course of that year, and I must say, I can't see myself changing for quite a while. When it comes to golf clubs, I'm a big fan of keeping it simple. I haven't gone for blades, or a very strong lofted driver, or the stiffest possible shafts I can use - just handy, user-friendly kit.


My irons are Taylor Made Tour Burners from 3 to P. They have a neat tour look behind the ball with a small offset. The sole is quite chunky, with plenty of weight under the ball. The topline is very well designed, so what is quite a forgiving cavity back, actually sits like a much sleeker iron. I use them with Project X 6.0 shafts and find their most impressive attribute is how easy they make controlling the flight, whether it's a low knock-down, or getting the ball up quickly. On the negative side, the short irons can be a bit clunky. These clubs are built to hit the ball a long way, and that can become a problem when trying to control the pitching wedge and 9 iron at three-quarter distances.


My driver, 3 wood and 18* hybrid are Ping G10s. I use the Grafalloy ProLaunch Red shaft in each, which I found gives a slightly more boring flight than the other two stock shafts available. The driver is 9* and very traditional in shape. You get a good sturdy smash from it, as opposed to the slightly more dead thump of a Titleist, or (God forbid) the deafening fryingpan-crash of the current Cobra range, as if they actually set out to replicate the pitch and timbre of a Micra taking the wing off a stationary Daewoo in a busy Liffey Valley car park. R&D at it's best.


The putter I've been using since June 2008 is the immense and luxuriant Odyssey White Hot Tour #1. It has the typical back step of the Anser or Scotty Cameron, but I've found the soft insert to be a hell of a lot easier to use on faster greens. I had used the same (excellent) Callaway BJ-2 for upwards of ten years and wasn't sure whether to change. But with a few vouchers to spare, I had a look around for something worth changing to, and found this Odyssey. I liked it from the off, but one round in particular, at the height of summer on Clontarf's quick, glassy greens made me realise just how good this putter is.


And lastly, like so many people, I use Titleist Vokey Spin Milled wedges. Mine are 54* and 58*. The sand wedge is a little stronger than most, principally because the extra few yards allows me to use it for more shots. The 58* is also a little less loft than most people's lob wedge, but I find this loft to be more useful for different kinds of pitches than the fairly one-dimensional 60*. Both wedges have Project X 6.0 shafts.