As promised in an earlier thread, I finally got off my lazy backside to shoot my Dubai setup, so here we go:
Here are the bags, lined up in a row. My KZG staff bag has been omitted as my KZG setup has currently been loaned to a friend.
Bag #1 is a TaylorMade TMX series British Open 2008 staff bag. According to the TM whores in GolfWRX, this is supposed to be a limited edition run of 500. Was quite lucky to get one from Leisure Golf in B1 of Far East Shopping Centre, courtesy of Elaine
Bag #1 contains:
My Miura Giken MB-5003 irons, 4 to PW, shafted in KBS Tour shafts, with red Golf Pride BCT cord grips (my personal favourite), an Xmas gift from my wife this year. DGman did an excellent job setting the lie angle for me, and these babies are heavenly to play, especially off the kind of fairways found on Dubai courses.
My TaylorMade Tour Burner v1 is a tour-issued driver procured from the USA, with whole loft of 9*, serial number T69698, and face open angle of 1.5*, shafted with a tour-issued TP Diamana Whiteboard 63 shaft in X-flex. According to DGman, these shafts are original Diamana Whiteboards in TP graphics, not the OEM ones, i.e. made for TaylorMade)
My choice of fairway bombers include a TaylorMade R7 HFS 15* 3 wood, shafted with TP Fujikura ReAx 75TP X-flex shaft and black Golf Pride Cord grips, as well as a pair of Titleist 585H hybrids in 19* and 21*, shafted with UST Proforce V2 S-flex shafts and Golf Pride New Decade Multi Compound (NDMC) grips, which I plan to switch out soon for a pair of Golf Pride BCTs in black or red
Here's a close up of the HFS - note the more curved sole, as compared to the standard and TP versions, which are flatter
Wedges are Miura black oxide wedges in 52* and 56*. The 52* was shafted with KBS Tour Black Nickel S-flex, while the 56* was shafted with KBS Tour Black Nickel in X-flex
My weapon of choice on the green and off the fringe is a vintage Acushnet Bullseye putter. This one is a restored 34R version that I game regularly, but I switch between this and my newly acquired TaylorMade Monza Corza center-shafted, face-balanced putter.
Bag #2 is a Cleveland Staff bag, with a 10.5" top, just acquired yesterday from Golf House in Dubai Mall, where my fitter is based.
This bag isn't complete yet, as my Cleveland CG12 Zip Groove wedges in 52*, 56* and 60* were left in Singapore due to weight issues on my return trip.
Also, I'll be matching this bag with a Cobra L4V 9.0X shafted with an aftermarket Diamana Whiteboard 63 in S-flex
Here are the CG1 Black Pearls, 3 to PW, in S300 shafts. Just had them extended 0.5" today, and my fitter put on new Cleveland grips as a little Xmas present to me. Beautiful heads, but need to be refinished. Set up well, but the shafts are too heavy for me, and I'm wondering if I should switch them to Rifle 5.5, Project X 6.0, Project X 5.0 HL, all of which are now sitting in my storeroom. Will have to consult DGman for advice on these.
The fairway woods are a threesome of the 2001/2002 Launchers in 13*, 15* and 19*. The 13* has the original Cleveland Gold shaft in S-flex, made for Cleveland by Fujikura, while the 15* is shafted with a Grafalloy Blue 70X shaft. The 19* is shafted with an Adila NV 70S shaft, and the three of them deliver good accuracy and distance off the fairway
They are accompanied by 2 halo hybrids that I switch between, depending on the course I play. if there's a lot of rough, I'll swop out the 15* and 19* fairway woods in favour of these grass cutters.
I haven't really decided which putter will go into this bag, but it would probably be the Acushnet Bullseye from Bag #1 if I stick with the TaylorMade Monza Corza putter (new grip and headcover on route to Dubai now from the US)
Bag #3 is a full-on TaylorMade bag. The bag itself is a Japanese version of the cart bag, and has an 8.5" opening. Not my preferred size, but I bought this on impulse
As you can see, the driver is a standard non-tour-issued R7 Limited TP (bought from Leisure Sport in FESH, courtesy of Elaine) with a Diamana 65 TP shaft. I believe this shaft is an OEM model made for TM by Mitsubishi Rayon. The fairway woods in this bag are a 13* tour-issued TaylorMade R7 HFS tour spoon (shafted with a TM-Fuijikura ReAx 85TP shaft in X-flex, and a 17.5* R7 TP shafted with the Fujikura Vista Tour Series 70 in X-flex. All 3 have served me well over the summer months, with many fond memories
Notice the curvature of the sole of the HFS fairway wood vs the TP version:
The irons in this set are TaylorMade TP MBs, non-tour-issued, but blueprinted and shafted with a set of spine-aligned Rifle 6.0 shafts. Extremely forgiving to play, and my fitter added 2.5g of lead tape to the back of the 3,4,5 and 6 irons which give me a little yardage boost without me having to try to muscle my long irons. These are my first set of TM blades, something I lusted over for a very long time.
Wedges in this bag are a retail set of TaylorMade TP Z-grooves in 52* and 56*, shafted with TT DG S300 shafts. I have the 60* as well, but rarely game it.
The putter in this bag is a TaylorMade Daytona Rossa Kia Ma in 35" (ignore the Monza Corza in the pic above) that needs a lie adjustment by DGman on my next visit. Currently too flat for my gorilla arms, and I spray it everywhere
Bag #4 is currently a standard-issue, retail TaylorMade TMX staff bag with a 9.5" opening. This will be replaced with a Titleist or King Cobra bag later this year when I am able to source for one that I like.
The driver is this bag is a retail Titleist 905R in 8.5* loft, shafted with an aftermarket Diamana Blueboard in 73 G4"t shaft in S-flex. Very friendly, very long, but not always very straight (problem with my swing)
The fairway combination for this bag is a Titleist 975F fairway wood in 13.5* of loft, shafted with an EI-70 shaft in X-flex that I have back in Singapore, and currently backed up with a 19* Titleist 585H hybrid in Aldila NV Hybrid 85S shaft. This hybrid will return to Singapore with me on my CNY trip and will join the 21* 585H that currently resides in my Singapore TM bag setup.
The irons in this bag are King Cobra Pro MBs that I purchased from Leisure Sports, but I could not handle the S300 shafts that came with it, and nearly gave it. My fitter here in Dubai swopped them out for a set of Project X 5.0 (non-flighted), 0.5" longer and set up 1.5* upright, and they were really easy to play from there on. It was this set that taught me that a lot of forgiveness and ease of play comes from the shaft, not just the head.
[img]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cGO6f7ksHMI/SzUSNqaEyvI/AAAAAAAAK1c/NtE5o1jxFQk/s912/IMG_0072.JPG[img]
I have a set of Titleist Vokey Spin Milled Oil Can wedges in 52*, 56* and 60* currently on route to Dubai that will complete this set. Pics will follow when they arrive.
The putter in this bag is an original Acushnet John Reuters Design Bullseye with the satin fluted shaft and leather wrap grip. A joy to putt with, and beautifully weighted
Last but not least, my Mizuno stand bag currently holds two sets of irons
The first is a set of TaylorMade RAC MBs forged by Miura, shafted with Rifle Project X 6.0 shafts. The lie on this set needs to be bent more upright, which I will have done by DGman on my CNY trip
The milled faces are a dead giveaway, as is the satin finish
The other set of irons is a classic set of blades, a model which Tiger Woods allegedly played in his Amateur days. I bought them to see how friendly they were (which they are, but I just hate the offsets)
I'll post a separate thread of my Singapore setup when I get back, if anyone's interested
Subject: WITB - Dubai edition (warning: pic intensive) 
Sat Dec 26, 2009 4:36 am
