The Power Fade Golf Blog

It may come as a surprise to our readers, but I often spend some of the quiet time of my day reading golf magazines.  One feature that tends to draw my attention is the “what’s in the bag” piece that invariably makes its way into every issue.  This page tends to turn into an ad for whatever label happened to be sponsoring the winner from the previous week.  Occasionally though, these segments provide a little nugget of information about the player that you would otherwise never come across.  Some pros only play a certain number golf ball.  Some throw out a ball after it makes a bogey.  Some only mark their ball with a certain color pen.  These little nuggets help us learn a little more about the pro behind the brand and makes them appear more human.

Occasionally there is an equipment note that changes the way that I play the game.  For example, one pro said that he carries a couple of extra pairs of socks with him.  When he’s having a bad day he’ll switch his socks at the turn.   This tip blew my mind because I never thought that something that simple could impact the way that I was playing on a given day.  I tried this tip the very next I went out and let me tell you.  It’s awesome.  Whenever I play I always throw an extra pair of socks in the bag now to switch even if I’m having a good day.

With that background, I hope you find something interesting or useful as we look through all the junk that’s in my golf bag.

Let’s start with the clubs:

My putter is a 35″ Scotty Cameron California Series (Monterey).  All standard specs with a pingman grip.  I bought this headcover during my first trip to Pebble with JK.  We played Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay when we were working together as summer associates.  Though we didn’t end up playing Pebble then, we did talk about when we’d finally make it out there during a little lunch at the Tap Room.  I’d highly recommend their house ale.  (tastes like Bass).

My wedges are two of my favorite eBay purchases.  I won’t tell you how good a deal these were, but suffice it to say, I’ll never see another one like it.  All of my irons are 1.25″ over standard length (including wedges) with jumbo Lamkin tortion control grips.  These wedges meet the condition of competition requirement and are two of the best clubs I’ve ever owned.  Nothing beats a well-made forged wedge.  I built these myself with old S300 shafts from my previous iron set.

My irons are Mizuno MP-57s.  These were actually the first set of Mizuno irons I ever purchased.  I bought a set of MP-32s from JK that were an inch over standard to try out, but decided I’d like to rebuild these 57s after having played the 32s for a few months.  My main reason for the switch back was that these irons were in such good condition that it felt like a waste to have them in the closet.  The 32s had enough wear on them to justify getting rid of them before they got any worse.  I ended up purchasing some X-200 shafts on eBay for about $40 and rebuilding these to my exact specifications.  I also purchased some custom Navy and White ferrules to spruce up my irons.  Go Eagles!

My  Titleist 904F 3 and 5 woods are two of the best clubs I’ve ever owned.  It is a testament to how great these clubs are that they came out in 2004 and still find homes in the bags of several professionals.  Fairway woods tend draw emotional attachment for golfers more than any other club, and these make me understand why.  If I must find the fairway, I grab my 15* 3W and swing as hard as I can.  Both of these have X-100 steel shafts.

My driver is a 9.5* Titleist 909D2 with an extra stiff UST ProForce v2 shaft.  This is a relatively new addition to my bag, but the headcover has been around since my second year of law school.  Steve the beaver has probably seen more rounds of golf with me than any other piece of equipment I’ve owned.  People often tell me they think he’s a gopher.  Nope.  Sorry, Steve’s a beaver.  I recall liberating Steve from the pro shop at Bartley Cavanaugh golf course in Sacramento, CA after a particularly windy round on an interesting course.  The last two holes are (near) replicas of 17 and 18 at TPC Sawgrass.  The 17th played quite a bit shorter than the actual 17th, but that was no reason for me not to fist pump after hitting the green in 1.  (the three putt after deflated me a little though…)

As far as balls, I currently have TaylorMade Penta and Titleist Pro V1x.  Like certain pros, there are numbers that I prefer to play to others.  When I have balls with less than favorable numbers, I’ll mark them out.  I also put a line around the ball to help out with my putting.  This little device has probably saved me more strokes than any piece of equipment.  For those of you having putting issues, I recommend at least trying this on the practice green as it will give you instant feedback on the quality of your contact with the flat stick.  Thoughts, JK?

Now, for the rest of the bag!

At the moment, I have a Navy and White Ping Hoofer Voyage (likely to change soon) with the following items:

Bushnell Pinseeker 1500 Tournament
Alignment Rod (getting this was a story in-and-of itself)
Scorecard wallet
Protein Bars (gotta eat! – I also occasionally bring fruit or PB&J)
Sunflower seeds (gotta spit!)
Chapstick
Rubber tee
Athletic tape
Hand warmers/Waterproofs
The rules of Golf (mainly because I don’t know them, not to throw them at anyone)
Towel
Rainhood

And…

The tools of the trade:

Camera – Unfortunately I couldn’t take a picture of my digital camera (obviously), but this little puppy goes with me whenever I go to a new course so I can do my best to report my thoughts in pictures to the fine people that read thepowerfade.  I am occasionally so lucky as to have a travelling photographer join me to take pictures on these golf related excursions.

Tees – the red one has actually been in my bag for quite some time.  For some reason I refuse to use this tee.  It may or may not bring me good luck, but mostly I think I’m just used to seeing it in the box of tees.

Pencils from my two courses in Davis: The Davis Municipal and Wildhorse.  These two courses are where I learned the game and have had the vast majority of my golf milestones.  I still remember my first birdie at the 7th hole at Davis Muni.  a 101-yard nine iron to 12 feet followed by a smoothly struck putt right into the center of the cup.  I still have that rock flight lying around somewhere as well..

Divot tools – one from Mauna Kea that was a very special present, and the other was the first item I ever found on a golf course.  I found this Lake Merced divot tool on the 18th hole at Davis muni while I was playing my first tournament – the Yolo County open.  I still remember shooting a 78-88 in the third flight on the par 67 layout.

Ball mark – a 50 pence piece that I picked up on my trip to the UK with my little brother.  Its always nice to have a positive thought while you’re putting, and that trip is one of my better ones.

I used to think I kept things simple, but now that I’ve had a little time to reflect on what I chose to carry with me on every round, I’m amazed by how much each item reflects some part of my personality.  JK, what’s in your bag?