BallerNate’s WITB

[BallerNate]

2 hours ago, rsballer10 said:

I actually think they are going to keep making them. There's just too much weight savings to go back. The 1st gen carbon crowns had a high failure rate as well. My guess is they just improve the failure rate and then the other OEM's will be forced to copy them. JMO of course.

Interesting. Well, as they say, “variety is the spice of life.” 😉🤣

 

I don’t know that much about the weight savings or technical aspects. I just know I much preferred the performance of their Drivers pre-carbon face, and I’m guessing they’ve lost a ton of money on R&D, sales, and warranty claims and eventually would want to stop the bleeding.

 

But who knows, your guess is as good as mine.

[rsballer10]

3 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Interesting. Well, as they say, “variety is the spice of life.” 😉🤣

 

I don’t know that much about the weight savings or technical aspects. I just know I much preferred the performance of their Drivers pre-carbon face, and I’m guessing they’ve lost a ton of money on R&D, sales, and warranty claims and eventually would want to stop the bleeding.

 

But who knows, your guess is as good as mine.

Agreed, it's a guess at this point. It looks like the PE firm that owns TMAG is putting them up for sale again - so who REALLY knows now!

[BallerNate]

5 hours ago, rsballer10 said:

Agreed, it's a guess at this point. It looks like the PE firm that owns TMAG is putting them up for sale again - so who REALLY knows now!

Wow…it’s only been like 2-3 years!

 

Yeah, I’m sure they’re losing a ton of money…buy high and sell low isn’t a good combo.

 

Oh well, rich people problems, Lol.

[BallerNate]

Well, I said I was on a PING kick…here are the new Irons to test out!

 

I had a credit with one of my shops, and found these in great shape in Blue Dot (1* Upright), so why not!

 

Just finished the first Range session with them and the Tyne H, and they were absolutely fantastic!! The Srixon’s and Odyssey putters are shaking in their boots, Lol. 😎🤣 

[MattM97]

39 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Well, I said I was on a PING kick…here are the new Irons to test out!

 

I had a credit with one of my shops, and found these in great shape in Blue Dot (1* Upright), so why not!

 

Just finished the first Range session with them and the Tyne H, and they were absolutely fantastic!! The Srixon’s and Odyssey putters are shaking in their boots, Lol. 😎🤣 

 

Do a Ping driver next lol. 

[BallerNate]

2 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

Do a Ping driver next lol. 

Already been there, done that, and got the T-shirt my man, Lol.

 

That’s how this whole PING run started, with a G430 Max Driver purchase.

 

Really good Driver, but the problem for me is that PING Drivers don’t have an Upright setting. Only Standard, and flat settings…and the Standard wasn’t upright enough for me unfortunately.

[MattM97]

46 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Already been there, done that, and got the T-shirt my man, Lol.

 

That’s how this whole PING run started, with a G430 Max Driver purchase.

 

Really good Driver, but the problem for me is that PING Drivers don’t have an Upright setting. Only Standard, and flat settings…and the Standard wasn’t upright enough for me unfortunately.

 

Must have missed that, amongst all the other clubs. 

 

Not sure how many drivers have an upright setting. My Ping is actually in a flat setting right now which is odd. 

[BallerNate]

7 hours ago, MattM97 said:

 

Must have missed that, amongst all the other clubs. 

 

Not sure how many drivers have an upright setting. My Ping is actually in a flat setting right now which is odd. 

🤣🤣 Understandable Matt, I sometimes forget some of the 100’s of clubs I’ve owned too, Lol.

[Shanks2424]

On 5/30/2025 at 5:51 PM, BallerNate said:

Well, I said I was on a PING kick…here are the new Irons to test out!

 

I had a credit with one of my shops, and found these in great shape in Blue Dot (1* Upright), so why not!

 

Just finished the first Range session with them and the Tyne H, and they were absolutely fantastic!! The Srixon’s and Odyssey putters are shaking in their boots, Lol. 😎🤣 

I like the change up. I changed my driver and 3 wood. I went back to Titleist will post some photos when I get them built. 

[BallerNate]

5 hours ago, Shanks2424 said:

I like the change up. I changed my driver and 3 wood. I went back to Titleist will post some photos when I get them built. 

Thanks my man, definitely all about finding the best fit!

 

More updates coming soon.

 

Looking forward to seeing the new top end of the bag! 👌🏽👌🏽

[BallerNate]

Interesting twist to the story this week. 
 

I decided to take my ZX5/ZX7 MK II’s in to my Golf shop to get the ZX7 short irons bent 1* strong to see if I might like them better with a little less bounce.

 

Once they checked the lofts and Lie angles though, the 8, 9, & PW were all bent approx. 4* STRONG, and the Lie angles were incorrect too! No wonder I kept saying, “not sure the V-Sole is for me”…it’s because my irons were all jacked up from my custom Srixon order last season!!???

 

The ZX5 long irons weren’t as messed up, which explains why they performed better for me.

 

So long story short, once I got them properly adjusted to my specs (1* Upright, +1”, standard lofts), I did a head-to-head test at the range with my PING i200’s, and the Srixon’s absolutely blew them out of the water, Lol!! 
 

So the update is that the Srixon’s are back in the bag, and the putter testing is ongoing. The PING Tyne H has a slight edge over my Odyssey though…rolls puuuuuure, looks great, and love the sounds & feel off the face! 

[iBanesto]

3 hours ago, BallerNate said:

Interesting twist to the story this week. 
 

I decided to take my ZX5/ZX7 MK II’s in to my Golf shop to get the ZX7 short irons bent 1* strong to see if I might like them better with a little less bounce.

 

Once they checked the lofts and Lie angles though, the 8, 9, & PW were all bent approx. 4* STRONG, and the Lie angles were incorrect too! No wonder I kept saying, “not sure the V-Sole is for me”…it’s because my irons were all jacked up from my custom Srixon order last season!!???

 

The ZX5 long irons weren’t as messed up, which explains why they performed better for me.

 

So long story short, once I got them properly adjusted to my specs (1* Upright, +1”, standard lofts), I did a head-to-head test at the range with my PING i200’s, and the Srixon’s absolutely blew them out of the water, Lol!! 
 

So the update is that the Srixon’s are back in the bag, and the putter testing is ongoing. The PING Tyne H has a slight edge over my Odyssey though…rolls puuuuuure, looks great, and love the sounds & feel off the face! 

 

You did not know your irons were 4 degrees strong after your custom order or did the customer order screw up?

[BallerNate]

17 minutes ago, iBanesto said:

 

You did not know your irons were 4 degrees strong after your custom order or did the customer order screw up?

It was an error with the custom order.

 

That’s actually 2 yrs in a row that I received custom clubs that were incorrectly built.

 

In 2023 I ordered a custom set of P770’s with completely incorrect specs, and last year it was this ZX5/ZX7 MK II set that was botched.

 

But for both, it wasn’t minor…each club would be 4-degrees flat, or 4-degrees stronger in loft etc. Very disappointing for sure (both were supposed to be 1* Upright, +1” long, and standard lofts).

[MikeW2]

On 6/7/2025 at 11:40 AM, BallerNate said:

It was an error with the custom order.

 

That’s actually 2 yrs in a row that I received custom clubs that were incorrectly built.

 

In 2023 I ordered a custom set of P770’s with completely incorrect specs, and last year it was this ZX5/ZX7 MK II set that was botched.

 

But for both, it wasn’t minor…each club would be 4-degrees flat, or 4-degrees stronger in loft etc. Very disappointing for sure (both were supposed to be 1* Upright, +1” long, and standard lofts).

Did you order through the same local shop? Could be them making the error as it seems highly unlikely that two manufacturers botched an order so badly for the same person.

[BallerNate]

31 minutes ago, MikeW2 said:

Did you order through the same local shop? Could be them making the error as it seems highly unlikely that two manufacturers botched an order so badly for the same person.

Yeah, true that they were both ordered through the same Golf shop.

 

But both times I received paper confirmation of the all the details of the order (shafts, Lie angles, lofts, lengths etc), and the orders were processed correctly.

 

Should they have checked the specs when the orders came in? Absolutely…but I understand they’re very busy also, so that might not be possible on every order that comes in…

[Shanks2424]

On 6/7/2025 at 6:22 AM, BallerNate said:

Interesting twist to the story this week. 
 

I decided to take my ZX5/ZX7 MK II’s in to my Golf shop to get the ZX7 short irons bent 1* strong to see if I might like them better with a little less bounce.

 

Once they checked the lofts and Lie angles though, the 8, 9, & PW were all bent approx. 4* STRONG, and the Lie angles were incorrect too! No wonder I kept saying, “not sure the V-Sole is for me”…it’s because my irons were all jacked up from my custom Srixon order last season!!???

 

The ZX5 long irons weren’t as messed up, which explains why they performed better for me.

 

So long story short, once I got them properly adjusted to my specs (1* Upright, +1”, standard lofts), I did a head-to-head test at the range with my PING i200’s, and the Srixon’s absolutely blew them out of the water, Lol!! 
 

So the update is that the Srixon’s are back in the bag, and the putter testing is ongoing. The PING Tyne H has a slight edge over my Odyssey though…rolls puuuuuure, looks great, and love the sounds & feel off the face! 

THATS WHY I LEARNED TO BUILD MY OWN CLUBS AND I GET MY LOFT AND LIES CHECKED ONE A YEAR. I SHOULD GET THEM CHECKED TWICE A YEAR BUT I DONT. ONE DAY I WILL BUY A LOFT AND LIE MACHINE

Edited June 9 by Shanks2424

[BallerNate]

10 hours ago, Shanks2424 said:

THATS WHY I LEARNED TO BUILD MY OWN CLUBS AND I GET MY LOFT AND LIES CHECKED ONE A YEAR. I SHOULD GET THEM CHECKED TWICE A YEAR BUT I DONT. ONE DAY I WILL BUY A LOFT AND LIE MACHINE

Makes sense.

 

Definitely shocking that an OEM would mess up a custom order that badly, but I guess human error happens everywhere unfortunately.

[Shanks2424]

1 hour ago, BallerNate said:

Makes sense.

 

Definitely shocking that an OEM would mess up a custom order that badly, but I guess human error happens everywhere unfortunately.

they just hire any one that is willing to work in a factory. They have a tolerance. But it you take your clubs to a place like cool clubs, club champions, tour spec golf or any good builder there tolerance are a lot lower. When I build my stuff I am with in a gram to 1.5 grams. A good builder with all the tools can get to .5 grams

[BallerNate]

Just a PSA that I was just at my go-to Golf shop, Golf Town, here in Canada.

 

And unfortunately Golf Town, and Callaway, are still selling these knock-off garbage clubs and scamming people for a quick buck.

 

When I bought one over the Winter and fell for the scam, I swore I’d never buy another Callaway club.

 

That decision has aged well…I can’t believe these are still being sold. 🤮🤮🤮 

Edited June 14 by BallerNate

[Mitchell]

39 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Just a PSA that I was just at my go-to Golf shop, Golf Town, here in Canada.

 

And unfortunately Golf Town, and Callaway, are still selling these knock-off garbage clubs and scamming people for a quick buck.

 

When I bought one over the Winter and fell for the scam, I swore I’d never buy another Callaway club.

 

That decision has aged well…I can’t believe these are still being sold. 🤮🤮🤮 

Well, at least the single Max D driver on rack isn’t the watered-down version 😂

[BallerNate]

1 hour ago, Mitchell said:

Well, at least the single Max D driver on rack isn’t the watered-down version 😂

Hahaha!! I didn’t even notice that.

 

But again, that speaks to how shady/deceitful the whole thing is….these clones are being marketed side-by-side with authentic clubs. And being sold for the same price on top of that…Ugh!!

[MtlJeff]

I keep my WRX membership for @BallerNate's WITB thread. 

 

This is gold. 

[BallerNate]

2 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

I keep my WRX membership for @BallerNate's WITB thread. 

 

This is gold. 

Hahaha…thanks my man!

 

It’s always an adventure for sure!

[BallerNate]

All of you that follow my crazy WITB thread knew it was just a matter of time before I picked one of these up, Lol.

 

Just left the range for my first session with it, and absolutely loved the first impression!

 

Sounds and feels light years better than the other Carbon faced Drivers, and definitely beat the SIM2 Max for me today!

 

Going to be an epic head-to-head…best of Carbon face, vs arguably best of Titanium face. Let the best Driver win!! 🚀🚀🔥🔥 

[sergizmo]

Hopefully the carbon face holds together for you Nate. 4th times the charm!

 

Crazy story with those irons being bent 4° strong. That must have dug something fierce.

[CDLgolf]

From the sole pic the qi35 looks so much bigger than the sim. Maybe it's just the camera angle.

Good luck.

[BallerNate]

14 hours ago, sergizmo said:

Hopefully the carbon face holds together for you Nate. 4th times the charm!

 

Crazy story with those irons being bent 4° strong. That must have dug something fierce.

Thanks Serge, I have a good feeling about this Qi35 Max! But if there’s defects, we know TM will handle the situation properly at least.

 

Yeah, and not only 4 degrees strong on the Irons, but also totally different Lie Angles. Crazy.

 

Doesn’t encourage me to order custom irons again in the future.

[BallerNate]

14 hours ago, CDLgolf said:

From the sole pic the qi35 looks so much bigger than the sim. Maybe it's just the camera angle.

Good luck.

I’d say the camera angle accentuates it, but the Qi35 Max definitely has a bigger overall footprint than the SIM2 Max.

 

The biggest difference I’d say is that the Qi35 Max is longer front to back, which I think was part of the philosophy with the Carbon faces…to move weight from the face to other parts of the club.

 

You definitely notice the difference in size right away when you look at them side by side, but visually I still prefer looking down at the Qi35 Max personally.

[BallerNate]

Welp, it was a short battle for the #1 club spot in my bag, Lol.

 

Just came back from my first round with the Qi35 Max, and it was the best round I’ve ever had hitting any Driver!

 

I played at my home course, and I was consistently 30-40 yards past the furthest spots that I’ve ever hit Driver on every hole.

 

It’s not only long though for me, it also sounds phenomenal, feels phenomenal, and on bad swings it kept the ball in play rather than ending up in the forest or another Fairway.

 

I had brought my go-to shaft to switch into it to test out, but I was hitting it so well I decided to keep everything exactly as it was and keep it rolling!!

 

You guys know it’s been a long and weird journey for me with Driver…but this one has clicked right away and it’s gonna be bombs away this season!! 🚀🚀🚀🔥🔥🔥 

[rsballer10]

59 minutes ago, BallerNate said:

Welp, it was a short battle for the #1 club spot in my bag, Lol.

 

Just came back from my first round with the Qi35 Max, and it was the best round I’ve ever had hitting any Driver!

 

I played at my home course, and I was consistently 30-40 yards past the furthest spots that I’ve ever hit Driver on every hole.

 

It’s not only long though for me, it also sounds phenomenal, feels phenomenal, and on bad swings it kept the ball in play rather than ending up in the forest or another Fairway.

 

I had brought my go-to shaft to switch into it to test out, but I was hitting it so well I decided to keep everything exactly as it was and keep it rolling!!

 

You guys know it’s been a long and weird journey for me with Driver…but this one has clicked right away and it’s gonna be bombs away this season!! 🚀🚀🚀🔥🔥🔥 

Well what do we have here!? A TM carbon faced driver 🙂 

 

I've been curious to try the Qi35 core (maybe LS but probably not) driver. Just picked up a Qi35 3 wood and love it. Used to be a TM woods loyalist back in the day, their drivers just really look good to my eye.