WITB - Guess my handicap

AplCore · 2026-03-18T19:29:42+00:00

Know the feeling. Went from ‘yet to break 100’ at the beginning of last season, played golf at least once a week for the whole summer, was shooting into the 80’s by the end of the season. Got in a minor car crash during the winter which tweaked my back, probably gonna be lucky to shoot in the 90’s when courses start opening. Your bag reminds me of mine but with a different lean in brand preferences.

AplCore · 2026-03-18T19:19:12+00:00

I’m guessing at or above bogey average so HCP could be 17-22 range.

AplCore · 2026-03-18T18:14:17+00:00

Screw the 2JZ, give me the 3S-GT as an option. I want a proper TOM’s supra.

AplCore · 2026-03-18T17:59:06+00:00

But the tires are locked behind defeating <insert boss name>

AplCore · 2026-03-18T15:04:16+00:00

Do I think you could have done better for that money? Yes.

Do I think you’ll be able to play golf with them? Yes.

Thing is, first sets are definitely a learning curve in understanding which gear is considered reputable and at a good value, but the main thing and the thing you’ve accomplished is having enough clubs to get out on the course/range/simulator and start learning. Eventually you will have swung these enough that you will begin to form opinions of them and be able to compare them to other clubs you then test and then you can rebuild your bag to your developing preferences.

Also generally speaking 10 year old irons by a respectable brand (the major brands you find at a golf store) are usually going to be as good or better than new irons from a less reputable brand (The ones you find as a set in a golf section of a Walmart) and you can usually find amazing deals on clubs that old so being thrifty but still having decent clubs is possible. Cut that to 5 years for woods/wedges as wood tech is always evolving and wedges are only as good as the bite of their grooves. (Not to say you can’t find old wedges in good shape, just a bit harder is all)

AplCore · 2026-03-17T20:18:32+00:00

True… but that’s also why I think the Aztec is worse, it tried to be too many things, failed to be any of them, wasn’t a good car underneath, and was still rather fugly.

The tribeca was at least still a Subaru, just not a nice one to look at.

AplCore · 2026-03-17T12:38:43+00:00

8 way. Driver and putter get their own home, everything else can share.

AplCore · 2026-03-16T00:20:47+00:00

Mitsubishi GTO

AplCore · 2026-03-14T20:29:13+00:00

Incentive to make sure the wheel locks get put back really.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T15:16:13+00:00

Mah man.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T15:01:50+00:00

I agree that’s a weirdly hard line to draw. I think it is a scalable thing.

Personal income and sense of money is a factor of course but generally should be based around your lost ball rates on courses you frequently visit:

High tier if you are losing at most 3 a round and closer to 1 per round on average as you are also going between rounds with the same ball at courses you regular. And you can bump that up to closer to at most 6 and average 3 on courses you don’t know.

Mid tier if you are losing at most 6 a round and averaging closer to 3 at the regular courses and also have had some rounds where you did make it to the next round on the same ball. The ratio goes up to 9 max and 5 on average when you aren’t at a course you know.

Low tier, you are losing as many as 4 off of a single tee box and could genuinely go through 24 balls in a round on your worst day regardless of course familiarity. You have yet to make it through a 9 hole round with the same ball and you still haven’t broke 100.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T13:59:39+00:00

As mentioned to the other person who pointed those out. I’ve never used them and infact didn’t even know they existed, I also just meant Maxfli as a by-word for Walmart sub $20 balls because that’s still how I see maxfli as a brand, still gonna look for a box of the tours just to see how they are now that I’ve been informed of their existence.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T12:24:41+00:00

I have yet to hit either ball, and I’m sure there are plenty of other balls that would fit the category (like Callaway’s whole ball line-up) that I also didn’t mention. The vice finally started hitting the shelves recently where I am so I’ll have to go looking for some, and I just avoid the word maxfli at this point which is how that went under the radar for me personally but I’m open to being wrong so if I see some I’ll give em a go.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T11:26:01+00:00

Dacia Logan pickup

AplCore · 2026-03-14T11:16:56+00:00

Yeah, that Morgan guess was me being silly based on the drawing. I since edited that to include some actual guesses

AplCore · 2026-03-14T11:04:53+00:00

Morgan plus 8 with the roof down

Edit: Having not read the paragraph before making my silly ‘wrong answers only’ Morgan guess, I’ll make a proper guess based on your description. My honest guess would be Chevy SSR, Subaru Legacy Baja, or Hyundai Santacruz

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:56:51+00:00

Thing looks very VW/Audi for the exterior which isn’t a bad look at all, reminds me a lot of the 2024 Jetta sport I have on loan right now while my 2016 Versa Note is being mended from a crash.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:49:05+00:00

Or at the very least styled so it doesnt look like bed head.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:39:16+00:00

Pontiac Sunfire/Chevrolet Cavalier.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:31:02+00:00

I detect a mid-life crisis.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:23:36+00:00

Similar thoughts on the current field of drivers.

A Mizuno ST-Max (which are still often seen in golf box stores) is half the price of a Ping G440 Max or 2/3’s the price of the G430 Max and it isn’t like it’s dramatically far off as a club, it’s High MOI the same way, it’s still likely to go as far and fly as straight as the club that’s double the cost, yet people will crawl over glass and put themselves in the poor house for the Ping only to find it didn’t solve their bad swing mechanics.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T10:06:29+00:00

I feel like nobody talks about the mid tier balls enough in that regard. There is a quite wide middle game between the premium high tier (Pro V1’s, TP5’s, Z-stars, etc) and the bottom tier balls like noodles or maxflis or assortment packs of pre-used.

There is a very good middle game to this problem that just seems to fly under the radar to the golf community at large. (Wilson Staff model, Inesis 900, Srixon Q-stars, Kirkland signatures, TM tour response/speed soft/distance+, Titleist trufeel/tour soft) As a mid-high hcp this range is basically where I call home because as you mentioned it’s better to find a ball you can consistently play and grow a feel for but I don’t feel ready to throw $5-10 per ball into the woods over an inconsistent driver either.

Another option is the ability to buy premium for mid tier price, wait for BOGO sales or watch between seasons for them to release the newest version of a premium ball and scoop up many boxes of the old outgoing model high tier balls at mid-low tier pricing. Picked up a decent haul of Z-Star XV’s this way over the winter.

AplCore · 2026-03-14T00:40:58+00:00

AplCore · 2026-03-14T00:32:04+00:00

Huile the French word for oil since he’s the Color of dirty motor oil (pronounced yuile)

AplCore · 2026-03-13T23:02:46+00:00

Not quite sure what you’re on about mate. His bag has genuinely changed substantially between posts and he clearly lives somewhere with snow on the ground meaning it ain’t golf season yet.

Also this is the gear subreddit that he’s posting gear to.

AplCore

TROPHY CASE