Last week I sold my Nike Pro Combo forged irons after only playing them a couple of months.  The swing weight was way too low on these clubs.  I think they are D1’s and D2’s depending on the club.  Since I like to think of my swing as though I’m swinging a lead ball at the end of a string I want some weight on the club head.  In the past three seasons I’ve played the Nike’s, a set of Cobra SSI’s and Titleist 695 forged cavities.  I keep coming back to my 1999 Top Flite Tour OS clubs for the swing weight and shot consistency.  I’m about exactly 140 yards with my 7 iron, 150 if I crank it.

I’ve been trying to find clubs to replace the Top Flite Tours for years.   I think they are the most under rated irons in the history of golf but mine are beat to death.  The 9 iron looks like I’ve been swinging it in the gravel parking lot at the driving range.  I went on an extensive search recently at Golfsmith and the Pro Shop at the Falls driving range.

I hit Ping G10’s and Titleist AP1’s.  They are both $599 retail.  The Pings were alright for swing weight but pretty boring and I hate the looks of Pings at address.  I think Ping has become a golf cliche and a victim of their own success.  The Titleists were quite awesome as any $600 set of irons should be.  But then I decided to try a brand I’ve never really considered before.  On the rack was a set of Wilson Staff Ci7’s.  They sure look damn good.  Better than any club on the rack (I later learned they won the Golf Digest 2008 award for “best looking” club along with “best feeling” club).  Then I saw the price – $389.00.  The rep in the store told me Padrick Harrington won the 2008 British Open Championship with this exact Wilson model.  It was time to hit them.

First thing I noticed on the Wilson’s was the stock grip.  Nike should take a lesson.  These were straight up Golf Pride DD2’s with a Wilson logo.  That’s an $8 grip on each club.  No need to change them right out of the box like I had to with the Nike’s.  Then I noticed that the shaft sticker that said “spline aligned”.  If anyone’s ever bought a replacement shaft they know this is a critical part of club assembly often not incorporated in “game improvement” irons.  Manufacturers reserve it for the $1000, hand assembled, forged pro sets.

After the first few swings I took with the Ci7’s I was ready to buy.  To me the swing weight is better than my Top Flite Tours.  I haven’t been able to say that about any clubs in 10 years.  I was real impressed with the TX-105 True Temper shafts.  Every component Wilson chose for these clubs is top of the line.  And if pros are winning majors with these sticks then they are only “game improvement” irons by classification and price.

So Wilson is bad ass.  Again, who knew?  These are not my Grandfather “Pops” old Wilson persimmon woods sitting around in the cracked and dusty leather bag.  That was the image I always had in my head of Wilson golf clubs.  Sales volume is about brand name recognition but performance has nothing to do with logos.  If Wilson had the reputation in golf that they do in tennis these clubs would sell for more than the Ping G10’s and Titleist AP1’s.  I’m getting some this week.

I hear the Staff Di9’s are incredible, I haven’t seen them in person, but priced at the point of the Ping and Titleists.   And guess what… I found the Ci7’s even cheaper on ebay where they are going for about $249 or less with free shipping.  I actually feel like I’m stealing or that I know something I shouldn’t.  The guys I play with will never understand why I got rid of my Nike Pro Combos for Wilson Staff’s.  Until I beat them by six strokes each next weekend.

This morning I learned from a few readers, who are Executive Staffing Group employees, that the Clifton and Savage operation have issued some payroll checks that bounced.  Apparently they also issued a notice to all employees that all direct deposits would cease immediately.  So does this mean that ESG employees should only expect to receive bad checks?

If this is true it’s a bad situation.  The Department of Labor or Insurance could step in a shut down ESG but where does that leave ESG’s contracted employees or the ESG clients they’re working for.   At the time any possible connections between ESG and the Castleton Group were made by investigators all efforts should have been made to shut down ESG before anyone else got hurt.  I personally believe the only reason this was not done was pure greed and arrogance on the part of the Savages and Clifton.   It gives the appearance they wanted to try to maintain some level of prominence and lifestyle in the face of personal bankruptcies and investigations.  They will argue they were trying to keep people employed in a down economy.  But what service are you doing to keep people employed when you can’t pay them?

Health care reform is in the spotlight again.  No matter what  compromised bill comes out of Congress one thing is certain: As long as health care remains a for profit venture in America it will remain a broken system.  No corporation should measure profits or shareholder returns by wagering on, or attending to, peoples health and well being.  Anyone who disagrees is most certainly too barbaric and immoral at their core to recognize the heartlessness of their position.

Then just look at this article about Hawaiian Senator Daniel Inouye and calls his office made to influence the distribution of TARP funds to a bank where most of his personal wealth is invested.  The bank did not qualify, at all, for TARP funds prior to his mysterious phone call.  If this continued rip-off by Congress and the banks is not annoying and obvious by now then I have no alternative than to think that most  American’s are dumb ass-hats who genuinely don’t care.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31675539/ns/politics-washington_post/