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Pro Rapture?

• Pangaea 242 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 10:49 AM

  I've upgraded some clubs now during the sale and figured I would wait with upgrading irons until I hit Master. But that is probably never going to happen as I struggle badly right now. Since the sale is still on I figured I may as well buy an iron set, since I have the credits for it right now.I can't imagine new clubs will be drastically different from our current choices, so I think I will chance it and buy on the cheap. Good or bad choice?

  The fast swing meter of the wedges are killing me, so I figured the Rapture irons could be a good idea. I have the starting irons now, and what really irks me is that the ball just flies off the back of the green (or rolls very far) on most holes, even with max backspin. Will the Pro Rapture irons be able to stop it more consistently? I'm fed up of the ball landing in a seemingly good position in front of the flag, only to roll 10 yards past it.

  1) How is the precision of these clubs? Will they still fly well off target with a (close to) perfect hit?

  2) Is the 2-star spin rating enough to stop the ball much closer to the hole than with the starting irons? How far does it roll compared to starting irons and G10s and R9s Pros?

  3) I'm also thinking about buying a Rapture hybrid or wood, again due to meter issues with my wedges. What is the best choice for me as a Pro? I already have 3 wedges, Satin 54, 60 and 64 degrees. What is most useful for a Pro that will probably never make Master?

  4) Are there any special drawbacks with the Raptures that I need to know about which makes them a poor choice compared to the other clubs available?

  Thank you.

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 11:19 AM

  Answer from a Master who uses Raptures

  1) Precision is 2X better than starters, No they won't fly well off target with a close to perfect hit.  They are very forgiving for mis-hits.  I also own G10s but I lose much more distance and direction on mis-hits with those.

  2) Coupled with a spin ball a Rapture PW rolls 1 yd, a 9I 1-2,  8I 2 maybe 3yds, etc.  with a head wind they'll stop with little roll.  I'm not an expert on G10s because I haven't given them the time needed to adapt to the meter speed, but I do know their longer irons stop better than Raptures, I can see that in multi-player rounds.

  3) From Pro tees, the Rapture Driver will put you where a Master Driver is from the Master tee.  Consider buying the whole Rapture Pro set, they're on sale.  You have a pretty big gap at 50 to 60 yards with your wedges.  Consider picking up the Ping Pro 64 degree wedge rated at 60 yards to close that  gap.

  4)  The only drawbacks I see are it makes it harder (for me) to adapt to the faster meter on the G10s since I love the slower meter, and there is a quirk with  the 7I, just ignore the  effect of downwinds less than 10mph and you'll be OK. (a 7I no tail/headwind carries145, a 7I with 7mph tailwind still carries 145.)

• SweetiePie 4,925 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 12:01 PM

  I had Rapture sticks shortly after I reached Master with the free stuff. As I now compare them with the G10, I do so with some favor and the opposite. With the Rapture driver, I was at 94% of fairways and am now at a (gulp) crappy 89% with small change...a huge drop. The G10 irons, however, if nothing else, are a blast to play with. It took me about a month of much play to get used to the meter, which now seems normal. It is the down time of the familieration that gets under the skin.

• Pangaea 242 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 12:37 PM

  Thank you for the answers. How is the roll on the long Rapture irons compared with the starter kit? That is my main problem with them, as the ball just rolls and roll and rolls and I'm left with a massive putt.

  I've already invested in a Tour Pro 9.5 driver and am getting by with the meter now, so think I will stick with it. Have 1750 credits so can't afford the full set, but can buy iron set plus a hybrid or wood. Which one is best to go with? I'm leaning towards wood for distance, but read the hybrid was great for getting out or the rough.

  I think my gaps on the wedges are quite allright at 50, 77 and 98. With punch I can fill some of those too, like 60 degree on punch is 63. Do you think this is a problem?

  It is tempting to go with the G10s too for extra precision and spin, but I'm worried the meter will annoy me way too much. With the wedges I quite regularly miss a good bit (almost a mark to the left or right). With the longer irons this would surely send me solidly into the rough.

  Also, will feel balls slow down the meter much? Will 2 stars for feel turn a 2.5 meter down to about 1 for example?

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 3:06 PM

  Pangaea:

  How is the roll on the long Rapture irons compared with the starter kit?

  Short answer: They will roll less, but can still roll quite a bit.

  Examples from my shot records:

  BPB #10 very fast greens, 21mph cross wind full Rapture 3I, full back spin, tour gi-s ball: 187yds carry 9yds roll.

  Kiawah #12 v. fast greens, 2 down wind, choke down a bit on Rapture 5I, full back spin, GI2-D ball with no extra spin like a free ball:  168 yd carry 14yd roll.

  Remember its not just the clubs determining how far the ball rolls, uphill/downhill elevation has a big effect as does headwind/tailwind, some greens hold a long iron (BP#10) better than others (KIA #12)

  Pangaea:

  can buy iron set plus a hybrid or wood. Which one is best to go with? I'm leaning towards wood for distance, but read the hybrid was great for getting out or the rough.

  I'd go with the 3W.  Hit a 3W Punch out of 20-25 rough  and go ~200yds, use the 3I out of deeper rough.

  Pangaea:

  I think my gaps on the wedges are quite allright at 50, 77 and 98. With punch I can fill some of those too, like 60 degree on punch is 63. Do you think this is a problem?

  Not a big problem.  You can also learn how far your 60 wedge goes if you choke down 85 to 80%.

  Pangaea:

  Also, will feel balls slow down the meter much? Will 2 stars for feel turn a 2.5 meter down to about 1 for example?

  Probably not all the way down to a 1.  1.5 maybe.  I find if I change to balls with  more feel it could help my drives (I use a G10 master) and wedges, but it screws up my putting.  Bottom line, its a personal thing, find a ball you are comfortable with not only meter speed and spin, but cost. JMO

  ,

• Pangaea 242 Posts

  Thu, Aug 26 2010 3:39 PM

  Thanks. So even with spin balls the roll can be pretty severe then. Just so frustrating to see the ball end up way back after what looks like a great approach shot. Sometimes it feels like all the greens are downhill in every direction.

  Sorry for all the spin and roll questions, but do you (or somebody else) know if the roll with the Rapture is much worse than with the G10 for example?
  Would be nice if WGT let us know what the various stars actually mean tbh. Particularly on durability as that should be pretty constant.

  I have bought a few balls, but not even used them yet. Too afraid I'll knock them into water. Suppose I should at least give them a few practice shots to see how the meter on the wedges reacts with and without them.

  After reading your advice and checking the stats a bit more, it sounds like wood is the way to go. 25 extra yards on my current wood will help quite a bit on some holes. Kind of regret I bought the cheap Pro driver now, but don't think I could have afforded the Rapture driver anyway.

  Edit:
  Did some swing-test times with my balls (ooooh). I haven't bought a 2-star feel ball, but the 1-star feel ball lowered the time with about 0.3 seconds. That means the 1.5 meter driver with 1-feel ball had the same timing as a 0-feel 1-meter iron. Which could mean that 1-star feel rating on the ball lowers the meter with half a star.

                 FL0  FL1  FL2
  Driver (1.5)   2,0  2,3 
  Wedge  (2.5)   1,8  2,1 
  Iron   (1.0)   2,3  2,7

• Errant 72 Posts

  Fri, Aug 27 2010 7:08 AM

  Keep in mind that there are 2 kinds of accuracy in this game. There's club accuracy and meter accuracy and in my opinion, meter accuracy far out weighs club accuracy. For about a month I used a g10 driver and even with slow down balls it was still a nightmare. If you're having problems with the speed of your wedges, go with the raptures. People will tell you that you'll get used to the speed of the g10s but for me, it never happened. The simple fact is that some people have faster reflexes than others and in the end, that's what this game is all about. I use the raptures and I love them and the thought of paying WGT for the "privilege" of a faster meter seems insane to me. It doesn't matter how accurate your clubs are, if you can't stop the meter where you want they're useless.

• GLADSTONESCREWER 749 Posts

  Fri, Aug 27 2010 7:37 AM

  I went from Raptures to g10's for more acurracy, because with raptures even hitting the ding sometimes dont get you close as you would think, but as errant said i also could not adjust to the speed of the g10,s metre and went back to raptures, i just wish they would bring out some rapture wedges, strange i still get the urge every now & then to try g10,s again cos they are more precise, but then i think do i really want to put myself against the metre that fast.........no i dont,  i want to relax not give myself a headache.....  :)

• andyson 6,415 Posts

  Fri, Aug 27 2010 8:41 AM

  I see Rapture irons and 3W in Pangaea's equipment this morning!  How do you like them so far??

  Let's shoot a round together soon.

• Pangaea 242 Posts

  Fri, Aug 27 2010 11:08 AM

  andyson:

  I see Rapture irons and 3W in Pangaea's equipment this morning!  How do you like them so far??

  Let's shoot a round together soon.

  Yeah, I went for them yesterday and shot a half-round on St. Andrews. I got 35, which equalled my best 9er. Liked them quite well. Better distance than the starter set and the forgiveness was quite nice. Also did some CTTH, and improved my score considerably thanks to getting to the green with the longer wood.

  The G10s did tempt me, but I've had the wedges for a while and just can't get any consistency out of them. Sometimes I ding it, sometimes it's well to the left and sometimes well to the right. I'm only 29 so reflexes should be good, but it flies across the screen so fast it's hard to hit it just right.So I decided having all clubs like that would be futile. I can get by with the 1.5 speed driver, but 2.5 wedges is just too hard.

  Heh, we can do a round of course Andyson, though I know you will wipe the floor with me. I'll send a friend request so we can do a round at some point. I'm sure I can learn a lot. If I can copy it ;)

  Now I only have 205 credits though, so I'll stick with the starter balls for now. Damn TrialPay who won't answer my mails or give me the credits for surveys and GameDuell :(