Callaway S2H2

I'm newer to the forum. I realize this topic might have been talked about, if so then sorry.

Thinking back to my younger golf days. I played my best golf with these clubs. It was the first set of irons I ever bought on my own. I'm a 2 handicap now but I have never warmed up to the newer equipment. I do like the woods but I have never been comfortable with the newer modern irons.

I have played the Mizuno MP 69 since 2012. There good but I have never been able to hit anything over a 6 iron solidly with these clubs. The lofts are tweaked to more today's standards. I could always hit a three iron with the old Callaways but never with the new Mizuno's.

I forced me to go and buy HyBirds.

I bought a set of S2H2's on E Bay for 100 bucks. with the old Memphis 10 shaft. I don't know if I am trying to recapture my youth or what.

Has anybody done this ? Went back in time and started playing something they used to as a kid? I got curious and decided to buy them. I don't really know why. Maybe it is a mid life crisis or just board.

Did it work out if you did do this?

I'm gonna play em or at least practice with them for a bit. I hit everything on the sweet spot. I think I'm a good ball striker so I figured, what the hell.

Absolutely! In fact, the irons in my signature, although far from vintage, were purchased last year based off of my experience with them when I first got fitted for irons back in 2009. I didn't buy them at the time as I was looking for something a bit more playerish, but after a couple of unsatisfactory stints with something of that ilk, I thought I should give a shot to a (now older) set when a nice set became available in my spec. I couldn't be happier with the results since I put them in play!

Good luck with your new (old) Callaways!

Welcome to the forum, Tim. I still have Cleveland TA 7's in the bag from about 2000. I've changed the shafts to something softer as I've gotten older, but I still haven't found an iron set that I hit this good. I've tried to upgrade to newer stuff a couple times in the last couple years but I just can't find anything that excites me enough to want to play with it. Thinking about trying a set of Callaway Rogue's while they are marked down right now, because I keep telling myself that I need to find something newer...and conforming. But I'm not real excited about a set with a 23 degree 5 iron and a 44 degree pitching wedge. With your thinking, you will fit right in with this crew!

Wow, 44 on the pitching wedge. That's stupid. My current one is 48 and I don't really like that. With the tweaked lofts it forces us to buy all these extra wedges. My 5 iron plays like a 3 iron from 20 years ago. I'm good hitting my pitching wedge 110 or 120 that's good enough. A friend of mine hits his 160 but he is all over the place. I'm hitting a 8 or 7 iron from 160.

All that stuff forces us to buy Hybred's. With all the tweaked lofts and longer shafts it recks havoc on the golf swing. My driver has a 43 inch shaft. I get it out there plenty far enough. The standard now I think is 45. That's too long.

I made this other post about Bradley Hughes and he commentary about new equipment. I totally agree with it.

You guys are so correct. I bought Wilson Ultra System 45 irons back in the early 90s, they were Wilson’s competitor the the Armour 845s, and have played them almost exclusively ever since. I have bought at least a dozen other iron sets since, but none ever stays in the bag for long. I’ve tried to explain the jacked up lofts problem to a lot of golfers but they all just look at me like “why wouldn’t I want to hit THIS newer six iron longer than THAT older six iron?” They only think of the number on the bottom of the club and not the loft of the ironhead. They can’t understand that I hit the driver and fairway woods a little longer than them but they are using “less” iron on the par three tee shots. They think I am weak or something. I do tend to hit my irons high, so that limits my distance with them a bit, also.

Irons are irons. Once you have a set that fits you well and know how far you hit each one, you can play your best. You can get irons today that carry the ball longer than yesteryear's, but once you've dialed in the distance they travel are they really any "better" for your game? I occasionally put my old PING Eye 2s back in the bag just for reminiscing, and I just have to club up one number. Scores are the same. Play what you like.

I go with a 4 degree gap between everything.

My longest iron is a six which is a 30 degree loft. I carry a 26 and 22 hybred. Then I go to my 5 wood at 18, 3 wood at 14 and driver at 10.

Once a few guys made comments on here about the loft being the real number not what the number is on the bottom of the club , I stopped caring about how long I hit a 6 iron and it became more of how long can I hit a 30 degree lofted club.

My pitching wedge is 46 degree's, which is someone elses 9 iron.

The real answer is how far do you hit a 46 degree lofted club, not what's stamped on the bottom.

I like newer clubs, I like older clubs. Both have great qualities and ,if you play what you like, the game is really fun.

I have ran into that for years because I have mostly played old Macgregor blades for years. People do not understand why I out drive them and then hit 2 clubs different on the Par 3s

I had that exact conversation with a guy in a golf league I played in. First two holes are par 5s, I'm out driving this guy by a fair amount. Next hole is a short uphill par 3. I hit a 9 iron, he hit a PW. He was hitting the King Cobra, I was playing my Golden Rams. 2 clubs different, if we look at the number on the sole. LOL

After I explained it, he still didn't seem to get it. Not surprising, though, lot of guys across WRX don't seem to either.

I didn't either. It took a bit to sink in but I understand it now. I don't care about the number on the bottom anymore. Only how far each goes with the proper swing.

Yep you got it

While I love old(er) clubs and would dearly love to play them, you/we get to an age, were we come to deminishing returns. Even though you can always go up to the next tee box, if your already there, that's were the DR starts. If you happen to play competively within your group (betting) and some of the players are younger and can play, your at a big disadvantage distance wise. Opting for new(er) distance enhancing equipment is really the only option available. It's a heck of a lot eaiser hitting a 7 iron from 150, than either a 5 or 4 iron or hybrid, both mentally and physically.

Your not getting what we are saying.

My old set of MP 14's the six iron had 34 degrees of loft. On my new set it's the 7 iron. It's the same exact club. The number on the bottom makes you think you hit the seven further. Just because I grab a seven now , where I used to hit my six, does not mean I gained any distance. The seven and six are exactly the same, loft wise. It's a mind trick the companies play on people to think they hit newer clubs further.

Oh I do get it and as I stated, would love to play older clubs. But hitting 3 to 4 clubs stronger in loft and longer shafts to make up the difference, becomes a major detriment (at least for me), in enjoying and being competitive with the game. Newer equipment is lighter and is more forgiving, which also allows for continued game enjoyment and less stress on the body. All of this is totally predicated on swing speed. If you have enough, then older clubs can function for you. If you don't, then there's only one alternative left and that's new equipment. Here's a little history that perhaps many folks are not aware of. Back when Fred Couples was in his prime on the tour and everyone marveled at his smooth swing and how far he hit his irons. They didn;t know, that he had his clubs bent a couple of degrees stronger than the original specs of the time. He apparently learned or knew, that it's a lot easier hitting a 7 iron than a 5 or 4 into the green.

I agree with the longer shaft. I have always been of the opinion that the longer shaft is a detriment to most Am. Players. I Still use the 43.5 length shaft in my Driver. It's a modern driver except for the length of the shaft. They are now 45 and I found it to be much more inconsistent to hit. I'm not fixated on distance as much as keeping it in play and no big numbers. I don't care if you can bomb something 300 yards if you only hit the fairway a few times a round. I'd rather play a 180 shot from a fairway then be hacking it out of trees and deep rough all day. So if we are talking shafts then there is a difference in lengths. The lofts do not matter from one clubhead to the next. A 30 degree lofted club is a 30 degree lofted club no matter what number is stamped on the bottom.

I do have newer irons now but all my shafts are the old school lengths.

+1 with many of the comments made here.

still like my 845 and 845FS sets, remade with newer (better performing) shafts - made in tad shorter lengths to fit my swing.

have a set of 2005 era Hogans that are about 3/8 longer and that's about as much as I can manage.

best contemporary driver for me now is an FT5 at 44.5 until I cut down the XR16.

old school gear is just fine as they're all shorter sticks than the modern issue.

found some Eye2 drivers and woods that will come out this spring with vintage irons and they're all good length and lofts for play.

as to wedges - 56* from traps or greenside rough is good enough.

You make an interesting point. What clubs was Freddie playing at the time, Ping Eye 2, Tommy Armour 845, Lynx Parralax? It's reasonable to think that he might have gone with stronger lofts to offset the ball flight of these new technology irons.

OP

There is nothing wrong with the S2H2s at all. I have a set somewhere. The Memphis 10 works surprisingly well for a range of swings. I have played several rounds in the last year with the 1994 Big Berthas and they work just fine. The clubs I've played the most over the last several years are Mizuno MP29s, also not new clubs. Before that I spent most of my time with Titleist Tour Model blades from the early 80s. I've owned several newer sets but I don't keep them long. Older irons are fine. I have no desire to carry 5-6 wedges. Actually, I've bagged S2H2 warbird fairway woods in the last ten years. To me, all clubs are yardage clubs. My fairway woods I'll never sell, even though I haven't had them in my bag in the last couple years, are Titleist Starships with x100s. They aren't long but they are predictable.

The best part about it is you can boast about being closest to the pin even though you hit "2" clubs more. Nothing better than messing with a fellow golfers ego!