Long drive persimmon challenge

Spongerob · June 5, 2018

2 observations:

1) Bigger, stronger, faster? Absolute bullsh*t. Sorry folks, it's all equipment.

In the video they are hitting low spin hard balls too. If they had been hitting balata it would have been truly ugly.

2) It proves what an absolute beast Nicklaus was in his prime. Greg Norman too. In the 1970's if you could hit it a legit 300 with persimmon and balata you were something special.

NRJyzr · June 5, 2018

I would call the BS on using this as an actual measure of anything. My out-of-shape, sorryass, fiftysomething self can beat a lot of those distances with persimmon. And I'm Star Wars "far far away" from those guys in terms of swingspeed.

wacky wombat · June 5, 2018

I don't claim to be a physics expert nor a guru of [vintage] golf equipment, but I think it's also fair to say they were swinging too hard to truly be efficient with a persimmon.

In my own anecdotal experience from playing persimmons on a short par 33 course with some friends, it seems distance is most often maximized with a combination of smooth swing tempo and solid contact; who woulda thunk? Those shafts are so old that if you swing out of your shoes, they become whip-py and put a ton of [detrimental] spin on the ball.

Either way, though, it was fun as Hell to watch those guys try and smoke it!

earleyrc · June 5, 2018

Um.. sort of. There is still physics behind the flight of a golf ball, so your first point is not 100% accurate (faster club/ball speed = farther). Most of those guys are hitting it all over the face of the club, so new equipment helps them maintain ball speed when they miss the middle (which is quite often if you've ever watched those events). I can tell you right now that Tiger, DJ, JT, Day would perform better (more consistently hitting over 300) than those WLD guys with a persimmon.

Your second point is spot on, those guys were beasts.

cgasucks · June 5, 2018

Coming from experience of swinging a persimmon steel shafted driver as part of my regular practice routine I can tell you that you need SOLID contact to get any decent distance out of the ball. Those long drive guys with their 460CC drivers can get away with a small mishit but can't get get away with a persimmon club. Did you see some of the mishits they produced?? I think one of them shanked the ball! I thought that those guys would easily get one past 300 yards but surprised most couldn't (which is mostly attributable to horrible contact).

After seeing this, I have much more respect for Nicklaus, Palmer and those other guys who can hit a balata ball with a steel shafted persimmon (or laminate) more than 300 yards back then in tournament conditions.

tyorke1 · June 5, 2018

give them a week with one them test them, not a fair test , cool tho,

Pepperturbo · June 5, 2018

Why the hell don't people look at all the contributing distance factors.

A relative played on PGA tour in the 60's. Golf courses were shorter but more essential; fairways were naturally hard as agronomy wasn't controllable or lush, so run out was huge for the bigger hitters. Today when they offer up distances holes during events, nobody talks about what the tour has done to influences those distances.

I've played rounds with persimmon and learned golf with Balata and Professional 100. Best I could do was 240-250yds including roll, mostly because fairways were lusher by comparison and the ball would stop. Today in my late 60's because of the ball and equipment I am hitting the ball as far, plus run out.

clevited · June 25, 2018

I have seen that video. I think it would be premature to say anything about their abilities to hit a persimmon well for a few reasons.

1) We don't know what the flex was and if adequate for them to actually be able to go after the ball.

2) It takes time to get used to any new club and these guys are good. I would be willing to bet that each one could get pretty used to it and be able to hit it a mile most every time.

3) We don't know if they were going after the ball at all compared to what they can swing.

4) Club fitting even with a persimmon would make a big difference. I am sure Jack tinkered some with his equipment so it felt good to him.

5) I am almost positive their spin was ridiculous.

Mhill · August 20, 2018

I’ve hit some persimmons before the ball makes a huge difference. But still those guys are some units

bladehunter · September 17, 2018

I have seen that video. I think it would be premature to say anything about their abilities to hit a persimmon well for a few reasons.

1) We don't know what the flex was and if adequate for them to actually be able to go after the ball.
2) It takes time to get used to any new club and these guys are good. I would be willing to bet that each one could get pretty used to it and be able to hit it a mile most every time.
3) We don't know if they were going after the ball at all compared to what they can swing.
4) Club fitting even with a persimmon would make a big difference. I am sure Jack tinkered some with his equipment so it felt good to him.
5) I am almost positive their spin was ridiculous.

look closer.. those drivers werent off the goodwill rack... look longer than the normal 43.5 to me

clevited · September 17, 2018

I have seen that video. I think it would be premature to say anything about their abilities to hit a persimmon well for a few reasons.

1) We don't know what the flex was and if adequate for them to actually be able to go after the ball.
2) It takes time to get used to any new club and these guys are good. I would be willing to bet that each one could get pretty used to it and be able to hit it a mile most every time.
3) We don't know if they were going after the ball at all compared to what they can swing.
4) Club fitting even with a persimmon would make a big difference. I am sure Jack tinkered some with his equipment so it felt good to him.
5) I am almost positive their spin was ridiculous.

look closer.. those drivers werent off the goodwill rack... look longer than the normal 43.5 to me

Nope, look pretty close to that to me. Longer in persimmon btw, isn't really a help. That steel shaft is heavy and going longer I wouldn't think would be as beneficial as it is with long drive clubs of today.

Observed two other things after watching the video again, its cold and they are hitting into a pretty stiff breeze. Those don't help them much either. As with everything, you need to observe the context of the situation.

Kevin Blenkhorn · September 19, 2018

Average tour distance in 1968 was 264. Nicklaus was 276 so not sure who thinks he was hitting it 300. that's like saying DJ hits it 400 because once every 500 drives he is down wind down hill on a hard fast fairway. I love when I hear guys say they hit it 350 then we go to the range.,. Most guys have zero concept of what an actual 350 yard straight non wind non roll assisted drive looks like. So no it is not all the modern equipment. With Jacks swing speed from his hayday he would average around 310-315 on tour today. LD guys hit their 3wood that far and we hit it 325 its because we hit it off the bottom of the club. Now are we gonna beat him at golf...not a chance! Would he beat us in an LD contest...maybe with a 10 yard wide grid but zero chance with a 50 yard grid ZERO! Yes he hit it far for his day but its not 1968!