sevenfourate's Old Skool WITB - 14 clubs for 2022 - 'Done' !! ***BMW PGA pics added on page 8

[sevenfourate]

First game in 2.5 years today. New bag was on the whole really good apart from driver developing a small rattle :-( Anyone suggest someone who's the business of a Clubmaker and can hotmelt in the UK ???

 

 

Few snaps of Dunston Hall in Norwich on a Glorious October day in the UK:

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Golf ? I literally hit 8 irons for an hour yesterday (Mainly due to a dodgy back of late) and rocked up today with low expectations. I set myself a goal of getting 6 pars - which i'd have taken in a heart-beart.

 

Actually got 12 pars, 2 doubles (2 x OOB of the tee left) and 4 Bogeys. Amazingly pleased all in all.............

[ScottyGilbert]

Hey Shuv, looks like a nice day out!

 

I could have a look at your driver (would need to find some rat glue) but I would suggest you try a DIY fix first:

 

Stick the sole in boiling hot water for a few minutes, then hit the bottom on the club onto the carpet or other hard / slightly cushioned surface 2-3 times (like whacking the tee box after a bad drive....if you can imagine....I can’t, honest....)

The head will have a small bit of rat glue in it already for catching small bits of debris, if it’s not a huge piece this will catch it and stop the rattle

 

If that doesn’t work, give me a shout and I can drill out the plug and out some more rat glue in, and replug

 

Scotty ;-)

[Pure745]

SHUV! Good to see your name pop up my friend, hope you're well! :drinks:

[sevenfourate]

Hey Shuv, looks like a nice day out!

 

I could have a look at your driver (would need to find some rat glue) but I would suggest you try a DIY fix first:

 

Stick the sole in boiling hot water for a few minutes, then hit the bottom on the club onto the carpet or other hard / slightly cushioned surface 2-3 times (like whacking the tee box after a bad drive....if you can imagine....I can't, honest....)

The head will have a small bit of rat glue in it already for catching small bits of debris, if it's not a huge piece this will catch it and stop the rattle

 

If that doesn't work, give me a shout and I can drill out the plug and out some more rat glue in, and replug

 

Scotty ;-)

 

PM incoming Scotty. Thanks....

 

 

SHUV! Good to see your name pop up my friend, hope you're well! :drinks:

 

Hey Tai ! Hope you and yours are suitably well buddy.

 

Thanks - REALLY good to be back in the game. I so enjoyed today's round. I've been around the World a bit golfwise - and i'm my own worst enemy taking things so seriously and giving everything i do 200%.

 

Need to roll-it-back a bit more and enjoy the process. Hopefully that comes with age !

 

Cheers.

[sevenfourate]

'New' bag working out great; and second round into 'the comeback' scraped together a 76 (+4) around Rookery Park in Lowestoft yesterday. I was a little 'concerned' over the stock X-22 Tour lie-angles before using. Not enough to do anything drastic right away now. They seem pretty good so far. Perhaps when i have a little more golf under my belt i'll look into it more.......

 

Hybrid is rapidly turning into a 'go-to' [Which we all need one off !!!). GPS'd a couple at around the 230 yard mark off the tee and also knocked one down on a par 3 of around 210. Putter is the unknown. Playing a little less - as i think will happen, do i go to a small mid-size but face balanced mallet. Al-La Odyssey or similar. We'll see.......

 

Some really good striking in places going back to the golf (10 GIR i think), unsurprisingly a few one man scrambles; and 34 putts. To be fair i hit it along way away in 2 on one par 5, along way away in 3 on another and had at least 2 more like 40 foot from the flag. So coming back to the game after a 30 month lay-off....a few 3 putts from there was always going to be the case.

 

Also had a fantastic offer from a UK member to sort out my 'rattly driver head'. Massive props to ScottyGilbert for that. Appreciated hugely buddy. I owe you already !

 

 

Few average phone pics of the course yesterday:

 

Approach to the 1st:

 

 

Par 5 - 7th Hole - (Can still see scars from a very hot and dry summer beside bunker):

 

 

And the fabulous Stroke Index 2 / 432 yard 12th. Sharp dog leg left from about 240 yards off the tee. Trouble on left side the entire hole:

 

 

 

And here's why when your new shoes / feet give you a warning after 4 holes that they don't quite feel right - you shouldn't carry on regardless. I walk miles everyday for my job, always do lots of walking on holidays etc, never had any trouble with golf / sports trainers or any other shoes in 30 years.....but this is deffo going to hold bag my progress for a few weeks :mellow: (Apologies if you're squeamish) ***And yes i've seen Callaway an email with pictures; reference their 30 day Comfort guarantee on shoes and how these are absolutely unwearable........

 

 

 

Looks like its some much needed short-game work for me in the meantime as I ain’t walking no-where....

[sevenfourate]

Taylormade's much loved TP5-X ball has become the first casualty of the new bag.......

 

I've tried, used, loved and solely gamed Taylormades balls since they first hit the shelves in 2006. From TP Red's right through to giving some of the latest TP5-X a go this week (About to consigned to history though i gather; as a 2019 model is likely on the way ???)

 

I play a fair bit of golf on what would best be described as an inland links. Its open, windy and not too far from the sea. ALL the Taylormades i've tried so far have been excellent at: Low'ish flight, boring through the wind [Good in side-winds] and not ballooning. IMO.

 

These current TP5-X just don't seem to have the complete package for me personally. And feel harder from 40 yards in than i remember from 3 years ago (?). Maybe it's mainly the trajectory windows my brain can't handle. In no way is the ball bad in any way. They just don't seem as 'awesome' as i remember.

 

Without a single doubt i will try the 2019 version if it happens - the very second they are available ! But for now i'm going on a bit of a ball-nomad spell, going to whore myself around and i'm starting off by moving over to the Tiger-side......

[sevenfourate]

With a few rounds and some practice under my belt; casualties were going to happen.

 

First (And hugely surprisingly as above) was the ball: Looking forward to giving these a go - as the TM's were not as i remember them......

 

 

Equally unexpected is the putter. Might only be short term. but with a lack of playing behind me, a lack of touch and no recent good memories to fall back on - i'm going over to a face-balanced clunker for the mean-time.

 

 

 

 

But as ever - i can't 'just' leave it there...

 

Knocked (Bent by hand) the lie angle down to approx 68 degrees:

 

 

And also tweaked the double-bend shaft to give slightly less offset, and also bent the top of the shaft back toward the rear of head to give a less hands forward address position:

 

 

 

I've messed with this stuff before on a double-bend shaft / face balanced club - and know its next to impossible to do any of this and come out with a club that remains perfectly face-balanced. Changing one aspect always effects something else. And it always becomes a compromise for me ***Im really happy with this effort compared to some others i've done !!!

 

To be fair 'some' are far from perfect straight off the shelf / from the factory. I ended up as pictured below regarding the face-balancing, with the offset etc all being spot on for me. Getting the address / hand position and offset looking right visually and feeling 100% comfortable before you start.,is more important to me than arguing over minor degrees of toe-flow.......

 

 

 

Driver rattle has hopefully ***Turn around; touch-the-ground, lucky rabbits-foot etc*** been cured, Shaft unfortunately suffered a little cosmetically during the works so i'm having a Brand New one (Exactly the same) installed so my anal self doesn't get upset. Hoping for it back within a week to 10 days.

 

 

 

 

***Would welcome anyones thoughts on setting up lie / offset etc on a face balanced / double bend shafted putter.

 

Is it possible to keep it 100% face balanced when messing with a standard shaft ?

 

What happens if you ask for a non standard lie angle etc from Odyssey, from new ?

 

 

 

 

Good golfing folks......................... :superman:

[sevenfourate]

Shocking weather here today. So if you've got sight-lines...........They may aswell be visible !

 

BEFORE:

 

 

AFTER: (We'll......kinda 'during' :beee: )

 

[sevenfourate]

Nothing new as such. But.....Soooooooooooo excited to get my driver back today 'rattle-free' after a couple of weeks away on Holiday in Scotland :tongue: .

 

Turned into a little bit of a journey getting the rubbish out; and hot-melting it afterwards - to be sure it stays rattle-free. And unfortunately the shaft was a casualty; and hence a new Grafalloy Pro-Launch Red in X tipped 3/4" same as the last has now been been fitted.

 

I really-really-really owe a massive THANKYOU to a fellow UK'er in ScottyGilbert for all his help with this repair. **I promise to bridge the 560 miles between us and come up and kick your as have a game and pay my dues in full next year if you'll have me :lol: Seriously Scotty: you are a true gent and i hugely appreciate all your above and beyond efforts :hi:

 

 

Such a classic looker the 909 D2. It's everything i want in a driver.....

 

 

And after my recent blistering issues with shoes; i managed to find brand new NOS pair of my most favourite ever Footjoy Sport shoes on ebay. My feet are going to thank me. After all: all the perfectly-honed equipment you can shake a stick at is no use if you can't walk to actually play the game......

 

 

Bring on the weekend !

[sevenfourate]

2018 ended up with me playing a little golf with my middle son over the Christmas Holidays: on a few different local par 3 courses:

 

 

For how little he plays, the boys does ok too:

 

 

 

And this lead onto a couple of 'equipment' changes. Firstly at 47 years old; i'm starting to feel it if i carry my own clubs and go armed with all the clothing, different bits and pieces, spare balls, brolley etc i like to. My poor old back and shoulders like to remind me of their age in the bar afterwards !

 

So i managed to find a New Old Stock retro'ish (?) Tour bag to go with my [absolutely chosen] less than bang-up-to-date hardware:

 

 

And (Luckily :rofl: ) found a matching coloured trolley to wheel it around on:

 

 

 

And then sitting on this very site over the Christmas Holidays; i managed to buy an immaculate Titleist 905R driver head from a member in the USA. For me; this is the best looking driver head i've ever used :heart:

 

So another favourite Grafalloy ProLaunch Red in X flex was purchased this side of the pond. And last night i tipped it 1/2", prepped the tip and and inserted blind-bore into the thru-bore head by drilling down halfway between 1.25" and 1.5" [The two guide measurements i was given as to how deep to drill] and glued it in using the original collared ferrule which i saved. This morning i've re-done all the paint-fill......so hopefully i can clean it all up / finish off tonight. Then re-grip and away i go.

 

 

 

 

Man that's one sexy, classic looking head !

 

 

Happy New Year 'guys' (Any females ever been spotted in the WITB section here ?????).

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

The weather over Christmas in Yorkshire was, for the most part, perfect for winter golf. Sadly, I wasn't able to get out on the course because, well, reasons, but I should be able to go back over for the September event, if it goes ahead.

[sevenfourate]

The weather over Christmas in Yorkshire was, for the most part, perfect for winter golf. Sadly, I wasn't able to get out on the course because, well, reasons, but I should be able to go back over for the September event, if it goes ahead.

 

Happy New Year to you buddy :drinks:

 

 

Shame you didn't get out. Weather was pretty fabulous here too all things considered.

 

**Now going to 'Bump' the 2019 thread. But i'm all in for it going ahead and will be trying my damndest to make it happen.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

The weather over Christmas in Yorkshire was, for the most part, perfect for winter golf. Sadly, I wasn't able to get out on the course because, well, reasons, but I should be able to go back over for the September event, if it goes ahead.

 

Happy New Year to you buddy :drinks:

 

 

Shame you didn't get out. Weather was pretty fabulous here too all things considered.

 

**Now going to 'Bump' the 2019 thread. But i'm all in for it going ahead and will be trying my damndest to make it happen.

 

Happy New Year!

 

Yeah, I wish I could have even had 9 holes at the local par-3 course. But as I went back with the family, I had to look after them instead. All part of the long game so I can get over in late August by myself and play then

[sevenfourate]

A hour or so's cleaning up / tinkering and beautifying this morning and it's straight into the bag. Hugely **Excited**......by a club that's now 12 years old :-)

 

Old, old-school, set in my ways......whatever :tongue:

 

 

 

[DE-ILLINI]

A hour or so's cleaning up / tinkering and beautifying this morning and it's straight into the bag. Hugely **Excited**......by a club that's now 12 years old :-)

 

Old, old-school, set in my ways......whatever :tongue:

 

 

 

 

The driver looks brand new! Enjoy.

[MoaningM]

Driver looks immaculate Shuv, good to see your still playing, and dont give up on the bag carrying, ive gone back to carrying, am hoping it will strengthen my back more than weaken!

 

Keep swinging!

[Shanks2424]

905R Classic driver one of the best Titleist has ever made. I miss mine but so much more accurate with my Titleist 909D3 8.5 Matrix HD7 stiff.

[sevenfourate]

12 clubs in the bag for a while. And i was happy with that; until........

 

 

An immaculate 17 degree matching Mizuno Fli-Hi appeared on ebay. Duly won it and shafted-up with my fave Grafalloy ProLaunch Red.

 

Then a real nice TaylorMade Udi (23 deg) 4 appeared. That was also bought and tonight i've just glued in a Project X 6.5 tonight.

 

And to top my day off a dozen 2019 TP5 are in the house too. Good times !

 

***Where does everyone use for photo storage these days ????

[gentles]

12 clubs in the bag for a while. And i was happy with that; until........

 

 

An immaculate 17 degree matching Mizuno Fli-Hi appeared on ebay. Duly won it and shafted-up with my fave Grafalloy ProLaunch Red.

 

Then a real nice TaylorMade Udi (23 deg) 4 appeared. That was also bought and tonight i've just glued in a Project X 6.5 tonight.

 

And to top my day off a dozen 2019 TP5 are in the house too. Good times !

 

***Where does everyone use for photo storage these days ????

 

I use IMGUR - if you upload the pics there, then on each image right click and select "save image link", then when replying here, use the "image" button and drop the URL in there. No watermark but it means that you don't have to manually upload the photos. Much easier IMO

[sevenfourate]

Does a 'new' driver for me - from 2011 still count as 'old school' ?

 

Apart from perhaps Mizuno MP650 / 630, 909 D2 and not many others: I can't think of a more modern mainstream driver that has a fixed hosel, silver face and non PVD finish ?

 

So anyway. Ping G20 in the house. Driver is about my best club normally. And i hit it everywhere as i hit it as straight as anything. But i've just not been able to get comfortable of late and in truth: hate the changing. But also hate not being 200% happy....so have no choice per-se.

 

Bought as head only, re-shafted with my fave Grafalloy ProLaunch Red and a genuine Ping ferrule.

 

D2 SW or thereabouts, 44.5" and a stretched out Golf Pride Tour Velvet ribbed. As per the last umpteen years:

 

 

Was super-clean, but a quick going over over of the sole, polish of the paintwork and a small amount of new paint-infilling got me this:

 

 

 

Sits well at address:

 

 

And hopefully might propel some of these down the middle of a few fairways :good:

 

Got 3 days away on a lads golf break coming up at the end of the month. Will get a few pics and a full 'new-bag' review then once i have some golf under my belt.....

 

[BIG STU]

IMHO nothing wrong at all wrong with the G-20. As far as "old school" you will get a pass from me if that means anything. Funny thing you posted that G-20. I played golf for the first time last Sunday with a co-worker. Now he is a lefty but games a G-20. He told me he had tried all of the new stuff but nothing performs for him like that G-20. He does hit it well. I told him I fully understood as I grabbed my 1954 Hogan Precision 7 iron out of the bag

[sevenfourate]

IMHO nothing wrong at all wrong with the G-20. As far as "old school" you will get a pass from me if that means anything. Funny thing you posted that G-20. I played golf for the first time last Sunday with a co-worker. Now he is a lefty but games a G-20. He told me he had tried all of the new stuff but nothing performs for him like that G-20. He does hit it well. I told him I fully understood as I grabbed my 1954 Hogan Precision 7 iron out of the bag

 

Ha !

 

I'll not even pretend i'm the longest out there - at this stage of my declining career. Likely just long enough right now that giving up 5 yards isn't game crippling.

 

Skipping here to 11.50 seconds and 14.25 seconds on this review - says that "....a couple of yards" is about all i'm giving up". And little or nothing in terms of forgiveness. Which is interesting........

 

 

 

 

And LMAO about pulling a club out the bag from 1954. I love it when players have enough confidence in their game to play a whole bunch of old favourites.

 

Far-far more interesting to me than coming across someone who looks like they've just popped out of the 2019 Titleist catalogue, and if i saw your bag in the parking lot - i'd deffo go out of my way to have a peek. Other generic 'across the board sponsored' bags' : not so much so. Too much great stuff out there to be tied down. IMHO.

 

Have a great season Stu.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I bought the G20 when it was about to be replaced with the G25, and played it until I got a G400 in 2017, so 4 or 5 years.

It's a good driver. I prefer the look at setup and feel of the G400, but that G20 did me proud.

[sevenfourate]

I bought the G20 when it was about to be replaced with the G25, and played it until I got a G400 in 2017, so 4 or 5 years.

It's a good driver. I prefer the look at setup and feel of the G400, but that G20 did me proud.

 

Thanks for the feedback buddy.

 

Excitement level for club / ball testing this weekend is high !

[sevenfourate]

3 days of golf in-a-row under my belt, and all clubs have survived the test. Pretty much :D

Both hybrids are solid [20 more than 17], irons are what they are - and the driver has really surprised me. Ultra easy to hit, can shape it both ways generally. Even sounds good (**_Driver swing Video below_**) !

 

[https://vimeo.com/327358669](https://vimeo.com/327358669 "https://vimeo.com/327358669")

 

The other revelation is the ball. Not showing off - but 54 holes with same ball [Ok - i've never managed this before !!!] and i love the 2019 TP5. I shot 70 (-1) @ Westerham, 81 (+9) @ Dale Hill Woosnam and 69 (Lev) at Dale Hill Old over the 3 days and this ball really saw some action on the second day i promise. At least 3 or 4 lots off trees, one concrete path landing and one sandy path !! I wouldn't normally use for anything like this long - but it was so 'lucky' for me i kept it going......

 

Have this afternoon - in the car on the drive home - purchased another flow-neck putter. We'll see what stays and what goes, although i think the Odyssey 'clunker' is living on borrowed time be it real bag, spares bag or even in the shed :)

 

 

Cheers for looking.

 

 

 

 

 

[sevenfourate]

Cleaned the whole bag this morning........so some pics:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sevenfourate]

Fancied a putter change and by a stroke of luck found a brand new old stock Rife on ebay. Only issue was it was a Black PVD finish. No worries, bit of researching on PVD removal, a trip to the blasters and some paint-filling later:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BIG STU]

> @sevenfourate said:

> BIG STU wrote:

>

>

>

> IMHO nothing wrong at all wrong with the G-20. As far as "old school" you will get a pass from me if that means anything. Funny thing you posted that G-20. I played golf for the first time last Sunday with a co-worker. Now he is a lefty but games a G-20. He told me he had tried all of the new stuff but nothing performs for him like that G-20. He does hit it well. I told him I fully understood as I grabbed my 1954 Hogan Precision 7 iron out of the bag

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Ha !

>

>

>

> I'll not even pretend i'm the longest out there - at this stage of my declining career. Likely just long enough right now that giving up 5 yards isn't game crippling.

>

>

>

> Skipping here to 11.50 seconds and 14.25 seconds on this review - says that "....a couple of yards" is about all i'm giving up". And little or nothing in terms of forgiveness. Which is interesting........

>

>

>

> https://www.youtube....h?v=cOVYMHhF7So

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> And LMAO about pulling a club out the bag from 1954. I love it when players have enough confidence in their game to play a whole bunch of old favourites.

>

>

>

> Far-far more interesting to me than coming across someone who looks like they've just popped out of the 2019 Titleist catalogue, and if i saw your bag in the parking lot - i'd deffo go out of my way to have a peek. Other generic 'across the board sponsored' bags' : not so much so. Too much great stuff out there to be tied down. IMHO.

>

>

>

> Have a great season Stu.

 

Thanks man--- What is really funny around here most folks do not pay me any attention--- Now a few of the older members and Ranger friends check in on me if on the range to see as one guy puts it " to see what antiques I am hitting now" Now what will get some of the latest and greatest Tourist golfers attention is if I have my pristine 10 year old Titleist Mini Staff. They will peek and then walk away with a puzzled look on their faces when they see like my lead taped Macgregor VIPs. Right now I sorta fly under the radar so to speak and really I like it that way. I am using an older Jones Classic non stand bag that is weatherbeaten that I bought used for $25 and I am sorta tame on the classic thing with the 15 year old KZG Forged CBs but right now I am putting with a true classic putter a Spalding TP Mills #1 got a sorta new Mizuno 56* that I found on one of the piles at work. But I like it that way flying under the radar. I know in my signature I have a set of the same vintage KZGs with graphite shafts too these are my other set with Rifle Precision 5.5s

[Mitchell]

Shuv,

Really like the set-up and modifications done to make older models comfortably your own, full marks from a similarly minded tinkerer?

That Iconic Rife looks very nicely done, have one of the Rife Island Series Monserrat models that bead-blasted and paintfilled myself somewhere in putter stash?

Best wishes to you in continued enjoyment of this crazy game.

Mitch

[sevenfourate]

> @Mitchell said:

> Shuv,

> Really like the set-up and modifications done to make older models comfortably your own, full marks from a similarly minded tinkerer?

> That Iconic Rife looks very nicely done, have one of the Rife Island Series Monserrat models that bead-blasted and paintfilled myself somewhere in putter stash?

> Best wishes to you in continued enjoyment of this crazy game.

> Mitch

 

Thankyou very much Mitch.

 

Yea I’m forever ‘tinkering’. Often not really achieving very much in reality: other than total confidence in what’s in the bag. I m always happy to call myself an idiot on the course - just never want a reason to blame or feel uncomfortable with my equipment.

 

Not playing much, but my recent 54 hole vacation ended with zero thoughts of swapping / tinkering with any of the long clubs. So that’s really good news. Hope I now feel as happy with the flagstick...

 

What about you ? Do you have a WITB thread ? You tinkering with more modern stuff than me, or.....