Obsolete clubs that would still cut the mustard in 2019

[JoeHatesSnow]

Clubs I have played in the past and would happily do so now because I believe I would lose very little, if any performance:

 

TaylorMade R580xd driver;

Cleveland Launcher/Launcher Titanium fairways;

Nickent 3dx DC hybrids;

Callaway X-14 Pro Series irons.

[twidener]

I agree with Big Stu that many of the old irons are still very playable, especially if that's what you grew up playing. Same for older putters. I still use an 8802 I got back around 1971. As for drivers the older ones probably aren't as long as ones made today but I play a 905R and it works great. I used to play the 975D, 983E and 905S. The 983E and 905S were both very long.

 

[dcopp7]

I'm currently bagging a 905S and it's a low spin bomber for sure

[g-off]

took the 983k out a couple days ago and was as long as my 905t which kicked the epic flash out of the bag, I honestly believe the smaller drivers just got my eye a bit better.

[Houstonhacker]

A set of used left-hand 845s Titanium-face irons was my first. I have fond memories of the (few) times I hit them on the center of the face and got rewarded with balls that just rocketed into the air.

I don’t know if my 25-year-old Bangenstein FU-2 driver qualifies as vintage (apparently it’s still available) but I still play it every now and then, and it still works great.

[Jgb333]

Best 9 hole round last year with a full hickory set was a 39. (NOT from the tips!). Occasionally playing period hickory has completed rejuvenated golf for me.

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

Drivers and lighter shafts. Maybe woods and hybrids? Everything else seems like just marketing?

Irons seem to be evolving, but I’ll wait for the price tags to return back to normal again. I can’t reconcile spending $1500-3000 for effectively a chunk of steel that’s dragged through the turf a few times a round.

A putter is just a lump of metal with a flat face. How much actual technology is involved there?

[Londoner]

This. I will put my BeNi ISIs up against anything "modern".

[Houstonhacker]

So true. I look at putters that practically have taillights and turn signals and think: this is what it takes to hit a golf ball 30 feet? Would a billiard cue stick be illegal to use?

And yet... when I send one of my putters to its room for being bad, playing a different one seems to rejuvenate my game, at least for a while. The golf club marketers know one thing for sure: it's all inside your head.

[Lincoln_Arcadia]

My buddies and I miss 3 footers and leave a lot from 30 footers. It’s 90% mental. Golf is at least 50% mental because short game is pretty much all mental.

Yes, long game is all technique and strength, yada yada, but more than half the game is short. How many long shots do you make a round? I average less than 32 including some less than 125 yards with my wedges that hardly count as long. The other 45 to 50+ strokes are all really close. I should be at most 18 strokes to within 3 feet according to some internet golf statisticians. It’d certainly be nice to shoot 68s LOL, but mental game is everything there. I know I’m not alone, and there’s a ton of other golfers like me and my buddies.

So, marketing to suckers like us is just a matter of tapping into the right mentality. Tell them that a fitted putter or wedge is the key to shooting “what they SHOULD be shooting” according to long game “statistics”. Hahaha!

Anyone whose paid over $100 for a putter or 12 has bought into it. I know plenty who have, but haven’t drunk from that fountain myself. I feel you though, with that room full of putters and likely wedges too.

It’s mental.

 

[BIG STU]

WOW! It has been many a moon since I heard Bangerstein mentioned---- I had one and could smoke it but I could not control it--- got rid of it for the control issue one hot faced driver

[HitaHouse]

I don't see that anyone has mentioned the original Steelhead fairways - I play a 4 and a 7 with upgraded shafts. I like Hogan Edge Pro irons - not all that old but a bit of a cavity back and cambered sole - along with a Sure-On gap and Special sand wedge.

[Houstonhacker]

I would add to that the original Callaway Heavenwood, one of my all-time favorite sticks.

[tannyhoban]

These 2 sets are still very playable. MP14 and '67 Staff X31.

[nitram]

TM R510TP- best driver of it's generation and bought new was roughly equivalent to around $1500 today.

Exotics CB1 - revolutionized the fairway wood. Another expensive item and still relevant today.

Hogan Apex- easy to add any Hogan variant and I gamed the Radials. Simply gorgeous and pure joy to hit. The Eye 2's in all it's variants were game changing and are still relevant today.

Cleveland 588's were the shizel when they came out although I also preferred the Eye 2 SW until a few years ago.

Wilson 8802-I mowed lawns for a summer to be able to buy a "real" one and loved it until I hit a PING Dalehead. It goes without saying how much influence this putter has on the golf industry.

 

There are several others that can be inserted in any category and can still be relevant today in the right hands.

 

 

 

[doctormizuno]

The original Tommy Armour 845's, these clubs were way ahead of their time.

As Patrick Swayze used to say in the movie “Ditto”.

[ShallowbutDeadly]

I can't think of anything made in the past that comes close to equipment made today, performance-wise. I do like the look of a lot of older equipment, Miura irons, 845s, older Scottie Putters, 588 wedges... but I would never put them in the bag.

[dcopp7]

User name fits ^^^

[RP40]

"I don't see that anyone has mentioned the original Steelhead fairway"

Soooo, you didn't read the thread (5th post).

[2putttom]

I have a set of MacGregor V I P 1025's ready to be reshafted, lie and loft adjusted.

 

 

[J_carp]

My Taylormade V Steel 3 wood is still one of the best 3 woods I’ve ever owned

[Bogey Bomber]

There is no such thing as obsoletion when it comes to golf clubs.

I play a set of 1966 Powerbilt scotch blades and i rip it up out there against all my friends.

They cut the mustard for Fuzzy back in the day, and they still cut the French's today too!

They are absolutely dangerous weapons!

[MindtheGAP]

I pulled out my grandma's old Otey last year when my putting was slipping and it was phenomenal. It was key to me finally breaking 80 several times.

[OldTom]

I'm currently a 5 hcp and shot 1 over yesterday with the red dot Dunlop Maxfli Oz Blades. I'd say they still cut the mustard in 2020.

[BIG STU]

I would say they do in your hands anyhow------ Hope on your way to that +1 you kicked some new latest and greatest butt along the way!!!!

[Sean2]

An acquaintance of mine uses his father's putter...which his father bought in 1946. That is some serious longevity, lol.

[OldTom]

Cheers Stu. It was the lowest scratch score in the stableford comp. No prizes for gross scores however. Net scores prevail. Ran 2nd in A grade with 40 points.

[bigdane]

Any Hogan Irons, except for those "produced" by Call Away.<

My favourites are the '99 Apex - although I had to go to Ft.Worths to get 1 and 2 irons.

 

[BIG STU]

Call away---- LOL I like that. If you don't mind I will borrow and use it from now on. I think the only Hogan brand or name they kept was Apex which it turns my stomach every time I see a club with a hole in the head ( as Mr Hogan put it) with Apex on it. But I will give it to them they are a nice looking club

[bigdane]

You are most welcome - I, too, feel sick to my stomach, when I see Apex on a non-Hogan iron.