Nick Faldo's Equipment

[The Gachet]

[mat562]

Crikey.

Is that picture the result of some clever photography or the bottle of Worre's I polished off this evening?

[The Gachet]

[quote name='mat562' post='2146292' date='Dec 28 2009, 01:00 AM']Crikey.

Is that picture the result of some clever photography or the bottle of Worre's I polished off this evening?[/quote]
It does make you go a bit boss-eyed !

[The Gachet]

This sequence is much kinder on the ol' mince pies !

 

 

[jebb]

Cracking thread and pics. Thanks!

[Jay4]

I was watching Nick Faldo at the Johnnie Walker Classic(1998) on GC today, the playoff between Tiger and Ernie. Was it the camera angle or did Nick play with a close stance? Right foot slightly back to encourage a draw.

[The Gachet]

 

 

 

 

[The Gachet]

[The Gachet]

 

 

 

 

 

[chip75]

Weren't the Precept FALDO balls released retail that was probably the reason they were marked individually. Imagine hitting into the rough at the Open and playing an amateurs ball stamped with your name! Remember when Greg Norman changed balls in the US and was disqualified because only the Maxfli XS had been approved not the one with the SHARK stamp on it. Can anyone confirm the specs of Nick's clubs I'm pretty sure his irons were 4* upright and his grips had four layers of tape I'd imagine they're longer than standard that's quite a contrast to someone like Steve Elkington who uses shorter flatter clubs when there's only a couple of inches in height.

[mat562]

3 degrees upright from what I remember (albeit that's an ambiguous term as we all know) and, albeit he played around with shaft lengths at various times, mainly as a postural thing, he stuck with something around the 38 5/8" 5 iron mark for the most part from what I remember. I posted some bag shots of his Masters set-up in '96 and part of the specs are just about visble in the article with that length quoted for that particular iron. They tally with what I've read and heard previously. I've got a spec sheet somewhere with a few names on it that compares Faldo's and Woosie's specs, together with a few others. It reckons on 6 degrees of difference in lie angle (Woosie had 3 flat and used a gold coded Ping Eye 1 iron) and DG X100s versus Woosie's S400s. Woosie had a 37 1/2" 5 iron IIRC.

Faldo's grips were a lot thicker than 4 layers generally - up to 15 or 16 at one time when his wrists were giving him gyp - and were generally built up to take out the taper as much as possible. I think Faldo, along with Montgomerie, was a man who also used .560 grips for the most part. I'd guess that the couple of ex-Faldo clubs I've got have got 7 or 8 layers of tape under a .560 grip. Very chunky.

[lead]

[quote name='mat562' post='2154455' date='Jan 1 2010, 02:25 PM']I'd guess that the couple of ex-Faldo clubs I've got have got 7 or 8 layers of tape under a .560 grip. Very chunky.[/quote]

Could you post pictures?

/lead

[mat562]

Sadly not, as I'm apparently out of attachment space. There are a couple of small pics already in the thread though of a wedge head and one of those grips, both set against our newly re-plastered stairway.

If you're interested, drop me a PM with your eMail address and I'll forward you a few that are on my laptop.

Edit: I'm wrong; they're in [url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=326023&hl=faldo+WITB"]this[/url] thread.

[shawnee]

@ Gachet and Mat --- Epic thread with wonderful information. One of the better threads in all the forums. You guys are the keepers of tons of archival Faldo bits. Thanks for all the photos and keen insight.

On a side note being a mid 40's guy from America I have over the years marveled at how I view Faldo.
Today I enjoy his humor and insight as a commentator, it used to be he was public enemy number one, LOL
BACK then the Ryder Cup was serious business...... time has given me a new perspective for sure.

[chip75]

Mat can you try and dig that spec sheet out. That's the one which I remember my information (incorectly LOL) from, didn't it have Seve's specs on as well (his long irons were more upright compared to his mid-irons). Has anyone got a scan of Nick's hand from his first instructional book? I think it was actual size - comparing my hand at the time I don't think there was much difference but I think Nick and Monty have very large hands.

[mat562]

Are you talking about the snippet that was in a Golf World a few years ago? That one had Faldo, Woosnam, Seve and Torrance's specs on it if I remember rightly.

In my case I managed to get something from a tour van tech, back a few years and in the days when there was pretty much only the Mizuno workshop out on tour and they did most of the work. It was also the days before security went bonkers when you didn't need a retinal scan to get anywhere inside the ropes. If you knew someone who was playing in an event back then you could nip onto the range and chat to a few people. Whilst sharing a hot beverage on the range, the kindly soul wrote down a few specs from his memory for me for about a dozen players whose specs he knew off by heart. He obviously saw the anorak in me, bless him.

I haven't a clue what happened to it or where the sheet is now but, true to form, it's useless and obscure trivia so I can still remember a lot of it.

[chip75]

Yes small world it was the GW article that's what I remember the 4* upright and the 4 layers from. I scanned a few pics of Nick for everybody to enjoy. Notice how Nick's putter is rotating down the target line and not around an arch. I always smile when I see Nick caddying for Huey Lewis I can imagine Nick saying "Huey the News is you're not going to hit the green".

[attachment=515783:Untitled_7.jpg]
[attachment=515782:Untitled_6.jpg]
[attachment=515778:Untitled_5.jpg]

[jaskanski]

Faldo at Augusta '89 with his favourite bit of lumber...a Macgregor I think. Judging by his gesture, not one of his best drives. Intersting to note the cord grip too.
[attachment=516128:Untitled.jpg]

[The Gachet]

[quote name='jaskanski' post='2156210' date='Jan 2 2010, 05:30 PM']Faldo at Augusta '89 with his favourite bit of lumber...a Macgregor I think. Judging by his gesture, not one of his best drives. Intersting to note the cord grip too.[/quote]
Great photo there mate, do you have any others around that time of his equipment !?

Thanks for posting !

[jaskanski]

EDIT>>>
I like this photo of Faldo at Lytham in '88. It clearly shows his Mizuno TP 9's in a Wilson bag. Seve obviously accompanies Nick on the tee, along with Nicky Price.
[attachment=516183:seve_faldo.jpg]

[The Gachet]

[quote name='jaskanski' post='2156407' date='Jan 2 2010, 07:15 PM']I like this photo of Faldo at Lytham in '88. It clearly shows his Mizuno TP 9's in a Wilson bag. Seve obviously accompanies Nick on the tee, along with Nicky Price.[/quote]
Cheers jaskanski, nice photos and if you have any others you know where to post them !

[jaskanski]

Nick looks like he's got some sort of Del Mar in this pic. Again, he doesn't look overly pleased with the results...[attachment=516184:Nick_Faldo4.jpg]

...so he may have tried a belly putter to improve his putting. Probably not - this was from a charity event in 2004.
[attachment=516185:Nick_20F...0360x510.jpg]

[jaskanski]

Had to put this one in too. Looks like NIck doesn't mind using a decent driver now and again - a good old 905R! Can't quite make out the shaft, but it looks like a Blueboard logo down.
[attachment=516186:315.jpg]


Great thread!

[The Gachet]

[Croonie15]

One of the best threads ever. Thanks for sharing the info and pics guys.

Croonie

[lead]

Here's a nice picture of Fanny and Faldo's Mizuno TN-87 at the 1990 British Open.

/lead

[attachment=516537:Faldo_19...ish_Open.png]

[The Gachet]

Here's a nice picture of Fanny and Faldo's Mizuno TN-87 at the 1990 British Open.

 

/lead

Great shot there lead clearly identifying those irons as some sort of blank prototype Mizuno TN-87's which he successfully used at the 1990 British Open and US Masters.

 

What I did find recently which was very interesting is that next to the picture below of a stock Mizuno TN-87 iron is a set of Mizuno TP irons which I cannot remember ever being released with the TN-87 style sloped muscle back. As you can see they only have the 'M Tour Proven' stamping on the top line, now if you covered that with a strip of lead tape like Faldo has done in the picture above they would look virtually identical !?

 

 

 

The only other information I could find on these unusual TP offerings was that they were supposedly issued to Frank Nobilo who was a contracted Mizuno staff player on the European Tour around 1990.

 

Faldo was not a contracted Mizuno staff player at this time since he was still with Wilson so the lead tape could serve two purposes, adding weight and covering the only Mizuno stamping present on the iron !?

 

Also, all the production TP models had the model number stamped on the side of the hosel, however there is no stamping visible identifying the model on these.

[The Gachet]

Here's a nice picture of Fanny and Faldo's Mizuno TN-87 at the 1990 British Open.

 

/lead

The only other information I could find on these unusual TP offerings was that they were supposedly issued to Frank Nobilo who was a contracted Mizuno staff player on the European Tour around 1990.

It also appears that Nobilo's iron choice throughout the 90's was the TP-19, same as Faldo.

 

[lead]

Nice pics and info everybody!

/lead

[mat562]

For what it's worth, Sandy Lyle played a very similar set to those Tour Proven stamped TN87s when he finally won his World Matchplay title in '88. I distinctly remember thinking how odd it was that he'd ditch the TP11s that he'd had so much success with that season for another set.