Is it the gear or the game?

[Langlands]

I've been thinking about this for a while now. I'm 36 and have been playing golf for almost 30 years. In that time equipment has obviously changed dramatically, and has recently set me to thinking - if you were the same age as you are now 30 years ago, would you still be as keen on golf as you are?

 

I suppose this is aimed at our younger members, as any older guys (like me) who have been playing the game for a while must enjoy it for its own sake. I love to see all the new gear that the OEMs churn out for us every year, and have always enjoyed looking at the stuff the big boys use (one of the reasons I love Golfwrx - great pics every week!), but would still golf if I still had the beat up old sticks that I started with.

 

So guys, if all the latest and greatest graphite shafts/titanium heads, 3 piece low spin/high launch/ space age balls/Circle T Scottys etc didn't exist, and there was no "Tour Issue" stuff to pursue and collect, would you still crave the game?

 

Let me know your thoughts!

 

Alan

[rufus mangler]

Absolutely. Loved it then, still do. It's easier now!

[DRGJR72]

I would play for sure. I started when persimmon was still in play. Those were the good old days. The balata balls that came in low traj or high traj, royal maxflis from Japan, Tour editions that would spin like there was no tomorrow. Titanium shafts, ping ansers (looking for that scottsdale at the local trade in place)

 

Crisping a Macgregor VIP blade.....nothing like it. Hitting a persimmon driver 3 bills.....a little downhill.... :russian_roulette: Hitting 7 iron from 155, thinking you were long!

 

There was just something about playing a great round of golf back then. Par was a good score, under was impressive.

 

Nowadays it is still fun, just alot easier than it used to be. But this is by far the most individual challenging sport I have ever played. You can play like a superstar one day, and a chopper the next. Totally challenging for the mind, heart, spirit, etc. Takes some physical as well as mental ability to play this game well.

 

Kind of miss the old days though....good times and good memories.

 

Dan

[dac]

i've only been playing for a little less than 4 years, but, i grew up around golf since my dad used to golf avidly. i don't play for the equipment. i play because i just love the game and being out in nature.

[MrParr1Noid]

This site is about the gear, we just talk about the game to pass the time of day until more gear and newer gear arrives. :russian_roulette:

[cody]

being 18 i was not around for persimmons and things but i play with alot of the older marshalls at the course i work at and none of them have newer clubs i hit a couple of their persimmon woods as long as my tour 425 so i would have to say yes i would probably still play

[chingali]

It's the game for me. I started playing more than 25 years ago and if they changed the rules to make it that there was one set of control clubs and one single control ball (like tyres in F1) then I couldn't care less, I'd still play for sure.

 

That being said, there really was something unique about the sound and feel of catching a Titleist Tour 100 Balata out of the middle of a Tony Penna or MacGregor Eye-O-Matic persimmon driver that isn't the same with my current behemoth headed driver and wonderball.

[sergizmo]

I started playing about 5-6 years ago, long after the days of persimmon & blades. My bag has a 460cc driver, hybrids, GI irons, and an MOI adjustable weight putter inside. So I use technology to try :russian_roulette: and lower my score.

 

That being said, I would still play if we all warped back in time 30 years technology wise. It may actually help my game. I would stop fiddling with gear and grind it out with more lessons and more practice.

[DarthFierce]

I would if I still had the same group of 20 core buddies that play together every Saturday. I've been playing with essentially the same group since 1990 and we all just enjoy the competition and friendship, along with the game.

 

I made birdies, pars, bogies, doubles, X's, and an occasional eagle with persimmon clubs and still do so today. I just now hit it twice as far.

 

What has changed just as much as the equipment are the conditions of the courses. They just keep getting better. We all now belong to a private community with 8 courses, but even the old goat-ranch public courses we used to play are very nice. We go back to those courses sometimes and are amazed they are the same place. That has been as huge a change as equipment in my golfing career.

 

I sort of wish we were back to persimmon and such. It was a lot cheaper than trying to keep up with the latest techno-graphic-pyramid driver with a composite plutonium shaft…ha ha.

[DRGJR72]

Yeah, remember the good ole days when drivers were not 5 hundy and you could get a brand new ping anser for 70 bucks. The top line golf balls were 20 a dozen.

 

Man those were the times....but I guess in order for the game to grow it had to get bigger and better and more expensive. Cost of doing business....some of it is out of control, but for the most part I think it will correct itself at some point.

 

Dan