the aging golfer

[Wriggles]

At 62, I'm playing the best golf of my life. Straighter and longer off the tee than when I was 30, due to a slower swing speed. I'd pace off my shots years ago, barely ever seeing 200 yards. I pace drives over 230 regularly and see an occasional 250 or so. Not long considering long ballers, but for me, real crunching distance.

I walk exclusively, carry a minimalist bag of 5-7 clubs. I belong to a course with lack of membership, so playing alone has been a joy these last few years. 18 holes in around two hours on an almost empty course, stepping it out at a good cardio pace.

In my town, there's a very old cemetery with current vacancies. People come from all around to visit this place, to walk and jog. Never could see it.

I'll spend enough time there, sometime in the future.

[jmvargas]

i'm turning 70 in october and have been playing since 1958 with a career low 3 hdcp and presently a 9.9 index off the whites...

i've also had a 5-stent angioplasty in 2007 and a quadruple bypass in 2009 but am presently in fairly good health---knock on wood!

my biggest problems nowadays is some distance loss(from 265+yds during my prime to 220-240yds nowadays) ,body/muscle aches which never seem to go away anymore and difficulty in walking long distances due to minor foot and hip problems..

i've tried to lessen these problems and increase my enjoyment as follows:

1) use softer shafts...R flex in my woods and lite-flex in my hybrids and irons...steel shafts in my LW.

2) ride most of the time unless the course is very flat and the weather is cool...and use the most comfortable shoes i can find..

3) my current gamer set consists of a 12* driver,15* 3W, 5 hybrids..19*,22*.25*,28*,32* and forged irons 8-LW..

i also have a 16.5* 4W,18* 5W,21* 7W,23* 9W and 25* 11W on standby...

4) i try never to play 2 days in a row and enter multiple day tournaments only if there's a rest day in-between..

5) i do not go to the range for long sessions(1 hr+) anymore and hit off the grass whenever possible..

6) and last but not the least...i always play from the whites!!

[Hateto3Putt]

Man, it's like a class reunion in here!

Getting old forces you to take a different approach to many things. Sometimes that approach is beneficial, after all, how many times have you thought "If only I knew that back then" ?

Last Thursday I was up against one of the new young bucks in our league. Ya'll know the type, 20 something, handsome kid, clean cut, matching everything, hits the driver 6 miles, had lessons since birth, yada, yada.

We both shoot 38, deduct my stroke, and ka-ching!

You couldn't have had two 38's look any different. The rough was super thick, so I only hit driver twice, he banged it on every hole.

He had me by one the tee of the par 5 9th. After a good drive, and 3 wood to 80 yards, I stuffed my wedge to 6 feet and drained the putt.

He smoked his drive, hit some sort of long iron into the greenside rough, and failed to get up and down.

So to reiterate most of the geezer thoughts here, it's not all about who hits it the longest, it's about who hits it the least.

Love this tale......

[i]An old bull and a young bull were on the bluff, looking down over the meadow full of cows.[/i]

[i]The young bull said: "We should run down there and screw us a cow".[/i]

[i]The old bull replied: "Let's just walk down there and screw them all".[/i]


As information, I shot a 48 on the other side. As you know...handicap shows up sooner or later......

[butch33611]

I recently turned 61. The first hole at our club is 280 to the front of the green. On occasion I can still reach the trap that protects the front of the green. Im the oldest guy in our group and the longest off the tee. I can still reach a green at 200 yards with my 4 iron. I live in Minnesota so the winters and the off season are long. I created a nice hitting net in my garage. Over the winter I hit at least 100 balls a day, more on my days off. I believe this is the secret to not loosing distance as we get older.Keeping those golf muscles limber and that muscle memory in tact I think is a huge advantage over age. In the spring everyone is at the driving range trying to regain a swing they had 6 months ago.

For me I have no need for the range, Im ready to tee it up and start the season. I play 2-3 times a week and still hit balls everyday. For me hybrids are hook machines. I tried them for a while but went back to the 1-3-5 woods with 4-wedges. I have no doubt at some point I'll start to loose distance but at 61 im not seeing it and I dont see in the near future. I play to a 7 handicap and am working my butt off to get it even lower.

You guys that are 40 and 50 I wouldnt even be thinking of loosing distance, You'll have plenty of time to think about that many years down the road.

[Itsjustagame]

67 years old and have had no loss of distance with driver or irons.
I don't play 36 holes a day anymore though.

[scomac2002]

I'll turn 57 next week. I don't feel old, although I do have my fair share of aches and pains after strenuous (or not so strenuous) activity more so than I remember when I was younger. I still ski and ride a road bike on occasion, but at a measured pace. The days of risky business are over as the price to pay is far too steep when things go awry.

Like Sean2, I came to the game later in life so I haven't really lost any distance as I never had any to start with. A good drive is 210 or so; a great drive is 230. I'm still trying to learn how to hit it straight consistently. Less exciting clubs seem to aid in that endeavour. I figure I'm an average hack based on those that I've played with and the hundreds I've seen tee it up at the club I work at. Good players really are few and far between. I think that realization helps with expectations and frees one's mind to allow you to enjoy the game more for what it is rather than some arbitrary number on a score card.

I much prefer walking as I take in more of my surroundings and it always seems to lead to more meaningful conversations with my playing partners as you aren't being handicapped by the illusion of time that seems to accompany use of a cart. Not to mention that walking keeps me loose rather than bouncing around on a cart and tying up on a cool or breezy day.

[billh17]

I turn 69 this year... haven't lost a lot of distance, but I never had a lot to begin with....playing better than ever,due to equipment

and staying in shape...it can be a chore at times, but staying in shape is the best gift you can give yourself....you have many years left, go play !

[BlackDiamondPar5]

I'm so happy to hear about you gents in your 60's and beyond that haven't lost distance. I'm in my early 50's and didn't start playing till my mid 30's, and my distance has also increased over the last few years due to better technique and fitness that includes power yoga. My last round last week I had 5 drives in the 270-280 range (passive brag) and nothing under 260 except for the 3 that I topped I keep asking myself, "so when do I start losing distance?" Based on responses here I'm happy to learn that it could be longer down the road than I thought [b]But I think the key is, stick to a fitness program and keep focusing on improved ball striking technique.[/b]

[The Pearl]

Perhaps a more legit test of "loss of distance" is to pull out the old Sam Snead Blue Ridges and an Achusnet Club Special golf ball and give it a lick.


If it were possible to conduct such research scientifically, I would hypothesize that when you adjust for distance related variables, almost nobody is actually longer at 65 yrs old than they were at 25yrs. old., or whatever age gap you choose.

[butch33611]

[quote name='The Pearl' timestamp='1432994452' post='11655584']
Perhaps a more legit test of "loss of distance" is to pull out the old Sam Snead Blue Ridges and an Achusnet Club Special golf ball and give it a lick.


If it were possible to conduct such research scientifically, I would hypothesize that when you adjust for distance related variables, almost nobody is actually longer at 65 yrs old than they were at 25yrs. old., or whatever age gap you choose.
[/quote]

There's little doubt that myself or most others were stronger and more flexible at 25 then at 65. Its mostly balls and equipment that has let us older guys maintain distance off the tee for so long. The reason Im the longest off the tee in my group ( the other 3 are in thier 40s and 50s) is Im the only one who comes through the ball square and gets the best compression. My drive is a straight to slight draw with a lot of roll out.

When I was 25 it was a big slice into the woods. Im sure my distance would suffer if I had to go back to playing the old Ping eye 2 woods I used to play that were actually wood.

On a side note, Back then we wore metal spikes. I ordered a set of Ping eye 2 Irons and woods. The day they arrived I went off to try them out. Im standing on the first tee waitting on my turn to drive. Im leaning on and looking down at that new shiny black driver head. Now its my turn. I take one step and my spike hangs up in the grass and causes me to stumble slightly. My foot goes over the top of the driver head and a spike puts a nick all the way though the paint to the wood below.

Every time I hit a drive I had to look down and be reminded of the stupid thing I did.

[Kirasdad]

[quote name='The Pearl' timestamp='1432994452' post='11655584']
Perhaps a more legit test of "loss of distance" is to pull out the old Sam Snead Blue Ridges and an Achusnet Club Special golf ball and give it a lick.


If it were possible to conduct such research scientifically, I would hypothesize that when you adjust for distance related variables, almost nobody is actually longer at 65 yrs old than they were at 25yrs. old., or whatever age gap you choose.
[/quote]

Agreed.

I am 58, been playing golf since I was nine. My mom thought that golf was a great way for me to spend my time when I wasn't mowing the lawn or delivering newspapers, so she fixed me up with lessons from the pro at the only course in town owned and operated by the town we lived in in Southern Illinois. It was, and still is, to a certain extent a fairly prosperous little place so the course and golf culture is better than one might expect from a small town. Anyway, I grew up with good instruction, learned good fundamentals early on, and as I came of age, my distance, ball striking etc. has been fairly consistent over the past almost 50 seasons of golf. I played on my high school and college golf teams, and while never really good, I am a decent player. I started out with persimmon and blades, moved to technology like everyone else, got tired of the excesses (in my view) of modern golf, and have gone the hickory route the past five years to find a renewed interest in the game. I play 75% of my golf now with 90 year old clubs and am enjoying the game more than ever. I do play modern golf from time to time, have an Adams titanium driver, a couple of hybrids and a set of cavity backs. In short, I have played a lot of golf with a wide variety of equipment.

A modern driver makes a big difference for me in distance. Driving has always been the strongest part of my game. I can hit my Adams much farther than my hickory brassie, or steel shafted persimmon. I would say in the 25 yard range, 225 230 for persimmon, 250-55 titanium. That's a lot. I see posts on here from guys who I feel are trying somehow to justify their choice of gear by saying that their wood MacGregor classic from 1958 is just a few yards shorter than with a modern driver. This is simply not the case with me, the difference is dramatic. This is coming from someone who PREFERS to use almost a century old set of clubs so I have no axe to grind here. Technology has made the game easier. Whether it's made it BETTER is all in the way you look at this. One of our more erudite writers on this subject is HoldenCornfield and he has stated in several posts that playing the kind of golf that, in effect , moves you, or you have more emotional attachment to, gives you not only greater enjoyment, but perhaps even a greater desire to play well, score, however you want to quantify things, and I agree. I believe I have become a better player since playing hickory, not because the equipment is somehow easier to use, or I somehow hit it with unerring accuracy because I use blades instead of cavity backs (it isn't, it's harder) but because by using these old clubs I feel a connection to golf's past, and a way of playing that has been lost in the bomb and gouge game of today. It is simply my preference as an "aging golfer". If I play in my club's championship next month, and want to win the senior division, which I do, I will happily get out my my modern set up and shoot the lowest score I can, since score is the goal, I would make that choice because those clubs give me the best chance to accomplish this goal. Especially since I would be playing against competitors who would be similarly equipped. The modern bag's performance is superior and I believe it's hard to argue differently. This especially true when it comes to distance, and even with irons, not so much with distance, but in consistence of solid contact. I might use a blade like iron, but it would be much easier to hit solid when it counts than a 70's Hogan blade.

The fact that I only do this 25 % of the time is because I have more fun, generally speaking, the old school way.

Kirasdad 58, aging golfer.

[Short Bucket]

I'll be 65 in September and have played since I was 10. It's a little hard to say where I am strength wise as I've had three torn labrum surgeries in my right shoulder. I play as a left hander. My guess is that i've lost about half a club through the bag. My driver SS is around 100-102 per the PGA superstore swing monitor, and my 6 iron SS is around 85-86. I recall my carry distance in my early 50s was 245-250 driver and 175 6 iron. That's out on the course. Today I'm 235 driver carry and 165-170 6 iron carry with pure strikes.

I do worry much less about absolute distance than consistent distance, though.

[crazygolfnut]

I am 62. Today my irons were 1 to 2
clubs short from last year. Same type ball and same irons. Not happy.

[stixman]

At 70 + a few months my approach to the game is no different to what it was when I started 60 years ago. I play off 12 from the whites using the same style persimmon and blades I always did (Wilson Dynapowers + whatever drive is in favour. Mostly I hit it past my contemporaries. Walking 36 is no problem, playing more than 3 days on the bounce can be.
The secret is no secret, a good gene pool helps, but I have walked hills all my life and carried + walked the golf course similarly.
Most important is not to get neurotic about the mileage on your motor, just pay attention to how it's running and treat it kindly.

The future, well I'm deep into the back nine and the eighteenth is aged 80 for me. Maybe my luck will hold out and I'll get there swinging away. If I get really lucky I'll get to play a few holes on the Bye.

[Ozsouthpaw]

[quote name='stixman' timestamp='1433147728' post='11664650']
At 70 + a few months my approach to the game is no different to what it was when I started 60 years ago. I play off 12 from the whites using the same style persimmon and blades I always did (Wilson Dynapowers + whatever drive is in favour. Mostly I hit it past my contemporaries. Walking 36 is no problem, playing more than 3 days on the bounce can be.
The secret is no secret, a good gene pool helps, but I have walked hills all my life and carried + walked the golf course similarly.
Most important is not to get neurotic about the mileage on your motor, just pay attention to how it's running and treat it kindly.

The future, well I'm deep into the back nine and the eighteenth is aged 80 for me. Maybe my luck will hold out and I'll get there swinging away. If I get really lucky I'll get to play a few holes on the Bye.
[/quote]

Eighty is your 18th!! Why? In our vets comps we have well over 150 of which 4 are in their 90's and 20 odd in their 80's

[scomac2002]

[quote name='stixman' timestamp='1433147728' post='11664650']
The secret is no secret, a good gene pool helps, but I have walked hills all my life and carried + walked the golf course similarly.
Most important is not to get neurotic about the mileage on your motor, just pay attention to how it's running and treat it kindly.
[/quote]

Well put stixman. We don't have to get carried away with regimens to maintain our golf fitness. Your words remind me of my grandmothers moto: [i]everything in moderation! [/i]It seemed to work for her as she lived well into her ninties as did all but one of her 13 brothers!

[jmvargas]

[quote name='Andy L' timestamp='1432992194' post='11655438']
I'm so happy to hear about you gents in your 60's and beyond that haven't lost distance. I'm in my early 50's and didn't start playing till my mid 30's, and my distance has also increased over the last few years due to better technique and fitness that includes power yoga. My last round last week I had 5 drives in the 270-280 range (passive brag) and nothing under 260 except for the 3 that I topped I keep asking myself, "so when do I start losing distance?" Based on responses here I'm happy to learn that it could be longer down the road than I thought [b]But I think the key is, stick to a fitness program and keep focusing on improved ball striking technique.[/b]
[/quote]


.....+1 on the last sentence and the "everything in moderation" advice----which is the same advice i got from my doctor!!

[stixman]

[quote name='Ozsouthpaw' timestamp='1433149309' post='11664674']
[quote name='stixman' timestamp='1433147728' post='11664650']
At 70 + a few months my approach to the game is no different to what it was when I started 60 years ago. I play off 12 from the whites using the same style persimmon and blades I always did (Wilson Dynapowers + whatever drive is in favour. Mostly I hit it past my contemporaries. Walking 36 is no problem, playing more than 3 days on the bounce can be.
The secret is no secret, a good gene pool helps, but I have walked hills all my life and carried + walked the golf course similarly.
Most important is not to get neurotic about the mileage on your motor, just pay attention to how it's running and treat it kindly.

The future, well I'm deep into the back nine and the eighteenth is aged 80 for me. Maybe my luck will hold out and I'll get there swinging away. If I get really lucky I'll get to play a few holes on the Bye.
[/quote]

Eighty is your 18th!! Why? In our vets comps we have well over 150 of which 4 are in their 90's and 20 odd in their 80's
[/quote]

Read carefully and reference comments on the Bye.

[Qqq123xx]

[quote name='The Pearl' timestamp='1432857459' post='11646418']
I just turned 98. I do 1000 sit ups and 1000 push ups a day, plus run 8 miles after I walk the dog 23 blocks. I am 4 irons longer than when I was 22, even when adjusted for "loft inflation." I usually walk 36 a day and if I am in the mood and it is not free chips and salsa night at Chili's I will do 54 holes, often in 100+ degree weather.

I am still swinging x-stiff shafts and when I feel particularly frisky I bust out the persimmon on men's night.

I still swing in perfect balance so I don't require golf shoes. I use New Balance walking shoes with Velcro. I have played in the Florida monsoon's and during a 72 hole outing at Bandon in a soaker and did not slip once.

I was working on my core before Hitler stormed into France.

Still a +3 from the tips at Del Bocca Vista CC. 7700 yds, slope of 188.

I don't smoke and don't drink, but I did have a McDonald's burger back in 55 when I was dating this little honey from California. Just had to see what the buzz was about. I still get a spot of gastric distress once in awhile and I do believe it is related to this one burger.

Moe Norman once watched me hit balls on the range prior to a Christmas charity tournament in Toronto. I was busting it by him about 40yds into a head wind. He asked me to show him how to keep it low so it had plenty of run out on the frozen tundra. He was just snatching it a little too inside and coming over the top.

Age is just a number.
[/quote]In the running for 'Post of the Year.'

[lanky 1]

i played with a old man with a billy baroo putter the other day..up and down for par all day.......its the "old man strength" of the golf world

[Forged4ever]

This is amazing, lol-

For me, a lot of the posters/responders in here are some of my fave on the board, like Wriggles, Pearl, JMVargas and BillH to name but a few(You're in there to Qqq however I know that you're younger, lol), and though I figured you all were past 40, I had no idea how far past, LMAO.....

No wonder ya lay down such quality posts, lol

Just like fine wine!!!

Extremely Well played Gents!!!

May God Bless and continued good health

As Always,

My Best,
Richard