a little bit of wisdom....

[jmvargas]

....as an aging golfer who has been playing this game for some 58 years now--turned 70 recently--i have tried my best to look for ways and means to be able to continue to enjoy this game for as long as i can...career low 3 hdcp..

 

i changed to graphite shafts on all my clubs in my my 50s when i saw the advantages of doing so..

 

i went to the lofted woods when i could no longer elevate my longer irons..first to a 7W then to a 9W and finally to an 11W..

 

i switched back and forth between my lofted woods and hybrids for a while until finally settling on the hybrids when i finally learned to hit them like the irons they replaced...they are just easier to control vs the lofted woods.....for me..

 

....my only fairway wood now is my 15* 3W and my hybrids are 3H-7H..

 

i was constantly looking for a driver which could give me additional distance as my ss became slower and switched to A and senior flex shafts about 3 years ago and got the latest and most technically advanced drivers i could afford..

 

i then had a full-length ladies flex graphite tour shaft installed in my driver to make a 48" driver which i am now hitting as well as i've ever hit any driver and with increased distance,,..the slower tempo needed to swing a driver of this length has carried over to all my other clubs and has made my over-all game much better...i have senior flex shafts on the rest of my cubs..

 

just the other day i saw some ladies balls for sale and bought a dozen to try out yesterday and wow!!...i don't know why i didn't think of this sooner!!

 

the softer feel and increased distance was a wonderful feeling...

 

my driver ss is in the 75-80 range nowadays and there is at least a 10-yard difference in carry vs the previous "tour" balls i was using..

 

i tried 3 different balls and they all gave similar results---nike PD women(this was the one on sale), srixon soft feel and pinnacle gold ribbon..

 

i just bought 5 doz of the nike's today..

 

except for the impulse buy on the ladies balls i normally do a lot of research before making any major equipment decisions....

 

i hope my experience helps someone out there in a similar situation...

 

PS: needless to say i will continue to play from the senior tees!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[birly-shirly]

Great stuff - and thanks for posting. I especially like what you've done with your driver. There seems to be a bit of stigma about long shafts - not least from sections of the custom clubfitting community - but I really like the idea that someone who can deliver the club fairly precisely can use that skill (together with a lightweight, overlength driver) to compensate for a lack of gorilla-strength.

[DavePelz4]

Great post! Play what you enjoy and what helps get the most of your abilities.

 

Enjoy.

[farmer]

I'm only 65, so it might be cheating, but those Nike balls interest me.

[Sean2]

Been playing 58 years? Nice! I didn't start playing until I turned 50 so a lot of the things you older golfers are talking about I cannot relate to as I didn't play when I was in my 20's, etc. I started as a senior. :-)

 

Good advice though. The scorecard doesn't care what clubs you play, what ball, what tees you play from, etc. One thing I have observed is how much ego is involved in this game. Having started so late it never really affected me. And the first few years I absolutely sucked so I really didn't start playing until I was around 55, lol. Now I am 60 and really enjoying it.

 

A friend of mine, who is in his 70s were talking about this yesterday...we couldn't figure out why guys insist playing tees that require them to hit hybrids and fairway woods into par 4's when if you watch golf on TV the overwhelming majority of par 4's are approached with an iron, which we thought is as it should be.

 

Enjoy! :-)

[scomac2002]

I've had good success with Lady Pinnacles when playing my wood woods -- more carry and higher launch with a very nice feel off the club face.

[kylemd]

Im fourty and play off a 4. I use a soft compression ball too. Works well. Bridgstone B330 s. Good durable ball that spins well but not too much. I buy the last yrs model two boxes at a time when they go on clearance.