competing with vintage gear

minimal45 · February 16, 2016

I miss shell's wwg. I watch episodes on YouTube all the time. My favorite golf to watch is match golf. I heard they are having a modern day version before the us open this year. Nothing beats watching those old episodes. The players they had going at it. It was like a major and I think at one point paid out like one too.

BIG STU · February 17, 2016

I miss shell's wwg. I watch episodes on YouTube all the time. My favorite golf to watch is match golf. I heard they are having a modern day version before the us open this year. Nothing beats watching those old episodes. The players they had going at it. It was like a major and I think at one point paid out like one too.

Actually in those days those made for TV golf matches paid more than a tour event except the majors.

Shallowface · February 18, 2016

At this point in my life, I'd hate to go into any competition with any type of two or three iron in the bag, vintage or otherwise.

And since hybrids aren't an option with vintage gear, I'm going to be looking for vintage 6 woods, 7 woods, Bafflers, Gintys, etc.

They're out there, even though the 5 wood wasn't part of many standard sets of woods until Ray Floyd's Masters win in 1976. I can remember the coverage from back then. "Floyd wins with ladies club."

Floyd's 5 Wood was made by Bert Dargie in Memphis, the same fellow who made Trevino's first 6 Wood.

Most of them probably aren't going to be persimmon, but that doesn't bother me. At this point, a long iron is useless for anything that doesn't involve a tee, but I can hit those lofted woods from a variety of lies.

A few years back I saw Gary Player being interviewed and he was shilling for Callaway's lofted woods like the 9 and 11. He said something along the line of if he would have had such clubs in his prime he'd have won the Masters a couple of more times.

Well "Laddie," they were available. But most guys of that day wouldn't have been caught dead with anything more lofted than a 4 wood.

Peer pressure is big in this game. I was at a Senior Tour event in the mid 80s watching Palmer on the range. He was trying what must have been his first graphite shafted metal fairway wood.

Miller Barber walks up to him and crows "I can't believe my hero is thinking about using a Fly Iron." I guess he meant Iron for the metal wood head and Fly for the shaft resembling something one might find in a fly rod.

BIG STU · February 18, 2016

I never let peer pressure persuade me as to what I carried in my bag. I had a crazy set up in the 70s and 80s. I carried a Ping Karsten One 1 iron a Power Bilt 5 wood and a Northwestern 6 wood. I learned the little 6 wood trick from a friend of my Dad's who was a pro from Florida. He could do some stuff with that thing. I watched and learned. I immediately ordered one from the Northwestern catalog. Looking back I think I honed the skills that serve me today with my 7&9 woods. As far as someone talking crap about the 5 wood it is hard to talk crap to a guy who hit a persimmon 5 wood and balata ball about 235 or so. The 6 wood I could hit a real high cut about 190 to 200 with in fact at the time it was the only club in the bag besides the wedges that I could cut

BIG STU · February 19, 2016

What I love is that the explicit intent of the groove rule was to restore groove volumes to what we would all recognise as "traditional" or old fashioned v-groove profiles. And yet, we have a situation whereby clubs that were designed to those specs first time around are not formally approved.

I do still hope that before 2024 comes around, the governing bodies will junk the implementation of the rule for any level of play below the professional tours and possibly the very highest level of amateur competition.

It would be a tragedy, as well as a farce, if classic irons were legislated out of play.

Well if the PGA Tour would have had any balls they would have followed up on their earlier consideration of ignoring the anchored putter ban. It is not hard to imagine. The Asian Tour has it's own equipment rules. A lot of grooves and Driver MOI are not R&A or USGA legal. All the major companies make equipment seperately for the Asian market. The whole groove thing has complicated things for a lot of folks. But I see in the future a lot of organizations getting away from the USGA. Good example a lot of men's club associations here have voted to dis allow the anchoring ban in club and league comps. A lot of these members are older guys with back problems or nerve problems and the anchor putter makes sense and otherwise helps keep them in the game. And really what is the self professed all mighty ( In their eyes) USGA gonna do? Shoot Ronnie Retiree down with a drone on the 13th green because he used a anchored putting stroke while playing with his buddies on their DAILY round? Yep they can try to grow their pocketbook uggh I mean the game but without my yearly $20.

scomac2002 · February 20, 2016

All the anchoring ban proves is that the governing bodies don't give a rat's arse about the club golfer and yet they expect him/her to cough up $20 every year. All the club operators and teaching pros need to keep that in mind as the rounds played every year continues to drop. Just who is working for who here?

TimV · February 21, 2016

At this point in my life, I'd hate to go into any competition with any type of two or three iron in the bag, vintage or otherwise.

And since hybrids aren't an option with vintage gear, I'm going to be looking for vintage 6 woods, 7 woods, Bafflers, Gintys, etc.

They're out there, even though the 5 wood wasn't part of many standard sets of woods until Ray Floyd's Masters win in 1976. I can remember the coverage from back then. "Floyd wins with ladies club."

Floyd's 5 Wood was made by Bert Dargie in Memphis, the same fellow who made Trevino's first 6 Wood.

Most of them probably aren't going to be persimmon, but that doesn't bother me. At this point, a long iron is useless for anything that doesn't involve a tee, but I can hit those lofted woods from a variety of lies.

A few years back I saw Gary Player being interviewed and he was shilling for Callaway's lofted woods like the 9 and 11. He said something along the line of if he would have had such clubs in his prime he'd have won the Masters a couple of more times.

Well "Laddie," they were available. But most guys of that day wouldn't have been caught dead with anything more lofted than a 4 wood.

Peer pressure is big in this game. I was at a Senior Tour event in the mid 80s watching Palmer on the range. He was trying what must have been his first graphite shafted metal fairway wood.

Miller Barber walks up to him and crows "I can't believe my hero is thinking about using a Fly Iron." I guess he meant Iron for the metal wood head and Fly for the shaft resembling something one might find in a fly rod.