State Am Qualifier w/Vintage Clubs

[baloo]

I'm going to give it a try this year. I'm quite comfortable playing the old stuff, just hope other competitors don't make a fuss about it. Shorter course, 6500 yards, that suits persimmon and blades very well.

Chances are on the lower side I qualify as I play fewer than 10 18 hole rounds/year due to kids. Also my handicap is up around 6, so I will need to play close to my best. Usually 73 or lower gets in and 74 is the playoff number for last spot.

Went out there yesterday for a practice round and shot 78 with 4 doubles... I struggled like crazy on the fast greens (1 4 putt and 3 3 putts), so need to figure the putting out.

Anyway, I want to film it and throw something on YouTube, but that's likely not going to happen. Unless someone on here wants to volunteer to film the round in Janesville, WI lol. I could offer lunch and a set of 60's Dynapower irons as payment!

I'll keep you all posted either way. Should be fun to play a round of competitive golf regardless of outcome.

[bpink21901]

If I was closer I'd definitely caddy and film and wash your car for the dynapowers!!! I love it.....Good luck!!

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Cool stuff. I just picked up a few, not exactly vintage, but classic persimmons... and I have more than enough sets of blades to get the job done. It's going to be fun to take them out with the folks that I play with after getting some reps in at the range. That's the funny thing about golf, you can pretty much get it done with anything.

You are very much like me, young kids make it hard to stay on top of the game. And, you mentioned you have trouble putting on fast greens. Is it feel for distance? If it is, try this drill. Stand about 4 feet from the hole and try to leave putts short of the hole while still making your regular stroke (i.e. slight accelerating pendulum). Before long, your distance control will be deadly.

Hope you play well.

[baloo]

Thanks @Christen_The_Sloop ,
It was indeed mostly distance control problems. I'll give that drill a try.

[cugolf14]

Good luck! Sounds like fun.

[Gsea]

You are my new hero!! Wish I lived in WI. Please make sure u go through with it!!!

[Gsea]

Oh what is the set u r using?

[Foozle]

Wish you well. Keen to hear what you are playing and how you get on?

[baloo]

 

Driver, 3W are these Magregor Tourney Byron Nelson Laminates. I think from 50's? Recently refinished.

1 iron - Wilson Staff (76-77 I think)

2-9 - Wilson 75' Dynapowers

PW, SW - Wilson Staff (late 70s model again)

Putter - Bullseye, I think an earlier model. This is the one club that might change before the qualifier.

You can see in the top right some modern Callaways my buddy who works there helped me get. I hardly use them and they're under construction right now LOL. I have a Wishon driver and 3 wood, steel shafted, that I pair with the Callaway irons and wedges when I have the itch to play modern. Would sell all the modern stuff, but my wife won't let me. She thinks I'll regret it.

My ball is the Vice Pro Plus

[Foozle]

Thanks for sharing, nice set of clubs! ?

I notice the Dynapower's don't have the fluid feel bore through shaft? I thought they came as fluid feel but wonder if they could be specified with or without at the time?

Not sure if it is just relection but the PW looks like it has a mini bullet back so might be from the same set as your 1 iron if it is a 76 or 77? There is a recent discussion on these 76 and 77 Staffs on another thread here.

Interested in more pictures of the Byron Nelson woods? I know they made some laminates at that time but haven't seen any examples. They look gorgeous.

[disco111]

Play well and hope you get in.................My hats off to you, giving the field a couple of strokes a side is a very noble gesture.

[Tumbleweed_1968]

Hi Baloo! Glad to hear this news! You definitely have the game. When is the round? Happy Father's Day too!

[baloo]

Hi there, been far too long! Thank you and happy Father's Day to you! The round is on 6/29.@Foozle You're correct, the 75 dynas do have a bore through, but these irons were a custom order. They're also missing the circular weight ports that the stock models had on the back. I love the heads on these irons and the groves have stayed in decent shape.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Talking of grooves, won't there be an issue over whether your clubs are conforming or not with the 2010 groove rule, or is your State Am Qualifier not enforcing that yet (2024)?

IIRC, some vintage stuff is actually conforming, but as it hasn't been officially tested, it doesn't show up on the conforming list. I've read that most Mizuno irons are conforming, and was told my old Titleist Tour Models from 1980 are most likely conforming, but they don't show up on the database.

 

 

[baloo]

I thought about that too. I read the whole rule sheet though. They say the conforming driver and golf ball lists are in effect, but say nothing about irons/wedges.

I could have emailed to confirm, but as I find the whole thing pretty stupid decided to go for it and ask questions later.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Interesting. Sounds like they are sticking to the 2024 deadline, or they just didn't expect anyone to turn up with clubs over 10 years old

It'd be funny if you made it through qualifying only for your fellow-competitors to complain that your 50-year-old equipment gave you an unfair advantage.

[Jiggered]

Good luck!

[baloo]

Well, I unfortunately struggled mightily today. Shot 84, so not even remotely close to what was needed. I couldn't handle the fast greens again, having 5 3 putts on the day! Not to mention, the old wedges struggled on such quick greens. I also had to bench my driver after 5 holes...

My iron play was decent and I got on an amazing role hitting my 1 iron off the tee, including 2 holes where I out drove another guy hitting his modern driver. That is, until the epoxy came loose after my tee shot on number 11! Seriously, what a bad time for that. Have to re-epoxy the head on tonight, and I'm sure some new epoxy will hold forever.

The 2 I was paired with also struggled, but were nice to play with and didn't give me any trouble over the old equipment. They were great company for the morning.

I very much enjoyed the round despite playing so poorly. Which is funny. I didn't get too bent out of shape over it. A day off from work playing some golf is always welcome. Course was in great shape. The highlight is probably that I hit 3 par 5s in 2 shots - 2 of them were approaches from 260 with a 3 wood. Unfortunately, only birdied 1 of those 3, but such was my round today.

If I do it again, I would consider using modern wedges and putter to make it easier around the greens. Thanks for all the positive support guys!

[Bigarch]

I applaud your effort man. I think it was a great idea. I say you try it again next year!

[Tumbleweed_1968]

Hey Baloo, sorry to hear about your round but good on you for making the effort. Hope the family is doing well!

[Jiggered]

We forget how fast they've made the greens today as another attempt to restrict low scoring with today's rocket clubs, if you're not used to them they must take weeks to properly get the feel with the putter and short game spin becomes vital.

Good for you baloo and I'd loved to have seen those three wood shots!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Just adding my voice to the people congratulating for the attempt. Interesting that you felt it was the wedge and putter that let you down rather than the woods, and hitting three of the par fives in two yet only birdieing one certainly backs that up.

Was the problem with the wedges just that they weren't imparting enough spin (due to worn grooves?)?

 

[Gsea]

Again awesome man and nice job. Just curious also about the wedges, because I find my wedges from the 60's 70's perform just as well as todays stuff. But again that is only my experience.

[Foozle]

Baloo, max respect, thanks for upholding the honour of vintage so admirably. Sounds like a tough day on the greens - we all have those!

The long irons and fairway woods were making sweet music though!

Well done and thanks!

[Kirasdad]

Yes the wedge thing certainly would be challenging, and you have to be losing at least some distance off the tee with the Nelson driver/3 wood. Forty plus year old grooves, no matter how well preserved are, well...old grooves. You’re not going to get much help there on fast greens.

Good for you on the effort. Sounds like you had a terrific attitude about the experience. I have tried that a time or two in club championships, didn’t work out to well for me either. I, unlike you, got quickly self conscious about my bag and other players responses. It became mental for me and my play suffered.

Thanks for posting about this.

[baloo]

Yeah, it was just a spin issue. Outside of that, I like the vintage wedges a lot and on slower greens much prefer them to newer. I hit a few decent chips with the PW, which is my weapon of choice around the greens.

There was one shot in particular that made me feel this way though. On #7, a short par 4, I hit a 1 iron as good as I can leaving me an 80 yard sand wedge shot. The hole is cut left side, where the green slopes slightly away, so a bit tricky. I hit my sand wedge right at the stick, it pitches about 6 inches from the hole and roles out about 20 feet to the back fringe. Note, fronting the hole was a more severe downslope, so I couldn't land it short. I could have played out to the right and hit middle of green. There were a couple other situations the spin could've helped.

Ultimately, I think the wedges would have made a one shot difference, so not terribly significant. The putting was the main weakness and cost me 5 shots on the field I'd say, maybe more. Outside of that, my driver cost me shots early in the round until I benched it and the rest were miscellaneous mistakes.

I'll likely try something similar again. I played horribly and still had fun. I imagine if I try again odds are I'll play better. The score was bad, but not embarrassing. I really do need to work on my putting before that though. And put the head back on my 1 iron as I love the thing.

[baloo]

Here's the one iron. The head got so loose I pulled it by hand with no effort. Really odd thing. Glad it didn't fly off and hit someone!

[russad]

Lucky alright, I reckon if you hadn't noticed it was loose it could have come off on the next swing, possibly never to be seen again if there was water or deep rough about. Thanks for sharing your day with us, and like many above have said, well done!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Who said pulling Wilson heads was hard....

Talking of bullseye putter woes, I played today using a bullseye (with a flange). I recently played 9 holes with it, and hit just 13 putts. Today on the front nine I hit 14 putts, then 20 on the back nine, including a miss from 2ft. When the bullseye is on, it's great, but if the stroke is even slightly off, it's punishing. Good as a practice putter, but I would hesitate to use it in a competitive round.

[bpink21901]

Excellent job with the vintage sticks in the tourney!

So you're the one guy in history that loves his 1 iron... I wondered who it was!! :) I only use mine for eye candy filling out the 1 - SW Palmer Standard set!

I also have a bullseye wide flange I game once in a while, it is generally not kind to me on shorter putts since now my stroke tends to wander. Its what I grew up using in the 70's and did very well with it back then so I keep it handy for practicing. I've been working a lot on my putting the last couple months so maybe it will be back in the bag if I can take the improvement from the putting green to the course.

My favorite PW I have ever gamed was from the Staff Dynapower set (w/ weight port), they are hanging on the wall now. I am tempted to take it out on the course for fun but it would have to be after a week of rain to hold greens I am sure.