My Vintage Cavity Back Irons Journey

[rumstove]

I'm always curious how I'd hit blades now. When I was a kid I found my grandpa's hickory shaft clubs and learned on those. I'd take them to his backyard to hit and once I got the hang of it they were fairly accurate. Started at the raised dike of his pond and hit it to the other side of his backyard to another slightly raised portion of grass, which was far enough away to be a short par 3. I never did get the actual yardage back then but using my Field Area measuring app now it was probably around 75-85 yards, which as a kid seemed like a mile haha. I just remember if I hit it too far I lost the ball in the weeds or hit the metal shed (which I tried to avoid because of the loud noise). Seems to me either the mashie or the niblick was the perfect distance, but I can't remember which one without taking a look at them. I still have those clubs; I should give them a try again someday. 

 

 

[TheDeanAbides]

11 hours ago, rumstove said:

I'm always curious how I'd hit blades now. When I was a kid I found my grandpa's hickory shaft clubs and learned on those. I'd take them to his backyard to hit and once I got the hang of it they were fairly accurate. Started at the raised dike of his pond and hit it to the other side of his backyard to another slightly raised portion of grass, which was far enough away to be a short par 3. I never did get the actual yardage back then but using my Field Area measuring app now it was probably around 75-85 yards, which as a kid seemed like a mile haha. I just remember if I hit it too far I lost the ball in the weeds or hit the metal shed (which I tried to avoid because of the loud noise). Seems to me either the mashie or the niblick was the perfect distance, but I can't remember which one without taking a look at them. I still have those clubs; I should give them a try again someday. 

 

 

Just dive in. They cost virtually nothing and we can all vouch that you'll be surprised that they're not as tough as people say - at least up to mid irons. 

[elwhippy]

With great difficulty. Don't have the swing speed to flight them well enough. Like older cars and bikes they are to admired and seen as an experience but outside of a persimmon and blade event....

[Mr. Clean]

I have to ask the inverted question, how do guys hit those hideous offset modern clubs that are the size of tennis rackets 🤣

 

I play 1975 Hogan Apex irons, (3-equalizer) with Hogan 4 shafts, as far as lofts I just bend the lofts and lies to my liking and add lead tape, they are not hard to hit, very consistent length, predictable distance control and can shape shots.  
 

They are heel sweet so they need to be “trapped” and for me a “divot” is a must, the biggger the divot the better ☺️
 

Will stay away from the center of gravity “sweet spot” discussion....

[@_the_crook]

3 hours ago, Mr. Clean said:

I have to ask the inverted question, how do guys hit those hideous offset modern clubs that are the size of tennis rackets 🤣

 

I play 1975 Hogan Apex irons, (3-equalizer) with Hogan 4 shafts, as far as lofts I just bend the lofts and lies to my liking and add lead tape, they are not hard to hit, very consistent length, predictable distance control and can shape shots.  
 

They are heel sweet so they need to be “trapped” and for me a “divot” is a must, the biggger the divot the better ☺️
 

Will stay away from the center of gravity “sweet spot” discussion....

 

Curious,

what shafts are in your Warbirds ?

[Mr. Clean]

8 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

 

Curious,

what shafts are in your Warbirds ?

Memphis 10”, stock steel shafts.

[@_the_crook]

4 hours ago, Mr. Clean said:

Memphis 10”, stock steel shafts.

 

Thx. ours are from the same era.

I've been struggling with fairway clubs and recently tried a G20 with a stiff graphite shaft that seems to fit my tempo.

our irons are one flex apart, and based on your comments I wondered how the Warbirds fit your swing.

[Mr. Clean]

18 minutes ago, @_the_crook said:

 

Thx. ours are from the same era.

I've been struggling with fairway clubs and recently tried a G20 with a stiff graphite shaft that seems to fit my tempo.

our irons are one flex apart, and based on your comments I wondered how the Warbirds fit your swing.

I absolutely love my warbirds!!  The sole plate is easy to hit off the deck and I hit my 2 wood more than driver off the tee.  The four wood is also easy to hit.  I like the low boring trajectory and I can take a nice divot with them to get a fair bit of spin.  As cheap as they are on eBay I would suggest trying them 👍🏻

[BIG STU]

On 4/16/2021 at 9:28 PM, Mr. Clean said:

I have to ask the inverted question, how do guys hit those hideous offset modern clubs that are the size of tennis rackets 🤣

 

I play 1975 Hogan Apex irons, (3-equalizer) with Hogan 4 shafts, as far as lofts I just bend the lofts and lies to my liking and add lead tape, they are not hard to hit, very consistent length, predictable distance control and can shape shots.  
 

They are heel sweet so they need to be “trapped” and for me a “divot” is a must, the biggger the divot the better ☺️
 

Will stay away from the center of gravity “sweet spot” discussion....

You nailed it about the sweet spot on Hogan irons. I myself take big divots especially with the wedges and I hit a trap cut by design. Those sharp leading edges on the Macs help me

[rsiehr]

Found an old set of Lynx blades in the basement. Took the 1 iron (yes, the one iron) out to the course... and that thing is brutal. Caught it nicely once and I think it is still rolling.

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

Looks like this corner of Golfwrx is the new Discovery Channel. lol.

[Texas Golfer]

Make sure the grips are fresh.  Playing a club with a worn out grip makes things difficult.

[fronesis]

On 4/23/2021 at 12:33 AM, BIG STU said:

You nailed it about the sweet spot on Hogan irons.

+1

 

I played Apex redlines in high school and college, and to this day I find it really hard to adjust to an iron with a long blade length and a center of gravity far from the hosel. All of my instincts are to hit the ball basically as close to the hosel as possible (without you know what).

Edited April 26, 2021 by fronesis

[Texas Golfer]

5 hours ago, fronesis said:

+1

 

I played Apex redlines in high school and college, and to this day I find it really hard to adjust to an iron with a long blade length and a center of gravity far from the hosel. All of my instincts are to hit the ball basically as close to the hosel as possible (without you know what).

I have the same issue with game improvement irons.  To make longer blade length irons work, I have to aim at the inside edge of the ball.

[naval2006]

Rock those hips back and forth, baby! Lol

[bl8d]

play vintage blades a little further back in your stance . Also the narrower soles have very little if any bounce.

[@_the_crook]

8 hours ago, bl8d said:

play vintage blades a little further back in your stance . Also the narrower soles have very little if any bounce.

+1,

play vintage irons a little back as the shafts are somewhat shorter plus the headsize difference.

take some time to get used to the adjustment.

I do like the narrower soles. they cut right through the grass.

 

[Tupperwolf]

After my John Daly full set from Walmart the first set of irons I bought was some Mizuno MP-33s.  As a 30 cap you're gonna hit everything the same, blade or GI, and I wanted to get some feedback.  I played those, I played a combo set of forged Bridgestones.  Now I'm so happy with my PINGs.... but there's still that part of me that wants to play blades.. because they're just so slick and thin and sexy, everything else be damned!

 

A buddy of mine carries an old 2iron... not sure what it is.  Maybe a Hagen.  That thing is quite the club.  The blade is barely longer than the ball is wide.

[bl8d]

Wilson, to my best knowledge ,was first to introduce a beveled leading edge in the late '60 which made a huge difference for the average player's errand ball position.

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

19 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

+1,

play vintage irons a little back as the shafts are somewhat shorter plus the headsize difference.

take some time to get used to the adjustment.

I do like the narrower soles. they cut right through the grass.

 

I'm comparing everything in this lil' experiment against some modern Pings:  G400's and Zing 2's, both of which are black dot.  The MacGregors in question are a full half inch shorter, when comparing 5-irons.  Is that "somewhat shorter," or are the Macs actually the wrong size/fitment?

[bl8d]

yes, that is the typical length difference between that period and modern irons.

 

early 5iron length was typically 37.5-37.75" compared to today's 38-38.25"

lofts were on average 4-5* weaker as well.

28-29* compared to the 23-24* modern 5 iron loft.

 

By playing the ball further back with older irons you are in effect delofting the club and flighting the ball lower.

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

18 hours ago, bl8d said:

yes, that is the typical length difference between that period and modern irons.

 

early 5iron length was typically 37.5-37.75" compared to today's 38-38.25"

 

lofts were on average 4-5* weaker as well.

28-29* compared to the 23-24* modern 5 iron loft.

 

By playing the ball further back with older irons you are in effect delofting the club and flighting the ball lower.

Cool, thanks!

[tomc262]

On 4/16/2021 at 8:28 PM, Mr. Clean said:

I have to ask the inverted question, how do guys hit those hideous offset modern clubs that are the size of tennis rackets 🤣

 

I play 1975 Hogan Apex irons, (3-equalizer) with Hogan 4 shafts, as far as lofts I just bend the lofts and lies to my liking and add lead tape, they are not hard to hit, very consistent length, predictable distance control and can shape shots.  
 

They are heel sweet so they need to be “trapped” and for me a “divot” is a must, the biggger the divot the better ☺️
 

Will stay away from the center of gravity “sweet spot” discussion....

AWESOME Bag!!

 

And, yes, I have also found the sweet spot to be "inside" toward the heel just a bit.  When I play my FG17s I set up at address with the ball closer to the hosel.  With my Eye2's they play pretty "normal" for me but I grew up with them.  Literally...my set is from my high school days.  🙂

[lefthack]

My blades are from 2000, so not exactly vintage, but they are amazing to hit. But it takes effort.

[cold_war_era_golfer]

I've basically been golfing seriously for a year now and only hit vintage blades last year it was 1950s and 60s Wilson Dynapowers.  This spring I made the transition to early 60s-1967 MacGregor Tourneys.

 

A guy I had been golfing last season was using the MacGregors and the bug hit me.  They are for me more difficult to hit than the Wilson Staffs of the similar vintage.  

 

I have golfed 44 times since March 13th and its taken me till now to really get a feel for the Macs.  But I will say after hitting the M Tourneys and then moving to the same year 1964(for example) DXs I notice a slight improvement in my game.

 

So how do you hit vintage blades?  Practice, then try a set of 1964 DX Tourneys.

[@_the_crook]

14 hours ago, coldwareragolfer said:

I have golfed 44 times since March 13th and its taken me till now to really get a feel for the Macs

 

that's a season or more of play for some people.

I admire your dedication, though others might see that as a reason to move on to a different model for more favorable compatibility.

 

me, half a dozen attempts and it's either keep or dump.

it has to fit my normal playing pattern, as that's what is going to take over 90% of the time I swing.

the other 10% we don't talk about. LOL.

 

[cold_war_era_golfer]

7 hours ago, @_the_crook said:

 

that's a season or more of play for some people.

I admire your dedication, though others might see that as a reason to move on to a different model for more favorable compatibility.

 

me, half a dozen attempts and it's either keep or dump.

it has to fit my normal playing pattern, as that's what is going to take over 90% of the time I swing.

the other 10% we don't talk about. LOL.

 

I still don't know what I'm doing with a golf club in my hand to be honest and with all the free time to go out I figured I might as well just make these Macs work.  

Most of the sets I pickup are 40-100 bucks so it's all about keeping it cheap.  I also hate to admit it looking at the list below of keepers and non-keepers it's basically been on "I like how these look" basis.  

 

I've messed around with the following and intend to keep:

'61 M Tourneys

'62 M Tourney VFQ

'62 Armour VFQ

'63 M Tourneys 

'64 DX

'65 MT

'66 RMTs

'67 VIPS

 

I've passed on the 

'67 M Tourneys

'68 M Tourneys

and the collection of Dynapowers I had last year

[Jiggered]

On 5/23/2021 at 7:13 PM, coldwareragolfer said:

I still don't know what I'm doing with a golf club in my hand to be honest and with all the free time to go out I figured I might as well just make these Macs work.  

Most of the sets I pickup are 40-100 bucks so it's all about keeping it cheap.  I also hate to admit it looking at the list below of keepers and non-keepers it's basically been on "I like how these look" basis.  

 

 

That's primarily how I decide which ones to keep.

 

(Although I have to admit, I've not been successful in parting with many yet.) 😁

[HappyGilmoresBoots]

I took my vintage set out to the actual golf course yesterday:  Callaway Big Bertha driver/woods, Adams hybrid, MacGregor MCX irons, and a single MacGregor Tourney wedge.  I was immediately vaulted back to playing this same course as a youngster, playing my dad's old cut-down irons...what a nostalgia trip!

.

Just for shiggles, I busted out my box of old Titleist balls - wound this, Balata that.  I'm very glad that balls have advanced past that point.  My old Titleist Balata 90 is looking incredibly haggard after 6 or so holes.

[Fairway14]

If it has a cavity back, it's not a blade .

*this holds true for irons, wedges, and putters.