Experience the Mickey Wright concept

[bcstones]

Been thinking on this for awhil & didn't wish to use the word "challenge",....ever since I found out that Mickey Wright, after her retirement from the :PGA, actually DID use just 2 irons to play - her 6 iron & putter. She played into her 80s & broke 90s w/just those 2 clubs. 
@Jiggered has an excellent video on his YouTube channel, Classic Golf Clubs, where he play his least favorite 6 iron & putter...he asked at the end "Makes you wonder just how many clubs do you actually need?" (my paraphrasing)

 

So I'm wondering if anyone out there might take a swing at playing 2 clubs - your favorite iron & a putter....an interesting experience...

Have fun and enjoy yourself...

[OnTheBag]

51 minutes ago, bcstones said:

So I'm wondering if anyone out there might take a swing at playing 2 clubs - your favorite iron & a putter....an interesting experience...

Back when I was much younger and still caddying full time, we would often play a round with just 2 clubs.  My preference was 7i and putter, but a few guys preferred 5i and SW.  At that time, our 5i's were the equivalent to a modern 7i (30-31° loft and 37"-37.5")  but you get the picture.  

 

It is a lot of fun and really forces you to play 2 and 3 shots ahead of yourself.

Edited October 5, 2023 by OnTheBag

[bcstones]

34 minutes ago, OnTheBag said:

My preference was 7i and putter, but a few guys preferred 5i and SW.  At that time, our 5i's were the equivalent to a modern 7i (30-31° loft and 37"-37.5")  but you get the picture.  

 

It is a lot of fun and really forces you to play 2 and 3 shots ahead of yourself.

totally agree, I prefer the 7 iron... I played for years w/just a starter set 1 & 3 wood w/3,5,7,9 & putter circa '58 (no wedge, never heard of such a thing 🤣). I'm guessing that the 7 would be ~42* or perhaps ~40* (think that was the loft of 7 in the '60s)...

[OnTheBag]

1 hour ago, bcstones said:

totally agree, I prefer the 7 iron... I played for years w/just a starter set 1 & 3 wood w/3,5,7,9 & putter circa '58 (no wedge, never heard of such a thing 🤣). I'm guessing that the 7 would be ~42* or perhaps ~40* (think that was the loft of 7 in the '60s)...

7i in that era would have been 38° or 39° but yes, in that range with a 44-46° 9i.   

Edited October 5, 2023 by OnTheBag

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

7 hours ago, bcstones said:

totally agree, I prefer the 7 iron... I played for years w/just a starter set 1 & 3 wood w/3,5,7,9 & putter circa '58 (no wedge, never heard of such a thing 🤣). I'm guessing that the 7 would be ~42* or perhaps ~40* (think that was the loft of 7 in the '60s)...

I'm very much with you on the wedge thing. Never had one until well into my 2nd decade of golf. Brought me nothing but trouble and grief for some years until YouTube arrived. There were very few wedges in Club golf until the '70s.

[Foozle]

10 hours ago, bcstones said:

Been thinking on this for awhil & didn't wish to use the word "challenge",....ever since I found out that Mickey Wright, after her retirement from the :PGA, actually DID use just 2 irons to play - her 6 iron & putter. She played into her 80s & broke 90s w/just those 2 clubs. 
@Jiggered has an excellent video on his YouTube channel, Classic Golf Clubs, where he play his least favorite 6 iron & putter...he asked at the end "Makes you wonder just how many clubs do you actually need?" (my paraphrasing)

 

So I'm wondering if anyone out there might take a swing at playing 2 clubs - your favorite iron & a putter....an interesting experience...

Have fun and enjoy yourself...

We used to have an annual 2 club competition as a bit of fun. I favoured 6 iron and putter.

Every winter, about now, I tuck my persimmons in a cosy dry corner and go down to a short set, usually TM Tour Spoon, 2,4,6,8,Pw (or Si) and putter. Never seems to harm my scores too much which makes me wonder why a struggle carrying a full set of 14 for the rest of the year! 

I guess my answer to how many clubs you actually need is 7! 

Curious for me is my bias towards even numbered irons? Psychiatrist might have a field day with that! Anyone else have an "odds" or "evens" preference?

Probably just me!

[OnTheBag]

3 hours ago, Foozle said:

Anyone else have an "odds" or "evens" preference?

Funny you mention that because I unknowingly had an "odds" preference.  Other than my 8i and PW (10i) I never hit even numbered clubs now.

 

 

[bcstones]

5 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

 There were very few wedges in Club golf until the '70s.

 

4 hours ago, Foozle said:

 

Curious for me is my bias towards even numbered irons? Psychiatrist might have a field day with that! Anyone else have an "odds" or "evens" preference?

 

@The Aspidistra in the Hall ahhh....there have been highly lofted clubs since the niblick (think of Cochran's Giant Niblick...I would love to own/play one, but I've to got win the lottery to afford that 😂), so there are different names: Trapshooter, Dinamiter. Exploder, Equalizer, Sand Iron, Sure Up, Sure Out & then there were the numbers, ie 9 & 10 if the set ran 2 thru 8 or 10 & 11, if the set ran 3 thru 9..
Do here I go again, asking questions....when did the term "wedges" even come into common usage? Also, when did the PW become part of a "full" set of clubs? When did the SW get added to the "full" set of clubs?

 

@Foozle 🥸 nah...don't need a "phrsynch" - just have fun (I've been asked why I enjoy playing my Browning 440s...now, I could say the mundane obvious - "cuz I prefer placement over distance"...but it's far more fun, as an old Coot, to say - "at my age, I like to know I can still get it up"🤣🙃🤣)...might also be said, mundanely, that you prefer lofted clubs.
Again, questions...when did starter/partial sets change from 2,4,6,8 to 3,5,7,9?   (from my own personal experience, in 1958 my first set was the "odds"). 

[twidener]

I started playing in '63 with an old Spalding Junior starter set. Driver, 3,5,7,9, putter. Later I got a Sam Snead Signature set and a Bullseye putter but that 9 iron served as my wedge and sand wedge through high school. Shot under par in high school using that set of irons. Got my first full set of irons, a brand new set of '69 Hogan irons and my first sand wedge, for my HS graduation present and used those when I played in college.

[miamistomp]

6 hours ago, OnTheBag said:

Funny you mention that because I unknowingly had an "odds" preference.  Other than my 8i and PW (10i) I never hit even numbered clubs now.

 

 

 The old starter sets used to feature the "odds" ( never saw "even" sets sold)

  I remember I had Driver, 3 wood and 3, 5 , 7 , 9 and putter in my high school team set

 Later on got a " combo" wedge

 

[bcstones]

43 minutes ago, miamistomp said:

 The old starter sets used to feature the "odds" ( never saw "even" sets sold)

 

gotta chuckle here.....careful what you call "old" 🙃😂 I just checked the Kaplan's for MacGregor (didn't do the other 2) - the 2 iron is the first iron listed on all their sets in 1935 - to me, that's "old"...compared to my 1958 starter set from H&B, that ain't all that "old" 🤣

The first wedge I owned was the Hickory Shaft set of the 1st & 2nd wedges (w/the shafts marked "hand made steel core Hickory Stick Richard Parente pat pending") I bought then in '92 w/a full set of Hogan Magnum Plus's. I found the 3rd Wedge a decade plus later, shaft marking "Callaway Hickory Stick".

Edited October 5, 2023 by bcstones

[bcstones]

Gotta admit that I'm currently waiting of shoulder injury before swinging a club again (carrying water to plants during 4 months of no rain)...as soon as OT says it's ok. Not sure how long that'll be...tendonitis can take awhile. Just doing light half swings w/my fav 7 iron, limit contact to practice ball...ah, well.

 

That said, while I enjoy the stories of past playing... is there anyone willing to try the "experience".

Edited October 6, 2023 by bcstones

[FirstFlight]

I'm game. It will be at a 9 hole course, a muni with small greens that doesn't charge much. I go there once in a blue moon, for a non-GHIN posting, practice session(no scoring). Probably within a few weeks.

Have to admit, overcoming the thought of paying regular prices for a full sized course, to try this challenge...is tough. A handful of sticks in the bag...no problem, but just two!!

[bcstones]

24 minutes ago, FirstFlight said:

I'm game. It will be at a 9 hole course, a muni with small greens that doesn't charge much. I go there once in a blue moon, for a non-GHIN posting, practice session(no scoring). Probably within a few weeks.

Have to admit, overcoming the thought of paying regular prices for a full sized course, to try this challenge...is tough. A handful of sticks in the bag...no problem, but just two!!

watch @Jiggered 's YouTube channel "Classic Golf Clubs"...he tried it & was surprised, in an even earlier video he also played just one club...

also - what is "a non-GHIN posting"?

Edited October 9, 2023 by bcstones

[FirstFlight]

I will check out Classic golf clubs for that episode...I've enjoyed many of his episodes on history of clubs, players or tech.

The only way I can think of playing a round with just one club...would be with a MB iron...where I can putt lefty with the back of the muscle pad(I'm a righty). I've done that only once or twice, cause I ended up on the green without my putter and didn't feel like fetching it. 

Oh, GHIN stands for golf handicap information network, which is basically what the USGA calls their website portal to post scoring and calculate match ups. Cheers

[bcstones]

2 hours ago, FirstFlight said:

I will check out Classic golf clubs for that episode...I've enjoyed many of his episodes on history of clubs, players or tech.

The only way I can think of playing a round with just one club...would be with a MB iron...where I can putt lefty with the back of the muscle pad(I'm a righty). I've done that only once or twice, cause I ended up on the green without my putter and didn't feel like fetching it. 

Oh, GHIN stands for golf handicap information network, which is basically what the USGA calls their website portal to post scoring and calculate match ups. Cheers

He played the one club w/a hickory shafted cleek...She might have been playing an early steel shafted mid-iron.....yeah, there was a wee "jump" cuz of the loft of the club. Then again, greens in the 1930's in Europe were not the cossetted greens of today, the putters then might have a bit loft to them.

Thanks for defining...Don't mean to offend, but I don't really care what the USGA/R&A say I can play with or their system of counting strokes. As far as handicaps, I compete against the course, not whomever I might be playing with....so I don't keep score, the goal of Golf is to put the ball in the hole...