Will your scores suffer if you played your clubs from 10 years ago?

[flyingwedges2]

From what I've read over the years, a lot of the Sr Tour guys play old clubs.  Elkington has been that way for years, with irons.

[the_Danimal]

Besides the driver and 3 wood and hybrid, there isn't much difference in my clubs. The hybrid might be my biggest weakness since I rely on it to play par 5s a lot. I wouldn't be able to fly or hold some greens with an old school 5 wood or a 4iron

[gvogel]

10 years later and I am now in my 70's and have lost swing speed.  I've gone to a 12* Titleist driver from the 9.5* Ping G25.  I need the extra loft now.

 

I have also gone to T350 irons with Nippon 950 NEO shafts from AP1 with Nippon 105T.  The new clubs are much easier.

 

Heck, I got 12 years out of the old clubs before I realized that I needed more help.  So, yes my scores would suffer a little bit.

[DixieD]

13 hours ago, AC in TX said:

G25 driver to irons, SM5 wedges, Scotty Newport 2 putter ... not at all!

G25 line was so solid top to bottom, could happily go back there.

[BillyBogey]

Yep; or at least Think So!! Change Wood & Irons every 5-7 yrs. Am a little "Stunned"; think that is politically correct word!!

Wedges probably every 3 yr's. @ Worst!!  Sleep with my Putter!! 

[Mark_Tha_Tinkerer]

44 minutes ago, BillyBogey said:

  Sleep with my Putter!! 

 

Who doesn't???

 

I have a long shaft that sticks out from under the covers.  Of course, at my age,  a stiff flex is out of the question.  

[sm_watts]

Driver - current versions are absolutely better, much more forgiving.  If you hit it on the screws, probably not a ton.

 

Irons - "players" irons, not much.  How do you improve a 1-piece forging?  Higher handicap irons, they've just figured out how to hide the weighting and tech in a slimmer, better looking package.

 

Wedges - fresh grooves are more important than any plastic insert on the back.

 

Putter - blade putter, nope.  Mallet putters, 3D printing and use of different materials have made a difference IF you don't have a dime-sized wear mark on the face.

[Hehateme]

10 years ago I was 112 mph swing speed, now I am 104. 10 years ago I played 2013 X forged, shafts were Project X 6.5, now I am playing regular flex. No how no way could I launch these irons today and no way could I launch the Titleist 913 8.5 X flex I used to hit. The drop in swing speed from the age of 50 to 60 has been dramatic and I am in the gym lifting 4 days a week. But I am still scratch from the tips! lol

[John117 puttin4eagle]

As someone that has had about a dozen sets… no. Old stuff still works. My buddy has clubs from like 2014, callaway apex forged with the black badges mostly fallen off. He shot a 62 with them (and missed 2 putts with his abused odyssey 7) 2 years ago, and won both city amateur tournaments with a combined -20 with those same clubs in 2023z Gamers will play with whatever and destroy most every course. 

[Bob2929]

I feel invincible with new technology and a pure swing. Shot my age 71 with new technology did not do that with my older clubs. My driver keeps me in play.  Pings 425 10k and we have had it for 3 years now they advertise 10k in 430 max but 425 max was 10k yrs ago it works.

[JudgeSmailsII]

but,but,but, the manufacturers said this years clubs are "Longer and Straighter" than last years!

Ha! best marketing scheme ever!

[Nicklaus]

daniel berger/henrik stenson top two guys that come to mind when this subject comes up.  speaking only of the irons in this case but yeah... 

[brew4eagle]

I have played the same driver and hybrids for over 10 years now.  Irons and wedges make no difference imo, and my putter is a 1996 Scottsdale Anser.  So, no difference for me.

[Bad9]

I doubt I would see any change in my scores or how I played with 10 year old clubs. I’m a little surprised by the comments that say driver tech has made a couple of strokes difference. Any improvement in that span is fitting and at the edges of forgiveness, nothing dramatic. If todays driver is leads to a 2-3 shot improvement then I would say the previous one was I’ll fit rather than the club itself that much better. I play the Rogue ST because I like the sound better than any OG the previous drivers I had in the last decade which included Mavericks, G410, G400, Anser, a Cobra and one or two more.

[ae1985]

Putts. I was a stubborn blade putter user who sucks with them.

[Mike_Honcho]

my score would suffer if you gave me clubs from 10 years into the FUTURE.

[Big_hitter_The_Lama]

It’s the Indian not the arrow.

Does playing with Hickory hurt your score?
 

Maybe it is the Indian and the arrow.

[golfheaven69]

Not if you hit every shot dead square. 

[2Down]

Been playing an old set of ping eye2.  Set the way back machine to 1982 and see if you think ping may have been on to something way back then.  

 

Still have a modern driver as they have seen significant improvement, in my mind at least. 

 

Irons have improved a lot if you go by the numbers on the clubs, a new 7 iron is now as long as my 6 and every once in a while maybe my five.

 

Putters?  Not sure they have hanged that much, just seem to be a lot heavier these days.  

 

[brianp123]

My old top of the bag would hurt me, I've never been good with woods/hybrids. Modern utility irons have been a game changer for me

[Flyers99]

For me I’d say not noticeable.  If the driver goes a few yards shorter just take 1 more club into the green. I still own an old set of PING G15’s that I have not  played full time for probably 11-12 years.  Anyway, once a year I bring them out to play.  To be honest I don’t see much of a difference. Many of the holes I am hitting the same number iron and some maybe a club up. I use today the G425’s which the 5-6-7 irons go a few yards longer (stronger lofted) but the shorter irons very similar (similar lofts).  I could easily play the 15’s and score the same I believe. 

[stryper]

At this point I think the top of the bag would kill me…everything up there is just so much better now. 

[Sir-Shanks-A-Lot]

22 hours ago, Big_hitter_The_Lama said:

It’s the Indian not the arrow.

Does playing with Hickory hurt your score?
 

Maybe it is the Indian and the arrow.

 

This ⬆️⬆️⬆️ every day of the week and twice on Sunday!

 

Now I'll tone down the hyperbole and give a (hopefully) reasoned argument ....

 

My entire set, driver to putter, dates from 2006-2010ish - see my sig. Back then when I built it I could barely break 100. Plenty of good reasons for that, none of which have anything to do with the hardware in the bag. Flash forward to summer 2023 when I started playing again after a 7-8 year layoff: range practice with the same gear shows better distance and way tighter dispersion across the board. If I'm being totally honest, the reason that didn't reflect in my scores when playing was mainly due to less than stellar course management. Ergo it's the archer not the arrow.

 

My $0.02 ... Cheers everyone ...

 

 

Edited February 17 by Sir-Shanks-A-Lot