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

[CDLgolf]

My irons and hybrids are from 2015 wedges from 2017 and woods from 2020. 

 

I don't think there is a big difference  between ie1 irons and the i230 irons I also think the g30 and g430 hybrids are pretty similar. I actually prefer the smaller size of the g30's. I'm not sure a g430 driver is that much better than a g30. I know it's alot more expensive. 

 

 

[phizzy30]

Just now, CDLgolf said:

My irons and hybrids are from 2015 wedges from 2017 and woods from 2020. 

 

I don't think there is a big difference  between ie1 irons and the i230 irons I also think the g30 and g430 hybrids are pretty similar. I actually prefer the smaller size of the g30's. I'm not sure a g430 driver is that much better than a g30. I know it's alot more expensive. 

 

 

G430 driver is significantly better than the G30, IMO.  More forgiving across the entire face and sounds/looks/feels better as well.  It's also more consistent spin wise as well.   

[CDLgolf]

2 minutes ago, phizzy30 said:

G430 driver is significantly better than the G30, IMO.  More forgiving across the entire face and sounds/looks/feels better as well.  It's also more consistent spin wise as well.   

 

I'll have to give one a demo. The new 10k looks good to me.

[cardoustie]

I think my whole bag is 10+ years old ,,, so nope

[PlatinumNike]

1 hour ago, black bnr32 said:

I’m probably 20 yards longer off the tee now and I hit more fairways, so yes perhaps a couple strokes per round.  My irons from 10 years ago were too demanding, too.

same, my irons were blades back then and slowly a Mizuno muscle back, which was still small. 
 

I gave into Srixon ZX-7 now 

[Greenie]

I was going to post this topic months ago but it was more about giving me a chance to brag on my best score ever so I passed on posting the topic.

 

Now that the OP has opened the door. 

 

Last summer I showed up at the course and realized I didn't put my putter back in my bag. I had to use my friend's old Slotline SAM putter I had given him decades ago. I putted my butt off with it so when I got home I found one on Ebay and I had to buy it just to relive the old days once again.

 

My package came early enough the day of delivery that I had time to go and play a round with my new old putter. Feeling kind of nostalgic I loaded up my bag with my Mizuno MX 200 irons, my old Mizuno MP black ox wedges, TEE Exotics XCG-V woods, Cobra ZL Encore driver, and the Slotline SAM putter. I threw in a dozen Wilson True Tour Elite balls in my bag.

 

My personal best had been a 77. A score I had accomplished 1/2 dozen times throughout the years. I shot my personal best on vintage day a 74. Vintage day is something I do occasionally now but the 74 was a fluke for now..lol

[hunterdog]

Yes, I think my game would suffer. Today’s driver is not only lighter but also more forgiving; probably a couple of strokes there. I have switched from players irons with stout shafts to more forgiving irons with easier shafts; maybe another stroke or two. Now, could I be young and only 58? If so, I’m not sure my score would change a lot.

[RainShadow]

If I could put regular flex shafts in everything instead of stiff, then no.

Edited February 9 by RainShadow

[philly2kuk]

When it comes to my woods then yes they would. I’ve always struggled with driver since I sold my r7 superquad. My tsr2 is sooooo forgiving and much longer. I wouldn’t want to give up that combination of distance and accuracy. Same with my four wood, it’s just guaranteed to hit the fairway.

 

Now my other clubs…..well my putter is from 2008, my hybrid frequently gets replaced by my 2004 rescue dual and I reckon I could easily play wedges from 10-15 years ago. Some of the irons I’m looking at are in that age range as well. Drivers and fairways have become longer and more forgiving but I’m not seeing huge leaps in iron tech, it’s just a different number on the bottom of the club in my opinion.

 

 

Edited February 9 by philly2kuk
Phone autocorrect

[AdmiralPicard]

*Laughs in "I sure hope not" while looking at my WITB sig*

[hook_or_slice]

I have played Ping G20s for the last 10 years.

I am transitioning to new clubs, last year G410 hybrids and woods, adjustability of lie may help avoid pulls and hooks. This year I will put G425 irons in play. I am moving down a flex, not really necessary but I want a smoother feel.

 

I don't think the new clubs will make much difference in scores.

 

[tatertot]

19 hours ago, TheDominator273 said:

Probably a couple strokes improvement with a well fit current driver, and if the wedges have been used for a decade, fresh wedges (not necessarily needing to be current line stuff) are probably worth at least a stroke a round as well just by having new grooves.

I rotate 3 drivers ... TaylorMade M4, Callaway Epic and an Adams F11 (from, oddly enough 2011) ... Hit them all about the same. I finished last year at 2.7 index.

[Ger21]

10 years ago I was playing VR Pro blades, and my scores were better than they are now.

I score good when I'm swinging good, regardless of what clubs are in my hands.

[jah7838]

I don't think it would suffer that much when it comes to hybrids, irons and wedges.  I've had the same model hybrids in the bag for a majority of the past 10 years, which are the 19* Adams XTD Super Hybrid and the 23* Super 9031 hybrid.  I believe my irons at the time were the Adams CB1 in 5-g, and I've used the same 54*/58* combo in various wedges since then.  Lofts on my irons today are bent to the same lofts I had with the Adams irons as well.

 

Where I might struggle is with the driver and 4 wood.  With how I swing today, I don't know how I would hit a driver that I had 10 years ago in terms of spin and dispersion.  I think I could make it work if I was able to have a few range sessions.  4 wood is just a difficult club for me to find that launches the way I want it to off the deck.  

[bladehunter]

No. I’m playing a 9-10 year old driver , and a putter that’s got its own AARP number. .  Nothing in today’s clubs that’s lowering scores. Nothing. 

[ProV1Killa]

On 2/8/2024 at 9:47 AM, The Ultimate Hack said:

You should buy new clubs every month. 

Ha, you will never beat me since I've adopted the bi-weekly new club plan.  

[adamwon84]

I still have my original set of Hogan Apex 99 blades (2-PW) that I played through HS and College, I will randomly play a round with them. The only noticeable issue I see with them is that they are about 1-1.5 clubs shorter compared to my current modern set due to lofts (the Hogan's are retro lofts from back then). 

 

The irons still feel great, even after hundreds upon hundreds of rounds. They don't spin nearly as much as they use to, but that's just from groove wear. I can still shoot well with them, I think my last round was a 76. I will keep them forever just because they mean a lot to me (my first "real" set of pro level irons my Dad bought me, just need to regrip them like the others. 

[NRJyzr]

21 hours ago, phizzy30 said:

I was much longer off the tee back in those days.  

 

Good lord, do I feel ya there.  I was still able to move it a bit in 2013-2014.  Now, at 60 with bad back and bad shoulders...   not so much.

 

 

 

On 2/8/2024 at 9:45 AM, theothertwo said:

Will your scores suffer if you played with your driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter?   If so, how many strokes more?  

 

The advantage of new clubs will be technology of course.  The advantage of old clubs is familiarity and mastery.

 

 

 

Personally feel tech is vastly overrated.  A great deal of the gains attributed to tech are more in line with perception and even confirmation bias than with reality.

 

As for the answer with respect to me....   Except for having to change flex due to the reasons behind my comments at the top of my post, I'm largely doing what another mentioned, and providing a comparison between then and now.  I still have my irons from 10 years ago, and have most of the drivers I used 10 years ago, and bought new irons last summer.  

 

My scores actually went up with my new irons, over the last three/four months of 2023, compared to the same Golden Rams and even Eye2+ that I was using in 2013 (and forward).  

 

Edited February 9 by NRJyzr

[Ri_Redneck]

10 yrs ago, not at all. 30 yrs ago, probably. It's cool to walk on a course with a bunch of old stuff and put up a nice score though. So that's what I do every now and then.

 

For instance, imagine you're on the first tee of a resort course and there's an old guy there with a beat up bag full of '80 vintage Wilson Staffs and old Callaway Big Bertha no-hosel woods. You'd be thinking, "Poor old guy can't afford a good set of clubs in his retirement." Then on 18 when he sinks that last putt for a 74, you're thinking something else!! 😁

 

BT

Edited February 9 by Ri_Redneck

[ChipNRun]

Yes...

 

Driver shaft back then was 68 grams | current driver shaft 54 grams.

 

Iron shafts were PX 5.0 Rifle flighted (115 grams) | Current ones are 75-gram graphite.

 

Clubhead speed --> distance would suffer with old bag makeup.

[AC in TX]

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

[notsohard]

Nah.

[DixieD]

Not at all. 910d2, v steels, 712 ap2s, sm4 wedges, a two ball and watch me go!

[bluedot]

Yes, without a doubt.  
 

How much is impossible to quantify; there are too many variables.  I’m 10 yrs older, but I practice more, and on and on.  Isolating any one factor in scoring simply isn’t possible.

 

I think the better question is probably how much it’s worth in dollars TO YOU to play better equipment.  More than just the equipment itself, the number of options and the ability to test and get the best stuff for you is exponentially greater now than even 10 years ago.  
 

That doesn’t mean it’s cheap or easy, but better?  No doubt.

[mantan]

If they fit you, I think your scores will be very similar.  That 3-5 yards off a driver or being marginally better with your irons isn't going to make a big difference with your score. Scoring at the margins is mostly short game and putting. But buying equipment is just part of the fun for a lot of us.  

 

We all know that guy who kicks our butt with clubs he's had for 15 years.

[bullsfan]

On 2/8/2024 at 10:45 AM, theothertwo said:

Will your scores suffer if you played with your driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges and putter?   If so, how many strokes more?  

 

The advantage of new clubs will be technology of course.  The advantage of old clubs is familiarity and mastery.

 

 

No, not in the least. Unless you or anybody as a golfer go back to Wood "woods" and older forgings, say pre 1970s, your game won't suffer. But, talent plays a large part in this, crappy golfer will still be a crappy golfer no matter what they are playing. 

 

I still play my clubs I had in college, 1994 vintage or there about, and woods made in 2010, putter is new only cause I thought it was cool. I don't feel the least bit "under gunned" when playing for money, tournaments, or any other types of golfing competition. Play what works for you.

[Hickory4ever]

My scores are slightly higher than 10 years ago but that is due to the ravages of time and health issues. 
 

I play a lot of hickory and have a separate hickory handicap. The difference between my modern and hickory is between 3.5 and 4, largely driven by the lower course rating playing one tee forward with hickory clubs. When I play classic clubs the difference is even less.

 

Assuming you have a decent fitting set, the differences in the equipment in 10 years is a lot less than you think. 

[Bye]

As long as I don’t have to use my old SLDR driver, then no not really. 

[joeconn]

The only clubs I've changed out over the last 10 20 years are my fairway wood and my PW. My scores are better now than they had been any year since 2001, but 2023 was the first year I had the time to get a membership since 2001 so 10 or 20 years ago isn't a fair comparison. In 2001 I was about a 3 but I was 36 years old and had played and practiced a ton since around 1994. Now I'm 58, still fit but hadn't played more than a couple times a year until covid summer 2020. I got down to a 7.3 last season on a course with a low rating/slope (i.e. tough to keep a low handicap because your handicap is going to be 3-4 strokes higher than your score to par).

 

My opinion is that if you had clubs that were a good fit 10 or 20 years ago, and you've maintained your strength and skills, those clubs should still work pretty darn good. In my case, Titleist 983E driver and Ping iSi irons, perfect back then and still perfect for me. Had a Big Bertha 3+ wood back then that got stolen in around 2005 and have struggled to find anything that fits/feels as good. That old warbird sole was so good at getting down to the ball on tight lies! I got fitted into a Taylor Stealth Plus 4W summer 2022 that has proven to be an excellent modern alternative to that Big Bertha. Putter is still an Odyssey 550DF that fits my eye great. Day in day out I'm one of the better putters in my group. I've tried Scottys and new Odysseys, new Pings, and they all do fine for me but no better than my 550DF. Other than the 4W the only new club is a Cleveland PW to replace the Ping iSi whose grooves were worn, and I'll probably replace my iSi SW and SW2 with Clevelands when I feel like their grooves are all done.

 

I play with some guys who get new equipment regularly. They're solid senior (mostly) golfers, lotsa single digit guys and most have stayed pretty fit over the years. I don't see that their newer equipment has gotten them additional distance other than due to jacked iron lofts. I will say it seems that they might be hitting more fairways off the tee than I remember from years past. I think it's great that they get hyped up for new sticks. But when we've hit our drives and we're standing in the fairways at our balls, I'm still where I was 20-25 years ago and they're still where they were BITD or a little bit farther back.

 

One piece of equipment that I will say older gear makes a tangible difference, to me anyway, is balls. I tend to play a lot of found balls, Pro V1s, TP5s. I know a lot of what I pick up are 5-10 years old based on what the logos are. I do fine with them. But I won a dozen new V1s the end of 2022 and put them in play to start last season and it was a noticeable difference to me. I did an experiment one quiet late afternoon at #2 on my home course, 185 yards flat par 3 and no wind that day. Hit the dozen new V1x's, and hit an assortment of older V1x's I happened to have lying around. Small sample size for sure! If the pin is in the middle, that's normally a smooth 4 iron for me. Of the shots I felt I hit well, ALL the new balls landed past the middle of the green. The older balls results were mixed but only a couple landed back where the new balls landed, most came up 3-8 yards shorter. The new balls spun back more. Also experimented on #4, which is a super short downhill par 3, about 85 yards which means I'm hitting my 54* SW. In that case there wasn't much difference in carry distance or amount of spin between the old V1x's and the new balls.

[idrive]

About 5 years ago I started playing with my brother and his wife every Sunday morning at a 9-hole course during the summer months. We are the 1st ones on the course teeing off as the sun comes up.

 

A couple of years back I brought my Wilson Staff X-31's and a Bullseye putter that I inherited from my dad to play that are from 1971. They still have the original leather grips on them.

 

Other than losing 10-15 yards off the tee my scores are basically the same as the new stuff I continually buy thinking they're going greatly enhance my game. So, IMO, it's all about the swing, not the clubs, unless they are a poor fit for your swing.

 

I play the X-31's every Sunday now. For perhaps personal reasons I enjoy playing them more than the new stuff.

 

 

sp

Edited February 14 by idrive