Time to Shut This Sucker (Website) Down

[Coach]

Persimmon Woods

On a warm and amazingly crowded day on the course today in New York, I pulled out an old persimmon wood for fun to see how I hit it.

I used it on 2 holes, I was the short hitter in the fairway with dead straight drives in the fairway and made two easy pars as an 8 handicap.

So the question is not, "Is technology overated?", it is "Is technology sending us into the woods?" :birthday:

[italianstallion]

I tried a old Ping on the course just this summer. Alot straighter! I couldn't believe it! It was about 20 yards shorter than my other drives, but still long. Hmmm, I might be onto something...NOT, clubs look awesome now!

[Gxgolfer]

We could always talk about Louisville golf products.

 

[MrParr1Noid]

On a warm and amazingly crowded day on the course today in New York, I pulled out an old persimmon wood for fun to see how I hit it.

 

I used it on 2 holes, I was the short hitter in the fairway with dead straight drives in the fairway and made two easy pars as an 8 handicap.

 

So the question is not, "Is technology overated?", it is "Is technology sending us into the woods?" :blink:

 

Ou Contraire!

 

I think that technology is taking us out of the wood, let me extrapolate. Where as titanium is plentiful compared to poor persimmon trees which are just about extinct, our youth of today should be encouraged to save the whales and also to stand behind and to prohibit the cutting and possible extinction of our beloved persimmon's.

 

You and I both know that the game with persimmon was pure and simple, untouched by computer enhanced titaninum, composite materials, and Hi COR. Only pure and talented athletes dare use the rare and precious persimmon and the coveted balata percha 384 ball. The question isn't "Is technology sending us into the woods?" but "How will technology save the woods". :)

[Golfchicago]

I've seen a lot of average golfers benefit trememdously from some of the technological advances. The bigger heads allow for better misses. The ofset headed drivers are reducing slices. Can a better player play well with persimmon heads and blades? Absolutely, but your misses are better with todays technology in the woods and irons. Is the technology overated? I think moast of us are looking for the driver that hits every fairway and the set of irons that hit every green and we think are next purchase is the holy grail. :) Only to discover that the clubs aren't perfect after we make the purchase, we continue our journey for the perfect club(no pun intended).

 

Coach every time I think that technology is overated, I go out and buy a set of blades and after a few miss hits at the range with the long irons, the blades go for sale. Unfortunately, this seems to be a annual occurance. It is like White castles. I eat there every six months just because I forget how awful the food is on my stomach but for some reason I forget and I have to spend money to remind myself.

[golfernut78]

I used it on 2 holes, I was the short hitter in the fairway with dead straight drives in the fairway and made two easy pars as an 8 handicap.

 

i actually work with a guy who is 5 - 6 handicap and his 3 wood is persimion. he does not have a metal 3-wood at all. he absolutely clobbers the ball with it.

 

at the holidays, i was out in charleston, south carolina and one of the days i ended up playing with three older (retired, probably in mid to late 60's) and one of them had 8 woods (1, 3, 4, 5, 5, 7, 9, 11). he had two 5 woods. all but one of the 5-woods were persimion. he was dead straight, and his drives were out there with mine on a few holes (i was playing the member tees and he was on the senior tee, 600 yard difference overall.)

[alcap26]

On a warm and amazingly crowded day on the course today in New York, I pulled out an old persimmon wood for fun to see how I hit it.

 

I used it on 2 holes, I was the short hitter in the fairway with dead straight drives in the fairway and made two easy pars as an 8 handicap.

 

So the question is not, "Is technology overated?", it is "Is technology sending us into the woods?" :crazy:

 

Ou Contraire!

 

I think that technology is taking us out of the wood, let me extrapolate. Where as titanium is plentiful compared to poor persimmon trees which are just about extinct, our youth of today should be encouraged to save the whales and also to stand behind and to prohibit the cutting and possible extinction of our beloved persimmon's.

 

You and I both know that the game with persimmon was pure and simple, untouched by computer enhanced titaninum, composite materials, and Hi COR. Only pure and talented athletes dare use the rare and precious persimmon and the coveted balata percha 384 ball. The question isn't "Is technology sending us into the woods?" but "How will technology save the woods". :blink:

 

Damn hippie tree hugger :)

[Ryno920]

I say we should bring back persimmon woods. We'd have to cut down all the trees to make the heads and then we wouldn't have to worry about hitting into the woods at all.

[Steve_FLA]

I have not hit a real wood in 15-20 years. I know I hit the ball further today with all the jumbo size, NASA material drivers. Howver, I don't think I hit it straighter. I think where technology helps out is mishits. I hit some drives off the toe and I can't believe how far they still go.

 

-Steve

[scores]

We all sat around one day and said "how about a tournament" with touring pro's" playing wood and blades then compare todays pros with the pro's of yesterday. I think it's technology that allows michelle wie and other women to actually compete with the men today.

 

I ll gladley give her my driver and irons i used when I was 15 and lets see it???

 

I think she is a great talent but the clubs of yesterday would pull her back along with other players.

 

It's a big driver wedge show now..I think one of the major golf magazines did an article about this years pga championship and they took the club champion from that course and gave him nicklus 1 irion and sent him to this par three where nicklus hit some famous shot and gave the guy I think 4 tries and he shanked a couple and the closes one was like twenty yards from the green.

 

I will say some of the courses are tougher but really take and old set and play with them..

 

If we did turn back the clock on equipment you would be able to get a tee time!

[gjones77]

Alright, here's that article on old vs. new I was looking for

 

Luke Donald tees it up with vintage sticks

By LUKE DONALD with JOE PASSOV

GOLF MAGAZINE

Sure, your equipment is better than the stuff that was in your dad's golf bag but how much better? We put GOLF MAGAZINE Contributing Player Luke Donald on the case, turning him loose at Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona, armed with 45-year-old clubs: MacGregor's Eye-O-Matic 60 driver and Tourney Velocitized fairway woods, Wilson Staff Dyna-Powered irons and sand wedge, a Ben Hogan Equalizer pitching wedge, a Bulls Eye putter, and an original Ping 1-A putter. He used two types of Titleist balls his current model, the Pro V1x, and a new sleeve of Tour 90 balatas from a decade ago, the softest ball we could find that we were sure wouldn't implode. For comparison's sake, he also hit shots with his current clubs, including a 365cc titanium-headed driver with a graphite shaft.

Here is Donald's report

 

Though the heads are much smaller than what I'm used to, these woods are real good-looking, especially considering they're decades older than I am. The sweetspot may be tiny, but you can tell these clubs have great balance; everything's in proportion. Today's drivers are more head-heavy.

 

Well, here goes nothing....

 

There's a big difference in the sound and feel at impact. The persimmon feels dead, like I'm hitting a grapefruit. It's a struggle to get the ball into the air with the driver. The balata ball has a low, flat trajectory that dives quickly at the end. (My Pro V1x proves easier to get airborne, but only just.) On the 1st hole, I make a decent swing at least the contact feels fine. But when I look up the ball is knee-high. Almost gives the photographer a haircut.

 

My current driver sends it 50 yards past the old MacGregor with modern balls, 20-35 yards with the balata. I don't see as much difference in the fairway woods. At the 7th hole, a par 5, I have 245 yards left. With the 3-wood I hit a balata straight and get it to the green, but my second attempt, with a Pro V1x, takes off just as straight but much higher and stays in the air a lot longer. The difference between the old and new balls is amazing. Jack Nicklaus always says the modern ball is the biggest reason for the length we get these days. Now I have to agree.

 

The '59 Wilson irons are comparable to my Mizuno MP-33s. The hosel on the old ones is thicker and the blade shorter, but the shape, offset and topline are similar. I notice the Wilson 4-iron has more loft than my Mizuno 4-iron, and the shaft is about an inch and a half shorter. Not surprisingly, my current set plays about a club longer throughout the bag. The old pitching and sand wedges perform like I'm used to wedge design has stayed pretty classical. But on shorter shots the balata ball produces a different feeling, like it wants to stick to the clubface. I thought I might tear the cover off the ball. You'd think the balata would be much easier to control, but the Pro V1x spins almost as much.

 

Putting is easy with the old Bulls Eye there's a reason this model lives on. The Ping takes some getting used to. Never mind the high-pitched ping; it's so light and the metal so thin that judging distance takes some time.So what did I learn? Modern technology has definitely made the game easier. I've gained a new measure of respect for the old-timers, who couldn't just crush the ball; they had to be true shotmakers.

[sync71]

Shut what site down this one...are you crazy this site is awesome.

[Gxgolfer]

We could talk about the Hi-bore too:

 

[animalistic]

if you can launch the ball 310 and hole some putts you will succeed in golf these days.I GIVE YOU MODERN GOLF::;

 

it doesnt matter if you hit the rough[assuming youre not in the hay or o.b!!] because youre only 80 out after carrying your 460cc trampoline driver 315 on the trajectory of a pitching wedge!!cmon' youre a modern player[all those hours in the gym have you looking like a gorilla!!!] so you hack it out to 10-15 foot and hole it.so what if you dont theres still about 10 more driver-lob wedge par fours to come for you to batter into submission!!!and thats not even thinking about the par5's!!!

par 3's???? these represent trouble because of your distinct lack of shotmaking!!its not a lob-wedge so you panic!!!you hit and hope it ends up somewhere near the green.

you finish up with a cool 68 having done nothin in particular!!!

but what happens when you stray away from the comfort of your local wide open pga resort course!!!??!!? our modern man staggers off the tough, tight plantation/links/heathland/or any kind of course that isnt a wide-open resort course with an 80!

the most famous propenents of the modern way of golf??? Only the top five golfers in the world!!where are tiger and VJ nand co in fways hit in regulation?in the last third of the field, bu they are in the top ten in driving distance, and they can all hole the crucial 6-12 footers all day long!!

drive long and putt accurately for dough!!