Hello Friends...

[Greg_B]

(apologies to Jim Nantz)

I just joined the site over the last week or so and think it's time to introduce myself. My name is Greg Beaulieu and I live in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. I first started playing golf about 20 years ago and while I never really got very good at it -- when I was a club member the best I ever got my handicap down to was 16 -- I still enjoy the game even though I don't get to play as much as I'd like these days. Funny thing about golf: when I was younger and had less money I had all kinds of time and inclination to play golf. Now I'm older, doing a lot better financially, and only play corporate golf occasionally, partly because of work commitments, partly because of some physical problems that have cropped up. But these days when I play, even though I can't score well, I usually hit mostly good shots, unlike when I played a lot. Weird.

I've always been a bit of an equipment junkie. When I bought my first set of clubs in '88 or so it was a set of cast MacGregors, made for their retail line, not their pro shop business. I traded those for a set of Daiwas, which were actually pretty cool clubs with a gunmetal finish. After a couple of years I traded those for a set of original Hogan Edges.

I seem to always be happier with something in a more tradiitonal style of iron. I remember being entranced by a set of Wilson Gooseneck FG-53s in the early 90s that someone in my group was playing. I hit one on a par 3 and I was in love, though I never went and bought them. When the Edges were introduced I remembered reading the ads in Golf and Golf Digest for them and just being enthralled. They quoted Ben Hogan himself as saying there is nothing like hitting a forged golf club -- something like "the feeling just travels from your hands up your arms and into your entire body". I always felt that Hogans were the clubs to aspire to and when I found a great deal on a brand new set I took the plunge. The first time I played using them I shot a personal best by 5 shots. They really were and are beautiful things, and I still have them.

About 3-4 years ago though I felt I was giving up distance with them and I bought a set of leftover new 2002 Cobra SS irons locally for a good price. I figured they would add distance and be more forgiving. They may be forgiving, but I was disappointed in them. No more distance and I always felt the steel shafts in them weren't very good (don't know what they are but they aren't DG). Dull feeling too. Mr. Hogan was right.

So this year I thought I'd try to find a new set of irons and recently got a set of brand new MacGregor M565s with YS graphite shafts. Never had graphite in irons before. I absolutely love these clubs. Longer than the others, beautiful, solid feel, and good looking too. These are from the pre-MacTec days of MacGregor though still from the Barry Schneider era, and it seems a shame they weren't more successful. They are just gorgeous. They reopened my eyes to MacGregor, a company that really didn't leave much impression on me the last few years and whose image was tarnished years ago for me by the poor set of irons I started with from them, but from what I've learned and read here they are a company that is on a good path with their recent changes and I hope they succeed. I love the look of their new stuff. It appeals to someone like me who wouldn't be caught dead with anything from Nike (or even a lot of Callaway stuff) in his bag.

I have been even more of a driver junkie than irons over the years. Started out in the late 80s early 90s with the Top Flite Tour woods that Trevino introduced on the Senior Tour back then, which were very good for the times. Had a Cobra Baffler wooden driver for a short time. Then had a Taylor Made Midsize with a Harrison shaft that I hit really well for a lot of years. Then I found one of those unusual Goldwin AVDP drivers when I discovered ebay that was a "big" 300cc in size and I hit that even better. From there, a Cobra 350SS which I liked, replaced by a TM R580 that never seemed to suit me (stock TM shaft let me down I think), then to a Cobra F-Speed that is currently in the bag that works pretty good. I am now awaiting delivery of a new MacGregor MT 460 that I won for a bargain price on ebay, because they get very good reviews and I couldn't pass it up at that price.

Putters? Oh, lord. Being the weakest part of my game I have quite a collection even though I've given away or traded a bunch. For the last few years my gamer has been a Ping B60 (non-insert) which I like a lot. Downstairs in the bag is a bunch of others, from a Ping Pal to a Bullseye heelshafted flange (style similar to an 8802 or an Ironmaster) to a Zebra and a Armour T-Line and who knows what else.

For the longest time I used a MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Personal sand wedge that was wonderful from the fairway and for chipping, but trouble out of sand. I went to an old Wilson Gene Sarazen sand wedge with one of those old brown plastic coated steel shafts for a few years, until I got a Tad Moore 58 degree wedge that works great from both sand and grass.

Anyway, that's me. Rhythmic swinger usually, not a bomber, almost everything is R-flex. Love the game when I can play, hate the fact that ailments mean I have to ride instead of walk these days. Thanks for listening, thanks for having me, and sorry for the longwinded post.