Rounds with a Vintage Bag

[ScooterMcTavish]

Well, the frustrating debacle earlier this week parlayed into a need to try golfing again this week, but with a more forgiving set. Unfortunately, this wasn't even about score, it was more about me feeling like some spastic Muppet, vainly attempting to hit a ball despite my body's wishes to do otherwise.

 

We could call the following a vintage bag, though now we're getting into pretty dicey territory here with the ages. The old: irons are +20 years old, Dual Wedge is over 50, and the putter is over 40. However, the driver is 9, the FWs are around 8, and there's a lob wedge in there.

 

 

Net result, I shot my best 9 of the year, a 3 par, 6 bogey +6. However, the eye opening part of this was that if I had not been playing the above set that I would have shot (easily) a 45 or 47. My most regular misses lately have been a toe hit, or a hook. Yesterday, both were gone, or at least tamed somewhat by the more forgiving irons. Pitching was much better as well, as my irons weren't digging or getting grabbed in grass like my blades had been. I think this surprised me, as I always thought the sharp leading of edge of my blades made pitching easier. Apparently not.

 

In fact, if the toaster hadn't been misbehaving (and in both cases, I just set up wrong for the shot), and had avoided one 3-putt, a 38 was there to be had. I was up and down in two in 1/3 opportunities, and if my putting had been a tiny bit better, that could have easily been 3/3.

 

But most importantly, I actually sort of enjoyed the round, and I wasn't obsessing about setup or swing path. I just went out and threw the clubhead at the ball, and it worked quite well.

 

So for a round at a Donald Ross course this coming Monday, this set will be accompanying me.

 

One other note is (if you remember from last spring) this set of ZIngs was reshafted with DGS 300, but the person either experimented or didn't know what they were doing, as all of the shafts were butt trimmed only. So this set has a straight-line frequency on them, which is supposed to make the short irons feel softer, based on the principle that hand speed should be constant through an iron set. Critics of this method suggest that softening up the short irons causes dispersion issues. Regardless, I thought this looked like the type of experiment I would do, so I paid close attention to the feel of the clubs and dispersion during play.

 

Net result? I did think the 8i - PW did feel a bit softer when hitting them, but I actually kind of liked the feel of this. 3i-7i? Darned if I could tell a difference. Dispersion? I had 3/9 GIR yesterday, and 3/9 within 10' of being a GIR. This is compared to Tuesday's round where I had 1/18 GIR.

 

Regardless, an interesting experiment, and one that did bear some fruit. As much as it may hurt my aesthetic to play these fugly Zings, as long as I am golfing infrequently, this may be the way to go.

[NRJyzr]

The whole [i]lob wedge thing[/i] is so overblown. Go back far enough and the PW was 52°, or even 53°, and the sand iron was 58° or 60°. No one should worry about having a 60° in their bag.

Go back a little farther in time and that 52° club may have been a 9 iron.

The whole concept of the "SW is 56°" is a construct of the 1970s/1980s golfer. There's nothing holy about a 56° SW, it's just another moment in time, with respect to loft creep.

No different than other, younger, WRX members talking about the "classic lofts" they grew up with, like a 47° or 48° PW and 27° 5 iron.

I really wish this whole idea of the "no LW in a classic bag" would go away. It's a myth.

/end soapbox rant
(lol)

edited for the cool italics in the first sentence

[ScooterMcTavish]

...mind you it also occurred to me.....

....that maybe playing red dot Pings is right for me as I need a flatter lie with my short height and long arms.....and if I only get my lies flattened on my blades I'll be awesome......

....though the lie angle won't help a toe hit now, will it?

[scomac2002]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1442601048' post='12331810']

....though the lie angle won't help a toe hit now, will it?
[/quote]

Actually, it just might as flattening the lie should effectively move the toe further away from you thus catching more of the ball with the club face.

[jbucher]

So I weaseled a kitchen pass out of my wife to play after work today. The president of China is in town for a visit with some local business folks and traffic was going to be pretty bad on my way home. At lunch i put the classic stix into the bag and after work headed off to one of the close to work courses. It's short and flat. 4804 yrds. par 68, no par 5s. 54% fairways, 61% GIRS, 2 putts a hole and 29% scrambling. 4 three putts killed me. 1 birdie. Score was 10 over
Happy with most shots. Getting the yardage figured out with the irons helped! Don't have a clue what was going on with the putter?
Now back to the traffic, looking at the road next to the course it's moving slower than the twosome in front of me,Gridlock! 2 guys join me on 17 and we finish 18 and they asked me to join them for as many holes on the front before it got dark. 1 over on the extra 5 holes and no traffic on the way home.
Cheers all, Jimmy B

[scomac2002]

Glad to hear you had a better result this time around, Jimmy!

[scomac2002]

As the fall weather is now with us, the course is less busy than it has been which affords more opportunities to play following shift days. It's strange because I find the autumn to be the best time of year to play condition wise and yet inexorably rounds by casual golfers taper off pretty quickly. I paired up yesterday afternoon with a threesome of senior members; Bill, wife Isabelle and a spirited 81 year old Irish gal, Kathy. It was quite the contrast with Bill, the eternal jokester versus Kathy who approaches everything with a serious demeanor and military like precision. Such is the way I suppose for a woman who spent her career as an ER nurse.

We pretty much had the course to ourselves with only a foursome in front and no one following. After the first two holes which consisted of a short 290 yd. par 4 and a 150 yd. par 3 and Kathy lying even par, I exclaimed that I'm going to start calling you Louise, as in Louise Suggs! It seemed that over the course of our round she was generally hitting the ball to the same part of the fairway as I was and she continued to make her way around with a driver, then a fairway, a pitch and a two putt never saying too much, but always observant of etiquette. I have no idea of what she shot, but I'm fairly certain she easily eclipsed my pedestrian 43 with her surgical like play. I hope I can play that well when I reach that age!

I played the mash-up bag that I had used in the tournament a couple of weeks back with modern woods and vintage irons/wedges/(Zing)putter. It was a pretty good ball striking day for me with only one errant iron shot that ended up in a pond on my approach shot into 8 for a penalty stroke. I drove the ball very well with that old off-set Cobra continuing to impress with its versatility. It was my lack of luck with the flat stick that was my undoing from posting what could have been my best 9 of the season. 5 consecutive holes I either rimmed, lipped out or was a couple revolutions short of making the putt! No one in our group had any luck putting and they all complained repeatedly about the greens being particularly fast. It just goes to show you that you can play well and not score with luck perhaps having a bigger role than we care to admit!

All in all it was one of my most enjoyable rounds of the season. Good company and good play are like a magic elixir for the spirit. I'm still chuckling to myself this morning in reflection of Kathy's tales of catching raccoons that have been laying waste to her pool liner; quite annoyed that she hasn't been able to get her daily laps in! I look forward to playing with these folks again before we put a wrap on the season!

[Fellaheen51]

Another example that its not about the score one shoots, its about the company one keeps that makes the game enjoyable. And always be wary of those "old-timers" that can play the ball down the middle, pitch/chip, and putt. They have an uncanny way of posting a decent score. That's been my M.O. for most of the year, keep the ball in play and get up and down with some degree of consistency.

It bit of bursitis in the right shoulder has curtailed my game for the last couple of weeks. Sure is surprising how quickly the "fine tuned game" becomes unraveled after taking a short hiatus. Got out with a couple of buds the other day. Really ragged. Some bad habits resurfaced. Struggled to a 94 playing the "bag for all seasons". Recently picked up a Titliest 983K Driver ($21 at a LGS) and this was the first time I'd hit it. A little erratic at first, but got settled in with it after a couple of holes. Nice trajectory, definitely lower than the G25, and not "clangy". Actually had a pretty decent driving day with it, has potential to stay in the bag moving forward. Played a Hogan Apex 4 persimmon for the fairway and had the metal 3W along for backup. Neither were particularly well struck that day. Iron play was abysmal, the rust was definitely showing playing the Apex blades. All over the club face with ball contact, really struggled with controlling direction. Probably a day that would have been better served playing the GI irons, the blades were to much for me I'm afraid. Thank goodness for decent chipping and putting. Chipped in for birdie from about 100' (LOL) and made a few scrambling putts to save BOGIES. Still using the MAC JN Muirfield blade (8802 style) putter. Nothing in my stroke says that this is suitable for me. But for some reason I just like it, made a few putts with it, and for now at least it's the front liner. Tomorrow may be something different.

But it was a beautiful fall day. Like many have voiced, my favorite time of the year to golf. Temperatures are comfortable, courses are generally less crowded (especially during the week) and conditions are still very good. We are soon to reach that peak fall period when the colors are on display in all their glory and the leaves have not dropped, making finding your ball sometimes problematic. Got to get my licks in while I can, the days around here are getting numbered. My current motto...In another few weeks, I will not have the opportunity to play even bad golf.

Nice day, good friends, out enjoying the game, doesn't get much better than that.

Laughable sidenote: There was a twosome playing in front of us. Really wasn't paying much attention to them. We were playing up the fairway, and at the next tee, I hear "S***". Look over in that vincinty in time to see this guy whack his club into the ground. When we arrive at the next tee, there lies an almost new looking TM R1 driver head and a broken RIP Phenom shaft!!! LOL. Who gets mad enough to smash an offending club, breaking it in two, and then just leave the remains? I grabbed the head, left the shaft in the wastebasket.

I'll give you that it's a TM (only with slight editorial comment), this hideous white looking thing, with about 1K worth of adjustment factors, and a lefty to boot. But, I brought it home, pulled the shaft stub out of the adapter sleeve, cleaned it up a bit. Ebay here I come. Profit.

[TimV]

*Round with a Classic Bag*
I had my best round of this year last Sunday. I was playing my Axaline Putter, 86 Mizzy Blades, Titleist 975D Driver and 980F Fairways.
Shot 79 on a par 70 course. Everything was solid and stayed so throughout the round. That is the unusual part for me. Frankly my body normally fails at some point before I play a full 18 but my back held up. I think the slightly cooler weather helped some too. A few sprinkles early and for the last 3 holes with a steady light breeze was refreshing. Honestly the putter is what got me home with that score. Only two 3 putts and the rest pretty evenly divided between 1 and 2 putts. With me putting as well as I was it sure made me wish I could hit the ball further. I believe that if I could add 20 - 30 yards to the first couple shots each hole I might have had a chance to flirt with par. I know that is never going to happen though. I will also say that I did a good job of using my head and on several occasions hit the shot I new I could hit rather than trying for the shot I hoped I might hit. I know that a 9 over probably sounds pretty lame to get excited about for a lot of you but I was a very happy guy!

[scomac2002]

It's not lame at all Tim! Perhaps someday I will duplicate your performance, but that has so far eluded me. My career low being an 81 and I was kinda in disbelief when I shot that two years ago!
We're not all athletically gifted or masters of a craft from years of practice. My wife and I have decided to take up curling for our winter activities this year. Our first lesson was tonight and it was pretty darned humbling. It looks easy on TV when you see high level amateurs/pros playing, but just like golf it will be anything but. But, as with golf, it's the hard that makes it great!

[ScooterMcTavish]

Great stories gents.

Nothing wrong with shooting the score you did either, Tim. Really, a nine over is nine bogies and nine pars. As we all know, the lines between par, +9, and +18 are pretty fine.

Appears we sometimes have a higher standard for our games than others do.

[HoldenCornfield]

We had our club championship last weekend and it was pretty much a disaster...no, that's an understatement. More like [i]utter[/i] disaster

My biggest error probably occurred on Friday, the day before the tournament started when the club called me and asked if I'd consider moving up to the championship flight to help fill out the foursomes. I hesitated briefly, then agreed. BIG MISTAKE.

I had been planning to take that day off from work to practice but it rained all day so I just went on to the office. Then it rained all night. Then for good measure, it rained all day Saturday during round one, ranging from a steady drizzle when we began to a steady downpour as we finished.

Our championship includes our sister club across town, and the first round was played there. Despite having been a member of my club for 3+ years now, I've never played a full round at the sister club. I'm not really sure why I haven't, given that its only a 15 minute drive. I've been meaning to play it for the last month -- knowing it was part of the tournament, but something always got in the way. Eh, another big mistake.

So, here I was playing in the rain, on a soggy and unfamiliar course, with golf clubs from the 1950's-60's (Hogan Precision irons and MacGregor aluminum insert woods), and playing out of my league. Sounds like fun, right? Haha. Our flight was playing from the back tees, which is only 6,500 yards or so but with all the rain it certainly seemed much longer... at least to me. On the very first hole, a par 4 of 450 yards (yikes!) I smoked a driver and a 4 wood and still came up 15 yards short of the flag. One of the guys I was playing with is a college golfer and he hit his tee ball about 300 yards in the air (plugged), then hit a 9 iron to about 12 feet. "Umm, Waiter, check please." I felt like George Costanza in a room full of supermodels.

The last month I've played sporadically and practiced even less. I think my last three rounds had been an 85 and two 86's, some of my worst golf this year. So, given that and the course length I did not have high expectations but even so, my opening round of 87 was very disappointing. Especially since I didn't miss a single fairway until the 18th -- and that only by a yard. But I had all kinds of trouble hitting my irons out of those soupy fairways, hitting many of them fat. And with so little roll from the wet fairways it seemed like I was hitting fairway woods or 3 irons all day long. Predictably, I hit very few greens although I was still in position on most of them to get up and down for par. Unfortunately, my short game was on strike or something. I'm not sure what was worse, my chipping or my putting. Probably my putting, actually. On the 11th hole I hit a strong drive and my best iron shot of the day, a 6 iron to 2 feet. I then not only missed that 2 footer for birdie, I didn't even come within 6 inches of the hole! Ugh.

I actually wasn't the worst in my flight, though. There were two guys worse, one of them a 0 handicap player. Even the college golfer struggled in the conditions, shooting a 78.

Since I was so far out of it, I decided to bring out the hickories on Sunday. I figured I would use the competitive round to get ready for Mid Pines in early November. I knew the course would be long -- another 6500 yards and even soggier, if possible. But when I pulled my driver and strode to the #1 Gold tee (same color tees we played the day before) to inaugurate our second round, I got a big surprise from the starter. "Uh, Holden, we're playing from back here today. The Black tees." What?! Y'all didn't mention that on the phone Friday!!!

I didn't have any other clubs in my car, and wouldn't have had time to get them anyway, so here I was staring at 6,900 super-soggy yards and all I've got to negotiate it with is 11 hickory clubs. I'm such a dope!

I actually hit the ball pretty well with the driver but I still left myself with a lot of impossible second shots. Par was technically 72 but for me, in those conditions, it seemed more like a par [i]82[/i] course. There were several par 4's that were unreachable. Even so, my biggest issues were still on and around the greens. I did push a couple iron shots and one spoon into the junk, as well as one driver into the lake on #10 (forced carry of about 180 and I hit it thin), but more often than not my problem was just getting the darn ball into the hole. A great example was #3, a par 4 of 410 yards. I hit a pretty decent drive up the left side of the fairway approximately 220 yards (no roll, basically plugged when it landed - a familiar sight on this day), leaving an approach of 190. With a deep creek guarding the front of the green and woods on the other 3 sides I smartly layed up with the niblick to about 75 yards. I then hit a sand wedge to about 3 feet. A great chance to save par, right? Wrong -- missed the putt and made bogey.

I really struggled out of the sand, too. I just couldn't figure out how to play those wet bunkers. I hit into 5 greenside traps - mostly because of having such long approach shots - and ended up with 3 doubles and 1 triple. Somehow on the other one I made par...must've had my eyes closed on that one!

Hole #18 on that second day was kind of a microcosm of the tournament for me. A par 4 playing about 455 yards and if that's not challenging enough it was also into the wind, I hit my best drive of the day. At 240 yards -- almost all carry -- I can't hit it any better, and then from 215 I smashed a spoon yet still came up 10 yards short of the green. From there, and with a front pin position, I knew I needed to land my pitch shot in the fringe to get it close but I neglected to inspect this fringe area and it turned out to be all casual water. My pitch shot stopped right where it landed. A chip and 2 putts later I had another double bogey, despite two very good shots. But that's how it went on this day. The final score showed a 96 but it didn't feel that bad. And I enjoyed the round, actually. We all did.

My hope for the weekend had been 159 -- one round under 80 and the other right at it. Instead, I shot a two day total of 183. Well, that's only 24 shots over my goal. Lol.

***

A couple of things happened during that Sunday round that really kept things in perspective for me, despite all the skunky golf. The first was when one of my playing partners for the day, an older gentleman with a fantastic short game, revealed that this might be his last round of golf for a while. His doctor recently found another spot on his esophagus (he's had throat cancer before) and he was going in for tests this week also for his pancreas. They are both worried because he has all of the signs of pancreatic cancer. That's some serious stuff. I know because it claimed my mother 25 years ago.

Secondly, I also heard that last year's club champion suffered a massive heart attack just a few days before the tournament. He's a guy in his mid 60's. I posted about him last year because I thought it was so cool that a guy his age had beaten all the flat bellies for the trophy. I can't say I'm friends with him but I've spoken with him several times and he always seemed like a good guy.

So, even though I shot 39 over par I have to say it seemed pretty damn good when I factored in my good health.

[scomac2002]

Thanks for sharing HC. It was a gritty performance under trying circumstances. It's times like that that a participation prize is warranted!

[oldschoolrocker]

Kevin,
The last statement said it all. A champion weekend in all aspects.
6,900 soggy yards....I don't think I would attempt that distance with AstroTurf fairways.
Bravo Zulu.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Got out for what will be one of my last few rounds of the year, and made some fairly radical bag changes.

In - M75W
In - Speed Slot 3&5W
In - 3-E Hogan Bounce Sole One Plus

Kept the Dual Wedge, 60* and Billy Casper in the bag.

I was hoping going back to the aluminum shafts would help my back, especially after my painful episode with with Goosenecks last week. General report:
M75W - Stellar, 2 out of 3 FW hit, with two as long as some of my best drives with my toaster

FWs - Good with a baby draw both times I hit the 5W. One I popped a bit though.

Irons - Were good as my back was spared. Bad, as the "Precision" style Equalizer I have is unhittable. I mean, it plays more like a 56* wedge around the green than a typical PW. Think it is going to the sin bin permanently. Also had a bit of a pull/hook issue yesterday, likely my brain forgetting I am playing clubs with very little offset. Hit 4 of 9 GIR, a very good day for me, with two being quite good shots that required firm draws to make them happen

Putter - Wonderful. I started golfing with a heel shafted putter and think I may just have accidentally found the rainbow unicorn. Lipped out two longer birdie putts yesterday.

Scorecard, a +6: 5 pars, 2 bogies, 2 doubles. 4 pars were 2 putt GIRs, and one was an up and down in 2. Bogies were a failed bunker save, and a fluffed chip (darn E) followed by an up and down in 2. Doubles were a overly well-struck tee shot on a Par 3 that went into a gully, and needed an unplayable lie drop. Other was a 150 yd approach to a Par 5 that was yanked from the middle of the fairway into trees on the left. I had to hit a running 4i 35 yds under tree branches and through a drainage ditch. Ball did not stop on the green, badly missed my pitch for par, then two-putted to a double. Yuck.

Main thing I need to remember playing the classics is that setup is everything. If I had not yanked the four shots left that I did, I could have easily shot +2 or better yesterday.

[ripper911]

I finally got a round in with the vintage bag. I think my usual bag counts as vintage anyhow, but that's beside the point.

I used my 40's-50's First Flight irons and the only persimmon woods could find laying around with decent grips. I hit every OB and creek possible, iit's a good thing that I stopped to eat at the turn and it got dark before I could get back out. I had a fivesome (quintet?) In front of me with a threesome ahead of them, so it was a slow 9 and I hadn't really settled into my usual rythym.

I learned a few things...

The irons are too short for me.
The woods are too long for me.
Having the right size clubs really helps.

I had fun though, dressed in my plus fours and carrying everything in an old leather bag certainly got some attention. It would have been nice if my playing was up to the level of my looks, but I did make a few long breaking puts with my 10 iron that I'm proud of.

[Fellaheen51]

While not a round of the classic 18 hole variety, got out to play a quick and tidy 9 yesterday afternoon. Actually 12 holes as this is my regular course, they know me, and is conducive to finding a slot to jump in without disruption to anyone's flow of play after the original nine. It wasn't all that busy anyway. A round of golf should be 12 holes. Just about right. Nine holes sometimes doesn't feel like quite enough, eighteen can be to many. I digress.

In the "Bag for all Seasons" yesterday:

D - Ram Tour Grind Persimmon. Very nice club visually. I keep trying, but can't really hit a percy D worth a lick.

D 2 - Titliest 983K metal. A recent acquisition on the cheap because I wanted to see what this small D head talk was all about. And I'm never confident enough hitting persimmon. This is my in the bag backup (or front line) depending on how I'm hitting the persimmon, sometimes hole to hole. Still in the getting acquainted mode, but I think its a solid club. Am I detecting better accuracy than my 460cc model? I think so. Maybe not quite as long, only by a small amount. Very nice ball flight (9.5*), significantly lower than the full size, which was what I was seeking. Wonderful muted sound vs. the "clang" of the full-size metal. Yeah, I kinda like it, a keeper.

Fairways - Hogan persimmon 3W and 5W. Can hit these pretty well as long as I keep my swing modulated (?). Actually really well some times. Why I can hit percy fairways and not a D? Perhaps one of those mysteries of life that are never to be fully understood.

Irons - GR Tour Grind Axials (4-PW). Haven't played them much this year. Wanted to give them one more go around before deciding if they stay in inventory or are sold off. Conclusion, these really are a fine set of irons (hello NRJ). Since the investment was minimal, I've already got them tweaked to my preference, and any return would be small, they stay. Did I mention these are damn nice irons?

Wedges - Ram TW Scoring System 50*, 55* and 60*. Perfect compliment to the above irons. Very nice wedges that stand on their own merits.

Putter - MacGregor JN Muirfield blade (8802 style). Nice original leather grip. Obtained this year for the high price of $2.00. Never historically been a blade user. They didn't set up well for me. But something about this putter just feels so right. Nice soft feel off the club face. Good distance control. Made some putts with it. In short, I've got confidence with it. Not ready to proclaim it the "Rainbow Unicorn" just yet Scooter. But, its the closest I have for the moment.

Started par (easy, straight par 4), bogey (179 yard par 3 into a small green. Always a difficult hole to GIR) and double bogey (405 yard par 4, #1 handicap hole. Uphill drive, then downhill lie second shot into a back uphill green. Second shot is usually from about 175ish, not a distance conducive to GIR for me. Chunked a pitch, on in four, two putts and there you go). Started to get it together on the next couple of holes. Par (145 yard par 3, on in front and two uphill putts) and par on the next (485 yard, par 5 downhill. Decent drive, not with the persimmon. Pummeled a 3 percy to about 50 yards of the green. A decent SW into the green to about 12 feet. Just missed the birdie, damn aeration, but gimme par).

+3 through five holes and thinking is this the day I break 40? Kiss of death, that is. Six is a not to long par 4 with a wickedly difficult green if you're on the wrong side of it. Off the tee with percy, halfway decently. About 155 left. Mentioned that this hole is difficult if you put it on the wrong side, which is left. A miss on that side is probably 7' above the green with it sloping downhill and away from you. And falls off a hill on the far side. Can't be left. Guess where I pulled a 6i. Virtually impossible to hold the green with your pitch, and sure enough rolled thru and off. A solid lob back up the hill left me a 6' for bogey. Of course I missed the putt for a double. So frosted. I've played that hole so many times (hundreds) and know you just cannot be up on that hill. But I was greedy (or getting to cocky with how I was playing) and was trying to shoot for the pin rather than staying right which is the % shot.

Par on Six (short uphill par 4. Good drive on the right side just off the fairway. SW to 8' beyond the hole. Touchy downhill putt was just missed, but another tap-in). Par on seven (140 yard downhill par 3. Another GIR. But a mis-judged uphill putt left me about 5' for par. Made the putt, after damn near rimming it out. The grips, thinking to much). Number 9 is a very bridy-able par 5. All about the second shot. Another solid 3 percy puts me about 50 yards out, dead center in front of the green. A solid wedge into the green leaves me 7' straight upslope into the cup. The putt rolls just right in the last six inches to miss the bird.

So I ended the round with a 41. Nice, but I was still somewhat disappointed because of the "what-ifs". Primarily that pulled 6 iron on #6. Would like a do over on that one. But 6 of 9 GIR is really good for me. Some decent chips/pitches to give myself a chance. And no three putts! All in all, I was very pleased with my ball striking, after reflection over a large cold one post round. Might get back out tomorrow as the weather the next few days is forecasted to be excellent. Our days of playing at golf are fast dwindling.

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading.

[ScooterMcTavish]

Ripper, great story, and nice to see how expectations met performance. Fun trumped score, and isn't that what games are supposed to be about.

Fella, great visuals created by reading about your round. In summation, aren't the missed opportunities the things that keep us coming back to the course?

And with the persimmon drivers, don't give up. I had struggled with the D for two years, finally figured out a proper setup and tempo for it, and can hit mine well. Actually after not playing persimmon for two months, I had one of my best driving days of the year putting it back in the bag this week. You just have to get it figured out.

Compared to hitting a modern driver, some setup tips I find handy are:
- Play the ball a bit farther back than you would with a modern driver
- Remember with the heavy head and shaft that the head of the club will likely be farther away from you at impact. I set up with no more than half the ball on the insert, and allow the club to wander out during the swing
- Slow down your tempo and swing the driver like you swing an iron....you cannot "grip it and rip it" like you can with modern drivers
- Concentrate on your release and you swing sequence. Everything must stay in order to make good contact. If you get ahead or late, you will be punished more severely than with modern
- And again, tempo, tempo, tempo. The best way to stay in sequence is to keep an even tempo, with acceleration coming as you swing through the ball
- Learn to brush the grass. This allows you to know a constant height at which you swing your driver, and you can then tee the ball accordingly to ensure it hits the face in the right spot

[ScooterMcTavish]

Well, got out for one of the few 9s I'll have left this year yesterday, and went +4 for 9. One double, two bogies, and six pars, all with a Wilson Staff Elite 50 Orange ball.

Clubs were as is in my siggy right now.

Overall good round, but again, shows how error-free one needs to be to shoot par. My three mistakes were:
- A mishit on a tee shot on a par 4 with a 5i. This forced a layup, then the approach missed the grren, then a 6' bogey putt was missed.
- A thinned 5W off the tee on a long par 3 - this left a 50 yd approachj which I put 15' above the hole and could not save par.
- A pulled approach that hit the wrong side of the green from 100 yards on a Par 4. The chip was 10' short. and I could not save par.

Yup, that's it. Of the six pars, 2 were up and down in two, and I hit GIR on the last four holes to par out. Greens are getting cluttered with leaves and detrius right now, making it difficult to make longer birdie putts. Ball hit a hidden dent in the green to miss the 6' putt.

But on the positive side, I was much more methodical with my setup with my irons, and concentrated on not releasing the club head too soon. This helped me get GIRs on the last four holes, all of which were made from a straightaway position in the middle of the fairway. Starting to love the Hogans again.

Unfortunately, my birdie efforts were a bit weak as well, with no lip outs. I'd say instead it was just a good display of lag putting. Billy Casper was solid (no three-jacks, single putts on the up and downs), but was not on fire either.

Regardless, things are looking good as I head into snowmobile season. Gah.

Edit: Said 3 pars meaning I played only 6 holes...lol

[scomac2002]

[quote name='ScooterMcTavish' timestamp='1444397152' post='12432356']
<snip>
Regardless, things are looking good as I head into snowmobile season. Gah.
[/quote]

Sort of reminds me of my thinking at the finish of last season. As I recall, I played three 9 hole rounds over the last week of October into the first couple of days of November. Each round was successively better than the previous. I shot a 38 on my last game. That was my low of the year at that course. Even though I had planned to go out again in two days hence, I changed my mind reasoning my final game was as good as I could hope to do and would end the season with that memory. I guess you could say it sort of worked as my first golf this season was in Florida in March shooting 85 on an executive course not having picked up a club in 4 months!
We have no Florida plans this winter so I'm thinking that I'll try and stretch our season out as long as I can. Although after aborted attempts at playing the last three times I was reasoning that I might just put the clubs away now as the demands of curling are taking all the energy I can muster at this point! (League play starts next week)

[epyon]

Bag from yesterday

[scomac2002]

Finally, on a perfect fall day, the stars aligned and I was able to get to play this afternoon! It has been 15 days since my last game which makes for the longest layoff since the season got going in earnest back in late April.

Conditions were ideal with a gentle breeze that you could hear rustling through the adjacent corn rows, a crystal clear ski and a crisp 60°F. As an added bonus, there hasn't been much leaf drop to camouflage errant (or not so errant) shots. Definitely a walk [i]n[/i][i]ot spoiled[/i]!

I played solo. There may have only been about a dozen or so on the course when I was there and walking on was no problem. I had my full compliment of BB War bird metal woods and BeCu irons along with the Zing putter.

The rust showed in my play, but score was irrelevant. Half the time I was playing two balls anyway. I wasn't getting much mileage out my woods as I was hitting them very high and short. C'est la vie! Fall carry maybe and a bit steeper swing than I have with the toasters. At least they went straight so no penalty strokes were incurred. My iron play was inconsistent with timing being the main culprit I think, but I did manage to get a few nice shots off over my nine holes. I even pulled the three iron out of the bag for the first time in like forever! Short and right, but probably no more short and right than if I had been using a hybrid. Didn't make any putts, first attempts that is, but I think a twisty 33 footer is worth a mention on a redo...

Lately, I have been struggling with toe hits; more than normal and further out the blade regardless of what I have been gaming. I may have stumbled upon something that seems intuitive and downright obvious. I was setting up a bit too far away from the ball and carrying my hands a bit too high. To compensate, I had been setting up off of the hosel with my irons. I lowered my hands and then set-up for a cut with my hands a bit further inside than what I had been doing. That seemed to give me a much straighter ballflight. Coincidence? Maybe, but we'll see if I can carry this forward on subsequent rounds.

You know it's not a bad life when you can be at the curling rink one day and out on the course in peace and harmony a few days later. Makes one feel very Scottish I think, even if I'm Scots twice removed, but that a story for another time and place. Slainte!

[scomac2002]

I'm excited. Not because I've accomplished anything significant or found a new weapon, but rather because I chose to take my vintage bag with me today for an outing at probably the toughest track I would play and one of the longest to boot. 6300 yd. from the whites is a lot to chew on for someone of my talents and probably 500 yards longer than I am comfortable with considering the slope and season without the benefits of a titanium driver. So, I took that along too. Considering the temperature (mid 50's) and strong winds, the course was playing even longer than the score card. I would prove to be a tough day to stay loose let alone post a score.

The toaster lasted four driving holes. It was a rough start. I wasn't getting anything out of it. In fact, I can't ever really recall hitting it that poorly as I was continually hitting it off of the bottom of the face. It performed bad and felt worse. By some miracle of the golfing gods I managed to par the 5th hole following a bad tee shot that took an even worse bounce off a tree by weaving back-to-back 5 irons through the trees like some sort of seeing eye dog. Time to put that club to bed for the day and live or die by the vintage woods I usually carry in vintage bag.

The sixth hole was a straight away 320 yd. par 4 to an elevated green. You need to keep to the left as the fairway falls away to a natural wet area on the right. Time for plan "B" and I tee up my old War bird driver. A smooth swing and boom, I crush the thing. One of my playing partners has a laser range finder and he measures the drive at 270! That is the longest drive of the year for me with anything I've hit and I hit it in these kind of conditions! Crazy! What's even more crazy is that drive is probably 50 yards longer than any other drive I've hit with that old club. Must be an outlier.

Apparently not. I proceeded from that point forward to have the best driving day I've experienced not just this year, but maybe ever. I continued to nut these bullets right down the middle. Temperature didn't matter. Wind didn't matter. There were two more that were 250! What kind of black magic is this that I can nut a 195 cc driver consistently and yet I can't make even reasonable contact with a 425 cc head?

The good fortune didn't end with the driver either, it carried on with the matching fairway woods too whether off the deck or off the tee. This was the first time that I can recall in recent memory playing a course I would consider long and not feel distance challenged regardless of what I had in the bag.

I can't say that my good fortune with woods today resulted in anything remotely approaching a note worthy score. There were too many missed shots along the way, from miss hits to over/under clubbing. I was throwing shots around like they were confetti. It was a good job I was putting OK or it might have been really ugly.

What really made my day more than anything was the realization that I can play vintage clubs anytime anywhere and not be giving up anything in the process. Apparently, I can have my cake and eat it too!

[Fellaheen51]

Way to go Buddy!! Or would you prefer to be called "Bubba" from here on? Your posting sure sounds like a "revelation" occurred yesterday. Typical sentiment of a classic WRX'er, it's not ultimately about the score we shoot (but having everything come together, at least once in awhile would be nice). But rather the discovery that, hey we can play these old sticks as well, if not better than the new stuff. And we get excited learning that. Bravo on your new found classic wood prowess. Do you attribute the "black magic" to swinging a little differently with the smaller D? More deliberate?

Now if we can stop "throwing shots around like confetti" (LOL), we'd be all set for posting "score".

I've been similarly perplexed and excited about using the recently acquired 983K. While not War Bird small, definitely smaller than the 460cc. Been carrying both in the bag for about a month now. Trying them out, sometimes simultaneously during "just for fun" rounds. No question that I've been driving the ball better with the smaller head. Better contact, trajectory (no more ballooned drives), finding fairways and every bit as long if not longer when I nut one. Really don't have a explanation for why this is occurring. Other than maybe I'm squaring the club face at contact better. Playing both D's at the same length. Dunno. But something is going on here that I like. And yet another "modern" club being rendered not playable. Maybe it's all in my head.

Got to get our licks in while we can, our days are numbered. Tomorrow is suppose to be decent, will try to get out for at least nine.

[MoaningM]

Well last weekend was my first foray of the year with classic equipment. Friday evening i went down with my m85 irons, hogan speedslot driver, wilson 3 wood and trusty mac 68 4 wood.

 

For the first time i took an old white fang bullseye style putter, same as Nicklaus used at baltusrol.

 

I also for the occasion cracked open a new pack of 384 professionals balata's which i had purchased earlier this intrigued to see how they would hold up.

 

I was joined by the secretary of the club and treasurer, who were off out for a few holes and were having a good chuckle at my bag and gear, reminiscing of their own halcyon days,but neither fancied having a go off the first tee with the block.

 

M85 irons

 

 

First hole a low hook which although was out of the screws but pitched about 180 yards and ran another 80. From there I hit a nice 2 iron to just short of the green but took 3 from the edge for a par, no disaster.

 

2nd i hit a lovely drive down the right side and left myself 123 yds which in normal circumstances would be a nice wedge, these lofts are certainly much weaker so went along with the notion that one more club was the ticket.

 

Hit the poor ole 'Billy' just under the equator at a guess, as she went off at a height more akin to a 4 iron, pitched middle of the green one big bounce and then zzzzzip! ?. Walked uptothe ball expecting a big grin to be looking at me, checked all over the ball, not a mark, not a scuff not a dent, nothing! These pro vi's have nothing on a balata!

 

Walked across to the par 3 6th about 128 yards hit a nice solid 9 iron into the green to about 15 feet, and the poor old billy is squared off nicely. ?

 

 

Only played a couple more holes but finished on 18 with a nice birdie (still with the balata.) even after slightly necking the driver and having to hit 4 iron in where i would normally be hitting 8 or 9 iron in.

 

Sunday our winter league equivalent started up and used the same equipment, but put in play a srixon zstar instead of the balata, and played fairly decent, was round in 73 with just a solitary birdie and 2 bogeys. Very pleasing effort. Time to try some different irons and woods again next week, looking forward to winter golf :)

[scomac2002]

[quote name='Fellaheen51' timestamp='1444813797' post='12454064']
Way to go Buddy!! Or would you prefer to be called "Bubba" from here on? Your posting sure sounds like a "revelation" occurred yesterday. Typical sentiment of a classic WRX'er, it's not ultimately about the score we shoot (but having everything come together, at least once in awhile would be nice). But rather the discovery that, hey we can play these old sticks as well, if not better than the new stuff. And we get excited learning that. Bravo on your new found classic wood prowess. Do you attribute the "black magic" to swinging a little differently with the smaller D? More deliberate?
[/quote]

No need to call me Bubba. I'm still the same guy that hits a 4 iron 165 rather than a PW! You are right though as it was a revelation.

I've been using the War birds for the few outings I've had in the past month. I've never had any issue hitting them straight, it was always that they were shorter than the modern equivalent. As far as a different swing, that is one thing I've been working on a bit in terms of slowing down the lower half so that I'm not cutting across the ball; the sensation of leaving my right foot flat on the ground through impact and release. This didn't really sink in for me until I saw a video clip on the Instruction section of WRX on one of Monte's posts featuring a 92 yr. old gentleman with a SS still in excess of 100 mph. He swung flat footed. I think that visual cue was the moment that the swing sequencing I was working on sort of clicked. It's more of a compact swing, more arms and less rotation. I notice the difference this morning in that my back isn't nearly as tender as it can be following 18. Also exciting!

As far as the technical difference in the clubs, the War bird plays to 44", so that's probably over an inch less than the R7 and the lie angle is just 54° versus 58°. The trajectory was the real eye opener as you have alluded to; lower launching and much flatter that just seemed to bore through the wind yesterday. The confidence that I felt building from hole to hole was unlike anything I've experienced golf wise in recent memory. I couldn't wait to get to the tee box to put my peg in the ground! It really was a special sort of day.

[Fellaheen51]

Been all over the instruction forum (using search) and Monte's YouTube channel looking for the vid you referenced to no avail. Want a "old guy" 100 mph SS. Got a link? TIA.

Edit Note: Think I found it. Is this the video you were referring to? In Aging & Speed thread, post #19.

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1243644-aging-speed/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...44-aging-speed/[/url]

He was flat footed, but still had good hip and shoulder rotation thru his swing.

Something I've been working on of late, better balance. Widened the stance to a little more than shoulder width, toes slightly pointed out, slightly opened stance. I have a better sense of staying planted on the balls of my feet. Do have some left heel lift during the backswing, would take some practice getting use to no heal lift like this video.

[scomac2002]

Yup. That's the one. I just happened upon it by accident.

By the sounds of it you and I are attempting to do similar things in terms of set-up and stance. I too have a bit of heel lift with the left foot, but I try to restrict that as I can have a tendency to spin out of a shot with a reverse pivot rather than driving through the ball. It would seem that we have many things in common, my friend!

[ScooterMcTavish]

Well folks, got out for a round Tuesday with the bag in my sig. Was a blustery 60* day, and the golf days are getting short. Most courses will be closing after Sunday's play.

Interesting round (again) as my game is good, but just can't make the step to great. Went par, bogey, par, par, bogey, par, bogey, par, bogey. I had 4 GIRs of which 3 resulted in pars, and I was done in by an inability to hit the GIR, or get up and down in two (2/5 times). Hence:

Hole 1, par 4 - Clear shot to green from 190, left 10 yds short, up and down for Par
Hole 2, par 4 - On in 2, deep on a sloping forward green, 3 putt
Hole 3 long par 3 - Short 15', good pitch and putt for par
Hole 4, par 3 - GIR on front of debris-covered green with 30' putt uphill, good lag putt, par
Hole 5, par 4 - Approach shot from 110 yds pushed right into thick rough, pin high and 10' off green. Pitch too aggressive, rolls off green, then down in two (gah!)
Hole 6, par 4 - Good drive, nice second shot, on green in regulation, two putt par
Hole 7, par 3 - Short left by 10', aggressive pitch off back of green, up and down in two
Hole 8, par 4 - Middling tee shot, but excellent low running draw 6i onto green. Two putts for Par.
Hole 9, par 5 - Good drive, OK second shot, 5i in from 175 short right (10'), pitch too aggressive, two putts.

It seems my main flaws are an inability to hit my irons consistent distances (was long and short on the day) some slight directional control issues (never missing L or R by more than 10'), an over aggressive pitching mentality (trying to get birdies), and an inability to get birdies (not close on any of my 4 GIR, though their respective distances were 20' downwhill, 30' uphill, 15' uphill, and 15' flat all with side break).

.Tempted to go for one last 9 after work today - forecast high is 42* but if I don't go today, I likely will not play again this year.

[oldschoolrocker]

Scott,
I, as a southern boy, still find it odd that "golf" has a season. I know you guys in the northern climates have limited playing and practice time, so I guess what I am trying to say is, "Just how good, at golf, could all you guys be if you could play/practice year round?"
Although, i must say I have played less in 2015 than in any of the past 20 years, but actually feel like my game is overall in better shape.
Do you feel the layoff over the winter helps, or hinders your game?

Randy