And they ask, "Do I need new clubs?"

[limpalong]

Irons: Manufactured in 1995. In 1 1/2 years they'll be 20 years old. Weren't fitted to me when I got them. Picked them up in "like new" condition because I fell in love with them on the used rack. Been in my possession since 1999. In the bag, full time, for about the past 5 or 6 seasons.

Today's round: 4 birdies. Birdied all 4 of the par 3's. Irons were ON, leaving me no putt of more than 4 FT on these 4 holes. Cannot remember 'missing' an iron shot all day. Tore up the greens with deep ball marks. Hit one 4-iron on a par 4 that dug a piece of sod out of the green the size of Rhode Island. Ball didn't go 2 FT after landing.

Driver: Manufactured circa 2012. Chock full of "today's technology". Latest in shaft material. Adjustable loft so you can "fit your swing". In all my years of playing have never hit a driver further than I hit this one.

Today's round: Hit driver off the tee on 13 holes. Fairways hit... ONE!! That one was GPS'ed at 261 yards. Most of the time was hitting second shot out of trees, long rough, weeds, hardpan, poison ivy... anywhere but where one wants to be. Not smart enough to "bench" it. Just kept hitting it and getting into trouble.

TMAG can take their "17 yards more distance" every six months and shove it. Ping's G327... Mizzy's MP486... Callaway's X112... I don't care what color the plastic insert is. I don't care whether it's chromed and forged and played by more tour pros than have trophy wives. I'll stick with my 20 year old irons and kick the butts of most I play with. OTOH, give me back my old 983K... or Great Big Bertha... or a laminated MacGregor MT Tourney driver. If it will find fairways, I don't give a hoot how old it is.

I've got a driver in the basement that is 8 or 10 years old. It WILL be in the bag tomorrow. Take that, CAD engineers....

 

[TEA Time]

Take that, CAD engineers....

Hey now...


J/K... Good for you, old man.

 

[BigJim13]

I'm hitting my Ping i3's better than I have ever hit irons before. My 3w is at least 5 yrs old and my driver is 8, with a steel shaft. My wedges are newest and I think they are 3-4 yrs old.

 

[trumb1mj]

It's gotten to the point where anyone serious about golf and even more serious about accuracy cannot buy a driver or FW metal off the rack.

The heads are indeed hotter as they approach the approved face thinness but the shafts are an absolute joke. 45-46" shafts are too long for most to center up and actually HURT distance.

Anyone looking for more accuracy should definitely try and get fitted.

 

[BigJim13]

It's gotten to the point where anyone serious about golf and even more serious about accuracy cannot buy a driver or FW metal off the rack.

The heads are indeed hotter as they approach the approved face thinness but the shafts are an absolute joke. 45-46" shafts are too long for most to center up and actually HURT distance.

Anyone looking for more accuracy should definitely try and get fitted.

I can't remember the last time I bought off the rack. Usually I buy and try.

My next big thing is to actually get a driver fitting on a launch monitor instead if hit or miss!

 

[PatM]

Re: that super duper adjustable driver that won't let you hit fairways!!! i have one and it's a trick to use... talked with my pro about it and she made it clear that adjustable drivers are just the latest trick to get golfers to buy new equipment... You should learn to hit it straight with your swing... if you rely on the driver to give you the fix, all your other clubs will be off as well.
Just me saying.

 

[warbirdlover]

limp. The "trick" is to buy the adjustable, new driver, use it for a few weeks until the honeymoon period is over and then sell it and buy a new one. And the older irons are definitely better then the new ones IMHO.

 

[limpalong]

Put the old "slug" driver from the basement in the bag yesterday. It has a shaft with the flex of 1" galvanized pipe. Waaayyy too stiff for me... or so I think. Found fairways. Hit it almost as long as the new "super duper adjustable Swiss Army knife" driver. I have two shafts for the RBZ. Switched shafts to the stiffer one. Hit the snot out of it this morning... and in the fairway. 40/40. I'll take that after the way I stuggled on Saturday.
Yesterday, everything felt pretty good. Didn't score. We had 6 and broke into two 3's. One of my partners shot 96, the other shot 99. It's difficult to score when you are looking for balls and the others in the group don't have their hearts in it. This morning, more competitive and I scored better.
One more hiccup outta the RBZ and the old-timer goes in the bag for the rest of the season.

 

[trumb1mj]

I am not a bomber and have a swing speed of around 100-108 with my driver and found the original RBZ stiff flex driver shaft to be what felt like a R or Senior flex. I played it for a while but ended up yanking it and finding the x-stiff on ebay. Bought that shaft, tipped it another 0.5" and then butt trimmed it to a 44.5" playing length and it worked well for me.

The point of this story is that: a) flex printed on the shaft means nothing anymore b) you really need to get fitted or know a lot about your swing to find a combination that is going to work.

I absolutely hate what manufacturers are doing with equipment--longer shafts, stronger lofts, more upright lie angles. It's a joke and I think it's making golfers worse at this already difficult game...

 

[limpalong]

Longer shafts??? "... making golfers worse at this already difficult game..."?? Today, it's about distance. TMAG says, "17 more yards"!! They don't tell you in what direction you will gain those yards. A player things he needs to bomb it 300 today... when he only plays twice/year and has hit one 300 yard drive on frozen fairways after bouncing three times on the cart path. They'll take 3 mulligans until a fairway is finally found. Or, if they only hit one, they'll hold up 5 groups behind them as they look for their WalMart purchased Top Flite for 20 minutes.

With the 460cc and .830 COR standard in ALL drivers, about the only way to get those "17 more yards" is to lengthen the shaft. Tell you what, I don't mind it at all. We sure find a lot of balls, as the first group out on weekends. They're laying in plain sight of the fairway, but probably were under leaves that moved during night breezes.

 

[TrickyPutt]

Longer shafts??? "... making golfers worse at this already difficult game..."?? Today, it's about distance. TMAG says, "17 more yards"!! They don't tell you in what direction you will gain those yards. A player things he needs to bomb it 300 today... when he only plays twice/year and has hit one 300 yard drive on frozen fairways after bouncing three times on the cart path. They'll take 3 mulligans until a fairway is finally found. Or, if they only hit one, they'll hold up 5 groups behind them as they look for their WalMart purchased Top Flite for 20 minutes.

With the 460cc and .830 COR standard in ALL drivers, about the only way to get those "17 more yards" is to lengthen the shaft. Tell you what, I don't mind it at all. We sure find a lot of balls, as the first group out on weekends. They're laying in plain sight of the fairway, but probably were under leaves that moved during night breezes.

I wonder...I swear I feel the face bending on my new xhot driver...

 

[Fairwaysplitter3320]

I play Ping G2 irons, not as seasoned as yours but I can't find anything I hit better. Still playing original tight lies 3-7w. Love them. Choke up on my cleveland launcher at least 1.5", the added shaft length just creates a huge fade for me. Just my $0.02.