Zaphod Goes OLD SCHOOL

[zaphod]

Took my new (old) clubs out for their first round today. Shot an 40. 5 bogeys, 3 pars and a :beach3: birdie. These hickory shafted clubs are kinda fun to play with. All put together via ebay.

Requires a smooth swing. The more you force em the more they go off line. Feels somewhere between a senior and A flex. The swing weights are real light. They vary between C2 to B8. You ready need to keep you swing clean to feel "head awareness".

There is very little backspin generated. I played with Pro V1 to get the soft outer cover to be a bit kinder to the woods. The shots rolled out quite a bit. Think "bump and run" links game.

Drives were 200 to 220 yards ranges again not very high but lots of roll. It's real easy to put a draw runner out there. Just have to be careful as you can really "snap it" if over done.

The hardest portion of the game to get used to is around the green with chips and pitches. I was not ready to run the ball out that far. Sand traps are unique too. You could cut a steak with the leading edges ( virtually no bounce). The swing has to be precise.

Anyway now for the pictures.

What we have is a mid iron, spade, mashie, mashie niblick, and niblick and putter for irons. Equal to 4 iron , 6 iron, 8 iron, pw, and perhaps gap wedge.

The woods are a driver, brassie, and two spoons.

 

[zaphod]

More clubs pictures. Notice the grips. Included is a picture of one club with a functional leather grip. The rest of the clubs grips were slick with age and very thin. So I put on temporary grips. A few with the soft half of velco strips and the others with cloth medical tape. Later this winter I will grip them with calf skin strips. Again old school. Another fun project.

 

[zaphod]

Zaphod is ENJOYING this project

 

[SilverUberXeno]

What a dork! Pretty awesome dorkness though. Quite a bit different versus my most recent purchase.

 

[MCDavis]

Very cool, zaphod!

 

[slickpitt]

I'd love to do something like that!

 

[LyleG]

You do realize what this will do to WBL's ego when you beat him with these clubs

 

[MIKE1218]

Way cool. I'd love to try playing a set like that.

 

[warbirdlover]

You do realize what this will do to WBL's ego when you beat him with these clubs

LyleG

WBL has been beaten by 85 year old ladies that can't hit the ball farther then 100 yards. My ego wouldn't even blink.... Matter of fact, when it comes to golfing, I HAVE no ego... If I did I would have given up golf years ago.

Zaphod, what's a set like that worth these days?

 

[zaphod]

Thanks Mike----the time machine---they are making one at Michigan Tech aren't they?

SUX----Agreed this is pushing the levels of GEEKDOM. What The Hell, the club ho virus has mutated.

Lyle---I gotta be careful with WBL. He already has cloned himself as smokinn' . No telling what that dude will do when pushed!


WBL,
The set of irons are about $350----I went the set route as I this is my first foray into hickorys. I believe $25 to $30 per iron could be had with a little more research and advice. Some of the REAL collectibles run $1,000 or more per club. Zaphod is interested in the playable vintages not the eye candy. I do not think any more clubs added to the bag will be necessary. So a few accessories etc could be purchased. Balata balls would be nice but the rubber band wound balls are hard to find. I have a few I has saved from my previous playing days.

The woods are $50 to $75 apiece. Hardest to acquire are the spoons. They are hickory hybrids. I found the spoon the easiest to hit. The hardest to master is the mid-iron , as expected.

An interesting offshoot is other than a water hazard losing balls is harder to do. The ball does not travel as far and the big benders are less frequent.

I went out today with a set of vintage 1970's clubs. Wilson persimmon woods, Hogan irons/wedges, and a Achusnet BULLSEYE putter (the little one not the flange). Shot a 41--5 bogeys 4 pars. What impressed me was the hickory and persimmon drivers resulted in about the same distance ball 200-220 yards. The Persimmon fairway woods had a higher trajectory and more stable flight. That Bullseye was my first putter and it still works well. Since it is so light it performs better on fast greens. Made some nice putts with it today. It's weakness is the long putts 40 feet and over. Distance control is a bit iffy with those long ones.

 

[zaphod]

View attachment 14382The other "work around" is practice with these clubs is a bit more difficult. Those rock hard range balls will destroy the wood heads. The softer the ball's outer cover the better. ProV1 and the Bridgestone R (something) ball is recommended. I will have to pick slow times on the course to get these clubs calibrated. I'm still struggling with distances. The irons do not match up well with the modern clubs. Measured steps between iron lofts was not a common practice.

http://www.hickorygolf.com

Above is a link to a site that has been a great help to me. I met the officers of the association at a scramble last year. Great guys.

Maybe the next time the Wisconsin golfers get together I will have my plus fours.

 

[warbirdlover]

Balata balls would be nice but the rubber band wound balls are hard to find.

zaphod

A couple years ago I found a sleeve of those (Titleist) rubber band balls in my garage brand new! I gave them to ejdahl21 I think.

 

[zaphod]

If ejdahl2 hit that ball all the rubber bands are snapped. The guy is an animal with the driver. Titleist or Achusnet (as they were named in the day) made FINE wound balls. They were VERY cut susceptible. Hit em a bit thin and you had a smile carved into the covering. They would wobble like hell in flight. But talk about spinning the ball. They are the gold standard.

 

[sssmokin]

Enjoying this thread, Zaphod. Linda is still keeping an eye out for hickory shafted clubs..........none have come in this year.

 

[zaphod]

thanks sssmokin-----we need to get together for some golf----planting rush will be maybe one/two more weeks

got a schedule when WBL up this way?