is overrated. The only thing that may have been significantly improved over the last 30 years is the ball.

I used my first set of clubs last night in the league for the hell of it and still shot a 38. And that 2 over was from using a putter I wasn't used to and my speed was atrocious. The Ping Karsten II irons were as long and strait as my i3 blades are. My Karsten II WOOD driver was about 10-15 yards shorter than my I15 driver but was a lot easier to work the ball with, and still got out there a legitimate 270-275 on a draw. Fades were only 250-255 though. I hit more fairways than I have all year with the i15. The only thing new was a pro v1 ball.


So if you're the guy always looking to by the newest, hottest club in golf... don't waste your money and just buy a better ball.

When my dad played with the guy who shot the course record that night at my country club back in Youngstown (Squaw Creek), he was using a wooden driver. This was only about 7 years ago.

There's definitely a tradeoff between control/accuracy and distance.

lol you're f'n nuts. You're obviously a good golfer, but if you think your average hack can go out there with a wood driver versus a new age oversized Calloway and hit it the same you sir are out of your mind!!!!

C'mon Zwick where did you shoot a 38? I smells the BS from here.

Tiernan;384031 wrote:C'mon Zwick where did you shoot a 38? I smells the BS from here.

Adventure Golf.

Tiernan;384031 wrote:C'mon Zwick where did you shoot a 38? I smells the BS from here.

Like I said...hes a good golfer, or so he says. So if he can do just as well with ancient clubs that means everyone can.

Automatik;384029 wrote:lol you're f'n nuts. You're obviously a good golfer, but if you think your average hack can go out there with a wood driver versus a new age oversized Calloway and hit it the same you sir are out of your mind!!!!

I'm 100% serious. If you never were used to hitting a big driver or if you started on a small wooden driver, you wouldn't notice a huge power loss with a modern golf ball. Now granted when you make good contact with a new driver, you can hit it 330-350 which isn't possible with a persimmon wood. But for your average drive, you will only notice 20 yards less at most. I play hell trying to get the i15 to draw... the Karsten turns over so much easier. The irons are identical, club for club, yardage for yardage.

I have Nike Slingshot irons. I CANNOT hit other irons the way I hit them. I shot a 39 the other day, and with different irons, I would have shot a 74.

I can understand your argument with irons, but not with woods, especially off the tee.

Tam O' Shanter Hills course back 9. The 38 could have easily been par or better if I had the speed down with the putter, but I haven't used the Anser 5 in 15 years. If I putted with this putter ever day for a week I guarantee I could break par with the Karsten woods and irons.

Sorry it was 3 over not 2 over.. par 35 on the back not 36.

If you can shoot a 39 with nikes, you can shoot a 35 with old ass ping eye2's guaranteed. Nike sticks suck.

You ever hit a slingshot? different than any irons I've ever played. Almost like hybrids. They're so thick. I seriously add about 20+ yards per iron, the way I hit them. That, and because I'm awesomer than you.

The last thing I'd ever want is a thick iron.

Zwick, since by all indications you are a scratch golfer and someone who plays very regularly, I'm going to guess that you have a registered USGA handicap that is low enough for you to try to qualify for the US Open if you wanted to attempt it (or if not that low, it's got to be close). That means that you're likely in the top 2% of all golfers in the US. This means that your results are far from typical. I've always said that the technology means very little for the best and the worst golfers. The best because they have great skill so the technology isn't going to affect their play much, and for the worst golfers they have no skill so again, the technology isn't going to make a difference. For your typical weekend warrior 20-30 handicapper, the technology is going to matter. The reason you were able to hit that old wood more accurately was because while it does have a smaller sweet spot, it also has a much smaller face meaning there is less of a margin for error. My guess is that in proportion to the total size of the club face, that old driver has a larger sweet spot. It's also possible that the clubs you play now are not the best fit for you. Maybe you need a driver head with less spring and a firmer shaft. I don't know. I'm one of those bogey golf guys that the technology seems to make a big difference for.

krambman;384052 wrote:Zwick, since by all indications you are a scratch golfer and someone who plays very regularly, I'm going to guess that you have a registered USGA handicap that is low enough for you to try to qualify for the US Open if you wanted to attempt it (or if not that low, it's got to be close). That means that you're likely in the top 2% of all golfers in the US. This means that your results are far from typical. I've always said that the technology means very little for the best and the worst golfers. The best because they have great skill so the technology isn't going to affect their play much, and for the worst golfers they have no skill so again, the technology isn't going to make a difference. For your typical weekend warrior 20-30 handicapper, the technology is going to matter. The reason you were able to hit that old wood more accurately was because while it does have a smaller sweet spot, it also has a much smaller face meaning there is less of a margin for error. My guess is that in proportion to the total size of the club face, that old driver has a larger sweet spot. It's also possible that the clubs you play now are not the best fit for you. Maybe you need a driver head with less spring and a firmer shaft. I don't know. I'm one of those bogey golf guys that the technology seems to make a big difference for.

Actually this year I'm hovering at a 4.5 index. I couldn't qualify for the Open unless I dropped 2.5 strokes.

ZWICK 4 PREZ;384055 wrote:Actually this year I'm hovering at a 4.5 index. I couldn't qualify for the Open unless I dropped 2.5 strokes.

But you're close. Still easily in the top 5% of anyone in the country who will play golf this year.

I think you'd be surprised how well you could hit an old cavity back iron like a Karsten. I think you'd also be surprised at the distance you'd get with a wood driver. Check your irons out... they may not be dead center, but there's certainly a spot on there that's worn more than others. You work with that iron and get it to where you're hitting it well, you won't notice a difference.

ZWICK 4 PREZ;384050 wrote:The last thing I'd ever want is a thick iron.

To each her own.

ZWICK 4 PREZ;384058 wrote:I think you'd be surprised how well you could hit an old cavity back iron like a Karsten. I think you'd also be surprised at the distance you'd get with a wood driver. Check your irons out... they may not be dead center, but there's certainly a spot on there that's worn more than others. You work with that iron and get it to where you're hitting it well, you won't notice a difference.

No, there isn't a spot like that on my irons because I don't play that much. I used to play once a week but the last few years I'm lucky to make it out twice a month because of my work schedule. I haven't made it out once yet this year because of an injury earlier in the spring and work commitments so far this summer. Trust me, I don't play enough and I'm not accurate enough as it is to be able to hit the older technology as well as the clubs I play now.

krambman;384056 wrote:But you're close. Still easily in the top 5% of anyone in the country who will play golf this year.

I'm not even top 50% of my scratch league and we have 40 guys... I'm no where near top 5% of the country. There's a lot of good golfers out there... play in local tourney and you'll get 150 guys alone that are 5caps or lower.

It's all mental. you see this big head and you think wow this has to be easier to hit. The only thing it helps is on distance... but distance doesn't help if you're going right or left, then it's detrimental. It defintely doesn't help when you have to hook it around a tree. It definitely doesn't help when you need a high cut to hold a firm green. There's definite advantaged to an older, smaller club.

Played with a guy at Shamrock a few weeks ago who was using some wooden clubs and these old ass blades. He was hitting the ball really well, I was suprised.

The only real advantage newer clubs have is forgiveness. I don't hit pure shots on a regular basis, and there's no way I could hit 20 year old blades with any sort of consistency. However, I could probably get a good hit on the ball off the tee with an older wood. I'll have to try some of my dads old clubs

ZWICK 4 PREZ;384067 wrote:I'm not even top 50% of my scratch league and we have 40 guys... I'm no where near top 5% of the country. There's a lot of good golfers out there... play in local tourney and you'll get 150 guys alone that are 5caps or lower.

Yes, of people who play in leagues and have registered handicaps you're right, your not in the top 5%, but if you take into account everyone who plays a minimum of 6 rounds of a golf a year, yeah, you're probably up there. That's who I'm talking about here, the average golfer. Not the average good golfer who plays 3 times a week.

There is something to be said for the forgiveness of a Slingshot or Zevo iron.

Technology can help but it won't replace skill. How hard is that concept to understand?

I mean, if I'm playing soccer with old ass shoes versus the newest Adidas Predators I'll probably play pretty similar but the Predators will definitely help with my striking ability and my control over the balls movement. Will the shoes turn me from an average player to a good player? Nope. But they can help my ball control.

It's as simple as that. The newer drivers and irons can help in specific parts of your game. Same with the balls and putters. I do agree that the ball technology has improved the most though.