Both tree lined and tight 20-30 yard fairways with some heavy rough… 64-65, shot 29 on back nine of the 64 … Used Persimmon driver and 2 wood that I bought from John. Both courses between 6800-7000 yards with hard and fast greens and you have to work the ball… The people I played with were like what the hell did I just witness… Ha… Feels great to be striking it like I did with Woods and Irons that fit… For some reason my putter gets hot when I’m controlling the ball well… I then gave a little clinic to my playing partners about proper equipment and why the new stuff is a waste of money… I wasn’t far from giving up the game until I found this site… Thanx guys…
Congratulations, Tony - can just imagine the look on the playing partners’ faces!! You should go find some money games in a town where nobody knows you. Sure you could get some people to place some interesting wagers with you.
Tony, Congrats on breaking the course record on two different golf courses with persimmons and blades (I think I remember you saying you play blades from another post). Not to bad for someone ready to quit the game before coming over here.
I can imagine your playing partners looking at their latest white headed driver that they dropped $400 bucks for going WTF did I buy? Then look at your “ancient” wooden stick and just have a mental meltdown when you split the fairway over and over. LOL!
Then after seeing you in the middle of the fairway, as they are standing off to the right in the rough behind a tree, watch you take an ancient blade with zero forgiveness, feather your second shot up near the flag. It just adds to another level of their mental confusion. They take a look at their oversized, offset, thick toplined, upright cavity backed game improvement iron and then really lose it after they chunk it.
At least they are getting the true information from you about equipment and now have been given permission to try something other than what their corporate golfing overlords program them to buy every six months.
BTW, many course records are still to this day held with persimmon and blades. If it wasn’t for most par 5s being played as par 4s with the longer distance ball/titanium driver effectively turning the course into a par 68 instead of 72, many more records would still be persimmon/blades records.
It’s wonderful to think that not long ago, they were sitting unused somewhere before we chose them for retrofitting and restoration, and now they are out breaking course records in the hands of a good player.
Thanks a lot guys, It’s tough to find wedges that I can get 5 degrees down… I got some Scratch Golf 8620 wedges,(not directly from them, huge mistake) and was told that they can only be bent a couple of degrees because of the steel being too hard, should have got the forged… Now I just need wedges that fit me and my gear will be complete… It’s frustrating striping one down the fairway and have to aim right with a wedge to play for the shot that I know is going left… What I found amazing is that, if I made what I felt was like a crappy swing with my blades into a green, (immediate disgusted reaction to the feel), I’d miss about 20 feet right of the flag pin high… Poor swing, good result… So, I’m asking for advice now on what wedges to get, I really trust you here…
I use a three wedge system. 50 degrees with a 58 degree lie angle and 17.5 ounces.
I have a gap wedge at 53 I use inside 100 and around the greens for flop shots etc…
That one sits also at 58 lie angle but a bit heavier at 18 ounces.
My third wedge is a SW that is actually a “sand wedge” meaning I use if from the sand… and once in a while out of
really nasty green side rough. I like this over 18 ounces.
The reason for the gap wedge is that my SW is actually upright at 66 degrees, but I never play a shot with my hands that high.
When you open the face of the club, you have to lower your hands down. So when I open up the face on a 66 degree lie angle SW, it drops my hands down to 58 degrees. Now I can play the shot with my normal action and this gets the club in and out of the sand much quicker. It’s a little secret that works great if you have the right technique.
Shoot me an email if you want us to set you up with a proper wedge system.
Congrats. My balls striking is getting better everyday. Unfortunately, I have been busy managing a golf course to play much golf. Your great rounds just inspired me to go hit the bag a few hundred times. Great job.
I’ve been practicing for years what I’ve seen from Hogan, Snead, Player, Trevino, while most want to compare their swing to Tiger, etc… His driver swing is something I won’t try to emulate thank you… Doing my best to return the club to the original shaft position, but my brain wouldn’t let me do that with the new gear hence coming in too steep and hands too high with a major droop in the shaft at impact…(This was with x-100’s tipped) I about gagged when I saw my impact position with clubs too upright… I’m not into video and pics, but I bet my angles have changed, I feel a lot more shallow now in the backswing and downswing, but I trust it and can rotate through the ball without the ball going left… If it does start left, it stays there and doesn’t spin left… If it makes sense, I picture Lee Trevino coming through the ball before I swing… I doubt if I’m quite there yet, but going to keep it up…
Doing my best to return the club to the original shaft position, but my brain wouldn’t let me do that with the new gear hence coming in too steep and hands too high with a major droop in the shaft at impact…(This was with x-100’s tipped) I about gagged when I saw my impact position with clubs too upright… I’m not into video and pics, but I bet my angles have changed, I feel a lot more shallow now in the backswing and downswing, but I trust it and can rotate through the ball without the ball going left… If it does start left, it stays there and doesn’t spin left… If it makes sense, I picture Lee Trevino coming through the ball before I swing… I doubt if I’m quite there yet, but going to keep it up…