On today’s broadcast from Torrey Pines:
‘Real golf clubs, real golf balls, real spikes… When they have those again I’ll be back…’
We’ll see Nick then…at the next TRGA event… 
I reckon I saw the end of Faldo’s career and the end and dawning of generations. During the practice round for the '95 or '96 Masters- it’s killing me that I can’t remember but I’m pretty sure it was '96. I went 2 years in a row- Augusta State had a college tournament that they coordinated to end on the sunday so they could give the teams tickets to the monday practice round- sweet deal. Anyway, he was playing with a relatively unknown Tiger Woods, and the specific moment came when they were playing the 15th and they both hit dirvers off the tee. I followed them down the hill and it was quiet enough on a monday to see things pretty clearly- Faldo was coming towards the end of his career, and who was this Tiger Woods guy anyway? I studied Faldo’s demeanor and facial expressions as he watched Tiger walk 100 yards passed him to his ball. Faldo was my hero, I’d studied his every move for 7 years up to that point, I felt like I knew him. Looking at him take his headcover off his 3w and try to figure out a way to make it get to the green, while Tiger, who eventually hit 9i to the green, stood stretching on the downslope past the trees, was as sad as it was amazing. Here was arguably still the best golfer in the world getting torn to shreds in a moment by a young kid, the past being destroyed by the future, and no cameras were there to see. I was there, and it happened. They were both using small metal headed drivers with steel shafts, essentially the same clubs- Faldo’s was a T-Zoid, Tiger’s was one of those 1st generation brown coloured tour preferred heads- I had one, they were sweet. I felt then and I still feel now, that I got to witness the generations overlapping and overpowering eachother. Faldo smashed his 3w and it hit and ran over the back. Tiger hit a crappy pull with his 9i to about 20 ft that made him turn away in disgust. It was incredible to see. What’s subsequently more incredible is that TIger is one of the main guys that got screwed by technology- he was doing that before it was normal to do it. If they were still playing the real gear, Tiger’s dominance would look even more ridiculous. No wonder the guy is frustrated on the course.
For the size of him, it was always amazing how short Faldo was. He just could hit your hat off with a 4 iron from over 200 yards.
He said that he didn’t mind being short because he knew he was more accurate with a 5 iron than the other guys were with 7 irons.
A great player.
Idiot Ryder Cup captain though
Glad to hear it Nick. Like bomgolf, I too idolized Nick, even drove 12 hours just to watch him once when he came out to play in Australia. Every book and video, even bought the same clubs 
I think I must have been the only Aussie gunning for Nick at the '96 Masters.
Yet another pro apparently fed up with the current state of equipment.
Bom
That is a very thought provoking post. Thanks for sharing.
my man Bom…great post…glad you were there and thanks for sharing!
I also saw Tiger play in his first Masters also…may have been the same year you speak of BOM. My memory was seeing him in a practice round bomb his drives on a couple of par 4 holes, and them fly his sandwedge over the green…and get a “what happened” look on his face…like maybe his caddy gave him the wrong yardage.
He’s obviously figured it out good enough now.
Another interesting memory, Stanford played Ga Tech in Atlanta at Druid Hills CC, prior to the Masters one year. Can’t remember the year or details, but I think Stewart Cink trounced Tiger on that old school track.
Nicklaus used to advocate that the tournament should have a barrel of balls…all the same kind…and each participant would be required to use those balls. Now we hear Faldo. …maybe things will come around.
eagle
I wouldn’t hold my breath Eagle
You’re probably realistic and right, and I’m just a naive dreamer…but stranger things have happened. 
We saw Coca-Cola admit their mistake, dump “New Coke”, and return to “Coke Classic”.
I’ll wager you a beer(or two) that we’ll see a return to the old stuff in some form…such as a Major winner or Tour star playing in a TRGA tournament, or a more classic ball constructed and marketed, within five years, etc.
Arnie can be the judge(if he’ll agree)as to what qualifies as a win,… payoff can be at an annual Lag convention( to be announced).
In the meantime…we all enjoy the benefits of the game and cheap blades/woods on eBay and garage sales. 
I daresay that Elk will play in TRGA even or some other olden day type affair given the hickory stuff he’s been doing with Mike Maves, I never cared for coke personally, new or old versions.
No worries, guys… glad to share… it was a hell of thing to witness. It was 95 btw… the 3rd guy in the group was Lee James who won the British Amateur in 94 so I’m figuring Faldo was playing a practice round with the two Amateur Champions. Even though Faldo won it the next year, I think it was clear his game wouldn’t stand the onslaught of the power game, and of course, the technological ‘progress’ in the following years. There was a funny moment during that practice round between Faldo and Lee James - Lee James was a notoriously slow player, and Faldo was never going to win any speed golf tournaments himself. But on the 11th tee after numerous grip adjustments, waggles and stance alterations by James, which were standard in his pre shot routine, Faldo pipes up and says, “while we’re young, son!” Me and my teammate who were basically the only people following just cracked up laughing. Priceless. I don’t think he hit another shot straight. What made it even funnier was that they only started on the 10th! Gotta love the Faldo- taking no prisoners…
Obviously Faldo was a super-great…total package…mental/ physical/ emotional combination.
But I have also wondered about Faldo’s apparent mismatch: his build/fitness( superior) vs his distance(average). Did he do something to accentuate accuracy but sacrifice distance? What was it? Do we need to do the same?
eagle
I think he was very position conscious with his swing and didn’t ever go after the ball because of it
It’s true I saw it in person…for a mountain of a man he really powder puffed it from the tee… but he had intense desire and a technically functioning swing and was world class in every department-- until length became the No.1 part of being a constant success as a golfer-- then his edge was ripped from him because the precision side of golf was shoved aside for brawn and not much brain
Two,
To clarify, was he “position oriented” in regards to where he wanted the ball to go course management -wise, or are you saying “position oriented” in regards to where the club is during the swing? Or both?
Percy Boomer referred to placing “controls” on the swing, things to keep the club within certain parameters, thus promote consistency, and avoid big errors. Do you think Faldo utilized something like this, so he was satisfied with no big screw-ups, at the sacrifice of no huge spectacular drives. Or to put it another way…satisfied with anywhere in fairway but short, rather than in the rough or out of bounds long?
In his book Faldo talked about his driving strategy. He talked about how he would like to conduct an experiment with a hacker, hitting second shots from 20 yards behind the hacker but in the middle of the fairway and beat the other guy every single time
I meant …Club in the swing position orientated…he loved sticking the club in Lead’s desired positions for him…so he lacked the authority thru P3 and up into P5 of others…his acceleration past impact wasn’t as fast as others because he was always conscious of his club and where it was although he did have wonderful movements…it just wasn’t as aggressive as most and hence the lack of distance compared to others