17.9 winter
16.7 summer
17.9 winter
16.7 summer
Summer and winter handicaps? Sensible, but that’s come in since I played.Originally Posted by Stagger
Surprised they don’t differ by more.
Stick at it, it’s a great game. I only quit because of arthritis in thumbs.
Do you carry a bag round, or is it all trolleys or buggies now?
My day I used to carry a mid size bag, on shoulder, all the irons from 2, and two woods. A 1 iron on windy days, or links courses. Round in under three hours back then. All that seems to have changed.
Last edited by Oracle; 22-03-2020 at 06:02 AM.
Push trolley for me Oracle.
4 iron to wedge
3 extra wedges (50°, 54° & 60°)
Driver, 3 wood & 4 wood.
4 ball yesterday morning 3 hours 20 minutes
Thanks for your insight to when you played.
I’m glad to see golfers getting on with it again!
One thing I hated was 4 hour rounds, just beginning in mid eighties when all started looking at putts from all angles, walking up to greens, having seen pros do it on telly. The PGA has a lot to answer for by not clamping down on slow play sooner than it did, so it crept into the amateur game.. It took the fun out.
I don’t get the clubs you carry, there was a big gap between 4 iron and 4 wood, but maybe the club numbers mean different things now.
We also had a 1.62 British size ball, compared to the now universal 1.68
Made a big difference even though it doesn’t sound much.
Sat down lower so less forgiving of bad contact, also much harder to stop. So bump and run needed.
I still every couple of years , go to a range when in a hotel with a course , and after a bucket of balls get back to hitting solid mid iron shots. Can no longer stop the big clubs at the top, because of thumb problems so loosen grip. Sad.
Last edited by Oracle; 22-03-2020 at 11:22 AM.
4 iron is 185 to 190 yards
4 wood is 190 to 200 yards
I agree with you on the balls.
We played a round with the small ball last summer and it was tougher to control.
All clubs appear to have steeper lofts these days.
My Ping 7 iron is around 150 to 155 yards.
Last week I had a go on our 155 yard par 3 hole with a friends
Hit his Callaway rogue 9 iron 160 yards to the back of the green
Its the modern 4 wood or is it a hybrid? that seems to be the anomaly now.
Back in the day when I was a lad. (said in a croaky voice)
4 Iron was similar 195-205 - but then we have the big gap.
4 wood (which then were small headed and actually made of wood!) was 240: but the flight was far too high to be controllable. A 3 wood was a far better flight. A 2 iron at 230-235 was preferable to 4 wood in most situations, and for the very best lies or when avoiding wind is a must, a 1 iron. Some carried 5 woods which I thought ridiculous! With the then small headed drivers, on the best lies it was just about possible off the fairway but risky. Never worth it just for distance.
These were the early days of heel toe weighting, but that made iron sweet spot wider but still not tall. The days of offset heads like pings were just coming in. I tried a set once, and hated them! My fave clubs had aluminium shafts! Sadly RIP in 1980!
No idea what modern clubs are like. Not aware I have ever even touched a "hybrid". I blow the cobwebs of my old ryder clubs when I go to a range.
There are a lot of caveats here. The solid balls had only just started (eg top flite)- they are certainly better now. The balls were also not so cutproof, so care with irons was far more important.
The silly size woods which no doubt are more foregiving with wide and deep sweetspot but probably at the expense of distance when hitting the sweet spot dead centre. I also wonder how hard it is to control draw with dinner plate woods, when they are set up to avoid bad contact! The problem is with modern day equipment as used by the era of fred couples and on, the equipment rendered the courses too short. So was born the 7200 + yard monsters, to cope with the new equipment. They should have stopped the balls go so far. I still bash 5 irons 180-5 on a range, but can no longer control clubs longer than that.
When I was a lad....
Last edited by Oracle; 22-03-2020 at 03:35 PM.
My old 4 wood is a metal ping with 17.5° loft. Picks the ball great off the fairways.
Temple Newsam is 6400 yards with quite a few 400 plus par 4s.
A tough old challenge. My drive carry is 225ish so I need to hit two clean shots.
I'm a bump and run player, usually a 7 iron. 40 yards down to the fringe.
The extra wedges are for over bunkers and trees, plus 50 to 100 yards.
Some great balls around but you need to find the correct one to suit your own game.
Shame the thumbs are letter you down. Keep enjoying your range trips Oracle.
I played temple newsam years ago.
It was a good course let down by condition.
Caveatin what I am about to say:
1/ I don’t know anything about modern clubs.
2/ length, lie , shaft , and shaft stiffness ( I generally used S) matter.
3/ also the amount of loft and backspin determine roll: hitting the ball with the sweet spot below the point of contact, can cause the shot to “balloon”
4/ flight also matters , with woods I normally hit a slight draw. Oddly a slight fade with long irons, probably because they were different swing weight,
But I just googled ping 17.5 and it seems to be a normal 5 wood ( not 4 wood) loft,
4 are generally in band 15-17
That said What matters is what works for you. Doesn’t matter what it is called.
Last edited by Oracle; 22-03-2020 at 05:31 PM.
Thanks for the 4/5 wood Oracle.
I've just read golfers can still play out 😀
https://read.nxtbook.com/global_golf...der_notes.html
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