# 15 year old irons vs 2 year old irons



## Bratty (Oct 28, 2015)

My Dad decided he wasn't going to bother with golf any more having never really played more than 6 round in his life. So he gave me back my old Golden Bear irons, which I'll take over to the in-laws in Ireland.
Thought I'd take the 6 iron up to the range last night to see if it was okay.
Turns out it's only about 5 yards shorter than my i25, and no harder to hit. Flies about the same and everything.
So, wonder if all this marketing hype really should be believed?


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## Astraeus (Oct 28, 2015)

See my recent thread, "The case for shiney new things."


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## williamalex1 (Oct 28, 2015)

Would you like to test my 1984 Wilson x31+ irons. :smirk:


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## wezkid (Oct 28, 2015)

still using my X-31 irons, thought I was the only one!


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## daverollo (Oct 28, 2015)

The main difference is likely to be the loft.  What most manufacturers have done in the last few years is strengthen the lofts of the clubs.  What used to be a 3iron 20+ years ago, is more like a 5 iron in todays bag.  Partly why more sets are sold from 4i-PW or 5i-PW.

All part of their marketing that their clubs are longer than the next set, when all they have done is reduce the loft and make it a longer club!


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## williamalex1 (Oct 28, 2015)

wezkid said:



			still using my X-31 irons, thought I was the only one!
		
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Excuse me,  x-31 plus.:smirk:


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## wezkid (Oct 28, 2015)

I'll have to check! I'm sure I bought mine in 1997!


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## the_coach (Oct 28, 2015)

for sure you'll get incremental help with more modern irons 

you  hit center all of the time with older irons the drop off won't be that  big - you miss center by 1/4" then the drop of with the older irons from  possible distance will be a ways greater than 1/4" miss with the newer  irons

in the newer game improvement even a bunch irons for  'better' players lofts are stronger because the cg has been allowed to  be placed lower in the club head which makes it easier for folks to get  the ball up in the air and flight it with a higher launch so the lofts  lowered to stop stalling, plus the use of tungsten toe weighting has  helped move the cg sweetspot little further away from the hosel - always  good for a good bunch of folks

'old money' irons you had to strike nearer the heel to find the sweetspot


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## Bratty (Oct 28, 2015)

daverollo said:



			The main difference is likely to be the loft.  What most manufacturers have done in the last few years is strengthen the lofts of the clubs.  What used to be a 3iron 20+ years ago, is more like a 5 iron in todays bag.  Partly why more sets are sold from 4i-PW or 5i-PW.

All part of their marketing that their clubs are longer than the next set, when all they have done is reduce the loft and make it a longer club!
		
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But weirdly, there's only around 5 or possibly 10 yards difference between the 6 irons. I was expecting far more due to loft increases.


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## Maninblack4612 (Oct 28, 2015)

daverollo said:



			The main difference is likely to be the loft.  What most manufacturers have done in the last few years is strengthen the lofts of the clubs.  What used to be a 3iron 20+ years ago, is more like a 5 iron in todays bag.  Partly why more sets are sold from 4i-PW or 5i-PW.

*All part of their marketing that their clubs are longer than the next set, when all they have done is reduce the loft and make it a longer club*!
		
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Come in Delc! I personally think it's more to do with the fact that low lofted clubs are much easier to hit now &  if the manufacturers called a 4 iron a 2 iron nobody would buy them.


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## Foxholer (Oct 28, 2015)

My 1989 irons are still working absolutely fine!

An Del is probably still out turning over leaves trying to find lost balls - before making his way home through the immigrant rush-hour of course!


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## williamalex1 (Oct 28, 2015)

Foxholer said:



			My 1989 irons are still working absolutely fine!

An Del is probably still out turning over leaves trying to find lost balls - before making his way home through the immigrant rush-hour of course!
		
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Or in a big hole somewhere kept in the dark :smirk:


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## Craigg (Oct 28, 2015)

When God had a day off, he made these.:thup:


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## williamalex1 (Oct 28, 2015)

Craigg said:



View attachment 17375

When God had a day off, he made these.:thup:
		
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Never buy anything that was made on a Sunday or Friday :smirk:.


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## Tashyboy (Oct 28, 2015)

Pal of mine wanted some old/new ping eye 2's or summat like that when he started playing again. He played with them years ago. Was gonna go up to the ping factory and pick them up. When he was quoted about Â£110 each he said sod it. And took my advice and bought a set off eBay for about Â£100. he loved them. Till he went for a lesson
when he turned up the pro said " do you know what year it is".
bottom line is the pro said there's nowt wrong with them, it's just there not as forgiving as " new shiny gear" and higher hcap players are gonna beat you.
he had a play with some other clubs and eventually bought a last years set of callaways for Â£250 and loves them


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## HomerJSimpson (Oct 28, 2015)

Interesting that you only saw a few yards difference. I'd have thought the newer shafts would have been more golfer friendly as would the sweetspot. Interesting that there was nothing in it. Perhaps play a round with the full set and get a more accurate reflection with proper balls etc


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## Bratty (Oct 28, 2015)

HomerJSimpson said:



			Interesting that you only saw a few yards difference. I'd have thought the newer shafts would have been more golfer friendly as would the sweetspot. Interesting that there was nothing in it. Perhaps play a round with the full set and get a more accurate reflection with proper balls etc
		
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I'll be doing that in January in Ireland, Homer.
If I remember, I'll feed it back!


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## HomerJSimpson (Oct 28, 2015)

Bratty said:



			I'll be doing that in January in Ireland, Homer.
If I remember, I'll feed it back! 

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Don't worry as soon as you say you hit the old ones I'll remind you :thup::cheers:


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## williamalex1 (Oct 28, 2015)

Ive used my old carbon shafted Wilson X 31 + since  1984
. Ive tried my mates new TPs a few times and the difference is around 10/15 yards max.  But the duffs go about the same distance.


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## harpo_72 (Oct 28, 2015)

Does it really matter what age they are, if they work and your golf is consistent surely that is a strong enough argument ? 
I haven't bought a new club for a couple of seasons, too busy now and actually content with my set up. I did buy a new stand bag though ... Massive improvement to my game.


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## Bratty (Oct 28, 2015)

harpo_72 said:



			Does it really matter what age they are, if they work and your golf is consistent surely that is a strong enough argument ? 
I haven't bought a new club for a couple of seasons, too busy now and actually content with my set up. I did buy a new stand bag though ... Massive improvement to my game.
		
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I agree entirely. I'm taking them to Ireland, as my clubs there are a set of Cobra shovels with graphite shafts, and I can't get on with them.
I love my Pings though, so no way I'd look to replace them.
A new bag will ALWAYS improve your game - I thought everyone knew that


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## michaeljpoole (Oct 29, 2015)

I finally decided to upgrade my 15 year old Maxfli Revolution to a set of Titlelist AP2 712s last year. To be honest i agree with the OP. The difference isn't as large as I would have expected. Don't get me wrong i love my 712s but either the Maxfli's were ahead of their time or the difference isn't as big as we are lead to believe. One thing I like about the 712's is that they haven't jacked the lofts. They are the same as my Maxfli's were. I'd say there is slightly more distance and consistency for miss hits but its definitely not as large as you expect. 

In fact as I live in Hong Kong I keep an set of clubs in the UK when I go back. These are now my maxfli's and i can't complain with the performance of them

Either way it had been 15 years and i wanted new irons so I in no way regret my decision to change


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## Slab (Oct 29, 2015)

Yup my King Cobra II's are 15 yrs old and still the irons I'd take to the range for practice (even though they don't get on the course) and it is all about the forgiveness on the off-center shots compared to my new irons


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## Smiffy (Oct 29, 2015)

Bratty said:



			My Dad decided he wasn't going to bother with golf any more having never really played more than 6 round in his life. So he gave me back my old Golden Bear irons.
Thought I'd take the 6 iron up to the range last night to see if it was okay.
*Turns out it's only about 5 yards shorter than my i25 *

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120 yards with an old 6 iron like that is pretty impressive Simon


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## delc (Oct 29, 2015)

HomerJSimpson said:



			Interesting that you only saw a few yards difference. I'd have thought the newer shafts would have been more golfer friendly as would the sweetspot. Interesting that there was nothing in it. Perhaps play a round with the full set and get a more accurate reflection with proper balls etc
		
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Many of the steel shafts used in irons have been around for donkey's years, including Dynamic Gold.  I tried out various graphite shafts during a Ping fitting session and according to the fitter and the Flightscope, they  increased my dispersion with little gain in length, and of course cost more. Lightweight regular steel shafts seemed to suit me best.

I have some 35 year old Titleist clubs with traditional lofts.  Played with them for a couple of months earlier this year, and found that loft for loft they hit the ball about the same distance as my almost latest tech Taylor Made irons. It was just that you might need a 5-iron to hit the same distance as the TM 7-iron, but then the lofts and shaft lengths were actually pretty similar!  It's all down to the physics of golf.  A longer shafted club with less loft will hit the ball further, all other factors being equal. That is the route the manufacturers have gone down. Gives them the opportunity to flog you a few gap wedges as well, due to the huge gap between the Sand Iron and the modern Pitching Wedge!


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## Bratty (Oct 29, 2015)

Smiffy said:



			120 yards with an old 6 iron like that is pretty impressive Simon


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Only impressive to you, cos you'd need to leather a driver to get it out 120 yards, you old codger!!!


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Oct 30, 2015)

Well I've got a knock arranged for the weekend and I'm going to be out with my old clubs - 30yr old Wilson Staffs, 10yr old Callaway Steelhead III driver and 30yr old Acushnet Bullseye putter.  As I haven't hit the irons for nearly ten years and the driver for at least 5 - I think I'll go to local range tonight and hit a few balls else it could be embarrassing.


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## williamalex1 (Oct 30, 2015)

SwingsitlikeHogan said:



			Well I've got a knock arranged for the weekend and I'm going to be out with my old clubs - 30yr old Wilson Staffs, 10yr old Callaway Steelhead III driver and 30yr old Acushnet Bullseye putter.  As I haven't hit the irons for nearly ten years and the driver for at least 5 - I think I'll go to local range tonight and hit a few balls else it could be embarrassing.
		
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We can sing a duet ,   ANY OLD IRONS :rofl:


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Oct 30, 2015)

williamalex1 said:



			We can sing a duet ,   ANY OLD IRONS :rofl:
		
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My singing is as rusty as the irons...

Your 1984 Wilson x31+ irons seem to just predate my 1985 Wilson Staff Fluid Feels 

Though as I bought mine second hand (really as new) in 1985 they are probably 1984 or pre-84 vointage


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## williamalex1 (Oct 30, 2015)

SwingsitlikeHogan said:



			My singing is as rusty as the irons...

Your 1984 Wilson x31+ irons seem to just predate my 1985 Wilson Staff Fluid Feels 

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Mines are carbon shafts so no rust  , more than i can say about me.:smirk:

The other 2 whippersnappers have new shinies , and CAN hit them forum distance .


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## SwingsitlikeHogan (Oct 30, 2015)

williamalex1 said:



			Mines are carbon shafts so no rust  , more than i can say about me.:smirk:

The other 2 whippersnappers have new shinies , and CAN hit them forum distance .
		
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Ach well - I like to think that I play within myself


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