12 Year Old Clubs

[oo7ml]

Hi,

I’ve recently started back playing golf after a 12 year gap. I am now 37.

Back then I was playing off 9 and I was using the following:

Irons: 2008 Titleist AP2 Irons - https://www.titleist.com/golf-clubs/irons/ap2-2008

Drive: 2008 Cobra L4V

While I know I have lots of practicing to do, I am Going to get fitted for a new set of clubs (the above were not custom / fitted).

QUESTIONS

01 - Roughly what extra yardage should I expect to gain with a new 2020 drive?

02 - What new technology or gains are to be expected between a 2008 set of irons and a new 2020 set of irons?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Ethan]

Depends how well suited your clubs are. You might not gain much at all.

Very little tech improvement in irons, some in the driver, but depends whether you need it (more adjustability etc).

I would let your game bed in a bit before getting fitted. It will probably take a little time to get back to steady state.

 

[ScienceBoy]

Cries in 2007 irons and 2013 Driver

 

[oo7ml]

Thanks Ethan.

@ScienceBoy - you’ve lost me

 

[CliveW]

I play 2010 AP2 irons which were fitted by my local pro and earlier this year I went to a Titleist fitting to try the new T100/T200 irons and to be honest I didn't see any real difference. At least not enough to spend about £1,000.

 

[Tiger man]

Not a lot in that iron category, only real advancement has been in the hollow headed designs like titleist tmb's and Taylormade P790's, meaning they can still look sleek and perform like GI irons.
Drivers have been maxed out since before 08 so no real distance to be gained but definitely worth getting a fitting to see if a newer one can work for your swing any better.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

The real difference is forgiveness in off centre shots. Thank you golf club designers for that ?

 

[Leftie]

Have recently put my Mizuno 850's (custom fitted) on the naughty step and brought out my nearly 20 year old Callaway X14's. Hitting them so much better. Also put my ancient Hawk Eye 3 wood back in the bag as it's so much better than my TM one. New, and custom fitting, isn't always better. Imho of course

 

[ScienceBoy]

Thanks Ethan.

@ScienceBoy - you’ve lost me

I jest, it actually very happy with my old irons. I have considered replacing them but it never seems worth the money as I will then have to redo my hybrids and wedges to make the set work. All to just hit a 7 iron instead of a 6... Far better to just improve my iron play so that I can hit greens with my 5 and 6 iron.

Driver wise I can find the fairway and hit it 240, I doubt any modern driver can improve on my driving game. Ore than lessons and practice would.

If you have decent, well fitting clubs stick with them, whatever the age.

I think some wedges do wear out so worth considering a replacement but just regrip the rest as needed.

Unless you have the cash to buy new clubs, get a better fitting and do the rest of the bag as needed for gapping then go for it.

I am always lessons first then new clubs and always under the advice of the person I am being coached by.

 

[Rlburnside]

Have recently put my Mizuno 850's (custom fitted) on the naughty step and brought out my nearly 20 year old Callaway X14's. Hitting them so much better. Also put my ancient Hawk Eye 3 wood back in the bag as it's so much better than my TM one. New, and custom fitting, isn't always better. Imho of course

Can’t really comment much for the op but I’m not surprised you’re playing well with the Callaway X14s they were the best irons I ever had.

 

[jim8flog]

Titleist AP2 (2008) 7 iron has a loft of 35 degrees
Titleist AP2 718 (2018) 34 degrees
Titleist T100 (2020) 34 degrees

The improvements will be in head design and better shafts depending on what you currently use

If you are looking for more forgiveness and lower lofts for increased distance
T200 30 degrees
T300 29
T400 26

 

[HomerJSimpson]

All things being equal I think you'll see some gains with the driver as the fitter should be able to dial in the best shaft for your swing. Again, you may see some changes in the irons but I would be surprised if the gains were significant

 

[Leftie]

Can’t really comment much for the op but I’m not surprised you’re playing well with the Callaway X14s they were the best irons I ever had.

Ha ha. I didn't say well, just better

Tbh, I think that the X14's were possibly the best of the series.

 

[Sekiro]

I wonder if there have been any dramatic changes over the last decade, a few things I’ve watch where they’ve compared old-to-new clubs show that a lot of the changes come more from ”clever” tweaks so that your new 7 hits as far as you old 6 making it seem like you’ve gained distance only to find that the new 7 is probably the same spec as the older 6 and everything has just shifted up slightly across the set.

The one area that seemed to be more apparent were the improvements to shafts, specifically graphite but I can’t recall what the real-world gains were vs older ones.

I’d say if they were good enough to get you down to playing off 9 before then they will be good enough to get you back there again, you can always look for a fitting once you‘ve got back to where you were before.

Although... and I’m terrible for this.... but the allure of shiny new stuff is always a big temptation and if you’ve got the spare cash to spend, then why not indulge lol!

 

[Grant85]

All things being equal I think you'll see some gains with the driver as the fitter should be able to dial in the best shaft for your swing. Again, you may see some changes in the irons but I would be surprised if the gains were significant

Would agree with this. Assuming the irons are suitable for your swing speed, I'd say gains could be minimal if you are really looking for performance and not just shiny shiny.

 

[OnTour]

Great heads, I'd personally have the loft and lie checked out and see if the shaft still fits. if trackman says good STICK with them. the head is a lump of metal powered by the engine #Shaft.

Driver and 3 woods might be something to gain, as my 3 wood m5 is amazing

 

[jim8flog]

Hi,

Drive: 2008 Cobra L4V

QUESTIONS

01 - Roughly what extra yardage should I expect to gain with a new 2020 drive?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Without a doubt changing to a modern driver is where you are going to see some benefit.

The driver you have is rated as a very good driver. With a modern driver one of the biggest benefits is the ability to fit a different shaft very easily and therefore find one best suited to your swing, allied to that is the ability to change the loft which makes it easy to find the optimum launch angle for you swing as well.

Yardage gain is difficult to judge but I reckoned I gained about 15-20 yards switching from a Taylormade R9 to my current M4 but I have fitted a different shaft to the stock Atmos one. I have a mate who also had the M4 and has now switched to a TM SIM and I reckon his gains have been quite significant which could be simply down the the different shaft as he had stuck with teh Atmos in the M4.

 

[oo7ml]

Thank you for all of the great advice, much appreciated

 

[Foxholer]

For the sake of everyone's (including/especially your own) hearing, please change the Driver to something quieter!

 

[oo7ml]

UPDATE

I had my fitting today, with Titleist T100s and TaylorMade P770 irons.

I hit both clubs on average 40 YARDS further than my existing 12 year old irons... I repeat 40 yards

I hit 30 balls each with all 3 x 7 irons from all 3 models and I hit the new models on average 40 yards further.

I hit a Calloway Epic Flash driver on average 27 yards further than my existing driver.