How much has golf changed?

[Norrin Radd]

I would love to see an feature in the magazine were some of the staff play with gear from different eras. Has there ever been anything like that? Balls might be a problem as they would age badly but maybe modern replicas of gutties and Dunlop 65s can be had.

I have got a dozen 65s still in the original wrappers and box.

 

[Imurg]

Rick Shiels has just done a vid of him hitting the latest Callaway Great Big Bertha driver against the original one from '97.
Swing speed, ball speed, height and carry all significantly up. Spin down.
Dispersion better, although the difference in shafts could mask that
But an overall increase of 40 yards of carry can't be ignored......

 

[duncan mackie]

Rick Shiels has just done a vid of him hitting the latest Callaway Great Big Bertha driver against the original one from '97.
Swing speed, ball speed, height and carry all significantly up. Spin down.
Dispersion better, although the difference in shafts could mask that
But an overall increase of 40 yards of carry can't be ignored......

and that driver is one of the more modern in many ways! I had one carved from a single block of wood with a lead weight added in a hole drilled and sealed with a brass sole plate...it worked well until I replaced it with a new Parbuster! That got replaced with a Ping Eye driver (that I still have) and lasted until the metal TM ones replaced it from the bag! The original pitsburgh persimmon with a stiff steel shaft was incredibly powerful but difficult to hit consistently well for me, the flex twist with it's graphite shaft was the opposite; the various Bubble Burners brought this together (and they still perform reasonably but nothing like the more modern ones).