How the hell did they even get the ball round the course years ago?

[G1BB0]

I mean all clubs were blades nigh on, putters were as basic as can be, drivers were the size of hybrids and they even used a club called a 1 iron!!! No gap wedges, lob wedges, hybrids, gps, lasers, 3000 shaft options.

in all seriousness are we being spoiled with all this technology & choice or do we really need it?

It does make you wonder

 

[DappaDonDave]

They got round a lot cheaper I assume. No need to have the latest pink driver or orange shoesies

 

[USER1999]

Douglas bader played off six. Hickory shafts, balls that weren't round, greens cut by sheep, water proofs that weren't , suit and tie, and no legs. No flipping legs. How good was he?

 

[anthony]

Thats the equipment they were brought up on so it was second nature to them. how as today we have our set of equipment which we were brought upon and thats all we know if you were given their equipment from your first day of playing you would play just as good as you do know with you modern clubs because that is all you are used.

 

[duncan mackie]

still got my lot from 25 years ago, including ping wooden driver and a one iron, 2 iron-SW forged blades etc....I'm tempted to take them out for a round to find out the answer to your question!

as to gps and lasers, course guides were all the rage - not the glossy colour ones but pen line prints!

 

[SocketRocket]

And those whipy hickory shafts.

 

[Neddy]

The same way people used to use the street as a toilet and not complain about it....it's all they knew

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Still got the persimmon 3 wood my parents had made for my 18th. Beautiful club and I still hit it once in a blue moon. No idea how I managed to hit it so well so often. Sweetspot the size of a pea. I also had blades. Even my starter set of Petron Impala were a bladed design so I guess we just knew no different

 

[Hobbit]

It was easy...

A set of Wilson Blue Ridge irons and woods, circa 1968, and an old canvas pencil bag - the bag was almost as big as me. And don't forget, it was Dunlop 65's, small ball - great into the wind, assuming you could get the damn thing off the deck.

 

[Dodger]

Balls that moved the feck in the air!! Try power drawing or fading a ball nowadays and they don't move like they used to eh?

 

[Leftie]

And, apparently, the average handicap hasn't come down much (if at all) even with the modern "game improvement" products.

 

[MashieNiblick]

It is amazing to think of Bobby Jones knocking it round the Old Course in 68 in 1927 and Henry Cotton shooting 67 and 65 round RSG in the 1935 Open. Those scores still stand up today.

As someone who also learnt the game as a kid with cheap blades and wooden woods and wound balls I do wonder at all the technology now aimed at players and the agonising over which shaft/club/ball is best for me. I'm still knocking it round in 85 like I was 30 years ago.

 

[Hobbit]

Balls that moved the feck in the air!! Try power drawing or fading a ball nowadays and they don't move like they used to eh?

Yep, I had a slice that could cross national boundaries back then. Mind you, with blades you learned to hit ball well or suffer from white finger!

 

[bobmac]

I'm still using mine

 

[Hobbit]

I'm still using mine

EEK!

Didn't really want to know you were playing with your small balls Bob.

 

[duncan mackie]

And, apparently, the average handicap hasn't come down much (if at all) even with the modern "game improvement" products.

this is a statistical annomoly that gets rolled out from time to time

it is impossible to make an accurate assessment, not even an indicative one, because there were no handicap records in relation to players in the range 24-28 previously as it didn't exist and the metodology relating to handicaps has changed significantly - affecting higher handicaps more than lower.

that's just the statistical bit - demographically things changed too, with a huge explosion of municipal and commercial courses in the 80's and 90's that widened the playing section significantly.

you can't even compare the performances of the elite group to get anything meaningful because the course lengths, hazards and greens have also changed significantly.

 

[DaveM]

Guess we just learnt how to play the game then. Rather than hoping the new wonder club will do it, for you.

 

[Snelly]

How the hell did they get round the course years ago?

Faster. Much, much faster.



And forget statistical anomalies, they got round in roughly the same scores as we do today. Go to any club with a distinguished history and take a look at the scratch championship boards. The scores are fundamentally the same.


This backs up my view that a significant percentage of modern golfers play too slowly and are deluded / brainwashed in relation to equipment. Cue for loads of bleating about modern gear makes game more enjoyable / easier etc. All subjective of course..... And invariably posted by people new ish to the game...

 

[BoadieBroadus]

this is a statistical annomoly that gets rolled out from time to time

it is impossible to make an accurate assessment, not even an indicative one, because there were no handicap records in relation to players in the range 24-28 previously as it didn't exist and the metodology relating to handicaps has changed significantly - affecting higher handicaps more than lower.

that's just the statistical bit - demographically things changed too, with a huge explosion of municipal and commercial courses in the 80's and 90's that widened the playing section significantly.

you can't even compare the performances of the elite group to get anything meaningful because the course lengths, hazards and greens have also changed significantly.

weren't handicaps previously based on your 3 best rounds in the year? and i assume that there was no CSS or equivalent. my grandfather played off 1 apparently with the whole wooden shaft set up, which to me makes him seem like a golf wizard, but if my hcap was based off my 3 best rounds i'd be off 5 rather than 11. when did the handicaps change?

 

[ScienceBoy]

I have some old clubs, probably inter war I think, the irons are great! They perform nearly as good as modern irons but they go about 20 yards less and impart a lot less spin. They are also not really that forgiving!

The woods however are vastly different. I could do nothing other than a violent hook with the old woods, I ended up standing massively open and swinging gently, when I INFREQUENTLY got a decent flight but there was no forgiveness in them at all!

I think with practice I could have shot in and around my current handicap as I got on a par 5 with two 2 irons and an 8 iron leaving a decent birdie chance (which I missed).