oldies but goodies

[kid2]

Ok....
Not sure what the average age of the forum members are but how many of you guys have come up either playing a Blade style iron or some sort of Players cavity back iron....

What would your improvements have been like if the technology thats around today was around when you first started playing golf....

And do you still play that style of club presently?

 

[Swinger]

Always used blades, from 12 until now.

The only reason I haven't improved more is due to lack of practise or effort. I don't think any cavity back would have helped in anyway overall but possibly made it easier to come down a bit more when I only played Saturdays with a hangover. Blades and hangovers never work well in my experience.

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

Had ancient blades to start with then took golf more serious and got a set of cavities. When i got a bit better i really didnt like the look of the thick top line so bought blades and here i am .

 

[Robobum]

Learnt with a true blade, gave up.

Got back into it with wood chopping Ping eye2s.

Slimmed them down to some Cleveland TA7s.

Now have somewhere in the middle ground with Mp60s.

Quite capable of hitting them all in the trees, just that with the Mp60s I'm very confident of just how far they've gone in!!

 

[HomerJSimpson]

In my day there was really only Ping (Eye 2) that were recognised GI clubs. Wilson had their Gear Effect model but the majority of clubs were blades even my first set of Petron Impala. I ended up with some B51's from Slazenger as I improved and they were the mutts nuts. Gave the game up and when I came back to it I went with some Mizzy and then rapidly went to some Wilson Fat Shaft (Tour cast model). A few Cally (X14, X20) and a couple of set of TM (R7 and Tour Burner) and I'm finally at my TP's. Not quite blades but not a huge caivty back either

 

[richart]

I'm old enough to have played blades as a kid. McGregor Tourney Customs, can't remember the number 974 ? Don't think modern irons would have made much difference to my handicap, but the new drivers and balls certainly would have. I also used to play the small ball which was an advantage over the bigger US ball, especially in the wind.

I seem to remember you could not get cut below 5, unless you put in cards from other courses in competitions. We had a lot of 5 handicaps in the club, and probably only one or two below.

Only time i ever hit the ball any where near 250 yards in those days, was in 1976 when we had the drought that lasted all summer. It was like driving down an runway, except it wasn't flat. Mind you i was a skinny runt in those days.

 

[kid2]

Had ancient blades to start with then took golf more serious and got a set of cavities. When i got a bit better i really didnt like the look of the thick top line so bought blades and here i am .

Is it a case of perseverence then that makeith the player?

 

[Owen_Thomas_14]

Just found blades made me concentrate more but also suited my eye more so strike them a lot better than cavities. Im a believer that if something suits your eye you will hit it better

 

[chris661]

Just found blades made me concentrate more but also suited my eye more so strike them a lot better than cavities. Im a believer that if something suits your eye you will hit it better

^^+1

I cant remember what I started out with except it was a cut down club from my uncle. Last two sets have been titleist 775 cb and now the MB. Personally I prefer blades but realise many people dont, whatever floats your boat really.

 

[Alex1975]

Had ancient blades to start with then took golf more serious and got a set of cavities. When i got a bit better i really didnt like the look of the thick top line so bought blades and here i am .

Is it a case of perseverence then that makeith the player?

This is not a real question!! you know its the case!!

 

[kid2]

Had ancient blades to start with then took golf more serious and got a set of cavities. When i got a bit better i really didnt like the look of the thick top line so bought blades and here i am .

Is it a case of perseverence then that makeith the player?

This is not a real question!! you know its the case!!

 

[Alex1975]

So I started with GI clubs, I have moved onto middle ground. Seems alot of people are going that way hu? Fat clubs are ugly when you hit an ok ball. I used to think fat clubs looked nice and hitable but not any more, I dont want that meat.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I started on cavity and now play S59s. I've always wanted to play blades cause they look great but doubt I'll ever have the game to get the best out of them.

 

[Tommo21]

Started sharing clubs with my mate, don’t know what they were. Soon got my own set of Ben Sayer Monarch blade irons, they made an amazing sound when hit properly and a couple of years later I broke 70 with them….I want them back.

We never even bothered with different shafts or anything like that. Dunbar had a golf club factory parallel to the seventh fairway near the green at Winterfield golf club Dunbar. It was part of the course with wire mesh on the windows and if you were unlucky to hook your second shot you could then be lucky to get the ball bouncing off the roof back on the fairway or even the green. The factory, I think it was named Greentree, endorsed by Lee Trevino and others who visited the place. Great for getting our clubs sorted by master club maker Sinclair Marr, who then became a woman. This is true. Later everyone wanted persimmon drivers and I can remember John Huggan getting a jumbo persimmon driver Still small by today’s standard, but it was big with no plastic insert, just all wood. Huggie was good in his day. The factory moved to the other end of Dunbar and the amount of irons that disappeared from there was unbelievable. I’m sure the forerunner to cavity back clubs were first made there, they called them the “heal and toe” effect and they were miles ahead of everyone else, but we, or anyone else for that matter, never knew it. Cant remember why it shut down as I was in my drunken period for about 7 years or so. I remember getting my first persimmon driver, it was a STIX model and it had a brass insert at the rear of the head. My 5 wood was about the size of a large egg, I could crack a Penfold Ace with that thing. Still used the Ben Sayer irons for a few years.

Now I try and hit my AP2s after trying a set of ZBs for a few rounds but I thought they were too good for me. Fell out with the AP2s went back to my R7s, then back to my AP2s. There.

 

[Bacardibatman]

blades

mixed mashie niblicks etc
wilson sam snead 3-sw
wilson staff tour blades fg-17's 2-sw
Dunlop Maxfli Australian blades(had them a long time) 3-sw

dont like the look of Gi/cavity backs/peripheral weighted never have
or the feel

dont particularly like the look of my ping eye2 1 iron when im stood over it (if i could find a 1 iron for my set i would


there were things around ping, ryder heel n toe (Im 41)

currently have 2 sets of my Dunlop Maxfli Ausie blades (freq matched) so i never have to change
id say these ones have been refurb'd (sat in my old bag in reserve) when the old ones get too old

will always use blades prefer the feel

i feel i got to learn how to play different shots better with a blade - Learnt my craft
as i knew when i didnt hit them right youd get better feedback than with a GI club
I had to Learn how to hit them correctly and work on my swing -therefore making me a better golfer in the long term

as for all the technology ...im not a fan i personally think its gone too far
less about the player swinging perfectly now

as u can see from my sig i dont use ridiculously sized headed woods/metals (cant stand em,took me long enough to convert to graphite shaft metal head from steel & persimmon)


have a look at
golf iron evolution

 

[bobmac]

Started off with old hand me downs, then got a great set of TM TD blades (1-sw) which I had for years.
Gave them to a friend for his son who was taking up golf. Got some Ping S59s for a few years but gone back to the TM TD blades again.
Still missing the 2 iron

 

[Losttheplot]

I used GI irons but last year (thanks to Rickg) I purchased a rather fine set of Nike VR irons. The blades in the set are superb and I don't think you get a better feel off the clubhead than a good crisp strike off the blade.

Now when I look at the GI irons all I think is 'wow, it's like hitting a ball with a spade, they look huge'

Love blades and won't be playing with anything else any time soon.

 

[MashieNiblick]

I started by knocking it about with my dad's old clubs (Spalding Top Flite - don't laugh good clubs in those days - 1960's - leather grips I recall) then some ladies clubs as I took it up more seriously around 12 years old then a set of Dunlop Peter Thomson blades. All blade designs. Peter Thomsons were a budget model but still looked great. Got some Macgregor Jack Nicklaus (JNP) perimeter weighted forged irons in about 1990 which were gorgeous. Then forged cavity/semi blade Mizuno's since 1997 (TP21s and MP30s).

IMHO I feel I learned how to hit the ball better by starting with blade type clubs. You know when you've hit it well or badly and you can't really afford to let too many bad habits creep in as the clubs won't "forgive" you. I think you do also learn how to manufacture shots, especially as I started with a half set.

As for woods, laminiated til I got some Persimmon woods with my MacGregors (still got these - look too nice to part with). Tiny heads by today's standards. Only just got a 460 head. Don't like the look but I need it now to keep up.

 

[Imurg]

Started with Cavity-backs...

Progressed to slightly smaller Cavity-backs...

Then slightly smaller still Cavity-backs...

Now playing the closest I'm ever going to get to true blades.

 

[ADB]

Started sharing clubs with my mate, don’t know what they were. Soon got my own set of Ben Sayer Monarch blade irons, they made an amazing sound when hit properly and a couple of years later I broke 70 with them….I want them back.

We never even bothered with different shafts or anything like that. Dunbar had a golf club factory parallel to the seventh fairway near the green at Winterfield golf club Dunbar. It was part of the course with wire mesh on the windows and if you were unlucky to hook your second shot you could then be lucky to get the ball bouncing off the roof back on the fairway or even the green. The factory, I think it was named Greentree, endorsed by Lee Trevino and others who visited the place. Great for getting our clubs sorted by master club maker Sinclair Marr, who then became a woman. This is true. Later everyone wanted persimmon drivers and I can remember John Huggan getting a jumbo persimmon driver Still small by today’s standard, but it was big with no plastic insert, just all wood. Huggie was good in his day. The factory moved to the other end of Dunbar and the amount of irons that disappeared from there was unbelievable. I’m sure the forerunner to cavity back clubs were first made there, they called them the “heal and toe” effect and they were miles ahead of everyone else, but we, or anyone else for that matter, never knew it. Cant remember why it shut down as I was in my drunken period for about 7 years or so. I remember getting my first persimmon driver, it was a STIX model and it had a brass insert at the rear of the head. My 5 wood was about the size of a large egg, I could crack a Penfold Ace with that thing. Still used the Ben Sayer irons for a few years.

Now I try and hit my AP2s after trying a set of ZBs for a few rounds but I thought they were too good for me. Fell out with the AP2s went back to my R7s, then back to my AP2s. There.

Interesting Tommo as I started playing with a Lee Trevino wedge that was cut down by my dad. It was made by Greentree which I had never heard of, so thanks for the history! Still have it actually, and it was the first club my son hit as well