Your golfs golden era

shivas irons

shivas irons

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For me it has to be the 70's with Nicklaus, Watson, Player, Trevino etc,there was some incredible battles in majors back then, the back 9 at The Open was riveting stuff as was most majors.The late 80's early 90's had its moments with Faldo, Norman, Seve, etc but still wasnt a patch on the 70's for me.Tourney golf and the majors dont have the drama of the past nowdays, the guys are not as hungry with substantial cash in the bank :(.
 
The guys certainly show a lot of hunger in the Ryder Cup where no money is on offer

Every decade has had drama in it - last years Masters with Scott and Cabera was as dramatic as we have seen in decades
 
shivas irons said:
For me it has to be the 70's with Nicklaus, Watson, Player, Trevino etc,there was some incredible battles in majors back then, the back 9 at The Open was riveting stuff as was most majors.The late 80's early 90's had its moments with Faldo, Norman, Seve, etc but still wasnt a patch on the 70's for me.Tourney golf and the majors dont have the drama of the past nowdays, the guys are not as hungry with substantial cash in the bank :(.
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Pretty much agree, I would pick early 80's to late 90's,
 
I'd have to go with late 80's and early 90's as I was only a kid in the 70's. Watching Sandy win at Augusta was the first tournament I watched where I knew what was going on and appreciated it. Faldo back to back at Augusta, Seve at Lytham in 88, Olazabal's emotional second win at Augusta. The most dramatic had to be Faldo & Norman in 96 Masters though. I was a big fan of Faldo but felt for Norman that day. The way he accepted his defeat spoke volumes about him, no spitting, swearing or club throwing (take note current world No1).
 
I think now we have more contenders, there was a period where woods once just going to win but now I think we have a huge selection. I am not saying now is the best era but if you look at each era there were some great moments.
 
Early to mid 90's for me Price, Faldo and Norman fighting over the number 1 spot! These guys played a game a lot nearer our own. Norman and Price being "BFFs" and having some great battles.

Agree the culmination for me being the Faldo v Norman Masters ("Don't let those 'chaps born out of wedlock' get you down!")

I loved the interview in GM a few months/years ago with Nick Price where an international phonecall got cut off mid way through and it was Price who called back to continue the interview!

Always surprised me just how big Faldo and Price were (see Faldo putting the green jacket on Woods) the tv always made them look normal sized but I doubt they'd have looked out of place in a bouncers/door supervisors jacket!
 
Late 70's, early 80's for me... my hero is Tom Watson! Anyone remember Johnny Miller's crazy run one year when he posted several 61's in close succession?

But nothing can beat the last day of the last Ryder Cup.
 
From a TV viewers point of view it has to be now, we've never had so much and such a variety to see

From the point of on course excitement I just couldn't decide, it only takes a moment of magic/madness to turn a game and fortunately we get to see them every year :)
 
Isn't it just a case of sport being different these days?

You don't really get characters in any sport now versus the 70s and 80s. Take formula 1 with James Hunt or Ayrton Senna and compare against the robotic professionalism of Michael Schumacher or Sebastien Vettel, or cricket and the likes of Ian Botham - there just isn't really room for that in the modern world of professional sport.

Golf is no different. Players like Faldo started it and Woods took it to another level - boring, some might say, others might just describe it as being professional. There's no doubt that what us required of modern golfers is different - the 21st century golfer is an athlete, no doubt about it.

I am too young to have witnessed the great battles of the 70s, and we could speculate from now until forever about which era had the best golfers and never reach a conclusion. It's just a different game at the top level; robotic professionalism is required for sustained success in my opinion, making a player in the style of seve unlikely. No doubt though, we'll be looking back at the start of the 21st century with rose tinted glasses in 20 years time when mcilroy, woods, Scott, Stenson et al have been replaced with a new breed of pro that is different again.

I'm just going to enjoy watching all the golf that is on offer to me, and long may it continue.
 
Yep, the 70's were great.

I got into golf in time to watch (in B&W) Doug Sanders miss that putt at St Andrews in 1970 to give Jack the chance to win the Open next day in a playoff.

I watched (in colour now) Trevino battle with Mr Lu in '71 and then that epic Muirfield Open where Super Mex chipped in to beat both Jack (going for his 3rd Major of the year I think) and Jacklin, and I chewed my finger nails off; Weiskopf in '73 and and Player in '74 were not classics nor was 1975 - Watson (who's he?) winning his first; 1976 - Bang! Seve bursts on to the bone dry fairways. What a smile! What a player! But Miller wins with long hair and flares :eek: ; 1977 - The Duel in the Sun - perhaps greatest ever Open; 78 Jack's back!; 1979 Seve - Champion!!! (from the car park ;) :D).

Riveting stuff despite the dreaded announcement that "Now it's off to Hickstead (or wherever) while the players go out of range of our cameras".

Not much other golf though. B&H from Fulford I recall and the World Match Play from Wentworth and a bit of the Masters. And of course Pro-Celebrity Golf (ahh well there had to be a down-side). :D

Loved the 80's too. Sandy's Masters win (and victory jig) is one of my great memories of golf on TV.
 
TV now makes it easier for us to watch, but outside of Bubba and Phil the game is becoming rather 2 dimensional. You have the bomb and gouge guys and the fairways and greens guys and one set seems to dominate on one type of course where the others get a chance at a different style.
Give us back persimmons and balata's and let's see some shotmaking again. (A rule change in the equipment could provide this, but will never happen unfortunately.)
80's and early 90's for me, but only because I wasn't old enough to remember the 70's or before. Would love to have seen Snead, Nelson and Hogan go at it.
 
MashieNiblick said:
Yep, the 70's were great.

I got into golf in time to watch (in B&W) Doug Sanders miss that putt at St Andrews in 1970 to give Jack the chance to win the Open next day in a playoff.

I watched (in colour now) Trevino battle with Mr Lu in '71 and then that epic Muirfield Open where Super Mex chipped in to beat both Jack (going for his 3rd Major of the year I think) and Jacklin, and I chewed my finger nails off; Weiskopf in '73 and and Player in '74 were not classics nor was 1975 - Watson (who's he?) winning his first; 1976 - Bang! Seve bursts on to the bone dry fairways. What a smile! What a player! But Miller wins with long hair and flares :eek: ; 1977 - The Duel in the Sun - perhaps greatest ever Open; 78 Jack's back!; 1979 Seve - Champion!!! (from the car park ;) :D).

Riveting stuff despite the dreaded announcement that "Now it's off to Hickstead (or wherever) while the players go out of range of our cameras".

Not much other golf though. B&H from Fulford I recall and the World Match Play from Wentworth and a bit of the Masters. And of course Pro-Celebrity Golf (ahh well there had to be a down-side). :D

Loved the 80's too. Sandy's Masters win (and victory jig) is one of my great memories of golf on TV.
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Some great memories there, whatever happened to Mr Lu!
 
MashieNiblick said:
Loved that pork pie hat. Would be a good GM article maybe.

Funny thing is, after posting that, I was thinking I would struggle to recall who won the Open in which year in the '90s and 2000's.
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The cynic in me did wonder if you were able to recite those stats from memory or whether you had to 'look up' your memories :D
 
MashieNiblick said:
Yep, the 70's were great.

I got into golf in time to watch (in B&W) Doug Sanders miss that putt at St Andrews in 1970 to give Jack the chance to win the Open next day in a playoff.

I watched (in colour now) Trevino battle with Mr Lu in '71 and then that epic Muirfield Open where Super Mex chipped in to beat both Jack (going for his 3rd Major of the year I think) and Jacklin, and I chewed my finger nails off; Weiskopf in '73 and and Player in '74 were not classics nor was 1975 - Watson (who's he?) winning his first; 1976 - Bang! Seve bursts on to the bone dry fairways. What a smile! What a player! But Miller wins with long hair and flares :eek: ; 1977 - The Duel in the Sun - perhaps greatest ever Open; 78 Jack's back!; 1979 Seve - Champion!!! (from the car park ;) :D).

Riveting stuff despite the dreaded announcement that "Now it's off to Hickstead (or wherever) while the players go out of range of our cameras".

Not much other golf though. B&H from Fulford I recall and the World Match Play from Wentworth and a bit of the Masters. And of course Pro-Celebrity Golf (ahh well there had to be a down-side). :D

Loved the 80's too. Sandy's Masters win (and victory jig) is one of my great memories of golf on TV.
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I have to agree with you , Seve was my hero , again he would have won a few more but for a few GREAT players around at the time , Jack, miller , Watson , Trevino , Faldo , Sandy L , Raymond Floyd and a few more...........:)
 
MashieNiblick said:
Loved that pork pie hat.
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Slightly different attitude to the 'signed glove' one for the Lady he hit as well!

Had the best record for an Asian, along with Isao Aoki, until Y E Yang won.

To me 'Now' - whenever that may be - is the best! May be a few epic battles in past times, but that's slightly different to the general improvement.

Some of the 'Bomb and Gouge' tournaments do get a bit tiresome though.
 
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Foxholer said:
Slightly different attitude to the 'signed glove' one for the Lady he hit as well!

Had the best record for an Asian, along with Isao Aoki, until Y E Yang won.

To me 'Now' - whenever that may be - is the best! May be a few epic battles in past times, but that's slightly different to the general improvement.

Some of the 'Bomb and Gouge' tournaments do get a bit tiresome though.
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Not to mention the non stop adverts and they seem to just follow Tiger even when he is last ....................EYG
 
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