{"id":1558,"date":"2006-11-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-11-06T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/uncategorized\/clubs_i_loved_and_why_i_loved_them\/"},"modified":"2006-11-06T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-11-06T14:00:00","slug":"clubs_i_loved_and_why_i_loved_them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/bag_drop\/clubs_i_loved_and_why_i_loved_them","title":{"rendered":"Clubs I Loved and Why I Loved Them"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BagAs I wrote last week’s Bag Drop<\/em> on the new Nike and Callaway square drivers<\/em><\/a>, it occurred to me that despite all the proven and promised performance improvements over the past few years, golf clubs have lost something, at least for me.<\/p>\n

The clubs in my bag do work better than any I ever used before. But I don’t love them. Somewhere along the way they’ve become simply tools to use until something better comes along. Which, thanks to constant innovation by clubmakers, happens more and more often.<\/p>\n

Outside of perhaps my wedges and putter, none were selected for their looks. All are free agents subject to waiver at any time. Despite shooting a career round with them this year, there’s no emotional attachment. And that’s kind of sad.
\n
\nThat’s because I remember how I felt about certain clubs I once used and how I used them long enough to really get to trust and treasure them. So here’s a highly personal and subjective list of the best I ever had…<\/p>\n

Toney Penna Model 1 Driver<\/strong>
\nI wish I had a picture of this club to share with you, but I don’t. It was beautiful, it was one of a kind, and it had a pedigree to match.<\/p>\n

Before he founded his own company (which ultimately became Nicklaus Golf<\/a>), Toney Penna<\/a> was responsible for designing all of MacGregor’s most famous and classic clubs from 1937 until 1966. Hogan, Nelson, Nicklaus all played and won with his designs.<\/p>\n

I bought this club at a driving range after spending an afternoon hitting every driver they had. With its deep face, bright red insert, and strong loft (as I recall, about 7°), it just worked for me. But I almost didn’t buy it because it was so ugly. It had a dark brown stain with black toner accents sprayed around the edges – usually a sign the maker was trying to hide an inferior piece of persimmon.<\/p>\n

But I did buy it and drove immediately to a clubmaker I knew. Inspired, I think, by the look of Nicklaus’ driver, I had him strip the finish to produce a light blond color that, amazingly, revealed a stunning, tight persimmon grain. What a beauty.<\/p>\n

I used that club for something like seven years and gave it loving care… keeping it dry, waxing it often, regripping it frequently. Finally, though, it somehow absorbed moisture and became head-heavy. I sent it back to Penna to be re-weighted, but it was never the same.<\/p>\n

About that time along came the TaylorMade Tour Burner<\/a> driver with its graphite shaft and the Penna became history. I gave it to a friend’s son. I wish I hadn’t. It was the most beautiful club I ever owned.<\/p>\n

Hogan Saber<\/strong>
\n\"HoganMy father gave me this club for Christmas in 1987, shortly before he passed away. He’d almost won his club championship (which they subsequently named for him) using one that season.<\/p>\n

What’s interesting is that this small laminated wood head with its heavy brass sole plate, cambered sole, and 7 wood loft pre-dated Callaway’s Heavenwood by almost a decade and today’s hybrids by nearly twenty years. It was money out of the rough and I used it for several seasons before it lost its place in the bag when I turned to a Ping 1 iron.<\/p>\n

Since then it’s variously hung on the wall or lived in my bag of treasured clubs. But, for obvious reasons, it always stays in my heart.<\/p>\n

Ping Eye2 1 Iron<\/strong>
\nWhen Lee Trevino made the crack that not even God could hit a 1 iron, he obviously hadn’t hit a Ping Eye2 1 iron. What a club. While I was never strong enough to be able to hit if from anything but a nearly perfect lie, it was my go-to club off the tee and from about 220 into the green (back when I could hit anything 220).<\/p>\n

Karsten Solheim’s brilliant perimeter weighting innovation was most effective, I think, in the long irons. This 1 iron was, compared to the tiny forged blades in traditional irons, immense and with its broad heavy sole exceptionally easy to get up in the air.<\/p>\n

It also came with a guilty pleasure. After striping one down the fairway, playing companions would ask what I hit. Invariably, I’d get oohs and ahhs when I told them it was a 1 iron. Ego boost? You bet. That’s really why I loved it.<\/p>\n

Ping Eye Irons<\/strong>
\nI picked up a set of Ping Eye irons about the same year the Eye2 models were introduced. I choose the older model because the slightly smaller head just suited my eye better – even if both were ugly as sin.<\/p>\n

Like many golfers of the time, switching to Ping irons was a true epiphany. Never, ever had I hit irons as far, as high, or as straight as I did with those Pings. They were just awesome.<\/p>\n

After about six seasons with them, I got the itch for new clubs and sold the Eyes to an acquaintance. After thrashing my way through sets of Yonex’s, MacGregor’s, and Zing’s, I tracked down the buyer and bought them back, to his profit. That’s love. And that’s why I still have them.<\/p>\n

Ping Eye2 BeCu Lob Wedge<\/strong>
\n\"PingOne of the first lob wedges produced, the Ping Eye2 lob wedge with its square grooves quickly earned an almost legendary (some might say infamous) status in the hands of wizards like Mark Calcavecchia.<\/p>\n

The beryllium copper version was no doubt the best with its heavier head and softer feel. It’s no longer made because of OSHA and environmental concerns. Turns out this material is very toxic and it’s apparently just too expensive for Ping to manufacture in a safe way.<\/p>\n

I love mine… or I should I say “ours.” It’s true owner is my PGA pro friend Marty Strumpf who reshafted it with a Dynamic Gold shaft and then lent it to me oh, about seven years ago. Every year I remind him I’m going to return it. And I will. Someday.<\/p>\n

Bobby Grace Fat Lady Swings<\/strong>
\n\"GraceI’m notoriously fickle about putters. In fact, I ordered another one even as I wrote this column when Marty called to say he was putting in an order for the new Ping Redwood series<\/a> putters about to come out.<\/p>\n

Still, of the couple dozen or so I have in current inventory, one putter I have gets more love. I remember I ordered it not long after Nick Price used it to win the 1994 PGA. Made by Bobby Grace before he allied himself with Cobra and then MacGregor, my original Fat Lady Swings made so many clutch putts I remember so vividly that I could never give it up.<\/p>\n

Actually, mine became special to me after it broke. On the 10th hole in the first round I played with it, the shaft came loose from the head. When I took it to my clubmaker to be re-glued, he had me hold it on the floor in my putting stance until the epoxy kicked.<\/p>\n

Something happened in the process. I don’t know if the lie angle changed or whether the shaft twisted slightly (double bend shafts are notoriously difficult to align perfectly), but after that it was deadly, especially on slower Bermuda greens. To this day it’s still my choice when I head south. I love it.<\/p>\n

In the End…<\/strong>
\nMaybe it’s just because I’ve played for so long that new clubs just don’t evoke much emotion from me. Then again, maybe they don’t deserve any, transitory as they’ve become.<\/p>\n

So I’m curious… are there any clubs past or present that have strummed your heartstrings?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Golf clubs have changed. Product life cycle is measured in months. Beauty gives way to bizarre. Technology trumps tradition. And I’ve fallen out of love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bag_drop"],"yoast_head":"\nClubs I Loved and Why I Loved Them (Bag Drop) - The Sand Trap .com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesandtrap.com\/b\/bag_drop\/clubs_i_loved_and_why_i_loved_them\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Clubs I Loved and Why I Loved Them (Bag Drop) - The Sand Trap .com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Golf clubs have changed. 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