Does Anybody Else Ever Play With Their Old Persimmon Woods and Blades?

[dbuck]

I don't know how I missed this recently resurrected thread back in the day, but evidently I didn't post in it. I went for a few years recently playing most of my golf with vintage clubs, mostly Wilson or Hogan blades and various persimmon or laminate woods. I scored around 90 which is only slightly worse than my current handicap of 13, but I don't know if I still could. I have been focused on modern equipment for the past 18 months or so, and haven't been out with the old stuff. I have been watching some of those old Masters broadcasts that were recently released on YouTube, and it  is giving me the "itch". I have hit a few yard balls with one of my persimmon drivers and a Hogan Apex PC 6 iron. When a nice day comes along, I may take some old friends out for a spin.

[gbdoc0815]

I’m now 84, age-appropriately decrepit plus a few other baddies. Hcp never lower than about 15, now more like 22. My swing speed’s way down, probably under 72mph, so I have whippy shafts on all my clubs. When I started playing, over 70 years ago, woods were mostly all persimmon, and I’ve kept most of them. I began using metal woods years ago, and they were fine and long, but for some reason I began to lose control with them - often slicing, the occasional duck hook. A couple of years ago I tried my persimmons again, and made a useful discovery. While the metal woods were longer, I often ended up in the rough, jungle, or worse, and my Hcp soared. With the persimmons (1, 3, 5) I’m shorter, but much more accurate, almost always stay on the short grass, which has improved my Hcp - I even have the occasional bogey round (gross). I have the impression that persimmons have much more effective bulge and roll than the metals (which, however, have the trampoline effect providing length), and that’s a great help.

Altogether, I wish I’d had the idea years ago, and I can highly recommend persimmons (with whippy shafts) nor only for older golfers, but they’d probably be most useful for most mid-handicappers, too.

[Themightyoz]

I have a whole set from driver, 3w, 5w, 7w, 9w might give them a go again

[DavidBedwetter]

Wilson Tour Blades (C.1985?), Warbird steel shafted driver and 5 wood, Tommy Armour laminated 7 wood for me.  So no persimmon, but nothing from the current millennium. I prefer the old stuff.  Pushing 70, I'm comfortable with my level of incompetence and don't see the point in emptying my bank account for clubs that may give me a couple of extra yards.  Plus, I admit it gives me a bit of guilty pleasure to beat guys using my relics.  Not that I'm any great golfer, but I do okay.   

[Carl3]

Thought this "wood" be a great place to post some pics of my grandad's set of Kenneth Smith 1, 3 and 5 woods. I love how his name and a serial number are located on the bottom:

 

These were the best you could buy back then. Although my grandad played in the 1935 US Open, we was only 21 at the time. I would place these clubs as in the 1970's when he was nearing retirement from his corporate job.

Edited September 1, 2024 by Carl3

[Ty_Webb]

Fascinating question. I do have a persimmon driver in my garage. I haven't done it in a good long while, but if I'm struggling to find the middle of the face with my driver, I will take the persimmon one to the range. Takes about 3 shots to find it and it does pass back. The feedback from my current driver is marginal if I'm somewhat close. You have to miss by a lot to actually be able to tell where on the face you hit it. With the persimmon one, if you're a quarter inch off it lets you know. It's a good training tool. Haven't taken it on the course in over 25 years though.