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

[TheGolfClubDoc]

I have recently started to play with persimmon drivers and fairway woods along with blade irons. I have a 1, 3, and 5 Walter Hagen set of persimmon clubs. They aren't in the best shape, but they are more than playable. And I have a set of Spalding Double Eagle blade irons 2-PW. Been playing with an Acushnet Bullseye putter as well. I like the feel of them. And the sound of the persimmons is addicting. I don't perform as well but it isn't a significant drop off. But I will say it is a lot more fun for me to play with those vintage clubs. I get questioned all the time as why I bother playing with such old clubs. Idk, I just like them. And I want to get better with them. 

[Hacker James]

Yep, sometimes, no blades recently, but had set of forged Hogan Edges (cavity back). My first set of clubs were Bobby Jones woods, and blade irons with leather grips. I will take the Persimmon along sometimes and found that it will help get some timing back when  I lose it.

Edited September 20, 2018 by Hacker James

[TheGolfClubDoc]

10 hours ago, Hacker James said:

Yep, sometimes, no blades recently, but had set of forged Hogan Edges (cavity back). My first set of clubs were Bobby Jones woods, and blade irons with leather grips. I will take the Persimmon along sometimes and found that it will help get some timing back when  I lose it.

I have a set of the Ben Hogan Edge forged cavity back irons 2-SW. They have terrific feel. 

[mike smith]

Golf with wilson fg51 blades and persimmon woods (3 and 5) but use a louisville golf persimmon driver with a graphite shaft. My normal clubs are ping isi irons, ping g15 driver, cleveland 5 metal, callaway 3 metal. Oddly my best scores have been with the old blades and woods. Sometimes even hit the persimmon driver farther, but am under no delusions about it being the longest driver.

  I think with the simple blades sitting square and having no distracting shapes you hit solid more times. Think the new clubs confuse my somewhat simple brain. Anyway, love the old clubs and may play a whole season with them next year. Kind of a history guy, but think they sound wonderful compared to "modern clubs".

[FrivolouslyWasted]

41 minutes ago, mike smith said:

Golf with wilson fg51 blades and persimmon woods (3 and 5) but use a louisville golf persimmon driver with a graphite shaft. My normal clubs are ping isi irons, ping g15 driver, cleveland 5 metal, callaway 3 metal. Oddly my best scores have been with the old blades and woods. Sometimes even hit the persimmon driver farther, but am under no delusions about it being the longest driver.

  I think with the simple blades sitting square and having no distracting shapes you hit solid more times. Think the new clubs confuse my somewhat simple brain. Anyway, love the old clubs and may play a whole season with them next year. Kind of a history guy, but think they sound wonderful compared to "modern clubs".

I’ve been looking to get  a set of FG-51s. I’m an old school Wilson Staff guy. Typically play FG-17s, but sometimes rotate my Goosenecks into the bag. 

 

I haven’t got any persimmons anymore. I need to snag some so I can go all classic sometimes. My usual rounds are played with my old irons and putter but newer driver, woods and hybrids

[CaseyD]

Lots of younger golfers don’t realize that the saying “he hit that one on the screws” comes from the persimmon era. 

[tinker]

Still play with my rechromed, rebuilt Macgregor VIP irons all the time. Ti driver does go farther than old persimmon, I have a nice set of Wood Brothers woods, but I use a 400 cc Alpha driver I can control much better than the 460 stuff. I score just as good or better than with the new low lofted stuff. I have no trouble hitting a 3 or 4 iron which is the key to using traditional irons and having all your yardage gaps. 

[Groucho Valentine]

I have a set of old mcgregor persimmons and irons. But i never use them. Id like to use them every now and then but real reason i dont is actually because of the grips are all ratty and torn up. And im too cheap to regrip an entire set of clubs ill only use once or twice a year. 

[Bill Catron]

It is "interesting" that several people have written that there is relatively little distance between their old blades and their new clubs. I say "interesting" as in many cases the loft difference is as much as 7 degree stronger in many of today's irons. I have attached a chart that shows the "lofts" for men's woods and irons back in the 1970's. When you realize that today's 6 iron loft ranges from 30 or 31degrees down to and lower than 27 degrees (Titleist AP3's are 27 degrees, Callaway Apex Pro's are 30 degrees) and then see where Wilson  (i.e. Staff Model) Irons were at 35 degrees back in the blade day. Actually the MacGregor's were 36 deg. making them a whopping 9 degrees weaker that today Titleist AP3 and DXG 0311P (Player's) Irons. 

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Bill Catron said:

It is "interesting" that several people have written that there is relatively little distance between their old blades and their new clubs. I say "interesting" as in many cases the loft difference is as much as 7 degree stronger in many of today's irons. I have attached a chart that shows the "lofts" for men's woods and irons back in the 1970's. When you realize that today's 6 iron loft ranges from 30 or 31degrees down to and lower than 27 degrees (Titleist AP3's are 27 degrees, Callaway Apex Pro's are 30 degrees) and then see where Wilson  (i.e. Staff Model) Irons were at 35 degrees back in the blade day. Actually the MacGregor's were 36 deg. making them a whopping 9 degrees weaker that today Titleist AP3 and DXG 0311P (Player's) Irons. 

@Bill Catron, as has been stated many, many times here… there's more to launch conditions than a club's loft.

[billchao]

1 hour ago, Bill Catron said:

It is "interesting" that several people have written that there is relatively little distance between their old blades and their new clubs. I say "interesting" as in many cases the loft difference is as much as 7 degree stronger in many of today's irons. I have attached a chart that shows the "lofts" for men's woods and irons back in the 1970's. When you realize that today's 6 iron loft ranges from 30 or 31degrees down to and lower than 27 degrees (Titleist AP3's are 27 degrees, Callaway Apex Pro's are 30 degrees) and then see where Wilson  (i.e. Staff Model) Irons were at 35 degrees back in the blade day. Actually the MacGregor's were 36 deg. making them a whopping 9 degrees weaker that today Titleist AP3 and DXG 0311P (Player's) Irons. 

I find that interesting, but not in the same way you do. In addition to what @iacas wrote above, the fact that players are hitting today's clubs just as far as their old blades from the 70's is a testament to modern club technology. 

People who were using blades in the 70's are now 40 years older and hitting just as far as they used to...

[Bill Catron]

Don't know if I am on the same page as you and @iacas in our discussion in regards to many people saying that they are finding that when they go back and use their old blades they are hitting the ball the same distance as when they play their current set of irons. I was pointing out that is was interesting that they would be the about the distance as the loft on the 1970's era clubs were 5 to almost 10 degrees weaker. 40 years later has cost most of us a considerable lost of distance from what we used to hit the "blades" (then vs. now) and with the new technology we are fortunate to be getting a lot of that yardage back. If I understand @ianacs point correctly about launch conditions, one can certainly change the loft of the club to influence the launch angle during a swing but the comparison should be based on the swing (i.e angle of attack) being made the same for both set of clubs. Recently I put together a set of Tour edition Wilson Staffs and set all the loft to the original (i.e. 6 iron @ 35 deg.) and have found that most of the the difference in carry distance is about 1 & 1/2 clubs between the old blades and my new Apex Pros which I attribute to the loft of the blades being much weaker.

 

[iacas]

It goes beyond changing the AoA. CG, shaft length, flex point, etc.

Also I really don’t think very many players are switching back and hitting it the same yardage. Not in general.

[billchao]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

Also I really don’t think very many players are switching back and hitting it the same yardage. Not in general.

I agree with this. I've done this experiment and I think I posted it somewhere. Modern club vs vintage, same lofts (so a modern 7i and a vintage 6i or something). Modern club was both longer and more forgiving with more consistent distances. Much more playable than the vintage set.

If I find it I will share it again.

[iacas]

34 minutes ago, billchao said:

I agree with this. I've done this experiment and I think I posted it somewhere. Modern club vs vintage, same lofts (so a modern 7i and a vintage 6i or something). Modern club was both longer and more forgiving with more consistent distances. Much more playable than the vintage set.

If I find it I will share it again.

And that's with the same loft. Go to the older weaker lofts and just pit a modern 7I against an older 7I and I have very, very strong doubts that they're hitting them just as far.

[billchao]

Just now, iacas said:

And that's with the same loft. Go to the older weaker lofts and just pit a modern 7I against an older 7I and I have very, very strong doubts that they're hitting them just as far.

Yea, I deliberately compared clubs with the same lofts to test the "loft = distance" stuff. There's no way I'm hitting a vintage 7i as far as a modern one, and I'm talking about blades. The shaft difference plays a role I'm sure.

[mike smith]

I can't hit my wilson fg51's as far as my pings, but it's not how far you hit irons ists hoe accurate you are. My pitching wedge on a cold northwest day is enough to embarrass the hell out of me until it stops within 3 feet. The irons are also shorter. I'm average distance with pings and ti driver, but i don't mind being. shorter

[Buckeyebowman]

A couple years ago I had the shaft of my 7 iron (TM Burner+) snap inside the grip! While waiting for it to be re-shafted I stuck my old Tommy Armour 855S 7 iron in the bag. There was no comparison! The Tommy Armour felt thin, tinny, and inconsequential when hitting a shot as compared to the TM's.

Then last year, after rummaging around in a closet, I came across my old persimmon 4 wood that I had built as part of a set way back in the day. I thought it might suffice as a 5 wood, which I was kind of on the lookout for. It was a total no go! I think part of the problem may have been the shaft, which was a True Temper Dynamic Gold stiff steel shaft. I swung a lot harder back then, and when I tried it now every shot I hit just felt dead! 

By comparison my buddy's Son bought him a Titleist 5 wood a couple years ago. I think it's the 915 but can't be sure. I've hit it a couple of times and Lord almighty! It sure does go!