Buying new equipment

[apex53]

Just curious if anyone here has purchased new equipment only to go back to your "old" equipment? I bought some new irons but after five rounds I have put my old irons back in the bag. Granted, the weather hasn't been great and I haven't had a lot of opportunties to get to the practice tee to hit the new irons as much as I'd like. I'm going to give them a fair shake when it warms up but at this point the "olds" will be my gamers.

Anyone else experienced this?

[WUTiger]

Just curious if anyone here has purchased new equipment only to go back to your "old" equipment?

A guy I took lessons from circa 1975 had one golden rule as far as equipment goes:

* Never sell a driver, putter, or pitching wedge. You never know when you might want them back in the bag.

[apex53]

I think that's sound advice! I just read an article in Golf World today about some of the amateurs' equipment at the Hope and how it was outdated... The article also mentioned several pros who are using older equipment... I suppose it goes back to what looks good to you at address and what inspires confidence... I hit the new irons on the practice tee before I bought them and they felt solid but right now I'm sticking with my 660's...

[DonW]

Last winter I replaced my entire bag, driver and fairways were 30 years old, irons 15 years old. Bought some "Game Improvement" irons, played the most golf in a season I ever have yet struggled to break 100, I couldn't hit greens to save my life with the new irons. Accuracy was horrible (I suspect the uniflex shafts are to blame for this) also very frustrated trying to use these oversized (klunky) irons for chips and short pitches. Breaking point came when my cousins whipped my butt severely, we're usually very evenly matched. Went looking for Wilson Ci7s found Pi7s at a huge discount, have only played 5 rounds all in the low 90s all at new to me courses in windy cold fall conditions. Today I pulled out my old Wilson forged irons and compared them to the Pi7s and they are nearly identical in size and shape. Now if I could just have my old fairways back, gave them to my sons buddy who is just starting to play and I don't have the heart to ask for them back as he is loving them. The only thiing I don't miss is my old driver. When the snow melts I am looking forward to once again shooting an ocasional round in the 80s and I am going to play my old clubs to see if I actually gained anything in buying the Pi7s, I suspect I should have just gone back to my old forged Wilsons.

[JVermillionAF]

Plus you never know when the rules will change and you will need an old club out of your garage that has been grandfathered in....haha

[Gioguy21]

I've had Ping ISI-K's since i was the ripe old age of 12...(i'm now 24) and bought a set of Nike CCI Forged Irons a few years ago...only to relinquish them to Ebay after all of 6 rounds. The accuracy wasn't there and the distance gains were merely but honeymoon dreams. I'm praying that this isn't the same with the new Burners I just got...we'll see.

[Farm_kid]

Interesting thread. I think the experiences make a good case for proper clubfitting. My tip in the mean time for those with new clubs is to work at making confident-solid swings at 50%, then up it to 75%, then when you feel confidnet with the ball striking, go ahead and start trying 100% swings.

[jurban05]

helpful information. thanks all

[lumpuckeroo]

I have not but one of my buddies played a Callaway driver, BB II with a Grafalloy shaft, he changed to the next version but with a UST shaft, what a mistake. He is a pretty good sliced of the ball but this was crazy, I swear the ball would start to come backwards. He went back to the old driver and spent several more years before he found a head/shaft combination that worked for him.

[WUTiger]

Once I figured out the basics of golf, I played:
* TopFlite irons (R) for 9 years, plus Wilson woods for the last 8.
* MacGregor MT irons (S) for 20 years, plus MT persimmon woods for the last 12.
* ProTour (S) irons [Ping Eye-2 clones] for 14, plus assorted metal woods along the way.

Basically, I don't change out clubs unless there's pressing technical gains to be made, or I have a physical change (like being 59 yrs. old, going to R/Uniflex shafts). So, I haven't really gone back to anything other than occasionally an old wedge, or a former putter. Putters may come back in if I move, or change "home" course and find different/faster/slower greens.

[apex53]

Plus you never know when the rules will change and you will need an old club out of your garage that has been grandfathered in....haha

Good point! You never know...