Don't forget about your old equipment

[Nyper]

The latest Golf Digest has an article about some old equipment you can toss out. I just wanted to post a counterpoint to that here - don't be afraid to pull out some of your older equipment and try it out.

I've been having lots of problems hitting my driver consistently the last couple of months. I've been hitting a Titleist 909 D2. My longest drives were in the 280 range.

This weekend I decided to pull out some of my old drivers and take them with me to the course. I hit them on the range before my round, and found that I was hitting my Cleveland Launcher 460 the best. So I stuck it in my bag and tossed out the Titleist.

That turned out to be the best decision I've made in a long time. I've played three rounds with it since and have hit several 300+ drives. More importantly, I'm hitting more fairways. I had 5 birdies in one round this weekend, and I even missed a 5 footer for a 6th birdie. (previously I've had 4 birdies once - never more). ---- (quick, small brag - at my home course one Par 5 has always been pretty much unreachable to me. I've only reached the green once, and that was with driver + 3 wood from about 240, downwind. I hit it this weekend with driver + 4 iron from 200, no wind).

This driver is from 2004. It's 6 years old, but for me personally, it is outperforming lots of new equipment I've spent money on. Don't be afraid to dig out some old stuff that may work better for you just because it is no longer the latest greatest.

[chilly]

That article is about the most worthless thing I've ever seen in a magazine, and that's saying something.

I enjoy buying cheap older equipment so I can fiddle with variety. Right now I have 9 drivers, all relatively cheap, the oldest being from 2005. I've taken them out on many occasions and hit them alongside a new demo driver from my club. The biggest difference is the older clubs had crappy shafts, but I usually upgrade with a cheap decent shaft I get off Ebay (think cheap but good shafts like Proforce V2 or Prolaunch Reds). Once you put a decent shaft in the old clubs, to put them on a level field with newer clubs, I see very little if any difference. I'm a 15hcp, kind of hard to get the consistency to determine if a "new" club gives me 2yds more carry.

I'd love to see an independent test that compares 2006 drivers versus 2010 drivers (with same quality shaft) and see what the difference really is?

[delav]

That Golf Digest article frustrated me as well. It was as if the magazine was trying to convince us that the short product life cycle that exists in the golf industry is somehow justified by advancement in technology... rather than market saturation.

But, I won't complain as this only bring piles of slightly used golf equipment to ebay at steep discounts. I'll let someone else pay MSRP and I'll find it in 6 months.

I keep several old clubs in the basement that I hit from time to time. Honestly, the Titleist 975D (UST proforce 65) and my old DCI 962 irons still reward with excellent shots.

[treebound]

I wouldn't be surprised if the newest club I own is no less than 10 years old. The last brand new complete set of irons or woods I bought was probably back in the 1980's (still got 'em too, metal shafts, Persimmon heads on the woods). I think the last new club I bought from a store was either a putter or 1-iron over 15 years ago. Everything else, as far as clubs go, I've bought used. Main reason is costs.

I'd really like to get a brand new set of clubs, even hit some nice ones during various demo days, but for the last 10 years at least it just hasn't been in my budget. Hopefully there will be a glut of 1-3 year old clubs at thrift shops and rummage sales this year due to that article because I'd really like to upgrade my gear by a decade or two.

At least my current soon to be active set is mostly graphite shafted.

I think I'm the skew in their demographic stats.

[WUTiger]

I swap out golf equipment about every 10 years, so for any season there's a 65% chance GolfD will be upset with my bag mix.

Like, are GolfD guys going to roam around and hassle classic club players on the driving range before they tee off?

[ks8829]

I just replaced my two ball putter with a old Yonex ADX blade putter and enjoying the change, putting just as well with more feedback from the putter.

I have an old Titleist 983 Driver that I might put back in my bag and take out my R5 driver.

[mattttt25]

As I continue my search for new clubs, I keep looking at my current old sticks- Tommy Armour 855. I may be in love again. Just love the thin looks with a cavity back. I may just keep them.

[BSH]

Intersting thread.....


I played with a 909 all last year and didn't drive the ball very well. That's out and the 983k is back in the bag.

I am thinking about some new fairway woods though. A buddy bought a TM r9 3-wood and that thing is sweet.

[Shindig]

As someone who just replaced a newer putter with an older one... I agree whole-heartedly.

In fact, reading that article made me think again of finding the Nike SQ 5900 that they listed as obsolete and giving it a try.

[jamo]

To me, I found that some of their writers had a - dare I say it- elitist attitude, especially during the NBC equipment special that Gold Digest did. A couple of year old driver won't kill you, and a lot of people can't tell the difference. And look at the irons, how are the Titleist 755's outdated? What technology is in the 710 CB's that you can't get out of the 755's. Look, I like shiny new stuff as much as the next guy, but I didn't like this article at all, it was just a way to hype all of the OEM's.

[Cussin hacker]

To me golf Technology has reached a point where it will not get much better for now. The PGA has set limits on how much they will allow as far as Tech go's. Hey companies do a great job of convincing many people they have to upgrade every year or two. It's all about sales. I replaced all of my stuff late last year into early this year, but my stuff was 15+ years old. It took a while, but I have all I need for a few years. Other than a White hot Twoball used putter at some point down the road.

[Meddle]

As an idea for an article I thought it had merit. Compare equipment made say 5 or 10 years ago to what is coming out now through a series of objective, repeatable tests on a swing machine or something, and give the results. Being a person who hasn't tried a ton of different equipment out, I would love to see how my irons measure up to irons of the past and present. However, the actual article itself in GD was just really poorly done. They didn't say how they tested the irons they talked about, they just proclaimed on their own authority which irons are outdated and which aren't.

[Upchuck]

Wondering if a should buy new irons. I have a set of king cobra II that must be 10 yrs. old. Golf Digest released their obsolete club list this month & they have clubs that aren't nearly as old as mine on that list. Considering the mag makes quite a bit of money off advertising for clubs I wonder if my clubs are actually obsolete. I always figure that if I put a good swing on the ball I get good results. Just looking for some opinions. Thanks in advance.

Chuck

[clubhousehero]

If you hit them fine, then no. Iron technology changes the slowest of all the equipment.

[IcemanYVR]

There's a good thread about that here.

According to this article, all my clubs are obselete, with the exception of my putter. According to my scores, the article is obselete ;)

[Cussin hacker]

Upchuck........If your clubs are in good shape and you hit them well why change? As you said advertising has convinced people there stuff is old and useless and that's not always the case despite what they say.

[Shindig]

Do you hit them well? Unless you're in that <1% that can take advantage of the freshest grooves on all clubs, and aren't able to do so with your irons, stick with them.

According to this article, all my clubs are obselete

Dude, MP-33s are not obsolete. I just bought a 6-iron from that.

[Taggsy]

I seldom read golf magazines. The bottom line for those publications is turning a profit, not providing the reader with a quality read.

The magazines generate profit in two ways; selling their publication to readers, and selling advertising space to golf companies. Unfortunately for the reader, the magazines earn more from advertising than actually selling their product.
For this reason, the magazines look out more for golf manufacturers' interests than ours.

They do this primarily with favorable reviews, but also with crap articles commanding we update our gear yearly to shoot lower scores.

If the pros back in the 1950s could shoot a round in the 60s with their equipment, then there's nothing stopping you doing the same with a 10 year old set of clubs.