Gaming the X31's

[AmazingWhacker]

About 2 years ago, I bought a set of late 1960's Wilson x31 irons on ebay for something like $50.  At the time I was playing a set of Ping i15's but I had gotten the idea that practicing with blades would improve my striking.

My x31's arrived in near perfect condition - and good looking clubs they are, too.  For the last 2 years, I've been using them, on and off, to hit balls into a net in my garage.  I have gotten to the point where I make pretty good contact with them and the feel they provide is so much nicer than my Pings.  They have a certain feel when flushed that is just hard to describe.

So today I took them out to play 9 holes of par 3 golf with my wife.  The local par3 is a South Texas masterpiece.  The longest hole is about 140 yards but there is frequently a 2 club wind.  The greens are small, hard and most are turtlebacked.  There is almost no shade and any balls that go into rough more than 3 inches deep are automatically lost for fear of snakes.

I learned something today.  Golf technology has indeed come a long way since 1968.  The x31's were around 2 clubs shorter than my Pings.  I had only grabbed my 7-PW and it turned out to be a very windy day.  The longest of the holes played into the wind and by the time I reached it, I knew I could never reach it with the x31 7iron.

My wife plays Calloway big bertha super GI clubs with graphite shafts.  I borrowed her 7iron and hit one of the best shots I have ever hit on that hole, landing on the front edge of the green.  Compared to the x31's, her Big Bertha had a definite trampoline-like quality and the ball rocketed off the clubface.  Better, I should say, than my i15's.  Where my i15's feel kinda dead, and the x31's feel like broomsticks . .the Big Bertha's feel like rubber bands, flinging the ball at the target.

I vowed to never take the x31's out of the garage again . .and to possibly check into some more forgiving clubs.  I really want to improve my swing and be able to hit the "players" clubs . .but it was fun blasting that shot with my wife's super GI 7iron . .with a super wide sole, whippy shaft, closed club face and huge offset.  I could definitely get used to that.

[AmazingWhacker]

Oh right - what did I shoot?  +14.  Booooooo.