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The Vintage Movement


Tim S
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The closest I have to "vintage" is a set of Nike forged blades from the aughts. Still need to put shafts and grips on those.

Unless the set of 70s Mizuno Altrons I have sitting around somewhere all of a sudden became a collector's item. 

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15º 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17º 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19º 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54º SW, 60º LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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5 minutes ago, jamo said:

The closest I have to "vintage" is a set of Nike forged blades from the aughts. Still need to put shafts and grips on those.

Unless the set of 70s Mizuno Altrons I have sitting around somewhere all of a sudden became a collector's item. 

Mizuno anything is something someone wants, guaranteed. Especially forged.

WIMB
TaylorMade Burner driver 10.5* REAX Reg
TaylorMade Burner 3-wood 15* REAX Reg
Mizuno MX-23 4-PW Reg Steel
Mizuno MP Series forged wedges 52, 56, 60
Putter:  Odyssey White Hot Rossie 36" --  Ball: Snell MTB Black

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I have some oldies that my dad gave me when I started golfing.  Wilson Dyna powered blades and some McGregor wooden woods.

I also have some old Ping Eye 2 irons, 1 3 & 5 Eye 2 wooden woods and a Ping eye2 putter.

I also have some Ping ISI wooden woods and copper and nickel ISI irons.

I was playing all this old stuff till I got my Miura's about 3 years ago.  Loved the look on peoples faces when I would hit it as far as they did with the old wooden woods.  Priceless!

Driver: :callaway: Diablo
Woods: :callaway: Big Bertha 2 & 4
Irons: Miura MC 102's 3 - PW & Mizuno MP 67's 3 - W
Wedges: :mizuno: MP-R12 52* & 58*
Putters: :ping: WRX Ti4

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I started playing golf seriously at age 40 with hand me down persimmon woods and blade irons.  They were nice but with such a small sweet spot on the clubs a 210 yard drive was great for a high handicapper like myself - same with the blades.  My father collected wooden shafted golf clubs and many of them were warped and unusable.  However there are some beauties that I wouldn't dare use and have been meaning to mount them in a display case.

As someone who will be turning 65 soon I appreciate the advances in golf club technology which allow me to still comfortably play from the men's tees.  I could pull out the old hand me downs from somewhere in my basement for the fun of it but I don't think my ego could take a steady diet of them.  For those of you that can consistently hit a sweet spot the size of dime I am sure that playing vintage clubs would be a blast.

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1 hour ago, NJpatbee said:

I started playing golf seriously at age 40 with hand me down persimmon woods and blade irons.  They were nice but with such a small sweet spot on the clubs a 210 yard drive was great for a high handicapper like myself - same with the blades.  My father collected wooden shafted golf clubs and many of them were warped and unusable.  However there are some beauties that I wouldn't dare use and have been meaning to mount them in a display case.

As someone who will be turning 65 soon I appreciate the advances in golf club technology which allow me to still comfortably play from the men's tees.  I could pull out the old hand me downs from somewhere in my basement for the fun of it but I don't think my ego could take a steady diet of them.  For those of you that can consistently hit a sweet spot the size of dime I am sure that playing vintage clubs would be a blast.

Sure, you play the oldies for fun. It's all about equalizing the field--four or eight buddies all playing clubs from the '60s and wood woods. The problem is the ball. Old balls have lost their bounce and are dried out, for the most part. A lot of the vintage groups play low compression balls meant for women. Then, the problem is the cover. Nothing's as soft as balata anymore, as far as I know.

Still, there are plenty of people out there collecting clubs and playing them. Just the look of them is inspiring, IMO. (And at 66, they are "inspiring" me to get out my OS clubs and hybrids!)

WIMB
TaylorMade Burner driver 10.5* REAX Reg
TaylorMade Burner 3-wood 15* REAX Reg
Mizuno MX-23 4-PW Reg Steel
Mizuno MP Series forged wedges 52, 56, 60
Putter:  Odyssey White Hot Rossie 36" --  Ball: Snell MTB Black

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I see this topic and the first thought that comes to mind is that most of the people into this "vintage" playing trip are relatively new to the game and didn't play these clubs before.

Considering that my playing set of irons are Hogan Edge clones from the early 90's, I still have my first nice set, PGA Tommy Armour woods and irons from the early 70's, and Golfcraft Dick Mayer woods from the 50's. I would never hit the woods anymore, too afraid they might break or old neck cracks would get worse. I tried my old 6 iron on a whim at the range a month ago, didn't hit a good shot, felt terrible, shots looked terrible. Those clubs from back then are so so so hard to hit relative to newer clubs (and my "new" clubs are pretty old). Sure are pretty though.

And I'm not sure compression of the ball is an issue, growing up we played 100 compression Titleists and Hogan Apexes and they felt really hard even though they were balata. I'd suggest that using old irons and woods nowadays you would want a ball that spins as much as balata, don't know that any are made these days. Just don't fit the current club design.

And I have yet to see anyone playing "vintage", I'm sure they are out there but I can't believe there are many of them. Talked to my old golf buddy that I grew up playing with 45 years ago, he still has his set of Hogan Apexes from the 70's but they are in a closet, been there forever, he is playing Pings. If you want to shoot a score something near your potential, you need newer clubs. Would I rather shoot 10+ strokes higher, hit the ball shorter, and have my hands hurt after most every iron shot? No thanks. But if that's your cup of tea, have fun!

Steve

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I think the appeal and curiosity to play vintage clubs is to see if you are good enough to shoot a decent round with the technology that Palmer, Nicklaus, Snead and Hogan used. You might need to step up to the forward tees, since courses nowadays are typically longer for the newer technology. The persimmons are beautiful works of art in their own right, and hitting one perfectly requires a more precise swing and concentration than you might use with today's forgiving technology. A nice set of persimmons in top condition will impress anyone under 40 at the range or on the course. Even though I use modern clubs on a day-to-day playing basis, I do have several drivers and persimmon sets that I air out on occasion. It's a whole different kind of swing and rewarding feel. 

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  • 1 month later...

The interest in these tournaments or groups is that the equipment levels the field, plus it is fun. The soft ball is a serious issue. We play with the early Taylormade metal woods, remember? When the driver was the size of a Little League baseball?  But seriously, those older metal woods deliver. Especially, for me, the 5-wood. I can still shape that club around anything...with modern balls.

Hickory has never interested me. I have some hickory putters and have sold some clubs, but they are certainly just a shelf item for me and not too interesting at that. I LOVE the age of innovation.

WIMB
TaylorMade Burner driver 10.5* REAX Reg
TaylorMade Burner 3-wood 15* REAX Reg
Mizuno MX-23 4-PW Reg Steel
Mizuno MP Series forged wedges 52, 56, 60
Putter:  Odyssey White Hot Rossie 36" --  Ball: Snell MTB Black

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  • 3 years later...

Digging this one out from the grave, as I am playing a vintage round today with @topoftheline89. He's been hunting down vintage stuff at rummage sales and junk places, and has 3 sets of old blades (mostly MacGregor I believe as they have some big time Dayton history), some old putters, and a set of persimmons. I'll be rocking my Sam Snead Blue Ridges today, with 2 sided putter and all. I seem to have lost the 9 iron and pw from my set, so I am either going to borrow those clubs from one of his sets, or roll with 8 iron and a big jump to some old sand wedge. I played these clubs regularly in my youth and a couple of times in my adulthood, so I know that I have the potential to hit them well, despite the fact that their swing weight is really heavy.

We will be playing from 6400 yards which is quite scary with persimmons, as even my modern driver tends to be only about 230-240 yards. Not expecting much more than 200 off the tee ever, and may end up hitting 2 iron more often than not if I can't get the persimmons working well. The course has water on 11 or so holes, so being in the middle will be really important.

Has anyone else revisited this fun adventure since the last time this was brought up? If so, what was your experience?

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Well we were in for a surprise when we got to the course(s). The shorter 2 tracks were to wet for play, so only our city championship course was open. Luckily it has less water than the other courses.. We played from the whites at 6700 yards, which was brutal with the wind. On top of that, I quickly learned that I can no longer hit my persimmons, so they stayed in the bag after the 2nd hole. This resulted in hitting approximately 40-50 2 irons on the day, which was loads of fun. I'd say that over half of those were actually quality strikes resulting in 180-200 yards depending on the roll out. I shot a 108 which I am very pleased with. I am normally just over 100 on this course with my gamers because it is so long. Losing 50 yards off of the tee and only seeing the strokes go up by 5-7 was awesome. I see more of these rounds in my future. May even re-grip the 2 iron and put it in place of my hybrid, just for sheer enjoyment.

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  • :titleist: 917 D2 9.5o EvenFlow blue shaft    :titleist: 917 F2 15o EvenFlow blue shaft    
  • :titleist: 818 H2 19o EvenFlow blue shaft 
  • :titleist: 712 AP2 4-PW
  • :vokey: 52/8o SM6 RAW    56/14o SM6 Chrome      60/4o SM6 Chrome
  • :ping: Anser Sigma G putter
  • :snell: MTB-Black Balls
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On 8/26/2016 at 4:28 PM, MrFlipper said:

If you want to shoot a score something near your potential, you need newer clubs. Would I rather shoot 10+ strokes higher, hit the ball shorter, and have my hands hurt after most every iron shot? 

I reckon the difference is nowhere near 10 shots. Apart from high handicappers,  3 shots is what I think is about the difference between my current set and my old blades and small headed metal woods from the late eighties. I reckon almost all of the shots gained is from a 460cc driver. 

Stevie T

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17 minutes ago, Beastie said:

I reckon the difference is nowhere near 10 shots. Apart from high handicappers,  3 shots is what I think is about the difference between my current set and my old blades and small headed metal woods from the late eighties. I reckon almost all of the shots gained is from a 460cc driver. 

For me, it was only 5-7 strokes today on a course that is longer than I normally play. I'm going to keep this thread alive for at least this year after reviving it from the dead, and I'll see how the score variance is compared to my "modern" clubs. Maybe I am not the best example for this, as my gamers are still blades, but it will be lots of fun to play 3-5 rounds this year with the vintage set, maybe more.

20200301_120300.jpg

The MacGregors were loaners on the day, and the 2 sided putter is hidden. Will be searching for a 9 iron and PW from the same line and era as the rest.

Edited by Bonvivant
picture added
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  • :titleist: 917 D2 9.5o EvenFlow blue shaft    :titleist: 917 F2 15o EvenFlow blue shaft    
  • :titleist: 818 H2 19o EvenFlow blue shaft 
  • :titleist: 712 AP2 4-PW
  • :vokey: 52/8o SM6 RAW    56/14o SM6 Chrome      60/4o SM6 Chrome
  • :ping: Anser Sigma G putter
  • :snell: MTB-Black Balls
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9 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Digging this one out from the grave, as I am playing a vintage round today with @topoftheline89. He's been hunting down vintage stuff at rummage sales and junk places, and has 3 sets of old blades (mostly MacGregor I believe as they have some big time Dayton history), some old putters, and a set of persimmons. I'll be rocking my Sam Snead Blue Ridges today, with 2 sided putter and all. I seem to have lost the 9 iron and pw from my set, so I am either going to borrow those clubs from one of his sets, or roll with 8 iron and a big jump to some old sand wedge. I played these clubs regularly in my youth and a couple of times in my adulthood, so I know that I have the potential to hit them well, despite the fact that their swing weight is really heavy.

We will be playing from 6400 yards which is quite scary with persimmons, as even my modern driver tends to be only about 230-240 yards. Not expecting much more than 200 off the tee ever, and may end up hitting 2 iron more often than not if I can't get the persimmons working well. The course has water on 11 or so holes, so being in the middle will be really important.

Has anyone else revisited this fun adventure since the last time this was brought up? If so, what was your experience?

The Sam Snead Blue Ridge really took me back, as that was my very first actual set of clubs. You're right about the swingweight. I think mine were about a D 15! 😉 My Dad took up golf when I was about 10. My Uncles on my Mom's side got him into it. Eventually, old clubs start laying and balls started laying around, and I dug a hole in the back yard and started chipping to it. My Dad even had some old hickory shafted club with names like "Niblick" and "Mashie", I really wish I had saved those clubs! 

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16 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

The Sam Snead Blue Ridge really took me back, as that was my very first actual set of clubs. You're right about the swingweight. I think mine were about a D 15! 😉 My Dad took up golf when I was about 10. My Uncles on my Mom's side got him into it. Eventually, old clubs start laying and balls started laying around, and I dug a hole in the back yard and started chipping to it. My Dad even had some old hickory shafted club with names like "Niblick" and "Mashie", I really wish I had saved those clubs! 

You can still find full sets for under 100 bucks, but they are probably worth less than you would pay for them since so many were made. I'm lucky to only be missing 4 clubs from a matching number set (no 2W 5W 9I or PW). Thanks for the awesome story. My dad grew up with a 6 hole pitch and putt in his backyard. He never did tell me what kind of clubs he used in his youth but I wouldn't be surprised if some were hickory. He was born in 1951, so he probably played backyard golf from 1957 to 1962. I never asked enough questions to him as we didn't get along the best. I miss him dearly, especially since getting back into golf the last year. Today, playing with the Blue Ridges made me proud to be his son, as he always played more traditional stuff, played the ball down, and took his over 100 scores with a smile. I try to do the same.

Edited by Bonvivant
  • :titleist: 917 D2 9.5o EvenFlow blue shaft    :titleist: 917 F2 15o EvenFlow blue shaft    
  • :titleist: 818 H2 19o EvenFlow blue shaft 
  • :titleist: 712 AP2 4-PW
  • :vokey: 52/8o SM6 RAW    56/14o SM6 Chrome      60/4o SM6 Chrome
  • :ping: Anser Sigma G putter
  • :snell: MTB-Black Balls
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3 hours ago, Beastie said:

I reckon the difference is nowhere near 10 shots. Apart from high handicappers,  3 shots is what I think is about the difference between my current set and my old blades and small headed metal woods from the late eighties. I reckon almost all of the shots gained is from a 460cc driver. 

             The small headed metal  woods from the mid 80's was the key to your statement. I have 80's metal Macgregor clubs and I easily drive 15-20 yards longer then with my persimmons. I would argue that if you played with persimons you would see where the other 7 shots comes from.

 

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Shot about 17 over my average using these old copper faced MT Tourney Clokorum M75s. I would say 9 of the 17 was due to me not having a swing today. 

75D0C823-685B-4EA9-B2E9-C6A60E17DC62.JPG

IMG_3333(1).JPG

IMG_3344.JPG

IMG_3348.JPG

Edited by topoftheline89
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WITB:

:ping: G25 8.5 with Hazardous black stiff shaft. Anser 3W 15 degree

 :mizuno: MP-14 3-9. 51* Mizuno, :cleveland:54* Cleveland RAW ,60*  588 :odyssey: #2 Stricker special

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6 hours ago, topoftheline89 said:

             The small headed metal  woods from the mid 80's was the key to your statement. I have 80's metal Macgregor clubs and I easily drive 15-20 yards longer then with my persimmons. I would argue that if you played with persimons you would see where the other 7 shots comes from.

 

I played with persimmons for about 2 years as a kid. I don’t remember a jump in distance of 20yds, but it was a long time ago! 

Stevie T

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My regular game irons are still the Lynx Parallax my dad let me use as he no longer plays golf. As I understand they are about 30 years old at this point but I love the look of them. A bit similar to Eye 2s. I dont see a reason to change to another iron set.

I have some old Ben Hogan Persimmons acting as nice looking wall items also from my grandpa's old set. They look nice but I was afraid of hitting them because of what was mentioned above about urethane covers.

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Note: This thread is 1464 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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