Aging Boomer

Calling hybrids "long iron replacements" is the biggest deliberate lie in retail marketing. What replaced long irons are middle irons that are at least two clubs stronger in loft than than the middle irons with which I took up golf. In the case of some "game improvement" irons, it's even more than that. Hybrids have clearly replaced fairway woods. These were the lofts on TaylorMade's original "Pittsburgh Persimmon" fairway woods in 1980. 3-wood: 17° 4-wood: 20° 5-wood: 23° These were the lofts on the same company's Firesole Rescue utility hybrids a decade or so later. 15, 18, 21, 24­° If you don't believe me, do some homework on your Google machine. In my case, I just have to look at the old clubs. Now, what have hybrids really replaced?

The LPGA simply isn't popular enough to annoy people with the enforcement of their prissy rules, especially when it impacts the outcome of a tournament. The rules officials who made themselves a part of the show today deserve an unpleasant visit from thumb breakers as far as I'm concerned, and if I had a substantial bet on Pressel, they would have received it. I really like the young Spanish girl who got her first LPGA Tour win, but I know the poor kid can't feel very good about it. The whole slow play thing is nonsense to me anyway. I'm not a slow player, but if I don't have six hours to kill, I don't play golf. It's not a game for people in a hurry, and I honestly don't care for that type of impatient person anyway..

8° is the maximum bounce I can tolerate for a turf playable wedge. More than that, and I don't have the high, soft shot from forward in my stance.

That's what I have, except instead of the iron matching PW, I have my 9-iron bent 2° weak, and instead bag a favorite dedicated sand iron just for bunker play.

I can't begin to count the big manufacturers who have fallen off the earth in the past few years--either becoming inconsequential or extinct. Dunlop and Maxfli have split up, and since, neither is a major player. But also Wilson Spalding MacGregor H&B; PowerBilt Kroydon Hogan Ram PGA Tommy Armour Slazenger First Flight Merit Confidence Browning Ray Cook Reid Lockhart Lynx and so many others. Now it's just Taylormade, Callaway, Ping, Titleist, Cobra, Cleveland, Mizuno, Nike, Bridgestone and a few other smaller players. The big money Japanese OEMs like Miura, Epon, Onoff, PRGR, Fourteen, etc. don't account for many sales over here. It cannot be healthy for the game.

That's very possible. The US Olympic team hasn't produced charimatic boxers since DeLaHoya way back when. There's nothing charismatic about Andre Ward, for example. The heavyweight dominance of the Klitchko brothers did less to pull in white fans than it did to turn off American fans. I would have guessed otherwise, but I was completely wrong. That's probably a good thing. As for MMA, I found it a little bit more interesting before they changed the rules for more action. When an average size guy like Gracie could go into the guard for thirty or forty minutes until his bigger opponent was exhausted, and only then choke him out, that was sufficiently different from boxing to be interesting. Now, the part up on the feet is more prominent, but since the competitor has to protect more than the front half of the top half of his body as boxers do, the punching part can't be nearly as fluid and graceful as in world class boxing where, with a guy like DeLaHoya, you could name every punch and parry technique out of a textbook. He threw the jab like a piston, and when they ducked under it, the hook was there as a big surprise. (That's when he was young at 140 especially.) Still, I must admit, youngsters really go for MMA and times do change. Older boxing fans more or less stick with what we like, however., even though our PPVs are sixty-five bucks now. I used to plan my vacations around big Vegas fights, but with the modern security hassles, I don't like to fly anymore.

Not as much as most of you guys. Balls, tees, ball mark repair tool, GPS, cell phone, wallet, percodan, a couple bottles of water, insect repellant, Walther PPK, wet naps, and talcum powder. No cigarettes since 1994.

I've been a dedicated boxing fan since seeing the 1951 Robinson-LaMotta fight on a 12" black and white TV when I was four or five. Old time boxing fans don't care for MMA very much as a rule. I guess that I'm no exception.

Mortadella, capicola, prosciutto, provolone, sliced tomato, shredded lettuce, sliced green peppers, sliced red onions, sliced black olives, and spiced oil--all piled onto a whole baguette. This has been my traditional pre round breakfast for over 50 years. Now I'm 65, 265 lbs, take enough meds to choke a horse, and play to an 11. How this practice hasn't become universal is beyond me.

Birdieman, keep your Wilsons until you're in a position to buy the new set that you really want. Then keep your Wilsons as a beginning for your nostalgia collection. Don't fall into the trap of trading and flipping old golf clubs. It gets addictive, and it's usually counterproductive.

Breakthrough putter design copied by many--no question about it--but ½ shaft offset is the maximum with which I was ever able to live. There are an awful lot of them out there for them to be valuable, however. Anyway, golf clubs are to horde, not to flip! My man cave is lined with old golf bags. There's barely room for bookshelves, widescreen, recliners, speakers, and old boxing posters. Any broad gets instant PMS disposition just walking into the place so it's certainly not a mating nest. The money will be gone tomorrow so keep your old clubs!

Good time for me to revive this thread with recent sticks. These are GPS aided estimates. Fade bias driver: 235-240 (11.5°) Draw bias driver: don't hit it on straight holes so I don't know. (13°) Driving iron: 200 yds (18.5°) ________________ 19° fairway wood: 215 yds 23° fairway wood: 200 yds 5-iron: 182 yds (27°) 6-iron: 170 yds (31°) 7-iron: 158 yds (36°) 8-iron: 146 yds (41°) 9-iron: 134 yds (46°) 52W: 115 yds 58W: 95 yds _______________ dedicated sand iron: NA putter: NA I'm not short among my playing partners, so some of the yardages I've been seeing on this thread seem long to me. Just sayin'.

With a graphite shaft, it might have been interesting as a dedicated driving iron. With a steel shaft, it could be a hard sell.

Those old enough to remember matching sets of irons and woods will remember when all the shafts in the bag matched. Now I wonder how many people worry about mix and match shafts, because that's certainly what I have. Nakashima HTEC Tour…..11.5° fade bias driver Nakashima HTEC Tour…..13° draw bias driver …..Aldila En Fuego Habanero (R-flex) Wishon 929HS…..18° fairway wood Wishon 929HS…..23° (21° model hand picked for loft) fairway wood …..Aldila NVS-75 (R-Flex) Epon AF-901…..dedicated driving iron …..MachLine UT370 (R-flex) Wishon 555-C…..5-9 irons …..Aldila NV Pro 105 (R-Flex) Spin Doctor RI…..52, 58° (bent from 60) wedges …..stock Graman wedge flex graphite Lovett Tour Standard…..dedicated sand iron …..Harrison Star Plus (R-flex) Louisville HB…..putter …..hickory shaft That's a lot of different shafts, but I don't really see a negative impact from the mismatches. Maybe I'm just not good enough at an 11 for it to matter.

Our club pro fits Nakashima, Wishon, and Henry-Griffitts clubs on site at the club. Since the major OEMs switched from green grass pro shop sales to Golf Galaxie and Dick's Sporting Goods, I can't help but think that they're making "store clubs" similar to the Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge, MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear, and H&B; Louisville Grand Slam of days long gone by. Manufactured at a volume to stock these big chains and others, they can't possible be the same quality clubs that used to be sold in pro shops only back in the day. Another thing about the aforementioned brands fitted at our club: they eschew the garish textures and graphics that the major OEMs presently employ to make golf clubs look like licensed Star Wars toys. Still, few of the male members patronize the pro shop for anything but apparel. I'm an exception, but it's mostly young women that I seem to see getting fitted there.