WilsonsRBest

Exactly. This is really a silly, no, stupid debate. I work with kids in the First Tee program and the clubs are donated. You don't hear these kids whining about what kind of clubs to swing. If folks spent the time that they spend looking at new equipment (cavity back, muscleback, drivers, etc) and half the money they spend on new equipment on lessons instead, they would make a much more measurable improvement in their games than any club could make.

See my setup below. Occasionally I will take out my Strata-Bloc woods, but I wish to save them.

You should always have the loft/lie and length of your putter adjusted to fit you. Golfers today have their launch angle, clubhead speed, ball speed, loft, lie all measured and tested on a computer, yet they expect to just grab a putter off the rack and roll a few balls on the carpet in the store to pick a putter. Fit the putter to your stroke. My 1955 Macgregor M2 putter is 35.5 inches long with 5.5* of loft

Actually, the process for older forged clubs was a little different than todays forging. Older clubs were 'triple forged and triple chromed' with a layer of copper, nickel and chrome. The game back then had a softer ball (wound balata). Today's trend is just the opposite, harder ball (even though you have a softer cover) and a milder steel to give the same 'softer feel'. Production of older forged clubs was more labor intensive with more hand operations which have now been eliminated in favor of lower costs and production. All you have to do is look at some of the Macgregors, Wilsons, Hogans and Hagens from the early 60s to the 80s and you can see the difference. I have sets from the 60s, 70s and 80s and my regular gamers are 83 and 87 Wilsons that aren't even close to needing replacement. On the other hand, I had a set of Cleveland TA3 Form Forged irons that were considerably worn after 4 seasons. They showed noticeably more wear than my 60's Wilson! I will agree with some of the other posts though. Clean your irons regularly, particularly after each shot and during practice. If you are hitting balls with dirt and sand on the face, you are abrading the face of the club with each strike. You might as well take a sander to your clubs. There is a reason why caddies clean your clubs!

Geez, 47 degree pitching wedges? What is the world coming to. That is about a 9 iron in my set. Things used to be so much simpler. My pitching wedge is 52 degrees. All other clubs are 4 degrees from there, which means that I have a 56 degree sand wedge.

Yeah, that would be great, but you would have to search through a bunch of junk on the CD/DVD as well. Most of the magazines are loaded with so many tips, a lot of it contradictory, that usually only a few really apply to my swing. I now just cut out what is relevant and toss the magazine each month. True initially setting it up may take some time, but it beats having to sort through a bunch of old magazines to find something. Golf.Com has stuff out there from 2005 so you might already have articles out there.

Also, you will find that many of the major magazines now have the same content on their websites. You can simply bookmark the link to the page or you can actually save the webpage to you hard drive.

I too had a lot of magazines that I had retained just for one relevant article. It was getting ridiculous. This is what I did. First I clipped all of the relevant articles from each magazine. I could then toss the magazines. I then just put the articles in a file and would refer to them when I needed them. About a year ago, I purchased an all-in-one printer/fax/copy/scanner. This allowed me to scan all of my articles and store them in PDF format. It works great.

I agree. Lee Trevino is a true gem of the sport. I could listen to his stories forever. He can be in the presence of room full of strangers and in 10 minutes they would be like old friends. It is to bad that we really don't have any modern players like him.

I use are real blade putter, a 1955 Macgregor M2. I also use a Macgregor IM5 from the 60's. For me, putting is all about feel and for me mallet putters just don't deliver the same level of feel required. There is a reason that the BullsEye putter is still around.

'Club throwing' from the book Extraordinary Golf by Shoemaker. It is amazing what a change in perspective can do.

You can't go wrong with the Mizuno's. I would also consider the MP-29.

I have set of Wilson Staff Tour Block woods that I have been experimenting with at the range and using for practice. I am thinking about putting them in play this season. The difference is about 15-20 yards in length, but am able to control my shots better (more fairways). I have read recently that Tiger practices with persimmon woods.

I buy mine locally. I don't really buy in bulk since I don't smoke that often (1-2 times a week).

I couldn't have said it better.

Hi, I'm also 45 and it is great to have see more of us, um middle aged guys, working out. I have been at it for about 10 years and now in my 40s my focus has changed from size to strength and flexibility. My trainer laid out the following program for me, but it seems to be similar to what others have proposed. As mentioned in other posts, find a workout plan that includes core strength and flexibility training. Look for multi-joint exercises that involve more muscle groups (squats, deadlift, presses, lunges) over single joint exercises (bicep curls, leg curls, etc). My core work involves Bosu Ball and Swiss Ball moves that require me to balance while performing some exercises. This again calls upon many more muscle groups because not only are you moving the weight but stabilizing your body for balance at the same time. The weights are much lighter (though not super light) than what you would see the big fellows in the gym pumping, but the emphasis is on building strength not size. The heaviest weight I use is a 40 lbs dumbbell. My trainer says that this is much easier on my 40 year old joints than trying to push a bunch of weight. I do yoga for flexibility. Where I used to laugh at folks in the yoga class, I now have a new found respect for yoga practitioners. IT'S HARD and I sweat just as much doing yoga as I do during resistance training. Lastly, check your diet. You are wasting your time in the gym if you aren't eating correctly. Although it sounds like you are pretty slim at 165 lbs, you have probably found that we 40 somethings don't have the metabolism that we had 20 years ago. Small meals 5 times a day (3 meals, 2 snacks) and make sure to fuel your new muscles with lean protein for each of those meals. Working out breaks down the muscles and protein helps rebuild them. Hope this helps.

I say this as an owner of a couple of Scotty Cameron putters, the popularity of SC putters comes down to two things, marketing and having the number one player in the world using you putter, and of course marketing that fact. I had my first SC long before Tiger made them collectible. True, the putters are well made and finished, but then so are many other high line putters on the market. But here is the thing, all of the sought after collectible Scotty Cameron designs are copies of classic designs over the last 50 years (Ping Anser, Wilson 8802, Macgregor IMG6, Bullseye, Zebra, etc.) I have owned or have played with each of these classic putters in mint condition and depending upon the vintage, the workmanship rivals what Scotty is currently producing. These were forged and ground (not the Ping of course), many times by hand, and finished with decorative leather wrap grips. Their modern counterparts are often cast or milled because it is less expensive to produce a machine made putter than one made by hand. Often weighing more than the copy, these putters provided excellent feel, which is why they are still sought today. I find the another aspect of the Scotty Cameron phenomenon interesting as well. Though his classic reproductions are extremely popular and sought by collectors, his own original designs like the Detour and Futura are not. His green repair tool was genius though.

Since I have a narrow foot (12 B), I only wear Footjoy Classics. By far the best shoes made. Just like my old clubs, I have started to collect vintage styles. On ebay, I recently picked up 2 pair from the 80's that had never been worn! Beauties! Currently four pair.

The Wilson Staff FG-17 Tour Blade.

I like a more medium to medium-full bodied cigar for the golf course. I like the Ashton Cabinet Series and the Arturo Fuente Hemingway. I save fuller bodied cigars, like my favorite Diamond Crown Maximus, for after the round or at home.

There are many factors that play into the launch characteristics for different clubs. Loft is certainly one of the factors, as is center of gravity (lower typically meaning higher launch), shaft kick point and clubhead speed, just to name a few. Your swing also determines the effective loft of the club at impact more than anything. There are really no standards for loft for each specific club. You are simply going to have to try out each club and determine which corresponds to you own swing.

Wilson of course

Nice swing! Must be the shoes!

I currently play with a 1963 Wilson Dyna-Power sand wedge. The grooves on my wedge still work fine I can still impart a great deal of spin to stop shots into the green. Forged wedges from this era are still in demand and command prices that are higher than new Vokeys and Clevelands! I also alternate between 1955 and 1964 Macgregor putters. You can never wear out a putter.

1967 Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 1981 Wilson Staff Tour Blade FG-17 1987 Wilson Staff Fluid Feel I actively play all three sets. All in mint condition. I would like to add a set of Macgregors, but it is difficult to find a good set. Their chroming process was not as good as Wilson's.