DennisMiller

ROFL - Why not go all the way at the mini golf putting course? If I can get past the windmill, I might have a chance.

I totally agree. At 72, within the past 5 years I've had surgeries on my shoulders and one wrist, all of which kept me from playing for a period of time during the recovery. Most of all, every time, it got harder to get back what I considered the best game I'm capable of. There was one benefit of that, which turned out to be fun. I made space in the backyard and set up a mat, full shot net and chipping net to practice on.

Hi SJDuffers... You're right, the odds are low. Here's the thing though... I was a +1 handicap through my 30s and early 40s. There is still some knowledge about how to play and score between my big floppy ears. That helps when my old body cooperates with me. I've lost a lot of distance over the years, but I haven't really lost much accuracy. To make up for the lost distance, the course I play most these days is barely over 6000 yards. I can still hit driver and a mid to short into most par 4 holes. Also, my putting is still much closer to what it once was than the rest of my game, so I'm sometimes able to save a score. Sure, I could be overly confidant about it, but most of the time when I don't break 80, I can usually point to shots that cost me more shots. Avoiding mistakes like those goes back to the first paragraph. My mind still wants to work like Arnold Palmer. I still want to hit the spectacular save from the mouth of an alligator and such. If I could spend a day when things come together, but at the same time, overcome what my mind tells me I could do long ago, I'm confidant it's still possible to shoot my age.

It's really hard to hear my friends up north talk about putting their clubs away for the winter. I feel very lucky to live in Miami, Florida, where I know people who put their clubs away during the worst heat and humidity of summer. The best golf weather of the year here, however brief, is about to come. As far as my goals I wrote about previously, mostly that I wanted to settle on one set of clubs that worked best for me, I got close, but I wouldn't call it an accomplishment. I've had back and shoulder issues and a Cobra one length set of irons has turned out to work best for me. I still have a normal staggered set of PXG clubs, but I'm not sure how much action they will see in the future. My goal for the coming year, and I do hope we'll duplicate this thread for 2022, is simply to get in better physical shape so I can continue to play golf late into my 70s. Physical therapy for my injuries and surgeries is one thing, but it's left me lazy about taking care of the rest of my body. I need to do better. And at 72 now, I still hold onto the goal of shooting my age in the coming years.

Among my goals for 2021, as I wrote quite a long time ago, was to create some reality with thoughts of shooting my age while I'm still 72. The combination of age and it representing even par would be more meaningful to me. That isn't going to happen, not that I don't still have until May of 2022. Physical issues with bone spurs in my shoulders and a big flare up of sciatica have reduced my hopes, (I can't consider them goals yet), to simply be able to play without pain. I'm doing physical therapy and played 9 holes yesterday for the first time in nearly 3 months. When I hit my tee shot on the first hole, I got emotional in front of a bunch of people. I probably looked pretty stupid, but I didn't care. It's great to have goals, but with apologies for sounding way too fatherly to you younger folks, don't ever take simply being able to play this great and ancient game for granted. The joy of the game should be our number 1 goal.

Mavrik driver, old XR 3 wood, (best I ever had), Bertha 4 hybrid, Rogue irons, 5-GW, 54* Mac Daddy SW, 58* X Tour LW... old Cobra putter.

I can definitely relate to that. As hot, humid and uncomfortable as it is most of the year here in Miami, I really enjoy the 2-3 months of cooler weather we get. For the past 4 years, I had knee issues, carpel tunnel surgery, shoulder bone spur issues and later surgery. I missed the best part of the golf weather and this year. I'm hoping to get through it without an injury. I hope you can avoid any problems, but honestly, a screen name like DeadMan? Really??? It sounds like you have given up.

Considering some medical issues and the limitations of the Covid pandemic, I only played at 2 local courses in Miami. I didn't even average once a week this past year. For that matter, I played 9 a lot more frequently than I played 18. In 2021, I hope to get out to northern California to meet my birth family and play there. I also hope to get to Louisville, where I grew up, and play a couple times there.

I hesitate to call this gamesmanship, because the high level of teasing in my old group was just insane to begin with and there was no betting, so it was all in good fun. Playing at Kendale Lake Country Club one day, one of the guys stopped at a bathroom between nines. The rest of us went to the 10th tee and teed off. I hit a horrible shot into the left rough less than 200 yards out. I was usually good for 250-275 way back then. Our friend comes back and in this booming voice he had asks, "WHERE'D YOU GO BIG BOY?" Smart assed as I could be, I said, "Suffice it to say, you can't get there." He took a swing like John Daly never dreamed of and hit his ball about 50 yards into the lake. When he saw where I stopped and selected my club, in the rough short of a bunker, he just went crazy. He calmed down and laughed about it after a couple holes, and it's grown to make me the most evil golfer in history as the story has grown.

I grew up in Louisville, Ky, home of Hillerich & Bradsby, so naturally, my first set of clubs were H&B Citations.

Oh boy - Where to start... I think my main goal has to be, stop being stupid, meaning I need to stop messing with a variety of sets of clubs I own and settle on which one I'm best with. Next is to re-establish my practice area in the backyard and use it. (It was taken down when we had trees trimmed) Secondary to that is to do more to exercise specific golf muscles. Recovering from surgery has not been kind to me. Third, I really want to meet some new people to play with. My usual Monday morning game is often canceled because the guys have other interests that get in the way. And at 71, 72 in May, I think this is the first year to start thinking seriously about shooting my age.

Callaway Epic Star driver and 3 wood, plus Rogue X irons and a V-Line putter. I recently got these and I need to start looking for clubs to fill in the distance gaps between the 6 iron, (at about 175 yards), up to the 3 wood, (at aboout 210 yards)... The irons were also lengthened and backweighted by me. They are extended 2 inches and have 60 grams of lead in the extenders. All of them swing C3.

I agree, but at the same time, I'm sure the individual marketing departments are looking at every single detail, including the connector, to make some point why their brand is better. I might burn the connector out of the regular flex shaft so I can use the senior flex. I have no doubt which is better for me, but otherwise, I wouldn't risk messing up a shaft. I do have a heat gun, so as opposed to a torch, I could probably just burn one hand instead of both.

I've had the same problem, even within the Amp Cell line. I have one Amp Cell driver with 6 adjustments on the hosel. I bought a second Amp Cell driver to get the senior flex shaft cheaper than buying the shaft would be, but when it arrived, the 2 connectors are very different. The second driver had an open, closed and neutral setting, nothing else. If you get into the newer Cobra drivers, you will find there are some that you can swap from model to model, but I know what you are going to say... and I agree... The Amp Cell feels so much better than anything Cobra has made since then.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, based on nothing more than it's interesting to you, but not to me. You have every right do be interested in the details for cause and effect, but in the end, we both know our equipment choices will be based on the end result.

THAT'S EXACTLY MY POINT!!! Why should we confuse ourselves with esoterica? Let the fitter prove his or her worth by messing with what might affect spin numbers in a positive way. Look for results and focus on nothing else.

Honestly, no offense intended to anyone here, but why do spin numbers really matter? I'm interested in an end result, not the biproduct stats of hitting balls. I know we are inundated with numbers in golf these days, measurements we hear about on the tours and in the computerized booths, but really? If I want to choose a new driver and I hit one longer and straighter, those end numbers are more important, because they, and only they, express what I'm hoping to accomplish. Sure, the fitter might have messed with the settings on the driver in ways that positively affected the spin, but why should I be concerned as long as the result is what I'm looking for?

Agreed on all points, but further to all... As to lofts... We all know why the gap wedge had to be invented, because club makers wanted to fake technology to make clubs hit the ball farther by doing little but reducing the loft. As I've gone through the past 20 years, from 50 to 70, I've gone from hitting stiff shafts to senior shafts. I've gone from hitting a 3/4 8 iron 150 yards to needing a fairly full 6 iron. One thing that has helped though is my recent turn to Cobra One Length irons. Because I'm very tall, mine are modified to be 2" longer and back weighted to C4, (I love that, like plastic explosive), and I've regained a good amount of distance with the short irons. Those irons have lofts to accommodate their lengths with the long irons stronger and the short irons weaker, but the long irons are still much stronger loft increases than the short irons loft decreases. And PGA rough... A number of years ago, I played the Blue Course at Doral the day after the tournament was over. Fairways there are pretty wide, but anything into the rough was nearly impossible to find, even though it had been trampled down a bit by 6 days of crowds. I felt lucky to survive And let's not overlook PGA Tour green speeds. I played Eagle Ridge in Gilroy, California when my daughter lived there. The slope of the greens and stimp meter speed, which I guess had to over 12 and they were like nothing I ever saw. I hit 10 fairways, 12 greens, then 3 and 4 putted my way to a 99. Fortunately, in both cases, it's been enough years to look back on each round fondly, with a lot less pain than there once was.

About 12 years ago, I had a fitting for a set of Ping irons. The fitter went through the prescribed routine, fitting me for irons 2" extra long and 2* upright with stiff shafts at that time. While that fitting might have been technically correct, what he never took into account were certain subjective things like my advanced age and the nearly constant heat and humidity where I live in Miami, Florida. I complained while hitting balls in the booth that the swingweight felt too heavy for me to manage, but he kept making excuses that swingweight didn't matter. He also said Ping could reduce the swingweight by removing weights behind the medallion on the back of the club. The irons arrived with an E6 swingweight and I refused them. I currently use irons that are 2" extra long, but they have been back weighted to C4. Why Ping couldn't have done that is beyond me. My point is, there's a lot more than the technical aspects of a fitting.

I don't know about that... I have friends in Kirkwood who lived elsewhere and near retirement, moved back. Personally, I love St. Louis. The Sheldon Concert Hall is one of the most perfect acoustic rooms in the country and I've seen some incredible artists there. A friend runs Jazz On The Bistro down the block... Other than the cold weather, it's one of my favorite places to visit friends.

Killian Greens runs through homes. In the past, they've had a problem with homeowners having company and their parties overflowing onto the golf course, leaving trash around and occasionally damaging a green. They also have had people simply walk onto the course from the street and drink or have picnics during the night. They leave trash too. They did have one homeowner that called the police when she saw someone about to build a campfire on the course. The course is owned by one individual, thus it's private property, regardless that he runs it like a public golf course for the sake of people who wish to play there. They recently built a fence around the whole course. There will be gates at points where you have to cross a neighborhood street to get from one part of the course to another. They will be opened early in the mornings when they put out pins and locked at night. It should be interesting to see whether it stops the problems.

The only golf related item on my bucket list is to return to Louisville, Kentucky, where I grew up, and play a few of the courses I grew up on. I do want to go to the Golf Hall of Fame and I suppose I'd like to play there, but it doesn't hold as much importance in my mind. Playing famous courses across this country holds no interest of real consequence for me.

At the 2 courses where I play most, the forward tees were placed long after the courses existed and they don't help much. You might save 10 yards on some holes, but on holes where there are hazards to play short of, the tees aren't far enough forward to let you hit over those hazards, so you don't do anything but hit less club off the tee and have the same shot to the green. On average, I'm the longest hitter in my group, so we've never found any benefit to moving up to forward tees. When we've traveled somewhere to play a different course, it's another story. My point is, it varies from course to course and is based pretty much on nothing but design.

One of my buddies uses a set of Cleveland irons that are pretty much a hybrid design all the way through the set. A cousin of mine has something similar, but I don't known what brand. they are both happy with them. Putting together a set of irons and trying to fit a hybrid into the set is another matter. I don't know anyone who simply bought a 4 hybrid to replace the missing 4 iron in a set like mine that starts with the 5 iron. Like most people, I'll hit that 4 hybrid a lot farther than a 4 iron made to match the set. The point is, your concern about such a small difference in the loft might be what you need to keep the gaps between your clubs. The good news is, hitting balls to figure it out is fun!

I can only conclude my swing is highly inconsistent these days. No matter what loft I use, I seem to hit the ball the same distance with the same trajectory. I don't know why. I see more differences with various shaft stiffness than anything, but not loft.