Mahonie

Sorry, my mistake and you are quite correct. Rory switched to the 913 D3 from the 910 D2 as he was struggling with the spin rates he was getting: http://www.golf.com/equipment/rory-mcilroy-switch-titleist-913-d3-driver-ended-his-slump

Rory used the 910 D3 when he was at Titleist.

The softer metal of a forged club does 'move' and it is recommended to get the loft and lie checked regularly. The fitter I use has suggested every six months depending on usage.

I think what Faldo was getting at is that he found it easier to shape the ball with his blades...at his peak he had the ball on string. I know Faldo's comments can often be taken with a pinch of salt but Tom Watson has also said much the same thing about honing a swing with blades. Btw that round at Sunningdale is still the course record.

Not according to Mr Faldo: From his book 'Faldo - In Search Of Perfection' published in 1996: "With my golf equipment, it is more complicated, as I can only use clubs and balls that suit my game. At various times I have played with Wilson, Spalding and MacGregor clubs; now I use Mizuno. Usually the deals have been put in place before I have a set that I am completely happy with." "In 1986, after a couple of years out of the limelight and a previous club deal having gone by the board, Karsten Solheim's Ping company was looking to get me interested in playing with their clubs. A set was sent over in the summer of that year and I tried them out in the European Open at Sunningdale - and went round in 62. After the way I had played, John Simpson from IMG came down eager to make the deal, but I don't know what he must have thought when I said, 'I'm sorry, John, these just won't do, the ball goes too straight !' "I have always been a worker of the ball: I like to shape it left to right or right to left, never straight. The Ping's are fine clubs, but I just couldn't manoeuvre the ball in the way I wanted. Ping's are the frontrunners in perimeter weighted clubs, in which a much higher percentage of the weight is located at the heel and toe of the clubhead, giving a much wider 'sweetspot' than a traditional blade and are more forgiving to the handicap golfer. Their hooks and slices don't go as wide, but it was that very concept that made them unsuitable for me." "I would advise any youngster aspiring to be a great player to learn the game using blades rather than the 'game-improvement' type clubs. That is the only way to develop a quality strike to see him or her through to the very top. Some of the top players now play with hollow-backed clubs, but learnt their trade with the blade. It is a bit like learning to drive with a gear shift before moving onto automatic transmission."

I had one of those...what a great club! Not sure what the cc's are but not much bigger than a current 3-wood.

Srixon took over the management of Dunlop UK in Japan in the 1960s.

The blade v game improvement argument was best described to me through the 'claw hammer' analogy. When hitting a nail into a block of wood with a claw hammer in the normal fashion it is the equivalent to hitting a blade. The sweet spot is quite small but you get the whole mass of the hammer behind the hit and it feels satisfying when you 'nail' it. If you miss you miss completely or bend the nail over. You practice until your grip is right and your swing hits the nail squarely more often than not. Turn the hammer on its side and then try hitting the nail. The sweet spot is now a bit bigger, the misses are less severe and you can get away with a few. It takes longer to hammer the nail home and somehow it is far less satisfying...game improvement.

Okay...very slightly worse. In my experience the losses are marginal compared to cbs...the sting in the fingers is the big problem ;-)

I think there is a general misconception that blades are very unforgiving on miss hits. Miss hits with cavity backs are just as bad but they don't feel as harsh -that is the difference. Everybody should play what they are comfortable with but I genuinely think that lots of players are selling themselves short by not learning to strike the ball properly and just getting away with the perceived forgiveness. There is no way that a 20-handicap swing is as consistent as a single figure player. The whole 'game improvement' culture peddled by the industry has been created to sell more clubs with a higher profit-margin. The result is that the general level of handicaps has not improved in 40 years because misinformed golfers think that they can 'buy a game' with the latest set of irons. They get frustrated when they don't improve and end up walking away from the game....golf has lost more than 180,000 participants in the last 8 years in the UK. The answer is by practicing to become a better player...grooving a consistent swing with game improvement clubs will take a lot longer than if using blades. Faldo is not the only player to suggest this, Tom Watson also encourages this approach.

From his book 'Faldo - In Search Of Perfection' published in 1996: "With my golf equipment, it is more complicated, as I can only use clubs and balls that suit my game. At various times I have played with Wilson, Spalding and MacGregor clubs; now I use Mizuno. Usually the deals have been put in place before I have a set that I am completely happy with." "In 1986, after a couple of years out of the limelight and a previous club deal having gone by the board, Karsten Solheim's Ping company was looking to get me interested in playing with their clubs. A set was sent over in the summer of that year and I tried them out in the European Open at Sunningdale - and went round in 62. After the way I had played, John Simpson from IMG came down eager to make the deal, but I don't know what he must have thought when I said, 'I'm sorry, John, these just won't do, the ball goes too straight !' "I have always been a worker of the ball: I like to shape it left to right or right to left, never straight. The Ping's are fine clubs, but I just couldn't manoeuvre the ball in the way I wanted. Ping's are the frontrunners in perimeter weighted clubs, in which a much higher percentage of the weight is located at the heel and toe of the clubhead, giving a much wider 'sweetspot' than a traditional blade and are more forgiving to the handicap golfer. Their hooks and slices don't go as wide, but it was that very concept that made them unsuitable for me." "I would advise any youngster aspiring to be a great player to learn the game using blades rather than the 'game-improvement' type clubs. That is the only way to develop a quality strike to see him or her through to the very top. Some of the top players now play with hollow-backed clubs, but learnt their trade with the blade. It is a bit like learning to drive with a gear shift before moving onto automatic transmission."

Dunlop were one of the golf companies back in the day. Seve, Sandy Lyle as well as Gary Player won majors with Dunlop clubs and the Dunlop 65 was the equivalent to the Pro V1. It would be great if they could be a major British brand again but I suspect that they will struggle to get anywhere near the glory days.

Finally getting a bag together that I first coveted 5 years ago: Driver: MacGregor MT 460 Ti Fairway: MacGregor MT 15* 3 wood Hybrid: MacGregor MT 17* hybrid Irons: MacGregor MT Pro-C 3-PW Wedges: MD Golf Norman Drew 52*/58* Putter: Odyssey ProType #2 Just need the Don White wedges to finish it off.

Sorry...my post is not entirely clear. The point is that I do feel the difference...Tour Velvets have so much more feel than New Decades to the point that all my irons are now fitted with Tour Velvets.

I hadn't thought about this until I came to change the grips on my wedges. Although I had MCND grips on my irons I knew that I had to replace my wedges with like-for-like which were Tour Velvet. Just changed irons and they had Tour Velvet as standard and I can really tell the difference in feel and also wear on my hands.