RWC

I much prefer to walk and carry a bag - at least for the first 9 holes. Second nine normally requires either a cart or my push cart with its seat (gotta deal with arthritis as best I can). Sadly so many of the new courses were built with carts in mind and you seem to have long walks between greens and the next tee box. Much prefer the older courses where green and next tee are close. At 66, walking has been good for me and helps me hit my daily exercise goal (heckuva lot more fun than treadmill)

When my swing decides to head home early during a round, I try to focus on just one swing key. I tend to just lift the arms and forget to rotate the shoulders which can result in a variety of ugly shots. So when that happens, I try to focus on rotating the shoulder. That seems to help me with tempo as well as ball contact which seem to allow me to put a decent hit on the ball and survive the round. I found one key is all I can reasonably focus on and still hit a golf ball.

Good luck with the transition. At 66, Mother Nature has helped me decide to shorten my swing. Working on flexibility has been a keep to trying to maintain reasonable distance with the shorter swing. Also, I fight the occasional attempt to lengthen the swing which wreaks havoc with my swing. If I focus on taking balanced in the swing I make a much more solid contact and tend to have pretty good distance

At 66 yrs old, I can certainly agree with @CaddyCarl about the challenge to be honest with yourself on club distances as we age. I spent several hours hitting balls on a simulator this winter trying to get reasonable fix on my club distances - now I need to trust the distances and make the right club selection on the course. As the old saying goes, the "ball doesn't know what club was used" to hit it on the green.

Haven't purchased a "New" club in many years - been playing 1930's era hickory shafted clubs for 10+ years. Last fall, I decided to put together a somewhat modern "New to Me" set of clubs (Ping G30 woods - i20 irons all with senior graphite shafts) in recognition of age making hitting 80 year old blades a little too difficult for daily play.

As someone who wasn't a big Miller fan, it's nice to have a different personality with Zinger. Doubt anyone could please everyone - guess time will tell.

Watching snow and ice here in Chicago - hope to be able to start warming up on a simulator next week. Finger's crossed!!

Congratulations!! Great post - thanks for sharing. Shooting one's age would seem to be the greatest golf challenge I can imagine. I will be 67 this year and like you have played for most of my life. Over the years I've played modern clubs, then became nostalgic and moved to vintage clubs and followed that up with hickories. Now as physical ailments slow the swing speed and flexibility, I've migrated back toward more modern clubs in hopes of getting my index back in single digits.

I tend to play with 7-8 clubs (hickories, vintage or nearly modern) and like to walk The lighter bag makes it easier on my body to walk and I enjoy trying to manipulate shots as may be required. At 66, my really competitive days are over and I now am just trying to have fun. I understand some players may think this crazy but to each his/her own. I certainly think it helps provide practice in the shotmaking arena.

As I've aged (66 yrs old) I find that I care less what tee others are playing and instead try to enjoy the round. I don't play much in competition any longer so I tend to play a combination of senior / forward tees which give me a chance to reach all the holes in regulation assuming I hit decent shots.

As I've aged and become more of a "pitch and putt for a par/bogie" senior, I've found that my 3-putt rate has declined. Sadly don't have a lot of birdie opportunities now but with decent chipping I'm normally close enough to avoid 3 putts. So age has impacted my putting - just like its impacted every other aspect of my game :-(.

The quality of my swing seems to show up most in my approach shots - thin, pulled, fat.

My phone is in my bag. I will check it at the turn for any emergency family message and then back in the bag until the round is over.

I seem to have this problem when I let the ball creep forward combined with minimal shoulder rotation on the backswing.

Love to walk - most rounds are with a short set and Mackenzie Walker bag. Unfortunately my arthritis doesn’t always share my enthusiasm for walking and on those days I’m stuck either riding or using my push cart.

Nice looking putter but if you intend to play in any events conducted under the Society of Hickory Golfers rules, Otey Chrisman putters are typically not allowed. Hickorygolfers.com details the approved clubs.

Played a quick 9 holes today in Chicago. 42 degrees and light breeze - fantastic for December! Used my hickories and shot a 43 (2 pars and 7 bogeys). Sadly forecast for next 10 days - rain, snow and highs in 30's so not looking good for another 2018 round. Time now to hit Ebay for the magic club to fix my game along with re-reading my various golf books to find the hidden secret to the perfect swing. Another typical "hope over experience" winter in Chicago!

Whatever is consistent is the coolest. For me its a pull draw - curtesy of an OTT move I constantly have to battle. Tried to move it toward a fade but haven't been able to do so. As long as its constant at least I know I can pretty much ignore the right side of the fairway.

Winter seems to have hit Chicago - light snow yesterday and temps in the 20's this morning. Hope to get a few more rounds in before Mother Nature shuts me down. Hope to pull out my hickories and play few rounds from the the forward tees- have fun and forget to carry a scorecard!

I started 2018 with a 16 hcp and it looks like the season will end (expecting snow this week in Chicago) with a 13 hcp. For 2019, my goal is to reduce the 13 to a 10 hcp. To do this I need to improve my short game and putting (2018 saw the improvements in driver and hybrids). I also need to get realistic about the tees I'm playing. At 66 with a 75-80 mph swing speed - I need to be playing around 5000 - 5800 yds to have reasonable expectation of being able to reach most holes in regulation - question will be whether my ego can handle this. Guess time will tell!

I have a Ping G30 14.5 deg 3 wood which I have adjusted to 13.5 degrees. It has a 43 inch senior flex Ping graphite shaft. Due to my slow swing speed ~ 85 mph, I have found this a good alternative to my TM 12 deg driver on days when the fairways are soft. If the course is dry and warm weather - the driver is around 15 yards longer.

For me, my 5W is much longer off the tee as compared to the 3 Hy, but from the fairway or rough, I seem to hit the hybrid much more solidly and thus have more consistency and distance. If I m playing a course where I need the 5W for tee shot on a long par 3 - then I will carry it - otherwise, I find myself going to the 3 Hy from fairway and rough.

Using the "shot" function on my Bushnell Ghost, I've been tracking my tee shots this season. My longest for the season 206 - my average is 187. This covers into / down wind as well as dry and damp conditions. On any given round I have recorded as much as 30 yard differences between long/short tee shots for the round. Despite my short length off the tee, my index has dropped for 16 to 13 this year - putting emphasis on better use of hybrids, short game and putting

At 66, I've decided to try and accept my swing and concentrate instead on making bad shots a little better. I know I have some quirks in my swing that given my desire / time availability will probably not improve dramatically. What I can work on: short game, putting, course management and better fitted equipment are now my main focus. I have read LSW several times and am working to put those concepts into play. Started the season at a 16 index and have lowered it to a 13 as the season begins to wind down in Chicago. Goal is to get back to a 10 by the end of next year. As one earlier comment said, its nice to spend four hours with friends but a heck of a lot more fun to do it while you are playing good golf!

At 66, I've seen some of my skills and distance start to erode. I finally moved up a set of tees this summer (5800-6000 yds) and have begun to see some improvement and definitely more enjoyable golf. I have the distance to reach all the holes in regulation and now I have regained my enthusiasm for the game I've played for over 50 years. If you are stuck in a rut, consider moving up a set of tees - and see if that reignites the passion and also helps kickstart the scoring. You might find you like the new tees and decide to stay there.