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trombettista_vecchio

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Everything posted by trombettista_vecchio

  1. I have one specific group who prefers playing that way--three other guys who retired from the same place at about the same time as I did. They play together fairly frequently, and when I join them a couple of times each summer, it's "When in Rome...."
  2. For a real bargain, look for an early 1980s set of Wilson 1200GE irons on ebay. I was actually able to hit my 1-iron with that set. The Pings stole their thunder back then, but the 1200GE was a real, confidence-inspiring set for a newer player.
  3. Yes--if you prefer a gray stainless steel iron to a shiny, chromed type, Edel is a great alternative to Hogan. I know a guy who raves about his. One similarity to Hogan is the old school conservative cosmetics I'm pretty sure that I could play the Edels. They fit my eye.
  4. Do you "pick" with your irons? Most hybrids have bulge and roll faces like woods so you have to flatten out the bottom arc of your swing and just push them forward without picking them. The bottom of the face can't get to the ball because the middle of the face sticks out further. Wedgewood brand hybrids have flat faces like irons if you want to try them.
  5. It's not a bad sand iron and short -side-miss wedge. No shaft or grip options, however, so when you set it up for your own bag, it ends up costing double the price.
  6. The Hogans are made in 44 lofts without bending, and the stamping on the soles is accurate. I like them. No club is for everybody, obviously.
  7. I think that Hogan is doing it better than anybody right now with their PTx cavity backs and their FW-15 blades. Both of these clubs are offered in 28 lofts, 20 to 47º, so you can not only choose your lofts, but more importantly, your loft increments. The TK-15 wedges that match both the aforementioned iron models also come in every loft from 48 to 63º The only draw back to the wedges, if one would consider it so, is that only the Reid-Lockhart / Scor type grind is available in contrast to Vokey and Edel's multiple grind choices. Let's say that you're a walker and only want to carry ten clubs. It's pretty hard to put together a comprehensive ten club set using clubs built for a 14-club complement. With the Hogans, you can gap your clubs in six degree increments, similar to the old hickory shaft era clubs, and you're all set. Irons aren't my problem. I can't hit 460cc drivers and am trying to choose between a modern mini-driver or something like a Titleist 975D (or Titleist 975J at the biggest.)
  8. I played with steel spikes from 1959 when I was twelve or thirteen to whenever my club and the other courses prohibited them. I miss them a lot. Those old golf shoes provided support back when I walked the course, and they also provided a much firmer foundation to swing hard or to follow your own swing when you play the ball left in your stance. The modern shoes are comfortable, especially if you ride, and they force the player to swing smoothly or fall on his ass. They're not all bad. But if steel spikes were allowed again, I'd go back to them in a minute
  9. I've got eight par threes, ranging from 107 to 220 yards, and they're all tough. One is the #2 handicap hole, toughest on the back nine. On a golf course with most greens nearly the size of Minnesota, this green is the size of a female flea's G spot. A miss short is in thick rough. A miss left or long is bunkered. A miss right is an almost vertical thirty foot drop that's in play. It's 175 yards and usually plays into a right to left cross wind so you have to play it right at the steep drop if the wind is strong. A five is really easy to make on this hole.
  10. None of those configurations work for me. The long irons are set in three degree increments, the rest are set in four degree increments, the loft / length correlation on all of them is a club and a half strong, and over fifty years experience helps me know more than the major OEMs know about my game. I had to be willing to think way outside the box, but eventually I got it figured out. You really need to be able to request the exact loft and loft increments that you need. Then you can configure your set. In my case, I also bag a driving iron that's a shot-specific utility and not part of the set's linear loft progression.
  11. I really like the current Edel irons. Comforting stainless steel instead of shiny chrome. Probably should have bought these instead of the aforementioned Hogans.
  12. Did anybody watch the Boston College - Notre Dame game from Fenway last night? I didn't buy the Alvarez-Cotto pay-per-view fight, HBO was showing Fifty Shades of Gray, so I watched the game. The Eagles have the worst offense in the country and Doug Flutie had to watch it from the broadcast booth. Too bad because the Irish were ripe for the taking last night. I used to go to the Patriots games at Fenway Park fifty years ago. The Pats used to put up a temporary grandstand against the left field wall that wasn't used last night. That's about 6000 seats that they must not have thought they'd be able to sell for the game.
  13. Buy a huge, ugly, buffalo vinyl, billboard logo staff bag at a yard sale. Fill it with at least two dozen different used clubs from ebay. High loft driver. Low loft driver. Mini-driver. Open face. Closed face. Fairway woods all the way up to at least 25º. Hybrids. A forgiving, perimeter-weighted driving iron. High and low bounce wedges including a dedicated sand iron. A chipper. Both toe-hang and face-balanced putters. Anything you can buy cheap in beat up, used condition. Play your casual rounds with all of the clubs in the bag, and if you can't fit them all, rotate them. Eventually, you'll see which fourteen become your favorites. Then buy new clubs once you know what you need. Use the old ones to decorate your man cave. And don't care one bit if the resulting set configuration is nothing that you've ever seen before. By the way, if you insist on walking, at least use a trolley. You can't play golf from a hospital bed after back surgery.
  14. Play. Keep playing. Your game will tell you, better than well meaning strangers on an internet forum, what needs changing. I assume that you've had formal lessons, but if not, THAT'S where your first additional expenditures should go. No use trying to match clubs to a swing that you're not going to keep as you improve.
  15. This season I spent $168 per club on a new set of Hogan FW15 irons and TK15 wedges. They are the most beautiful golf clubs that I've ever owned. They come in 44 different lofts, 20 to 63º, so one can choose not only his actual lofts but also the loft increments club to club. They've even incorporated a feature for which I've been calling for years--actual loft stampings instead of club numbers. I hate club numbers because today's number-loft correlation is wildly different than it had been for my first twenty or thirty years playing golf. In all, I love my new Hogan irons and wedges. I just don't hit them as well as I hit my Titleist DCI 981s or even my older Wilson 1200GEs. I don't hit any shiny chrome-plated club as well as I hit gray stainless steel ones, and I don't know why. I was seduced by their beauty, the choices that they offered me, and the nostalgia of forgings similar to what I played as a kid. And if I were a better ball striker, I might be actually gaming them. Instead they're on display in my man cave, resting in an old, AMF era Hogan staff bag. So no, it's not always necessary to replace one's irons. Unless, of course, you've got decorating to do.
  16. It's been many years since local courses have ALLOWED proper (steel spiked) golf shoes. If you grew up with the soft spikes or nubbies, that's one thing. Those of us who wore proper spikes for decades will probably never be satisfied with what we're allowed to wear now. I won't for sure.
  17. The Epon AF-901 is a very highly regarded driving iron for all levels of play, but bring your checkbook. If you're willing to spend the dough, though, I've never heard a negative word about it. I personally hit a Mizuno Fli-Hi which overlaps my longer fairway wood (18 and 18.5º respectively) but I just like to hit it on tight, scary driving holes. I also have a Titleist DCI O/S+ 2-iron which cosmetically matches my DCI 981 set, but I hit the Fli-Hi a little bit better and longer. To me, the driving iron is like the driver, the dedicated sand iron which I occasionally bag, the Ginty-type high loft recovery wood, and the putter. It's not a part of the set's linear loft progression, It's a shot specific utility.
  18. I overlap an 18.5º fairway wood and an 18º driving iron. Two different clubs and two different shots. I'm still bagging just fourteen.
  19. I never made a quarter mil annually at my job. In fact, I was the office steward (union rep) and an executive board member of my local, so I spent roughly 40% of my time away from my desk on union business. When I was at my desk, however, I worked hard. Nobody bothers the union rep, but I, like the great Bill Belichick, believe in a person simply doing his job. But I'll be honest. I would have been ready to retire at 25, and I did retire with a pension at 55--fourteen years ago. Apparently, I wasn't too afflicted with Calvinist work ethic! A friendly golf forum is no place to discuss politics, but the country club is not where somebody usually looks to find a person of my leanings. I'm afraid my friends and I brought the "pool room element" to the club when membership was open. It's not a member owned club, and the owners aren't too concerned with what the other members think of us (although in reality, most of us get along just fine). Let me say this. We're not here forever. we all want to do some good in the world, and most of us find at least some time and resources to do just that. But NEVER apologize for taking a little time to smell the roses. You worked hard. Now enjoy the rewards.
  20. I'm trombettista_vecchio, a 12.8 index 69-year-old geriatric (my user name means old trumpet player) from New England. I was an eight for an awful long time but age and spinal stenosis seem to have taken care of that. My 2015 season was cut a little bit short when my best friend nearly relieved me of a finger while I was trying to force her to take a pill from the vet. I'm an idiot and forgave her immediately. Now I crush the pills and rub them into Genoa salami which she loves, and which is strong flavored enough to disguise the medicine. We've had a beautiful late autumn here so if the dog didn't completely have my number, I'd still be furious with her.. I'm a gearhead, but not a club ho. I don't rush to replace what's working, but what I do buy, I keep. The perimeter of my man cave is in some places two deep with old golf bags dating back to 1959. Here's what we rocked this year:
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