The 300 year old golfer

We were playing golf at my club last weekend. The group in front of us was tools behind. When they were on the tee I drove up and asked them nicely if they could please ask the group in front of them to speed up because play was very slow. They appeared very confused. Two holes later we asked them if they could speed up. They shouted obscenities at us. They did not speed up. After the round as I entered the clubhouse one of them confronted me at the door and started yelling at me. I told him that there was no reason to shout obscenities and turned and left. He continued to shout obscenities in the bar at the club. I told him there was a nice public golf course just down the road that would welcome him. Again he did not seem to understand.

For the last 10 years, I have changed the loft on my irons. I went from a 4° gap to a 5° gap. I have a 60° Cleveland tour wedge, a 56 to 55°, a 50°, my wedge is 45°, nine iron 40°, eight iron 35°, seven iron 30°, and six iron 26°. Doing this has given me my 10 yard gaps back between the irons. Then I have a four hybrid. I also carry a 64° custom Vokey. That gives me five wedges. I find that I score better with wedges than I do with long irons or Woods.

A few years ago, I went to Saint Andrews. We got there about 4:30 in the afternoon. We ask them if we could play. They said no problem just show up about five and you can sign up for a teatime. We said great. It is 430 now they said no five in the morning tomorrow! so I went up to the starter and said hey we are here to play he said do you have a time. I held out a 50 pound note he said you’re on the tee! we had just played Carnoustie and I bought a putter at Carnoustie made in the 1800s. I played Saint Andrews. On the road hole I hit the ball over the hotel, hit it on the green, and made the birdie putt with the putter that I had bought in Carnoustie!!

For me, the score is not important. What is important is hitting a good shot. If I hit a bad shot, then I concentrate on hitting the next shot well. The feel of a well struck shot. Is why I am out there. At the end, I add up the score. if it is not good, that’s OK because my handicap goes up and I get more strokes. If it is good, then I take money from my friends. Either way I win!

I keep hearing that a five iron is being kept for low punch shots. If you play a seven iron two or 3 inches back in your stance it becomes a five iron. Also because it is shorter, it is easier to make solid contact and easier to maneuver if you are in the trees or bushes. This frees you up to have an extra club in your bag. When you are in the trees, the object is not to hit a ball a long way. It is to simply get out safely.

Don’t forget, if you take relief from a bad lie in the bunker, a bad lie in the fairway, or a lost ball your score will be lower. So will your handicap. As long as you play with the same people and you all play by the same rules you would be fine. But what happens when you play against people that follow the rules. Their handicap will be higher than yours. You will lose every time because they will not let you take relief and you don’t get as many strokes as they do.

The question then becomes when is a divot no longer a divot. It is clear that an unfilled divot is a divot. It is clear that a divot filled in with sand is a divot. Naturally, of course, grass grows over the old divot/divot filled with sand. So when is it no longer a divot. Playing in a tournament one time I had an opponent drop his ball from the Fairway. I looked and there was a small depression. I asked him why he dropped. He said it was a French drain. I looked at it. There was no gravel only grass. He used his wedge to dig through the grass and there was gravel underneath. I pointed out that the grass had completely overgrown the gravel. He said it was still a French drain because of the gravel and was entitled to a drop. If you allow a drop from a divot the same thing will happen. A ball will come to rest in a small depression in the fairway and that will be deemed a divot underneath there is some sand. Anytime you do not like your lie. You will simply say it is an old divot. Since the grass has overgrown it, how will anyone prove that it is not. The simplest way is to simply not allow any relief. Golf has always had its variability, including wind, bad, bounces, rain, etc.

I am 72 years of age. Over the years I have lost distance. The gap between my irons got narrower so that the longer irons all basically all went about the same distance. it became increasingly hard to get the longer irons up in the air. I decided that I would increase the gap in the lofts from 4° to 5°. Now my irons are 60°, 55°, 50°, 45° pitching wedge, 40° 9 iron, 35° 8 iron, 30° 7 iron, and 24° 6 iron. That makes the six iron almost a 4 iron in loft but because of the technology it still goes high. I then go to a four hybrid, seven, five, three wood and driver. The gap between the six iron at 26° and the four hybrid at 24° is just right as the hybrid is longer.

I have Burke forged irons. I am 72 years old. I am an 8 handicap. I have a GC quad and a full swing launch monitor to monitor my distances. Over the years my iron distances started getting closer and closer together. Especially the longer irons were all going almost the same distance. I added a 4 hybrid and a 5 wood instead of the longer irons. With the shorter irons what I did was go to 5° difference in loft between irons instead of a 4° difference. Now my 10 yard gaps between the clubs are back. My 6 iron loft is almost the same as a a 4 iron but because of the way the new irons are made it still flies high and lands softly. The gap between my 6 iron and 4 hybrid is perfect. 60° lob wedge 55° sand wedge 50° gap wedge 45° pitching wedge 40° 9 iron 35° 8 iron 30° 7 iron 26° 6 iron

Has anyone seen the Burke golf clubs? They look great!