BIG STU

Nifty most persimmon 3 wood heads were around 13* to 14* 4 wood heads were around 16 or 18. And you are spot on on the last paragraph and some of it has to do with age and diminished swing speed. One of the reasons I quit hitting my beloved Cally Steelhead 3 wood at 13* the loft combined with the shaft stiffness.

Yep you are correct I should have stated my grubby big hands

If I hit a fairway wood off the tee I do it Laura Davies style in other words chunk me up a little piece of turf. And of course I fix my divot.

Dammit Boy!!! you hit your 3 wood further than I hit the driver any more. Now one of my tricks on firm fast fairways with the driver I tee it low like a persimmon and hit the stinger that rolls out good especially with that hot faced Homna.

IMHO the "3 woods " of today are not 3 woods. Most 3 woods now days are 15*. My old Cally Steelhead I carried for 13 years was 13*--- recently I quit carrying a 3 wood because of my diminished swing speed I found it hard to get airborne. Recently built me a little heater as I call it a V-Steel 5 wood at 18* with a old Pro Launch Blue shaft. I can hit a high cut floater with it about 200 yards or play it back some and hit a head high screamer stinger about 220 or so. Really a versatile club for me. If I need to hit a screamer over 220 which is rare for me I can hit my Homna driver off the deck on a good lie. I do not go for par 5s in 2 anymore unless it is where I can hit my 5 wood with the high cut or my 22* hybrid with a high cut. I prefer to position my second shot and wedge it in and get that putter in my grubby little hands

So did Mark Wilson-----

Nifty-- I can remember back in the day some of the old club shops would order turnings in other words square block heads with the hosel lathed in. The clubmaker did the bore and like you said the face angle by hand with rasp file and sander. Shaped the head etc, There were two such shops in my area growing up. Those 2 shops also had their own custom sole plates made too. then you had the big boys like the Izett company in Ardmore PA. So much hand done craftsmanship in those days. One of the reasons I try to save every wood club that comes into our scrapyard. I will admit some of the woods I can not hit no more than I can fly the space shuttle but I love to look at the shapes and grains of the wood.

Funny thing is that you and I think exactly alike. I sometimes wonder if my old man hung out in Texas some back in the day if you get my drift

I went through that one time. Now my old man was a pro and instructor but I did never go by his way of doing things period. One of his friends a fellow pro did change my grip from an interlock to an overlap when I was 14 and I have did that ever since Now about 15 years ago now I got into the golf shop business and was playing the minis some. My partner got this guy who was an instructor that was connected to our shop to work with me some. Tried to slow my fast swing up and it threw me off too much. I got to where I could not play at all . I was terrible was just about to quit the game period. Now another friend of mine was one of the top instructors on the beach at the time. To give him credit he never tried to change me or tell me anything. He knew I was working with this other guy. He is the type that will not say anything bad about anyone. One day we were playing at this course and I shot like 45 on the front side and he could not hold back. He had seen enough. He asked me "How long have you been playing golf?" I told him at the time over 30 years. he said yeah and you were a pretty decent player until you got to screwing with XXXXX. Yeah I said. Well he told me go back to the way you know how to play golf. Forget that BS and play your game that you taught yourself your way. I did and shot 38 on the back side--- I went at it my way right or wrong and have never looked back-- One thing I do not do now is loop the club in the back swing to reroute it like I used to. That is because I do not pull it back far enough to loop it anymore. But I will stress that was a natural move for me because I have always been a strictly feel player. In all seriousness I do not recommend some of the stuff I do to anyone because it is all natural and unique to me and my swing and you can not teach some of the stuff I do. My friend did video me one time for his own learning edification as he put it. He never would let me see the tape because in his words he did not want me to get to thinking about my swing. We left it at that Some people IMHO can benefit from lessons and some are wasting their money. Now I will give 3 solid pieces of advice and Rev and the other old timers on here have heard me say this before: If going the instruction route get an instructor that you have confidence and you can work with. Listen to the methods that instructor teaches you and do not listen watch or read other instruction Practice on the range what your instructor teaches you--- Instruction ain't worth two hoots if you do not practice what you are taught. Too many people think if they are working with "Joe Pro" the instructor they are going to immediately shave a lot of strokes off their score. They will take the lessons and then make no effort to practice what they are taught. Then they try to blame the instructor

When we ran the golf shop I had a real good customer whose Dad was getting old. The gentleman was in his 80s but pretty well spry and in good shape physically. Well he was loosing distance and getting fed up. I ended up building him a non conforming Intregra driver with a super soft flex "A" graphite shaft. the shaft was super soft to begin with and I never tipped it. I also sold him some non conforming Bandit balls. With that combo he gained about 10 yards off the tee. I ended up building him some Infiniti irons which that model were super GI with the big sole and all the weight down low. I also soft tipped some Intregra senior graphite shafts for those. He continued to play and enjoy the game with his son until he passed at 95 from natural causes. In fact he played that morning with his son and passed in his sleep that night. For me that is what the game is all about not the USGA or what they say. I played with them a few times and that old man was funny as heck. He putted with an original Reuters Bulls Eye putter which he had had since the 50s. He would wink and crack at me "You build some pretty good golf clubs but you ain't touching this putter" He would also state to his son "I was on hold #16 at such and such course and had this putter in hand when the assistant pro rode up and told me that your mother was on the way to the hospital in labor with you. I told him well I am -2 on this side and she will have to wait." He claimed he canned 2 birdie putts on the next 2 holes and had his best round ever. Then he cracked " he rushed to the hospital with spikes and all on and got there before he was born." Made me happy I was blessed with the skills to keep him and his son playing literally to his last day. Every time I find a Bulls Eye putter I think about that old fart and it cracks me up.

Nifty I can relate to you on the vintage side probably more than anyone else on here. Not cutting anyone down at all but I can relate. I have had to go to softer shafts due to age and my back conditions lately. I have never really injured my back per say but I am having back issues now. I think part of my problems are due to driving trucks on and off all my life and banging around in dirt track race cars. Also hard tailed Harleys have never did me any favors either. I can still hit S-300s because at 61 I am still strong but I can not hit them for long. If I play a round with S-300s you might think well you hit those fine. Well wait 2 hours later I can not move until I put some Bio Freeze or the heating pad on. I really did not want to believe it and refused to. One of the reasons I set my signature set up as I previously described. I can play them just as well and I do not hurt afterwards. Back in the day I was a long hitter even with persimmon and balata and sometimes I do not deal with reality well but I have came to that. Last year the reality came to fruition. My wife and I take vacation together and she plays some with me that week. I traditionally play all vintage that week with my old mans Mac 4000s and my beloved Penna driver and persimmon H&B 4 wood. I usually play strictly vintage golf from 6100 or so. This one par 5 I cranked that old Penna driver and was in a spot I knew well. I got to where it was at and reality wafted in. I realized my limitations and darn near cried no joke. I told her 16 years ago I hit this same driver from the tips here and carried this same 4 wood on that green and made eagle. She said well hit the 4 wood now and it was in all innocence. I told her I could not carry my modern Adams Super S 3 wood that far now. I could barely cut across the point of the lake for a layup with that 4 wood. Just for kicks and giggles I tried a second ball and no I aint gonna lie I came no where near carrying that lake with the persimmon 4 wood. That was around the time the back problems crept in. I played those heavy shafted Macs 3 days and got sore and stiff. But vintage golf has helped my game overall. I have learned to do something I never ever did before and that is plod and plot my way around the course. I have reverted back to some stuff I did in my Jr days. I played a lot of Am tournaments against the adults and I depended on my short game . I know a lot of guys have suggested going to more modern stuff. I will say this was well intended but I understand. I know the feeling of a well struck vintage blade or older metal or persimmon wood as you very well do. I do not play comp or big money matches anymore. I do not really care about score anymore. For you on your diminished distance move up to the tees where you can play to enjoy the game and relish the sound and feel of a well struck vintage club. Maybe I can be of help of the complicated thing of setting up vintage clubs for the vintage golfer. Hey I can comment like that because I fall into that category. Like someone else suggested make you own tees or heck make your own par. Think of it like this and trust me I do it all the time " lets see if this antique vintage beat up golfer can get this rusty antique club to point A" If I do good if I don't well lets see what I can do now. But do not give up ever you love the game too much. Just adapt and have fun and by all means do not push the back too much. Anything I can do to help you do not hesitate to ask either on open forumor via PM

Now there is another aspect that can be done in his case if he likes playing his classic irons. So bear with me a minute Now his vintage Titleist irons more than likely have heavier stiffer shafts. Pull those shafts and put more modern lighter shafts in soft tipped. Now with the weight savings put about 4 grams of lead tape low in the back. Set them up properly and the combo of lighter shafts bottom end kick and weight down low he can get them airborne. Look at my signature set yep they are tricked and tuned up.Those Hogan #2 shafts are a senior flex steel shaft. I have them tuned too those shafts are from 3 different sets of Hogan Irons the short irons are soft tipped and the 3 thru 5 are a little hard tipped for ball flight reasons. If I really have to hit a high floater long shot that is what that little Adams Hybrid is for. It does not matter to me if I hit my 1982 Macgregor blade 6 iron where someone else hit their newer 8 iron. MGSer John Smalls can confirm that. On our 17th hole which is a long par 3 over water plays about 185 from the mid tees and the ocean wind is always in your face. We were playing with another young guy who was a good player. I think he hit a 6 or 7 iron. I hit the old 3 iron and did jerk it a bit but was about 30 feet out. Took my par and ran to the cart. BTW John I duplicated that shot the next week in the scramble and the pin was back there got it to 6 feet. --- In a nutshell one can make older equipment play as good as new stuff with the right tuner.

What do you mean by modified? Shaft change ,weight??????

I think those are the guys that are also selling fake Miura irons too

We have the iron skillets that were my step mom's and some was Grannie's. Part of the trick with them is keeping them seasoned. Here keeping them seasoned with salt pork fat keeps them from rusting too

For me it is Boston Butts slow cooked over Hickory wood. I also use my own Eastern NC pepper vinegar based sauce. The vinegar based sauce makes the meat moist and tender. That is on my wood cooker. On my gas grille I do just about anything from ribs to steak. Also do a mean slow cooked pot roast wrapped in foil on the gas grille. One thing I do on a gas grill is when I get it hot I do put Hickory chips in to add flavor. Most weekends in good weather our stove/oven in the house is rarely fired up it is all the gas grill or the wood cooker

Those have some pretty hot lofts for a forged players type iron. Maltby does design some quality stuff though. Personally even though they have a "universal hosel" I would go with a 370 shaft because there are so many different tuning options with a 370 versus a 355 shaft unless you went with a set of flighted and tuned Rifle shafts

Well it is like any other club ya gotta "tune" it to fit you and your game.

PJ this may be pure speculation on my part but perhaps they put a smaller thinner grip on it to enhance feel

The only reason I know about the cans is because I work for the scrapyard. In fact saw one of those cans on the can pile today and I did tell you correct on the color thing. BTW As you know I do not really drink anymore but if I want a beer it will be a PBR or Yeungling. IMHO those Ultras are just water with a little beer flavor

Nice Bag--- I think it may be a Sun Mountain--- That discoloration is part of the color scheme because I remember some of the Mic Ultra cans had that color towards the top

Naaw your opinion is valued here or at least by me. Actually like I have said many times I could give two hoots less what anyone else plays. One of the things wrong with the world today IMHO is that folks are too worried about what someone else thinks or does. I had someone on WRX try to give me the 3rd degree over me playing vintage not on the conforming list clubs. I set them straight to the fact I do not play comps or big money matches any more and I do not keep a USGA handicap. All of the different groups I play in could give two rips less what anyone else plays. I basically told the guy to load up and bring his billfold full of money to the beach and I would play clubs that I own that are on the conforming list just for him if it made him feel better. I say go for it get you a green thing.

I refer to that as a loaded question and it is subjective. I call a club like that a specialty club. Really it is no more out of the realm of things than say a special wedge grind and weight placement via lead tape. The main thing for ole gray is that he liked the look of the club to begin with and the set up and feel. That along with practice instills confidence. With a lot of my sets I do some strange setups. Some may ask why if I can still hit long irons do I carry a hybrid. I can hit a higher softer cut shot with the 22* hybrid than I can the 4 iron. I also like the hybrid out of a fairway bunker. Specialty clubs Ole gray I like the fact you are using the claw grip on the pocket picker. Watching your videos you were straight through the hitting zone with it and steady.

That is a Executive type course not a Par 3 course--- Some of your par 3 holes IMHO are a little long for that type of lay out and the type of players playing it. But on the positive side it would be one heck of a little course to play money matches on. My fertile larcenous mind was drawing up games to play on that layout while reading and imagining the course

Absolutely IMHO depending on the area. I think we have a total of 4 in the Grand Strand area. In the summer regular tourist season they are crowded at night. The course I grew up on that my old man ran had a 9 hole regulation course and a 9 hole par 3 course where the longest hole was 100 yards or so. As with all the par 3 courses here it was lit at night. As far as my observations growing up many a person started their golf on that par 3 course. I actually played it a lot especially on summer weekends when I was doing nothing. I honed my uncanny short game skills on it. Now at night it did get crowded in the summer. Now it was only ran at night the first 3 years of operation. The man that owned it pulled the plug so to speak on night time operations for reasons I can not and will not discuss here. But I think in general a par 3 course with a driving range can do good almost anywhere