Fatshot

I know my story is "impossible" according to the Rules of Golf, but here goes.   I was playing 9 holes with my adult son several years ago, and we weren't keeping score, but here's what happened.....
On a par 4 hole I hit a so-so drive and told my son I was going to hit another drive just for practice.   I did, and it was much better.  So I played my first drive, hit a good shot and put it right on the green.   When we got to my second drive, I said to my son, "I'm going to hit this one too.....let me try your Pitching Wedge."  So he hands me his wedge and I proceed to hit a beautiful shot onto the green and IN THE HOLE!!   We had a laugh and a high five, and continued to walk to the green.
On the green, I lined up my putt and rolled it in the hole, so when I tell this story I tell people that I both EAGLED and BIRDIED the SAME HOLE in one round....!!!!    (Yeah....I know it's impossible under the rules, but it still happened!)

Undoubtedly, the Maltby M-05 irons I built for myself many years ago.  Unfortunately, I got rid of them for something else new and shiny......I know they still make them, and the newer models MAY be my next build....Unbelievably clean, simple and easy to hit!

Undoubtedly, the Maltby M-05 irons I built for myself many years ago.  Unfortunately, I got rid of them for something else new and shiny......I know they still make them, and the newer models MAY be my next build....Unbelievably clean, simple and easy to hit!

I know my story is "impossible" according to the Rules of Golf, but here goes.   I was playing 9 holes with my adult son several years ago, and we weren't keeping score, but here's what happened.....
On a par 4 hole I hit a so-so drive and told my son I was going to hit another drive just for practice.   I did, and it was much better.  So I played my first drive, hit a good shot and put it right on the green.   When we got to my second drive, I said to my son, "I'm going to hit this one too.....let me try your Pitching Wedge."  So he hands me his wedge and I proceed to hit a beautiful shot onto the green and IN THE HOLE!!   We had a laugh and a high five, and continued to walk to the green.
On the green, I lined up my putt and rolled it in the hole, so when I tell this story I tell people that I both EAGLED and BIRDIED the SAME HOLE in one round....!!!!    (Yeah....I know it's impossible under the rules, but it still happened!)

This happened a few years ago.  Back then I was *usually* even more inconsistent with my swings then I am today, and I was a whole lot shorter with my clubs than I am now (my average drive then was 200-220, now it's 250-275).
Anyways, I was playing at the Glen Riddle Golf Club near Ocean City, MD (courtesy of my friend who is a member there).  We were playing the Man O'War course (named after the famous horse who stabled there back when the place was a horse farm (which produced the famous race horses Man O'War, War Admiral and Seabiscuit). Making our way around, we get to the par 3 13th.  It's a doozy.  It is a forced carry over water; you can shorten the length a little by going left, but you will miss the green if you do so.  The wind is often a factor, playing into your face from R to L, which makes it play that much longer.  That day the head greenskeeper decided to make this the FU hole by moving all the tee markers back in the tee boxes, and putting the pin on the right side of the green, so that the wind will push the ball away from the pin.  I was playing the men's tees (Blue) which put the distance at something close to 180 yds, but with the wind, it was definitely playing closer to 200 just to get over the water.
I grab my driver (the only club I have a chance of hitting and making it over). I tee up my ball.  Ahead of me are the senior tees, about 10 yards and slightly to my left (I am right handed).  The tee markers are, appropriately, horseshoes.  From where I am standing, the markers are in profile, i.e. the thin edge of the horseshoe is facing me.

I take a HUGE swing (I swung harder then I usually do just trying to get extra distance).  The ball rockets off the tee -- a worm burner!  It screams forward, and hits the senior tee marker ahead.  The ball ricochets off, back towards me, and comes to rest about 10 yards behind me, on the tips tee box.  My friends are laughing at me.  
I'm annoyed, embarrassed and a little pissed, so I say "I'm taking my back 9 mulligan".  I tee up the ball again, and take a mighty swing!  Another worm burner!  It scuds above the ground, maybe 4 inches, and hits the same senior tee marker ahead -- again!  My buddies fall out of the cart behind me, laughing and crying.  I pick up my ball (which came to rest about 5 feet from me this time) and trudge to the drop point on the other side of the water.
I should have bought a lottery ticket that day.

I know my story is "impossible" according to the Rules of Golf, but here goes.   I was playing 9 holes with my adult son several years ago, and we weren't keeping score, but here's what happened.....
On a par 4 hole I hit a so-so drive and told my son I was going to hit another drive just for practice.   I did, and it was much better.  So I played my first drive, hit a good shot and put it right on the green.   When we got to my second drive, I said to my son, "I'm going to hit this one too.....let me try your Pitching Wedge."  So he hands me his wedge and I proceed to hit a beautiful shot onto the green and IN THE HOLE!!   We had a laugh and a high five, and continued to walk to the green.
On the green, I lined up my putt and rolled it in the hole, so when I tell this story I tell people that I both EAGLED and BIRDIED the SAME HOLE in one round....!!!!    (Yeah....I know it's impossible under the rules, but it still happened!)

That's awesome!  

I am 78 years old, and like all the rest of us, I've watched my distance diminish to the point where I am now playing "Senior Tees ONLY."   The old formula (5 iron distance x 36 = course yardage) yields  150 x 36  = 5400 yards as my ideal course these days.  In our traveling group of 8 players I am the oldest by a couple of years, but that's about the distance we normally play.  If a par 4 is longer than about 360 yards, I may even move up to the ladies tees....!!   We play for fun and companionship, not money, so what difference does it make anyway?!!    BTW, just beat my age this week with a round of 77 on a 5400 yard course, so I guess I'm playing right where I belong.....

I am 78 years old, and like all the rest of us, I've watched my distance diminish to the point where I am now playing "Senior Tees ONLY."   The old formula (5 iron distance x 36 = course yardage) yields  150 x 36  = 5400 yards as my ideal course these days.  In our traveling group of 8 players I am the oldest by a couple of years, but that's about the distance we normally play.  If a par 4 is longer than about 360 yards, I may even move up to the ladies tees....!!   We play for fun and companionship, not money, so what difference does it make anyway?!!    BTW, just beat my age this week with a round of 77 on a 5400 yard course, so I guess I'm playing right where I belong.....

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

I loved your post, Rev.
My mother's older brother was a career Air Force (originally Army Air Corps) officer and a very cool guy.  When he was thirty-seven and I was seven, he married a girl exactly half-way between him and me in age.  She was his bedmate and my playmate at the same time.  She took me to the circus, plays, wrestling matches...you name it.  During the summer, I would spend weeks with them wherever he was stationed.  My baby aunt (not pronounced "ant" where we come from) and I ate enough ice cream to support the dairy economy.
Anyway, most of the cool stuff I learned, I learned from this uncle.
He taught me how to like his Cadillacs, cologne, the smell of good cigars, Chinese food, and how to read a racing form.  Yes, he took me to the track with him too.
He also got me into golf.  First I just pulled his trolley, but when I was twelve or thirteen, he got me onto the course as an aspiring player. 
Some days I thank him. Some days I blame him.
Either way, mom had a pretty cool brother.
 
 

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

16. I grew up playing basketball, football and baseball.  In junior high i started bowling. In high-school more options opened up and I did track,  golf and wrestling. A friend, who shot low 80s, got me started golfing when i was 16. Our school didn't have a golf team so we went to the principle and got permission to start one.  We found a teacher who agreed to be our sponsor (no coaching at all) and we were off and running.  I was a good athlete,  but had no lessons. I was probably about a 18 hdcp, but that was good enough to be the 5th person on a 6 person team. I was a 6 hdcp from age 20 to 42. I quit playing regular to raise my kids and then just quit entirely at age 59. I'm now 68, retired, and just started playing again after 9 years of zero golf. I'm currently a 9 hdcp and have dreams of getting back to 6 (if done,  it will be due to better golf tech). Golf has given me many great memories and I hope a few more to come.

I was 13 yrs old.  My family moved from LI from NY to Massachusetts after my dad was laid off his job. They purchased a Package Store and property had 7 acres of land. We were in a sporting goods store (I loved baseball), for some reason I bought a 3i, PW & Putter, and some golf balls. I'd go out to the side of the house & hit balls.  One day a liquor salesman gave me a little book - gold Jack Nicklaus golf book, Old Grand Dad Whiskey was having a promotion giving the Gold Nicklaus book with each bottle you buy. The book was great! I learned the grip to the stance to even the yardages you could expect to hit your clubs. That started the Golf Addiction!

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

Growing up I always played all the sports in season, but I was about 10 or 11 when I started getting interested in golf.    I started watching a show on TV called "All Star Golf."   The format was two pros played medal play, and the winner got to come back the next week and take on someone else.   Well, Sam Snead won something like 10-15 matches in a row, so he and that smooth swing of his became my model !     
So, I climbed up into the garage attic and brought down my dad's old set (Spalding Bobby Jones starter set, with a wooden shafted "Niblick" thrown in for good measure!), cleaned them up, and started batting wiffle balls around the yard.   About that time, we took a family vacation at my uncle's cottage at Devil's Lake, MI, and I bugged my dad to take my brother and me to play at the 9 hole golf course there.   On about the 3rd or 4th hole I hit a PERFECT drive.....high, straight, and long....right down the middle, and I was HOOKED!   When we got home, a few buddies and I would play the local 9 hole muni (for 50 cents...75 cents if we went around twice!....this was the 1950's, after all!), and I've been playing ever since!
One thing that bugged me was that the following Christmas my parents thought that since I had taken up golf, they would encourage my older brother to do the same, so they bought HIM a set of new clubs !!!!!!!   I was SOOooo jealous!!   Sooner or later though I worked out some kind of trade with him, so I eventually wound up with the shiny new sticks!
I'm 78, going on 79 now, walk 18 holes twice a week, still at it......

Not embarrassing at all!  You found a club that works! I'd hit a club with a woman's shaft in a heartbeat if it helped my game.
You can always change shafts too if you wanted

I have been playing a 7 wood for about five years (a 9 wood as well). It is my club of choice for shots that need to fly long and stop quickly into a green. Usually from 200 to 220 yards. It is also handy for long fairway bunker shots if the lip of the bunker is low. 

I never wanted to even consider a 7wood for the longest time. Finally gave it a shot about 1.5 years ago and haven’t looked back. It is easily one of my favorite clubs in the bag now. So consistent and versatile. Seems like most hopped on the train, but if you haven’t, at least give it a go and see for yourself. I’m went with a Callaway Rogue ST Max 7w. 

Do I use a 7 wood.....?  OMG yes!!  And a 9 wood.....AND toying with the idea of building an 11 wood!!
IDK why the manufacturer's seem so determined to force hybrids on us....I've only had 1 or 2 (in the higher lofts, BTW) that I could hit consistently, but the higher lofted woods have kept me competitive, even at age 78.

Titleist

Arnold Palmer
https://www.arnoldpalmer.com/personal

I have always liked these logos of golf companies.....they just say "GOLF" to me......




To an old guy like me, they bring back memories of Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus and all the other great players in history.....!!