Let's reminisce about days of the 2-iron (or 1-iron)

[Titleist87 245]

Some will remember and some will say, 'what is a 2-iron?" Many sets do not come with even a 3-iron or 4-iron. As a teen in the mid-80s, I carried a Power Bilt Scotch Blade 2-iron (true blade as it is flat as a pancake on the back) as my tee-off club since I did not carry woods (that I used) until I bought the Mizuno Quad metalwoods. I missed out on the persimmon era as my junior clubs were laminate. I could hit the Scotch Blade club 270. Was a great feeling hitting a flush 2-iron. I still have the club and rechromed several years ago but have yet to reshaft. Now that I am older and have played hybrids for many years, the long irons do not get used much; perhaps on the practice tee to see if I can still hit a 2-iron. My three iron sets I rotate all have the matching 2-iron but I just don't carry them anymore. The hybrid is so much easier to hit. Does anybody still carry and actively play a 2-iron? Those of the generation before me most likely had sets where the 2-iron was standard and from old 2-irons I have, most if not all have such sharp leading edges that left little room for error.

[Shankster 26,347]

I’ll never forget!



Also had a PING 1 iron back in the day, it was my driver.

[Jmikecpa 12,795]

In college I carried a Ping Eye 2 1 iron in place of a 3 wood. I think it may still be kicking around somewhere in my Grandpop’s basement. Could hit a fairway wood worth a lick I those days and now I can’t hit a normal long iron worth a lick.


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[MDGolfHacker 7,020]

I have a lefty MP-19 2 iron.  It only saw one round but plenty of battle scars from the range.  I still love carrying a 3 iron, but that went away last year.  I just don't have the swing for it anymore (well, not sure I ever did, LOL).

 

MDGolfHacker

[PlaidJacket 7,725]

Perhaps this isn't a good analogy but let's reminisce about old cars - shall we. My driving days began back in the early 70's. But I certainly don't want to go back to those old cars. For starters they were poorly built and required a lot of maintenance. If you owned a muscle car for example they were fun, burned a lot of rubber, and sounded cool. But they drove and handled poorly in addition to not being very comfortable. So no... not going back there. But it'd be fun to own one to get out in occasionally for a Sunday drive. Same with and old set of blades. Cool to look at but terrible to play.

I have no love lost for old (or new blades) blades including a 2i. Or a 1i even. Ugh!! Good riddance. Back when I was first introduced to the game blades were all we had. I could probably play them to much better effect today but I have no interest in finding out. Now, I've been playing a cavity back iron every since the 845's came out. At the time they were a game changer for me. Over the years I improved my swing and become a better player. But still... I'm basically a weekend - give or take; amature, like most here in the forum. Blades are difficult to play effectively for a large majority of people. This game is hard enough as is so why compound this difficulty by playing such unforgiving irons? Heck, most pros play cavity back - game improving irons. Count me out as I reminisce about the bad old days. 

 

[bens197 6,765]

This beauty lived in my bag for 6 years. Back when I was young and dumb and there was no such thing as “can’t reach it in two”.

[GCSAA Supt 140]

I played the power bilt scotch blades back in that era...Died and went to heaven when I finally got a set of Ping eye irons...First round I missed a 5 iron and it still made it to the green...never looked back!

I do have a MacGregor M1W persimmon driver (Keyhole insert).  Once a year I'll take it to the range so I can better appreciate the technology of today's modern clubs!!

 

Jim

[Shankster 26,347]

This beauty lived in my bag for 6 years. Back when I was young and dumb and there was no such thing as “can’t reach it in two”.

One of my favorite Titleist models.

[RetiredBoomer 98]

I have a brand new 2-PW set which, thanks to the pandemic, hasn't seen green grass yet.

The only difference is that instead of stamping it 2-PW,  Titleist stamped it as a 4-iron to Gap Wedge II set.

Apologists for the gradual loft jacking that's taken place over the last forty years will talk about different weight distribution and designed "launch windows."

Well, my set is stamped two full clubs off, and deigned launch windows have less than nothing to do with it. 

At least off of my swing, clubs still play exactly to their actual loft.

My 20-53º set may be a 4-GWII in 2020 speak, but except for a little new tech thrown in, it's little different from a 1965  2-PW set.,

One small difference is that the new 2-iron with a "4" stamped on its sole is a little less difficult to launch than a 1965 2-iron thanks to that tech. 

I can't do anything about the modern club number / loft correlations; that's how they like to do it now, and realistically, it's just a cosmetic and marketing matter.

Actually, one thing that I did do is make it even more exactly like a 1965 2-PW set.

I ordered the numbered irons ½" long and 2º flat.

I ordered the so called pitching wedge (actually an 8-iron) ¼" long and 1½º flat.

I ordered the two gap wedges (48 and 53), which are actually a 9-iron and a pitching wedge, the standard 35½" length and 1º flat.

So stampings not withstanding, I do still have a 2-iron to use off the tee on tight driving holes.

 

[RetiredBoomer 98]

4 minutes ago, Shankster said:

 

One of my favorite Titleist models.

 

Played my set for twenty years. Still have them.

[bens197 6,765]

One of my favorite Titleist models.

The head shape and design were perfect. I wish I hadn’t sold them.

[Middler 2,423]

Another topic made pointless by iron loft jacking. I always carried a 2-iron until my current set. Of course my Mizuno MP-20 HMB 3 iron has exactly the same loft as my Wilson Staff RM Midsize 2 iron did. One day my 19° loft iron will probably be stamped as a “9” iron...

[revkev 22,899]

I will play along although I’m pretty much in Plaid’s camp, those of you who pine for those clubs don’t realize just how difficult they made things.

Actually my old 2 iron was the reason I willingly jumped into the Ping Eye 2 when it hit the market (tons of tour pros did, too).

But this baby was a Ram. It was the summer of my junior year of college, 1977 and I had quit playing baseball due to a bad bout of mono. I started playing golf seriously and once I was breaking 80 regularly decided to move off my starter set and into some big boy clubs.

I wanted Wilson staffs but they were expensive. I had a part time summer job for the local newspaper - a job i kept for the next two years. When I looked in the catalogue I saw Ram Tour grinds, 2-PW in my price range. Hey Ram, Tom Watson, why not.

They took forever to arrive and when they did there was no 2 iron. I called and they told me it was on back order. A few weeks later the 2 iron arrived but instead of a matching Tour Grind it was their Cavity Back - the Accubar. Well after some careful consideration I decided to try it out. Hit the thing great, high with a tight little draw off the tee and bullets off the turf. That club stayed in my bag until ‘84 when I bought my Eye 2’s. A whole set of irons like that one? Hell yeah I thought.

The Eye 2 2 iron didn’t last long though. My fairway woods were 1,3,5. When I realized that I could hit the 5 wood just as far and so much higher than 2 iron and that I played on a very hilly course - that was that.

I had that 5 wood in my bag until my clubs were stolen in 2005.

The longest iron that I currently game is 6 iron. It’s not long for this world either. I have a hybrid that I could replace it with. I probably should ....


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[Subdiver1 36]

I cannot even recall, off hand, what they were, but my second set of clubs were something like an E4 swing weight in a full leather bag and came with a 2 Iron that I could smash.  I think the bag and clubs weighed as much as a VW beetle, and I carried that set around into and through high school.   I cannot even tell you how many left-handed shots I hit with that 2-Iron from behind a tree.  I could actually get a ball air borne with the back of the head and run that ball over 100 yds that way.  I still like long irons and that one was a stroke saver in more ways than one.  I'll have to do some research and see if I cannot remember what those clubs were.  Thanks for the reminder. 

[JohnnyH 8]

About 20 years ago I pulled a snapped-in-half Tommy Armour Silver Scot 2 iron out of a garbage can at my local course. Had it reshafted, brought it to the range and very quickly learned why it got tossed!

I remember that being able to hit a 1 or 2 Iron was a badge of honor...sad to say, I never made the grade...

"If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron. Not even God can hit a 1-iron." - Lee Trevino 

[sixcat 3,634]

Funny story about a local junior player from about a decade ago.  He was an accomplished player at a young age.  Came from a family of accomplished players as a mater of fact.  As he got older, his length started becoming a problem in some of the junior tournaments he was playing in.  He needed something off the tee for accuracy and control.

We had an old Wilson Staff FG17 2-iron in a used club bin in the pro shop.  Absolutely gorgeous club but unhittable for almost anyone.  We had named that thing "God" because nobody at our club could hit it.   It was as heavy as a log and about as stiff.  Felt like swinging a two-by-four.

The assistant pro at our club, in what everyone knew was in good old fashioned humor, handed this kid "God" out of the used club bin and said, this is all you need.  Twenty minutes later, the kid came back into the shop and said "thanks a lot, Brad."  He used "God" over the next few weeks to win a prestegious junior tournament and won the Virginia High School League individual state championship by seven shots.  It was such a great story, the regional newspaper wrote a lengthy piece on "God!"

Of course, the club got its name from that Trevino line @JohnnyH

 

[NRJyzr 572]

Amusingly, I put my Golden Ram TW282 set in my bag for my first round this past Sunday.  I went whole hog, 1-PW.  Hit the 1 iron five times, and hit it rather well, actually.  I admit it was a surprise, I have five months of rust on my game.

Honestly, I've never seen a large problem hitting that 17* or 18* loft slot in an iron.  Admittedly, it's primarily a tee club, there's not many times I'm at the distance on a hole, where I'd be hitting an iron in that loft.  Cant say it's not part of my experience.

Don't have a pic of the 1 iron, but I've included an image of the 5 iron from this set, from an ebay auction I found just now.  

 

[RetiredBoomer 98]

I'll take up two of my fourteen spots to overlap two 200 yard clubs.

A long iron to hit  wind cheating, hot landing line drives at landing areas on tight driving holes.  I don't hit driver at tight landing areas.

A well lofted wood for high, vertically descending shots that leave deep ball marks to repair on the green.

They're both important shots so I want both clubs. One won't do both jobs.

Even if it creates a distance gap elsewhere in the set.

[The 19th Hole 454]

So I realize I am very late to the party on this thread, but I came across it and it brought back some good memories. 

 

When I first started playing a friend of ours built me a set of cobra knock off irons with over-sized heads and a decent amount of offset all good things for a beginning golfer. What I don't understand is why they would give a beginner a 2i right out the gate, but they did and I am probably better off for it. I actually still have this complete set 20 years later as I have used it to teach friends or loan to my wife for the once a decade round of golf she joins me on. 

 

While digging through my garage to find this 2i I found something else too! When I got good enough, I took over my father's Henry Griffith Blades and then added a 2i to it. I played these for a long time before I "Upgraded" to my own (and first new set) of Mizuno MP32's. When I bought those I sold off the  Henry Griffiths in full with exception of 2i. I just couldn't bring myself to let it go (Especially since Mizuno didn't offer a 2i anymore to go with my new set).  

 

Over the years I have toyed with the idea of getting it re-shafted and putting it back in the bag. And now this forum is making me think about it again...The good old days... Then I stand over it and look down at that thin top line. Then I see it next to my current Ping iBlade 3i and realize just how small the face is...Scary looking club. But I still love it!

[87Juliet 0]

I have a full set of Ping Eye 2's, from 1 thro 9, W, S and L....  love them to bits, now if i could find a nice set of BeCu's of the same I'd be teh happiest guy on the planet.  I only have a driver and a Ping G20 hybrid in my bag other than the Eye2's.