My 50 Years of Iron Play

[Shapotomous]

This summer marks my 50th year of playing regulation size courses.  I had a few years of par 3 golf using cut down clubs but 50 years ago i graduated to regular length clubs...a few at a time!  . I say a few at a time because i was buying individual irons from Hermans a sporting goods store in the 70's.  They were all makes and models but consistently all were extemely hard to hit since they were thin enough to cut an apple.  The high $ club in those racks would have been the Sam Snead Blue Ridge.  So that is the first in line in the pic below. 

I played with that mis matched set for 3 or 4 years before buying my first matched set from the asst pro where i worked cleaning clubs and picking range balls.  Wilson Staff Dynapower.  I was in heaven after the Hermans specials I had been trying to hit.  

A few years later i tried a set of Lynx USA irons that a member was moving on from.  He generously gave them to me when he upgraded to Wilson Staff clubs.  Lynx was supposed to be an easy to hit club but not for me.  That experiment only lasted a couple months.  Maybe if i had paid for the clubs i would had suffered longer but thankfully it was an easy decision to go back the the Dynapowers for a few more years.

Next up was another set bought from one of the asst pros at the club, Palmer First Flights.  Another muscle back blade and this was a FULL set from 1i - sw plus a fairway wedge.  The fairway wedge was a sw loft that had a lot less bounce than the "sand" sand wedge.  

I played those for about 12 years before moving on to the Tour Cavity irons.  My first new clubs and they were not blades.  These were a Tom Wishon design from Golfsmith.  I believe i bought those i the mid 90's.  I played them through about 3 shaft changes up until 2019.

After going for a fitting i bought a used set of Mizuno JPX 900's.  2* flat with PX LZ 6.0 steel shafts.  I am still playing these and have been very happy with the conistently solid contact. 

Who knows what may be next...

Edited August 31 by Shapotomous

[Shapotomous]

Since i had the irons out i hit a few into the net with each.  The Staff Dynapower and Tour Cavity were an easy transition and felt great.  I still didnt make good contact with the Lynx, too high on the clubface.  The Sam Snead was a disaster, it hurt my hand on a couple!  The Palmer First Flight has a teeny tiny sweet spot that when you hit it feels soooo good.  But feedback on off center hits is extremely obvious.  The top line on that club is real skinny and looks great.  I tried to get a pic of it when i came back in but it didnt translate too well.

[Rob Person]

Congratulations on the amazing milestone!

[William P]

On 8/21/2024 at 8:27 PM, Shapotomous said:

This summer marks my 50th year of playing regulation size courses.  I had a few years of par 3 golf using cut down clubs but 50 years ago i graduated to regular length clubs...a few at a time!  . I say a few at a time because i was buying individual irons from Hermans a sporting goods store in the 70's.  They were all makes and models but consistently all were extemely hard to hit since they were thin enough to cut an apple.  The high $ club in those racks would have been the Sam Snead Blue Ridge.  So that is the first in line in the pic below. 

I played with that mis matched set for 3 or 4 years before buying my first matched set from the asst pro where i worked cleaning clubs and picking range balls.  Wilson Staff Dynapower.  I was in heaven after the Hermans specials I had been trying to hit.  

A few years later i tried a set of Lynx USA irons that a member was moving on from.  He generously gave them to me when he upgraded to Wilson Staff clubs.  Lynx was supposed to be an easy to hit club but not for me.  That experiment only lasted a couple months.  Maybe if i had paid for the clubs i would had suffered longer but thankfully it was an easy decision to go back the the Dynapowers for a few more years.

Next up was another set bought from one of the asst pros at the club, Palmer First Flights.  Another muscle back blade and this was a FULL set from 1i - sw plus a fairway wedge.  The fairway wedge was a sw loft that had a lot less bounce than the "sand" sand wedge.  

I played those for about 12 years before moving on to the Tour Cavity irons.  My first new clubs and they were not blades.  These were a Tom Wishon design from Golfsmith.  I believe i bought those i the late 90's.  I played them through about 3 shaft changes up until 2019.

After going for a fitting i bought a used set of Mizuno JPX 900's.  2* flat with PX LZ 6.0 steel shafts.  I am still playing these and have been very happy with the conistently solid contact. 

Who knows what may be next...

Congrats on the milestone!

[Johann Oosthuizen]

On 8/22/2024 at 3:27 AM, Shapotomous said:

This summer marks my 50th year of playing regulation size courses.  I had a few years of par 3 golf using cut down clubs but 50 years ago i graduated to regular length clubs...a few at a time!  . I say a few at a time because i was buying individual irons from Hermans a sporting goods store in the 70's.  They were all makes and models but consistently all were extemely hard to hit since they were thin enough to cut an apple.  The high $ club in those racks would have been the Sam Snead Blue Ridge.  So that is the first in line in the pic below. 

I played with that mis matched set for 3 or 4 years before buying my first matched set from the asst pro where i worked cleaning clubs and picking range balls.  Wilson Staff Dynapower.  I was in heaven after the Hermans specials I had been trying to hit.  

A few years later i tried a set of Lynx USA irons that a member was moving on from.  He generously gave them to me when he upgraded to Wilson Staff clubs.  Lynx was supposed to be an easy to hit club but not for me.  That experiment only lasted a couple months.  Maybe if i had paid for the clubs i would had suffered longer but thankfully it was an easy decision to go back the the Dynapowers for a few more years.

Next up was another set bought from one of the asst pros at the club, Palmer First Flights.  Another muscle back blade and this was a FULL set from 1i - sw plus a fairway wedge.  The fairway wedge was a sw loft that had a lot less bounce than the "sand" sand wedge.  

I played those for about 12 years before moving on to the Tour Cavity irons.  My first new clubs and they were not blades.  These were a Tom Wishon design from Golfsmith.  I believe i bought those i the mid 90's.  I played them through about 3 shaft changes up until 2019.

After going for a fitting i bought a used set of Mizuno JPX 900's.  2* flat with PX LZ 6.0 steel shafts.  I am still playing these and have been very happy with the conistently solid contact. 

Who knows what may be next...

I played with my Wilson Staff Dynapowers from 1976 until 2022 when my sons started to refuse to play with me.....their excuse was that they were ashamed to be seen with me on the course and begged me to buy new clubs.  I still use my Dynapower sand wedge.

[RetiredBoomer]

On 8/21/2024 at 9:27 PM, Shapotomous said:

This summer marks my 50th year of playing regulation size courses.  I had a few years of par 3 golf using cut down clubs but 50 years ago i graduated to regular length clubs...a few at a time!  . I say a few at a time because i was buying individual irons from Hermans a sporting goods store in the 70's.  They were all makes and models but consistently all were extemely hard to hit since they were thin enough to cut an apple.  The high $ club in those racks would have been the Sam Snead Blue Ridge.  So that is the first in line in the pic below. 

I played with that mis matched set for 3 or 4 years before buying my first matched set from the asst pro where i worked cleaning clubs and picking range balls.  Wilson Staff Dynapower.  I was in heaven after the Hermans specials I had been trying to hit.  

A few years later i tried a set of Lynx USA irons that a member was moving on from.  He generously gave them to me when he upgraded to Wilson Staff clubs.  Lynx was supposed to be an easy to hit club but not for me.  That experiment only lasted a couple months.  Maybe if i had paid for the clubs i would had suffered longer but thankfully it was an easy decision to go back the the Dynapowers for a few more years.

Next up was another set bought from one of the asst pros at the club, Palmer First Flights.  Another muscle back blade and this was a FULL set from 1i - sw plus a fairway wedge.  The fairway wedge was a sw loft that had a lot less bounce than the "sand" sand wedge.  

I played those for about 12 years before moving on to the Tour Cavity irons.  My first new clubs and they were not blades.  These were a Tom Wishon design from Golfsmith.  I believe i bought those i the mid 90's.  I played them through about 3 shaft changes up until 2019.

After going for a fitting i bought a used set of Mizuno JPX 900's.  2* flat with PX LZ 6.0 steel shafts.  I am still playing these and have been very happy with the conistently solid contact. 

Who knows what may be next...

My first irons were hand-me-down 1954 Wilson Staff DynaPowers,
2-PW,
handed down to me by my uncle when I was about fourteen.

Played in conjunction with balata covered wound golf balls,
I wonder why I didn't quit golf as soon as I started.

They emphasized every flaw.
The slightest bit thin was a dead top resulting in a destroyed ball.
The slightest cast was an enormous slice,
and too inside out was a colossal hook.

Their best feature was that they made me realize that I couldn't play
without at least rudimentary pro lessons on the golf swing.

That said, people who knew what they were doing won countless tournaments
with Wilson Staffs and regard the model as a benchmark.