How Things Have Changed...
 

I thought we could use this thread to look at how much the game has evolved. The idea is to contrast the current state of the game with what it was when you first began to play.

When I started--

Bulge faced driving irons were the wave of the future.
MWT was making its debut.
Tiger was unbeatable.
THP didn't exist.
Golf Digest was a great place for equipment reviews.

Wilson Sam Snead Blue Ridge Irons, First Flight irons, Power Bilt Persimmon Woods, Ben Hogan Apex Irons etc. Early 1970's was an interesting era in golf technology.

All about the Zebra putters, Titleist DCI's, Taylormade was big with the Bubble Burner shatfts, Great Big Bertha, Rickie Fowler was in elementary school about my age, John Daly was still drinking beer, smoking cig's and making 18's on par 5's (oh wait, he still does that)

Ahh.. those were the days!

I was out talking to one of my favorite members the other day. He's in his late 60's and was an excellent golfer in his day. He had the honor of getting to play at the Augusta National twice and shot in the 70's both times. I happened to glance over at his bag and noticed his old set of Pings and old Ping putter. He said they were about 41 years old and he is still playing them to this day. I had to take a pic with my cell phone. I forgot about it until I read this thread. Poor guy has cancer that has spread to his bones. He is undergoing chemotherapy but he still makes it out to the course every week with a big smile on his face. I just love the guy.

Here ya go:

http://inlinethumb51.webshots.com/47...425x425Q85.jpghttp://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/44...425x425Q85.jpg

KellyBo, that must have been a great time! Folks such as him are full of so much knowledge and respect, it's unbelievable. Sounds like a great man, and a wonderful sportsman. That putter and those irons are sweet!

Will be praying for him!

I played both these as a kid, Gray.

Kevin

That is the time I started. My first full set of clubs, including a putter were Spaldings. I don't remember the model but I think they were 3 iron thru 9 iron with persimmon woods with the 1 wood being the driving wood. I think I may have bought another brand of sand wedge. I had a leather bag, brown leather shoes (that made my feet hurt) and I bought these clubs at our local Rexall drug store.

Would that be the Executive? They made that line for years and years.

Here are some pic's of my fathers old clubs from the fifties. Can't tell you the brand now off the top of my head as they are in a storage building, but everything is still there right down to his shoes, short wood tees, balls, leather shoes and fingerless gloves. The cool thing is the folding pull cart.

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a.../oldirons3.jpg

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a.../oldirons2.jpg

http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/a.../oldirons1.jpg

That is so cool Hoosier! Thanks for sharing. Love the headcovers. I see some challenging clubs there! Whew, I'm glad I don't have to play with those although it might be fun to try one time.

I have an old spalding executive putter that I am cleaning up. Great putter.

That sounds right. I think my brother had a set of Elite Spaldings also at that time. I know I had a Spalding Rabbits Foot putter for several years and I remember how big a deal it was when I could afford and "move up" to a No.1 Spalding putter designed by TP Mills. I think the putter was something like $22 and I bought it on time at the Rexall.

I also remember the old drug store owner telling us kids when we were looking at the more expensive Wilson irons, that we could look, but not touch. Those were the days for sure. I remember my hands stung with every shot when I was learning to play.

The sad thing is those irons are all fiberglass shafts that are mint condition today, but cracked real bad. I would guess they would break today. The woods I think are Spaldings and have played them before, some time ago. I know I have no desire to go back to persimmon woods....lol

Great post Hoosier! That's awesome that you have your Dad's clubs, and are in great condition! Even the pull cart looks perfect!

Thank you. The funny thing about those clubs being that old is that they are in very good condition yet each iron has a ton of wear on the face from the hundreds and hundreds of shots he hit with them. He kept this set but traded many that came after these, because these he said were custom built around 52 or 53 by the local jeweler in our home town. The store and the jeweler have been gone for a long time.

Gene Littler Irons were my first set of irons , old bulls eye brass putter , and black persimmon woods .
ChiChi with his flamboyant putting sword when he holed a birdie putt , Arnie & Jack Smoking on TV and then flipping it off to the side when they were ready to hit their next shot . Button up sweaters when it was cool out . Real rubber balata balls that would make a big cut smiley face when you hit it thin . Real spikes &
Sand greens .

Here's my golf evolution starting sometime in the 70's:

Mid '70's - Wilson Crest Gene Sarazan set that was passed down from my Dad.
Early '80's - Bought my "own" first set of Wilson Blue Ridge.
Mid '80's - Upgraded to Wilson K-28's.
Mid'80's - Ordered Palmer Persimmon Woods out of the back of Golf Digest but was sent some First Flight Persimmons (which I still own)
Mid '80's - Ordered a set of the "new" Pinnacle Irons
Late '80's - Got my hands on a set of Ping Eye 2's.
Early '90's - Upgraded to Ping ISI's - Played these for almost 10 years.
Late '90's to TODAY - Owned several sets of different Pings...Thats over 20 years with nothing but Ping Irons.

3/23/2011 - Traded my Ping i 15's for Cleveland CG 16's. The first non Ping Irons I've owned since 1999. I feel like I cheated on someone...http://www.thehackersparadise.com/fo...ies/crying.png

I've had too many putters and Drivers to even begin to start listing them.

My timeline roughly and what has changed:

-1st set of adult clubs-Tommy Armour 845 knockoffs, Louisville Slugger driver and woods, no wedges except what came with my set and a nameless putter.
-Favorite golfers-Mark Calcavecchia, Freddy Couples (because when I asked my Grandpa who hit it the farthest he said they did, so that is who I started following)

-1991, John Daly won the PGA Championship and changed the way I saw how golf could be played. Even then i didn't think he was cool, I thought Freedy Couples was the man, but I loved how he played. Changed my swing the next day and tried out for the golf team that year.

-The big debate was about going past parallel in the backswing

-1st set of clubs I bought and chose myself-Ping ISI-K's, Tom Watson Ram wedges I think, knockoff putter my Grandpa fitted me for and made in his garage golf workshop
-Favorite golfers-Tiger, everyone else was just OK to me

-Big debate was if the USA showed poor sportsmanship storming the green at the Ryder Cup, the "be nice to Monty" campaign was in full swing and oversized clubs were just debuting

-First set of blades made the bag-Mizuno MP-33's but the big news was that Biggest Big Bertha. It changed the game for me again. Now I could get away with that big swing i had been taking since 1991 and the graphite shafts were getting really light and really good

-Big controversy was 460cc heads and the new solid core balls

-Today-everyone has solid core balls, there are no oversized drivers now as all drivers are big and the big controversy is dialing back distance so classic courses don't become outmoded

When i first started playing the burner 09 irons had just came out. Now im a 9 handicap.

Haven't been playing that long...at all. When I started playing Supertri's where the "it" driver (still kinda are), Tiger hadn't won in like a year (still hasn't), and one of the hottest players in golf was strolling down the fairways in hunter safety orange (still is)! However, I plan on being able to tell this to my kids (still don't have any) one day and have them look at me, eyes all glazed over, and say "wow dad, you're old"!