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Newer clubs definitely work
Golf equipment has never generated quite this much buzz -- and, finally, justifiably so. For a long time I considered the majority of equipment claims to be mostly hype. And history has shown that for a lot of years the innovations in golf clubs simply didn't amount to very much. But I've become convinced that the new stuff from the last few years is discernably better, and all the recent records on the pro tours basically prove it.
My fascination with sporting goods started when my mom and aunt would go shopping at the old Roos Bros. store in downtown San Francisco and leave my cousin and I in the ground floor sporting-goods department. I loved the smell and feel of the new gloves, the leather footballs and basketballs, all the authentic 49ers and Giants paraphernalia. My first baseball bat was purchased at Roos Bros. -- a 28-inch Hank Aaron -model Louisville Slugger -- and I bought my first glove there, a Tito Francona Rawlings. I developed the same jones in golf. I remember going to Harding Park with my dad when I was about eight or nine and being captivated by a complete set of Ben Hogan junior clubs -- called Little Bens -- on display in the pro shop. On my 12th birthday I received my first complete set: three cherry-finished persimmon woods and 10 forged blades -- ladies weight and length -- by J.C. Higgins. My father bought them from his friend, Lou Ortiz, who for some reason had them in the tiny Alabama Street machine shop where he had just started Orlimar golf. I don't know what happened to those clubs, but ever since I've hung onto my personal favorites. After years of searching through used-club barrels, making some shrewd and not so shrewd trades, and general, old-fashioned acquisitiveness, I've accumulated a nice collection from the 1960s, '70s and '80s. I've got persimmon woods by great old companies like Wood Brothers, MacGregor, Cleveland Classic, Kenneth Smith, Orlimar, Toney Penna and Powerbilt, plus a few brands you've never heard of, like Giannini. My most prized irons are a set of Spalding Top Flite with a sombrero insignia, and LT Grind stamped on the hosel. When I showed these to Lee Trevino, he smiled and informed me that only a few such sets were ever made. In my tour bag full of miscellaneous clubs is an old Maruman 3-wood that belonged to Laura Davies, a Scotty Cameron putter used by Mike Donald, a Zevo wedge and Ping putter that Tiger Woods gave trial runs, and a Gary Player sand wedge that once was in the bag of Gary Player. I'm not keeping these clubs as an investment or anything. I picked them up them for the same reason I was drawn to the sporting goods at Roos Bros. And also because I wanted to use them, not just look at them. It was fun to have clubs my playing partners admired or were curious about. The fact is, though, I've stopped acquiring and using the old stuff. It doesn't make much sense anymore. The new stuff is better. My nine-degree titanium driver with a 300 cc head is straighter and longer -- and produces a more penetrating flight -- than anything I've ever used. On bad hits, the ball doesn't curve as much or lose as much distance. The 14.5-degree fairway wood I'm using is long but also more versatile than any 3-wood I've ever had. I recently tried one of those so-called hybrid "iron-woods." My 18-degree model hits it farther than any 1- or 2-iron I've ever played, but is easier to hit. It is a great club to use into the wind when you need distance, and ideal for a tee shot to a narrow fairway. I have new models in both perimeter-weighted irons and forged blades. The perimeter-weighted heads produce a little more distance and are easier to hit in the long irons. The forged irons perform better than previous blade models in part because they've been built with that little extra bit of bounce more suited to today's closer-cropped fairway conditions. Recently, Art Chou of fledgling Pixel Golf sent me a lob wedge to try (yes, golf writers get equipment sent to them on occasion). I already had a 1986 Wilson 60-degree wedge designed by Tom Kite that fulfilled my compulsion for performance and rare vintage. But the Pixel wedge has the narrower flange and less bounce, allowing me to hit a little farther if I want to and making it more versatile from different lies. And there is something about those pixels that feels great. So this wedge is in the bag. What's it all mean? Well, we can't discount that golf balls simultaneously are gaining distance and becoming easier to control. But that said, golf clubs are clearly better. It's definitely making the game easier, but in a meaningful sense only for those who know what they are doing. While all these records are being set on the tours, the average handicap is still 19. So the biggest effect of improved equipment is widening the gap between the accomplished and average player. The way to address that is to establish two sets of rules governing equipment. But that's a matter for another column. Sports Illustrated senior writer Jaime Diaz is a regular contributor to the magazine's Golf Plus edition. Click here to send him a question or comment.
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