Wilsonian

Wow

"Hoopla". Good word. Pretty much sums up the modern tour if you ask me. A lot of hoopla designed to sell merch, playing a completely different game that is unattainable to the ordinary golfer. The sooner we realize that, the sooner that the fun switch goes on and we can create the game to fit our own desires. Its more fun to take the road less travelled.

Just found a copy on Thriftbooks.

No surprise from me, but the Wilson K-28 irons, specifically blades with the glide thru sole. I grew up playing Ram clubs, but got away from them as I got older. My return to vintage was with the Wilsons, and my first set of hickories were the Wilson Plus Success irons. You'll try a lot of sets, but I think it's a matter of what feels best in your hands, specifically your 7 iron which is the best indicator imo. I favor the cheaper clubs so as to have more $$ for playing them.

Imo lofts don't matter. Especially when you play with fewer clubs. If a person is average height, standard lie angles work. That said, with vintage clubs I find that occasionally I have to adjust my setup to match the lie angle. I agree with those who have said don't mess with it. If a club doesn't work for me it may be because of lie angle, but then I'll find it a new home Vintage putters seem to have strange lie angles, but you can adapt easily enough. I'm finding that playing with vintage clubs requires a change in thinking and adaptability of shot making, including opening the face to increase loft and hooding to decrease loft on certain situations. So for me, I take each club as I found it and play.

Today's round was really fun. I think I finally found a driver too. The niblick was only used twice, so it may be a bit superfluous to carry. I could have used my 4 iron more times, so might be swapping those two. The niblick did come in handy on #8, where my normal bump and run was thwarted by a dirt pile on the edge of the green. Had to do a flop shot with the niblick which left me 15 ft from the pin and a 2 putt bogey. They are now removing the old sprinklers and have left large holes everywhere. Looks like they are removing them first, then filling in the holes later. 🤔 All in all it was a fun morning. Took a great step towards settling on the right combination. Next round will be carrying: Driver, 4 wood, 4 iron, 7 iron, putter. All vintage. I got along well with the Wilson Gene Sarazen 5 star putter today. It's starting to grow on me. Finished 18 in 2.5 hours. Shot a 91 and was very close to breaking 90 for the first time. Had 5 pars today, which was cool. Weather was mid 60's and muggy. A fun day.

The Wilson Laminated 5 wood was a disappointment. Hit a couple of good shots with it, but didn't like it enough to justify keeping it. Liked the Wilson Driver. That's club will stick around for a while. Liked the hickory jigger. Hit a few good shots and ran them up on the green. That one is a keeper. Started to get the hang of putting with the hickory putter. Worked best with a popping stroke. That is also a keeper. I got my hickory bag today so now I have 2 jiggers, a putter, and a niblick for it. Hopefully I can find a decent mashie soon, along with a hickory spoon. Then I'll be all set except for a mid-iron. Tomorrow's bag will have: *Wilson Billy Casper 4300 Laminated Driver *Wilson Laminated K-28 4 wood *Wilson Coated shaft 7 iron *Wilson Ryder Cup 8 iron *Wilson Gene Sarazen 5 star putter Today I broke 100 so I was happy, but I still want to work my way through the vintage clubs I have yet to try. At least this is a fun experiment.

So far I've been experimenting with a variety of combinations, but mostly consisting of some kind of wood, long iron, mid iron, short iron, and putter. That's the template. The best combo has been a Wilson Laminated K-28 4 wood, the pyratone rough iron (2) a pyratone 4 iron, Wilson pyratone 7 iron, Wilson Tour Special II Putter (modern). Switching away from the 4 wood has not worked very well. I find I like the rough iron best around the green. The 4&7 irons have been the most consistent. I've had trouble adapting to the very old putters, but I'm still trying. At the end of this process I hope to arrive at a five club set to play with exclusively. I'm thinking that staying with the same clubs will help my scoring improve. My theory anyway. I've also been experimenting with several 8 iron niblicks and dropping the 2 iron. I really like a niblick, and with the 4 wood the Rough Iron might prove to be superfluous. Tomorrow I'll be taking the following: *Wilson Aero-flo Turfrider Driver *Wilson Laminated 5 wood *MacGregor Hickory Jigger *Wilson Pyratone 7 (Mashie-Niblick) *Hickory Zenith Putter Playing a Callaway Super soft ball I think I'm getting close. I don't really think I can live without a high lofted fairway wood in the bag. So the real question boils down to either bringing a driver or dropping the driver for another iron. Just thinking out loud.

Today's sunrise nine was back at Edgewater in Grafton. Had a very pedestrian round, except for one hole. The Par 3 5th hole. 146 yds. Selected an easy 4 iron and hit it to within 10 ft of the hole. Always nice to be out early. The weather was about 65 degrees and overcast. It's been humid here and was this morning. Pics of the bag and course below. After my nine, I checked out River Island Park Golf Course in Grafton. Three free golf holes. Kind of like your back yard when it needs to be mowed. Full of goose droppings. A good idea poorly executed. But it's free. Tomorrow's round will be back at Hawthorne Hills and I'll be taking a couple of hickories and some new woods.

Too bad it's behind a paywall...

Today's round at Edgewater went well. Took a new to me Wilson Billy Casper 4 wood, the Rough Iron, 4, 7, Wilson Ryder Cup 8, and Wilson Gene Sarazen 5 star putter. Used a Wilson Elite 50 ball. The weather was nice, sunny and about 72 with a light breeze. Played with JM, who is just getting back into the game after retiring at 70. He walks and carries Ping Zings. It seemed slow, but we finished in 2 hours. Had a lot of fun. Rough start but we finished strong. Chipping was much better today, and consequently so was putting. I'm starting to get the strategy difference when playing with the old clubs now. Lower, more run out, less spin. It's a fun way to play. Playing the 5 or 6 club set is pretty fun too. I'm trying to talk JM into carrying half a set next time. We'll see. Edgewater is your average public golf course with a restaurant & bar attached. Should play a lot easier that it does. Still we always have fun when we play there. Next round I'll be mixing it up a bit and adding a new hickory jigger and new Wilson Capital 8 iron to the bag. I'm leaving the leather grips intact but wrapping them with a rubber grip wrapping tape from Japan. See pic below.

I highly recommend getting some inexpensive Wilson woods, like a laminated 3 or 4 wood, and a couple of blades, like a 6 & 8, and try them first. Most thrift stores have something that will work. I got started after a lunch conversation with a coworker where we wondered if we could hit them. I went to the local thrift and found Wilson K-28 irons and a few laminated woods. I was hooked. Nice I got used to them, I started looking for persimmon woods and better irons. Found the woods, but nothing I liked better. Now I'm into Hickory and Pyratone clubs, so.... If you find some decent persimmon woods go for it. But none of them should be very expensive. Stupidly I downsized my blades so I took am looking to replace them. Doh.

Hey man, not sure. I think a lot of people have dropped off. Organizing an outing might be a challenge.

It was cool, overcast, and slightly misty when I teed off at #10 at Hawthorne Hills this morning. I honestly woke up thinking it was Monday and didn't realize it was Thursday until the 4th hole on the Front nine. Took a few new clubs today: a Wilson Pathfinder Brassie with coated shaft, a Hickory Jigger, and a Hickory Putter with a loose head ( I found out on the first green. ) Also carried my pyratone 4 & 7 to round out the set. The Brassie proved to be serviceable. Had a couple of good shots with the jigger. The putter will be repaired. I absolutely love playing in this mornings type of weather. Donned the flat cap in honor of The Open. Positives: love the 4 iron and 7. Very nice clubs for me. Drove it farther on a couple of holes, which was nice. Had 3 one putts. Good approach shots too. Happy with tee to green part of my game. It all boils down to chipping and putting for me. Missed 4 pars and one birdie because of it. Something to work on. Anyway, nice to be out on a cool morning. Taking the vintage 5 club set to Edgewater tomorrow morning to see how I do there. Friday, right?

That bag is awesome. Actually, they all are. Thanks for sharing it. I picked one up at the thrift store that is nearly identical. Love that bag. Fits perfectly in my BagBoy push cart and looks great with vintage clubs. They are vinyl and clean up pretty easily with soap and water. I'll definitely use mine at every future outing or league night.

Did not receive anything

Where we play would depend on where everyone lives. If you're interested, message me and I'll keep track. Someplace centrally located to the majority would make the most sense.

If memory serves, isn't this where the owner fired all of the caddies and introduced golf carts? I believe he was the first to do that. Or maybe that's somewhere else...

Anyone familiar with Brighton Dale Links? In Kenosha County

Starting a new thread to discuss. In the past, about 8 years ago, a few of us met to play a few rounds together. I'd like to do that again. The purpose was to meet others who shared an interest in playing classic clubs from the 50's thru 70's, blades and persimmon woods. Back then, the question of defining classic clubs came up. I believe it was agreed on the the irons should be forged and the woods actual wood which includes laminated woods. So anything prior to 1978-ish (cavity back irons ) would be the idea. That said, anyone would be welcome to attend and I'm sure that most of us have enough extra gear to put together a short set for those who just want to try them. As an example, I'll most likely be playing 1930's irons and laminated or persimmon woods. Hickory players would be welcomed as well. I'm thinking of a fun event, not an actual competition, for the first event. Kind of a meet and greet. Maybe with lunch. We could do a couple of special holes, like everyone tees off with the same club on the first hole or everyone putts with the same putter or stuff like that. Open to ideas. The ideal course would be a modest length, designed around the 1920's or so. I don't have one in mind, so any suggestions would be helpful. Play would be from whatever tees your most comfortable with. I play from the forward tees to about 2700 yds per nine for example. Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois seem to make the most sense. I'm about 1 hour 20 minutes north of Waukegan, Illinois for reference in central Ozaukee County Wisconsin. That's everything I can think of at the moment. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or whatever, please respond here. I'll keep track of who's in and we'll see where this goes.

Thanks, that's what I thought

I did. It's Doug. Changed my screen name. I'm retired now and feeling a ton better than I did back then. Less weight, fewer injuries. I'd like to see another outing either this August - October, or next spring. Maybe the last two weeks in August, or first week in September. Then any time after September 22 until the snow flies. Someplace historic maybe? A course from the 1920s perhaps? Ideas?

Love those K-28's!

Walked and carried 27 holes this morning at Hawthorne Hills. Shot 48 on each nine. Figured out the tee shot and the fairway woods only to have my putting go kaput. Adopted an open stance which worked wonders. Got the gut out of the way I guess. All three of the pyratone clubs performed well. It's a lot of fun to try them in different situations and see what works. Had some amazing 4 iron approach shots, something I haven't done in years. It was a very thrilling day. Also tried music for the first time. Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Ella, Mel Torme, etc. Set the tone for a very enjoyable round and a half of vintage golf. Teed off at 4:48, home by 9:30.

Does anyone know the meaning of the "L" stamping on pyratone club heads? I've seen it stamped on both woods and Irons. My Wilson Pathfinder 3 iron has that mark. I've also seen a "W" stamp inside of a circle. Was that an early way to identify ladies clubs? Curious as to what it means. Appreciate any help. Thanks.