Wed 23 Jul 2008
2-irons And 8-track Tapes – Do They Still Exist?
Posted by Duff under Equipment
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An old friend called me from out of the blue yesterday just to rap about golf & politics (his wife was out of town and I think he got tired of talking to himself). We discussed a varied range of topics, rants, an argument or two, but we settled on talking about last weekends British Open. Here’s a small excerpt of our conversation:
Buddy – “2-irons?”
Me – “Yeah?”
Buddy – “Do they still make them?”
Me – “Yep, but they are now being made by the same people making 8-track tapes!”
Buddy – “Funny….really, does anybody still make them?”
Me – “Sure, they’re still being made. (long pause) Why would you want one?”
Buddy – “I saw some players using them at the Open, I play in the wind sometimes, maybe it might help.”
Of course I come back with a classic analogy:
Me – “Using a 2-iron to hit into the wind would be as effective as cleaning your dirty laundry down by the river using an old washboard.”
Buddy – “Huh?”
Me – “Exactly!”
Why do golfers think that if they use a club a tour pro uses they will hit it just like them?
Quick, sort of related story –
A few years back a friend of mine was part of a small group (8 music industry people) that had a meet & greet with guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Before Eddie showed up, the group was able to demo the guitar, amplifier and effects pedals that he sometimes uses during recording sessions. Now 3-4 guys in the group were pretty accomplished guitar players and after a few minutes playing around with Eddie’s equipment, most agreed that it didn’t sound like his kind of setup. Where one thought the tuning was all wrong another thought the tubes he used in his amp weren’t right, the guitar just didn’t have that signature Van Halen sound. Then Eddie walked in. Cigarette in mouth, saying nothing, he walked over to his guitar, turned up the volume and let her rip. Eddie played some of his classic Van Halen riffs note perfect, sounding eerily close to the original recordings, which of course stunned everyone in the room. “It’s not the equipment, it’s the player.”
So I explain to my buddy that he should look more at getting a low lofted hybrid than putting a 2-iron in his bag. There are pro model hybrids that have a slightly higher center of gravity that lowers shot trajectory, like the Adams Idea Pro, Taylormade TP Rescue, or even the Cobra Baffler Pro. “..and if lower tee shots are what you are after, remember this equation: tee the ball lower + play the ball back in your stance = lower tee shots.”
Graeme McDowell, a professional golfer from Northern Ireland, was asked if he had put a 2-iron in his bag for this years British Open, he answered:
“No, the 2 iron is only for very windy conditions.”
It has been a few years since it happened and I didn’t really expected it, since I was told there was a good chance it might never happen again, but it did – my favorite pair of golf shoes leaked over the weekend!
My shoes that leaked last weekend were FootJoy DryJoys. I have probably owned 10 pair of FootJoys over the years and have never had any issues, so did FootJoy make a faulty pair of shoes? Not necessarily. Shoes still need a little personal maintenance to help keep them from leaking, and one of the worst offenders to their waterproof seal is grass fertilizer. Fertilizer eats away at the glue that keeps the sole and leather upper together, allowing water to penetrate into the uppers membrane, causing your feet to get wet. A way to prevent this is simply to take an old tooth brush and scrub water along the area where the sole meets the upper after every round, which helps breakdown the strength of the fertilizer, prolonging the life of your shoe.
I hate it when my golfing peers prove me wrong (it is not very often but it does happen). Our arguments always seem to revolve around my reluctance to change the outdated, older equipment that I use, and when I do throw a marginal piece of ‘New Technology’ in my bag and it works, they don’t let me live it down.
I haven’t put a new club in my bag for over 4 years now and that’s the way I want to keep it. Now I know that a lot of today’s golf equipment is well designed and very forgiving, using cutting edge technologies that can make a difference in the game of all levels of players, but it hasn’t interest me one bit. My club setup is clean, gripped, and ready for war!