My first round of the year was less than inspiring. First the course- Ballantyne Golf Club, outside of Charlotte. The weather kept getting better as we drove south on I-77 from Radford and continued that way- sunny and 60+ degrees.  The course was friendly and efficient and a good deal at $49. They had replaced the greens last summer with a new hybrid grass that I can't remember the name of.  Even though the course was soaked, the ball usually left no mark on the greens and they putted true.  Everyone liked them.  In the summer, I suspect they could be blisteringly fast if they cut them down. The course was very wet, so plugged and muddy balls (and pants) were common and the course played much longer than its stated yardage.

The fairways were brown Bermuda and so it was sometimes hard to see the bunkers, and there were quite a few of them.  The course had a similar feel to some of the courses at Pinehurst, though with fewer trees in general. Much greater elevation changes than I expected- I'm glad they didn't allow us to walk it. There were a few blind tee shots, but landing areas were `reasonably generous. My only complaint about the course was that it felt a bit "urban" ringed by freeways and office buildings.  That said, the designers did a good job to keep your eye focused on the golf course and not on what surrounded it. Par was 35-36-71 and the back nine had three par 3s and three par5s which made for an interesting time. My most interesting shot, unfortunately" was a badly heeled drive that skipped three times and made it over a pond to the left of the fairway on one of the back nine par 4s. I didn't take advantage of the lucky break, however, and toed my next 4 wood into a big bush.  I eventually got a triple bogey that finished my chances for a decent back nine.

Al had the best round- an 81.  He drove the ball superbly and putted consistently.  The rest of us lagged way behind. I shot a 44-43-87 that included two triples and two double-bogeys. In the "middle" of the round I was making pars and playing reasonably well, but I made a mess of the beginning and finishing holes. My Honma persimmon worked pretty well, but I wasn't happy with the Wilson Gooseneck irons. They are a large head with a channelback sort of design and a thicker topline than many vintage blades. They seemed "clunky" to me, especially the wedges, but I was having trouble hitting down and through the ball and that cost me several shots. The Wilson "Original 600 forged" putter worked fairly well.  I had three 3 putt greens, but that is fairly normal for me on a new course.  This putter is pretty accurate from 5 feet in and I could judge speed with it pretty well. 

Here's a picture of my golf club storage rack, now filled with vintage irons, woods, wedges and putters.

I also received a set of 6.0 rifles that I am going to put into my re-chromed VIPs.  I tried a dry fitting at 38 inches for the 5 iron and the swingweight came out about D1 which is fine for me. Maybe this weekend I can glue them. My club purchasing has slowed down considerable and I am selling off my "modern clubs" one or two at a time on Ebay.  Then I'll start getting rid of some of the vintage clubs that I don't like very much.  I did see a great set of Cobra Greg Norman signature blades on Ebay- I may bid on them.  A very nice looking club.
Freezing rain expected today- no golf this weekend. Sigh.

Good news! The forecast for tomorrow in Charlotte is 60 degrees and sunny. This is a big deal, because I have a tee time tomorrow at 11 at the Ballantyne Resort course- Golf Digest 4 1/2 stars for $49.  My first round in a month.

I decided to play my Wilson Goosenecks since I am extremely rusty and these are about the most forgiving blades I have.  I'll also use my Honma driver and 4 wood because I am used to them.  I have a new-old Wilson George Low 600-like putter that I am going to try for the first time. 

 

 Some of the irons sets that I have chosen to play during my vintage year of golf include:

Hogan Redlines

Hogan Apex II

Hogan PCs

Hogan Radials

Hogan Apex (original model)

Wilson Staff Gooseneck

Wilson Staff Fluid Feel

Wilson Staff Tour Blade FG-17

Wilson Staff (just "Staff" on toe)

Wilson Staff Dynapower

MacGregor Tourney Colokrom (rechromed and reshafted)

MacGregor VIP by Nicklaus (rechromed and reshafted)

MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Muirfield

MacGregor Tommy Armour Tourney 985

MacGregor Tourney CF4000 Cermaic Face

Dunlop Maxfli Australian Blade

Powerbilt Scotch Blade

Walter Hagen Haig-Ultra Contour Sole

More..?

NEXT: First round of 2010 and Looking Forward to St. Andrews

Well, I passed my first test.  The Golf Digest new club issue arrived this week and I haven't opened it yet.  On the other hand, the last two Christmas vacations I have averaged seven 18 hole rounds.  The total for this vacation...0.  It looked for a while like my friend Richard might get me on to Pinehurst #2 next week for some ridiculously low price, but bad weather and cataract surgery next Monday have ended that fantasy.

I have been asking advice on Golf WRX about what shafts to put in a set of re-chromed MacGregor VIPs heads that I picked up on Ebay.  There are guys on this site who really know their vintage clubs- here's the link:
GolfWrx.com
The original VIPs mostly came with a stepless steel shaft called the Tourney Taper Microstep. It seems this was the original version of the Rifle shaft, so I am thinking about putting in some flighted rifles with no shaft bands. This is an auspicious year to play these- the U.S. Open is returning this summer to pebble Beach.  The first Open to be played at Pebble was in 1972, won by Jack Nicklaus with these irons. Unfortunately, I didn't get a 1 iron- Nicklaus hit a famous one on the par 3 17th at Pebble, almost holing it and cementing his victory.  Here's a picture..

So, what is a vintage steel club?  We all know about hickory golfers- looks like fun, but a wholly different game.  There is no organization for vintage steel enthusiasts, so we get to me up our own rules.  The last major (I think) where the winner played a persimmon driver was the 1993 Masters, though other pros continued using them into the later 90s.  For my purposes, any real wood driver should qualify for a vintage bag- there are a couple of companies still making persimmon woods (Louisville Golf and Joe Powell) and it would be good to support their craftsmanship. My favorite persimmon is a Hiro Honma Super Big LB.  It has a graphite shaft and dates from the mid nineties, but I have older persimmons with steel shafts if someone objects to my "high tech" driver.  Any steel shafted blade made before 1993 is my arbitrary qualification. So it's mostly just blades and persimmon with some age restrictions on the blades to encourage the "recycling" of older clubs.  Re-chroming, re-shafting, and re-gripping are all OK with me, though maybe you should get extra "points" for older irons with original shafts.

Several vintage steel enthusiasts also buy up old balata balls to use. I applaud their dedication, but I use Wilson Zips, a modern ball that feels soft and has decent distance and spin. There's enough resistance to using persimmons without losing even more yards with old balls.   Speaking of resistance, my friends have been watching me play with blades and persimmons for a couple of months now (at least until the great pre-Christmas blizzard of 09) and none have yet committed to join me. There was an interesting and very long thread on GolfWRX a while back started by a golfer who had returned to golf after a long hiatus.  He called himself a "purist" and derided the way that technology has changed the game and made it easier and too focused on distance.  Boy, did he get jumped on.

Hey- just won a set of 1940s MacGregor Tommy Armour irons for $40.  I should get lots of points for those!

Next: Choosing Clubs for 2010