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