296 replies to this topic

[mat562]

I've put the old faithful Anser 2 back into play recently and, after noticing that the head of my pitching wedge had come a bit loose, put an old Eye 2+ back into play for my last 18...

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[projamie]

Funnily enough ive put my old Ping Answer back into play the last 2 rounds... Scottys everywhere i look and all of the sudden out comes a rusty, beat up, 30 year old stick that sounds like a brick hitting a lead pipe and holes everything! Theres just so much style about the old relics... Cant beat them!

[jebb]

Looking even better now Mat!!

Love the Ping wedge and the uncluttered classic lines of the original Nike blades....unlike the new VRs....

3 wood cover is a classic too! I have a couple of those in black lurking around in the loft.

[jaskanski]

Old school Ping headcover?
I used to have a green one for my 5-wood that I called Fredo (as in - the frog).
Fredo is now retired and spends his days as a part time shoe buffer.

[mat562]

You can't beat those old Ping covers. I've got a dozen or so in all sorts of colours and they're the best thing since sliced bread for me.

Despite the eye-popping offset on that wedge, I managed to thump a couple of cheeky 120-yarders in to a couple of feet last time out with it, so it's staying in play for the time being. The Nike wedge is also going a bit flat in the middle of the face now...

Edited by mat562, 14 April 2012 - 10:17 AM.

[84425]

nice bag you have there mat.
you've allready got me searching the interwebs for a becu 1-iron

[mat562]

Right...

After a bit of wheeler dealing, a lot of hammering and banging in my workshop (aka 'the garage') and some experimentation on the field of dreams at my club, Operation Shafted has been concluded.

In a nutshell, I got hold of a second set of 681s in decent nick and whipped out the S300s that were in them to replace them with the mothballed box of Sandvik titanium ones I picked up on a whim last week and which I've been experimenting with since. Not quite Gene Sarazen hiding his newly-invented bunker iron under his trenchcoat, but similar since I reckoned anyone who caught me would think I'd gone potty.

As a result, I'm now the proud owner of probably the only set of titanium-shafted Titleist 681s in Yorkshire. Or England, probably. Perhaps Europe..?

Thus far, after a bit of bending, the new sticks seem to be working pretty well and I'm starting to get comfortable with the rather 'floaty' feel of the things after playing 130 grams or so of X100 for the last couple of decades. These ones weigh in at just over 100 grams uncut. The swingweight scale says 'D-3' at the moment and I reckon lashings of the faithful old lead tape will be in order to get a bit more heft into them before I'm done since they feel unnaturally light at the moment and you'd swear you could swing them at 150 mph.

Speaking of heft, I reckon I'm about half a club longer with them (maybe 6 or 7 yards of carry) and also am hitting the ball a bit higher than previously - which is fantastic with the long irons. The lofts are a smidgeon stronger than my old Nikes, but my old set of 681s are also thudding down a few yards short of the new 'uns so the gain has to be from the new shafts since I've not been doing a Camillo and poncing about with any weights lately.

I'm still finding my feet with shaping the ball and hitting some different flights, but with a bit of tweaking I reckon the future looks bright...

I haven't slung the Nikes into the dustbin just yet though.

Behold...

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Edited by mat562, 14 April 2012 - 10:19 AM.

[PurePursuit]

Mat is experimenting with different shafts!  I thought I'd never see anything other than a Graffalloy and some DG's in your sig.  Glad to hear they are working out for ya.

[mat562]

Good call.

I am indeed a man of habits when it comes to golf equipment. It's early days yet and the first real test (weather permitting) of the wonder clubs will be tomorrow's 18. Hopefully the heads won't fly off - albeit they've lasted this long.  

Counting a couple of weeks with the Cobras I bought in the summer and the 680s I had a brief stint with when I wore out my first set of swooshes a year or so back, it's only the third time in nigh on 7 years that I haven't had Nike irons in the bag...

And other than a six month stint with some JZ-shafted Eye 2s back in about 1991, and the time I borrowed some Ti-shafted Eye 2s a year or so later and somehow went and shot a course record with the things   , it's the first time I haven't had X100s in play in my irons for *gasp!*  twenty years... Blimey.

Edited by mat562, 19 December 2008 - 10:08 AM.

[mat562]

I say Carruthers, it looks like that Woods chap has been stealing all your ideas about the irons one should play... What an absolute bounder..!

Since sometime in late '94, this is the lot.  

All re-stamped Mizunos. Forged by Miura. And the X100s are magic ones that aren't like the normal ones. etc. etc.

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Edited by mat562, 19 December 2008 - 10:40 PM.

[rich13]

Very nice Mat, still beautifully old-school, but now slightly weird too! Good work.......

[hogans71]

Congrats on the new(used) irons Mat- look to be in excellent shape! You say you tweaked the lofts a bit stronger? Just curious to what degree...

[jebb]

Cracking new irons Mat. Really really nice.

And thats a star line up of blades at the end there. Loving the look of the MP14s!!

Keep us abreast of developments with the Sandviks mate.

[mat562]

hogans71, on Dec 19 2008, 03:54 PM, said:

You say you tweaked the lofts a bit stronger? Just curious to what degree...

No mate. Not my doing.

They needed flattening a touch, but loft-wise they come a degree stronger than I'm used to straight out of the box. 49 degree wedge, 19 degree 2 iron etc. That said, I hit them on about the same trajectory and the same distance as the Swooshtastics. With the hitting sticks in them they go a bit higher than normal and a bit further by my reckoning.

The flight's great. Not just a floaty height - it just sets off about the same and then peaks later and higher than the steelies.

Edited by mat562, 30 January 2009 - 05:41 PM.

[mat562]

rich13, on Dec 19 2008, 03:44 PM, said:

Very nice Mat, still beautifully old-school, but now slightly weird too! Good work.......

Thanks Rich.

Sort of an old fashioned, traditional thing going on with a bit of an eccentric twist to it.

Like their owner I'd like to think.

[mat562]

jebb, on Dec 19 2008, 03:56 PM, said:

Cracking new irons Mat. Really really nice.

And thats a star line up of blades at the end there. Loving the look of the MP14s!!

Cheers Paul. I even managed not to get epoxy all over the shop and to remember to put the ferrules on the shafts before sticking them in. Even the grips are on straight.

I've just been having a bit of a play and never noticed how square the old Mizzies are by comparison. I always said that my irons have always been basically the same thing, but looking at them there's more variety than a Woolworth's Pick n' Mix... And it's amazing how I manage to get the same sort of flight out of the Nikes and the Titleists - given the weaker lofts and that lower muscle on the Swooshtastics...

Edited by mat562, 19 December 2008 - 01:53 PM.

[Grum]

Very nice mat, no problems with the build I take it?

[projamie]

No mat, no honestly, no i dont want your Nikes... look, if you really want to get rid of them i suppose i could take them off your hands

Nice pick up on the 681s... You havnt just sold a buik and have a knee injury do you? Had a chance to game them yet?

[mat562]

Grum, on Dec 19 2008, 05:25 PM, said:

Very nice mat, no problems with the build I take it?

No mate. The old magic's still there...

The new ones came with the original shafts and grips no less, and I was half-expecting all sorts of things to drop out of them when I took them to bits. Amazingly (are you listening Mizuno?) all the headweights were just about spot on and setting them up was a doddle - even for a thicko like me. The shafts and grips have been saved and the little wooden dowels too. They've come out at D-3 with a 38" 5 iron by the time I've finished and my performance on the old gentleman's persuader was superb if I say so myself. No nip marks and you'd never know they'd been tickled a degree flatter. It's all in the wrist as they say. And I make a great bender.

Only three of the heads were meaningfully out of kilter - and not by much. Top stuff from Titleist. And Callaway won't be suing them for nicking the design patents for the Big Bertha irons. Mizuno ought to be putting some spies in Endo's bloody forging house though to see how it's done.

projamie, on Dec 19 2008, 06:00 PM, said:

Nice pick up on the 681s... You haven't just sold a buick and have a knee injury do you? Had a chance to game them yet?

Not me mate. I'm still driving a Volvo and tend to go for a knackered lower back as my first choice.

D-Day is tomorrow when the new bats will be pitched into the crucible of pressure that is the regular money match between me and my mate the ex-Challenge Tour knocker. All square on the 18th tee outdoes that Ryder Cup rubbish in the pressure stakes and, being a Yorkshireman, I enjoy dipping into my wallet about as much as having a root canal done. Give me a close money match with John and I couldn't be more nervous if I was hiding in Mike Tyson's wife's closet after he came home unexpectedly early one evening...

Edited by mat562, 21 December 2008 - 06:04 PM.

[Grum]

Deep pockets and short arms mat?

Good stuff, although the days of titleist being spot on with headweights are gone, my 755's were all over the shop, every bit as bad as Mizzy! 681's are about as nice as titleist blades get I think. 660's are a close second.

[mat562]

Grum, on Dec 19 2008, 07:36 PM, said:

Deep pockets and short arms mat?

Good stuff, although the days of titleist being spot on with headweights are gone, my 755's were all over the shop, every bit as bad as Mizzy! 681's are about as nice as titleist blades get I think. 660's are a close second.

Actually, I've got arms like Mr Tickle mate - hence my bit of flattening of the wands. You know how they say that your forearm is the same length as your foot? Size 12s, me.

As for my legendary tightness, being born in Yorkshire entitles me to chuck my money about like a Scotsman with no arms. Sadly, with my mate John being a bit handy, I'm checking the corners of all the pockets of the bag for old creased up tenners more often than not.

Those 755s should be bang on mate. What with the 'we can bodge it if it's way off' plastic bit in the back.

And the second best Titleist irons ever made are the 962Bs mate. Yes. I know they're cavity backs...

[Grum]

They're not plastic mate, they are alluminium They are that light I don't think they can make any real difference, think you're talking 1 SW point or so. Don't have a copy of the blueprints of the set, but I do have one for one of the sets of mizuno's ive done in the last few weeks, and they are just as bad;
3i - 240
4i - 249
5i - 254.5
6i - 261.5
7i - 271.5
8i - 277
9i - 285
PW - 295

[triumph17]

Nice set of 681s, I'm still holding on to my 690mbs as well.  I noticed in an earlier post you had someone clean and polish your mizzys.  What method did they use and how did it turn out?  I tried that to my MP-14s back in the day and actually burned through the chrome exposing the nickel? layer.  At the time I used a cloth wheel with a moderate (red) rouge.

[mat562]

I didn't do the work myself, but as far as I know it was the same kit as you used - a cloth wheel and some compound. The faces were a simple sandblast job. The work turned out really well and was described as 'a doddle' - which is more than can be said for the task of getting the original lead tape off them after 12 or 13 years.

In the case of the MP-14s, it was a bit of a shot to nothing - since the sweet spots have already started to rust up again through the blasting, but at least the backs look nice.  

Edited by mat562, 21 December 2008 - 06:12 PM.

[Grum]

Blowtorch for the old lead mat, relatively low melting temp. For god sakes don't do it over a carpet though Or inhale....

Edited by Grum, 21 December 2008 - 06:28 AM.

[mat562]

 As the resident shaft afficionado, Grum, you might appreciate this trusty old shaft that's in my spoon.

As with Freddie Couples, I reckon the old ones feel a lot better than the newer ones. A few scuffs on the old girl's paintwork but she's still a good 'un. 

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Edited by mat562, 16 December 2010 - 10:51 PM.

[resist_hard.]

Nice sticks mat. You don't see many 681's over this side of the pond. I noticed in one of the pictures you are using a soft 'summer/sunday' carry bag. Would you mind letting me know where i can get one as i have been after one for a while now. Ta mate

[Grum]

Mat, i've got a Pro95 or two with the same old graphics....pretty plain jane to be honest. I like flashier though it has to be said

[mat562]

nickGT, on Dec 22 2008, 09:33 AM, said:

Nice sticks mat. You don't see many 681's over this side of the pond. I noticed in one of the pictures you are using a soft 'summer/sunday' carry bag. Would you mind letting me know where i can get one as i have been after one for a while now. Ta mate

Nick

Mine's an old 6" Nike one that I picked up for about 25 quid a couple or three years back.

Direct Golf UK have a few up for grabs for about the same price: dguk bags (including the new improved MkII version of mine by the looks of it) and Ping also do/did produce a good one with a larger top cuff.

Best thing ever invented IMO. I always walk the course and never play in or carry any waterprooofs so it's plenty big enough for my modest needs.

Edited by mat562, 22 December 2008 - 10:54 AM.

[resist_hard.]

Cheers mat, I got a big bag but sick of walking around with 15 empty pockets and 'cooler' that i have never used.