Yesterday I went to the range to some swing repair. Unfortunately, I wore my moccasins out of the house and forgot to take my golf shoes. When I pulled out the first club I finally realized what I had done, or rather not done. “Well,” I thought, “I’ll try this anyway.” It took four swings to see that the moccasins weren’t helping, so off they went, and I hit the remaining 90 balls in my stocking feet.

And you know what? I hit the ball great. I made good contact on about 90% of my swings, and every one ended in a balanced finish.

The reason? You can’t swing that hard without shoes on. Your feet don’t grip the ground as well, so you have to swing easier than normal or risk falling down.

The pro was walking by and said he used to play barefoot sometimes, for the same reason.

Maybe the next time I play I’ll wear my moccasins and just slip them off when I hit. I’ll let you know.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

GolfWorld magazine had an equipment article recently in which they asked what would equipment be like if there were no rules restrictions. One of the rules is a limit of 14 clubs. Which additional clubs would pros carry if there were no limit?

A second driver, a second (stronger) 3-wood, a 5- or 6-hybrid for out of the rough, a second putter, you could figure this. But they also mentioned a chipper. This is a club intended solely for making greenside chips, where the ball lies just a few feet off the green. You know, the shot you hit with five different clubs, depending, and chili-dip with each one.

My brother-in-law gave me a Ray Cook chipper about five or six years ago and it’s sat in my basement the whole time. Sissy club. Real men chip with irons. But the article got me thinking. So took this chipper to the range and once I learned how to hit it, I had magic hands.

Time after time, right next to the hole. Three feet away was a miss. It hasn’t let me down on the course, either. Up and down is almost a given from the edge of the green now.

I took out my 21-degree hybrid to make room for it. I hit that club maybe twice a round, just to eat up yards. I hit the chipper five times a round to get pars. Good trade.

Bobby Jones played with 15 clubs in his bag (there was no limit back then). Guess what the fifteenth club was? A 30-degree run-up club, with about the loft of a 4-iron. Just a word to the wise.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

You might be confused about golf balls. I’ll clear it up for you. Golf balls are not created equal. There’s a right ball for you, regardless of your skill. The right ball will make the game easier and save you a stroke or two.

The first decision is price. A mid-range ball in the $25-30 per dozen price range will suit most recreational golfers. Look here first. Most premium balls are designed for players with much higher swing speeds than you have. The advantages it offers will not be available to you. Remember that no one cares what ball you play. They only pay attention to what score you shoot with it.

If performance around the greens is important, you want a Tour ball. A pro shop should let you take a sleeve of several brands to the practice green and try a few shots. When you find the one that gives you results that make your eyes light up, there’s your ball.

If distance is important, get a fitting in front of a launch monitor. The pro will give you several different brands to try so that you get optimal launch characteristics given your swing and the clubs you use, especially your driver.

Finally, don’t be influenced by brand preference. The ball that’s right for you might be made by a different manufacturer than you’re used to.

Of course you can play with any ball, but to get the most out of your game, get the right one.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

Ever seen that behind-the-back shot where the pro stands facing away from the hole and swings his club backwards at the ball? He does that when the stance from the usual side isn’t possible or is impossibly awkward. There’s a better solution.

I went to a used sporting goods store and bought a left-handed golf club. It’s a junior-sized 9-iron, about 28” long. I just bend down holding it with my right hand only, and swing it back-handed. Works like a charm.

I only carry this club to courses that have deep bunkers. On those days, I make room for it by taking out one of my hybrids, whichever one I won’t need to use on a par 3.

A few years ago I bought a Hogan Sure-Out sand iron. It’s now in my bag doing sand duty and taking the place of my Al Geiberger gouge wedge (see my October 9, 2009 posting).

There’s a new driver, too. The old 975J hits moon shots, the D2 hits line drives.

So now my set contains:
Woods (1): Driver Titleist 907 D2 10.5-degrees
Hybrids (2 or 3): Ben Hogan Edge CFT 19-, 21-, and 24-degree
Irons (6): Ben Hogan Apex 5-E (blades)
Wedges (3 or 4): Titleist Vokey 54- and 60-degree, Ben Hogan Sure-Out, lefty
Putter (1): Acushnet Bulls Eye

The putter is new to the bag, too. I got it at the same used sporting goods store last fall and have putted great with it every time out. These babies were the cat’s meow in the 60s, when every pro had one and every wanna be had one, too. It has marvelous balance, wonderful response off the sweet spot, and just feels like a partner in my hand.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

I play Ben Hogan Apex 50 irons. They are the Rolls Royce of blades. They have wonderful balance, the solid hits feel great, and they are so beautiful you can take one out and just look at it–just admire it. And now they’re history.

In 2003, I was taking a golf lesson using my Wilson irons from 1962 (!) and the pro said, quite plainly, that I had to get new equipment. Period. That’s a lot of money to spend when I could still hit them, but I suppose he had a point. You should upgrade maybe every 40 years.

So I went to a pro shop and tested about nine different sets of irons. The Hogans felt like they were made with me in mind and they were so beautiful! Modern irons are amazing technological feats, but they look like they were designed by scientists. Not the Apex’s. Such simple elegance in a tool that is so supremely functional.

The set came as 3-E and for some reason I ordered a 2-iron as well. Just had to have one, I guess.

What’s an E? Hogan called his pitching wedge his equalizer since he because he believed the wedge completed or “Equalized” the set.

Every now and then on the course, someone will see them and sigh. A deep sigh. And they’ll say, “I had those once,” as if they wish they still had them.

As for how they play, the ball works in a partnership with the club, and the square hits feel buttery. That’s the only word I can think of, but ask anyone who plays Hogan irons and they’ll use the same word, unprompted. It’s a wonderful feeling in your hands.

There was a period in the early 2000s when the Hogan playing staff was a pretty good set of golfers. Monty, Tom Kite, and Justin Leonard played them, and I think Jim Furyk did, too.

But I noticed that one by one, Hogan staffers were switching to a different brand of clubs. I was reading articles in trade magazines about financial difficulties with the Hogan brand and that the product didn’t appeal to today’s recreational golfer. After all, manufacturers don’t make their bucks from the pros, but by selling their clubs to you and me.

Callaway purchased the Hogan line in 2004, and stopped making the clubs in 2008. These magnificent clubs are now in the past, but you can go on the web and still find new sets of Apex Edge irons for sale. Good luck finding the Apex model.

The Hogan influence is still with us, though. I went to a Nike demo day last summer and the rep asked me what irons I played. I told him the Hogan Apex’s, and he gave a 4-iron and said, “Try this one.”

Amazing. It felt just like my Hogans. When I mentioned this to him, he said, “I thought you’d like it. The guy who designed it used to work for Hogan.”

So if my Apex’s ever wear out, I know where I’ll go for my next set. The trouble is they’ll have the feel, but not the look–that classic look that belongs in a museum of fine art.

Sigh.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

Long irons have always been the clubs of last resort for many recreational golfers. On the one hand, when you hit it, the ball flight is just a joy to watch. On the other hand, you might get only one shot like that out of who knows how many tries.

I could hit my 4-iron like that two out of three times, my 3-iron about one out of three times, and my 2-iron was for the tee only. I had three clubs in my bag that weren’t doing me any favors.

One day about five years ago I went to the range and there was a Ben Hogan demo day. Ben Hogan line was still a prominent player in the equipment market. I talked to the rep about the hybrid irons I had been hearing about and he gave me a 21-degree club, equivalent to a 3-iron, to try out.

I walked over to an open mat and dropped a few balls. The club felt a bit heavy, the head as a lot heavier than my 3-iron, so I decided I would take an easy swing at the ball the first time. Whack! The ball flew out straight and long, as good as any 3-iron I had ever hit.

“That’s nice,” I thought, “let me try that again.” Whack! Same thing. Straight, high, and far. A third easy swing, same result. I don’t hit my 9-iron that well three times in a row.

So I walked back to see the rep and said, “What is it with this? I just hit the best long iron shots of my life three times in a row.”

He launched into the spiel about how easy they were to hit and how everybody should replace their long irons with hybrid irons. I needed no convincing.

About a month later I ordered a 19-, 21-, and 24-degree hybrid and tossed out my long irons. I would recommend you do the same, and you might take a close look at replacing your 5-iron with a hybrid iron, too, if your 5 is getting hard to hit.

Two things about using hybrid irons. They’re meant to replace irons, so you still have to hit down on the ball like you do with your other irons. Trying to sweep the ball as if it were a fairway wood doesn’t work too well. Second, and I tell myself this every time I get set to swing one, stay out of its way. Just make an easy swing and let the club do the work for you. The more you try to force the shot with a hybrid the worse it will be for you.

There’s no substitute for practice, but if you want to buy some good shots, get some of these.

Visit www.therecreationalgolfer.com

In every golfing magazine these days you can read about what clubs are in a touring pro’s bag. Here’s what’s in my recreational set.

Driver – Titleist 975D, 11.5°, regular flex shaft. Bought used for $89. Would a fitted driver do me better? Probably, but I hit this one pretty darn good and the difference in price between it and a new one costing $399 equals a lot of extra green fees.

Hybrid irons – Hogan Edge CFT, 2(19°), 3(21°), and 4(24°), and 5(27°). The 2 gives me the same distance off a tee as the fairway wood I used to carry, and I hit it much better off the fairway. The 4 is my bread and butter club. When I take it out of the bag I know something good is going to happen. Replace your long irons with hybrids. I don’t care how well you hit your long irons, hybrids are so easy to hit it’s almost cheating. I can still hit a 5-iron, but the 5-hybrid is so much easier, why not?

Irons – Hogan Apex Red Line, 6-E(PW). Blades, beautiful and responsive. The pitching wedge is labeled E. Hogan called his pitching wedge his equalizer, because, he said, if you can pitch, there is no pin they can hide from you. The shafts are plus one inch because of my height (6’6”), and the heads were bent a few degrees upright.

Wedges – Titlist Vokey Spin Milled 52°/10°, 60°/8°, and Hogan 56°/8° Sure-Out. The numbers on the Titleist wedges are the loft and bounce. These lofts give me a consistent six-degree difference throughout my wedge set. Their shafts are plus one inch. The Sure-Out has a huge hunk of metal underneath the clubface. If I have to hit out of tall grass, this clubhead will not be denied. Loft unknown; doesn’t matter, really.

Putter – Ping G2 Tess. It’s fitted with a 38” shaft, is more upright than normal, and is toe balanced. It has a simple design because I don’t want to look at something that came off a spaceship when I putt.

Ball – Bridgestone e5. Distance? My swing takes care of that. Throw this ball at the pin from 30 yards, though, and it hits the green and slams on the brakes.

My new book, The Golfing Self, is now available at www.therecreationalgolfer.com. It will change everything about the way you play.