I too started playing in the mid-eighties, and played until the end of 1990. I used the Titleist DT and the Pinnacle something or other because they felt identical, had the same ball flight and spin, and were both made by Acushnet at the time. I used the 90 compression, but would occasionally buy a box of 100’s. I could hit the ball pretty good back then, 220 with a 24 degree 3-iron and 270-280 with my driver (I shit you not-I don’t bs like the fellas over at golfwrx). I got out of golf and got into racing, which became my hobby of choice til I retired from racing in 2012. I picked up golf again. Well, my re-entry didn’t go as planned, lol. It felt like I was starting all over again. Really, I was I guess. I soon realized technology had made leaps and bounds in golf. I’ve hoed countless irons, drivers, fairways, hybrids, wedges, putters, and golf balls since my return to golf. Did I mention irons? I bet I’ve gone thru 25-30 sets of irons in the last 5 years. And balls? Everything I tried felt like the old Rockflights of ancient lore. I bought up every box of the old wound DTs I could find on eBay, over 30 dozen. What can I say, I’m a hoe-rder. Anyways, I had noticed my distance was way down. So I’m at the range one day with my Rocketbladez irons, and I’m hitting ball after ball after ball. Hit so many I was to the point of exhaustion. I was trying everything I knew of to get that feeling back of “dropping it into the slot”. After 3 of the largest buckets the range had to offer, i about gave up. But being pigheaded, I grabbed a small and kept hitting. In the middle of that bucket something clicked. I knew that feeling as soon as I felt it, even though i hadn’t felt it in over 20 years. The noise off that 6-iron was louder, the feel softer, the ball flight lower and longer. Damn, it was much longer! At the time I was hitting that 27 degree 6-iron 145 on average, but when the club dropped in the slot BOOM!, all of a sudden, 200 freakin yards! I couldn’t believe it! I hit another, and another, and another! Same result every freakin time! Now fully charged, I grabbed another xtra large bucket. I was peppering that 200 yard pole! It felt effortless, like I wasn’t even trying. My fingertips felt like they were the only things touching the grip. I kept hitting balls, trying to ingrain that feeling. I went inside and asked the old fella working there if that blue pole out on the range was really 200 yards, and he said yep. I went thru that bucket and half of another xtra large before my adrenaline finally exited stage right. Sure that I had recaptured my old swing, I went back the next day and nope, it was gone. For months I chased it, but finally gave up and now just play with what I can muster, which ain’t bad considering I can still hit my driver 220-240, and I broke 80 for the 1st time ever not long ago. A couple years ago I started getting numbness in my fingertips and wrists. That feel in my fingertips I used to have is now mostly gone, so most balls feel the same to me anymore. ProV1’s, which use to feel like rocks in 2012, now feel ok. Hell, most all the modern balls now feel ok. I’ve tried pretty much all of them. I will say the ProV1x is probably the longest ball I’ve hit since 2012. Those wound balls come up short by 5-10 yards now, but back in the day them sumbitches were long and would dance all around that flagstick.
