Great Big Bertha II 9.5 - Firm Flex Driver
Mizuno 3 and 5 Woods
King Cobra SSi 3-SW
Cheap belly putter

If you want to bring everyone to the same level quick use a standardized ball.

Speaking of this...I heard a little something about the Masters wanting to force players to use a ball they developed in their tourney.

If there's a group that can do it, it would be those guys.

Actually, IMO if you want to level the playing field in pro golf, course design is the way to go. The object is to take the driver out of the bombers' hands, not make the hole distances so long that you simply magnify their advantage.

350-yard holes that don't allow the use of a driver through their design bedevil Tiger and the boys more than a 650-yard par 5s.

You sound like Davis love. I believe it was him that said recently that if you have to design a course at 7600 yard to make it playable you should not be in the design business.

So many course could be better by not tricking up a course but using it's natural factors ( i.e. wind, rolling terrain, rolling greens, tighter fairways, etc.) to make it better and more difficult.

I may not have upgraded my sticks in a few years, but I just found out today that one of my friends from the USMC is employed in the golf industry in Myrtle Beach. She doesn't golf, so she offered free greens fees if I came down on vacation.

Speaking specifically of Tiger, if you had an 18 hole course of nothing but par 3's ranging from 180-250 yards, it would definately put him at a disadvantage. He makes up most his strokes on the par 5's and long par 4's.

You're right...going long only increases his advantage.

Yep, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. British Open courses, especially Royal St. George's in 2003, are exactly what I'm talking about. I think the winning score was -1 or something like that.

He would still be able to lauch bombs with old school clubs that would fly past guys of that era. When Tiger won his first Masters he was still knocking the shit out of the ball with an origional King Cobra deep face driver with a steel shaft and Mizzuno MP-29 Irons. When your swinging 140 you will get some distance with anything.

Ball technology has just recently made fairly drastic improvements. When Tiger first showed up on tour the balls were pretty much the same as what Jack was using back in the day.

:hmmm:

I think the people at Titlest, Callaway, Top "Rock"-Flight, et. all might disagree with you on that.

How long has the multicompression ball been around? Awhile I would assume. I maybe wrong though. Where as I don't believe Jack's era had that luxury?

Im not too sure on the multicompression thing either. I know they have been around for at least 20years.

The ball technology did progress quite a lot from the 70's to 90's but not as much with the high spin balls.

Up untill the mids 90's or so they were still using 3 piece wound balata cover balls on tour. From what i understand that basic setup had been used for a long ass time. About roughly that time the first titleist high spin ball with a synthetic cover came out, the titleist professional.

Probably wasnt till the Pro VI that a dramatic improvement in ball technology was made. For ones they use at the tour level at least.

Edit: forgot about the Top Flite Strata. That was probably the first modern one and came out in 96/97ish.

I'm a walking Orlimar add. Orlimar driver, fairway wood and irons. I asked the sales guy what the most forgiving clubs were and he said Orlimar. Now they're out of business. He saw me coming. I do like them though. I also have a Perfect Club and I love it! Cleveland 56 and 60. Ping putter.

I learned the hard way that if you ask the salesman for his advice, he's going to try and sell you the club thay have the most mark up on, not the best club.

Anyway, to answer the OP question...
TaylorMade r580 9.5 degree
(Extremely old school, but metal) Tommy Armour 835 Silver Scot 3 Wood
3-PW Ping I3+
Titleist DCI 56 degree SW
Cheap-ass insert Slotline putter.

Yep. And he probably new they were going out of business and the price would drop. Live and learn. The good news is, I didn't spend a ton on them compared to other clubs, and I like them.