Are your clubs obsolete?

The complete guide to trading in your old stuff for the latest technology

Edited by Mike Stachura

Photos by Jim Herity

May 2010

Andrew Han of Burlingame, Calif., says there's no chance of getting him to part with his Lynx Liberty Bell irons. "I've catered my swing to them," he says. "If I don't hit one square, they let me know." Our guess is, Andrew receives plenty of feedback. The Liberty Bell line debuted in 1976, six American presidents ago. But they might as well be from 1776. They belong in the Smithsonian, not on the first tee Saturday morning.

It's for golfers like Andrew that we present our first Obsolete List. For seven years we've produced the Golf Digest Hot List with one purpose: to increase your enjoyment of the game through equipment. The Obsolete List is a project with the same goal but a different path. Instead of recommending the equipment you should put in your bag, the Obsolete List is all about what you should take out.

Oversize drivers, game-changing hybrids, and irons designed for every swing type are readily available, but a staggering number of golfers continue to play with outdated equipment--irons and woods that with each year become increasingly ill-suited to helping them hit the ball farther down the fairway and closer to the hole.

Those using obsolete clubs do so for various reasons, and it's not necessarily because they don't realize their equipment is out of date. Some don't want to spend money on new clubs. But better equipment doesn't have to cost a lot. For starters, your old equipment is a gift card because almost any club can be traded in. Like cars, some bring a better return than others, but no matter how much money you receive, you get a head start on buying a new set.

Still, most of the time finances are not the main consideration. The issue is more intangible than that. It's hard to part with clubs you've become fond of, that you're comfortable playing and that, in many ways, you've come to rely on. It's a sense that your obsolete clubs are "good enough." Except they're not. They're thieves--blatantly stealing strokes�-and enjoyment from your game.

The word "Obsolete" dates to 1579, according to Webster's, and that's about as old as some of the clubs we found during a nationwide search to identify the most outdated golf equipment. We discovered that the rationale for using these clubs was more shocking than the relics themselves. We present four of those stories--including Andrew Han's--on the following pages.

The Obsolete List isn't strictly about a club's age. It's about its relevance. How does the technology compare to what's available in the market today? To be sure, there are degrees of obsolescence. The battery icons that accompany our list help define how much "juice" the clubs that appear on the Obsolete List have left. Any clubs that were on our Hot List in 2009 and this year are not, in our minds, obsolete.

You'll find zero putters on the Obsolete List. We acknowledge that today's putters are technologically superior (face treatments, high moments of inertia, enhanced optics) than ones from the past. But we also know that there can be a greater emotional attachment to putters. So our conclusion is, if you're still making 10-footers with your putter, we're willing to give you a pass no matter how outdated it might be.

There are no wedges on our list, either, but for a different reason. Their life span declines more rapidly than that of other clubs. If you play more than 50 rounds a year and practice a lot, especially from the sand, you should replace your wedges during the off-season. In other words, any old, worn wedge is obsolete.

The Obsolete List is a call to evaluate the equipment in your bag. We're not saying your clubs aren't useful. We're saying you can do better--in some cases, a lot better. If your clubs are on this list--or are too old to have been considered--investigate today's technology, and take advantage of it. After all, you don't really want to be obsolete, do you?

--E. Michael Johnson

If you believe your bag (or one belonging to a friend) is out of date, we want to hear about it. E-mail us the details at obsolete@golfdigest.com. It's never too early to start the hunt for our next Obsolete List.

Your most out-of-date club of all
To the avid golfer, the introduction of a new driver is like the unveiling of a new Apple product: cloaked in mystery and full of anticipation. That's because no club in golf changes as quickly or as drastically as the driver.
• READ MORE | VIEW EXPANDED LIST

When you are loyal to a fault
Fairway woods age gracefully. Their slip into obsolescence is quiet. While your eye is always wandering for a new big dog, the fairway wood is a loyal dog. To put it down can break your heart.
• READ MORE | VIEW EXPANDED LIST

Hybrids make the big leap
The evolution of the hybrid is similar to that of snowboards: an offbeat, intriguing, even necessary idea with early shortcomings that eventually changed the sport.
• READ MORE | VIEW EXPANDED LIST

Breaking up is hard to do
The Oldsmobile Cutlass was a great car, but you've probably traded it in by now. You've also chucked the cassette tapes. Why? Because better-performing options came along, making them obsolete. It's time to apply that thinking to your irons.
• READ MORE | VIEW EXPANDED LIST

Rollers

After making the decision that putters should be exempt from the Obsolete List, we quickly received confirmation that we had made the right call. All it took was listening to Scott Verplank.

"I really don't know much about the technology that went into this club," says Verplank, describing the Ping Anser (circa 1984) putter he has used almost exclusively since swiping it from his college coach at Oklahoma State. "It just works. I've tried a few others, but I always come back to this one. It has a lot of good memories in it."

Five PGA Tour wins for Verplank, and his two times as a member of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams, serve as evidence. They also support our premise that any putter that gives you confidence on the greens is OK to keep in the bag. Even if the grip is wrapped in gauze tape, like Verplank's.

Nevertheless, Verplank is open to change, just as you should be. "If I find a putter I like better, I'll switch," he says. That statement makes Verplank, who has used a modern putter in competition on occasion, sound more like someone who plays for fun on the weekend than a man who has made almost $25 million playing golf. But it doesn't make him obsolete.
--EMJ

Read real-life stories about golfers who used dated, obsolete clubs. Does this sound familiar?

Spinners

During an interview in December with Phil Mickelson, the topic turned to mistakes amateurs make with their equipment. Mickelson, who has surely seen many pro-am partners, said, among other things, that average golfers should pay more attention to the condition of their wedges. "Most amateurs don't know when to change," he said. "It's difficult for an everyday player to tell just by eyeballing a wedge when the grooves are worn, unless they're really bad."

Mickelson says he changes his wedges a few times a year. We don't expect you to do that. We don't do it, either. But after you've played 50 rounds with a wedge, you should inspect the grooves. Average golfers find more bunkers than tour pros (and sometimes take more shots to escape them). Then there's the matter of practice balls. Those two-piece rocks you're striping at the range can dull a groove's edge. Consequently, those shots that run out instead of spinning might have less to do with your technique and more to do with worn grooves.
--EMJ

________________
trade-in value

That old driver or set of irons in your basement is a cash advance toward your next club purchase. There are several ways to turn used golf equipment into some form of currency. One of the best is the PGA.com Value Guide. It lists 55 brands and more than 5,000 models of clubs accepted as trade-ins at 6,000-plus golf shops. The value is based on the selling price of similar clubs on eBay. Below are 10 clubs from 2005 in good condition that have been among the best at retaining their value compared to the original selling price. The original price is listed with the trade-in value as of the last weekend in February. For more information, visit pga.com/valueguide.

If you'd like to donate your old clubs, e-mail the USGA Grants and Fellowship office at grants@usga.org for organizations in your area of the country that accept used golf clubs. --EMJ