re: What was your first set of clubs?

My first set was a birthday present when I was in my late pre-teen years. I don’t remember specifically how old I was, but I remember getting them.

It was a boxed starter set from Service Merchandise…persimmon driver and 3-wood…3, 5, 7, 9 blade irons and a putter with a super deluxe gray bag with fake leather accents. Along the way, I commandeered my dads Irving King mashie 4 iron, found a tour model II 8-iron to add to the bag, and finally added the leather wrapped grip Spalding sand wedge that we used to take out in the evenings and hit on the concrete to make it spark. (Of course, Dad wasn’t terribly happy about us doing that, but it just meant he could get something else to replace it…which meant more clubs for my bag in the future.)

I didn’t have a 6 iron until I bought my first “real” set of clubs when I was junior in high school, and I never could get comfortable with hitting the 6 iron once I did have a new set.

These clubs did two things for me…it led me to the profession which I currently do now and, I believe, is the reason why I hit the ball so darn straight. I came across them not too long ago sitting in a storage closet at my parent’s house and pulled a club out and stood over it, swung it a few times and wondered to myself, “how in the world did I ever play high school golf with this raggedy set of clubs?”

I did…and I appreciate every swing that I took with them as it made me learn how to hit the ball with a butter knife connected to a steel shaft.