It started with a text from a friend: “Remember this club? I felt invincible with it in my hands when I was in school.” The club in question? Cleveland’s Launcher driver — an oversized titanium behemoth (at the time) that truly made you feel like you couldn’t miss. Technology has improved considerably since the driver was released more than two decades ago, but for some reason, we still can’t let go of those clubs that played an integral role in our introduction to the game or helped us card a career round.
Nostalgia is a powerful drug.
The text led me to recall my favorite club growing up (Titleist’s 975D driver with a UST ProForce Gold shaft) and wonder if anyone else out there felt the same way about my beloved driver. I posed the question on Twitter and received a mountain of superb responses. (It’s heartening to know there are other golf nuts out there who feel the same way I do about classic gear.)
After spending the last few hours combing through the tweets, I came up with my top 10 favorite responses.
1. Club memories
Sure, it isn’t a specific club, but there’s something special about the tools that connect us to those who helped introduce us to the game. In this particular case, it’s a 7-iron that helped Mike hone his swing growing up under the tutelage of his father. It should come as no surprise that it remains his favorite club.
KC also posted a photo of a Ram Fastback fairway wood that was passed down from his father. The club now resides in a shadow box on his wall. It just goes to show you that every club has a story. Some are just better than others.
2. Nike SasQuatch Sumo2
“I can hear it,” said one commenter. Another called it “the only correct answer.” Heck, a former GOLF colleague wrote an opus on the darn thing! It might be the most polarizing club on the list (and undoubtedly the loudest), but there’s something about the Swoosh’s square-headed driver that makes you smile — and throw in a pair of earplugs at the same time.
3. Callaway Big Bertha Steelhead Plus
Our own Luke Kerr-Dineen picked a club that remains elusive to yours truly: Callaway’s Big Bertha Steelhead Plus fairway wood. “Some of the best shots of my life came out of nowhere with this club,” noted one member. “The [fairway woods] were rocket launchers,” claimed another. Indeed, Big Bertha Steelhead earned a reputation as one of the longest fairways when it was released. The Steelhead line was so good, in fact, Tour pro Jamie Donaldson still carries a Steelhead III — the fairway preceding Steelhead Plus — in the bag.
4. Ping TiSi
“I never did so much yard work in my life to save for that driver!” said one respondent. It’s safe to say he was the only one who was on the chores grind to earn enough scratch to buy the driver. More than 20 years after it was introduced, I still remember one of my former high school golf teammates showing up to the course with the driver after it was introduced. You would’ve figured he’d won the lotto based on our reactions.
5. TaylorMade Burner
If a copper paint job and Burner Bubble shaft don’t bring a smile to your face, I don’t know what will. This driver was a certified classic.
6. Titleist PT
The fairway wood was synonymous with Tiger Woods and his Masters demolition in 1997. Literally every golfer on the planet wanted to hit fairway wood missiles like Woods, but as Eric pointed out, few had the chops to make it happen. The compact steel fairway remains an all-timer for most gearheads. Long live the PT15.
7. Adams Tight Lies
“I’ll never forget the disappointment that I felt when I didn’t flush my ball 195 from a ‘tight lie’,” said Eric. You weren’t the only one! Adams’ classic was a game-changer for the fairway wood market. Barney Adams knew what he was doing when he introduced the upside-down creation.
8. Cobra Baffler
The rails were a revolutionary design at the time. Rickie Fowler reintroduced them to the masses years later when he used a prototype version of the fairway with the Baffler rails at the Masters.
9. Tommy Armour 845 Silver Scot
The 845s remain a cult classic for golfers of all ages. The perimeter-weighted design provided a level of stability and forgiveness that was unheard of in a more traditional package.
10. Ben Hogan Apex Plus
To be honest, almost any Hogan iron could’ve made the cut. The Apex Plus is a worthy option.
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