Declaration of Independence

I play golf for the feeling. The salmon pink sky of a dawn patrol tee time. Dewy morning greens. Late summer fairways, sun burned firm and fast. As an antidote to the climate controlled boxes we move between each day, a regular game lends meaning when checking the weather forecast. Heat, wind, cold, rain, clouds – consequence! Oh, and while we walk this earth, it is also worth paying attention to the things we carry with us.

I play persimmon woods and muscle back irons. No hollow bodied hybrids. No titanium driver. No graphite shafts. The persimmons are hand made in Kentucky and the MB irons are from a small company out of Vancouver, BC. I chose my clubs based on factors such as feel, sound, and look – as in how they look to my eye as I prepare to hit a shot, not how others see them. Performance isn’t forgotten – these aren’t museum artifacts to hang on the wall, at least not yet. It has taken me many years and much experimentation to end up here. Like most things with this insidious game, it didn’t come easy.

Before we go any further, let me clearly say that I am not one of those people wearing a straw hat and a pocket watch, with a smug look on their face that says this is how things should be. If that is the vibe you are looking for, what follows here may be a disappointment. In my mind, declaring your independence doesn’t require anyone else to follow. But friends and like minded acquaintances are always welcome.

“Throughout history, tools that tribal people used, samurai swords, and everything down the line to fictional stuff like Harry Potter’s wand and light sabers – everything is so much more magical when its built for you and you have a special connection to it. So we would decorate our tools and make sure that they came from the soul, that they came from somebody.”

~ Geoff Cunningham

It is true enough that a game of golf is intended to capture results. Par, bogies, and birdies – all your strokes are real. Write ’em down, add ’em up. But an out-sized emphasis on the what, coupled with little consideration for the how leaves me, well, a little meh. Math and art shouldn’t be mutually exclusive.

I use a modern blade putter and I play the modern golf ball. I have no desire to be considered a purist, or dismissive of technology out of hand. I simply want to play the game in a way that I find interesting and satisfying. I want my clubs to be unique, something that fits my game, a little less off-the-shelf. And I reserve the right to evolve and change my mind. But if one day you find me sporting a handlebar mustache, hickory shafts, and suspenders, please proceed to stage an intervention at once. Same goes if I’m ever found on the range with a huge bucket of balls, endlessly gripping and ripping the latest Epic-TSR-Rouge-PXG-Fargiveness-Whatever monstrosity.

To further prove I’m not immune to a bit of internet driven modernism, below is my what’s in the bag (sans bag) as of January 2024.

Full fourteen club set: