Tulip City Dispatch

 I took my Hogan irons out for a quick round at Rolling Meadows Par 3 here in Holland.  I shot terribly...nearly 18 over par; or a double-bogey.  I missed a lot of shots by literally overshooting the green - my irons went too far!  Confused, I turned to a few online sources, who recommended that I get some launch monitor data.  So, I did that!  I went to X-Golf for a half hour of driving range time, and gathered the telemetry data comparing my Hogan irons with my new/good Ping irons.  When I got my Hogan irons out again, at Clearbrook, everything became clear: The Pings are newer, more modern, and better designed.  I simply hit them better.  Everything about them is more consistent.  The Hogans, whether I'm trying to limit distance on a par 3 course or trying to shoot the moon on a regular course, are substantially less forgiving than I'm used to...everything is less consistent.  Backed up by telemetry and data, as well as swingweig...

 Hey, the 90s called!  They want their golf clubs back! I found a sweet golf bag at the thriftos: That is, a vintage Ben Hogan staff bag!  Last time I saw a bag this big and leathery, I had to tell Grandpa to shut the bathroom door! So, naturally, I had to play a round!   I played 9 holes at Clearbrook Golf Course in Saugatuck, MI with these clubs.  It was rough, to say the least.  I definitely hit more consistently with modern clubs.  But, it was fun for the nostalgia of it all! I sold the Scotty Cameron Bullseye to a fellow collector, and was able to use some of those funds to pay for this round of golf!  In lieu of that, I used the Ping Zing 2 putter that I used in last year's challenge .  While the Zing 2 putter doesn't strictly  fit into the 90s theme, nothing actually matters and I'm just some douche on the internet, so you can go suck my putter.

 In a weird turn of events, the putter I picked up for the $50 Thrift Store Challenge Part Deux seems to also date from the mid 1990s.  A screenshot from the forums at Titleist.com  tell the tale of the fabled Bullseye putter: The SC stamp on the sole of my putter indicates that this design was lightly modified by Scotty Cameron when he joined the team at Titleist in 1994 or 1995.  So, that's cool. I now have an entire mid-90s era golf set, with which to play a round...for less than $20 when all is said and done.  That's pretty sweet.

 Last winter, I set out on a journey - a budget of $50 to assemble a complete, useable set of golf clubs .  My rules were as follows: Total budget of $50 for everything (including clubs, bag, balls, and tees) A standard, USGA-conforming set...that is, a maximum of 14 clubs All clubs must be in USGA compliance - no mega-sized drivers or "illegal'' wedges The irons must be a complete set - wedges and woods can be piecemeal For the 2022 season, I've added a little hitch:  The set must be period correct from the mid 1990s.  My earliest golf memories were playing at the now-defunct Rolling Hills Golf Course in Hudsonville, MI in 1996, 1997, and 1998, so Part Deux of the $50 Thrift Store Golf Challenge is my attempt to pay homage to those early days.  As such, I've been using a lot of information from Golfclubspec.com , the PGA Value Guide , and 2nd Swing to nail down production dates of clubs.   All that being said, I've got the foundations of a set alread...