I’ve got a bit of a secret to share. I have always wanted the Titleist 962b, but I was afraid that I wasn’t good enough to play them. My logic doesn’t really make sense because after high school I played golf every single day. I played 52 holes a day and within two months I was a 2 handicap. I guess at that point, I decided to get really blades, the Titleist Tour Models like I was talking about in my last post. But if I had the choice to do it over again I would certainly have considered the Titlesit 962b.
These are great clubs. The Titleist 962b is a classic design with a bit of added forgiveness when you compare them to forged blades. The great thing about these clubs is they are so cheap. You can probably pick these up for about $100 and even though they might look a little used, they are still going to work great.
It’s interesting to look and hit these clubs even though they are probably close to ten years old at this point because you’re going to see just how small the club face really is. For control, these irons are great. If you’ve never played blades before, you’re going to be in for a completely different golfing experience. It’s more of a traditional relationship with the ball, the course, and the clubs. It’s more natural in my eyes because you really connect with it all.
When you’re planning out your shots, you really need to think about what’s going on there. It’s hard to hit these clubs, it’s no secret. But when you prepare for your next shot, certain things become apparent to your sense of play that wouldn’t be if you were just going to hit the ball straight every time.
Say there’s a sand trap on the front left portion of the green and trouble to the left. You’re going to need to take out a longer club and assure yourself that you’ll be hitting a longer shot 90% of the time than you really need, but if you miss, you’re probably not going to wind up short of the green and in trouble. Most people hit the ball to the right when they take a longer club because they don’t have the swing speed to keep everything in sync. Also because your club head is shallower and more upright with a longer club, the margin of error is smaller. With a wedge, if you miss hit the ball a bit, the distance will change in a smaller amount than if you hit the ball with a longer club. The same concept applies to your margin of error for hitting the ball to the left and too the right.
Anyway, I’ve always liked the 962b because of it’s sheer aesthetics. If you can pick these clubs up for cheap, they are worth every penny and I can guarantee you’ll have a new appreciation for the game and the thinking that really goes into it. 