What’s (Was) in Bill’s High School Golf Bag

First and foremost, before we even get started here, I need to make one thing clear. I did not play on my high school golf team. While I loved the game so much (right in the heart of the Tiger’s golden years), I was just way too much of an unmanageable headcase on the golf course. This is why I excelled at fast-paced sports like hockey rather than golf. You can just power through your frustration. Anyway, yes, the title of this post is somewhat misleading, but stick with me here. And since it’s my birthday, I feel I deserve this reflection on what I had in my high school golf bag…er, what was in my golf bag when I was in high school. In reality, I had most of these clubs in junior high, well before high school.

This story isn’t so much about the equipment itself. I wasn’t exactly the biggest golf gear nerd yet, and I certainly didn’t have the funds for the best equipment. (See the point about playing hockey above…$$$) My recurring thrift golf posts on this site explain how I’ve been nostalgically acquiring many of the jewels of my childhood eye as an adult. Anyway, as I’ve been acquiring all of these 90s-era golf clubs, I’ve come to realize that I had a soft spot in my heart for the clubs I used to “struggle around the course” with when I was a kid. I never gave enough credit to the “romance” I put around my old setup.

So, like any good gear hoarder with a website needing stories, I set out to bring my high school golf bag back to life. While this is 100% a self-serving post, join me on this adventure through my old gear, won’t you?!

The Bag

Though still popular today, the Ping Hoofer was in its PRIME when I was in high school. No one could touch it. Don’t even look at it. All golf bags, save for Sun Mountain, still looked like something your dad got for free at an outing in 1986. The Hoofer was sleak, modern, and just flat out cool. Now, I can’t remember if my high school golf team carried the same bag or not, but my parents ended up buying me one in the school’s colors. This bag served me well, and while my time spent golfing greatly dwindled over the next decade, I still needed something to hold my clubs in the garage.

Fast forward to some time after college and I end up re-catching the golf bug. I’m not playing competitive hockey anymore, I have a full-time big boy job, and my gear nerdiness starts kicking in. I decided it was time to replace it with something “much cooler”. My buddy Jason was in need of a bag and a deal was struck!

Fast forward again. This time, about 13 years. While I was finding some killer thrift gear, nothing was this bag. So on a whim, I hit up Jason and asked him, “hey, by any chance, do you still have my old golf bag?” Sure enough, he did. He just needed to get it down from the garage rafters and to knock a little dust off. While I was more than ready to pay him a premium to get my bag back, all he wanted was “something good enough to hold some clubs in the garage”. I gave him a killer Callaway stand bag in return.

The Irons

Bristol Advisory Custom “Rocker Sole” perimeter weighted irons. Truth be told, I have zero idea what these are actually called. All I know is that they are roughly a 1980s iron that looks to have attempted to cash in on the cast cavity back craze of this time period. Bristol is a brand that originates from the late Hickory era and was based out of Melrose Park, IL. They would later fall under the same umbrella as Golden Ram. These were my dad’s irons, to which he bestowed upon me following a new set of irons he was bequeathed. He continuously told me how great these Bristols were, but I will tell you this – they are not great. All these years later, he finally agrees that these irons certainly weren’t doing me any favors.

That said, I still have them and they have sure have some memories attached to them. That alone will earn them a few knocks around the course each golf season.

The Putter

This is probably one of my favorite pieces of golf equipment I own. I can’t tell you what it is, but this flowneck Ping Zing 2 always stood out to me just as much as any Scotty Teryllium did at the store. On top of that, it was a fraction of the Scotty’s cost so it was also obtainable. The Ping looked great behind the ball, had a smooth feel, and just a real nice natural stroke to it. When I wanted to upgrade to nicer gear after college, I still stuck with this design by way of a Ping G5i Zing putter. While I would soon move onto my first Scotty Cameron putter, the Ping Zing still strongly held its place in my heart. I would quickly sell that G5i Zing, but to this day, I won’t dare let go of the one that started it all for me.

No glitz, no glamour, just a perfectly cool, modest Ping putter from the mid to late 90s.

The Woods

When my parents were finally convinced I needed a driver to be able to compete, it came down to two clubs. You see, this is before good simulators, Trackman, etc. When you went to Edwin Watts or Nevada Bob’s, you were limited to a flight at the mercy of the distance to the back wall. When I was testing out drivers, there was one clear, absolute leader. I was flushing it and seemed on target consistently. That was the TaylorMade Bubble Burner and it was expensive. The second best was this TPS Powerbilt driver. It eventually got sold in a garage sale so I had to fine one on eBay. It’s in much better condition than mine ever was, even if there’s something loose in the head.

I won’t bore you with retelling my Adams Tight Lies affinity. You can read that whole story here. In short, I totally bought into the infomerical from the 90s and just knew this club would change my game. The truth is, when I finally got one, it did. What a legend.

What I vaguely remember is that I had the opportunity to hit someone’s 7 wood and I was blasting it. Looking back, I’m guessing it was a lot to do with having more loft making it easier to get the ball in the air and more spin holding it there. Regardless, I believe my parents bought the Wilson Wild Thing II 7 wood for me on a family trip to Sam’s Club. I sold mine at a garage sale over a decade ago and only really cared when I decided to rebuild my old bag. After seeing one at Goodwill and leaving it like an idiot, I ended up buying one on eBay for too much money to finish this project.

The Wedges

It’s funny, I don’t really remember people putting too much of a premium on wedge technology around this time of my life. Aside from the Alien wedge, or whatever that gimmicky *diamond cut face was, I only ever remember one wedge being worth the conversation. That was the Cleveland Tour Action Reg. 588 wedges. In my head, I needed a 60º almost as much as I needed my Adams Tight Lies. My parents got me the chrome one and I loved that thing with all my heart. I’d take my dog for walks and chip golf balls the whole way to and from the park by my house. Or lob wiffle golf balls over my grandma’s house across the street.

I don’t remember exactly when, but I realized I could also have a 56º in my bag too. Multiple wedges were allowed apparently… So I bought a matching 56º somewhere around seventh grade. These are still some of the greatest wedges ever made in my opinion. I would argue that they still make up some of the benchmark that I measure wedges against to this day.

*Quick story: as I said in the Tight Lies post I linked to, these golf club infomercials were everything to us in the summers. There was this wedge that had like “waste from diamond cuttings” in the face for more spin. All that really meant was that the face was rougher and that created more bite on the ball. Well, this kid we played with would spit on the face of his wedge and then drag it through the bunker so the sand would stick to it and cite this infomercial every time. Credit where credit’s due, it did seem to make a difference. This was generally a real piece of work.

High School Golf Bag Accessories

Most people know the signature Tiger Woods tiger cover as produced by Daphne headcovers. Makes sense as Daphne has produced them at scale pretty much since the beginning. But what many don’t remember is the limited edition one from Titleist which featured the same embroidery on the back that Tiger’s mom puts on his covers. I don’t remember exactly when it came out, but I had one and still have it to this day. This Tiger cover made its triumphant return to my Ping Hoofer on the TPS Powerbilt Titanium Insert driver.

I also had a specific gorilla and a Mickey Mouse headcover that I got from a garage sale at my sister’s friend’s house when I was probably 8. The amount of Googling I did to try and find these exact covers so I could get new ones was outrageous. I ultimately found both of them on eBay and ordered them. Somehow, the gorilla just didn’t quite fit on my Tight Lies like my old one did. The new Mickey Mouse fit perfect on the Wild Thing II and was in much better condition than mine was the last time I saw it. Interestingly, I miraculously found my original gorilla cover with missing eye and everything. And of course, it fit my Tight Lies perfectly.

Final Thoughts – My Beloved High School Golf Bag

Golf’s meant to be fun and finding goofy ways to keep it fun is the best part. Rediscovering a love for older gear and treating myself to a few rounds with it each season has really enhanced my golf experience. If you told me when I started writing this post that I was going to have so many words on such a silly topic, I wouldn’t have believed you. (Especially over the golf bag…)

If there was ever an example of how big of a golf gear dork I am, this post is it. So let me thank you for humoring me for my birthday. And thanks to everyone who has stuck with us over the past five years. Good luck getting ready for the upcoming golf season, and have a great 2024! May some nostalgic golf with your old high school golf bag be in your future as well!