Cast Away

A couple of weeks ago I eavesdropped on the clerk in my neighborhood golf superstore, who was offering club-buying advice to a husband and his wife. "Unless you're a professional," he said, "there's no reason to even think about forged clubs. Most pros play cavity backs these days."

After four years of playing I shoot in the low to mid-80s, and I'm convinced that the high 70s are in sight. But at this time of the year I'm just as likely to shoot in the low 90s. In other words, I'm no pro. But the first time I hit with a forged club, I drove home, picked up my cast Cleveland TA5s and traded them in for that set of Mizuno MX-20s (proof that all forged clubs are not blades).

A, custom-fitted set of Wishon forged irons (cavity-backed 3-5, musclebacks from 6 on up), came 18 months later, and I've been playing them about two years. This past winter I picked up a used set of Titleist 690s.

Here's 3 Reasons Why I'll Never Play Cast Clubs

1. Like the Wedge Guy, I believe forged clubs have made me a better ball striker. Wide-bottomed, perimeter weighted clubs hide a lot of faults. I prefer to know what my faults are even if it's because I harbor the naive belief that I can fix them.

2. Remember the first time you caught a ball flush with an iron? Magnify that feeling 5x and you'll have a sense of the difference between forged and cast.

3. Forged clubs are often sleek and beautiful to behold, even after countless rounds.