We all know how far today’s star golfers hit the ball, but how would they fare with older equipment? It’s a question that’s sort of been answered in the past and one that will continued to be explored if tour pros keep buying hickory clubs. But on Wednesday, Dustin Johnson was the latest to give this experiment a try. And the results didn’t disappoint.
At the behest of Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, the current World No.1 tried both the Golden Bear’s old 1-iron and persimmon driver from his playing days. Here’s how it looked:
Cool experience today at Bears Club. @jacknicklaus and @garyplayer wanted to see @DJohnsonPGA hit Jack’s old 1 iron and Persimmon driver. pic.twitter.com/eX0joF4AgQ
— Dustin Johnson Golf School (@DJGolfSchool) August 29, 2018
Sounded like pretty good contact, huh? Yep. Johnson tweeted out the distances of the two shots:
Persimmon went 290 and iron went 232.
— Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) August 29, 2018
Not too shabby. Oh, and those are just the carry distances:
Dustin says he was on the range at Bear's Club this morning and hit Jack's persimmons driver. 290 carry, 318 total. Said he could have hit it harder but didn't want to break it. Smiling. But I kind of believe him.
— Doug Ferguson (@dougferguson405) August 29, 2018
That’s 318(!) yards. With a an actual 1-WOOD. Amazing. Not surprisingly, even the 18-time Major champ was dazzled by DJ’s display of power:
Those were pretty good hits @DJohnsonPGA for seeing the persimmon driver and 1-iron for the first time. I don’t imagine the 1-iron was that much different for you, because it’s like a driving iron. But 290 with a wood driver is pretty impressive….. for a “modern-day” player. 😉 https://t.co/2dVl9eKYQx
— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) August 29, 2018
Pretty impressive, indeed.
