Mike Stachura's Golf Digest piece that suggested that Tom Watson's '09 Open Championship run was largely driven by modern golf technology drew one fierce response from me.  A couple of our other blogging friends weighed in as well, including Fanhouse's Ryan Wilson.

Stachura's theory shouldn't just be slammed though.  That's not fair - or really all that much fun.  What would be fun is if I attempted to prove Stachura wrong by playing his opposite theory.

I want to play a full round of golf with old equipment.  I don't mean like my 1995 set of Top Flite irons that I used for several reliable years.  I mean, like this set of 1958 MacGregor irons.

They're small.  They're hard to hit.  If you hit them poorly, they hurt.  My TaylorMade original RAC irons are a modern marvel compared to these '58 beauts.  They're also way larger, feature U grooves, and don't rust so easily.  Still, I long to play golf with these dinosaurs.  I think of them more like the nostalgia surrounding a '57 Buick than the nostaligia that exists for the Pentium I PC that is rotting in my parents' basement.

And I want to drive with persimmon woods.  And play with an old balata ball.  I want to know just how good we have it with modern equipment.  That 460cc head sititng on my driver in my golf bag is a big improvement over the 260cc AVDP driver that I bought before high school.  But I want to experience the difference between the 460cc head and a busted up piece of woods that is heavy and unreliable.

Call me a sadist if you must.  Maybe call me out of my mind.  I think there is something noble in playing and struggling with this equipment.  Who knows, I may well figure it out.  It may well turn out that I can play any club put into my hand and completely prove Mike Stachura right.  A part of me, though, hopes that I would not fare so well.  It might go a little way in proving that an old man could school the modern breed of pampered golfer with any set of sticks.

Now, who can help me make this happen?