Over the past few months, we've had a lot of discussion about the state of technology in the golf equipment marketplace and I enjoy reading your responses and take on where things are going... or not going.

It is most interesting to me that the major brands continue to try to convince us that they can totally re-invent irons, drivers, hybrids — whatever — every four to six months, offering another "breakthrough" that is going to deliver 'x' more yards on every shot. We talked about some of that pixie dust last week.

Also last week, we talked about the very first Ben Hogan irons, a set simply called "Precision." Those were introduced to market in 1954 and began a long history of the finest irons in the game for many years. Mr. Hogan was personally very involved in every set of Ben Hogan irons until the company moved to Virginia in the early 1990s. The last Ben Hogan Apex iron in which Mr. Hogan was instrumental was the 1992 version.

But I digress. What struck me as very funny lately is to look at the "new" offering from a major brand. Look at this picture of the original 1954 Hogan Precision Irons and see what 60 years of 'high technology' has done to the evolution of irons:


Doesn't this bear a striking resemblance to one of the newest hyped irons on the market from a major brand?

I'm not saying that we haven't evolved iron-making technology a long way since 1954, because we have. Manufacturing processes, metallurgy, finishing skills... it is all much better. But just maybe Mr. Hogan was decades ahead of his time with this original Precision design, if the biggest brand in golf thought it was worth copying that closely.

I'm just sayin'...