Very Old Irons

[RaLos18]

My long time (10+ years) next door neighbor (88 years old), who is moving in AZ Friday, called my son today and gave him an old MacGregor Leather bag (big brown and green behemoth) with, I can easily say, 3 sets of mixed clubs from the sixties and seventies. He knows that my son is crazy about golf. There are old MacGregor irons, with Tommy Armour signature on it, some Wilson and Presidential irons with strange numbers like 10, 11 and 12 (back then they were calling the sand wedge SAND IRON) and the complete set 2-SW Titleist Acushnet AC 108 irons with Tungsten alloy inserts. The shafts are True Temper D1 Regular. The Grips are Golf Pride, but in very bad condition and deteriorating on some of the clubs. My son fell in love in the Titleist clubs. He wants to play with them, but they are too long for him. Do you think is a good idea to go to the Golf Professional shop and shorten or replace the shafts and change the grip so he can use them? My son is bugging me whole afternoon to ask this question!
Also, I would like to thank you all for your overwhelming response for my last week question about my son first time on the golf course. We were having a great time. Thank you again!

[M2daRizzle]

yes, do it for sure. If he learns to play well with the blades then his ball striking will improve greatly, thus making him a better golfer. As a bonus, if he just cuts down the existing shafts and gets them regripped it wont be to expensive.

[AlCzervik]

post some pics, i'd like to see these old clubs

[ynvmygp]

Yes, seems like a good idea to get those cut down to size. Like stated before, it will be alot cheaper to cut down those shafts and get them re-griped. Let us know how it goes.

[RaLos18]

Here is the URL of the titleist.com:

http://www.titleist.com/historical_c...ails.asp?id=49

They were manufactured between 1972-1977

[Bourbon and Coke]

I would get them priced, first. Depending on how old he is, it might be more cost-effective to get him newer irons he will be able to play longer. If he is still young and it's only going to be $100-$150, then I say it's worth it to let him learn on crappy old clubs and then buy him properly fitted irons when he is closer to full size.

[RaLos18]

Yes, seems like a good idea to get those cut down to size. Like stated before, it will be alot cheaper to cut down those shafts and get them re-griped. Let us know how it goes.

I Guess this will be turned in to a project!

OK, I will post BEFORE and AFTER Pictures! I'll go to a local Golf Store tomorrow and ask the price.

[wigolffan]

do it yourself!!! I am a club builder and if all you want is the clubs cut and gripped its so simmple. Cut the old grips off with a razorblade, cut the shafts to what you want with a hack saw. put grip tapew on (4 bucks or so a role at golfworks.com) and put on new grips by applying solvent to the tape and sliding the grips on.

[clemsontiger]

http://www.titleist.com/historical_c...ails.asp?id=54

I have these.

I would not trade them for anything.

I definitely suggest that he learns on blades. The ones that I posted a link to are the ones that I learned on. I am a really good ball striker because of it. I reall like them.

[ilovesandwiches]

I say get them cut down for him. It's pretty cool he wants to play with the old clubs and not want you to buy him new ones.

[Blades4me]

Wow, reminds me of when I was learning to golf back in the early 60's. So go thru the stuff, start with the 3,5,7 and 9 irons. Either reshaft them yourself, much less expensive and not that hard, or get them reshafted with something like DG R 400's (I think that is the womans shaft) and set him loose.

I'd take that stuff to a knowledgable golf person to see if there are any clubs that are of collector quality and which ones won't be a loss if you reshaft them.

[dennbb]

Are the AC-108's blades? or an early attempt at a cavity back? I have had a set for about 35 years and could never get a clear answer on that. Mine definitely have a cavity and they're stainless irons not forged.

[RayG]

IF you do cut them yourself, make sure you cut them at the right length for each club. Going with a "ballpark" figure might do more harm than good. And as for learning on blades- YES. I think everyone on here on a certain age, say 45+, who started playing at around 10-12 years old, started on blades. Quite possibly the ubiquitous Northwestern brand- and LIKELY the Chi Chi Rodriguez model. I played those for 15 years. I basically wore the grooves and chrome off by then, but I loved those clubs. They were a short set (3,5,7,9, and a wedge of some kind with a 1,3,5 wd, and one of those 'bullseye' type putters) so I learned all the shots with a limited number of clubs. You had to learn to hit a soft 5 or hard 7 to go 160.

[Syberson]

Does the Sand Wedge have the tungsten inserts as well? I have seen the sand wedge that looks similar with no inserts.

[dbuck]

The original thread is about 6 years old so the OP may not answer.