Wilson staff?

[Action]

looking for some info. I have a set of Wilson staff Irons that I have had for maybe 30 yrs. They say wilson on the bottom and Staff on the side. How do I find more info on these? Is there any value to these? Thinking about cleaning these up/regrip and playing them. What do you think?
Thanks jack

[alf174]

Of all the vintage irons floating around, the Wilson Staffs are some of the most popular to re-grip and use; Ping & McGregor too. Is there any other identification on them (like the initials RM) or serial #s? Check out Ebay for matching up your set with something for sale. Dig around with Google if there is more info on the shafts, etc. Put a pic here in this thread and someone here may be able to give you some more info; a picture is worth a 1000 words.

[wolverine_man]

Agreed. My dad has a set of Staff blades from the 70s along with Wilson wood woods. They, along with MacGregor, were some of the best in their day. Wilson Staffs are still alive and well, even today. Probably the most underrated club company that's still in business.

[tsajjad]

what about the lynx master model , arent they supposed to be like one of the master class vintage club s?

[leezer99]

  Action said:

looking for some info. I have a set of Wilson staff Irons that I have had for maybe 30 yrs. They say wilson on the bottom and Staff on the side. How do I find more info on these? Is there any value to these? Thinking about cleaning these up/regrip and playing them. What do you think?

Check out this site for pictures of the WS irons over the years.

http://www.wilson.com/wilson/staff/hist_vintage.jsp

[lumpuckeroo]

This might also help, http://valueguide.pga.com/

[tatertot]

Or here:

http://ironfinder.com/

[thomas55]

I have a set of Wilson Staffs that look like the FG-17s but without the FG-17 stamped on them I'm sure they are from the 70s.

I was also wondering if they would perform like todays blades if I reshafted them with

modern shafts. These look pretty much like some of the modern blades made today but I think there is more to it.

Would the soles be pretty much the same or do they grind them different these days?  Most of the club info I read when I'm reading about new clubs talks about a more rounded leading edge and rounded trailing edge to prevent digging. They belonged to my Dad and I remember how good they felt when I hit them well but the

shafts are too soft and too short for me now. It would be nice to put them back in play once in a while.

[wmiller]

I play my old Wilson Staffs (blades and persimmons) at least two or three times a year, sometimes more.

Today's shaft tech is much better than that found when these clubs were made. Freshen the shafts and grips, and you'll be good.

A word of caution: Blades from the 70s and earlier are NOT forgiving of loose swings. Because of the sharp leading/trailing edges, you need to have a measure of control over you swing. These things will dig if you're a little too steep on the approach. ;)

Having said that, they are as good as anything on the market today when struck well, IMO. Lofts are weaker, so expect to 'club up' one or two for a given yardage too.

[thomas55]

Thanks, I think I'll do that it will be fun to figure out what shafts to put with them. I have Rifle 6.0 on my KZG Evolutions and I like them but who knows.

I also have the woods as well they are beautiful to look at. I forgot about the lofts

I'd get lofts and lies checked anyway when I get them reshafted.

[thomas55]

I have one more question about these old Staff irons. What shaft size would these use?  I guessing .370 parallel tip but I don't know for sure.

[mlf16507]

  thomas55 said:

Originally Posted by thomas55

I have one more question about these old Staff irons. What shaft size would these use?  I guessing .370 parallel tip but I don't know for sure.

More than likely .355 taper tip, but no problem reaming the heads out to accept .370 parallel tip.

[WUTiger]

Quote:

  wolverine_man said:

Agreed. My dad has a set of Staff blades from the 70s along with Wilson wood woods. They, along with MacGregor, were some of the best in their day. Wilson Staffs are still alive and well, even today. Probably the most underrated club company that's still in business.

When I caddied during the 1960s and 1970s, Wilson Staff was a top club - especially the irons - for pros and better players. I played Wilson Staff woods from about 1968 to 1975.

Wilson had ties to such golf greats as sand wedge inventor Gene Saracen (replicated in today's R90 wedge), Sam Snead and Arnold Palmer. Wilson "slipped from grace" during the 1980s, but has made a comeback in recent years. Padraig Harrington and Ricky Barnes both play Wilson.

Here's the Wilson Staff golf story from the company's web site:

http://www.wilson.com/en-us/golf/wilsonstaff/history/wilson/;jsessionid=D641FAC4BA1F29745753EEA418836DAC

For action: What you might do is clean them up, and regrip them in some of the more basic grips reminiscent of the 1970s. This could be a nice history piece, and something younger golfers could hit to get an idea of older technology. Any chance you could find some persimmon Wilson woods?

[thomas55]

I have the woods Driver,3 & 4 in pretty good shape and 3 through PW in the irons.

This was the set I started with.

I want to reshaft them with a bit longer and stiffer modern shaf and have the lofts and lie bent to match my KZGs that I play with now. I feel like thay would be about as good as most new blades one the maeket today

once they are put back in shape. Thanks for the advise on the shafts I wasn't sure what size to use.

[dbuck]

The PGA value guides to me seem a little low and the clubfinder is sometimes a bit high, but I guess either ok for a basic idea.  Somewhere around $100 for 3-PW seems to be a ballpark base, more for a pristine set and less for a beat up set. Condition, shaft, and model would have a lot of impact.

I have a nice set my dad gave me in college-1979 Staff Tour Blades (pre fg-17) 2-SW.  I also have an FG-17 1 iron. I have them regripped as needed and play them along with my Joe Powell persimmon 1-3 woods a few times every year.

As others have said, you have to hit them pure and expect to use about a club or so more,(unless they have been bent and reshafted) but great fun when they are hit well.

[thomas55]

Well I took my Staffs to Golf Stop here in KC and found they are 370 parallel tips. I'm thinking about FST shafts for them. Their golf tech. Melvin who is a really good guy feels like they are very good shafts for the money. He has been a club builder for a long time he's and older guy that seems very practical ( I guess at 56 I am too LOL)

My KZGs have Rifle stiff shafts and I like the feel of the step-less designs. Maybe I should ask this question on a different forum but any thoughts on the FST shafts?

[dbwood]

FST shafts have a good reputation.  FST makes the FST line of shafts and the KBS line.  The 2 lines overlap in performance characteristics to some degree but generally the KBS have higher flex points so they have lower ball flight.  The KBS are considerably more expensive but I doubt there is a quality difference.  I've only worked with 3 FST shafts for a set of wedges that I reshafted and they were identical in weight and flex so from that absurdly small scientific sample I can say they're consistent, and the wedges feel great to me.

  thomas55 said:

Originally Posted by thomas55

Well I took my Staffs to Golf Stop here in KC and found they are 370 parallel tips. I'm thinking about FST shafts for them. Their golf tech. Melvin who is a really good guy feels like they are very good shafts for the money. He has been a club builder for a long time he's and older guy that seems very practical ( I guess at 56 I am too LOL)

My KZGs have Rifle stiff shafts and I like the feel of the step-less designs. Maybe I should ask this question on a different forum but any thoughts on the FST shafts?

[dduval08]

I agree with everyone who says that Wilson right now is one of the most underrated companies in golf. They continue to make very good irons their woods may lack a bit but iron wise they are still up there.