How many have tried real Persimmon golf clubs?

[Midpack]

10 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

When we played persimmon we were also playing wound balata. But you had to be careful! A poorly struck bladed iron would ruin a ball!

Yeah, I don't miss that. One mishit could ruin a ball in the "good old days." 

[DarrellLeeAllen]

4 hours ago, Midpack said:

Yeah, I don't miss that. One mishit could ruin a ball in the "good old days." 

I could only imagine I am only 40 but I started golf at 9 I learned on persimmon clubs with a modern ball they perform beautifully for me my next project is to get a set of hickory or bamboo shafted clubs as I think they would be downright fun to play and I would bet you can hit them just as accurately as a modern club of course I don't know that I have never played them before but I can imagine they can I love golf especially the history and the evolution of equipment its just fascinating  

[Groucho Valentine]

I have. And it felt like i was going to break that thing...Persimmon drivers give off such a loud cracking noise. I remember my drives falling just short of a 250 sign at the range where i was hitting it, which is around 15-20 yards shorter of where i normally carry a driver. But with range balls, who knows how much the distance was skewed. I might have hit it just as far as my regular one with game balls. 

[DarrellLeeAllen]

6 minutes ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I have. And it felt like i was going to break that thing...Persimmon drivers give off such a loud cracking noise. I remember my drives falling just short of a 250 sign at the range where i was hitting it, which is around 15-20 yards shorter of where i normally carry a driver. But with range balls, who knows how much the distance was skewed. I might have hit it just as far as my regular one with game balls. 

I only use them in the fairway I cant drive it as far off the tee as I can my modern driver I get about 30 yards more out of my modern driver but I can push a persimmon 4 nearly 200 yards I love that cracking sound a well struck persimmon gives off

 

[jsgolfer]

I actually hit a Titleist Persimmon 1 wood last night on our tenth hole with range balls.  Went about 20-30 yards short of my normal drive.  Club was heavy, but I hit it fairly straight, didn't have my normal draw.

[DarrellLeeAllen]

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 8:29 PM, Apoc81 said:

They got four sets of handmade persimmons from a small club maker, and they are up for sale at the clubhouse. I would love to hit some, but not for $600. 

 

How are they to hit? How much harder than say a modern 3I or 3H. I imagine the difference must be ridiculous, but I never, ever got a chance to play them. Saw  some of the old guys play em when I was younger, but I was a kid. By the time I was in my mid-late teens, I was playing Eye 2's, which weren't even the best tech at the time, But I loved those clubs. Incidentally they are the only Ping Iron I ever liked up to the i200's, which is what I really wanted this year. I hit em really well, but in canadian dollars they were just too much.($1400 f'in dollars with tax) (totally off topic)

I like hitting them depending on the quality they are far more accurate however less forgiving then modern clubs they emphasize ball striking there great to play the only hang up a person may have is they get 10 yards less on average then modern clubs

 

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2017 at 4:54 PM, DaveP043 said:

I didn't play persimmon woods for long, maybe 10 years, but proper persimmon was what many of us aspired to own back in the day, as  a step from the laminate clubheads in less expensive sets.  I still have my Cleveland RC85 (see here for a sample photo http://www.clubsofdistinction.com/cod5/ucwd6527.htm) and DG43 3-wood.  They're lovely clubs, but I haven't swung either foe years.

try them out again I love persimmon they emphasize ball striking super accurate

 

[DarrellLeeAllen]

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2017 at 10:42 AM, dbuck said:

I started out playing laminate and then persimmon as I upgraded. Like everyone, I switched to metal in the 90's.  About 8-10 years ago, I picked up a couple of nice Joe Powell persimmons at a pawn shop, and started playing them some, along with a set of Wilson Staff blades from 1979. It became a subset of my golf hobby-playing with "vintage" equipment.  Most of my collection came from thrift stores, averaging around $6-7 per club.  My current "gamers" include a Bert Dargie persimmon driver with a graphite shaft from about 1992, and PING Eye2 laminated maple 3 and 5 woods with the black finish and red inserts.  When I am swinging well, I can play with buddies playing modern clubs, accepting the fact that I will usually be a little behind them on the drive.  I have hit some drives with the persimmon that are close to my drives with modern clubs, but I must be swinging pretty good for me. I actually find the PING laminates to be relatively easy to hit.

 For the last several years, most of my golf has been vintage golf. It is fun; a retrace of my roots, and most satisfying to hear the occasional crack of one well struck.

I recently picked up a Titleist 913D2, though and the forgiveness is addictive.

 

I love playing with the old clubs less forgiving but my goodness super accurate if struck properly

 

On ‎6‎/‎4‎/‎2017 at 9:55 PM, onthehunt526 said:

That "crack" is the most beautiful sound in golf. @iacas won't agree with you @Hacker James, but I agree with you, mis-hits won't be as far off the fairway. Unless you find a Hogan with absolutely zero bulge and roll. 

I believe it or not am trying to find a legit "persimmon" wood set myself. I've only really found maple laminate on eBay for a bargain... At least for under $100.

yes the real ones are hard to find

 

[zipazoid]

7 hours ago, Midpack said:

Yeah, I don't miss that. One mishit could ruin a ball in the "good old days." 

Oh god yes. When I used to lay the leading edge of a wedge into the middle of a batala, I would say, "I can hear the rubber bands snapping from here" as it flew off.

And yes, I definitely remember & have hit Persimmon woods...as well as laminated woods. Wood woods lol. I still got my old laminated Ping 5-wood from back in the day & not too long ago I grabbed it out of my storage bag that has all my old clubs & waggled it a few times. First off, the whipping (another extinct concept) was unraveling around the hosel, and the thing felt like a damn sledgehammer, so heavy. But I used to be able to smack the hell out of that club, absolutely loved it.

 

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by zipazoid

[Typhoon92]

Try hitting with those woods or old irons using balls from that era.

I had better results with my Ping eye2 irons using an old titleist Professional ball than I did using a pro v 1.

[ScouseJohnny]

On 6/4/2017 at 9:03 PM, David in FL said:

Tried?  I played them for the first 20 years that I played this silly game!

Sorry though, they don't come close to comparing to modern clubs.  At almost 60 years old, I now hit the ball further and more consistently than I did at 30.  Anyone who says different is either lying or age related dementia has finally kicked in...

 

Oh, you've got that right. This is pure nostalgia. My 2015 balloon-on-a-stick Wilson Staff D100 10.5 driver is borderline idiot-proof. You have to really, really hack to get a wholly unacceptable result. The same goes for my Cleveland Mashie 5 wood.

But...I also have some old Arnold Palmer Peerless persimmon woods, which, once in a blue moon...

The 4 wood is surprisingly easy to hit. The driver takes me back to my youth. I'm in my early 40s - I remember persimmon giving way to steel when I was a junior golfer. For my 14th birthday, however, I received a set of fiberglass woods made by Fazer (whatever happened to that idea?) I traded them for steel Ben Sayers Powerpacts when I was 16.

To the original poster, though. Don't waste large sums of money on new persimmon clubs. Steve's golf shop in Lenoir, North Carolina, sells beautifully restored old ones on ebay, quite affordably: http://stores.ebay.com/stevesgolfshop/

I know. I accidentally bought a Powerbilt driver one night after a couple of glasses of wine, because I really, really needed it. It has the famous horseshoe on the bottom. Now, that is indeed laminate, but it looks the same as the day it rolled off the production line in 1975. I have no connection to this company, other than to say the quality of his restoration work is superb.

 

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by ScouseJohnny

[onthehunt526]

15 hours ago, ScouseJohnny said:

To the original poster, though. Don't waste large sums of money on new persimmon clubs. Steve's golf shop in Lenoir, North Carolina, sells beautifully restored old ones on ebay, quite affordably: http://stores.ebay.com/stevesgolfshop/

I know.

 

 

I second, Steve's Golf Shop for restored persimmon and laminate woods. I purchased a set of Wilson 1200 GE laminate woods from there. Beautiful clubs.

[DoubleEagleDan]

I play with persimmon woods from the late 1930's and forged blades from 1945 several times a month. There is nothing as sweet as a well struck drive with a high quality hand made persimmon driver. Here is a pic of my partial "antique" set.