Does Anyone Still Collect Old Classic Clubs?

[sheepdog]

Collecting old classics was big way back when the pros still hit persimmon. Jack Nicklaus hit a beautiful 1955 Tommy Armour MacGregor driver. Craig Stadler had an old Wilson R90 Sand Wedge. Ben Crenshaw made 1964 Wilson 8802 putters famous with "Little Ben". You could find these old classics at estate sales, still can, for next to nothing. Back then though you could get $500 for a 1955 Tommy Armour driver just like Jack's if you knew the right person. $400 for a 1964 8802 putter. Now no one plays with them anymore. I knew a friend that flew to Japan three times a year back in the 80s. Classic clubs were status symbols to Japanese golfers then and they would pay double what you could get here for these clubs then. Quite a profitable business.

The Japanese would pay,

$2000 for a 1966 Ping Anser made in Scottsdale by Karsten Soldheim himself, the founder of Ping. This was when Karsten was hawking them on putting greens at PGA tournaments.

$600-$800 for a 1966-67 Karsten Co. Ping Anser, made before Karsten patented the Anser. way before Ping became the billion dollar a year company it is now. plate

$1000 for a Tommy Armour driver with 5 screws in the sole plate.

Clubs had character back then, Woods were works of art. You wanted to have a beautiful cut of persimmon on your woods. You wanted the old Ping putter in your bag. Yup, you can hit today's clubs much farther, they are superior in every way but today's clubs just aren't the beautys of yesterday.

Here's a few that never made it to Japan. I still have them but they won't bring much. Anyone else still have a few of the classics?

1964 Wilson 8802, You can tell a real one from a replica, a nickel is the same exact width as the face on a real one. A 1966 8813, Greg Norman used one of these. A 1941 MacGregor Tommy Armour driver, you changed the loft with a wood file, not a special tool. This one spent years in my bag, I never saw a harder piece of wood. A 1950 R90 Wilson Sand Wedge, it weighs about as much as a fire hydrant and a 1967 Karsten Co. Ping putter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Vinny Cap]

@sheepdog  You got some cool oldies there! 

I have some older stuff, not as old as your clubs, more like 60's to 80's clubs in my collection.

I will see if I got some pics to show you.

Old Wilson blades, old McGregor and Spaulding Woods, Old Ping Woods, old Ping Irons and putters, a Ray Cook putter and a couple of old Bulls Eye putters.

I like collecting Golf clubs.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Vinny Cap

[Patch]

I have an old set of Hogan Blades. They are brand new, never been used. I have them in a glass  case, with 5, Ping Eye 2 (wooden) woods (D,2,3,4,&5). I actually gamed the Pings for a while. To this day, I still maintain that the Ping Eye 2, 2 wood was the most  forgiving,  easiest club to hit, that was ever made. If you ever find one, snatch it up, and you will see what I mean. 

I did have some Hickory clubs, but I donated them to a local charity.

Probably the oldest club I have is an adjustable iron. One club, that you can adjust from a putter/ 1 iron loft to a PW loft. You just dial up what ever loft you need. I've used it a few times. Hardest club I ever found to hit. Shaft length is adjustable too. A guy offered me $500 for it at a 3 club tournament. 

[Vinny Cap]

23 minutes ago, Patch said:

I have an old set of Hogan Blades. They are brand new, never been used. I have them in a glass  case, with 5, Ping Eye 2 (wooden) woods (D,2,3,4,&5). I actually gamed the Pings for a while. To this day, I still maintain that the Ping Eye 2, 2 wood was the most  forgiving,  easiest club to hit, that was ever made. If you ever find one, snatch it up, and you will see what I mean. 

I did have some Hickory clubs, but I donated them to a local charity.

Probably the oldest club I have is an adjustable iron. One club, that you can adjust from a putter/ 1 iron loft to a PW loft. You just dial up what ever loft you need. I've used it a few times. Hardest club I ever found to hit. Shaft length is adjustable too. A guy offered me $500 for it at a 3 club tournament. 

Nice sticks Patch!

I have a whole Ping Eye 2 bag setup.  I have the 1,3 & 5 for the woods, 3-SW for irons and actually found an old Eye 2 putter.  The whole bag hangs on the wall in my office.

I have seen an adjustable iron but it wasn't very old.  Looked flimsy.  Handle wasn't adjustable.

[RussUK]

My dad used to have some of the clubs my uncle started out with in the late 50's. He had a few hickory shafted irons then a later steel shafted persimmon driver. They were very well used with the heads on the irons well worn.

My Uncle used to make his own putters from scratch. I think we still have the centre shafted croquet style putter that he milled from a block of aluminium (sorry aluminum for you guys ) when he went through a Sam Snead style putting phase. I'll see if my dad still has it and post some pics.

[Patch]

1 hour ago, Vinny Cap said:

Nice sticks Patch!

I have a whole Ping Eye 2 bag setup.  I have the 1,3 & 5 for the woods, 3-SW for irons and actually found an old Eye 2 putter.  The whole bag hangs on the wall in my office.

I have seen an adjustable iron but it wasn't very old.  Looked flimsy.  Handle wasn't adjustable.

Yeah, I won those Hogans in a raffle a few decades ago. Due to their beauty, I knew right away there was no way I was going to put them in the dirt. 

The Pings I found in a bargain bin. I used them a few times, then decided to have them refurbished. I built the case and displayed both sets in my work office for several years. 

The display will be going to my youngest daughter some day, not to soon I hope. 

[steven hansen]

On 5/17/2018 at 3:28 PM, sheepdog said:

Collecting old classics was big way back when the pros still hit persimmon. Jack Nicklaus hit a beautiful 1955 Tommy Armour MacGregor driver. Craig Stadler had an old Wilson R90 Sand Wedge. Ben Crenshaw made 1964 Wilson 8802 putters famous with "Little Ben". You could find these old classics at estate sales, still can, for next to nothing. Back then though you could get $500 for a 1955 Tommy Armour driver just like Jack's if you knew the right person. $400 for a 1964 8802 putter. Now no one plays with them anymore. I knew a friend that flew to Japan three times a year back in the 80s. Classic clubs were status symbols to Japanese golfers then and they would pay double what you could get here for these clubs then. Quite a profitable business.

The Japanese would pay,

$2000 for a 1966 Ping Anser made in Scottsdale by Karsten Soldheim himself, the founder of Ping. This was when Karsten was hawking them on putting greens at PGA tournaments.

$600-$800 for a 1966-67 Karsten Co. Ping Anser, made before Karsten patented the Anser. way before Ping became the billion dollar a year company it is now. plate

$1000 for a Tommy Armour driver with 5 screws in the sole plate.

Clubs had character back then, Woods were works of art. You wanted to have a beautiful cut of persimmon on your woods. You wanted the old Ping putter in your bag. Yup, you can hit today's clubs much farther, they are superior in every way but today's clubs just aren't the beautys of yesterday.

Here's a few that never made it to Japan. I still have them but they won't bring much. Anyone else still have a few of the classics?

1964 Wilson 8802, You can tell a real one from a replica, a nickel is the same exact width as the face on a real one. A 1966 8813, Greg Norman used one of these. A 1941 MacGregor Tommy Armour driver, you changed the loft with a wood file, not a special tool. This one spent years in my bag, I never saw a harder piece of wood. A 1950 R90 Wilson Sand Wedge, it weighs about as much as a fire hydrant and a 1967 Karsten Co. Ping putter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ZIP Code on Ping Putters date them. 85020 is a 1971 model and 89029 is a 1972

[dbuck]

I have a set of Wilson Staff Tour Blades from 1979, that my dad bought for me in college. I have a set of Hogan Apex PC's - bought them at Goodwill a couple years ago, and have played them a good bit. I have 1-3-5 PING Eye2 laminated woods-agree with Patch that they are among the easiest to hit certainly of any wooden club, I have a couple of Bert Dargie persimmons, one from the 80's and one with a graphite shaft from about 92. I have a few Tony Penna persimmons-his own not the Mac's. I have a couple of Joe Powell persimmons, and several other persimmons but most are remakes--none of the original Macs.

Up until last season, I actually played mostly with these vintage sticks for the past several years. I don't really collect them; I just got them mostly to play with for enjoyment since this is the type stuff I learned on. I got bit by the modern bug last year, but still can't resist walking through Goodwill or other thrifts and if I see something interesting, I usually pick it up.

[Buckeyebowman]

When I was a kid my Dad had a bunch of hickory shafted irons laying around. I wish I'd have hung onto those. I doubt they'd be worth much unless they were made by Old Tom Morris or somebody like that. Still, they would provide some nice memories.

[Lowcut]

Is there a market for 'restored' as in cleaned, polished, sharpened are-shafted and gripped? Not refinished, just beautifully restored.

thanks.

[sheepdog]

On 5/20/2018 at 2:04 PM, steven hansen said:

The ZIP Code on Ping Putters date them. 85020 is a 1971 model and 89029 is a 1972

Not true, if you notice the Karsten Co. putter in my pics uses the 85020 zip but also states that it's patent is pending placing the putter in the late 66 early 67 range. The Anser's patent was issued on March 21, 1967. My Day and Zings have both zips with 85020 on the newer models.

[sheepdog]

Clearly the golf world owes Karsten Solheim the founder of Ping a debt of gratitude. Before Karsten everyone hit blades, he literally invented perimeter weighting. Ever wonder where he got the rather odd name for the company?

This is his first model, The Ping 1a. Hit a putt with it and it makes a very loud obnoxious ping sound. It was a major turnoff to anyone that liked the large sweet spot but couldn't handle the sound when it hit the ball. I used this putter to my advantage in the 80s whenever I played a good friend in Nashville for a few sheckles. He just couldn't get over the sound and it started messing with him. He finally told me to never show up with that putter in my bag or he was going to throw it in the lake.

He started making this putter in 1959 in his garage in Redwood City California. If you find one of those grab it, they are worth a fortune. This particular one was made around 1968 in his then new factory in Phoenix. One odd thing about it is the zip code 85029, barely visible, on the bottom of the club but the zip code 85020 on the shaft band. You'll also see the zip codes 85069 and 85071 also. Why all the zip codes? Perhaps the office, the plant and the P.O. Box were in different zip codes, it's always been somewhat of a mystery that the Ping Company would never answer when asked. It's been quite a few years since I've tried. I'll try again and see if they'll tell me.

1968 Ping 1a.

 

 

[308 Ragin Cajun]

I have a set of Macgregor Tommy Armour Silver Scot irons that i got form my father that I used to hit, and a set of Macgregor Tourney persimmon woods - 1,3,4W from the '50's that i also used to hit. Today, i'm amazed that i could actually hit those things. The irons have the original shafts and leather grips. If i ever get a house big enough to have  den or man- cave, i'll put them in a case and display them.

[RayG]

Have quite a few old clubs collected and inherited over the years. Including one of those grooveless Walter Hagen spoon shaped sand "wedge" things. Some niblicks and such from Scotland. Just haven't gone through to document them all. Not all are original since my mother used the sand spoon and had it re-gripped at some point. Maybe this thread will get me to fully go through the clubs. 

[FrivolouslyWasted]

I have recently developed an addiction with collecting old Wilson staff blades. Got a set from ‘66, another from the 73-75 line with the screw-in weights and am awaiting a set of FG-17s from the early 80s. I’ll be spanning  a full 3 decades of legendary Wilson equipment. 

 

My my favorites are the 73-75 models. I’m in love with the Art Deco styling of them. Thinking about pulling the trigger on a second set so I can play the first ones without guilt. I also desperately want a set of the ‘71 button-back models. Another piece of golf club art.

[Piz]

I collect odd-ball cheap stuff.  Nothing I have is worth much...its just cool looking...or needed a home.

[FrivolouslyWasted]

On 7/25/2018 at 6:23 PM, FrivolouslyWasted said:

I have recently developed an addiction with collecting old Wilson staff blades. Got a set from ‘66, another from the 73-75 line with the screw-in weights and am awaiting a set of FG-17s from the early 80s. I’ll be spanning  a full 3 decades of legendary Wilson equipment. 

 

My my favorites are the 73-75 models. I’m in love with the Art Deco styling of them. Thinking about pulling the trigger on a second set so I can play the first ones without guilt. I also desperately want a set of the ‘71 button-back models. Another piece of golf club art.

Got the FG-17s in and they’re beautiful. 1-9 and a sand wedge for $25. What a great club to strike. Puring one is the best feeling this side of heroin. 

 

Now I’m awaiting a set of ‘89 Goosenecks that appear to be in really superb condition. I’ll hopefully be able to play a round with them next week. If they have the added forgiveness a lot of reviews have indicated, they may become my primary irons until my swing becomes consistent enough to really take advantage of these FG-17s

[GAA]

sheepdog

I know this is an old post, but one of the reasons that I was told about so many different Zip Codes in such a short period of time was that the Phoenix - Scottsdale - Mesa where all booming in population with snow birds and permenant residents, Codes were given out to decentralized the one main post office in Phoenix. Something like a million people moving to Sun Valley Area in the mid sixties to early 1970's. A few of them were the Karsten's. I do not think the Zips changed because of facility moves.

I have had several 85069's which were late 1970's. Never had a 85071 Zipper.

I have been collecting clubs for twenty years. Been cutting back the last few years, but still have over 1,100 clubs. You name the era, manufacture and the one-offs and I probably either have had it or do have it now.

Last years Bettinardi 009 SS Limited Edition putter down to a 1890's hickory shafted cleek ...Robert Forgan made in Scotland.

Fun collecting the vintage 50's to 70's Wilson Staff and MacGregor forged blade irons,

I was told I have four of the finest Hogan iron sets as well and a few made for the Senior Tour - Tour Van MacGregors VIP's.

#1-SW & SW2 Ping Eye 2 BeCu's. Stuff like that.