Persimmon and Classic Blades

[hos]

Anyone with same interest?

I've recently got bitten by the bug of club refinishing or 'restoring'. Just refinished an old set of Sam Snead laminated woods and getting ready to start on some Macgregor persimmon 1,2,& 3. Also just purchased some 76 Staff Blades 'mini bullet backs'. Lately older clubs excite me quite a bit more than anything new. I do (on occasion) hit 2 Persimmon's (Orlimar and Louisville Classic 50's) I purchased a few months ago. Love the feel, sound, playability, etc. I actually did not start playing a modern driver until 4 years or so ago. I'm a little surprised there is not much information about people with this same interest (special forums or what not). I've spent quite a bit of time doing web and golf forum searches looking for anything. The closest I've come is a Wilson Staff 'owners club'. I guess my question is, how many others share this passion or interest, and if any, could we get a special forum for this. Also if someone does, do you have any leads towards special websites?
I've also been playing with the grinds on a couple Vokey's and oil finishing them, but that's been covered to death in other post. I'll try to post up pics of the woods and wedges of done lately.

[rover]

Sad to see no responses. I would like to try a nice persimmon driver again. Maybe I should go over to ebay to have a look see.

[manship1856]

I love classic blades. I have a set of Hogan PC's fully restored (1-PW) and a set of Titleist Tour Models (2-PW). They are challenging to hit, but the payoff is fantastic. I keep thinking of Jack, Arnie, and the rest who made their living hitting 5 iron stingers 165 yards into the green and making it stick. It's something to strive for. The persuit of mastering those clubs will make you a player. Period.

[belligerentgene]

I actually have a full set of PC's as well which I restored,

 

I used to love refinishing and building persimmon woods, golfsmith used to sell the raw wood head, and you could buy the insert, whipping etc. It was great to see the finished result.. I used to give them to friends as well.

Of course that is when I had more free time on my hands, however I may take on a couple projects this winter.....

[hos]

I agree. Thought for sure there was more interest in this than it appears. I just bought another set of Wilson Staff Tour Blades w/ a complete set of 4 persimmon woods. I still want to get pics posted of the maple laminated woods I just finished. Anxious to do some work on the irons that should be arriving shortly!

[thenewbie]

I can't do any restoration, but I definetly love older clubs. I have a persimmon macgregor I picked up on ebay, just to hit and have fun with. its already pretty beat up, but I can still appreciate its aesthetic value as well.

[JCAG]

From a business perspective, many of us that can build, restore, refinish, etc. wooden woods stopped doing so because the business "dried" up and/or people would not pay a fair price.

 

Several years ago, when I remodeled my shop I got rid of all of the old wooden wood machines, jigs, sanders, insert material, sole plates, sole screws, face screws, backweights, sole plates, decals, dyes, etc. From a business point of view they were a waste of space and time.

 

The business went from me rebuilding/refinishing hundreds of woods a year in the late 80's to 2 when I retired in 2005.

 

That having been said, if one knows how to do them then they can still do them even when they do not have all the older stuff like a whipping machine, a drum sander, etc. My only issue now would be the decals.

[XYB34A]

I have 3 sets of Hogan Apex PC. Wore a set out in the late 80's. All the chrome off the sole. Rust spots on the face. The one set that I play with, I switch out with Titleist 660's. And the both look alike, small offset. Thin top line. They both have the same loft and lie. I had the Apex shafts spined. They are a about a club longer because of it. Best set of clubs feel wise of all times. But that is just my thoughts on them.

[goofygolfer]

I have quite a few real woods that I got from a clubmaker that was forced to retire due to health. Most are completely refinished & whipped. Some are shafted with no dye or whipping. Some are heads only. They are mostly Old Maltby stock. Guess they will go on ebay down the road.

[Johnny]

I've sold alot of my older stuff back in the 90's when it was still worth something....

 

anyways what I have left :

• few sets of 1967 MacGregor VIP BY_Nicklaus
  
• cleveland classic 10th anniversary woods
  
• Macgregor M09-LFF driver
  
• some black face m85 fairway woods
  

[teespoon]

Enjoy! I still play my Hogan Apex PC irons and alternate with my Ping i3's. I have 3 and 5W persimmon Clubs from the early 60's, made by Mike and Emil Kosar. I hit them now and then.

 

Guys like me started with blades in the fifties and enjoy playing what we always played back then. I did reshaft my Hogan Apex PC's to graphite. I am not as strong as I was ...LOL :shout:

 

Sweet golf clubs!

[Swingtheclub]

I used to like refinishing clubs it was fun. But I have not done it in years.

 

I have two sets of old style irons 75 Vardons 81 Staffs several Staff Wedges from the 50's and 60's

 

and orgiginal 8802 and a Tommy Armour with the A on top.

 

Not to mention several persimmon drivers and other woods.

 

 

I was actually keeping them thinking they would be worth some money some day.

 

 

That peaked in the eightys and ninetys then along came ebay. You talk about killing my early retirement.

 

 

Ken

[Nutty]

persimmon woods are a thing of beauty. find

myself sitting in my basement just looking at

them from address. i have a few cleveland's

and louisville branded persimmons. the louisvilles

were sold through dynacraft along with the scotch blades

i learned to play the game with. even think i have a 4

wood head that was never shafted. everything's sitting

in an old staff bag in my basement.

my prized possession is an early 90 75th anniversary byron

nelson cleveland driver commemorating his scoring avg of 68.3.

pic enclosed

gary

[hogan_speedslot]

I am new to this board and as you can tell by my screenname that I LOVE persimmon/laminated woods. They're more appealing to the eye, are more fun to hit and I prefer the feel of a well struck persimmon driver shot to the clang of a metalwood and I am only 28 years old. Most people my age don't get it that I own more wooden woods tham metal or titanium. The sets that I own are Arnold Palmer (circa late 60s) set registered (from Sears as I later found out) with aluminum shafts. This is the one set I don't play and just have. Another Palmer 1,3,5 set from the late 70s that I play frequently. Also have Wilson X-70 3 and 5 Woods. PING ZING black finish driver with Adila Graphite shaft (late 80s/early 90s). and am also getting another Ping Eye 2 set. 1,3,5,7 wood also black finish with ping steel shafts. Ebay is a great source for buying and collecting persimmon clubs. My dream set is a refinished set of Hogan Speedslots with the black finish and original Hogan Apex shafts. I do own metal and titanium heads too. I have a Titleist 983k that I use occasionally. It is a shame that there's few of us out there that prefer the persimmons to the metals. Louisville Golf understands this and I have bought an Alex smith hickory putter from them but will someday be investing in a driver too.

[ifixclubs]

i learned how to fix clubs with wooden drivers and old wilsons,macgregors,honmas,hogans, etc etc...the craftsmanship on those old clubs were absolutely amazing...old wood woods when restored properly is absolutely a work of passion and love for the game...i remember working on the shape of a driver for days just to get the look right...i still got a few clubs from my dads collection that i wouldnt dare get rid off...restoring some of the older antiques is quite fun but is extremely tidious because you just cant find old suade grips anymore or linen whipping...

[hogan_speedslot]

I would check Louisville Golf for period linen whipping since they do use it on their replica hickory clubs.

[wkuo3]

my prized possession is an early 90 75th anniversary byron

nelson cleveland driver commemorating his scoring avg of 68.3.

pic enclosed

gary

I have a set of it, 1-3-5 woods true temper DG S-400 w/ all original girps. When I saw your posted pic. I thought that was just like mine.

Have not played them for a long long time, might ended up either up on the wall in my study or selling them.

Nice block of persimmon, just beautiful to look at.

[MB1981]

You would be surprised at what Louisville Golf has.

 

Very good looking, very playable persimmons.

 

Most modern forged blades are very playable as well.

 

You see some of the "old school" Champions tour players using old blades with modern specs and shafts.

 

I love the old stuff!

[Milo]

http://www.persimmongolf.co.uk/index.htm

 

Considering a fairway wood purchase.

[raidernut1234]

hogan_speedslot welcome to the greatest golf site on the planet (may i recommend once your comfortable joining as a charter member, well worth it, especially with the 2 giveaways of complete ironsets you can sign up for RIGHT NOW!!)

 

BEST 3 wood i ever had- ben hogan speed slot. cried when i broke the head. Tee shot went 250 right down the middle with the head flying after it!!

 

I just picked up McGregor 1,3 and 5 wood in pristine condition, and have a set of titliest 681 blades now, hunting for older set of hogan blades and a bullseye putter, so i have complete retro set to play.

[rover]

I walked into a golf galaxy and found in the used bin a set of like new hogan persimmon woods. The price for each was $9.99 each.....

 

I was so taken by the condition that it was not until I put the driver down at address that I realized it was a left handed club.

[hawk59]

I have my favorite persimmon and vintage blades displayed in a 1991 Miller USA Ryder Cup bag. The irons are 1971 Wilson Staff button-backs (1-SW), which I've stopped playing for fear of a button popping out and not being able to find a replacement. As I said on another thread, if I can find a decently priced WS '69 or '76 bullet-back, I'll pick up a set to play. The woods are a set of 1952 Macgregor Tommy Armour 693T's 1, 2, 3 and 4. The serial numbers match, and they appear to have the original grips. When there was a collectors market, clubs lost their value if they were refinished. So I'll keep them as is in hopes that the collectors market will come back again some day. That said, nothing beats the look of persimmon wood with a gorgeous coat of high-gloss lacquer.

[stage1350]

[quote name='kenk7us2002' post='711578' date='Sep 8 2007, 01:39 PM']...That peaked in the eightys and ninetys then along came ebay. You talk about killing my early retirement...[/quote]

eBay is not really to blame. Tiger Woods killed the collectable persimmon market. When Tigermania swept the world, King Cobra deep face and Titleist 975D drivers became the rage, as well as Mizuno MP-29 irons.

Before that, memories were of Jack Nicklaus and his accomplishments. '67 VIP irons and Tommy Armour 693 persimmons were commanding ridiculous prices. THE putters to have were Scottsdale Ansers, 8802/Arnold Palmers, and IMG5 with XXXX hosels. If you were hardcore, you'd have a MacGregor Frank Sinatra putter or a Sportsman/Bristol Geo Low Wizard 600.

[wkuo3]

[quote name='rover' post='769715' date='Oct 28 2007, 06:22 AM']I walked into a golf galaxy and found in the used bin a set of like new hogan persimmon woods. The price for each was $9.99 each.....

I was so taken by the condition that it was not until I put the driver down at address that I realized it was a left handed club.[/quote]
A block of persimmon would cost more than $9.99 today, even you could not play it, it'll be a good investment, bet you'll tripleht evalue in 10 years.

[PKMillerJr]

I love the old clubs.

I would love to see special torunaments on the PGA tour where the players used forged blades and persimmon woods. How about a made for TV event where Nicklaus and some of the older guys come out and play tournaments with the younger guys. To me, golf is not the same game. Check out Nicklaus' interview in Golf Digest earlier this year where he says the ball should be scaled back and he misses the old Auguusta.

I have Wilson Staffs, MacGregor VIP's, Powerbilt Scotch Blades, Hogan's, Ram Tour Grinds.

[wkuo3]

I have a set of 1-2-3-4 MacGregor 1958 Tourney Velocitized with ProPel Action #1 shaft by MacGregor.
Don't know what to do with it yet, whether to put them up on the wall or sell it.

[77represent]

I know this is an old thread, but I just had to put in my two cents.

 

My dad gave me his Macgregor tourney velocitized persimmons to learn on, with the tourney blades. Great clubs. My Grandfather, when he passed, left me his Haig Ultra set 1 - 4 woods, and irons, the "fluid feel" blades. Love them. I want to refinish and display them with some pics of my grandfather.

 

Also, I couldn't agree more with a "balata and persimmon" tour to see what these guys are really made of. It would be interesting.

[Todd York]

Still love my mid-80's MacGregor Muirfields. Had them refinished with modern grooves last winter (Jim Kronus did the work), reshafted them with the 'new' DG High Launch shafts and gripped them with GP Multicompound grips. I've played them since '92 and while I suppose I could knock a stroke or two off my handicap with more forgiving irons, I just can't take them out of my bag. I'll post a pic some time for anyone who'd be interested in seeing Kronus' work.

[Todd York]

Absolutely beautiful MacGregor Tourneys!

[manship1856]

I'd love to see a pic of the refinished Muirfields!