Old School - 845s Oversize

Just picked up a set of Tommy Armour 845s Oversized irons FOR FREE. I need to get out to the range to hit them to see if they're worth putting a new set of grips on, or otherwise if they're relegated to living in the garage as a loaner for when out of town relatives come to visit.

I literally don't know anything about these. I know about the original 845's, and I assumed that these would be a more forgiving version of them. But when I looked them up on the Maltby factor, they scored way lower than even the originals. Is that just an example of how the MPF is a good guide, but not the rule? Any experiences with them? What should I expect?

Picture below is representative of them, but not my actual set.

The Oversize version is slightly more forgiving than the original 845s, which you see in the MOI measurement (resistance to twisting, the reason for perimeter weighting) in the MPF data. The CG is a fair amount higher, which could pose a problem for some players, depending on their swing.

It's that higher CG that causes the MPF final score to be lower. MPF is really just a grade of how closely a clubhead is to Ralph Maltby's iron design principals. He places a higher importance on a low CG, away from the hosel. The MOI is of lesser importance in the formula.

Maltby was involved in the orignal design of the 845's, lol.

Makes me miss my old 845's, still to this day one of the best irons ever made for its time.

I have the original 1988 845s and a 2002 set of Oversize Plus (SGI version of it) and I can tell you that my Oversize Plus (which is the same design as the Oversize but a little bigger) is more forgiving that the 1988 version but doesn't feel as solid. They are very playable clubs by the way in the hands of a skilled player.

For what it is worth.

Look in great condition so an econ omical regrip eg $2 per grip would bring them up too great condition.Worth saving.

Many iron lines owe their lineage to the 845. Like many here, I had some at one time or another.

I wouldn't mind finding a set of the reduced offset (RO) version.

They probably play similarly to the 855s . . . they look a lot alike. Hopefully, they're more turf-friendly than the 855s, which I had to grind the leading edge to keep from digging.

I had the regular 845's and a set of the OS. I liked the originals better.

No, they were designed by John Hoeflich, who also designed the original Titleist DCI and TaylorMade RAC irons, among others.

Whoops

I have a soft spot in my heart for those irons. They were the first 'real clubs' I bought after picking up the game. I had bought some Lynx knockoffs for cheap when I first got into the game.

I can't say anything about how they play as my game was pretty rough back, lol

When I was starting out, I had a few iterations of the Tommy Armours. I tried the 845s, 845 Oversize, 845 Oversize Plus, 845 HB, 845 Evo (both versions) and a combo set of the 845C and 845M Silverbacks. Last set was my favorite. As you can see, I had a little bit of a problem with buying equipment!

If you have a golf equipment habit, you are definitely in the right place

Nice. The 855s were my first real set of clubs. Most of my golf milestones were accomplished with these irons (breaking 90, first eagle, etc). I still have them in the garage, and took the 6i to the range on Sunday. They still feel great.

I have a set (4-PW) of the 845s Oversize Reduced Offset. I take them out for a drive every now and then. Nice irons.

Digging up a thread from the past here. I have a set of these 845s Oversize with the OG Royal Precision stepless rifle shafts. I quit playing golf for 15 years while these languished in my closet. I started playing again in 2018 and used them for a few months before getting a new set. My game has improved lately and I was using Apex Pro's in 2020. I sold my set here on WRX and pulled these out of the closet for my last two rounds. I shot 77 on a tough par 72 course followed by a 76 on my normal easy regular par 70 course. They feel great and I see the same distances out of them compared to newer stronger lofted sets. I have an Apex 21 combo set on order but I doubt I will play any better with them These are seriously good irons that are relevant to this day.

  The only ones I've played are the original 845's and I really like them. I put these irons in the bag quite often and played my 2 best rounds last year with them.

On 2/7/2020 at 2:20 PM, mtn90 said:

Just picked up a set of Tommy Armour 845s Oversized irons FOR FREE. I need to get out to the range to hit them to see if they're worth putting a new set of grips on, or otherwise if they're relegated to living in the garage as a loaner for when out of town relatives come to visit.

I literally don't know anything about these. I know about the original 845's, and I assumed that these would be a more forgiving version of them. But when I looked them up on the Maltby factor, they scored way lower than even the originals. Is that just an example of how the MPF is a good guide, but not the rule? Any experiences with them? What should I expect?

 

Picture below is representative of them, but not my actual set.

 

Man u r cheap..