Club ageing help please.

Hi

Got a set of ram tourgrind irons.

On base of club it just says 'golden ram' and on back just says' tourgrind 'and nothing else I think I got them early 80's maybe 1981/2 does this sound about right ? not frequency matched shafts or anythin. I think they are tt shafts in steel

Thinking 81/2 sounds right but not sure -for my age when I would have got them

Any info appreciated

Thanks

Kevin

I haven't played golf for 30 plus years but just started whacking again and just got a period bag but prob a bit later maybe mid 80's it was just sitting in someone's garage for years. Goes great with my clubs

This is club head I got layout wrong

Post this over on the Classic Golf and Golfers section of WRX. I am over there all the time. There is a guy over there NJYZR who is our resident Ram expert. I just happened to see this. A lot of guys over there do not go on the other forums of WRX and your clubs and bag would surely be appreciated over there. I for one like both

I heard my name mentioned..... LOL

Kev, you have the 1980-1982 Golden Rams. When I was buying my first set, there was a fair bit of discussion between Ram fans on which were better, the 1980 set or the Vibration Matched set that followed them. I can't remember, but there were fans on both sides.

And of course, they're Ram Tour Grinds. Either choice is awesome.

And speaking of awesome, love the bag. Is it really black and white? I have a similar bag that's red and white, but have never seen black/white. Looks pretty cool.

^^^ I knew if anyone knew the details you would. And I also noticed the bag was black and have only see those in Red and White. In my neck of the woods we always called them Tom Watson Ram Bags

Hi

Thank you to both of you for posting back to my comments it's very much appreciated and thank you for the nice comments on the clubs and bag

I was going to put it on classic forum but wasn't sure if mine counted as classic wasn't sure if classic was all the old hickory shafts and collectables etc.

It's lovely to get confirmation on the irons age and although the sweet spot is about the size of a pin head when you do catch them out of the middle they feel so nice.

I guess the vibration match shafts were a development on never looked into it but presume it has something to do with irrespective of shaft length the whip felt similar making all the irons feel more similar to each other -but that's just a guess.

I came across the bag and always wanted one and thought they were red and white. I'm in UK and not massive amounts of old ram stuff about and saw this bag which is black and white and thought that looks nice I can be totally happy with that even if not the traditional red and white I was looking for.

Again thanks for your nice comments and info. Really appreciated.

Just had a thought I'm worried that as the bag is black and while and not red and white is there a possibility it's a newer reissue- hope not was hoping it too was 80's vintage like clubs

I can't say for certain, but I would rather doubt it. I suppose it could be from the 90s as well, Ram's decline didn't start until the mid-90s.

The black color is probably just an alternative option. It could even have a bit of rarity to it.

Nice irons. I've a set of the Tour Grinds, and they perform great. But the bag is the real star! That is magnificent. No idea when it's from, so I can't help you there, but it looks to be in superb condition.

Thank you for your nice comment on the bag

I was lucky- the owner had just stored it and somewhere where it's condition didnt decline. He had forgotten he had it. And didn't play ram clubs!

There were Tour Grind Axials as well which were frequency matched. I never played them but heard they were OK, a sort of game improvement version of the originals. is that somewhere near correct?

I agree as I had the 1-iron from that set back in 1981.

Really on this end of the tracks classic is not really age type or brand restrictive but I will step out on a limb and say more than likely 15 years old or older. And it is not limited to hickories or blades either or just persimmon for that matter. We have all types of Classic players on here. For example when I play what I call strictly vintage it is more than likely I am playing one of my sets of Macgregor blades or Hogan blades with persimmon. For some guys on here it is early metal woods like the Big Bertha with Ping Eye2s or Armour 845s. We all share a few common goals we like older clubs, finding them, redoing them and playing with them. And trust me we love talking about them. So you are in the right place so stick around and chime in

Stixman - I think they are the peripheral type design ones I think they were supposed to give a greater degree of forgiveness. I knew these types of club as peripheral weighted.

RGK5 - I had the 1 iron but somewhere in last 30 plus years it went walk about. It was ideal in windy conditions and if the fairways were ok. But I remember it did need some confidence to use.

BIG STU- this seems a great forum site and it's great that people like and use the classic stuff still. I'm a big believer if you like what you've got and can hit a ball then it doesn't always make sense to change equipment.

when I stopped playing about 1985/6 it was about the time loads of low profile, peripheral weighted, heel and toe weighted clubs, metal woods were coming in. Ping eye seemed big favourites. I can see why these developments took place and progression is good and probably made the game more fun for people.

I won't join a club or play loads of rounds of golf I did that back in my youth but the joy of hitting a golf ball as you had intended feels so good and that sense of fun never leaves you and I will enjoy it at the level of every-now-and-then

it's nice so many posted comments on a new members thread.thanks

80-82 Tour Grinds were my first set of blades. I still love them. They must be too flat for me as I wore all the chrome off the toe end but hit them great regardless. Groves are gone now as well but still take them out occasionally to reminisce. Would love to pick up another set in the condition of Kevin's but they were pretty scarce here in the UK and like hen's teeth now. Plenty of later Frequency Matched but I prefer the 80 - 82's.

Anyone know what shafts were in these + tapered or not? Our normal source doesn't transmit to the UK anymore, some BS to do with privacy laws.

The 80 Tour Grinds seemed to come with Dynamics. I don't think the Precision shafts existed quite yet. Or, they just hadn't yet come to the agreement with Ram to provide stock shafts, which happened with the Vibration Matched models.

Definitely tapered. That said, someone could have bored them to parallel, it happens from time to time. All the Golden Rams I've reshafted have been tapered, though.