Cleveland Classic AL44 with Gamma Fire Insert

[kaboboom]

Neighbor lady was giving away some junk clubs. I said I'd take the "wood" wood...couldn't tell much from the pic. Traded her for a couple of tie-dyes I make for friends. I'll post a pic soon...

Good archive in persimmongolftoday, but it doesn't paste right...

[kaboboom]

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I don't think I've seen a green insert like that before. Also, I don't think I see a Cleveland Classic with paint/stain on the face, but then again, I can't say I've seen hundreds of Cleveland Classics.

Hit it well.

[Stephen8802]

That is a cool looking club. The combo of the stained face and green insert works well.

In my misspent youth, I looked down on Cleveland Classics as knock-offs of my beloved Macs, but now that I've mellowed with age, I'd really like to add a couple to the collection. I felt the same way about Pennas but my Penna drivers are among my favorites now. Perhaps some day we'll all be able to go back to Goodwill and I'll find one of those. If I had that one, I'd take it out and swing hard.

[RobotDoctor]

The AL44 had a graphite insert as the common model. I believe there was a second version of this that did include the Gamma Fire (glass) insert. Nice find!!!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I see the Cleveland Classics as more of a homage than a knock-off

There was a 1-3-4 set up for auction recently here with a nice Mizuno driver thrown in. The condition and price were good, and I was oh-so-tempted, but in the end I didn't bid because there was no description of the shafts. I think they ended up selling for under the equivalent of $100.

I am sure I will end up getting a Cleveland persimmon one of these days.

[tstephen]

Such a fun set with lightweight steel and classic Adila shaft for driver all stiff residing in Jones bag with Cleveland Crenshaw 1,3,5 and TN87 3-sw.

I’ll repost with pictures opened

 

[tstephen]

retry

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Nice set up right there.

[kaboboom]

The Gamma Fire insert seems like a weird technology "reach" to modernize persimmons in light of the advent of metal woods. According to the meager info on the Net, the insert was heavy and purported to be very hard, nearly the opposite of the perimeter weighting and "trampoline effect" soon to come. Because gamma radiation was used to harden the glass insert, these may be the only clubs made that might also have a half-life.

[tstephen]

Balata plus Gamma Fire or maybe Molitor plus Gamma Fire you have to remember the balls of the era.

[Fourhunyds]

Hi, I'm new to the forum, but i'd like to chime in here. I competed in the National/World long driving contests for 26 years, starting in 1984. At that time the gamma fire insert was one of the few things you could do to improve the performace of a persimmon driver. The other was a linen fiber insert. The paper fiber inserts didnt last longif you beat on those old drivers much. I know a couple of guys that used the gamma fire insert very well in competition.

[mocokid]

welcome! it's had to believe you got extra distance from paper fiber, the gamma fire I can understand.

[deejaid]

I’ve got a set of some funky gamma fire woods in the collection. Not sure what I’m going to do with them but they look cool.

 

[raggal62]

Welcome to the forum.

I had a couple of the long drive guys visit my shop around that time frame looking to install hot inserts in their persimmon drivers. One of them brought me a chunk of Ebonite bowling ball material that I fashioned into an insert. One of the hot shafts being used by some were the Novus carbon out of Salt Lake. I recall some of those shafts had wild and I mean WILD colors.

[Stephen8802]

I take back every bad thing I ever thought about Cleveland Classic Persimmon clubs (OK, dismissive is more accurate than bad).

Because of this thread, I picked up two Cleveland drivers, an RC 69 and an RC 85. I hit them both today and they are as nice as anything I've played. I hit them dead straight, dropped them in the 280-295 range, and they feel just right when I hit them in the screws. Boy, they felt good, I could spend the rest of my playing days with either of these and be happy. Not a bad deal since I paid under $20 for the two of them.

[RobotDoctor]

Cleveland Classics was one of the premier persimmon manufacturers in the 80s and 90s. I would say probably just behind Wood Brothers Golf. I gamed a couple of Cleveland Classic drivers in the late 80s and early 90s. My go to driver was a DG43 that I have my club restoration expert install a red/white/red paper fiber (NOS MacGregor), adjust loft and bulge and roll to 9 degrees and install a TT DG X100 shaft in. I used to hit the ball a real long way with that driver. I still have the DG43 in my collection of persimmon woods.

[twidener]

Some of the Cleveland Classics were very good and some not so good. Ask Dave about that. Quite a few guys on tour played Cleveland drivers. I saw Justin Leonard win the NCAA Championship using a Cleveland driver. I got a close look at it and it was a really nice driver. I've had a few that I played and a RC 85 three wood that was a very good club that I still put in the bag when I take out the persimmon clubs. The older Penna's from the mid '70's were good. I still have one I played in '74. Lots of college players used Penna's back then. The one I played is a Model 1 with a Dynamic S shaft. It has a nicely shaped head. It seemed that later on into the late '70's that the head shaped changed slightly on the Model 1 and to me it looked more round shaped like the Model 65.

[mocokid]

I've got the Byron Nelson commemorative driver and it looks very nice. I'll post a pic if I remember. I've never hit it. Doubt I'd get it off the ground.