PowerBilt is Back with Premium Citation Club Lineup

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One of my fondest memories in golf goes back to the late 60s when I was finally able to afford a top "pro" line of woods. I chose Hillerich and Bradsby PowerBilt Citations.

 

 

They were gorgeous. The persimmon heads were beautifully shaped and the signature brass backweight clearly announced these were the real deal. Plus there was that "lucky" horseshoe logo engraved in the soleplate.

 

 

Sadly, as persimmon passed away, H&B joined other classic club manufacturers like MacGregor and Wilson in decline as a top brand. But now they're making a comeback with a new line of premium clubs and have brought back long-time endorser Fuzzy Zoeller to gain presence on the Champions Tour.

 

 

The Company

Hillerich and Bradsby dates back to 1884 when John "Bud" Hillerich invented the Louisville Slugger baseball bat. The company got into golf in 1916 and introduced the PowerBilt brand in 1933. The next year, Olin Dutra used their clubs to win the U.S. Open.

 

 

One of my favorite players in the 60s and 70s, Bobby Nichols, carried the bright orange PowerBilt staff bag. Then along came Fuzzy Zoeller who won 10 of his 12 professional tournaments with the clubs. Now, after 15 years, Zoeller is back with another orange bag to promote the Louisville-based company on a professional tour.

 

 

Woods and Hybrids

As you might expect from a classic club maker, the new Citation driver driver introduced at this year's PGA Merchandise Show isn't square, triangular, or oval. It's shaped like a driver. Still, it carries the kind of technology expected in today's performance enhancing clubs.

 

 

It's a 460cc titanium clubhead with something called an "SP-700 Beta Ti" cup face. Lighter and stronger than traditional forged titanium, H&B says the material allows them to achieve maximum moment of inertia and coefficient of restitution ratings. But maybe best of all, that lucky horseshoe Citation logo is back on the sole.

 

 

There's also an internal bias weighting system that allows them to offer the driver in both draw- and neutral-bias versions. Neutral bias heads are offered in 9° and 10.5° versions. Draw bias is available in lofts of 9°, 10.5°, 12°, and 14°. The standard shaft is a 58-gram Aldila graphite model and the stock grip is a Winn G8 AVS. Suggested retail price is a modest (by today's standards) $249.

 

 

The fairway woods come with a "Ni-Miraging" steel face 85% harder than titanium. The cup face technology means there's no welding near the face so the club can provide a higher coefficient of restitution rating and more distance.

 

 

Interestingly, they are offering three different lofts in the 3 wood: 12.75°, 14.25°, and 15.75°. The 5 wood carries 19° of loft and the 7 wood 23°. They'll come with the same stock shaft and grip as the driver and have a suggested retail price of $150.

 

 

The hybrids, with a suggested retail price of $125.99, may be the real steal. Made with the same technology as the fairways, they come in lofts of 14°, 17°, 20°, 23°, and 26° which means they cover 1- through 5-irons. The shaft is an Aldila 60 gram model… a little lighter than most graphite hybrid shafts I've seen.

 

 

Irons and Wedges

The new Citation irons look very interesting to me. They have an ultra-thin titanium face, a deep undercut cavity back, and twin tungsten back-weights. With the traditional length hosels and ferrules and narrow sole, they very much combine an old school look with modern forgiveness features.

 

 

Another plus from my point of view is the stock Nippon N.S. Pro 950 GH steel shaft. Available in R, S, and X flexes, it's a shaft I've been using for the past couple of seasons. For me, it's a great combination of light weight and low torque. I'm a fan. Standard grips are the Winn G8 AVS.

 

 

The irons are available in three configurations. You can get a 5-PW set for $600 and add your own hybrids. A standard 3-PW set runs $800. Or you can opt for a set with a 3 and 4 hybrids along with the 5-PW irons for $900. I hope we see more and more of that kind of set makeup options. It just makes sense the way most players are setting up their bags these days.

 

 

The wedges look just as interesting to me. They show a very classic profile and are made from soft carbon steel. But it's the face insert made of a brass/copper alloy that really gets my attention. Very old school looking and should produce a very soft feel. I'd like to try hitting these sometime.

 

 

H&B is offering a lot of loft choices: 48°, 50°, 52°, 54°, 56°, 58°, and 60°. They all come with a True Temper Dynamic Gold steel shaft and have a suggested retail price of $150.

 

 

In the End…

It's good to see a brand name I once so admired making a comeback. These PowerBilt Citation clubs look to me to be worthy of a closer look. And the prices look a lot less than some of the stratospheric top line club prices we seem to be reaching these days.

[nearfall152]

I too remember powerbilt well; they had a find combo set only a few years ago. This new set of irons and wedges however, look like a WalMart special...too bad.

[wildwilly911]

wow thems some nice lookin sticks

[hattrick3518]

first set i ever played was a set of powerbilt grandslam cavities, i still game them from time to time, a great set of clubs and its nice to see that they are making a comeback

[Titleist87]

I recently found a set of PowerBilt Levelume irons that I first had. Picked them up for about $12. Hopefully, I can get them rechromed and play them.

[mozgolf]

Haa yes first broke 80 with the Grand Slams......the TPS series looked nice for a longtime as well