UK Classic Club Thread - John Letters, Ben Sayers, Slazenger, Dunlop, George Nicoll, Swilken, Petron

[stixman]

Super bag, where did you get that beauty?

 

Supplementary question....must have been the bit when I was akip, but who is 'the Mighty Seymour'? Sounds like a tale for the telling!

[Chris122]

Glad you like it,I found it in an auction with two other golf bags and some scruffy clubs,there was only a tiny bit of 'Golden Goose' showing but I recognised the colour immediately,burned into my memory banks with caddy fun and Trevino playing wonderful golf at Gleneagles on the old BBC Pro-Celebrity.

I caddied for my pal John Seymour when he was assistant pro at Stratford-upon-Avon golf club,he is now a highly successful teaching pro nased in Austria and Portugal...johnseymourgolf.com

The Mighty Seymour came about because of Peter Alliss' description of Jack Nicklaus "The Mighty Nicklaus" which was used only slightly less frequently than "majestic" (which in JN's case was true!),so a tongue-in-cheek nom de golf.

We had a lot of laughs and several disagreements over club selection,classic was the Maxstoke Park job where after a good tee shot John had 165 to green centre,slight breeze against,two deep bunkers in front of the green and a steep bank rising behind the green.

"Gimme the six..."

"Five's better,all trouble short,bank at the back will kill anything too far..."

"Nah,six.."

Front bunker.

Splash out to 8'.

Charged first putt 2 1/2 past.

Missed return.

"That's your fault for putting doubt into my mind".

Then he realised that not only did I carry the bag but brought the bananas,peanut butter sandwiches and drinks as well as frequently arranging and paying for transport.

Furthest we travelled was to Stoke-by Nayland,five of us in a small car with 4 tour bags and sharing a room at the pub which was pretty ripe after a night on the ale and pie,chips and beans!

One of the other pro's was Mike Adams who is now at Wallasey,he was a Macregor staff player.

My man had the Letters staff bag but a Golden Goose putter was the only Letters club,irons were Wilson Staff '73 adjustabacks and Staff woods,he also had a deal with Dunlop for balls and shoes.

As a youth he did have a trial for Coventry City,fortunately golf was the winner and John has cheerfully borne all the old jokes about his football club.."Some Coventry fans were found climbing the wall at the ground this afternoon...........the stewards made them go back and watch the rest of the match,"

They were happy days and a great bunch of lads who were all pretty down-to-earth types,no silver spoons or indulgent parents,they had all grafted hard (assistants were akin to slave labour back then) and made something of themselves and I felt very priveleged to be part of the scene.

[Jiggered]

Great tales Chris and lovely bag.

Do you have a Golden Goose? An ambidextrous putter unless you've got a flanged model, I have a straight bullseye type and it's a very good club.

(After all, you can never have too many putters)

 

 

 

Talking of putters, the AG Spalding Gold Medal putter I posted a few days ago arrived today, don't you love it when something gets delivered from ebay that's even better than you'd hoped?

 

I think I'll save this for Sunday when I'm playing in an invitation day at Beau Desert, some of the trickiest greens in the area.

[Chris122]

I have two Golden Goose (Geese?) putters,original in all respects including leather grips,one fluted shaft,one round.

Still very good putters.

 

Beau Desert was always reckoned to be a tough track,it used to be a regional qualifying course for the Open,I've never played it but it looks fantastic and I hope you and Spalding enjoy your day and do well.

[Jiggered]

I have two Golden Goose (Geese?) putters,original in all respects including leather grips,one fluted shaft,one round.

Still very good putters.

 

Beau Desert was always reckoned to be a tough track,it used to be a regional qualifying course for the Open,I've never played it but it looks fantastic and I hope you and Spalding enjoy your day and do well.

 

Cheers Chris, I'm playing it in an Invitation day with a guy who has taken an interest in my old clubs, so much so that he's bought some woods and a cheap set of Nicoll irons to get going with. I'll probably play my Nicoll Pinsplitters so we'll be a sponsored team.

I've played Beau Desert a couple of times and it's definitely one of the better tracks in the area, if you ever get the chance make sure you play it.

 

My Goose is a later model I think, rubber grip and quite bright brass.

[Chris122]

 

I emailed the pics of my new bag to the Mighty Seymour who was readying for departure to Portugal but replied with these shots of himself and original bag and clubs from outside his shop in Austria.

He still has the cheeky smile that was used to good effect on Ma Jillings who would rustle up a ham sandwich for him at the blink of an eye,her husband Archie was steward and they were wonderful.

 

[Jiggered]

Bought 1, 2 & 3 Gowers & Brown nylon headed woods to give me another option during the wetter winter months.

 

Has anybody hit these before and if so, how did they play?

 

 

[Chris122]

Never seen those before,they must be quite a rare beast?

 

Make sure you don't let slip you're going out with your nylons....

 

ps Enjoyed your six day trial,some great courses!

[Jiggered]

Never seen those before,they must be quite a rare beast?

 

Make sure you don't let slip you're going out with your nylons....

 

ps Enjoyed your six day trial,some great courses!

 

I've seen the odd one on ebay but when I saw the 1 to 3 wood set I thought I'd take a chance.

Funny thing is the length of all three is almost identical, around a 2 or 3 wood length I'd guess.

The shafts are 325 by True Temper (M).

[elwhippy]

Love that Cobra persimmon driver. A friend still has his and a stunning Hogan 4 wood.

[shotmark]

Glad you like it,I found it in an auction with two other golf bags and some scruffy clubs,there was only a tiny bit of 'Golden Goose' showing but I recognised the colour immediately,burned into my memory banks with caddy fun and Trevino playing wonderful golf at Gleneagles on the old BBC Pro-Celebrity.

I caddied for my pal John Seymour when he was assistant pro at Stratford-upon-Avon golf club,he is now a highly successful teaching pro nased in Austria and Portugal...johnseymourgolf.com

The Mighty Seymour came about because of Peter Alliss' description of Jack Nicklaus "The Mighty Nicklaus" which was used only slightly less frequently than "majestic" (which in JN's case was true!),so a tongue-in-cheek nom de golf.

We had a lot of laughs and several disagreements over club selection,classic was the Maxstoke Park job where after a good tee shot John had 165 to green centre,slight breeze against,two deep bunkers in front of the green and a steep bank rising behind the green.

"Gimme the six..."

"Five's better,all trouble short,bank at the back will kill anything too far..."

"Nah,six.."

Front bunker.

Splash out to 8'.

Charged first putt 2 1/2 past.

Missed return.

"That's your fault for putting doubt into my mind".

Then he realised that not only did I carry the bag but brought the bananas,peanut butter sandwiches and drinks as well as frequently arranging and paying for transport.

Furthest we travelled was to Stoke-by Nayland,five of us in a small car with 4 tour bags and sharing a room at the pub which was pretty ripe after a night on the ale and pie,chips and beans!

One of the other pro's was Mike Adams who is now at Wallasey,he was a Macregor staff player.

My man had the Letters staff bag but a Golden Goose putter was the only Letters club,irons were Wilson Staff '73 adjustabacks and Staff woods,he also had a deal with Dunlop for balls and shoes.

As a youth he did have a trial for Coventry City,fortunately golf was the winner and John has cheerfully borne all the old jokes about his football club.."Some Coventry fans were found climbing the wall at the ground this afternoon...........the stewards made them go back and watch the rest of the match,"

They were happy days and a great bunch of lads who were all pretty down-to-earth types,no silver spoons or indulgent parents,they had all grafted hard (assistants were akin to slave labour back then) and made something of themselves and I felt very priveleged to be part of the scene.

 

"assistants were akin to slave labour back then" we still are!

[Jiggered]

Couldn't resist a set of JH Onions Crookshank irons on ebay, even though they've got some of the worst bag chatter I've seen.

3 to SW, ferrules not the best either...

 

The shafts (True Temper) are bent near the socket, really visible on the clubs that have lost their ferrules, and the hosels have a bit of a Wilson fluid feel going on, complete with plugs.

 

Also below is an old advert from 1966 confirming that the shafts haven't been bent in a crude attempt to strengthen the lofts!

 

 

[stixman]

Excellent, thanks for the info.

[elwhippy]

Someone made irons with the word shank in the brand name? Brave. Mind you there was a well known local Pro called George Shanks.....cue laughter...

[elwhippy]

Anyone remember Hotblade putters? The 1980's models not the later rubbish. They were superb quality and if I recall Faldo won tour events with one of their models? I had a couple. Beautifully made and the bronze finished aged like Ping.

[Chris122]

Yep,I had a blade putter by them which I customised by chequering the top line with a file to make it non-glare then traded it for my first Ping Anser while on holiday at David Short's golf school in Falmouth.

Played a four one day,me and the assistant Tony 'Golden Bear' Ramsden vs David Short and another pupil and half way it started to rain as it only can on the Cornish coast.

I was comfortable in my Sunderland Greg Norman 'Sharkskin' waterproofs as we stood on the elevated tee of a beautiful par four which had OOB all the way down the left marked by a 6' high stone wall over which was very rough ground,chest deep in brambles and nettles.

We had the honour and drove down into the valley,David Short followed then the other guy who was quite stocky and powerful really went for a big one with the driver.

The ball looped about 30 yards down the fairway,the driver flew slightly further,end over end,over the wall and into the undergrowth beyond.

A combination of soaked glove and leather grip meant it just slid between his fingers as he gave it the lash!

Now,how can you not laugh or at least smile when something like that happens?

Tony 'Golden Bear' did his best but was slowly turning purple with the effort of suppressing a hoot,swiftly altered when his boss said "You can take that smile off your face,you're going to fetch it!".

[stixman]

Someone made irons with the word shank in the brand name? Brave. Mind you there was a well known local Pro called George Shanks.....cue laughter...

 

You weren't thinking of John Shanks, Carlisle and Silloth were you? Perhaps George was related.

Anyway, John was a fine clubmaker and you often see hickory Stewarts with his name.

Attached is a later offering thoughtfully saved from the scrapyard by a non hickorystix.

 

 

[birly-shirly]

Anyone remember Hotblade putters? The 1980's models not the later rubbish. They were superb quality and if I recall Faldo won tour events with one of their models? I had a couple. Beautifully made and the bronze finished aged like Ping.

 

I remember those. I'm sure Faldo endorsed them, in fact weren't they marketed as "Faldo Hotblade"? A bit like his Wilson deal, I'm not so sure that he ever played them. Admittedly without spending much time with one, I always assumed that they were basically knock-offs. I'd have thought that Chris122 got much the better end of that trade, but happy to be contradicted.

[Chris122]

Defo.

 

It was a gem of an Anser which might sound daft because they are mass produced but they don't always feel the same.

I had it when I went to work at the hotel,the golf shop at that time was at the base of the building overlooking the putting green and croquet lawn.

After work I went out to play with the lad I worked with,reached the first green and found I had left my putter outside the shop when I had been practising earlier that afternoon.

Legged it back......no putter.

I was gutted.

I ordered another brand new,gave it some patination but it never felt the same as the first one and the loss of that putter sent me into a downward spiral into the depths of putting gloom trying everything to regain the stroke and touch I had before it disappeared.

Same with my current Anser,it looks tatty,shaft rust spotted but putts great.

I bought another at about the same time very cheaply off ebay which felt dead and unresponsive.

Anyone else find that?

[Jiggered]

I've got a Leatham Hotblade, but looking at it I'd guess it's part of the later rubbish you referred to.

 

Having said that, it putts pretty well.

 

Any of these three ring a bell, Ovation, Tempo and Solo?

The last one is like mine so that won't!

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HotBlade-Ovation-Blade-Putter-35-Inch-Steel-Shaft/292699778694?hash=item4426442e86:g:jkUAAOSw2GJbXEYd

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hotblade-Tempo-brass-head-putter/142740441347?hash=item213bfe4903:g:fEQAAOSwoX5av2OD

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hotblade-Solo-Putter/362287685446?hash=item545a075f46:g:Lh8AAOSwjI5axmP8

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Leatham-Hotblade-Brass-Head-Putter-GC/163222329014?hash=item2600cf16b6:g:a58AAOSwuxFYyuSl

[elwhippy]

Thanks Jiggered. The Solo was the version I had. They were very well made.

[Jiggered]

I've been shopping at the budget end again, I don't know why but I have a bit of an affinity for the junk end of the club market, maybe because it reflects my golf game.

 

Anyway, McGhie "Tiger Tee" (how could anybody pass up on a set with that name?) 3 to SW plus laminated 2 and 4 woods, a pity that there wasn't a putter in the lot, £5 collected.

 

 

 

Another great name in budget clubs; Bronty "Silver Knight" putter, a bit of a crib of the Crookshanks putter but after a couple of putts on the carpet this is going in the bag for Sunday's round, £9.50 including postage.

 

 

[Chris122]

Yay! I had a set of those Tiger Tees in the 1970's when I lived in London,they were sold via mail order or from their shop on Vauxhall Bridge road.

I was working as a tour manager at that time and had my clubs stashed in the coach side locker,grabbed games wherever I could,Darlington muni which was so stupid as we stayed at Blackwell Grange which has its own course.

Windermere was a disaster,played four or five holes and the mist came in so dense that I was lucky to find my way back to the clubhouse!

We used to use an hotel out at Cramond and played a muni out there (birly-shirly to confirm?),had a massive barney with the manager who tried to charge us (me and my driver) for sneaking in two birds we picked up in Auld Reekie :0

For the money they were fantastic clubs,not the easiest to hit but affordable,playable bats.

 

Thanks jiggered for reviving the memories and enjoy them!

 

Apollo shafts?

[Jiggered]

Here to help Chris :)

 

No shaft bands unfortunately.

[birly-shirly]

That’ll be Silverknowes! Often a raucous home stretch alongside the football pitches.

[elwhippy]

Bronty. A blast from the past. Made some decent putters and the legendary Chipmaster….which saved many a short game.

[Chris122]

We (the gang I played with) always thought that they should have been banned!

 

I bet you've all had the same,playing a high handicapper in a matchplay competition who has chipped it stiff from everywhere using one of those tools!

[stixman]

I did some repping for them in the mid '90s just before they went bust. Wally Hanson, one of the surviving founding partners was still selling Bronty flagged gear from his house in Pudsey until very recently.

They were not knowledgeable in golf to start with anyway. The Bronty Chipmaster was named after Chippy, a pet dog!

 

Edit, something else about the Chipmaster I remembered. The biggest sales went to the Middle East where they were deadly for shots off the desert scrub which would otherwise destroy a wood. Thus the use of the first Hybrid.

[Chris122]

Chris,perhaps you should rephrase that bit "I did some repping.......just before they went bust" LOL

[stixman]

Chris,perhaps you should rephrase that bit "I did some repping.......just before they went bust" LOL

True, possibly not the finest hour of my working life and I never used it on a c.v. :rolleyes:

 

While we are still on about Bronty, they had a about 500 Palakona shafts which came from Jack White's factory in Gullane. Wally hadn't got a clue what they were or what to do with them, and he ran the production side of things.

When they went bust, Barry Kerr, another great West Riding lad and owner of Heritage Golf of St Andrews, he picked them up but didn't do anything with them. When he sold up St Andrews Golf acquired them and started putting them into very expensive 'hickory' sets.

Actually, now I'm thinking, Wally Hanson was influenced by these Palakonas. Most will know that Palakona was a split or built cane hexagonal shaft used by Hardy's for fishing rods. Jack White decided to put them up as golf club shafts, another story, another time.

Wally Hanson made replica hickory sets back in the early 90s and he used to shape his hickory shaft blanks on a special lathe(ex Jack White I believe.). He lost too many blanks due to the shafts splitting in the process. The timber from Hardwood Dimensions wasn't the best. His way around the problem was to machine them in steps so that they looked like bamboo cane. The result was pretty ugly but it seemed to work.