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

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

This Brodie sand iron - Made in Scotland - is offered for sale in Denmark for what amounts to GBP 5,75. It has a steel shaft (I have only seen photos, not the real thing). I suppose it is post WW2, but I have not heard of the Brodie company. I read on the net that Brodie clubmakers in Anstruther made clubs for Old Tom Morris' shop in St Andrews, but I don't know if it is the same company that made this sand iron. Does anyone know more about Brodie, where were they based in Scotland, other clubs they made, company history? Should I buy the club?

[Jiggered]

26 minutes ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

This Brodie sand iron - Made in Scotland - is offered for sale in Denmark for what amounts to GBP 5,75. It has a steel shaft (I have only seen photos, not the real thing). I suppose it is post WW2, but I have not heard of the Brodie company. I read on the net that Brodie clubmakers in Anstruther made clubs for Old Tom Morris' shop in St Andrews, but I don't know if it is the same company that made this sand iron. Does anyone know more about Brodie, where were they based in Scotland, other clubs they made, company history? Should I buy the club?

 

Brodie clubs appear for sale every now and then, I've never seen a full set though.

The 3 & 5 iron below have been on ebay UK for over a year and there's a sand iron similar to yours from the same seller.

 

I very much doubt it's the same Brodie who made clubs for Tom Morris.  The only reference I've come across was an advert in a golf magazine from 1973, and I'd say these clubs are mid 1970s.

They were probably a small and short-lived company, one of many that appeared and disappeared around the 1960s to 1980s.

As to whether you should buy it or not, that's your call. I doubt it will ever be worth much money but it is an interesting club.

 

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

St Andrew Golf Company again. Here is a putter, The Gleneagles model, which is clearly an exact copy of the 1964 Arnold Palmer napa putter made by Wilson as the forerunner of the 8802. Note the over-hosel shaft fitment and the sight line. As previously observed STAG made and sold Wilson products under licence.

So, the question is, 'would you rather pay $400 for the real thing, or would you rather be a cheapskate and game the identical model with a rather important name missing, for £10 ??'

Edited April 5, 2021 by The Aspidistra in the Hall
clarity

[Jiggered]

9 hours ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

St Andrew Golf Company again. Here is a putter, The Gleneagles model, which is clearly an exact copy of the 1964 Arnold Palmer napa putter made by Wilson as the forerunner of the 8802. Note the over-hosel shaft fitment and the sight line. As previously observed STAG made and sold Wilson products under licence.

So, the question is, 'would you rather pay $400 for the real thing, or would you rather be a cheapskate and game the identical model with a rather important name missing, for £10 ??'

 

Cheapskate all day, every day for me!

 

Here are some Glen Eagles irons, not sure on date for these but they look quite a bit older than 1964.

 

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

What was the situation like at the end of the era of persimmon and blades and the start of the cavity back and metal wood era? This Dunlop catalogue from 1987 gives you quite a good idea. A very strong catalogue in my opinion, but I may be biased, as I was always a Dunlop fan, probably due to the fact that our club pro in my junior days was sponsored by Dunlop.

 

The variety of clubs really shows the winds of change. Golf clubs were still sold as combined sets of 3 woods and 9 irons, and no less than five different materials are used for the woods. Persimmon for the classic - and expensive - top of the line blade sets, laminates for the traditional game improvement sets, and then the new materials, "compression moulded carbon fibres", "ABS woods with graphite power insert" and, finally, metal woods. You can't see from this catalogue that metal woods would have taken over the market just a few years later.

 

Personally, I played the Deltic "hollow irons". Blade look but with a forgiving larger sweetspot. Very nice irons, and technically advanced, but hugely underpromoted as far as I know, and not helped by the fact that the ABS woods (whatever that stands for) were really bad. No "feeling" at all. I quickly sold them off, but kept the irons for many years.

 

And then there is the balls and all the accessories. Were the Dunlop balls really the world's best? I don't know, but at the time I negotiated a sponsorship deal on behalf of the Danish Golf Union whereby the Danish national teams played the Maxfli balata for a couple of years and I heard no complaints.

 

Anyone had any experiences with any of these clubs?

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

1 hour ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

What was the situation like at the end of the era of persimmon and blades and the start of the cavity back and metal wood era? This Dunlop catalogue from 1987 gives you quite a good idea. A very strong catalogue in my opinion, but I may be biased, as I was always a Dunlop fan, probably due to the fact that our club pro in my junior days was sponsored by Dunlop.

 

The variety of clubs really shows the winds of change. Golf clubs were still sold as combined sets of 3 woods and 9 irons, and no less than five different materials are used for the woods. Persimmon for the classic - and expensive - top of the line blade sets, laminates for the traditional game improvement sets, and then the new materials, "compression moulded carbon fibres", "ABS woods with graphite power insert" and, finally, metal woods. You can't see from this catalogue that metal woods would have taken over the market just a few years later.

 

Personally, I played the Deltic "hollow irons". Blade look but with a forgiving larger sweetspot. Very nice irons, and technically advanced, but hugely underpromoted as far as I know, and not helped by the fact that the ABS woods (whatever that stands for) were really bad. No "feeling" at all. I quickly sold them off, but kept the irons for many years.

 

And then there is the balls and all the accessories. Were the Dunlop balls really the world's best? I don't know, but at the time I negotiated a sponsorship deal on behalf of the Danish Golf Union whereby the Danish national teams played the Maxfli balata for a couple of years and I heard no complaints.

 

Anyone had any experiences with any of these clubs?

 

I do remember that there wasn't a sudden transition to metalwoods for everyone. Cost was one factor, but also I remember many people did not like the feel of them very much.

 

Also, the early metalwoods were no bigger than the woods (and even smaller than woods like the EYE2s), so they weren't really any easier to hit. I do recall our club pro saying they were easier to launch higher, so lofts could be lowered to 8~9 degrees (and even lower in some cases).

 

Now, as for those Deltic irons, if they were released in 1987, that would make them contemporary with the Taylormade TD Tour Preferred irons, which featured hollow-body long irons. Wonder which came first? I think the Taylormades came out in '87, but it might have been '88.

[Foozle]

1 hour ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

What was the situation like at the end of the era of persimmon and blades and the start of the cavity back and metal wood era? This Dunlop catalogue from 1987 gives you quite a good idea. A very strong catalogue in my opinion, but I may be biased, as I was always a Dunlop fan, probably due to the fact that our club pro in my junior days was sponsored by Dunlop.

 

The variety of clubs really shows the winds of change. Golf clubs were still sold as combined sets of 3 woods and 9 irons, and no less than five different materials are used for the woods. Persimmon for the classic - and expensive - top of the line blade sets, laminates for the traditional game improvement sets, and then the new materials, "compression moulded carbon fibres", "ABS woods with graphite power insert" and, finally, metal woods. You can't see from this catalogue that metal woods would have taken over the market just a few years later.

 

Personally, I played the Deltic "hollow irons". Blade look but with a forgiving larger sweetspot. Very nice irons, and technically advanced, but hugely underpromoted as far as I know, and not helped by the fact that the ABS woods (whatever that stands for) were really bad. No "feeling" at all. I quickly sold them off, but kept the irons for many years.

 

And then there is the balls and all the accessories. Were the Dunlop balls really the world's best? I don't know, but at the time I negotiated a sponsorship deal on behalf of the Danish Golf Union whereby the Danish national teams played the Maxfli balata for a couple of years and I heard no complaints.

 

Anyone had any experiences with any of these clubs?

Thanks for posting! Great catalogue!

I have a set of the Australian Blade irons shown and have really struggled to get date information on them - now I know! They don't look as good quality as the earlier Aussie blades and i did wonder if they were an "after market" set playing on a proud and historic name. I see they are confirmed as forged blades and still a quality product. They do play very well, I really like them.

I still have a Maxfli Sunday bag from around that era. It took some punishment and held up well.

As for balls, the DDH was very quickly adopted by club golfers and very popular at the time. The 65i as I recall was a bit of a rock and a budget ball not really worthy of the illustrious '65' ancestry.

Great memories! Thanks for sharing.

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

3 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

Cheapskate all day, every day for me!

 

Here are some Glen Eagles irons, not sure on date for these but they look quite a bit older than 1964.

 

Didn't know 'Gleneagles' was a STAG brand. Thanks for that.

[Jiggered]

On 4/6/2021 at 9:23 AM, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

What was the situation like at the end of the era of persimmon and blades and the start of the cavity back and metal wood era? This Dunlop catalogue from 1987 gives you quite a good idea. A very strong catalogue in my opinion, but I may be biased, as I was always a Dunlop fan, probably due to the fact that our club pro in my junior days was sponsored by Dunlop.

 

The variety of clubs really shows the winds of change. Golf clubs were still sold as combined sets of 3 woods and 9 irons, and no less than five different materials are used for the woods. Persimmon for the classic - and expensive - top of the line blade sets, laminates for the traditional game improvement sets, and then the new materials, "compression moulded carbon fibres", "ABS woods with graphite power insert" and, finally, metal woods. You can't see from this catalogue that metal woods would have taken over the market just a few years later.

 

Personally, I played the Deltic "hollow irons". Blade look but with a forgiving larger sweetspot. Very nice irons, and technically advanced, but hugely underpromoted as far as I know, and not helped by the fact that the ABS woods (whatever that stands for) were really bad. No "feeling" at all. I quickly sold them off, but kept the irons for many years.

 

And then there is the balls and all the accessories. Were the Dunlop balls really the world's best? I don't know, but at the time I negotiated a sponsorship deal on behalf of the Danish Golf Union whereby the Danish national teams played the Maxfli balata for a couple of years and I heard no complaints.

 

Anyone had any experiences with any of these clubs?

 

Great information, many thanks for posting.

Re the question on the Deltic release date, they were available in 1986.

[Jiggered]

A parcel arrived today, another one of those that gives you concerns for the contents...

 

 

First layer off and not looking too bad.

 

 

The contents are some clubs that I'd been watching on ebay listed for £10, but then they disappeared without being sold and I was afraid that they might have been dumped.

Messaged the seller and he still had them and the deal was done, £17.50 delivered.

 

it was the two STAG Sweepstakes 2 & 4 woods that I wanted as the sole plates are quite unusual. There were a couple of other woods with similar but not quite as nice sole plates by Colossus who I've not heard of before.

Anyone any information on Colossus? 

 

 

 

 

Nice end caps.

 

 

Finally in the bundle were a few coated shaft, dot faced irons.

 

The Flywheel I've always associated with Cann & Taylor but this one also has a BV logo, anyone any ideas?

The putter with these has a huge head!

 

 

The other irons are a make I've not come across before but I like them, shame there only four clubs!  Anybody heard of Glenfarg before? The sole is plain with just the club number.

 

 

 

 

[Foozle]

1 hour ago, Jiggered said:

A parcel arrived today, another one of those that gives you concerns for the contents...

 

 

First layer off and not looking too bad.

 

 

The contents are some clubs that I'd been watching on ebay listed for £10, but then they disappeared without being sold and I was afraid that they might have been dumped.

Messaged the seller and he still had them and the deal was done, £17.50 delivered.

 

it was the two STAG Sweepstakes 2 & 4 woods that I wanted as the sole plates are quite unusual. There were a couple of other woods with similar but not quite as nice sole plates by Colossus who I've not heard of before.

Anyone any information on Colossus? 

 

 

 

 

Nice end caps.

 

 

Finally in the bundle were a few coated shaft, dot faced irons.

 

The Flywheel I've always associated with Cann & Taylor but this one also has a BV logo, anyone any ideas?

The putter with these has a huge head!

 

 

The other irons are a make I've not come across before but I like them, shame there only four clubs!  Anybody heard of Glenfarg before? The sole is plain with just the club number.

 

 

 

 

Sorry I can't help with any information but that looks like £17.50 well spent to me! Nice clubs!

[elwhippy]

Maxfli Pro Special. Awesome clubs with some of the best looking short irons ever made. 

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

A couple of UK made laminated woods... I was about to say drivers, but what do you call a 1 1/2 wood? A "drassie"? The Ryder club was, I believe, from Glasgow and is quite straightforward. I think it might be a ladies' driver with the red clubhead and a rather slim grip. Late 1970's I suppose.

 

The 1 1/2 wood from Leeds-based Bronty is more interesting, as it features a laminated clubhead fitted on a Bronty graphite shaft. I have never seen that combination before, and neither a 1 1/2 wood. I did a bit of work on the clubhead as it was rather damaged and covered under a heavy layer of epoxy, and when handgrinding the nice English rose logo turned up. I haven't tried the club yet, but I look very much forward to it. If anyone has any info on Bronty and this kind of wood, please let us know. I guess early 1990's? 

[elwhippy]

Ryder woods and irons were amazingly popular at my club. Pro used a persimmon with an early graphite shaft. As a junior I used a blue ladies Ryder 4 wood and it was so easy to hit..

[The Aspidistra in the Hall]

14 hours ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

A couple of UK made laminated woods... I was about to say drivers, but what do you call a 1 1/2 wood? A "drassie"? The Ryder club was, I believe, from Glasgow and is quite straightforward. I think it might be a ladies' driver with the red clubhead and a rather slim grip. Late 1970's I suppose.

 

The 1 1/2 wood from Leeds-based Bronty is more interesting, as it features a laminated clubhead fitted on a Bronty graphite shaft. I have never seen that combination before, and neither a 1 1/2 wood. I did a bit of work on the clubhead as it was rather damaged and covered under a heavy layer of epoxy, and when handgrinding the nice English rose logo turned up. I haven't tried the club yet, but I look very much forward to it. If anyone has any info on Bronty and this kind of wood, please let us know. I guess early 1990's? 

Stixman wrote as much as is to be known about Bronty on these pages. There is a search tool but I don't know if it's any good. It does store data but it's pretty useless for research purposes, you will just have to trawl through garbage until you find something useful. Published about 3 years ago I think. 11/2 woods were popularised long before Bronty by Spalding.

The 'English Rose' isn't an English rose, it's the WHITE Rose of Yorkshire dating from Civil War times. Some trolling Lancashire ratbag from over the border has painted it RED

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

23 minutes ago, The Aspidistra in the Hall said:

The 'English Rose' isn't an English rose, it's the WHITE Rose of Yorkshire dating from Civil War times. Some trolling Lancashire ratbag from over the border has painted it RED

 

Good spot. I couldn't even see it was a rose.

 

But yes, I doubt that a Leeds-based company would be putting Lancashire red roses on their clubs!

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

Dear all,

Thank you very much for your information about the two woods I posted photos of. I have tried the Bronty 1 ½ wood and it actually performs very well. I must however, take full responsibility for painting the rose red and I apologise to those offended by this. I had no intention to re-ignite the War of the Roses. (While I am at it, I would also like to apologise for the Viking raids, King Canute's excesses and Denmark's victories at Wembley…)

I read Stixman's interesting accounts on Bronty, thanks, and also found an interesting article on the net from 2011: (https://friendsofleedsmuseums.org/2011/12/bronty-golf-co-ltd-pudsey/)

"We recently helped Leeds Museums to acquire a group of items made by Bronty Golf Co. Ltd, Pudsey (a major name in golfing circles).  The items include three original factory moulds (acquired by the vendor when manufacturing ended in Leeds about 15 years ago).

These moulds are highly sought after by American golf collectors, but the vendor wanted the best examples to come to the Leeds museum collections. They are for the best-selling models: the Bronty “Chipmaster” and Bronty “Rustler” (plus a putter). Other items include 9 golf clubs, 1 display stand, 6 putting hoops, 7 golf balls and 1 brass putter head.

The company traded for over 30 years and produced thousands of golf clubs but went into decline due to cheap far east imports and it failed to develop with the big name golf companies. It is however famous for its Rustler putter range, chipmaster and pitchmaster chippers."

[Jiggered]

Recently won this Forgan "Made Under Licence" Cash-In putter.

 

It has the same shaft as on the early Golden Goose I got a week or two back which is from the late 1940s.

Not sure on a date for this one, Forgan were taken over by Spalding in 1945 as far as I know so I'd guess that the head stamp was from before that date otherwise it wouldn't say made under licence so maybe late 1930s, or late 1940s using old stamps.

 

Nice leather wrap pistol grip.

 

 

 

 

[Foozle]

I recently purchased these irons by the Castle Equipment Company motivated by my lack of knowledge of CEC but more importantly the Dick Kemp connection. 

They are pictured on one of Dick's old Tour bags which I am privileged to own and the Wilson R90W he acquired at the 1964 Open at St Andrews and which he very generously gave to me - treasured possessions.

I may have been barking up the wrong tree with the irons as it turns out they are a ladies set! May yet come in useful as gravity takes effect on my height and age on my strength but I would have bought anyway given the connection.

Esteemed brother Jiggered has already shared his knowledge of CEC with me but thought I would share pictures for the benefit of us UK thread posters.

They are "Courtier" model " Styled by Dick Kemp". From the Pro Fit shafts I am guessing circa 1960 but keen to learn more. 

The Wilson R90W has an unusual "U.S.A" stamp below Wilson on the sole and predates appearance in the Wilson catalogue by a year making me think it may be a pre production model.

 

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

Here is another catalogue from the late 1980's at the end of the classic golf era and the beginning of the modern era with metal woods etc.

I remember visiting the Halley factory on the corner of Largo Rd. and Broomfaulds Avenue in St. Andrews in 1989 with my father. (It has since been demolished and a vet's clinic stands in its place.) The clubmakers were building modern (more or less..) and heritage equipment. I remember watching them make laminated woods at a time when metal woods were taking over the market. I bought a "jigger" which is long gone and my father bought a hickory putter which I still have. The Halley staff were very helpful so I have quite a soft spot for that company.

Just as interesting as the clubs are all the accessories. When the front page claims "Everything for golf", it is just about right. I think a lot of us will remember the display stands in pro shops with Halley ball washers, tees and what have you. Even the golf bags show the transition from classic to modern. The classic bags being the ones where the clothes pocket could also be used as a hood over the clubs.

Golf balls seem to be a very little part of the Halley business. Although described on p. 13 as "ideal for the club golfer", the solid Halley golf ball seems quite under-promoted.

I also noted the golf gloves made of "English leather". Nowadays it seems that all brands of golf gloves are made in the same factories in Indonesia. Probably not using English leather at all…

Finally, the "repair service center" on the last page. Quite interesting. What do you think of 500 metres of whipping thread? That should be enough for most of us, I think.

Your comments (and memories) will be interesting to hear. By the way, I recently bought a set of J. B. Halley irons on eBay. More of that will follow later.

[elwhippy]

Tartan accessories should be banned by the R&A, UN and Geneva Convention. 

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

On 5/29/2021 at 12:53 PM, Foozle said:

I recently purchased these irons by the Castle Equipment Company motivated by my lack of knowledge of CEC but more importantly the Dick Kemp connection. 

They are pictured on one of Dick's old Tour bags which I am privileged to own and the Wilson R90W he acquired at the 1964 Open at St Andrews and which he very generously gave to me - treasured possessions.

I may have been barking up the wrong tree with the irons as it turns out they are a ladies set! May yet come in useful as gravity takes effect on my height and age on my strength but I would have bought anyway given the connection.

Esteemed brother Jiggered has already shared his knowledge of CEC with me but thought I would share pictures for the benefit of us UK thread posters.

They are "Courtier" model " Styled by Dick Kemp". From the Pro Fit shafts I am guessing circa 1960 but keen to learn more. 

The Wilson R90W has an unusual "U.S.A" stamp below Wilson on the sole and predates appearance in the Wilson catalogue by a year making me think it may be a pre production model.

 

Very nice, Foozle! I was quite certain that my late father owned a "Castle" 5-iron, but I am not able to find it and I fear it has disappeared some years ago. Anyway, on this video https://www.britishpathe.com/video/nagle-wins you can see Dick Kemp drive on the Old Course in the 1960 Open, with the comment that he failed to make the cut!

[Foozle]

15 minutes ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

Very nice, Foozle! I was quite certain that my late father owned a "Castle" 5-iron, but I am not able to find it and I fear it has disappeared some years ago. Anyway, on this video https://www.britishpathe.com/video/nagle-wins you can see Dick Kemp drive on the Old Course in the 1960 Open, with the comment that he failed to make the cut!

Thanks Jesper, Dick played the two "qualifying" rounds in the 1960 Open with none other than Arnold Palmer! However, I am not clear whether he meant "qualifying" to get into the Open (would Arnie have had to qualify?) or whether he meant the first two rounds pre cut? I have looked but struggled to find round by round scores for the 1960 Open....

[Jiggered]

2 hours ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

Here is another catalogue from the late 1980's at the end of the classic golf era and the beginning of the modern era with metal woods etc.

I remember visiting the Halley factory on the corner of Largo Rd. and Broomfaulds Avenue in St. Andrews in 1989 with my father. (It has since been demolished and a vet's clinic stands in its place.) The clubmakers were building modern (more or less..) and heritage equipment. I remember watching them make laminated woods at a time when metal woods were taking over the market. I bought a "jigger" which is long gone and my father bought a hickory putter which I still have. The Halley staff were very helpful so I have quite a soft spot for that company.

Just as interesting as the clubs are all the accessories. When the front page claims "Everything for golf", it is just about right. I think a lot of us will remember the display stands in pro shops with Halley ball washers, tees and what have you. Even the golf bags show the transition from classic to modern. The classic bags being the ones where the clothes pocket could also be used as a hood over the clubs.

Golf balls seem to be a very little part of the Halley business. Although described on p. 13 as "ideal for the club golfer", the solid Halley golf ball seems quite under-promoted.

I also noted the golf gloves made of "English leather". Nowadays it seems that all brands of golf gloves are made in the same factories in Indonesia. Probably not using English leather at all…

Finally, the "repair service center" on the last page. Quite interesting. What do you think of 500 metres of whipping thread? That should be enough for most of us, I think.

Your comments (and memories) will be interesting to hear. By the way, I recently bought a set of J. B. Halley irons on eBay. More of that will follow later.

 

 

 

 

That's fantastic Jesper, many thanks for posting.

 

I look forward to seeing your new set of irons.

 

I have a set of JB Halley "Tournament" irons, a "Pinmaster" sand iron, a "Model 100" putter and one of the laminated wooden putters.

 

 

 

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

10 hours ago, Foozle said:

Thanks Jesper, Dick played the two "qualifying" rounds in the 1960 Open with none other than Arnold Palmer! However, I am not clear whether he meant "qualifying" to get into the Open (would Arnie have had to qualify?) or whether he meant the first two rounds pre cut? I have looked but struggled to find round by round scores for the 1960 Open....

There is a lot of info about the 1960 Open to be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960_Open_Championship, including a link to all the qualifying scores in this article: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=T4RAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qZsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2157%2C819361 Indeed, Palmer had to qualify, which he duly did, along with Dick Kemp. So I suppose Mr. Kemp went out after 36 holes (or 54?) of the proper tournament.

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

Here are the J. B. Halley "Pinmaster" irons I bought recently on eBay. They are in the catalogue on p. 4, so I suppose they are from the late 1980's. There was a bid procedure on eBay with the lowest bid set at £ 9.99. Just for fun I bid £ 9.99 and won the bid - as I was the only bidder! I didn't expect much, but to my surprise the irons including the grips are in almost mint condition. (The 1, 2 and 3 iron don't seem to have been hit at all, and neither will they be by me. Even God can't hit a 1-iron, Lee Trevino said, and neither can I...)

 

To add to my surprise, particularly the short irons perform remarkably well on the course. They are quite heavy and fly straight as an arrow if properly struck. Much fun to play with and an excellent bargain. These clubs were by no means a high end product when they were new, but they are certainly still very much playable.

 

I add a photo of the hickory putter my father bought when we visited the Halley factory in St Andrews in 1989. I believe the factory - and the Halley business - closed down around 2004 but any more details about this will be much appreciated.

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

12 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

That's fantastic Jesper, many thanks for posting.

 

I look forward to seeing your new set of irons.

 

I have a set of JB Halley "Tournament" irons, a "Pinmaster" sand iron, a "Model 100" putter and one of the laminated wooden putters.

 

 

Beautiful irons! When do think they were built? And how are they to hit?

 

 

[Jiggered]

12 hours ago, Jesper Frigast Larsen said:

Beautiful irons! When do think they were built? And how are they to hit?

 

I think that they're late 1950s or early 1960s.

They're great to play and have the original leather grips, 3 to PW, and I have a ladies putter in that model too.

 

 

I'm pretty sure that the head was a casting from Precision Castings in Cumbria, England and that the mould was used to make clubs for several club builders, here are four variations:

 

Edited June 3, 2021 by Jiggered

[Jesper Frigast Larsen]

8 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

I think that they're late 1950s or early 1960s.

They're great to play and have the original leather grips, 3 to PW, and I have a ladies putter in that model too.

 

 

I'm pretty sure that the head was a casting from Precision Castings in Cumbria, England and that the mould was used to make clubs for several club builders, here are four variations:

 

That's very interesting. Yes, I notice the "Made in England" imprint. J. B.Halley's factory in St. Andrews opened in 1968. Via this link you can see a lot of nice prictures from the then new factory (the one I visited in 1989). https://collections.st-andrews.ac.uk/series/new-golf-club-factory/725704/viewer#?#viewer&c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-3232%2C-500%2C10592%2C5952 Here are a few examples:

[Divot License]

I had a very interesting round with a member of my club last week. 

 

Between 1980 and 1991 he was finance director for Acushnet Europe Ltd. This is the period where they too over Ttileist and Footjoy, expanded their golf ball market and blossomed from a mid tier golf company to one of the big boys. 

 

It was a fascinating 4 hours where he discussed all maters Titleist history and ideas at the time. Some of the best stories were their first "Tour Van". They bought a brand new Winnebago, stripped it of everything inside and completely re-kitted it out for purpose. It was the first in Europe and everyone thought they were mad. They had two pairs of shoes on board for every player under footjoy contract. One black and one white pair. 

 

Such a interesting round and then another great 2 hours in the bar after the round.