Thrift Store Jackpot

[Shallowface]

On 6/4/2024 at 9:05 AM, ezgoer said:

More on Ginty’s. Got these at a GW a year or so ago. Doesn’t say Stan Thompson on top. They aren’t brand new but close. One needs whipping repair. The 2 appear same vintage. Why one labeled and the other not?? Think the unlabeled is a 7 wood seeing it compared to a 80’s Mac 5 wood. These seem unique with stiff Apollo shafts and are very long. 7 is almost 43 inches long and 9 is 41.5 inches long. Must have been ordered for a tall person. 
 

Clubs I never play with. If anyone wants these PM me. Trade maybe??? Or couple buck’s each plus shipping. 

The Two Gintys pictured above are some of the last ones made.  The silver disc you see on the crown is actually a bolt that is used to secure the soleplate to the clubhead.  The older ones were attached with nothing more than glue and had a tendency to turn loose after a while.  It personally happened to me on a driving range back in the 80s, and what an odd sensation it was to have a club turn virtually weightless right after impact.  The plate most have flown at least 100 yards and with the range being packed I couldn't attempt to retrieve it.  The ones with the bolt never had the Stan Thompson decal on the crown.

 

The original utility Ginty, said to have a 7 wood loft and a 4 wood shaft length, had 29 degrees of loft and a 42 inch shaft.

 

Stu mentions a 7 wood of his that says 24 degrees on the soleplate.  I've never seen one of those.  The 5 woods were stamped 24 degrees, which is on the weak side.  I've often believed the Ginty was the original "high launch low spin" design and that's why they were made with weak lofts even for that day.  It was capable of producing freakish distances.  I can remember playing in a company tournament once where I dubbed my opening tee shot and then proceeded to hit the second shot over the green with a Ginty 7 wood from 290 yards. 

 

Working from memory the 3 wood was 17 and the 4 wood was 20.  They were available from Driver through the 15 wood  

 

I remember reading once that Ram made some persimmon drivers with a heavy brass soleplate for testing purposes.  They found it didn't work well at all as they tended to produce knuckleballs that didn't stay in the air as expected.  That had to be due to a low spin rate, although I'm not sure they had the ability to measure that back then. 

 

I've never hit a Ginty driver (11 degrees) but I'd like to just to see how it performs.        

Edited June 7 by Shallowface

[Shallowface]

Looks like they made a 7 wood with standard specs as well, but the utility model that didn't have a number on the sole was 42 inches standard.

Edited June 7 by Shallowface

[bcstones]

@Shallowface Thanks for all the info....great to know. The driver I have has a metalic feeling disc w/arrow pointing to center of face. The other woods I have all have the signature...good to know about glue. Don't have to worry about the irons, while they have a keel but all metal consttruct...

[dashanks]

1 hour ago, Joe85 said:

It has the original grip. Just says "Ben Crenshaw" on the grip.  It's slick and cracked and rotted to hell sadly. 

 

 

Btw, I'm DDing again these days. You blokes would be surprised all the great stuff I'm scoring ..

 

The 2nd Swing and Golf Galaxy by me actually keep their dumpsters locked.  Bastages!  I'd be knuckle deep in there if they didn't.

[Shallowface]

3 hours ago, bcstones said:

@Shallowface Thanks for all the info....great to know. The driver I have has a metalic feeling disc w/arrow pointing to center of face. The other woods I have all have the signature...good to know about glue. Don't have to worry about the irons, while they have a keel but all metal consttruct...

As always you are most welcome!

 

I wouldn't worry too much about the ones held on by glue.  The fact that so many of them survive to this day says it couldn't have been too bad.  I could hit the ball really hard back then and I came down pretty hard onto the ground as well, which probably wasn't good for the clubs or me.

 

It's a lot different now.  I'm afraid that one morning I'll swing at my first tee shot and the club will hit the ball and bounce off it, leaving the ball on the tee.  

 

The carbon fiber model had the soleplate secured by screws in the same way most soleplates are secured.  The metal version was decidedly inferior to the other two.  It was the weight distribution of the extremely heavy sole combined with the relatively lighter weight material above it that made it such a great weapon.  The metal version still had the keel, but didn't have that same weight distribution.  I remember hitting one back then and being stunned at how inferior it was.

 

Callaway Golf actually owns the rights to the Ginty.  As I recall Stan Thompson thought the Warbird soleplate infringed on his design, and rather than fight it Callaway acquired the rights to it.  That may have been from Stan's estate after he passed.  I would love to see them make a modern version with a carbon fiber head, a titanium face and the heavy metal sole.  If they did they would have the best fairway wood on the market.       

 

 

[bcstones]

somewhere I read tthat Thompson saw Hogan use a 2 iron to hit out of heavy rough, quite efficiently and realizing that accuracy was not readily available for the normal golfer & then at a later time, saw a speedboat cutting thru water & got the idea for the Ginty...wonder why he named it "Ginty"?

[Maine Golfer]

In another thread ive talked about I can't get a 1980s TM 24 degree metal to spin at all with my swing speed. Maybe a ginty 5 or 6 i'd enjoy. I want to be able to hit a high 160ish shot with one and land on a green. 

[Maine Golfer]

I won't get to these this season I bet, so if you want ether DM (shipping and its yours).

 

If I get to using these, I could see having every PW fluid feel era. I could see making smaller set (every other club) of the Karsten IIIs. The button back has been reshafted to current standard length , the Ping has a Ping Eye (1) grip. Cool finds, can't control myself on some brands and models ha ha. Goodwill has been good to me!

 

 

 

[Foozle]

On 6/7/2024 at 6:48 PM, Shallowface said:

Looks like they made a 7 wood with standard specs as well, but the utility model that didn't have a number on the sole was 42 inches standard.

Great reference, thanks for posting.

This picture includes 1-9, a few Ginty's and a Steamer.

Didn't know they went above 9 so looks like I still have some collecting to do!

[ezgoer]

9 hours ago, Maine Golfer said:

I won't get to these this season I bet, so if you want ether DM (shipping and its yours).

 

If I get to using these, I could see having every PW fluid feel era. I could see making smaller set (every other club) of the Karsten IIIs. The button back has been reshafted to current standard length , the Ping has a Ping Eye (1) grip. Cool finds, can't control myself on some brands and models ha ha. Goodwill has been good to me!

 

 

 

  I’ll probably regret starting this brush fire but I’m not a fan of the 71 Button Back so far.
  I have become a complete Wilson convert. My 76 STAFF’s are possibly my favorite set so far. The trashy 78’s I just picked up feel great even with iffy grips. I have an FG17 8 iron with a grip so dry and cracked you wouldn’t swing it with water in front of you. Yet it feels fantastic.
  I got a set of Button Backs late last year and I haven’t warmed to them at all so far. Looks fantastic but…. Now they have really dry and odd Golf Pride grips with all the dots on them so a ton of horrible dry surface area. Regular flex shafts also but I have other reg sets and don’t notice much difference at all. Like I said the FG I have has a brutal grip but still feels great. The jury is still out but I’m kinda heartbroken so far.
  Could be wrong on this but consensus I read the 71’s seem to be no worse than the 2nd or 3rd favorite STAFF to Wilson people. Hopefully grips will magically fix this. 
  I also have a set of 69 heads with modern shafts to assemble. Been dragging my feet but have extremely high hopes on these especially from what I’ve read and more importantly people I trust the opinion of.

Edited June 9 by ezgoer

[Maine Golfer]

Ive never setup a button back to play. The 69 PW is my all time favorite, played HS golf in with it and it gave me my only eagle a few years back. 

[BIG STU]

On 6/7/2024 at 1:47 PM, Shallowface said:

The Two Gintys pictured above are some of the last ones made.  The silver disc you see on the crown is actually a bolt that is used to secure the soleplate to the clubhead.  The older ones were attached with nothing more than glue and had a tendency to turn loose after a while.  It personally happened to me on a driving range back in the 80s, and what an odd sensation it was to have a club turn virtually weightless right after impact.  The plate most have flown at least 100 yards and with the range being packed I couldn't attempt to retrieve it.  The ones with the bolt never had the Stan Thompson decal on the crown.

 

The original utility Ginty, said to have a 7 wood loft and a 4 wood shaft length, had 29 degrees of loft and a 42 inch shaft.

 

Stu mentions a 7 wood of his that says 24 degrees on the soleplate.  I've never seen one of those.  The 5 woods were stamped 24 degrees, which is on the weak side.  I've often believed the Ginty was the original "high launch low spin" design and that's why they were made with weak lofts even for that day.  It was capable of producing freakish distances.  I can remember playing in a company tournament once where I dubbed my opening tee shot and then proceeded to hit the second shot over the green with a Ginty 7 wood from 290 yards. 

 

Working from memory the 3 wood was 17 and the 4 wood was 20.  They were available from Driver through the 15 wood  

 

I remember reading once that Ram made some persimmon drivers with a heavy brass soleplate for testing purposes.  They found it didn't work well at all as they tended to produce knuckleballs that didn't stay in the air as expected.  That had to be due to a low spin rate, although I'm not sure they had the ability to measure that back then. 

 

I've never hit a Ginty driver (11 degrees) but I'd like to just to see how it performs.        

I was wrong on saying the 7 wood was 24*. I was quoting off of memory which is evidently not too hot these days. Senior Moment I guess. I dug it out yesterday and it is indeed 29* so I stand corrected. I am putting together a crazy play set for Tuesday afternoon. Since you guys have gotten my interest up I am going to include it. I am including some Izette woods I have been dying to hit. I think I am going to include my Hickory Par3 set on the bottom end. I may throw in a Mac Keyhole 5 wood. Middle irons I am not sure on yet. But yes I am going to hit the Ginty because I have never hit it. I actually found another Stan Thompson 4 wood in the stash. It has a conventional sole plate and not a bad looking address stance. I need to regrip since it has a horrible rotted gooey Winn grip on it

[bogieboy]

This weekend the thrift stores put a $25 dent in my wallet... a mint condition full set 3-sw of tommy armor knockoffs, a rough TP Mills, and, no 1 iron left behind... 

 

[Shallowface]

When it came to high lofted woods there were no standards as to length and loft.  Here are just a couple of examples. 

Hybrids are really just high lofted woods with better marketing.  They would hand you one and say this is, for example, a replacement for your 4 iron, and labelled it as such.  Whether or not that was actually true for a given individual, at least it gave him a place to start.

With the old high lofted fairway woods nobody really knew what to expect when they picked up an 11 wood, and they tended to be somewhat ugly with extreme face progression (the very thing that makes them effective) so they were a tough sell. 

 

Edited June 10 by Shallowface

[ezgoer]

1 hour ago, bogieboy said:

This weekend the thrift stores put a $25 dent in my wallet... a mint condition full set 3-sw of tommy armor knockoffs, a rough TP Mills, and, no 1 iron left behind... 

 

Bet the TP will clean up ok. Every time I see those 858’s and 757’s I take a closer look cuz I’ve gotten 2 sets of them just for the TT Dynamic Gold shafts and pitched the heads. Component club era clubs so there’s a chance. Usually they can’t be given away so shouldn’t cost much at all. 

[bogieboy]

14 minutes ago, ezgoer said:

Bet the TP will clean up ok. Every time I see those 858’s and 757’s I take a closer look cuz I’ve gotten 2 sets of them just for the TT Dynamic Gold shafts and pitched the heads. Component club era clubs so there’s a chance. Usually they can’t be given away so shouldn’t cost much at all. 

I have no doubt the TP will clean up... its obviously one of the better manufactured ones, given that its rusting, so theres carbon steel in there, unlike some of the horror stories i have read about butane torches being used to pull the shaft for refinish and the alloys used were so soft that the hosel melted before the glue let loose LOL

 

That was my initial thought on the irons, gotta measure out the steps and figure out what shafts they are, as theres no bands, only the true temper silk screen at the bottom of the steps... for what its worth, they perfectly match the macgregor tour step 2 flex shafts in the mac MCX forged  irons i picked up a month or so ago... the heads of these 858s themselves are in like new condition....LOL all i did to this 7 iron to prep for the pic is peel the price sticker off the face of the club... 

 

I do occasionally sell good condition sets to the local play it again sports, and so far have made out pretty decent... last haul i brought in cost me about $80, spread over 4 iron sets, an old titleist 912J, and a like new cobra baffler dws, walked out with $150 cash in my pocket... 

 

[AdamMH]

2 hours ago, bogieboy said:

This weekend the thrift stores put a $25 dent in my wallet... a mint condition full set 3-sw of tommy armor knockoffs, a rough TP Mills, and, no 1 iron left behind... 

 

 

Lucky lucky! I would have that Mills resurfaced and torched by now 😉 

[Signer]

Scored this Ping PAL6 BeCu for $2.00!

[elwhippy]

Amazing deal on the Pal 6. 

[ezgoer]

Quality score this morning at an Arc thrift store near the gym. $5 total for both after rounding up for charity. Head cover was .99 new and still in it’s packaging. 

Always thought these were decals on top but it’s actually a pretty ornate stamp. Non Eye-O-Matic face insert’s have really been growing on me lately. Pretty good chrome even with zero pitting or deteriation on Tourney Action 1 shaft and nice leather grip. Been kinda searching for a 50-60’s Mac classic 3 wood and think this one is playable as is. Love any Palmer logo’d stuff so Arnie can keep this one company when it’s put into play.

Edited Friday at 05:23 PM by ezgoer

[bogieboy]

On 6/10/2024 at 8:28 PM, ezgoer said:

Bet the TP will clean up ok. Every time I see those 858’s and 757’s I take a closer look cuz I’ve gotten 2 sets of them just for the TT Dynamic Gold shafts and pitched the heads. Component club era clubs so there’s a chance. Usually they can’t be given away so shouldn’t cost much at all. 

Newsflash.... the tp cleans up real nice.....🤣 a little wire wheel, sand down the rough spots a touch, wire wheel and scotchbrite, and then off to the torch and oil vat it went...  actual color is deeper blue than the pics show, as theres some glare... 

 

Edited Saturday at 06:04 PM by bogieboy
Spelling

[Davewn]

I found a couple of cool old MacGregor Iron Master putters this week at the last stop on my tour of local thrift stores.  Judging by the paper underlayment under the leather grips I'm guessing these are from the '50s or early '60s but would welcome a definitive answer from someone in the know.  I love the looks of the gooseneck version, especially the "A" stamped sightline, but unfortunately the sweet spot is microscopic (if it exists at all.) The IM putts very nicely though.

[Palmetto John]

Stopped by a garage sale on the way home from the course.  It appeared to be a hoarder situation, but I immediately spotted some bags of clubs.  Most were junk, but hidden in the back was a set (2-9, 11) of Tourney MT-2 flat backs.  Matching serial numbers, original ‘Tourney Contact’ leather grips, and ceramic face(?).  I believe these are from 1965, but I’ll defer to the experts.  Not bad for $2/club!!  I’d be interested in tips to re-condition the leather grips.  
 

Edited Saturday at 10:58 PM by Palmetto John