SLAZENGER VINTAGE BLADES

LeftyMac · October 20, 2021

Oliver_t_s,

Do you have any photos?

Jiggered · October 20, 2021

On 10/14/2021 at 5:11 PM, oliver_t_s said:

About 5 years ago I found a LH set of '+ Slazenger by Jack Nicklaus' irons in New Zealand. They are lovely blades. I guess they are from the late 70s. Anybody know anything about them? Are they perhaps related to the 'Plus International' series mentioned in this thread?

I'm guessing you mean these irons? They came out around 1968.

The "+" is a bit confusing on the Slazenger range but this is what I've found so far.

It was initially stamped on the sole of the club and indicated a stronger loft, as with these Slazenger Bobby Locke irons from the early 1960s which have lofts a club stronger than typical for this time.

It then seems to have started to be used on their better quality clubs as per your above "+ Slazenger".

This was followed by the Slazenger Plus Jack Nicklaus as below from and a couple of years later when the Plus was becoming more prominent, there was an almost identical Jean Donald version of this club.

The Plus then seemed to become a range on its own (with the International being one of the first models) and it was a high end club for Slazenger.

But as time went on the Plus model became a cheaper entry level club and seems to have disappeared some time around the 1990s or early 2000s, below are a few of these cheaper designs.

oliver_t_s · October 23, 2021

This is my six iron, LeftyMac. Thanks Jiggered for your commendable account. So I was out by a decade. It was a quite a thing the day I found them - they were in a basket with a whole lot of other clubs and tennis racquets and so on and I plucked out one iron at a time. Elated when I realized the set was complete. The grips were gone so had them re-gripped. The pro asked why would I bother with such old clubs although he did eventually say that they were indeed excellent irons 'back in the day'. First time playing blades and struggled a little the first few weeks but they started singing after a while. This is an enjoyable thread. Next month intend to visit Santander/Pedreña, Spain - where the great Seve hailed from.

oliver_t_s · October 23, 2021

That figures about the relatively strongish lofts. Had been gaming Dunlop Max 375 irons from the I think early 80s and the Slazengers went almost as far.

Kernownelly · February 2, 2022

On 9/25/2019 at 9:16 AM, anr59 said:

Thanks to all for your comments,

Time goes so fast. Since March 2016, my Slazenger iron set collection has got bigger:

- Slazenger Challenge, Plus, Progrind, Royal Panther, Seve Blades, Signature, Supremo, Supremo TP, TPM, XT-20, XTC and last but not least SB-02 (stiff shaft like Ballesteros) ... still missing the 276 iron set of my youth. I was lucky also to get a full set of Embassador woods (1,2,3,4,5) which were in their original packaging and new... for 15 £.

- I also bought a few vintage Titleist iron sets, which are very easy to play: Titleist 775 CB, DCI 990, ZB.

- I also got some other vintage but so nice clubs like Ben Hogan Edge, Dunlop Autralian blades, Tommy Armour 845S (graphite).

- Some of those old iron sets behave like new ones, not much difference except the sweetness when you hit the ball, otherwise distance and precision are not so different despite what manufacturers say.

- Every weekend I play with a different iron set for fun (same feeling than driving a vintage car).

- I will retire within 2,5 years in Finland and guess what I will do ... play with vintage clubs nearly every day.

- Best regards to all,

A.

i know that this is an old topic, however do you or anyone know any further details about the XT-20 irons? I have a set that i bought as heads only about 6 years ago. All I can gather is they are Japan forged and a rumour that they may be a Miura forge. Apparently Sports Direct (owners of Slazenger) tried to make a pro model iron and the XT-20 is it, however the never made it to retail? Any details on truths to this or the actual truth would be amazing as trying to research or a Youtube channel that I am part of.