The Death of Spalding Golf

[cold_war_era_golfer]

Speaking of Jay Hebert...

 

Here's Billy Casper eying his golf bag during the 1961 Ryder Cup.  In the forefront is Jay Hebert's bag.  I'd wager those are '59-60 or '61 TF Spaldings in his bag.   

 

[Soulstargurl]

On 2/13/2023 at 3:34 PM, cold_war_era_golfer said:

Not custom made for Jay Hebert.  They were in the Spalding catalog for at least two years.  Here are pages from the 1964 and 1965 catalog.  Not sure if you would consider them store line.  But they $84 where as the Professional models went for $154   I've been on the look out for a set of these for about a year now.  Nice find.

 

 

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I am beyond obsessed with them. Thank you for the cool catalog pics! I’m on the hunt for more vintage clubs because the style factor just does it for me. Only problem is I want them to be cut down to my size so I can play them 😂. Gotta find the complete set of woods and missing irons and then I can go about my life peacefully. I will say that I’m one of the luckiest people when it comes to thrifting. If I find anything else out in the wild, I’ll be sure to let you know. 🙏🏽

[Soulstargurl]

On 2/13/2023 at 3:37 PM, cold_war_era_golfer said:

Speaking of Jay Hebert...

 

Here's Billy Casper eying his golf bag during the 1961 Ryder Cup.  In the forefront is Jay Hebert's bag.  I'd wager those are '59-60 or '61 TF Spaldings in his bag.   

 

The first thing I did was look up Jay Hebert, and Johnny Potts (since there’s a Personal Model iron that came with my set). Such cool history. I want to get them cleaned up and revived, not sure if you know of anyone who works on these and is trustworthy to send them off to.

[cold_war_era_golfer]

14 hours ago, Soulstargurl said:

The first thing I did was look up Jay Hebert, and Johnny Potts (since there’s a Personal Model iron that came with my set). Such cool history. I want to get them cleaned up and revived, not sure if you know of anyone who works on these and is trustworthy to send them off to.

I recently learned about Jay Hebert myself.  These guys were all way before my time but I find the history of golf and golfers fascinating.   Good luck filling in the missing pieces of the Hebert set!  The hunt is half the fun.

[Shallowface]

There is a famous blooper where a TV announcer said, "Johnny Tee is on the Pott...I'm sorry...Johnny Pott is on the tee."

[cold_war_era_golfer]

Here's legendary Illinois born golfer Bob Goalby with what I'm making an educated guess at is a 1961-62 Top Flite Synchro Dyned.

 

[Soulstargurl]

On 2/18/2023 at 8:32 AM, cold_war_era_golfer said:

Here's legendary Illinois born golfer Bob Goalby with what I'm making an educated guess at is a 1961-62 Top Flite Synchro Dyned.

 

So many cool clubs made in that time frame. 

[bullrambler]

Some of my best golf was played with Spalding Bird on Ball irons from circa 1985 or so. They were the smaller heads and were quite similiar to the irons that Greg Norman played. I'll try and come back and post a pic of these and one or two more Spalding sets.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by bullrambler
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[DCCarpenter]

There is a nice set of the Jay Hebert irons and woods near me with a cool bag. Considering buying them. I saw no mention of shaft flex in those ads.

 

Since they were store line safe to assume they were all sold as regular flex ? Or were they sold in senior/reg/stiff similar to the old Wilson’s ? 

[SnowbirdTom]

On 9/9/2023 at 4:03 PM, DCCarpenter said:

There is a nice set of the Jay Hebert irons and woods near me with a cool bag. Considering buying them. I saw no mention of shaft flex in those ads.

 

Since they were store line safe to assume they were all sold as regular flex ? Or were they sold in senior/reg/stiff similar to the old Wilson’s ? 

Odds are, regular flex.  That’s what I’ve seen in several store line sets I own.  

[cold_war_era_golfer]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:03 PM, DCCarpenter said:

There is a nice set of the Jay Hebert irons and woods near me with a cool bag. Considering buying them. I saw no mention of shaft flex in those ads.

 

Since they were store line safe to assume they were all sold as regular flex ? Or were they sold in senior/reg/stiff similar to the old Wilson’s ? 

Let us know if you get them.  That's one store line set I would like to eventually obtain.  

[cold_war_era_golfer]

Thought I'd share here Lanny and Bruce both talk about playing Spalding irons.  Briefly.  

https://www.forethegoodofthegame.com/lanny-wadkins-part-1/

 

Another podcast where Al Geiberger and Dave Stockton will briefly mention how consistently well built Spalding irons were in their heyday   

https://larrybaush.substack.com/p/the-tour-backspin-interview-with#details

 

 

[cold_war_era_golfer]

I picked these up last week but I felt this was a good place to share them as well.  1966-68.  Good enough for Bruce Devlin. 

[LeftyMac]

The small Bird on Ball irons are close to the prettiest blades ever made.  I have cleaned up a couple of sets for friends and they really are a work of art.