Forgotten Golf Manufacturers

[Christen_The_Sloop]

>Sounders are pretty sweet - I have the SB IV 3-SW... The long irons are suberb, mid irons down are solids too.

>Dunlop/Maxfli made a long list of great irons - underrated as all hell, especially - http://golf.dunlop.co.jp/clublibrary/iron/lib_ir_prm_dp201.html

>Founders 200 series might be the pinnacle of 1990s blades

>Daiwa was a great brand too, now it lives under a pretty fitting name ONOFF (just like my golf swing)

>The TNTs mentioned earlier were the first set I ever used. The gnarliest square grooves ever concieved. There are still a few clubs from that set in my dad's garage.

 

I came a little late to the party. Hard to think of any more worth mentioning...

[Medic]

Kroydon

 

Found some of these while emptying out attic of an old house. They looked very old, like from the 50's. They looked pretty good, but my hunch is they weren't considered one of the premium brands.

 

Was one of my first sets back in the early 80's. Funny thing - I knew nothing about fitting and such. The set was used and the original owner was like 5'3". I am 6'2". No wonder I had a difficult time hitting them.

[Guia]

Fenwick. I believe they made irons with their shafts in the early 1970's. Fenwick of course made fishing rods and didn't stay in the golf world very long.

[JD3]

Pelz, I think doesn't make clubs any more, just training aids

[EKELLY]

The "forgotten" chose not to participate in the high dollar marketing/advertising game, thus ending their future.The funny thing is, some of those companies built the best clubs. The Wilson's, Hogan's, MacGregors, Maxfli (Australian Blades), etc, were the blueprint for todays irons, ESPECIALLY the wedges........

[Cajun Hacker]

My first decent clubs were custom-fitted in 1994 from Dallas Golf. I think they are Ping Eye 2 or Zing knockoffs, perhaps from Golfsmith (so maybe not really a forgotten manufacturer). Anyone ever heard of these Texas Star clubs?

[hardcorelooper]

I'll start with Sounder. Apparently made a nice forging. Seve used their blades.

 

 

I played the Seve Ballesteros Tour Limited persimmon driver all through high school. Great club.

[hef63303]

Didn't the same company that made (makes?) the Louisville Slugger bats also make some golf clubs for a short time?

 

Louisville Golf, still around.

Louisville Golf was not associated with Louisville Slugger.

[hardcorelooper]

Would love to see RAM make a comeback... I loved their clubs growing up

 

Watson Scoring System wedges FTW

[HoganApexBlades]

Didn't the same company that made (makes?) the Louisville Slugger bats also make some golf clubs for a short time?

 

Louisville Golf, still around.

Louisville Golf was not associated with Louisville Slugger.

 

H&B a/k/a Hillerich and Bradsby Co. owned the Louisville slugger line and also produced the Power/Bilt line of golf clubs. They were based in Louisville, KY and ironically, Elmore Just started working @ H&B right out of college.

[hardcorelooper]

How about the Austad's house brand - the Senator? I'll never forget those old metalwoods with the giant plastic insert in the back. Wish I could find a pic. When I was little, I used to love looking at dad's Austad's catalogs.

[Davewn]

Fenwick. I believe they made irons with their shafts in the early 1970's. Fenwick of course made fishing rods and didn't stay in the golf world very long.

 

Speaking of fishing companies dabbling in golf, there is a rough set of Shakespeare blades with fiberglass shafts at one the local thrifts. G. Loomis provided graphite shafts for Wood Brothers (among others) in the 90s as well.

[JD3]

Fenwick. I believe they made irons with their shafts in the early 1970's. Fenwick of course made fishing rods and didn't stay in the golf world very long.

 

Speaking of fishing companies dabbling in golf, there is a rough set of Shakespeare blades with fiberglass shafts at one the local thrifts. G. Loomis provided graphite shafts for Wood Brothers (among others) in the 90s as well.

i was going to nominate G Loomis earlier, but I looked and theyre still around. Way back in the day I remember that being the first graphite I really took a liking too...heavier and stouter than others at the time, but still had some feel. Kind of like a Speeder 757/Diamana predessor...(but for some reason they kept breaking near the hosel).

 

Anyway according to their website their iron shafts are still #1 all time

 

http://www.loomisgolf.com/

[tommaso05]

They've been mentioned already, but Teardrop putters. I remember I had 1, thought it was great, then the more I played with it the more I realized the "roll-face" made it a real SOB to aim correctly and get started on-line so I sold it.

[gpleonard]

Zevo

[propman]

Might have already been mentioned = Harrison shafts. and Harmon shafts.

[JD3]

Might have already been mentioned = Harrison shafts. and Harmon shafts.

its funny some of these shaft OEMs you dont hear from anymore still have decent websites like Harrison and Loomis

[wishbone]

I played my best golf with Powerbilt woods and Lynx irons. Still have them.

 

Although I think of all of my iron sets over the years, the Lynx were my second favorite behind the Wilson Button Backs I started with.

[gs1184]

Bridgestone Precept. One of the first solid multilayer ball Tour Premium.

 

Remember the Nike Tour Accuracy was the Precept Tour Premium??

[gazzroberts]

Ram, Lynx, Sonartec, Cubic Balance

 

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this but Lynx are making a comeback. They've recently reformed and are making some seriously good clubs! http://www.lynxgolf.co.uk/

[NRJyzr]

Bridgestone Precept. One of the first solid multilayer ball Tour Premium.

 

Remember the Nike Tour Accuracy was the Precept Tour Premium??

 

Precept was a Bridgestone product line. They're not really a "forgotten manufacturer." :)

[Caddimaster]

Some of the old clubs I have had, Gary player with fiberglass shafts, ram with aluminum shafts.many more I cannot remember, but the first pro line ones I had which I got in 1960 after saving for mounts were Wilson x31 ..i also had some Wilson sam Snead clubs, the company I worked for had there own employee store witch had golf clubs, guns, fishing gear , ball gloves and bats etch..

The Gary Player Drivers had Shakespeare Graphite shafts- they were the first graphite shafts I could remember. I also remember the aluminum shafts.

 

Anyone remember Honeycomb irons? They were cavity backs with a honeycomb insert.

 

My dad had these in the late 60's - early 70's.

[overparfornow]

When I first started custom fitting clubs in the early 80's, I bought all my components from a company called Tour Golf Products. They carried some quality stuff. Louisville persimmon woods and very good knockoffs of all the current clubs at that time. They just went out of business a few years ago. Even had berillium copper Ping knockoffs.

[ccce]

Estusa used to make some nice irons and I haven't seen them mentioned.

[bdails]

>Sounders are pretty sweet - I have the SB IV 3-SW... The long irons are suberb, mid irons down are solids too.

>Dunlop/Maxfli made a long list of great irons - underrated as all hell, especially - http://golf.dunlop.co.jp/clublibrary/iron/lib_ir_prm_dp201.html

>Founders 200 series might be the pinnacle of 1990s blades

>Daiwa was a great brand too, now it lives under a pretty fitting name ONOFF (just like my golf swing)

>The TNTs mentioned earlier were the first set I ever used. The gnarliest square grooves ever concieved. There are still a few clubs from that set in my dad's garage.

 

I came a little late to the party. Hard to think of any more worth mentioning...

 

I have a set of SBIV blades that I played for a few years. Great sticks.

Will likely list them on the BST for someone looking to give them a new lease on life (and possibly get them refinished)

 

Great thread, by the way!

 

 

[theshadow1971]

Ram, Lynx, Sonartec, Cubic Balance

 

I'm not sure if someone has already mentioned this but Lynx are making a comeback. They've recently reformed and are making some seriously good clubs! http://www.lynxgolf.co.uk/

 

 

Lynx never left and are making great clubs for ages.

 

http://www.lynx-golf.jp

[theshadow1971]

>Sounders are pretty sweet - I have the SB IV 3-SW... The long irons are suberb, mid irons down are solids too.

>Dunlop/Maxfli made a long list of great irons - underrated as all hell, especially - http://golf.dunlop.c..._prm_dp201.html

>Founders 200 series might be the pinnacle of 1990s blades

>Daiwa was a great brand too, now it lives under a pretty fitting name ONOFF (just like my golf swing)

>The TNTs mentioned earlier were the first set I ever used. The gnarliest square grooves ever concieved. There are still a few clubs from that set in my dad's garage.

 

I came a little late to the party. Hard to think of any more worth mentioning...

 

I have a set of SBIV blades that I played for a few years. Great sticks.

Will likely list them on the BST for someone looking to give them a new lease on life (and possibly get them refinished)

 

Great thread, by the way!

 

Daiwa still makes golf clubs available in Japan check on Rakuten.

[BigBod]

Some of the old clubs I have had, Gary player with fiberglass shafts, ram with aluminum shafts.many more I cannot remember, but the first pro line ones I had which I got in 1960 after saving for mounts were Wilson x31 ..i also had some Wilson sam Snead clubs, the company I worked for had there own employee store witch had golf clubs, guns, fishing gear , ball gloves and bats etch..

 

I remember the aluminium shaft company 'Easton' they did quite well for a while. While I'm on shafts, what about Fenwick, way ahead of their time IMO..and Jordan shafts with the polymer core..

[BigBod]

Sundridge Clubs, Brian Barnes used to play them. They were awful heads, cast and rock hard. He used to bring them in to loft an lie and I snapped 4 in one set, he did want them bent a long way though...lol...

[BigBod]

Fenwick. I believe they made irons with their shafts in the early 1970's. Fenwick of course made fishing rods and didn't stay in the golf world very long.

 

Fenwick had their 'Modality Synchronization' system for checking shafts, an early kind of pureing I guess. The best known model would have been the 'World Class' series. Classy looking shafts at the time.