Are these Pinseekers classic? Your guess is as good as mine!!

[DeuceFloyd]

I am thoroughly perplexed. Honestly, I have no idea if these clubs belong on this forum or not. I picked them up just yesterday at a thrift store and have been unable to find any significant info on them at all. These are not my usual picks when club shopping, I tend to gravitate to blades and woods, but the metal woods drew me in. Shiny, mostly unblemished, and in a beautiful vintage dark blue Ron Miller leather bag. Most importantly, the price was very very reasonable. I sincerely hope someone can help me out with some info on these things, as I enjoy educating people about my clubs almost as much as I like playing them. I have seen photos of the irons online for sale, but the metal woods are a pure mystery. I probably just don't know where to look. Each club has 3 shaft stickers. 1st sticker is reg.#. Irons have # PI 98160, woods have # PW 92390. 2nd sticker is shaft i.d., Pinseeker T.P.W. Silver Lite Flex/Calibrated. 3rd sticker is American flag with Made In U.S.A.. PLEASE HELP!!

[Bigarch]

They looked nice but I always regarded them as a "knock off" brand. They were meant to look like Ping Eye 2's and Taylormade metal woods which were hugely popular at the time.

 

I will say this...they were a decent looking knock off brand. There's a bunch of them out there but I wouldn't call them a quality brand. Whenever we saw someone with these in the bag, we called them "Pine-Seekers" because the guy playing them usually hit it in the woods a lot.

 

Cool to see a full set of them all together though.

[DeuceFloyd]

They looked nice but I always regarded them as a "knock off" brand. They were meant to look like Ping Eye 2's and Taylormade metal woods which were hugely popular at the time.

 

I will say this...they were a decent looking knock off brand. There's a bunch of them out there but I wouldn't call them a quality brand. Whenever we saw someone with these in the bag, we called them "Pine-Seekers" because the guy playing them usually hit it in the woods a lot.

 

Cool to see a full set of them all together though.

From what little info I can find, it appears as though Pinseeker may have been the first company to offer hollow metal woods. Though TaylorMade gets credit for being first, they apparently were really only the first to successfully market the hollow metal wood. That is if the info is correct. I have hit the clubs and I am not totally disappointed in their performance. Of course, it was barely above freezing when I was hitting them so they were a little clunky as any club would be. I won't have a clear picture of their playability until it warms up. But then, a club doesn't have to perform well for me to enjoy playing a round with it. I like the challenge!

[wkuo3]

They are okay , not a collector's grade I'm afraid.

I remembered when it cam out, one of the guy worked at the golf shop was a beginner golfer and he bought a set.

[rex235]

Deuce-

 

Pinseeker was founded as R&M Golf in the early '70s near Monterrey (Pacific Grove), CA., by John Riley and Jim Murray.

 

The name was changed to Pinseeker in 1975.

 

The Pinseeker metal golf clubs you are showing were among the first stainless steel "woods", and Pinseeker a pioneer in investment casting metal golf clubs instead of using persimmon or wood laminates.

 

Information on the Pinseeker Golf Corporation is listed in the Golf Club ID and Price Guide III, Page 33-1.

 

If you're thinking of defining them as "Classic Clubs" well....

[TimV]

If you're thinking of defining them as "Classic Clubs" well....

 

 

;)

[DeuceFloyd]

Deuce-

 

Pinseeker was founded as R&M Golf in the early '70s near Monterrey (Pacific Grove), CA., by John Riley and Jim Murray.

 

The name was changed to Pinseeker in 1975.

 

The Pinseeker metal golf clubs you are showing were among the first stainless steel "woods", and Pinseeker a pioneer in investment casting metal golf clubs instead of using persimmon or wood laminates.

 

Information on the Pinseeker Golf Corporation is listed in the Golf Club ID and Price Guide III, Page 33-1.

 

If you're thinking of defining them as "Classic Clubs" well....

Well... they are at least 30 years old, so.. I know they don't compare to old Macs or anything, but they are still a significant part of golf history as far as I can tell. The irons maybe not so much, but the metal woods are. Not to mention the things are virtually indestructable! I really appreciate the info and will try to see if I can find some golf guides for future reference.

[DeuceFloyd]

If you're thinking of defining them as "Classic Clubs" well....

 

 

;)

HA!.. thanks for that. Maybe not beautiful, but fun to hang out with anyway.

[kaboboom]

First set I bought new were Pinseeker Classics...investment cast but not cavity backs. Persimmon woods too, but instead of putting in a back screw, it looked like they used a nail gun. Split every one of them down the heel and I was not happy. Took them back, and traded them for some Dunlop laminates. Not great either, but I traded them to a buddy for his son and got his Ping Eye 3 wood. Now, that was a nice club.

[Shallowface]

Pinseeker was a brand that a number of off course shops used to sell new equipment to more value conscious consumers. As a friend in the business told me, "if you come into the shop wearing jeans, we'll steer you toward Cougars. If you're wearing dress slacks, we'll steer you toward Pinseekers."

 

They weren't bad clubs at all. Of course they aren't classics as commonly defined here (forged chrome plated muscle back blades and persimmon woods). But I know I find myself increasingly interested in the game improvement clubs of the 80s and 90s. The era before all of the slots, screws and stickers.

 

The black and white ad below is from 1977.

 

 

[Shallowface]

An interesting read.

 

http://articles.lati..._golf-equipment

 

Looking through my catalogs brought back a lot of memories of hours spent in the local shops that carried these clubs. I had forgotten how many models they offered, from forged and cast blades to persimmon and graphite headed woods to one of the first commercially available long putters to hollow headed irons.

 

I wouldn't characterize them as a knockoff company at all. They offered a full line of products, many of which had their own unique look. I had a few of their metal woods back then and actually liked them better than the Taylor Mades. The false insert and overall shape looked better to my eye.

 

I'll never forget going to the local shop with an eye on a set of Golden Ram blades. Now, while I had on dress slacks, they weren't green Sansabelts so the salesman was pretty sure the Rams were a poor fit. He had me compare them to a Pinseeker 350 RS, an iron with a small cavity and a flanged sole. Not a bad looking club, but certainly not a classic blade. I did hit the Pinseeker 5 iron further than the Ram, as it was 4 degrees stronger and a half inch longer (of course the salesman didn't know I knew that), but as it turned out I didn't buy either one of them. Those sales guys are a big reason why I prefer to buy my clubs at Goodwill.

 

Today, Pinseeker is a house brand at Worldwide Golf Shops (Roger Dunn, Edwin Watts, etc.), and their offerings are down to a wedge and a chipper.

[DeuceFloyd]

Pinseeker was a brand that a number of off course shops used to sell new equipment to more value conscious consumers. As a friend in the business told me, "if you come into the shop wearing jeans, we'll steer you toward Cougars. If you're wearing dress slacks, we'll steer you toward Pinseekers."

 

They weren't bad clubs at all. Of course they aren't classics as commonly defined here (forged chrome plated muscle back blades and persimmon woods). But I know I find myself increasingly interested in the game improvement clubs of the 80s and 90s. The era before all of the slots, screws and stickers.

 

The black and white ad below is from 1977.

 

 

Thanks a bunch Shallowface!! This is exactly what I was hoping for when I posted this. Of course, I may owe the community an apology for putting these newfangled clubs on here. I was thinking they were a little bit older than that. But hey, I still think they are neat clubs. The one thing I'm still curious about is the "Power Ports". I'm guessing they allowed an individual to adjust the weight of the clubhead. Really interesting stuff. Thanks again. I love this community!

[Shallowface]

Pinseeker was a brand that a number of off course shops used to sell new equipment to more value conscious consumers. As a friend in the business told me, "if you come into the shop wearing jeans, we'll steer you toward Cougars. If you're wearing dress slacks, we'll steer you toward Pinseekers."

 

They weren't bad clubs at all. Of course they aren't classics as commonly defined here (forged chrome plated muscle back blades and persimmon woods). But I know I find myself increasingly interested in the game improvement clubs of the 80s and 90s. The era before all of the slots, screws and stickers.

 

The black and white ad below is from 1977.

 

 

Thanks a bunch Shallowface!! This is exactly what I was hoping for when I posted this. Of course, I may owe the community an apology for putting these newfangled clubs on here. I was thinking they were a little bit older than that. But hey, I still think they are neat clubs. The one thing I'm still curious about is the "Power Ports". I'm guessing they allowed an individual to adjust the weight of the clubhead. Really interesting stuff. Thanks again. I love this community!

 

You are welcome!

 

And no, you don't owe anyone here an apology. This is the best group of folks on the Internet!

 

You are right about the Power Ports. One could use lead or tungsten powder to add a bit of weight if desired. The very first TaylorMades had those ports as well. I noticed back then (and I have no idea why this would be the case) that metal woods that had those ports tended to develop that rattle that indicates the internal foam these heads all contained had come loose. Not that heads without the port were immune to the rattle. It just seemed those with the ports tended to have it happen more often. Perhaps that's why TaylorMade did away with the ports. But other companies used them throughout the 80s and into the 90s.

 

The very first TaylorMade woods were sold with a "lifetime guarantee." Wonder what would happen if someone had one of those with the original receipt and tried to make a warranty claim today?

[mattybarks]

Pinseeker was a brand that a number of off course shops used to sell new equipment to more value conscious consumers. As a friend in the business told me, "if you come into the shop wearing jeans, we'll steer you toward Cougars. If you're wearing dress slacks, we'll steer you toward Pinseekers."

 

They weren't bad clubs at all. Of course they aren't classics as commonly defined here (forged chrome plated muscle back blades and persimmon woods). But I know I find myself increasingly interested in the game improvement clubs of the 80s and 90s. The era before all of the slots, screws and stickers.

 

The black and white ad below is from 1977.

 

 

 

I know this thread is several months old, but it brings back some great memories.

 

My first full set of "adult" clubs were a MacGregor persimmon-headed driver and two fairway woods (3 & 5), along with the a set of MacGregor MT irons and an old Ping putter. The bag was cream-colored canvas with brown leather trim and green knitted headcovers my mother made when I was 13. The clubs were hand-me-downs from my father. In the summer months, my mother would drive me to the course and I'd play 36 holes if I didn't have a baseball game that night.

 

Fast-forward four years later and I'm 17 working at a golf shop making $4.00 an hour, and still playing with those old clubs. One day when golfing with my boss, my old driver started to crack. When I came into work the next day, he hooked me up with a full set of the Pinseekers...the Bombshell driver and fairway woods and the T.P.W. irons. He even threw in a new bag and headcovers. I loved those clubs. Played them in high school and college and cut several strokes from my game.

 

Sure, I wanted the Ping Eye 2's, but couldn't afford them on my meager salary. Plus, they were very hard to come by. I think our store maybe got 5 sets a month, and they were out the door as soon as we got them.

[elwhippy]

Pinseeker was a bargain priced brand in the UK. Poor quality to boot.

[BIG STU]

They looked nice but I always regarded them as a "knock off" brand. They were meant to look like Ping Eye 2's and Taylormade metal woods which were hugely popular at the time.

 

I will say this...they were a decent looking knock off brand. There's a bunch of them out there but I wouldn't call them a quality brand. Whenever we saw someone with these in the bag, we called them "Pine-Seekers" because the guy playing them usually hit it in the woods a lot.

 

Cool to see a full set of them all together though.

I had a Pinseeker 1 iron that was BECU. And yep it was a EYE2 clone but man was it long. Longer than the real EYE2 I was carrying at the time. The only problem was with it I kept collapsing shafts at the tip> I am not talking about any KBS C Tapers either. I collapsed at least 4 different types of shafts in that thing including a real Ping shaft from the before mentioned Eye2 1 iron. No one could figure it out then and I myself did not know about clubs like I do now. Figured it out a couple of years back when I saw one in a thrift store. It all had to do with the hosel length and depth. Between me being a big strong hitter at the time and the hardness of the BECU the shaft at a shallow depth had no chance

[farmer]

As an active brag, I broke the face on a Pinseeker driver.

[birly-shirly]

Pinseeker was a bargain priced brand in the UK. Poor quality to boot.

 

Max Faulkner Pinseekers were my very first irons. Probably not the finest set of clubs available, but I learned to play all the same.

 

As an active brag, I broke the face on a Pinseeker driver.

 

I believe the done thing would be to rephrase that as an apparent complaint about the quality of the face you broke, and hey-presto, that can be a passive brag!

[Wriggles]

Your set of clubs is as classic as any other vintage club out there.

 

Nice set. Enjoy!

[Jiggered]

Pinseeker was a bargain priced brand in the UK. Poor quality to boot.

 

They were a model of Harold Bird & Sons (several models in fact, see below), I always wondered if there was any connection to the American Pinseeker name?

 

Max Faulkner Pinsseker (LH also)

Pinseeker

Pinseeker Avenger Model

Pinseeker International

Pinseeker Mk II (LH also)

Pinseeker Plus

Pinseeker Pro Model

Pinseeker Pro Mk II

Pinseeker Tour Classic

Pinseeker Tour Model

Pinseeker Tournament Model

Pinseeker World Tour

[BIG STU]

As an active brag, I broke the face on a Pinseeker driver.

Besides that before mentioned Pinseeker 1 iron I have cracked 3 drivers. One was my beloved Blonde Power Bilt that I played for 13 years. My first metal wood was a small headed Founders Club Judge with an S 400 steel. Cracked it along the rails on the bottom but found out later through a pro friend of mine that those were prone to cracking with a stiff steel shaft. About 12 years ago now I cracked the whole crown on a Adams driver with a Pro Force 65 Gold. Now I doubt I could crack an egg

[augustgolf]

As an active brag, I broke the face on a Pinseeker driver.

Besides that before mentioned Pinseeker 1 iron I have cracked 3 drivers. One was my beloved Blonde Power Bilt that I played for 13 years. My first metal wood was a small headed Founders Club Judge with an S 400 steel. Cracked it along the rails on the bottom but found out later through a pro friend of mine that those were prone to cracking with a stiff steel shaft. About 12 years ago now I cracked the whole crown on a Adams driver with a Pro Force 65 Gold. Now I doubt I could crack an egg

 

I'm so old, it's hard for me to crack a smile

 

 

[philipkkan]

I know this is a really old thread, but hoping someone can give me the specs on these clubs. Ideally loft, lie, length, etc. Thanks!