Classic club players/collectors, is your collection focused?

[Bigarch]

I really haven't added much this year.  I think because I find most of my stuff in thrift stores and I've tried to not go out much during the pandemic.  I can't wait for things to return to normal so I can get out of the house every once in awhile and scavenge.  The list of this year's finds is pretty short:

1 set of 3-P Faultless Lee Trevino models found on Facebook

1 set of 3-P Ping Eye 2's that I plan on flipping on Ebay

1 George Izett driver that I want to have professionally refinished and keep

1 Mac Ben Hogan Texan 3 wood that needs a refinish bad and I can't decide what to do with it

1 Spalding Cash-In Putter

[Fairway14]

On 12/2/2020 at 7:53 AM, coldwareragolfer said:

  Focused mostly on 1963-1968 Staffs and 1984-1989.  I feel those all share similar DNA and I enjoy the way they look, feel, and sound.  

 

 

 

 

Cool !

[Swingingk]

Interesting topic.  I love how old threads pop up all the time here and we just flow back into it.

 

My collecting tends to gravitate toward complete irons sets and complete bag setups, and much of it is late 60's throught the 80's.  Mostly I guess I like playable blade iron sets and I try to make them 1-SW if possible.  I do like Wilson Staff and my hoard reflects that although any classic blades are welcome at my place.

 

For me collecting golf clubs started as a cheap way to find what my game needed and try different equipment.  I now limit my purchasing to garage sales, thrift stores, and local classifieds.  I used to do a lot of ePay but the shipping killed me being in Canada so now I limit that to filling out incomplete sets or the odd thing I really want.

 

I collect a lot if things and I find that when I begin an interest in something I tend to gather as much stuff as I can and pare it down to my specific needs and likes as time passes and my knowledge of the subject grows.  So with golf I went from zero to about 50 woods and maybe 200 irons to what is now a sensible 30 woods and 150 irons.  Haha!

[Brewski_golfs]

I’m a newbie vintage collector so I don’t have a huge collection (yet), but in general I gravitate towards forged blades from 50’s through 90’s,  any good persimmons I can find, and ping putters.  The first vintage set I ever bought was a partial set set of ‘65 first flight golden eagles I found at goodwill for 50 cents each, and it’s been expanding ever since.   I do have a special affinity for vintage Wilson staff, my favorite set ever was my FG51’s that I have regretted selling for many years.  

[taiwangolfer]

I’m focused on 1967 and later MacGregor Forgings because that’s what I grew up playing 🙂

 

 

[thepunch_out]

Just a quick shot to show the range of my collection. Up front is a 1939 MacGregor/Tommy Armour - Penna Model, which I believe to be the first MacGregor club to bear Toney Penna's name. It's a unique club at that, designed with a longer neck that was spliced below the whipping. Next, is a Wood Brothers Texan model driver. I included this club because they produced arguably the highest quality persimmon instruments of all time. Finally, my most modern driver is a National Custom/Tad Moore - George Bayer model replica. This driver is quite deep at 1-7/8" and is a great replica of a MacGregor classic crafted from the original turning.

[raggal62]

11 hours ago, thepunch_out said:

Just a quick shot to show the range of my collection. Up front is a 1939 MacGregor/Tommy Armour - Penna Model, which I believe to be the first MacGregor club to bear Toney Penna's name. It's a unique club at that, designed with a longer neck that was spliced below the whipping. Next, is a Wood Brothers Texan model driver. I included this club because they produced arguably the highest quality persimmon instruments of all time. Finally, my most modern driver is a National Custom/Tad Moore - George Bayer model replica. This driver is quite deep at 1-7/8" and is a great replica of a MacGregor classic crafted from the original turning.

Thanks for sharing. That Penna is superb. I'm very jealous!

[thepunch_out]

7 hours ago, raggal62 said:

Thanks for sharing. That Penna is superb. I'm very jealous!

Here's a few more shots with the rest of the set. They're definitely one of my favorite sets in my collection. Like I said previously, I believe they are the first MacGregor club to bear Penna's name. More importantly, 1939 would be one of the last years MacGregor production would remain unaffected by the war effort for WWII. They don't have the original shafts anymore, but the heads are a remarkable example of a persimmon from this era. 

[deejaid]

Lovely woods there @thepunch_out

[golfunderpar18]

Not sure how focused this is :)..... posted this on Facebook also.  Just started to inventory my wood brothers.   Might be a few others in my other bags.   Latest count is 25.  14 drivers, 11 fairway instruments.   Drivers include 11 Texans, 2 all Americans amd 1 all japan.  2 texan tour models, one with brass sole plate, with WB on skirt.  One WB on crown, an all japan, 2 all Americans, one custom with no loft, one dick meckley DM19, a tour model 9 degree, 3 walnut 10 degree, 1 blonde and one honey.  11 fairway instruments including 6 three woods (2 are tour models, one is an all American), 3 four woods (one rarer earlier model), and 2 five woods (one is an all American).

[deejaid]

22 minutes ago, golfunderpar18 said:

Not sure how focused this is :)..... posted this on Facebook also.  Just started to inventory my wood brothers.   Might be a few others in my other bags.   Latest count is 25.  14 drivers, 11 fairway instruments.   Drivers include 11 Texans, 2 all Americans amd 1 all japan.  2 texan tour models, one with brass sole plate, with WB on skirt.  One WB on crown, an all japan, 2 all Americans, one custom with no loft, one dick meckley DM19, a tour model 9 degree, 3 walnut 10 degree, 1 blonde and one honey.  11 fairway instruments including 6 three woods (2 are tour models, one is an all American), 3 four woods (one rarer earlier model), and 2 five woods (one is an all American).

Wow!  No wonder I’ve never had one of these, you’ve cornered the market!   Very nice.

 

[golfunderpar18]

18 minutes ago, deejaid said:

Wow!  No wonder I’ve never had one of these, you’ve cornered the market!   Very nice.

 

Are you a member of the persimmon golf society on Facebook? One member there has 100ish of pretty much every model ever made.  

[deejaid]

1 hour ago, golfunderpar18 said:

Are you a member of the persimmon golf society on Facebook? One member there has 100ish of pretty much every model ever made.  

No unfortunately.    I just don’t want to support Facebook by giving them my info.   It stinks because I’d like to be part of the Persimmon Golf Society.

[Foozle]

2 hours ago, golfunderpar18 said:

Not sure how focused this is :)..... posted this on Facebook also.  Just started to inventory my wood brothers.   Might be a few others in my other bags.   Latest count is 25.  14 drivers, 11 fairway instruments.   Drivers include 11 Texans, 2 all Americans amd 1 all japan.  2 texan tour models, one with brass sole plate, with WB on skirt.  One WB on crown, an all japan, 2 all Americans, one custom with no loft, one dick meckley DM19, a tour model 9 degree, 3 walnut 10 degree, 1 blonde and one honey.  11 fairway instruments including 6 three woods (2 are tour models, one is an all American), 3 four woods (one rarer earlier model), and 2 five woods (one is an all American).

Wow! 😍

[Swingingk]

2 hours ago, deejaid said:

No unfortunately.    I just don’t want to support Facebook by giving them my info.   It stinks because I’d like to be part of the Persimmon Golf Society.

Your not missing much in my opinion.  It's ok I guess but it's no GolfWRX.  It's kind of like another "No new acquisitions?" thread.  From what I can tell it's one looooong list of postings which is difficult to go back very far into.  Just my opinion of course - take it for what it is.  I'm not a Facebook fan by any means.

[golfunderpar18]

1 hour ago, Swingingk said:

Your not missing much in my opinion.  It's ok I guess but it's no GolfWRX.  It's kind of like another "No new acquisitions?" thread.  From what I can tell it's one looooong list of postings which is difficult to go back very far into.  Just my opinion of course - take it for what it is.  I'm not a Facebook fan by any means.

There is very little traffic here on classic / vintage clubs.  The persimmon golf society isn’t golfwrx.  There is so much knowledge there from the active membership to help when ever you need it.  Facebook is Facebook - and I hate it too.  Functionality wise it’s gotten worse so totally agree with you there.  I’ve been a member there for 1.5 years.   Have connected with many (texting info about clubs, sharing knowledge, photos etc) and also met some offline in person to golf together, share collection etc...,     This past week I connected a golfwrx member who had been struggling for days  to find info about some vintage clubs.   An hour after posting he had a dozen or so folks provide input and valuable info.  You wouldn’t get that here on golfwrx. 

[Swingingk]

54 minutes ago, golfunderpar18 said:

There is very little traffic here on classic / vintage clubs.  The persimmon golf society isn’t golfwrx.  There is so much knowledge there from the active membership to help when ever you need it.  Facebook is Facebook - and I hate it too.  Functionality wise it’s gotten worse so totally agree with you there.  I’ve been a member there for 1.5 years.   Have connected with many (texting info about clubs, sharing knowledge, photos etc) and also met some offline in person to golf together, share collection etc...,     This past week I connected a golfwrx member who had been struggling for days  to find info about some vintage clubs.   An hour after posting he had a dozen or so folks provide input and valuable info.  You wouldn’t get that here on golfwrx. 

Alright, fair enough.  Perhaps I just haven't given it a chance.  I've been prowling around there for a bit and it doesn't seem to have any kind of organization or categories - just a long list of posts which is difficult for me to stay on top of.  I must admit to being a Facebook ludite though so if there is a way to weed through all content in a meaningful way I'd be open to advise.  Show me the way brother golfunderpar18!  ☺

[Jiggered]

1 hour ago, Swingingk said:

Alright, fair enough.  Perhaps I just haven't given it a chance.  I've been prowling around there for a bit and it doesn't seem to have any kind of organization or categories - just a long list of posts which is difficult for me to stay on top of.  I must admit to being a Facebook ludite though so if there is a way to weed through all content in a meaningful way I'd be open to advise.  Show me the way brother golfunderpar18!  ☺

 

I'm on the PGS too and agree with your comment about the lack of post organisation being a right pain in the butt, it's difficult to find things posted just a week or two back and because of that stuff does get lost and so repeated. 

But at the same time that very lack of structure can work in its favour, things are posted up haphazard and you tend to see them whether interested or not, some of that stuff might not have caught your eye on WRX and so have been missed.

There is a search function but it can pull up a lot of rubbish as well as the occasional piece of relevant information.

 

It's swings and roundabouts, I frequent both sites and find they each have a lot to offer; WRX because of its structure and some of the long running threads, PGS because of its spontaneity and fast moving response to questions.

[Swingingk]

12 minutes ago, Jiggered said:

 

I'm on the PGS too and agree with your comment about the lack of post organisation being a right pain in the butt, it's difficult to find things posted just a week or two back and because of that stuff does get lost and so repeated. 

But at the same time that very lack of structure can work in its favour, things are posted up haphazard and you tend to see them whether interested or not, some of that stuff might not have caught your eye on WRX and so have been missed.

There is a search function but it can pull up a lot of rubbish as well as the occasional piece of relevant information.

 

It's swings and roundabouts, I frequent both sites and find they each have a lot to offer; WRX because of its structure and some of the long running threads, PGS because of its spontaneity and fast moving response to questions.

Thanks for the feedback Jiggered.  Yours is a good way of looking at it.  I can see PGS being good for immediate gratification which is nice when you just want to browse and not get really into a subject.   It does seem to be missing the conversational aspect of things that I enjoy here though.  I joined up anyway so I guess I'll give it some more effort and see how it goes.  Thanks!

[golfunderpar18]

9 hours ago, Swingingk said:

Alright, fair enough.  Perhaps I just haven't given it a chance.  I've been prowling around there for a bit and it doesn't seem to have any kind of organization or categories - just a long list of posts which is difficult for me to stay on top of.  I must admit to being a Facebook ludite though so if there is a way to weed through all content in a meaningful way I'd be open to advise.  Show me the way brother golfunderpar18!  ☺

Unfortunately there is no Way to have categories.  It’s one single group - Facebook functionality or lack thereof.  The brilliant part of it are the members, their knowledge, willingness to help, etc.   I just sort for recent posts and review daily or check where I’ve been tagged.  I have a group of a dozen of so folks there, many from golfwrx, that t with thru that group. Facebook does suck overall and it’s functionality hasn’t gotten better In my opinion.  Once you connect with the right folks there you’ll know what I mean.  Some amazing collections some have there - wow.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

As with a lot of Facebook, the real danger lies in Radicalization. I've heard of even mild-mannered golfers going to PGS after finding their Dad or Granddad's old wooden driver in the attic, and within the space of a few short months, they've thrown away all their modern equipment and are posting pictures of themselves wielding old blades and primitive wooden shafts. Some even don the uniform of the real zealot: plus fours, tweed jackets, and flat caps.

It's a dangerous, dangerous world out there...

 

 

I think seeing all those beautiful Wood Bros persimmons has made my brain explode

[thepunch_out]

On 1/11/2021 at 8:32 AM, golfunderpar18 said:

Not sure how focused this is :)..... posted this on Facebook also.  Just started to inventory my wood brothers.   Might be a few others in my other bags.   Latest count is 25.  14 drivers, 11 fairway instruments.   Drivers include 11 Texans, 2 all Americans amd 1 all japan.  2 texan tour models, one with brass sole plate, with WB on skirt.  One WB on crown, an all japan, 2 all Americans, one custom with no loft, one dick meckley DM19, a tour model 9 degree, 3 walnut 10 degree, 1 blonde and one honey.  11 fairway instruments including 6 three woods (2 are tour models, one is an all American), 3 four woods (one rarer earlier model), and 2 five woods (one is an all American).

Wow, that is just an incredible collection of Wood Brothers persimmon. I've been lucky enough to add a few drivers to my collection this year, but now I see why the fairway instruments are so few and far between!

[NRJyzr]

19 hours ago, golfunderpar18 said:

There is very little traffic here on classic / vintage clubs.  The persimmon golf society isn’t golfwrx.  There is so much knowledge there from the active membership to help when ever you need it.  Facebook is Facebook - and I hate it too.  Functionality wise it’s gotten worse so totally agree with you there.  I’ve been a member there for 1.5 years.   Have connected with many (texting info about clubs, sharing knowledge, photos etc) and also met some offline in person to golf together, share collection etc...,     This past week I connected a golfwrx member who had been struggling for days  to find info about some vintage clubs.   An hour after posting he had a dozen or so folks provide input and valuable info.  You wouldn’t get that here on golfwrx. 

 

It wasn't that long ago, there was a greater number of posts here.  The first WRX software update chased a lot of the classic folders membership, who didn't want to deal with it.

 

It's something I don't quite understand, but I have serious nerd tendencies; I'm not a good yardstick.  😉

 

[golfunderpar18]

4 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

 

It wasn't that long ago, there was a greater number of posts here.  The first WRX software update chased a lot of the classic folders membership, who didn't want to deal with it.

 

It's something I don't quite understand, but I have serious nerd tendencies; I'm not a good yardstick.  😉

 

Golfwrx was my only spot for vintage nerd talk but I can’t believe it was my 87 year old father that I saw using Facebook pgs convinced me to check it out.   Golfwrx has gone thru challenges with the change and then reverting back to similar as before.   Many lost in transition.  Pgs has inspired new collectors and also helped drive up some values on various vintage collectibles which is a good thing.  Values really took a dive  but the big collectibles (jumbos, m85’s, 945’s etc) are really holding or increasing  in value.   Happy to see a new generation of interest in classic clubs.  Not all about $, but beauty, workmanship, feel etc.    need some positives after a crappy 2020!  

Edited January 12, 2021 by golfunderpar18

[NRJyzr]

2 minutes ago, golfunderpar18 said:

This was my only spot for vintage nerd talk but I can’t believe it was my 87 year old father that I saw using pgs convinced me to check it out.   This site has gone thru challenges with the change and then reverting back to similar as before.   Many lost in transition.  Pgs has lot a fire and inspired new interest under some new collectors and also helped drive up some values on various vintage collectibles which is a good thing.  Values really took a dive  but the big collectibles (jumbos, m85’s, 945’s etc) are really holding or increasing  in value.   Happy to see a mew generation of interest in classic clubs.  Not all about $, but beauty, workmanship, feel etc.    need some positives after a crappy 2020!  

 

I love that some of the Hansberger family have posted in PGS.  Not exactly a revelation, considering my Ram bias.  😉

 

I'm also impressed with the collections of the Japanese members of PGS.  Very impressed. 

 

[golfunderpar18]

1 minute ago, NRJyzr said:

 

I love that some of the Hansberger family have posted in PGS.  Not exactly a revelation, considering my Ram bias.  😉

 

I'm also impressed with the collections of the Japanese members of PGS.  Very impressed. 

 

Daily posts from japan....The one key member — Hisashi - he likely bought up all the primo stuff during the peak of collecting.  His collection is unbelievable .  Every day something new.    

[NRJyzr]

9 minutes ago, golfunderpar18 said:

Daily posts from japan....The one key member — Hisashi - he likely bought up all the primo stuff during the peak of collecting.  His collection is unbelievable .  Every day something new.    

 

Yes, Hisashi Kunie, and Hiroki Iwao are the two names I remember.  Hope I'm not butchering their names.

 

I wonder if they each have a warehouse for their clubs.  LOL

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

2 hours ago, golfunderpar18 said:

Daily posts from japan....The one key member — Hisashi - he likely bought up all the primo stuff during the peak of collecting.  His collection is unbelievable .  Every day something new.    

 

When was the peak of collecting? The reason I ask is that I've noticed a bit more movement on persimmon auctions here, especially on the collectable stuff. There were some really pristine Honma Tour Models and Classics up for auction a couple of months ago that were very lively. Seemed to end up with two bidders going against each other.

[golfunderpar18]

25 minutes ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

 

When was the peak of collecting? The reason I ask is that I've noticed a bit more movement on persimmon auctions here, especially on the collectable stuff. There were some really pristine Honma Tour Models and Classics up for auction a couple of months ago that were very lively. Seemed to end up with two bidders going against each other.

I meant the peak of collecting pricing specifically.  When was the bubble?  Late 80’s early 90’s kind of when metal woods took over was what I was thinking.  A few clubs have come up and down in value (ping anser 2 stainless pat pending for example after used by norman, tiger etc).  Those hit $200ish usd but now back to more normal pricing.    One of the shortcomings of this golfwrx site for me is the lack of a vintage/classics classified forum.  I find it hard to leaf thru so many for sale items here if that’s what I’m after.  I definitely didn’t see it if there was action here but good to know.  Definitely love for honmas on Facebook.   Or were you referring to an eBay auction?  Those used to be ridiculously priced  on the retail front but now can be had on the cheap. 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

10 minutes ago, golfunderpar18 said:

I meant the peak of collecting pricing specifically.  When was the bubble?  Late 80’s early 90’s kind of when metal woods took over was what I was thinking.  A few clubs have come up and down in value (ping anser 2 stainless pat pending for example after used by norman, tiger etc).  Those hit $200ish usd but now back to more normal pricing.    One of the shortcomings of this golfwrx site for me is the lack of a vintage/classics classified forum.  I find it hard to leaf thru so many for sale items here if that’s what I’m after.  I definitely didn’t see it if there was action here but good to know.  Definitely love for honmas on Facebook.   Or were you referring to an eBay auction?  Those used to be ridiculously priced  on the retail front but now can be had on the cheap. 

Ah, I see; peak from the buyer's point of view.  That makes sense.

The auctions I was referring to were on a Japanese auction site. Three pristine Tour Models and three pristine classics, probably both originally sets but the seller was selling as individual clubs. Oddly, if I recall correctly, neither purchaser ended up with a complete set but parts of each one.