Maxfli Tour Ltd Forged irons

[DaveGoodrich]

I just purchased a set of these heads from eBay as a project to do

while I'm stuck at home. I can't find any specs on these, despite a pretty serious attempt at googling.

I would assume they are probably a 50ish degree pitching wedge, but I'd love to see actual specs if anyone happens to have them. And, of course, I'd also love to hear if anyone has any experience with them.

Thanks.

[SteveNZ]

They are awesome. Here's a good place to start re info:What's more, the fellow who designed them - @majic - is a regular visitor round here
I saw those on the Bay too - just as well I already have a set!

[elwhippy]

A great set of irons. That generation of Maxfli irons were a match for anything. DP30, Tour Ltd, Pro Original and DP40 were all top class. Enjoy.

[CyFan]

Those were a great set of irons in their day. And still should hold their own with most modern forging, even if the lofts may be a bit more traditional.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

The best player at my club had them for 20 odd years. I've been eyeing the Japanese version for a while now and, now that I know that they are still being played by the Tad Moore, I might go ahead and purchase a set. I have the DP30 (Japanese Australian Blade), the DP201 MB and the TM92 sitting upstairs. The Japanese version is the DP201FC (forged cavity). The DP201 MB 2-iron is one my favorite clubs to hit.

[elwhippy]

Didn't Fuzzy use these to great effect with graphite shafts?

[Nessism]

There was a member here that bought a lot of NOS Maxfli heads at a yard sale and he put up a bunch of sets for sale, including some Tour LTD's (of which I got a set.) Beautiful heads that felt fantastic on pured strikes. The set I got was .370" hosel and I installed some mid weight and flight shafts to great effect. I don't have the specs but 49-50 degree PW is about right. I believe these date back to about 1990 so those lofts would be consistent. Oh, and the leading edge is sharp and there isn't much bounce so bring your A game and don't hit them fat or you will be laying sod over your ball.

[SteveNZ]

I also have a set that have basically the same heads as the Tour Ltds but a different stamping. Anyone seen/know anything about these?

[DaveGoodrich]

Thanks. I saw some references to that gentleman in my searching. I wish my head's were .370 since the shafts I have are .370 discrete length, constant weight shafts. My head's are .355, so I reamed the heads.
I have now built the 4-PW set with the Nippon 1050GH shafts and they indeed feel great hitting into my backyard net - very soft - like you would expect nice forgings on Nippon shafts to be. I probably won't be able to hit them off grass for a while ?, but I can see what you mean about the sharp leading edge and low bounce. They are not quite as evil as my late '70's Staff Tour Blades or Top Flite Blades. I'm not a digger, so maybe they will work for me. If not, they were just a fun project to pass the time while the courses are closed (man, it's going to feel like the first day of summer vacation whenever we finally get back on the course).
I believe @majic said these were made in Japan. Do we know the specific forging house?@SteveNZ , I know even less about that model than I do about mine. They do look identical though. How do they play?

[SteveNZ]

They're pretty sweet. I wonder if Maxfli held on to the forging after Tad's association with them came to an end and just gave it a different stamp?

[DaveGoodrich]

These irons had hosel pins. Did most irons of the 1990 era have hosel pins? I thought they were long gone by then.

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Here's a little guide from Japan. Some great looking old sticks. Looks like there have been a few iterations: https://sports.dunlop.co.jp/golf/products/clublibrary/iron/?rt_bn_recommend_list_skip=&rt_bn_golf_category_list_skip=100

[DaveGoodrich]

Thanks for that. Both the Dunlop FC and the Maxfli DP201 look like the same iron as my Tour Ltd's and SteveNZ's CF40s.

For future reference, in case that page disappears, the specs for both the Dunlop FC's and the DP201's are listed as follows:

[Christen_The_Sloop]

Thanks for the future reference. I had one Dunlop club library disappear on me already. And, I came across this one the other day. I've been looking at way too many clubs lately. Right now, I am at home with the daughters and the wife works all day, so I have to buy a few clubs while I can.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

That's a great link, thanks for that.

What I'm seeing from it is that the Maxfli Australian TM-92 Blades do not appear to have been released in Japan...but are the DP-501 their Japanese equivalents?

 

[SteveNZ]

Toe looks a little sharper on the 501 maybe? Hard to tell. @majic can hopefully tell us if the two are related.

[Jon A]

On 4/8/2020 at 6:42 AM, DaveGoodrich said:

I just purchased a set of these heads from eBay as a project to do

while I'm stuck at home. I can't find any specs on these, despite a pretty serious attempt at googling.

I would assume they are probably a 50ish degree pitching wedge, but I'd love to see actual specs if anyone happens to have them. And, of course, I'd also love to hear if anyone has any experience with them.

Thanks.

Just registered to chip in on this thread as I was searching for some info on these irons! I’ve been getting back into regular play this year after a couple of decades of <5 rounds a year.

 

I played the Maxfli Tour Ltd Forged from the age of 16 or so and only replaced them with a set of TM P790s last year - so, 25 years’ fine service. Found this thread while trying to work out the differences in loft (looks like the P790s are about a club stronger across the board).

 

Still very fond of the Maxflis and reading this is making me want to get them regripped, although as stated elsewhere in the thread, they’re not the most forgiving of clubs! In particular, playing a modern sandwedge out of a bunker (Vokey SM7) feels like cheat mode has been switched on.

. 
 

 

[Christen_The_Sloop]

On 4/19/2020 at 12:59 AM, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

That's a great link, thanks for that.

What I'm seeing from it is that the Maxfli Australian TM-92 Blades do not appear to have been released in Japan...but are the DP-501 their Japanese equivalents?

 

I've heard from the man himself that they were made in America. Nice Copper Pings in that other thread BTW. Score. I might have another find to tell you about other than a brand new (old) Maruman staff bag from 1992.

[EmperorPenguin]

I used these clubs when I went to Scotland last year, and they served me well.  I think they are triple forged, and they have the copper layer between the chrome and the metal, sort of like the Mizuno TN-87's.  They were released in the early 1990's and they certainly had the weaker lofts and true standard lengths (37.5" 5 iron).  The long irons have some offset, but tolerable for me.  The shafts are pinned, which I wonder why they did that since epoxies at the time were strong enough that it was unnecessary to do so; maybe it was a retro throwback for them.  What I like about these sets is that the specs used for their off-the-rack line are exactly the ones I use: 37.5" 5 iron, with the 9, PW and SW all at 35.5".  This is the only set I bought online that I didn't have to measure and trim down to standard length, and I played them straight out of the box.  I bought my set for only $20 plus shipping; the seller priced them low because they were hella worn and the 7 iron is missing.  I just happened to have the matching 7 iron, which was also worn, to match the rest of the set.  When the set arrived, I thought I had to go through the dreaded process of measuring and cutting again, but I didn't have to do anything.  Usually people buy one club to complete a set, but in this case I had just one club and I bought the matching nine clubs.

[Shallowface]

From the 1993 Catalog

 

 

[SteveNZ]

Great stuff @Shallowface!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I'll echo @SteveNZ. Great stuff @Shallowface.

 

A couple of things I found interesting in the specs Shallowface linked:

1) the 6* jump in loft from the PW to the 9i in the Tour Ltd. Stainless. I wonder how the gapping worked with that.

2) The clubs are marketed as "Game Improvement" but there are still 1 and 2 irons available in both the forged and stainless options. That reminds me of my first proper set, which were Daiwa heel-toe weighted (Hitrac or something like that), as I ended up getting the matching 1 and 2 irons later. I think I was about about a 16 handicap when I first got the 2i. Funny thing was that I hit it pretty well. 

I was going to say that the idea of a set of modern game improvement irons offering a club with 15* of loft is laughable, but then I just looked up the TM SIM Max OS specs: they offer a club with 17* of loft, except it's called a 4i...😆

[Shallowface]

There was a day when I wouldn't even consider a set of irons that didn't have a matching 1 iron. 

 

Of course that's not possible today, but I can still hit a 16 degree hybrid, some of which have a "1" on them.

 

The idea that a set of irons starts with the number 4 is something I've never been able to understand.  It's just silly.  I guess the 17 degree 4 iron is now the next club in the numerical progression from the 13-15 degree 3 wood.  Driver.  3 wood. 4-9 irons (or a hybrid or two in there).  5 wedges and a putter.  The extra bounce in those first 2 wedges that used to be 8 and 9 irons probably does help a number of folks.