Remembering golf’s lost big brands

[dlygrisse]

Kenneth Smith was the high end premium custom club at one time. almost similar to PXG today

macGregor was arguably the biggest and best company at one time. Made great irons and woods maybe the best persimmon through the Tommy Armour brand ever

Hogan, Just great clubs

spalding was pretty much the top tier mid range brand at one time

Ram made great irons and wedges

tony Penna

 

 

 

[Buzzkill]

Powerbilt Citation line for you youngsters!

[the bishop]

PowerBilt had a substantial tour presesnce through the 70's and 80's. They were big in the pro shop of the county muni where I grew up. Really high quality stuff.

[T.B.]

I still game a tight lies 5 wood. ?

[realitycheck]

Macgregor. Hands down the one I miss the most!

[WristySwing]

My non-Canadian friends won't have a clue who this is but I will post it anyways. Goliath golf. Not a big name by any stretch of the imagination, but they made 11pc and 13pc "package sets" for Canadian retailers. This stuff was actually really, really good. It was your standard Titanium face on a SS body or a Ti-Alloy, common for this type of stuff. However, they just seemed to kind of care about the quality of product they were mass producing that a lot of your other companies didn't seem to really bother with. They were mostly clones of whatever was big at the time, with the stereotypical Big Bertha 2004 clone, they had one called the Flame or something that was a copy of the Taylormade Burner 2007s. Don't get me wrong, you knew what you were getting when you bought this, driver-Sw at $399.99 or whatever. What made them so different was everything was customizable, length +/- 2", lie +/- 2*, grip size (stand., mid., jumbo), and I could be mistaken, but they might have even done stiffer or softer shafts if you needed it. They even had a lifetime warranty, but I never saw a club come back broken. Which for any of you who have had the misery of working big box, know that like clock work once the courses open, the parade of beginners come waltzing in with their dented drivers, broken irons, and snapped fairways/hybrids. They were my go to for anyone who came in looking to start taking up golf who looked like they could move it a little bit or needed something outside of standard/standard/standard that everyone was pushing at the time.

I am not sure if they are still around or not as I have thankfully left that world behind, but the ladies equivalent of Goliath, apart from Goliath ladies of course, was Nancy Lopez. Pretty good product at an excellent price that was fully customizable for length, lie, and grip size. They even had 3 or 4 ladies sub flexes from LL to L+ so it made it easier to "fit" someone and give them that personal touch, even if they didn't want to spend the money to play with the big boys but needed something outside of the standard length offerings.

[Greg_B]

Some of the comments above really resonate with me. I picked up a set of MacGregor M565 irons in the early 2000s just because they were very inexpensive on ebay at the time. I received a set that must have been in a pro shop display because they appeared unused. To this day these were the best irons I ever hit. Certainly designed for high handicappers but if you made even a mediocre pass at the ball it just flew. When Norman bought into MacGregor and they introduced their 2008 lineup I was intrigued because some might remember that they had a presence here on Golfwrx and were offering a free promo/demo iron to people who contacted them. I did and they sent me a MT 7-ron which really didn't convince me to give up my 565s. But then a set of the MT OS appeared around the time their fire sale began and I snapped those up. They were pretty much the same for me as the 565s and I used them for a couple of seasons before putting the older set back into service. At the time I also snagged a bunch of 2008 MacGregor drivers, fairway woods and hybrids for next to nothing. Some of those were OK, some less so. But the real deal at the time were the MacGregor Bobby Grace putters, which were and are sweet and remain in my bag. The best thing is nobody even recognizes this stuff now.

During the MacGregor fire sale in late '08/early '09 I also bought a brand-new set of their Pro-C irons, not because I wanted to use them but just to have them for posterity. They are still here in the box, unused and never hit. Just lovely things.

Some years earlier I was looking for a new driver and the Goldwin XL and XXL were going for cheap. I got an XL driver and like @NRJyzr I hit the longest drive of my life with it (I found his post shocking to read because I thought I was the only person that ever happened to!). Now, that didn't always happen but if you hit it right, the ball just took off. The biggest problem even back then was that it used a proprietary shaft that required a very thin non-standard grip which I doubt you can find now.

When hybrids first began to get some traction the leader in that category, at least locally, was Nickent. I remember one of the owners of a golf store here telling me that he could not keep them in stock. He ended up ordering one for me and it was decent, certainly more forgiving than a long iron, though the version I had didn't seem particularly easy to hit either. Later hybrids were better.

Finally, in the early '90s I decided to spring for my first set of "good" clubs. I was fascinated by Ben Hogan and remembered the pureness of the TV ads with him I had seen a few years earlier. I ended up buying a set of the original Hogan Edge irons, their first forged cavity-back. Man, those things were sweet-looking, almost like jewelry, looked fabulous sitting in the bag. They were good irons too. Not as forgiving as a cast cavity back, but the feel was far better. Used them for years.

[Thommo335]

He even managed to kill off chipshot.com too.

[drumdude96]

I'm really missing Adams Golf. They were by far the best in the business at making fairway woods. Made some damn nice irons too. TaylorMade really sucks for what they did to them.

[MaineMariner]

I reflexively hate Taylormade for what they did to Adams and Yes! I mean, I know absolutely nothing of the financials of those companies, so maybe they were going to die anyways, but... man, I really liked them.

[bubbagump]

Not exactly huge, but Nickent made some tight stuff. The woods and hybrids in particular, but also some solid irons...the 4dx pro's were sweet.

[MuskieCy]

Adams had worked its way to the big boy table by 2012. TM stole their IP and said "see you in court".

Deeper pockets at TM found Adams number and bye-bye Barney.

[Kentendo]

I realize Ben Hogan is still around in their current direct to customer model, but I REALLY miss seeing Hogan irons. As a kid, the "players" at my local country club either played Hogan or Ping.

Huge shout out to Lynx as well.

[OrangeGravy]

Funny, I caddied for a guy at our (then) local Hogan tour stop that used Goldwin clubs. I'd never seen or heard of them up to that point

[txgolfer45]

Back in HS in the early and mid 70's, Wilson Staff, Haig Ultra, MacGregor Tourney and Spalding Topflite were the top choices of HS golfers. A couple played Powerbilt or Lynx. All irons were blades back then. Woods were persimmon or laminated wood. Ping had putters. Balls were primarily Titleist or Spalding Dot. I think Topflites came out in the mid 70's.

I played Wilson Staffs my senior year of HS with a Ping Anser putter.

 

[dpatti]

I found a set of these in Golfsmith back in early 2000’s for $100 and sold them on eBay in 20min for $350

[V-Blade]

Snazzy set. The early 2000s was such a great time to flip clubs. Got into golf right at the time when Nick was having his big run and he is still my favorite player of all time. Always wanted a set of Rams or those but just never pulled the trigger. I do have a really nice Zebra putter still.

I agree with the MacGregor comments and also think Ram is missed. Never owned or even hit a Ram iron set; however, would have loved to try the Fx Pro Set. I see some on eBay but for the price, I don't think they would be any different than my Pro CMs or 735 CMs.

My Dad has some Haig Ultradyne IIIs. Very nice looking cast blade but I bet the stiff steel is not pleasant.

[easylittle5wood]

Adams was the best at their peak. Idea MB2 blades were really special.

Quite a few guys on tour like Rickie used one or two of their hybrids. They made other oems come out with tour only small hybrids to knock out the Adams.

[MattyO1984]

Total Scottish slant on this but Ben Sayers and John Letters used to be well known brands here but they too have slipped into oblivion. I had a Ben Sayers 8 iron when I was a kid and that thing was a weapon in what was a mixed and matched bag. Then when I was a little older, a good chunk of decent players at our club has John Letters irons in their bags. I am sure that they had a combo set before combo sets were ever really a thing.Dunlop and Slazenger are owned by Mike Ashley, billionaire owner of Sports Direct here in the UK. You will find their clubs for sale in there. They are terrible and poor imitations of what once was some decent stuff.

[dekez]

Looks like Powerbilt is still around. Is it the same company or did someone purchase the name?

[coops]

Royal Collection is still around, just not in the USA. (Sonartec licensed their clubs for their famed fairway woods) and still feature that sole groove thang in their woods...

 

MacGregor, Hogan and Spalding are three big dead brands.

John Letters was a good one, well known in the UK.

Ram.

There are a few Japanese golf brands that have made bizarre rebranding decisions:-

Maruman (Woosnam was a Maruman man back in the day) now seems to produce all theii gear under the 'Majesty' brand and is in the 'Honma prestige' (i.e. tacky, expensive) market now.

Daiwa (still i'd expect well knowon to fishermen) now produces their golf clubs under the 'OnOff' brand - they're good too.

Dunlop is also Japanese, and famously had a worldwide golf name 'Maxfli' that has been mismanaged/mismarketed almost as badly as Wilson...

 

Wilson isn't dead, but has fallen so far it should be an entire test case in MBA courses.

Wilson was absolutely one of the top tier names (I'm 52 so remember the days) - was it the 'Fat shaft' that started their downward fall off the golf relevance cliff? Wislon deserves a long article all on its own...

All the time their golf name was collapsing, Wilson was and still is a premier name in Tennis... so they surely as a company understand marketing - how did they end up as a bargain beginner box set in Walmart?

 

[QuigleyDU]

Wilson is continuing their spiral and self destruction. They make silly and strange decisions over and over. I am surprised there is no story on the home page about this. Wrx seems to be losing its edge. Less and less talk that is current or relevant and more and more top ten clubs from years ago and constant Tiger's bag from 1998 talk.

But Wilson is starting a ball subscription program that makes no sense at all. From the stupid name, to the odd pricing. It just reeks of a company that has no clue who they are marketing to and that there is no one at the helm.

 

Called the baller box it is a subscription for their premium ball the Wilson Staff. The ball actually seems decent. The name is silly and shows a lack of self awareness. Also the pricing, The price goes down each month, so it is obviously a long run play hoping that people will sign up for a extended periods of time. You tell them how many dozen you want, and how long you want to sign up for. But, If you get 12 dozen in 6 months, you will pay more then if you got 12 dozen in 12 months.

 

Strange play that I don't understand, and I do not see being successful.

 

Baller Box

[coops]

Forgot to say re: Dunlop...

 

Dunlop are still very successful in golf gear - having pretty much ditched the venerable Maxfli name (famed irons and balls no less), they have actually managed to create another successful golf brand - Srixon.

Still not sure why they gave up on the Maxfli name... but then again Bridgestone had a massively respected and loved golf brand 'Tourstage' here in Asia... and could have extended that over to the US and UK - start branding the balls as "Tourstage by Bridgestone" perhaps and rename the Bridgestone golf tournament to match to introduce the brand name Tourstage... but nope. Instead, they ditch the Tourstage name in Asia (alienating all their fans) and go all in on the Bridgestone name... and still don't get ANY actual irons or woods out in the retail outlets in the US - so why bother?

Why? Do they (Bridgestone management) think Americans believe Bridgestone to be an American company (it isn't) so using that name will be a fabulous idea...? I suppose they're still flogging old Tourstage ball designs as the 'latest' Bridgestone ball offering in the States...

 

ps Adams isn't dead to me... best golfing decision i've made this year is reshafting my old 9015d and putting it back in the bag.https://forums.golfwrx.com/discussion/1809790/something-old-something-new-diamana-zf-9015d

[James the Hogan Fan]

I agree that "Baller Box" sounds like a Taco Bell promotion, and who really needs a golf ball subscription program anyway.

But I don't think Wilson is in a death spiral. Sure they aren't as popular as they were in the 80's, but they have done better than every other brand from the wooden-wood era except Acushnet. Macgregor? Dead with some in-name-only walmart wedges. Spalding same thing. Hogan? rebranded shadow of its former self. Wilson still seems to exist and willing to make golf equipment, and their irons won the US Open. Maybe they are content with what they have? Unlike a lot of other OEMs they have other divisions of sporting goods to deal with as well. Only Mizuno is similar in that regard.

[NRJyzr]

 

The Maxfli name may be caught up in their sale to TaylorMade, and the subsequent licensing of the name to Dick's Sporting Goods. That's here in the USA, not sure if that extends beyond the US or North American shores.

[Chazb]

Yonex and lynx are a couple that come to mind.

[kmay__]

TNT Golf here in Canada, these were my first set of real irons. I think they had a slight amount of tour presence in the day.

[Sparty4202]

Haha..My first set of clubs were a used set of Kenneth Smiths I bought from my boss!! my next set was from Gorman Golf a custom club builder here in the Detroit area...1-3-4-5 persimmon woods...3-pw & a custom ground sw...boy I wish I still had them!

 

[flyfishinggolfer]

 

my first full set of clubs were a gift

NorthWest Territory Hubert Green model. I believe this was a Kmart brand but not sure who actually produced them. they were painful in the elbow, wrist and hand to hit.

[Golfingfanatic]

Yonex is still around. More focused on the japanese market. Their Ezone MB and CB301 irons are the best player's irons you never heard about.