Wilson Staff Goose Neck Forged FG-53 Irons

[cold_war_era_golfer]

I picked a set of irons up 3-SW.  Very different than my Ping Eye 2s but I wanted to try something different.

 

What are your thoughts on these irons?

What sort of woods would you pair with them?

 

[KRW59]

24 minutes ago, oldpinggolfer said:

I picked a set of irons up 3-SW.  Very different than my Ping Eye 2s but I wanted to try something different.

 

What are your thoughts on these irons?

What sort of woods would you pair with them?

 

I traded some '86 Ping Eye irons and an Anser putter for this set of '88 - '90 Gooseneck irons and '90 Staff woods...

Sat unhit in my closet for 30 years , until this past spring . I find the Goosenecks very forgiving , easy to hit . Especially when compared to my '88 Hogan Redlines and Mizzy TN-87 irons that I played for the decade of the '90's .

[Tremendous-Slouch]

Personally, I like to stick to the same maker and era, so any 80’s/early-90’s Wilson persimmons. That said, I think some Ping laminates (Eye 2 or Zing) would also pair quite well.

[miamistomp]

 I have the goosenecks and ping woods too

 Lots of fun !

[cold_war_era_golfer]

16 hours ago, KRW59 said:

I traded some '86 Ping Eye irons and an Anser putter for this set of '88 - '90 Gooseneck irons and '90 Staff woods...

Sat unhit in my closet for 30 years , until this past spring . I find the Goosenecks very forgiving , easy to hit . Especially when compared to my '88 Hogan Redlines and Mizzy TN-87 irons that I played for the decade of the '90's .

That looks killer!!!  

If one was to search for Wilson Staff woods from the 90s on eBay what would be a tell from them being that era and not 60s, 70s, etc?

[Stephen8802]

Those staffs are beautiful and I would love to play them if I had them. However, I wouldn’t worry about matching the woods if it were me; as long as they are persimmon, I’d be happy. Consistency between clubs for me is less important than each club doing what I want to do. I currently have a ’66 Citation deep-faced driver,’62 MT 2 wood, 693 3 wood, and M75 4 wood in my bag. These days I mix and match for each round because I enjoy hitting the different clubs. When I was playing for score, I had the same mixed set for long periods of time. So I think any persimmon will do the trick, either a matched set or an assortment, and it isn’t the craziest idea in the world to get more than you need and rotate clubs through the bag.

On another note, those Goosenecks fascinate me and have for a while. There is set for sale locally at full price and I’ve been contemplating making an offer. If I hadn’t bought 4 sets of irons in the last year, I probably would have tried to get them by now. I think my priority in 2021 will be a set of forged irons with some allowance for forgiveness, and these are high on my list. Keep us posted on how the play as you get in some rounds.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Stephen8802

[Tremendous-Slouch]

7 minutes ago, Stephen8802 said:

Those staffs are beautiful and I would love to play them if I had them. However, I wouldn’t worry about matching the woods if it were me; as long as they are persimmon, I’d be happy. Consistency between clubs for me is less important than each club doing what I want to do. I currently have a ’66 Citation deep-faced driver,’62 MT 2 wood, 693 3 wood, and M75 driver in my bag. These days I mix and match for each round because I enjoy hitting the different clubs. When I was playing for score, I had the same mixed set for long periods of time. So I think any persimmon will do the trick, either a matched set or an assortment, and it isn’t the craziest idea in the world to get more than you need and rotate clubs through the bag.

 

On another note, those Goosenecks fascinate me and have for a while. There is set for sale locally at full price and I’ve been contemplating making an offer. If I hadn’t bought 4 sets of irons in the last year, I probably would have tried to get them by now. I think my priority in 2021 will be a set of forged irons with some allowance for forgiveness, and these are high on my list. Keep us posted on how the play as you get in some rounds.

 

Agreed, how the clubs play is the most important thing. It's just my OCD when I'm trying out new sets, that makes me want to match things up. That said, my go-to set is a mixed set MacGregor RT2W driver, Ping Eye 2 3w and 5w, and Wilson Tour Blade 2i-PW. I just like to matchy-matchy when I'm playing for fun or trying out a new acquisition.

[cold_war_era_golfer]

This has been a helpful thread for me thanks!

I'm thinking I'm going to keep hitting my Eye 2 woods(i know they aren't persimmon) but I'm still learning on those and can use them with the Eye 2s and now hopefully with the Goose Necks which I haven't actually taken out on the course yet.

 

I might focus my energy to a new bag for Wilsons.

[Tremendous-Slouch]

21 minutes ago, oldpinggolfer said:

This has been a helpful thread for me thanks!

I'm thinking I'm going to keep hitting my Eye 2 woods(i know they aren't persimmon) but I'm still learning on those and can use them with the Eye 2s and now hopefully with the Goose Necks which I haven't actually taken out on the course yet.

 

I might focus my energy to a new bag for Wilsons.

I know its been brought up in other threads, and there is a link to it if you Google hard enough, but there was a study done back around the 70's, that had multiple pros test out persimmons and laminates. All the clubs were made to the same specs, and painted solid black (so you couldn't distinguish by sight), and even the pros couldn't tell the difference between solid perismmon and laminates. In playability terms, the overall club specs (length, flex, weight, balance) with regards to your swing, are the important things......Now when it comes to beauty, persimmons are have it, hands down (though blonde Ping Eye 2's and Ping Zing's are some pretty clubs).

[KRW59]

10 hours ago, oldpinggolfer said:

That looks killer!!!  

If one was to search for Wilson Staff woods from the 90s on eBay what would be a tell from them being that era and not 60s, 70s, etc?

All you have to do is ask....there is a wealth of knowledge on this site....

That's what I did...Site members LeftyMac and elwhippy , were able to tell me the year made  (1990) and the name of the designer ( Harry Busson )

 

 

Edited September 10, 2020 by KRW59

[LeftyMac]

Oldpinggolfer,

 

The Wilson Catalog book by Jim Kaplan is your friend.  There are still copies to be had on Ebay very cheaply.  The ones that come with the Hagen book would be by recommendation, that's Jim's son selling them.  Love the iron's, those are my next set to add to the Wilson Staff collection.

[miamistomp]

 I ordered a copy of the book

 

  Great typo in the ad "The Wilson catalog is a copulation of the yearly catalogs from about the 1930 through the 80s of the clubs they produced."

 

?

[KRW59]

I like the matching aspect of era and make now for the sake of nostalgia...

But back in 1990 these were the clubs that were actually in my bag...not Persimmon or laminate, but High modulus Graphite and Metal , next club in the kit was the Hogan Redline 1 iron..

[cold_war_era_golfer]

Just ordered the book!  Thanks.

Would anyone know what year the Goose Neck FG-53 Irons are from?

 

[KRW59]

13 minutes ago, oldpinggolfer said:

Just ordered the book!  Thanks.

Would anyone know what year the Goose Neck FG-53 Irons are from?

 

The GooseNeck FG-53 were made in 1991-1992.... My Goose Necks with the little goose logo were 1988-1990

[joostin]

I recently got an FG-53 1 iron just to hit at the range and get a feel of a more classic Wilson.  What a great club!  I'd imagine your whole set would be awesome.  With its size it's not too difficult to hit nor intimidating (below).  Can anyone confirm the lofts?  I'm guessing the same as these I found for FG-51?:  1=17*, 2=20*, 3=23*, 4=26*, 5=30*, 6=34*, 7=38*, 8=42*, 9=46*, PW=49*

[Stephen8802]

You inspired me, so I picked up this Wilson Goose-Neck at a Goodwill today. I'm looking forward to bringing it to the range and seeing how it plays. Mine looks a little different, I guess the design changed over 40 years.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Stephen8802

[cold_war_era_golfer]

On 9/13/2020 at 5:53 PM, Stephen8802 said:

You inspired me, so I picked up this Wilson Goose-Neck at a Goodwill today. I'm looking forward to bringing it to the range and seeing how it plays. Mine looks a little different, I guess the design changed over 40 years.

 

 

Wow that one has to be from the 50s?

[cold_war_era_golfer]

I brought them all out to my local par 3 yesterday.

 

Wow are they different from my ping eye 2s!  Basically the only club I’ve ever played.  I’m going to stick with them tho.  I found myself overshooting and then in correction of that topping the ball out of fear of over shooting.

 

Probably should have headed to the range.
 

[cold_war_era_golfer]

On 9/10/2020 at 3:49 AM, LeftyMac said:

Oldpinggolfer,

 

The Wilson Catalog book by Jim Kaplan is your friend.  There are still copies to be had on Ebay very cheaply.  The ones that come with the Hagen book would be by recommendation, that's Jim's son selling them.  Love the iron's, those are my next set to add to the Wilson Staff collection.

Thank you for the recommendation!

My mornings haven’t been the same since!

 

 

[NRJyzr]

On 9/13/2020 at 3:57 PM, joostin said:

I recently got an FG-53 1 iron just to hit at the range and get a feel of a more classic Wilson.  What a great club!  I'd imagine your whole set would be awesome.  With its size it's not too difficult to hit nor intimidating (below).  Can anyone confirm the lofts?  I'm guessing the same as these I found for FG-51?:  1=17*, 2=20*, 3=23*, 4=26*, 5=30*, 6=34*, 7=38*, 8=42*, 9=46*, PW=49*

 

If you bent these to the lofts you have mentioned, excepting with a 50* PW, I think you'd be in the right zone for them.  The Progressives that came next in the Wilson product line were 1* stronger, 19* 2 iron, 29* 5i, 49* PW.

[Stephen8802]

OK, I'm in, one more for the club. After reading this a couple of times I opened up a conversion with the local guy trying to sell a set. He had posted them well over my remaining 2020 budget, but they have been listed for a few months now and he was more than ready to deal. He went right to my price sweet spot and I grabbed them yesterday. More bag chatter and not as pretty as yours, but the faces are in great shape and all the grooves are pristine. I'll give them a polish, some paint fill, blow on some new grips, and they go in the bag for the next round. 

 

 

A couple of surprises for me with the initial swings in the yard. The heads are bigger than I expected, but not so big that they don't look like golf clubs. The offset is less than I thought, which is good, it seems just about right. I'm really looking forward to hitting some balls with these.

[cold_war_era_golfer]

17 hours ago, Stephen8802 said:

OK, I'm in, one more for the club. After reading this a couple of times I opened up a conversion with the local guy trying to sell a set. He had posted them well over my remaining 2020 budget, but they have been listed for a few months now and he was more than ready to deal. He went right to my price sweet spot and I grabbed them yesterday. More bag chatter and not as pretty as yours, but the faces are in great shape and all the grooves are pristine. I'll give them a polish, some paint fill, blow on some new grips, and they go in the bag for the next round. 

 

 

A couple of surprises for me with the initial swings in the yard. The heads are bigger than I expected, but not so big that they don't look like golf clubs. The offset is less than I thought, which is good, it seems just about right. I'm really looking forward to hitting some balls with these.

Congrats!   
Yes the heads are bigger than I thought too.  Welcome to the club mine aren’t as pretty as the pictures make them out to be.  Can’t wait to hear about your first round with them!

 

I’ve had three experiences with them so far.

 

1.  Round at local par 3.   My worst round since I started.   Tee shots were mostly duffs and chips around the green were all over powered.

 

2.  At local chipping/putting area where I really discovered these are nothing like my Ping Eye 2s.

 

3.  Back at the par 3 with my golf buddy.   First shot off the tee on the green!  I continued to perform well off the tees the entire round and my chipping around the greens was decent enough to be setup for a par more often than not.  My putting was a disaster.   
 

I’m impressed!  Thinking about dipping further into the Wilson history and blades with some FG-17s.

 

When I started golfing this summer with my dad’s old Eye 2s and my neighbors basically just to get out of the house I never thought it would develop to forum visit and especially purchasing more clubs.   I think I’m hooked!

[cold_war_era_golfer]

At the beginning of this thread I talked about matching them with woods.  Here’s what I ended up with.

 

I believe these are laminate like my Ping Eye 2s.

 

 

[Stephen8802]

I played 17 holes with my Goose-necks last night, the final hole and a half in the dark. My first impressions is that these clubs are much different than I was expecting and was really happy with them.

 

From Christmas day 1984 until this summer, all the golf I played was with two sets, 1985 Wilson Staffs and some DCI Oversized I picked up in the late 90's. I had a set of FG17s for two years before that, but I don't remember much about them other than I liked the '85s a lot more. I've been playing with Apex IIs lately, plus some golf with 50's Macgregors and '56 staffs, but my data points are mostly my forged Staffs and cavity back Titleists. I expected the Goose-necks to be 80% like my staffs with some CB type advantages, but it was the opposite. They play more like the DCIs but give me back some of the joy of my other set.

 

When I first looked at them in the yard, I was really struggling to comprehend the shape. They aren't bigger than my DCIs, but looking at a silver forged club that size just seemed odd. The also felt a tad heavy to me and I was a bit worried how they would swing. Well, the size thing went away immediately and they looked just fine on the course. The weight was also fine on the course and I didn't hit any heavy shots the entire round. In fact, they take a really nice divot and swing very smoothly through the ball.

 

My first impressions were that they feel harder on impact than I was expecting, especially compared Apex IIs I've been playing; not harsh, just firm. Hitting them brought two big surprises. First, I hit the ball dead straight with these and second they play way longer than I was expecting, maybe even a longer than my DCIs. I was at least a club and a half longer than the Hogan's and at least a club longer than my 85 Staffs. I also felt that the fit my swing very well and my tempo with these was the best I've had in a long time.

 

I didn't have any shots I had to shape to the left during the round, but I was able to put a soft fade on a couple of shots to drop it in close. I was never able to fade the DCIs, those things just go straight. I had 4 of my best shots of the year with these clubs and was dropping balls right where I wanted to more often that not even with the long irons, which was a real surprise because I've been struggling with my swing for the last month. This is the first time in a while that I was able to think about getting it close rather than just aim at the middle front or middle back.

 

Over all, these are what I hoped they would be. Lots of fun to hit, more freedom to create shots than the DCIs, fewer missed shots than the '85s or Apex IIs. My buddy Rob and I play every week, and he is endlessly amused by all the clubs I rotate through my bag; the first thing he does when we see each other is look at my bag in hopes of seeing something new. Walking off the course in the dark last night he looked at me and said "those irons stay in the bag the rest of the year." I think I'll listen to Rob.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Great write up. I have to ask--and forgive me for a really simple question-- but although I've seen Wilson goosenecks come up for sale here,I've never seen any detailed photos. To me, "goose neck" suggests loads of offset, but the few pictures I've seen don't back that up. I've not seen a photo at address, but other pictures show pretty normal looking irons. What exactly is the "goose neck"? Is it something other than a bent, offset necK? Am I completely missing something here?

[Stephen8802]

I had the same reaction when I picked up my set. I had only seen pictures of them and was expecting significant offset due to the name. There isn't a lot, just a little bit, and I'm not sure I would have even thought of it as offset if it weren't for the name. My 1950 Wilson Top Notch Goose-neck has noticeable off set, it really does look like a Goose-neck, so I thought they would have some of that.

 

I think their marketing team at the time was trying to link a very nontraditional club to continuity with the Staff brand by using a name from the past and picked Goose-neck because it is just a cool name and logo. Even in the age of irons that don't look anything like a golf clubs to me, these clubs look weird, so I can completely understand why using a name from Wilson history makes sense. Its hard to remember now, but back in the 80's, at least in my neck of the woods, Wilson Staff was synonymous with tour-level excellence, so these would have been a complete shock when they were rolled out. They are nice sticks even if they do look strange.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Stephen8802

[cold_war_era_golfer]

Maybe I'm going backwards or insane but the Goose Necks were a short love.  I've listed them for sale and I'm really enjoying more traditional styled Wilson blades.

 

Here's the best part of being a lousy golfer.  I hear blades are the most difficult to hit, infact the two sets I've bought locally the sellers told me "I'm not pro I can't play blades."   I can't tell a difference in my lousy game.

[Swingingk]

On 9/29/2020 at 3:02 PM, oldpinggolfer said:

I hear blades are the most difficult to hit, infact the two sets I've bought locally the sellers told me "I'm not pro I can't play blades."

You'd better get used to that comment.  You'll hear it a lot on this site too, although not so much here in the Classic section where folks are more sensible.  😉

[boggyman]

On 9/19/2020 at 7:03 AM, coldwareragolfer said:

Congrats!   
Yes the heads are bigger than I thought too.  Welcome to the club mine aren’t as pretty as the pictures make them out to be.  Can’t wait to hear about your first round with them!

 

I’ve had three experiences with them so far.

 

1.  Round at local par 3.   My worst round since I started.   Tee shots were mostly duffs and chips around the green were all over powered.

 

2.  At local chipping/putting area where I really discovered these are nothing like my Ping Eye 2s.

 

3.  Back at the par 3 with my golf buddy.   First shot off the tee on the green!  I continued to perform well off the tees the entire round and my chipping around the greens was decent enough to be setup for a par more often than not.  My putting was a disaster.   
 

I’m impressed!  Thinking about dipping further into the Wilson history and blades with some FG-17s.

 

When I started golfing this summer with my dad’s old Eye 2s and my neighbors basically just to get out of the house I never thought it would develop to forum visit and especially purchasing more clubs.   I think I’m hooked!

17s are my all time favorite irons. Just got a spare set!! The 53s look good!