Anyone heard of Royal brand golf clubs?

[dcopp7]

I picked up a set of 3-PW irons called Royal Geometrik this AM at a thrift.  Nice stainless blade.  No ferrule design hosel.  For $6 for the set i figured why not?  I'll post pics after I clean them today.  There is a 4i on eBay right now.

[LeoLeo99]

I think Royal was like Knight, a lower end brand that made clones or "inspired by" type of clubs.  

[dcopp7]

[dcopp7]

[elwhippy]

Interesting find. These same heads were marketed by Petron in the UK. 

[rgk5]

Royal forgings sold in the 1970swere forged by Hoffman in Tenessee and very similar to Wilson Staff blades. I had  a set in 1978.

[Shallowface]

Royal golf clubs, as well as the Royal Plus 6 golf balls were originally made (well, at least marketed) by the Uniroyal Tire Company.

However, the company that made the Geometrik irons was an entity that had been spun off from Uniroyal.  I believe they continued to offer the Plus 6 golf ball.  This would have been in the early 1980s.

As I recall the deal with the Geometrik irons was that the grips were bored slightly off center in an effort to line the hands up more with the center of the clubface.  Don't know if that would conform to the rules today or not.  Karsten tried something similar in the 1960s by having a slight bend in the shafts under the grips, but I believe that was ruled non-conforming fairly early on, so sets of those are quite rare.  It was one of the early forged Ping models.  

I certainly had those Royal catalogs pass through my grubby little fingers, but if I kept any of them I don't know where they would be.  I know long time readers here would be shocked, but I didn't keep absolutely everything! 

Edited October 19, 2020 by Shallowface

[dcopp7]

Huh! Well, we'll see what they fetch.  I did them as an auction with starting price at $19.97 +SH.  Could be a decent score for someone in need.  

[xgolfx]

kEN vENTURI won the US Open with US Royal equipment

 

CHARLEY PENNA

[jmcf1949]

On 10/19/2020 at 4:08 PM, rgk5 said:

Royal forgings sold in the 1970swere forged by Hoffman in Tenessee and very similar to Wilson Staff blades. I had  a set in 1978.

I looked in Lee Trevino’s bag way back at Oakland Hills and he had Royal irons.

[dcopp7]

Well, I only got $25 for these so they must be pretty much unknown

[Rockannand]

Royal was my very first set of clubs in 1970. They were a proline as the pro at Wellesley CC, Les Bond was on their staff. My set was stiff, D2 weight - heavy clubs today. I no longer have them except for the Driver. It was my understanding that they were originally made by Wilson Staff in the 60's. I loved them when I was playing regularly back in my late teen's and early 20's, but like all blades of that era, they had a small sweet spot, but when you hit it there it has a wonderful feel. 

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by Rockannand
add pics

[raggal62]

21 hours ago, Rockannand said:

Royal was my very first set of clubs in 1970. They were a proline as the pro at Wellesley CC, Les Bond was on their staff. My set was stiff, D2 weight - heavy clubs today. I no longer have them except for the Driver. It was my understanding that they were originally made by Wilson Staff in the 60's. I loved them when I was playing regularly back in my late teen's and early 20's, but like all blades of that era, they had a small sweet spot, but when you hit it there it has a wonderful feel. 

 

Nice looking laminated block!

[Mikey Sadler]

Ad fron 1962

[strug'-a-ling]

On 10/19/2020 at 11:46 AM, LeoLeo99 said:

I think Royal was like Knight, a lower end brand that made clones or "inspired by" type of clubs.  

I think Royal, as I remember, was a major rubber company and attempted to market their stuff as a pro-line club for a short while, but they never amounted to much.

 

It's interesting, though, that not one of the era's BIG THREE--MacGregor, Spalding, and Wilson--

was a golf specialty company like Callaway, Ping, and TaylorMade.

 

All of them were full line sporting goods manufacturers like Mizuno.

And they all sold inexpensive store line models in retail outlets as well as top quality lines on green grass pro shops only.

 

It was a completely different time.  the Store models didn't hurt the reputation of the pro stuff as it would today.

And yet, in a sense the good stuff is all store models now because nobody sells exclusively in golf course pro shops anymore.

It's just not general department stores anymore.

[rgk5]

By the late 1970s Royal irons were designed by Wilson and forged by Hoffmann in TN, long closed.  Unsure about the laminated woods.  I had a complete set in 1978. Went to a business meeting at Innisbrook, played the Copperhead course and shot 74, including a 3-putt on the par three 17th. Excellent clubs.

[mbwannab]

I picked these up this past year at a thrift shop, I couldn’t find a whole lot on them so thanks for the info. 

[AdamMH]

On 12/2/2022 at 6:10 PM, mbwannab said:

I picked these up this past year at a thrift shop, I couldn’t find a whole lot on them so thanks for the info. 

Nice find. I've got a set that's very similar to yours (Royal Staff Model) and they're very nice clubs for the small amount of money I paid for them. Unfortunately it's basically impossible to find much in terms of concrete information on these online since they never became popular. There's a chart floating around somewhere that compares manufacturer lofts in the 60s or 70s that have Royal listed but that's about it as far as specs go.

Here's a link to the chart: https://www.golfwrx.com/645080/the-death-of-the-3-iron-and-what-it-means-for-your-bag-setup/

Edited December 5, 2022 by AdamMH

[rgk5]

I had a set of those in the fall of 1978 and the first time I used them, shot 74 on the Copperhead course at Innisbrook.  I believe they are a Hoffman forging. The matching laminated woods were only average compared to the irons,

[Woodridge]

I found a dozen of their Plus 6 balls still in the sleeves in a Wilson staff pro's bag I bought a few years back. Everyone that I knew who played Royal forged irons in the 1970s was a player.

[bikerrod]

I received a full set of Royal irons and woods for high school graduation May 1974. Grand Forks ND. Beautiful clubs. Black lacquer woods with brass weight on back. Hosseless irons. Used them from 1974 to 1987. Graduated to Ping green dot irons. Tall upright stance. Then Yamaha carbon fiber driver. Still have 3 4 Royal woods in bag.

[zonumc83]

On 12/2/2022 at 7:10 PM, mbwannab said:

I picked these up this past year at a thrift shop, I couldn’t find a whole lot on them so thanks for the info. 

I have the full set. Given to me by a lady that lives across the street from me. She was in her mid forties so how she got them I don’t know. The only person who played that lived there was her daughter. Nice clubs, I plan on playing a round with them soon. 

[Yankeerev]

I had a set of Royal Golf Clubs that were a low profile club much like the old Brownings.  I loved them…and wish I had kept them…