Is this MacG persimmon a custom build?

[dcopp7]

I love it.  Sole needs to be stripped and cleared.  Check out the grain!  Love the blonde wood.

Graphite shaft.  

[BIG STU]

Beatuful club great grain. Oh yeah this club has been worked on in the past. See the plug in the Toe?  It may have cracked there in the past and drilled plugged and epoxyed. Or a lot of the old schoolers believe it or not added weight or subtracted weight that way. To make heavier add a Oak or Hickory plug to lighten put a pine or ash plug in it. I am not a pristine collector by any means but to me this club screams character. It has creedence has more than likely been modified by a Master Craftsman and probably played by a good player.

I can not  pinpoint the year though-- It may be a reproduction. The shaft dates back to the 90s. I do not know if they offered graphite from the factory. I do know Power Bilt and Toney Penna offered graphite from the factory in the 90s. I had a Citation driver brand new never hit with a graphite shaft from the factory. It came from our old shop stock and never sold. I ended up selling it on my own. I have 2 Penna drivers with graphite from the factory. One is straight out of custom because a Tour Player I know well played it and I played it up until 02 or so. It has an Aldila HM65 in it. The other one Old School Rocker gave me when he was up here and it has a HM-55 made for Penna in it. 

But anyhow with all that being said yours is a great find

Edited July 15, 2021 by BIG STU

[anser85029]

yes most likely a custom build from MacGregors custom club department in Cincinnati from the late 60s...I had one of these that I played with from the late 60s thru the 70s...deep face 6 screw model that emulated Nicklaus' 271 special driver in the late 60s Mac catalogs

[dcopp7]

 $4+shipping LOL, I had to buy it.  It's beautiful in my opinion.

Edited July 15, 2021 by dcopp7

[Foozle]

I'm intrigued. I have the club pictured below which has a similar very light coloured graphite shaft but with no identifying markings at all. The head itself is MT1W and I assumed a 1960's original that someone later reshafted.

Oddly, there was an identical club down to the Chamois grip listed on e Bay recently.

I exchanged a couple of e mails with the seller to try and determine its history. He had also thought his was unique but clearly there must have been a production run of some description numbering between 2 and who knows how many?

Stu raises the possibility of a 1990's reproduction? 

Interested in any thoughts out there? 

[RobotDoctor]

My gut tells me this was a 1970s MacGregor persimmon wood that was altered during restoration.  The graphite shaft is not original.  The wood plug was an attempt to lighten the toe to promote closing of the face at impact.  The insert is most likely aftermarket and made to look like the M85 insert, although the scoring lines are not correct for the vintage model.  I would bet the insert is cycolac, not paper fiber.  It appears that the lead skirt weight was added as there are slight burn marks on the edges.  None the less if this course was restored and not a custom the work was well done.

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by RobotDoctor

[dcopp7]

I stripped the yellowed finish off the sole plate, masked the sole, and shot it with some clear enamel.  Here she blows now...

[RobotDoctor]

2 hours ago, anser85029 said:

yes most likely a custom build from MacGregors custom club department in Cincinnati from the late 60s...I had one of these that I played with from the late 60s thru the 70s...deep face 6 screw model that emulated Nicklaus' 271 special driver in the late 60s Mac catalogs

 

If this was a MacGregor custom club department club the insert will have fit the face tight when made.  There are signs this club was restored and whoever did it sanded the sides of the insert to clean off epoxy.  This is a quick and lazy way to clean off the epoxy resulting in a poor refit.  Too bad if this is indeed originally a MacGregor custom department order.

[anser85029]

RoboDoc odds are you are right...after thinking a bit I believe my 60s model had a 5 screw soleplate not the 4 screw soleplate as shown..most likely a later edition as you suggested

[RobotDoctor]

6 hours ago, anser85029 said:

RoboDoc odds are you are right...after thinking a bit I believe my 60s model had a 5 screw soleplate not the 4 screw soleplate as shown..most likely a later edition as you suggested

 

It is still a nice block.  How can anyone ever not like a nice block of persimmon.  I bet this is a great feeling driver, especially with the graphite shaft.  Hit that puppy!!!

Edited July 15, 2021 by RobotDoctor

[dcopp7]

Definitely plan to.  It's a really nice looking head at address too.

[dcopp7]

Used it on 2 holes last night.  First drive, tight fade 245yds.  2nd drive, Lazer straight 265 yds over trees to first cut rough.  Outdrove my buddy with his Cobra SZ, lol.  He said, "bag it!"