Vintage Clubs……Vintage grips (?)

[sevenfourate]

I’m pretty sure I’m about to build my first Vintage set. Perhaps a set from the 1960’s or 70’s…….the era of equipment I would have been using when I started playing golf: circa the mid 1980’s.

 

And I’m also pretty sure I’ll be building these to play - not display. If only relatively occasionally…..
 

**What do you guys who play Vintage sets do reference grips  ? Do you use an older looking / plain and simple / or even a replica grip to keep the clubs visually correct ? Or use something more modern / the same as on your modern set to keep things ‘even’ when playing ?

 

Do replica grips from days gone by even exist ? I bet a set of 14 leather wrap grips isn’t cheap these days ? 

Thanks all. Excited to get going  ⛳️ 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I buy old stuff to play, so I've no qualms about putting new grips on old clubs. Another option I've taken to recently is wrapping the original grip in the sort of tape used for tennis racquet grips. My local golf shop sells similar tape designed for golf clubs, but the tennis stuff is slightly cheaper where I am. 

 

Obviously, wrapping the grip with tape results in a thicker grip, but I like thicker grips generally, so it's not a problem.

Edited August 30, 2021 by No_Catchy_Nickname

[raggal62]

Some manufacturers offer vintage looking (wrapped black) grips made with more modern rubber compounds. And yes ... leather grips are $$$.

[MrFlipper]

When I started playing in the early 70's I don't remember seeing leather on new clubs, everything had victory grips. Not much of a fan of those anymore. 

 

If I have to regrip, which is most of the time if the weight fits me and I can play what I just got, I go with a current model like tour wrap 2Gs that aren't flashy and don't look too far from the originals from a distance. 

 

Welcome to our little corner of the internet. You'll find yourself going down rabbit holes a lot now. It doesn't stop at one set lol

[Tumbleweed_1968]

I regrip with Royal wrap style rubber grips made in the USA on clubs made in the USA. For me, the original grips are usually too small and most leather grips have that ridge of material (looks like a candle wick) running down the back side.

I add one layer of gorilla tape under water activated dbl sided tape before installing. Adds just enough. YMMV.

Player clubs need good grips imo.

[Fellaheen51]

3 hours ago, sevenfourate said:

I’m pretty sure I’m about to build my first Vintage set. Perhaps a set from the 1960’s or 70’s…….the era of equipment I would have been using when I started playing golf: circa the mid 1980’s.

 

And I’m also pretty sure I’ll be building these to play - not display. If only relatively occasionally…..
 

**What do you guys who play Vintage sets do reference grips  ? Do you use an older looking / plain and simple / or even a replica grip to keep the clubs visually correct ? Or use something more modern / the same as on your modern set to keep things ‘even’ when playing ?

 

Do replica grips from days gone by even exist ? I bet a set of 14 leather wrap grips isn’t cheap these days ? 

Thanks all. Excited to get going  ⛳️ 

 

 

Old skool classic clubs (circa 70's and 80's) all to frequently came with the miserable GP Victory grips.  That are now hard and slippery.  Cut them off post haste.  Preference for the appropriate classic "look" is installation of a wrap style grip in basic black.  Lamkin PermaWraps were my go to, but they are no longer available.  Lamkin Crossline Plus Wrap would be an option.  Grown accustomed to using reduced taper for all my implements.  GP Tour Wraps, but always thought they became "slippery" with any moisture exposure.  Don't know if they're available in the UK, but Royal Grip Perf Wraps are quite good and a value at $4 U.S. per.  

 

Grip to your preference as long as they are not too busy with graphics.  And....No Winns evah.  

 

The long gone Lamkin PermaWrap Classics, with the gold beading, were ace for classic clubs.  Looked like vintage Mac leathers.  Bought a set of 13 some years back.  Still install them on classic implements.  The clubs may come and go, the grips are removed before liquidation. They look especially kool with persimmon.  

 

If by chance the clubs have OE leather grips, I'll take the necessary steps to retain and preserve them.  Amazing how old leathers can be rejuvenated with some TLC.  I've resto'd 60 year old Mac leathers with a good cleaning and application of a quality leather conditioner (Lexol).  

 

Edit add:  If you were to go the leather route, there are slip-ons.  But in keeping with the thematic of period correctness, could roll your own.  Golfworks here in the States sells leather straps and underlistings.  The lost art of wrapping a leather grip.  Transferred over a couple of Neumann's I've found to putters.  Not that difficult, and I'm certainly no futzing expert.  

 

https://www.golfworks.com/the-grip-master-leather-strapping/p/gm0041/

Edited August 30, 2021 by Fellaheen51

[scomac2002]

Like @Fellaheen51 I have a couple of sets worth of Lamkin Permawraps in midsize that I have resorted to moving around between sets of players in the classic club stash.  If looking to purchase new grips for said clubs I would likely go with Itomic Tacki-Mac Tour Pro wraps if you prefer oversize.

[cgasucks]

Me personally I love and prefer playing older clubs but when it comes to grips, I wouldn't mind playing the latest and greatest as grip technology has come a long way since I started playing the game in 2000.

 

Vintage grips for vintage clubs or modern grips for vintage clubs....it's just a matter of personal preference.

[NRJyzr]

I'm very much a believer in playing whatever grips I prefer using, when it comes to playing vintage gear.  I guess I'm not particularly "period correct" when it comes to grips.  🙂

 

@sevenfourate welcome to the vintage club world  🙂 

Edited August 30, 2021 by NRJyzr

[sevenfourate]

8 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

I'm very much a believer in playing whatever grips I prefer using, when it comes to playing vintage gear.  I guess I'm not particularly "period correct" when it comes to grips.  🙂

 

@sevenfourate welcome to the vintage club world  🙂 

Thanks for the welcome ! I’m two weeks away from being eligible (In age 🤨) for the Seniors Tour. I may aswell have the clubs to match….😎

 

Ref grips: I’m seriously particular. [Tour Velvet Ribbed - normally 10” - stretched out to 11 1/2 inches and shaped slightly to suit. If I’m genuinely going to play AND enjoy a Vintage set - I’ll struggle to come to terms with anything else. Unless I can at the very least find something that looks like it’s from an era past, and is ultra thin to boot.

 

Got to build a set first. Then my ‘troubles’ start…..

 

***I take it you replicate your ‘normal’ grips on your Vintage clubs ?

[NRJyzr]

16 minutes ago, sevenfourate said:

Thanks for the welcome ! I’m two weeks away from being eligible (In age 🤨) for the Seniors Tour. I may aswell have the clubs to match….😎

 

Ref grips: I’m seriously particular. [Tour Velvet Ribbed - normally 10” - stretched out to 11 1/2 inches and shaped slightly to suit. If I’m genuinely going to play AND enjoy a Vintage set - I’ll struggle to come to terms with anything else. Unless I can at the very least find something that looks like it’s from an era past, and is ultra thin to boot.

 

Got to build a set first. Then my ‘troubles’ start…..

 

***I take it you replicate your ‘normal’ grips on your Vintage clubs ?

 

Yes, I just use my normal grips on vintage clubs.  Over the years, it's been Lamkin Crosslines, Star Sidewinder, Pure Pro, and now I'm using leather.  I wouldn't hesitate to throw GripMaster or Best Grips leathers on anything.  

 

[Jiggered]

Building a vintage set sounds like a different angle, I assume you have a set of heads already?

 

I find the fun of playing vintage is in my adapting to the equipment as I find it, have you considered that or are you looking to make as competitive a set as you can?

 

Will you be using vintage lofts/lengths or adjusting them to more modern numbers?

[@_the_crook]

kind of in the same situation.

have a nice set of Ram irons with the original wrap style grips, however I need to upgrade to midsize.

hate to lose the Ram logo grips which are in great condition.

someone might be able to blow off the old and start over with extra wraps and such.

been looking at this set for over a year and just want to play them.

 

 

[cold_war_era_golfer]

I try to seek out leather when purchasing vintage as to those can always be restored or at the very least made to feel tacky for an entire round.

 

I have a couple sets of AP Trumatics and MacGregor Tourneys that have Golf Pride grips that were branded for the company back in the day.   Don't have the heart to cut those off when I have a few sets that came to me with "replacement" grips that I would regrip before those originals.

 

I have bought old stock Golf Pride Victory grips as to those seem to look closest to something from back in the day.

 

Personally, I think modern grips are like putting locking tuners on a vintage Stratocaster.  Just doesn't look right.  Yes, I know are trying to make them as playable as possible.  So that can be a struggle!

[Robert L.]

I regripped almost all my vintage clubs with Golf Pride Tour Velvet grips. Nice and black, look period correct. My clubs aren't meant for show, they're meant for performance. The only club I haven't regripped is my Hogan 4-wood. I kept the original grip, which wasn't in too bad a shape. I took some sandpaper and sanded it down, and it's tackier now than when I got it.

[sevenfourate]

19 hours ago, Jiggered said:

Building a vintage set sounds like a different angle, I assume you have a set of heads already?

 

I find the fun of playing vintage is in my adapting to the equipment as I find it, have you considered that or are you looking to make as competitive a set as you can?

 

Will you be using vintage lofts/lengths or adjusting them to more modern numbers?

Sorry if i mislead. 
 

By building I meant purchase, collate, get together. Not build from components 🤣

 

Im watching a particular set of irons on a certain auction site. If I should win those - I also know where I can get a set of woods of the same vintage to suit. Bag and putter should be straightforward after….

 

Lofts: seeing as my modern set is pretty retro; I’m not on jacked up lofts now. I think my PW is nearly 48 degrees.

 

So I’ll be leaving any vintage set exactly as they should be loft wise. And they probably won’t be far off what my current gamers are ! 🤷‍♂️

[Jiggered]

4 hours ago, sevenfourate said:

Sorry if i mislead. 
 

By building I meant purchase, collate, get together. Not build from components 🤣

 

Im watching a particular set of irons on a certain auction site. If I should win those - I also know where I can get a set of woods of the same vintage to suit. Bag and putter should be straightforward after….

 

Lofts: seeing as my modern set is pretty retro; I’m not on jacked up lofts now. I think my PW is nearly 48 degrees.

 

So I’ll be leaving any vintage set exactly as they should be loft wise. And they probably won’t be far off what my current gamers are ! 🤷‍♂️

 

I see from your WITB that you're in Suffolk, a pity I didn't know sooner as there was a retro day at Kings Lynn GC Saturday just gone where quite a few guys were toting Pings.

I had Slazenger Gary Player irons (1962), John Letters driver (late 1950s), Uniroyal Arnold Palmer 3 & 4 woods (1971) and a Golden Goose putter (approx 1970s).

[sevenfourate]

7 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

I see from your WITB that you're in Suffolk, a pity I didn't know sooner as there was a retro day at Kings Lynn GC Saturday just gone where quite a few guys were toting Pings.

I had Slazenger Gary Player irons (1962), John Letters driver (late 1950s), Uniroyal Arnold Palmer 3 & 4 woods (1971) and a Golden Goose putter (approx 1970s).

No way ! What fun.

 

A reminder nest time if you remember would be awesome !

 

How many played ?

[Jiggered]

1 hour ago, sevenfourate said:

No way ! What fun.

 

A reminder nest time if you remember would be awesome !

 

How many played ?

 

No problem, there should be another one there next year but I'll let you know if anything else crops up in the area.

 

There should have been 20 but a few drop-outs for various reasons and we had about 15 or 16 in the end.

[BIG STU]

Me I am of the school that I will regrip if the grips are shot. I use air so I can pull a set of grips if I do not like the club. Now one other option is to wrap the stock grip in Athletic gause type tape. That provides a good grip and the tape will come off with no residue. In fact my 57 Macs still have that tape on them. I found those in the scrap pile late on a Friday afternoon. They had the original MT grips that were slick and worn. I had my famous Junkpile bet with my boss at the time. Did not have time to regrip so I just wrapped them and played them. Shot 80 that day with the junkpile refugee set of course beat my boss with his newest TM stuff. Those 57s hit so good I never pulled the tape off. But I am of the school if you are gonna play them grip them to suit you

[BIG STU]

10 hours ago, Jiggered said:

 

I see from your WITB that you're in Suffolk, a pity I didn't know sooner as there was a retro day at Kings Lynn GC Saturday just gone where quite a few guys were toting Pings.

I had Slazenger Gary Player irons (1962), John Letters driver (late 1950s), Uniroyal Arnold Palmer 3 & 4 woods (1971) and a Golden Goose putter (approx 1970s).

Yep read the guys on PGS talking about that--- Like I told them I wish I was on that side of the pond to play with them

[Shallowface]

I really like the Star Grip products, particularly the Smoothee.  I've got over 8000 shots on the one that's on my Ping G10 Driver and it feels as good as the day I installed it.

 

However, at $7.19 each I don't use those on clubs I find in the thrifts.  For those I like the Karma 360 from Hireko.  No logos at all and as good as the Tour Velvet in my opinion, and around two bucks each.

 

But as others have said I have no qualms about replacing the original grips on anything.  The game is difficult enough as it is, and slick, ill-fitting grips just make it that much more difficult.   When 50s era classics were hot on the PGA Tour in the 70s, no one hesitated to change a grip no matter what club it was. 

[BIG STU]

52 minutes ago, Shallowface said:

I really like the Star Grip products, particularly the Smoothee.  I've got over 8000 shots on the one that's on my Ping G10 Driver and it feels as good as the day I installed it.

 

However, at $7.19 each I don't use those on clubs I find in the thrifts.  For those I like the Karma 360 from Hireko.  No logos at all and as good as the Tour Velvet in my opinion, and around two bucks each.

 

But as others have said I have no qualms about replacing the original grips on anything.  The game is difficult enough as it is, and slick, ill-fitting grips just make it that much more difficult.   When 50s era classics were hot on the PGA Tour in the 70s, no one hesitated to change a grip no matter what club it was. 

And believe it or not about 10 years ago Star Grips were an economy grip---- Still have them on my other set of FC-4000s. Most of the time I use GP Tour Wraps since I have a lot of them and use air to put grips on and off

[raggal62]

2 hours ago, BIG STU said:

And believe it or not about 10 years ago Star Grips were an economy grip---- Still have them on my other set of FC-4000s. Most of the time I use GP Tour Wraps since I have a lot of them and use air to put grips on and off

And also Star Grips are American made.

 

Even though the price is twice what they once were, their durability makes up for it. Like Stu's mac's, I'm close to ten years with Sidewinders on my KZG's. 

[Stephen8802]

New grips on most clubs...I have no interest in playing clubs with bad grips. With a little bit of work, I can get most leather grips back to tacky, but the rubber stuff comes off without hesitation or remorse.

 

I use Mint grips and buy them straight from the manufacturer by the case. They are inexpensive, convenient when they come in a box of 48, and feel great. I don't think I'd care much if they were ugly, but they faux wrap look fits older clubs too.

[BIG STU]

14 hours ago, raggal62 said:

And also Star Grips are American made.

 

Even though the price is twice what they once were, their durability makes up for it. Like Stu's mac's, I'm close to ten years with Sidewinders on my KZG's. 

Honestly I do not play those Macs a lot--- I have a pristine set our esteemed member Stick Fish sent me a few years back. The set with the Star Grips were my Old Mans he got them new in 62 when he was on the Mac staff. I remember the last round of golf he played he played with me. He had not played or had those clubs out of the bag for close to 15 years. The night before I went to a Golf Store in Greenville NC and got those grips and a dozen Titleist balls for him. His grips had rotted off and most of the balata and wound balls had literally came apart in the ball pocket of the bag. I also bought him a couple of new gloves too because his had dry rotted in the bag. That is one set of clubs I will not ever regrip because those were the ones I put on for his last round. That was in October and he passed the following April at age 85.

[nitram]

Neumann "roll your own".

[cold_war_era_golfer]

3 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Honestly I do not play those Macs a lot--- I have a pristine set our esteemed member Stick Fish sent me a few years back. The set with the Star Grips were my Old Mans he got them new in 62 when he was on the Mac staff. I remember the last round of golf he played he played with me. He had not played or had those clubs out of the bag for close to 15 years. The night before I went to a Golf Store in Greenville NC and got those grips and a dozen Titleist balls for him. His grips had rotted off and most of the balata and wound balls had literally came apart in the ball pocket of the bag. I also bought him a couple of new gloves too because his had dry rotted in the bag. That is one set of clubs I will not ever regrip because those were the ones I put on for his last round. That was in October and he passed the following April at age 85.

Stu, as a follow lover of FC4000s.  I would love to see a photo or two of the set of those clubs that belonged to your dad.  You've spoken so much of them they almost seem like family at this point!

[cold_war_era_golfer]

2 hours ago, nitram said:

Neumann "roll your own".

I want to do that this off season.

[@_the_crook]

On 9/1/2021 at 3:20 AM, BIG STU said:

Now one other option is to wrap the stock grip in Athletic gause type tape.

 

couple years back I found a great Wilson Staff Patty Berg SW. mint.

bright blue/gold ferrule and original blue grip.

took black friction tape and wound that puppy up.

there's also the stuff they use on tennis rackets.

has some cushion to it.