Custom Made In USA - Company

[pacman16]

Does anybody know anything about these woods?  
 

I wasn't sure if it was it's own company etc or what.  One of the drivers does indeed say 'Ben Hogan' on the top.  
 

The quality looks great on both of them.

[bcstones]

it would help to see more than sole plate...like the top, the face, the shaft & if there is a shaft label & the grips, esp if OEM

[pacman16]

On 6/17/2024 at 2:46 PM, bcstones said:

it would help to see more than sole plate...like the top, the face, the shaft & if there is a shaft label & the grips, esp if OEM

 

[pacman16]

The grips were not OEM.

[bcstones]

@pacman16  thanks for the pics...tho, I can't make out anything on the first (brown/natural) wood...is it also a Hogan?
They are beautiful...I do especially like the black hogan driver....

[pacman16]

8 minutes ago, bcstones said:

@pacman16  thanks for the pics...tho, I can't make out anything on the first (brown/natural) wood...is it also a Hogan?
They are beautiful...I do especially like the black hogan driver....

 

I know this sounds silly but I don't think it's a Hogan driver made by the Hogan company.  I've seen plenty of woods with the label 'custom made in usa' over the years.  
 

I hope someone can solve the mystery.

[ezgoer]

Edit 

Edited June 23 by ezgoer

[ezgoer]

10 hours ago, pacman16 said:

 

Total guess cuz some things don’t make sense. The Hogan driver, is it a stamp on the top? I’ve seen that tiny black TT shaft label on 1954 irons and believe it’s pretty old. I’ve never seen a MacGregor Hogan in person but wondering if that’s possibly an early 50’s MacGregor Hogan with one of those poured replacement inserts? Didn’t Hogan leave Mac about 1953? Although the insert is huge like 70’s-80’s stuff and even SEOM 50’s inserts weren’t that big. Possibly a replacement sole plate at some point? Be easy to copy the old Mac pattern I bet. Keeps coming back to that shaft for me. If I’m correct on shaft vintage why would someone put a replacement shaft that old in a club??? We all have stuff laying around but….???? 
 

Neither appear to have stampings in wood on sole like all the old stuff did but could have easily been sanded away. Kinda have a 40’s shape. Maybe I’m completely overthinking it. 

Edited June 23 by ezgoer

[ezgoer]

My 53-54 Walter Hagen Ultra irons and 53 Spalding Syncro-Dyned irons have that tiny black TT shaft label. 

Edited June 23 by ezgoer

[dab]

These are all 1970's vintage woods. The blonde/ natural wood has a green Gamma fire glass insert (actually resin/fiberglass) popular in the late 1970's. The Hogan driver looks to be late 1970's  (black insert with no screws makes me think lower grade model compared to the Hogan apex persimmons of the same period). The Spalding bird on ball wood most likely is early 1970's . The Dynamic black shaft band is common for the 1970's and early 1980's before dynamic gold was introduced in the mid 1980's- I have a set of mint macgregor mt irons from 1982 with the same shaft band. I hope this helps!

[ezgoer]

Not a lot left of your label. Top 2 are the earlier 50’s TT. Bottom is the 70’s TT Dynamic. This is biggest part of my thinking. I have another 55 club with a replacement poured face insert I forgot to picture but other than not being pretty or ornate it looks to be the proper size for the club. Your black insert does look huge compared to the face like a Wilson laminate though. 
 

The later 50’s Mac’s started using decals instead of stamps on some but I would think the earlier Hogan would be a stamp although this WH does have a decal 

Edited Sunday at 12:24 PM by ezgoer

[pacman16]

9 hours ago, dab said:

These are all 1970's vintage woods. The blonde/ natural wood has a green Gamma fire glass insert (actually resin/fiberglass) popular in the late 1970's. The Hogan driver looks to be late 1970's  (black insert with no screws makes me think lower grade model compared to the Hogan apex persimmons of the same period). The Spalding bird on ball wood most likely is early 1970's . The Dynamic black shaft band is common for the 1970's and early 1980's before dynamic gold was introduced in the mid 1980's- I have a set of mint macgregor mt irons from 1982 with the same shaft band. I hope this helps!

 

 

 

I think you're definitely correct given the age of the person's father I bought them from.  These are a couple more that are a giveaway to the 70s.

 

I also received some George Izett and Irving King's that were beautifully made.

[bcstones]

13 hours ago, ezgoer said:

I’ve never seen a MacGregor Hogan in person

I actually have one....the sole plate is "ax" shaped & just says "MacGregor 1"...& as you can see the sole plate seems to be shorter; the face is lacking the (whatever it's called) between plate & insert. The shaft band is red-black-red, I can barely see the TrueTemper impression, can't distinguish the flex. The grip is a very nice & tight leather. I really can read the Reg No above the soleplate...
What I see in Kaplan's MacGregor, that style of sole plate was used in the '30s on their ParMaker & '40s Master woods. I'm not sure that MacGregor ever had Hogan clubs in their professional lineup

 

I'm also wondering if this is a botched refurbishment.....I wonder also about my getting it refurbished & by whom.

 

 

 

 

the sole seems to be shorter than the base, also the curve for the shaft thu hosel to base is not quite where it should be

 

 

 

 

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screws are not flush (& perhaps are phillips head, I don't really know how to tell the difference) & the gap between the sole & the insert shows up better

 

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 05:45 PM by bcstones

[ezgoer]

Pretty sure I’m way off on the club head. Probably 70’s and not even really a Hogan, just a decal. Odd shaft though, sure looks like the little 50’s band to me

[bcstones]

30 minutes ago, ezgoer said:

not even really a Hogan, just a decal.

no, the "Ben Hogan" is impressed into the wood....not a decal.

looking at the pics again...even the insert doesn't match up. I'm beginning to get the sense that this is a botched refurbish...wonder if it's worth a redo
I have a couple of early Hogan woods - Precision & Personal.

[bcstones]

@ezgoer & anyone else....just posted on the fb Persimmon group, some of these pics. Perhaps they might have an idea, I know there are really excellent club restorers there. Guess I'll wait to see....

[bcstones]

the fb Persimmon group did say they thought it was an actual Ben Hogan wood....unknown if it's a MacGregor Ben Hogan. All the comments said pretty much the same thing - a botched job on refurbishment...but might be restorable.

The undefinable reg # was brought up....the pictures below are the best I could do w/a real (not a cell phone camera) camera
 

 

I'm pretty sure the last 3 numbers are 430, the shaft measures 34"....it's the first 3 digits that escape me....at times 895, 695, 803 or 653 or what do ya'll see ?????????

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:20 AM by bcstones

[RPMzz]

15 hours ago, bcstones said:

the fb Persimmon group did say they thought it was an actual Ben Hogan wood....unknown if it's a MacGregor Ben Hogan. All the comments said pretty much the same thing - a botched job on refurbishment...but might be restorable.

The undefinable reg # was brought up....the pictures below are the best I could do w/a real (not a cell phone camera) camera
 

 

I'm pretty sure the last 3 numbers are 430, the shaft measures 34"....it's the first 3 digits that escape me....at times 895, 695, 803 or 653 or what do ya'll see ?????????

[...]

 

I read that as "Reg. No. 895430" which led me to this comment- more discussion about the 895430 in that thread as well, seems to match up.

 

[bcstones]

31 minutes ago, RPMzz said:

 

I read that as "Reg. No. 895430" which led me to this comment- more discussion about the 895430 in that thread as well, seems to match up.

 

just finished reading the thread....thanks, quite alot of information 

[mocokid]

Boy I really miss those posters,  amazing knowledge and collections.