Late 70s-Early 80s Wilson Staff Tour Blades

[GMR2iron]

I was given a set of 17s' from the widow of a member of my club after he passed, 2 thru pw. I've taken them out several times, and although the lofts are weaker than my 69's, and the shaft in them is way too soft for me, they have outstanding feel and great playability. I didn't find them hard to hit at all. Great clubs, not sure if I want to keep them or sell them.

[Joe9977]

[quote name='Forged4ever' timestamp='1405207249' post='9688537']
Can't really add anything to what's been said above.

Played Staffs for 19 years before switchin to Mizzy in '86.

First set in '67 was a cut down set of Dyna Powers. Played the 17's when they were introduced in '81, and went through a second set whichntook me to '86. The Tour Blade followed the 17's though I stayed with the 17's. I was used to em, could hit em and they were beautiful irons, though so were the Tour Blades.

I play a set of Button Backs or 17's in an annual 36 hole vintage tournament.

The 51's were decent irons but the best Staff blades that I feel they've put out since the 17's are the 59's. I rotate those with my 68's and the finished '12 in the bag.

Staff blades are second to none, even today.

Have a great season Bro

Fairways & Greens My Friends,
Richard
[/quote]


Can you comment on how the Wilson Staff blades play compared to today's blades? I hit a set of Titleist 660's last summer and they felt great. My first set of clubs were Northwestern Hubert Green blades, then on to cavity back clubs since 1991...I may go back in time...seems like you have in depth experience with older Wilson blades.

[boggyman]

Have a set of 17s and find them easy to hit. Yeah, they're a club shorter than today's but nothing compares to the feel of these, and I mean nothing , they're soft as butter. A miss is a miss, and you feel a miss with these but to me they're just easy to hit!!

[Night train]

Lots of memories ............Wilson made a lot of great blades thru the years. I still have a set of FG-51's that I played for quite awhile that came from their Tour Shop for our Pro............at one time he was the largest green grass account Wilson had and was one staff with them for over 40 years. Have a brand new set of 71 reproductions that have never been hit. I think Wilson made those in the late 80's or early 90's.

I know have another set from the mid-60's boxed up that the pro gave me, can't remember what year without opening them up and checking.........Wilson and MacGregor made a lot of great stuff back in the day. Beautiful

[Oldplayer]

There is a thread on the classic section on the most playable Wilson blade. Good info on there. I have a few sets of older wilson blades and find the fg51's to be the most playable. They also have that classic wilson look and feel.

[Jasontex1328]

These are the ones I got on eBay for $30ish... I've been playing them while Callaway had my irons and I like them a lot.

Since I'm not a guy who plays blades I expected the worst but I hit them really well and love the look of them.

[Kathy Marie]

[quote name='Oldplayer' timestamp='1425336507' post='11063913']
There is a thread on the classic section on the most playable Wilson blade. Good info on there. I have a few sets of older wilson blades and find the fg51's to be the most playable. They also have that classic wilson look and feel.
[/quote]

Oldplayer, I think you mean this one?

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1030407-least-punishing-wilson-staff-blade/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...on-staff-blade/[/url]


Enjoy!

[Oldplayer]

[quote name='Kathy Marie' timestamp='1425353373' post='11065821']
[quote name='Oldplayer' timestamp='1425336507' post='11063913']
There is a thread on the classic section on the most playable Wilson blade. Good info on there. I have a few sets of older wilson blades and find the fg51's to be the most playable. They also have that classic wilson look and feel.
[/quote]

Oldplayer, I think you mean this one?

[url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/1030407-least-punishing-wilson-staff-blade/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...on-staff-blade/[/url]


Enjoy!
[/quote]
Yes that's the one Kathy. Thanks for posting the link. I don't know why I didn't think of doing that.

[Forged4ever]

[quote name='Joe9977' timestamp='1425250464' post='11056069']
[quote name='Forged4ever' timestamp='1405207249' post='9688537']
Can't really add anything to what's been said above.

Played Staffs for 19 years before switchin to Mizzy in '86.

First set in '67 was a cut down set of Dyna Powers. Played the 17's when they were introduced in '81, and went through a second set whichntook me to '86. The Tour Blade followed the 17's though I stayed with the 17's. I was used to em, could hit em and they were beautiful irons, though so were the Tour Blades.

I play a set of Button Backs or 17's in an annual 36 hole vintage tournament.

The 51's were decent irons but the best Staff blades that I feel they've put out since the 17's are the 59's. I rotate those with my 68's and the finished '12 in the bag.

Staff blades are second to none, even today.

Have a great season Bro

Fairways & Greens My Friends,
Richard
[/quote]


Can you comment on how the Wilson Staff blades play compared to today's blades? I hit a set of Titleist 660's last summer and they felt great. My first set of clubs were Northwestern Hubert Green blades, then on to cavity back clubs since 1991...I may go back in time...seems like you have in depth experience with older Wilson blades.
[/quote]The biggest difference between my 17s and the 59s is the muscle pad thickness, and the heel/toe length, with the 17's being longer and not much meat on the sole face back. Bottom line, you had to come through impact with some decent speed to get the ball up and away, along with hitting that ball center face because toe-side misses are a killer with any blade, though especially the blades from back in the day.

My 17's have a "harsher" sound than my Mizzy 68's and even more so than my Staff 59's. I equate feel with sound more so than anything in my hands however a missed 17 3i on a 45-55° day is a stinger, lol.

They also play lower, flight wise. I had my 68's and 59's strengthened 2°, along with playing The DG 400 S's in em however I play the regular S300's in my 17's and BB's and the traj(thanks WRX, I LOVE this word, lol) is still a tad lower than my current blades.

Overall, I guess it's similar to driving a 1972 Porsche 911 Twin Turbo versus the 2004 model. While the '72 is still a kick a** automobile, and will still smoke most any production car on the road today, the '04 will do the same will a little more ease, comfort & consistency.

I love playing em for a few weeks a year leading up to the vintage tourney though I'm glad that I don't have to play em full time, lol.

I hope that in this rambling diatribe I answered your question

Stay Well My Friend,
Richard

[Llefty]

Never really found the 17s that hard to play. Sharp leading edge and not much bounce,but I pick more than dig so it works for me.

[HackinNut]

These are the ones I got on eBay for $30ish... I've been playing them while Callaway had my irons and I like them a lot.

 

Since I'm not a guy who plays blades I expected the worst but I hit them really well and love the look of them.

 

 

DUDE! I have those exact same irons! Just reshafted them a while back with some DG S300. I played with them for years growing up.

[Jwin323]

Check out www.ironfinder.com

[straight crooked]

Sorry to dig up an old thread but found these the other day going through the storage locker my parents own.. I have looked around online but can't seem to find out for sure what I have on my hands here. Can any of you tell me what I've got? Thanks!

[rufus mangler]

1976's

[NoTalentLefty]

Jerry Pate won the US Open with those Staff irons

[Hawkeye77]

Got a set of Staff Tour Blades in December of '80 from my dad when I graduated from undergrad. Wish I'd never let them go.

[straight crooked]

Thanks for the help guys, planning on cleaning them up, throwing some PURE wraps on them and seeing if I can't knock it close a few times in the next few weeks!

[Jordan Speeth]

I just got back from hitting 150 range balls with my Staff Fluid Feels (original DG Stiff shafts)....always a joyful experience. The top lines are so thin that I can hardly see them with my old eyes. With the exception of about a 10-15% yardage loss on each club, these blades are every bit as good as anything else I own (MP-25, Z745, PXG). I love hitting these things. My gamers (Z745s) are on their way out and I don't want to cause any needless wear on them and since I've got a set of J15MBs on their way, I thought I'd take one of my more serious sets of blades for a whirl today. Any fears that I shouldn't have gone for such a club as the J15MB at my age are allayed after an afternoon with the Staffs. Even with range balls, a well struck shot is as rewarding as it gets.

 

 

[Mulligans_Mcgregor]

Apologies for digging up an old thread, not even noticed when the latest post was.

 

Anyhow, I've been looking for an older set of blades to pick up and use, and I've managed to snag the these Wilson staff Blades from eBay

 

Obviously I don't know anything about older blades/vintage stuff.

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272438070265

 

Can anybody tell me anything about them? Any good?

 

paid £35 GBP for them. Paid over, about right or being rinsed?

 

I'm starting to collect older Irons and Refurbish older woods, so I need to get a handle on the value of things pretty quickly so I don't have to sell the Kids TV and cancel Christmas.

 

Cheers All

 

M_M

 

Edit, I know they need some work, more than happy to have a go at them.

[augustgolf]

You done good, laddie...you done good

[cgasucks]

Apologies for digging up an old thread, not even noticed when the latest post was.

 

Anyhow, I've been looking for an older set of blades to pick up and use, and I've managed to snag the these Wilson staff Blades from eBay

 

Obviously I don't know anything about older blades/vintage stuff.

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/272438070265

 

Can anybody tell me anything about them? Any good?

 

paid £35 GBP for them. Paid over, about right or being rinsed?

 

I'm starting to collect older Irons and Refurbish older woods, so I need to get a handle on the value of things pretty quickly so I don't have to sell the Kids TV and cancel Christmas.

 

Cheers All

 

M_M

 

Edit, I know they need some work, more than happy to have a go at them.

 

That's quite a good deal for a 2-SW set for about $60 CDN. Most sets I've seen on Craigslist in my area has been priced at $60 for a 3-PW.

[pattg]

Great thread, my first set was the 1978-80 tour blades. The most beautiful irons ever made IMO

 

This was my first set also, if it was the model just before the FG 17. I eventually went on to the mid 80's Fluid Feel version but those late 70s Staffs were sweet.

[pattg]

These are the ones I got on eBay for $30ish... I've been playing them while Callaway had my irons and I like them a lot.

 

Since I'm not a guy who plays blades I expected the worst but I hit them really well and love the look of them.

 

Those are the ones - played them from age 12 to around age 18 and won a ton with them.

[NRJyzr]

Mulligans, those are the 78-80 Staff Tour Blades. As someone mentioned, they were the model directly preceeding the FG-17s.

 

They are about as good as it gets, from the period when Wilson Staff irons were *the* irons for Tour players.

 

An excellent choice.

<polite golf applause>

[jmck]

For some reason I never got along with the Tour Blades and the 17s. Looking back on it it was probably something with the sole/leading edge grind. The '76s and 84+ fluid feels though, along with the early 70s button backs............ :wub: :wub: :wub:

 

 

And for any of you young ones out there reading this: I really can't explain the quality of the chrome they put on these clubs. It was a level of finishing that makes the finest from Miura, Endo, or whoever of today look like the work of a bunch of hacks.

[jmck]

Here's my set of '76s that still see a lot of action in a vintage bag:

 

 

[Blade Junkie]

One of the Pros at my club (Goodwood, UK) is selling a set of FG49s - PM me if anyone is interested ... 3-SW ... these were only sold in UK, allegedly having had input from Faldo at the time that Wilson were sponsoring him and wanting him to have Wilson irons in his nice red and white Staff bag, rather than his Mizunos :) They don't appear in any of the Wilson catalogues, Kaplan etc as far as I am aware.

[John L.]

I had a set of the 1976 blade, only year they made that model. I sold them to a another kid on the golf team the next year. I wish I never did, they were great sticks.....

 

 

Here is a history of all wilson irons....

 

http://www.wilson.co...ist_vintage.jsp

 

A close friend of mine played the "Bullet Backs" for quite a few years. He loved them.

[REJ]

Please don't ruin vintage clubs by reshafting or regripping them. They are not modern clubs and never will be. Don't try to pimp them. You'll ruin them. There's a Wilson catalog compilation book with every catalog from before WWII to 2000, if you're curious about dating clubs. The 1976-1977 irons just said "Staff". The 1978-1980 say "Staff Tour Blade". From 1981 they add FG-17. I have the 1976-1977 and 1978-1980 original sets. It's getting harder to find them in their original state.

[James the Hogan Fan]

The good news is they are 80's Wilson irons; you cant get the shafts out of them even if you want to.