Check these out.

[drewspin]

Hogan Experimentals

Any information you may be able to share about these would be extremely welcome.

Very early Hogan experimental Precision irons (long hosel crescents). Any ideas how to decode the serial number? Does the 53 in "S531" =1953?







Even rarer, I also have the full set of hogan experimental woods 1,2,3,4. The sole plates are blank and have only the numbers carved in by hand. The toe says "Personal Model" but these of course are the very early personal models. They look very much like the MacGregor's hogan played.

[freddiec]

Wow! You might have something very special there. The very first set of Hogan prototypes possibly? Beautiful one of a kind set thats for sure.

[KevCarter]

WOW is right. What a find!!!

Kevin

[persimmonpal]

WOW!! I am very envious.. A super rare and historical set.
Where did you come by these???
Great stuff!!

[84425]

Drew, I was just comparing the iron to a hogan precision 1-iron for sale on ebay at the moment, and i think i see at least two differences between the two:
1) the vertical grooves on the clubface that join the horizontal grooves (similar as used on the MacGregor irons of that era 3582 etc.). These vertical grooves do not appear on the later precision irons;
2) it look l ike the toe on your iron looks squarer than on the 1-iron up for sale on ebay.
Could this be a set of the first run of Hogan's irons, that he wasn't happy with?

[RobotDoctor]

[quote name='84425' post='2141924' date='Dec 24 2009, 06:53 AM']...
Could this be a set of the first run of Hogan's irons, that he wasn't happy with?[/quote]

I would bet that is exactly what this set is! Outstanding find!!!

[persimmonpal]

I would bet that these are not the first run, because the first run (which is said he destroyed) had a value of over 100,000.00.. All of the clubs he ordered destroyed were store-ready; he just didnt like the quality. Because the irons are marked "Experimental", I highly doubt they were destined for a retail situation.. As for the woods, the fact that the soleplate is blank makes me also highly doubtful that they were intended for sale..
I sincerely believe these are all prototypes.. A great find I'd say!
I have a set of the early Hogan Precision woods with the Personal Model decal on them, and they are nice!
One other thing.. my driver, which as I said is the early model with the personal model decal on the toe, has 8 scoring lines on the face, while the driver shown here only has 7 scoring lines.. Maybe this one is a bit more shallow??

[drewspin]

I thought you guys would enjoy seeing these. I will post some more pics (that are a bit smaller) of the rest of the set.

IIRC, the story I recall reading about the destruction of the '53 precisions (from Dobson's book, I think) was because they had trouble drilling out the hosels consistently and correctly.

There is supposed to be a way to decode the serial number to find the year that they were made, according to the guy who runs Vintage Golf Appraisals in Ohio (vgagolf on ebay), but I never heard for sure what the code was. I am guessing "S531" is either "53"=1953 or "5"=1955.

I found these about a year ago on Craigslist in Houston Texas they came all together in a beat up old bag (clearly they had been roughly used by someone) and a kind soul helped me by doing a local pick up and shipping them to me in Virginia.

Eventually, I would love to have them find a home in a great Hogan collection, but for now I am just trying to find out as much as I can about what they might be.

Cheers,
Drew

[persimmonpal]

I have a Hogan collection where they would be quite happy!!!

[sevenfourate]

Holy Smokes Batman - very special indeed.


I take it your gaming them then

[drewspin]

This is not a for sale thread.

I have not gamed these but someone not so skilled dinged a ball off the rear of the neck DOH!

I do have another set of precisions that I have hit some balatas with.

[drewspin]

Any idea where to find out what Hogan's iron and wood specs were? I'd love to see if they match up to what the Man himself played.

[persimmonpal]

[quote name='drewspin' post='2142111' date='Dec 24 2009, 11:15 AM'] This is not a for sale thread.

I have not gamed these but someone not so skilled dinged a ball off the rear of the neck DOH!

I do have another set of precisions that I have hit some balatas with.[/quote]

Oh I know... just joking.. I would be holding onto these too!
Is there a Ben Hogan museum at Colonial country club? How about the Ben Hogan Company??
I agree that these should go in a top notch Hogan collection.. I bet you thet the Hogan Company or maybe even the World Golf Hall of Fame would love to have these.. I wouldnt be surprised if the hogan company gave you a set of irons for them..
Thanks for sharing!
Good thing you knew someone who lived in the area!!!

[persimmonpal]

Just curious about the marks on the Hosel.. does your other set of Precisions have that same mark? I know that the later models of the Precision woods have "Saber" decals.. the marks on your Hosels are very similar to the Saber shape on the later woods.

[drewspin]

The Hogan Company was bought by Callaway and is now completely dormant. I think the best hope is an extensive private Hogan collection.

The marks on the hosels are called crescents, purely decorative. I believe the '53-54 precisions had long hosels and crescents, then the 1955 precisions had shorter hosels with crescents.

[KevCarter]

[quote name='drewspin' post='2142153' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:40 AM']The Hogan Company was bought by Callaway and is now completely dormant. I think the best hope is an extensive private Hogan collection.

The marks on the hosels are called crescents, purely decorative. I believe the '53-54 precisions had long hosels and crescents, then the 1955 precisions had shorter hosels with crescents.[/quote]

Drewspin,

Have you ever been to Golf House at the USGA?

They have a HUGE room dedicated to Mr. Hogan, with a bunch of his equipment through the years. I would think that would be a cool place for them, and you would have the satisfaction of knowing they were being seen by thousands of hard core golf fans every year.

JAT...

Kevin

[persimmonpal]

[quote name='kevcarter ' post='2142164' date='Dec 24 2009, 11:51 AM'][quote name='drewspin' post='2142153' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:40 AM']The Hogan Company was bought by Callaway and is now completely dormant. I think the best hope is an extensive private Hogan collection.

The marks on the hosels are called crescents, purely decorative. I believe the '53-54 precisions had long hosels and crescents, then the 1955 precisions had shorter hosels with crescents.[/quote]

Drewspin,

Have you ever been to Golf House at the USGA?

They have a HUGE room dedicated to Mr. Hogan, with a bunch of his equipment through the years. I would think that would be a cool place for them, and you would have the satisfaction of knowing they were being seen by thousands of hard core golf fans every year.

JAT...

Kevin
[/quote]

A big +1

[freddiec]

Drew,
You might be holding onto a good size gold mine. I've heard there are big time collectors in Texas who spend huge amounts of money on such things. There is a guy in the Houston area who spent 100K ona Louisville Slugger that was used by the Babe.. You might have found the diamond in the rough. I'm sure you'll find out the history of that set. Don't let them go until you find out..

[drewspin]

Here is a short excerpt from James Dodson's excellent Hogan biography [i]Ben Hogan, An American Life[/i] at pp 412-413.

"The first sets of Ben Hogan irons came off the production line at the West Pafford Street plant about the time Ben was defending his title at the 1954 Colonial. . . . the first sets of clubs coming off the line didn't please the boss. The traditional soft, forged blade heads -- designed and shaped personally by Hogan and his clubmaker George De Julio -- were essentially fine, beautiful examples of traditional clubmaking at its finest. But the borings, the holes drilled to insert the club shafts, were terribly inconsistent."

"Ben promptly ordered production halted until he could hire and train better assembly workers. . ."

"What happened to the scuttled irons? One bit of fanciful Hogan folklore holds that the Boss ordered them buried in an unmarked grave in a field directly behind the plant, another that he had the forged heads melted down and sold for scrap to Cadillac Motor Company. When a young municipal pro from rural Iowa named Jack Fleck showed up at the plant before the start of play in the Colonial NIT in the late spring of 1955, shortly after the new and improved irons were coming off the line, hoping to get his hands on on one of the first production sets available, he claims to have seen dozens of sets of the rejects sitting in old oil drums, being regripped and prepared for shipment to Japan for use at driving ranges. It's possible some of the better defects were indeed sent abroad, though most of the improperly drilled clubs, according to several longtime company employees, were dispatched to a local foundry where they were chopped up and melted down. A few sets sat gathering dust in a storage bin over the company men's rest room near the grinding shop in the factory, others say, for decades."

[MoaningM]

Drew,

You don't halve find them, those are stunning, and definfately worth the time looking into, really could be soethin special you have there. any chance of pics of the set now?

[hogan64]

Looks like the Channelback's great grandaddy! Nice find.

[drewspin]

I will get some pics this weekend (weather permitting).

[trapsmv15]

Those are just gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I love the blank sole plate on the woods. This is quickly becoming my favorite sub-forum on the board.

[persimmonpal]

There is a set of similar Experimental Precision woods on the bay right now..
They have been refinished though!
No idea whether or not the seller refinished them, but I am surprised that anybody would have even thought about refinishing them.. Some clubs are meant to be refinished, some arent.. these fall in the latter category..
[url="http://cgi.ebay.com/Extremely-Rare-Experimental-Ben-Hogan-Precision-woods_W0QQitemZ130361666939QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5a292d7b"]http://cgi.ebay.com/Extremely-Rare-Experimental-Ben-Hogan-Precision-woods_W0QQitemZ130361666939QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1e5a292d7b[/url]

[drewspin]

It will be intersting to see what these bring.