Nicklaus VIP Clubs and Muirfield Bag

[kaboboom]

I usually find an occasional club at the local thrift store, and sometimes, a set of persimmons. The clubs are $1. But on Monday, when they put out the stuff they got donated over the weekend, I found a full set of the 1977-80 Macgregor Jack Nicklaus VIPs (1-10, sw and 4 persimmons), all in a kelly green and white pro cart bag with matching headcovers, all with Muirfield Village on them. There's more...the clubs appear to be unhit, or at least "mint". Someone had unstiched the white leather panel that carried the Muirfield Village Golf Club and logo, but they put is carefully back into the bag.

 

Now, for a Nicklaus fan, there probably aren't many sets that scream "Jack" more than this one. He designed and played the clubs, and he designed the golf course. The bag also has "PR60...11 7" stamped in white in the inside collar. Was this a commemorative set? Was it made for a pro (if so, why wasn't it played?) While the irons are not my personal favorites (the earlier VIP are more classic looking), the completeness and condition of the set is mind boggling.

 

So I'd like to ask others to speculate on what I have here, and what is the best thing to do with it. One might say this is one of the best playing sets you could find in the 1970-80 era. But being so pristine, is the set more valuable as a true collector, bag and all? I have included a cell phone picture, and I have to blink twice when I look at the thing because it seems it should not have made its way to me so complete.

[persimmonpal]

Wow.. GREAT find! How much did you pay for the whole set up? Good job!

[kaboboom]

$20. I guess you could say I hit the Jackpot....

[profsmitty]

Wow. Simply Wow.

I wish I knew more about the market for vintage equipment to speculate on what they would be worth. But with that said, i doubt that you are going to be able to retire on them. I would be inclined to use them for the job for which they were intended. May be a sacrilege but I have a very strong prejudice for letting a tool be a tool. It's the greatest compliment we can pay to it.

[kaboboom]

As for value, if the bag originally had a Geo Low 600 Wizard putter, and the prior owner removed just that, he/she would have taken most of the value away with that one club. I guess that's what I need now to complete the set, but a Bull's Eye wouldn't be out of place, and I have a couple of those, so I agree, these are players, but the woods amy get set aside for something more durable. I picked up a set of Yonex ADX 2.0 all graphite woods (1-3-5-7) a while back, and to me, these play more like persimmon than titanium, and they are virtually indestructable. They were nicked named "the Green Goddess", and are perhaps the lightest set of woods ever made. But I think they are early 90s, so they don't quite match the era of the VIPs. But heck, their green head and shaft color matches this bag....

[Shallowface]

If these woods are of the same vintage as the irons, I believe they are laminated, not persimmon.

MacGregor made a number of laminated woods that were termed "edge grain," which I believe refers to the manner in which the raw blocks were turned when they were formed into the finished product. The result of this process is that you cannot as easily see the layers of laminated wood on the faces as you can with a normal laminated wood.

That said, this is still a wonderful find and the price was certainly right. I spend a lot of time hanging out in thrift stores these days myself and it is remarkable what one can find.

[kaboboom]

Shallowface,

You are correct! I just studied the face on one of the woods, and the layers are barely detectable, but they are there. One might think this learning would come as a disappointment, but for me, the opposite is true because now I have no reason not to play them. I have many other persimmons I just can't bear to hit, most much older. Thanks for the insight.

[dalehead]

Hard to tell from the photo what you have there. Can you post some close ups?

Obviously for $20 they are a great buy.

[asualum]

Awesome find! I've had similar success at Goodwill stores. Earlier this year I picked up a complete set of Ping Eye 2 BeCus! I originally thought about selling them but my son saw them and immediately claimed them.

A full set with the matching bag is unreal. Great job!

[kaboboom]

Well, I played with these in a golf tourney yesterday, and they are very solid. I started by using the 3 wood off the tee, and had enough success early on to switch to the driver. I got in a groove with it, and started busting low, boring drives with a little draw. The format was a Scamble, and excluding the par 3s, I think we went about ten holes using my drives. I really do have a mental block about breaking persimmons on the course after I exploded a Mac 653 early in my collecting days Thanks to Shallowface for pointing out that these VIP woods are actually laminated. It really helped me not to "baby" the club. One negative thing to note....I lost one of the leather Muirwood head covers. But's that's OK...these are now my players. I would really recommned the woods as players for the reasons I've shared. The set has Stiff #1 shafts.

[chip75]

It really amazes me what some people find. I don't think we have the wealth of stuff in charity shops here in the UK (although I'd love to hear some story's). Great find it would be nice to find out the history of the owner just to complete the story.

[84425]

[quote name='kaboboom' timestamp='1285771672' post='2719769']
As for value, if the bag originally had a Geo Low 600 Wizard putter, and the prior owner removed just that, he/she would have taken most of the value away with that one club. I guess that's what I need now to complete the set, but a Bull's Eye wouldn't be out of place, and I have a couple of those, so I agree, these are players, but the woods amy get set aside for something more durable. I picked up a set of Yonex ADX 2.0 all graphite woods (1-3-5-7) a while back, and to me, these play more like persimmon than titanium, [b]and they are virtually indestructable[/b]. They were nicked named "the Green Goddess", and are perhaps the lightest set of woods ever made. But I think they are early 90s, so they don't quite match the era of the VIPs. But heck, their green head and shaft color matches this bag....
[/quote]

My brother will claim otherwise. Let one of the older members of our club use his driver for a weekend, and got it back with a broken shaft. Apparently the Yonex was not indestrucable, at least it was not able to withstand the force of the trunk of a car being slamed close... :-D