Eddie Whitcombe - Loft and Lie man and the machine

MoaningM · January 26, 2012

The CLUB DOCTOR...

Was looking through a couple of old magazines I have and came across this from 1964, Eddie Whitcombe brother to Reg who won the open in 1938 talks to Golf Monthly about his 'MACHINE' and how it can persoanlise golf clubs for the top players and how he was the man of his day. Interetingly he comments " I cannot help the hacker - he is too inconsistant in his swing to benefit adjustments of this kind"

Does'nt stop us from trying in this day and age. :)

So was this the first loft and lie machine and very start of tayloring equipment to suit us.....

xgolfx · January 26, 2012

You might peruse a bending device called the Ellingham tool. I may not be accurate, but I do know thatI helped Arnold Palmer use my dad's to bend his irons at the 1967 Western Open in Chicago. I have the leather covered oak block which he used to change lft and lie. I always marveled at the ability to know where nthe toe or heel and how hard t a blow to change an iron two degrees. I would put a protractor to check and it was usually correct!

CHARLEY PENNA

MoaningM · January 26, 2012

Charley, it makes reference to Toney Penna in the new mobile workshop which trave
Led with the tour this article is 1964, when did the tour van appear in the US?

xgolfx · January 26, 2012

I do not know the year. My guess would be after 1985

CHARLEY PENNA

MoaningM · January 26, 2012

[quote name='xgolfx' timestamp='1327594714' post='4156029']
I do not know the year. My guess would be after 1985

CHARLEY PENNA
[/quote]

Charley

In the report it says

"One of the things brought up in our long and, for my part, absorbing talk was the story Dai Rees and Charlie Ward brought back from their American tour of the way one of the big US club firms provided a mobile workshop truck for their players. It was manned by Tony Penna, following the tournament circuit as the US counterpart of Chigwell's "Club Doctor".

So Tony Penna must have been manning this mobile workshop for Macgregor I assume pre 1964?

xgolfx · January 26, 2012

[quote name='MoaningM' timestamp='1327601702' post='4156709']
[quote name='xgolfx' timestamp='1327594714' post='4156029']
I do not know the year. My guess would be after 1985

CHARLEY PENNA
[/quote]

Charley

In the report it says

"One of the things brought up in our long and, for my part, absorbing talk was the story Dai Rees and Charlie Ward brought back from their American tour of the way one of the big US club firms provided a mobile workshop truck for their players. It was manned by Tony Penna, following the tournament circuit as the US counterpart of Chigwell's "Club Doctor".

So Tony Penna must have been manning this mobile workshop for Macgregor I assume pre 1964?
[/quote]

I presume the reference is to the trunk of his Cadillac. He certainly never drove a station wagon or van

CHARLEY PENNA

drewspin · February 16, 2012

There was a picture of the MacGregor mobile workshop that surfaced on EBay (4-5) years ago as part of a listing for a MacGgregor plaid banner. The photo showed the banner hung in the trailer.

The workshop was a trailer type thing that would have been towed.

Pretty sure my memory on this... but I could be completely wrong.

okesa · February 17, 2012

[size="3"]Crikey MoaningM,did you have a subscription all that time ago?I found that an interesting read because when my first FG-17's arrived and I went to collect them,the pro a very old school professional from the Lancashire Ball golfing family,took the 5-iron and looked at it and said"Aye,a bit wry necked,never a bad thing" and then one of the great pieces of received wisdom,"Let's see the 8-iron lad,always tell a good set if the 8-iron blends properly".
That was the first time I'd heard that expression and it appears not to be commonly used these days.[/size]
[size="3"]Charles Ward and Dai Rees both played in two Ryder Cups in the US in 1947 and 1951,it's likely that they would have made their 'tour' in conjunction with one of those visits which would put a timeline on when they saw the maestro Toney Penna.[/size]

xgolfx · February 22, 2012

[quote name='okesa' timestamp='1329525544' post='4312167']
[size="3"]Crikey MoaningM,did you have a subscription all that time ago?I found that an interesting read because when my first FG-17's arrived and I went to collect them,the pro a very old school professional from the Lancashire Ball golfing family,took the 5-iron and looked at it and said"Aye,a bit wry necked,never a bad thing" and then one of the great pieces of received wisdom,"Let's see the 8-iron lad,always tell a good set if the 8-iron blends properly".
That was the first time I'd heard that expression and it appears not to be commonly used these days.[/size]
[size="3"]Charles Ward and Dai Rees both played in two Ryder Cups in the US in 1947 and 1951,it's likely that they would have made their 'tour' in conjunction with one of those visits which would put a timeline on when they saw the maestro Toney Penna.[/size]
[/quote]

The expression. "wry neck" was later used as "rye neck " on Toney Penna irons
My guess is that TP conveyed the same message of offset, but used the rye spelling because he was raised in Harrison, New York which is in RYE county.

CHARLEY PENNA