Who forged Ram Tour Grinds?

[HoganApexBlades]

Wow, I didn't know that...of course I grew up in Hoffman Estates. What about you?

[Davewn]

I grew up in Western Springs and worked for a couple of local retail golf chains in the '90s. Tour Edge was awesome to work with back in the day, good quality and so quick with custom orders. And only 15 minutes away- we sold tons of TE.

[HoganApexBlades]

I remember Tour Edge clubs now, weren't they PING knock-offs?

[Davewn]

Tour Edge back then were always original designs that "resembled" other proline stuff, but weren't patent infringing and had several price points, lifetime warranty, etc. so they were a perfect store line type manufacturer. I was out of the biz by the time they launched their Exotics proline. Good stuff and good people. Glad to see them fighting the good fight!

[HoganApexBlades]

Were those sold @ Nevada Bob's? I don't remember if Strictly Golf sold non-pro line clubs or not.

[scomac2002]

My first set of clubs were Tour Edge. That's basically what I learned on. Didn't have the cachet of the big names, but I would later come to discover that their equipment would perform as well as anybody else.

[Davewn]

Strictly Golf, there's a name from the past! My start in the golf biz commenced at the Naperville Strictly Golf in the early '90s. Our main store line was a company called Triumph and I think they primarily catered to our buyer's group, the NGBA. Square 2, Victor Golf and maybe one or 2 others who's names escape me, were our other price point lines. Nevada Bob's private label back then was Prima, IIRC. They also sold a ton of Cougar/Bullet and Pinseeker, as did Golfmart (with whom I later worked upon Strictly's demise). Maybe some of the Chicagoland Nevada Bob's started selling Tour Edge when the chain started falling apart. I think that's how our owner at Golfmart started carrying TE, when the company stores folded and the franchisees were on their own.

[HoganApexBlades]

Strictly Golf on North Aurora Road is where I bought my new '74 Apexes and my new '85 Apex PCs. That place had tons of clubs and bags!

 

I bought my Golfworks "bible" @ Nevada Bob's on Ogden Ave. in Naperville in the mid 90s!

[Davewn]

Small world! When I started in '91, Strictly was out in the boonies with some farm fields remaining on Rt 59- it must have been like Fort Apache back in '74, lol.

[HoganApexBlades]

Ha! Just like "F-Troop"!!!

 

Yes and it was a haul and a half from Hoffman Estates too!!!

[playa]

I always liked thee clubs. Remember Tom won an Open I think and later that year the grooves were found a little big. Is his right? Seems so if memory is right. Many players liked the solid feel of a good strike with these designs. Jim Hansberger tried to keep the company going but finally the money paid to players to play clubs forced him to sell. Sad. I think it is bad for players to be captive of a few companies that have bought the market. Tad

I recall the story about the grooves as well. Nick Price also played Golden Ram tour grinds during his incredible 92-94 streak.

Tom Watson and Nick Price. Golden Ram obviously appealed to elite ball strikers.

[rex235]

There is a pretty good list of PGA Tour Pros who played Golden Ram golf clubs

 

Calvin Peete, Jim Dent, Gene Littler, and Raymond Floyd were some of the notable players. Curtis Strange started with the Ram staff.

 

Ram Golf made both the Golden Ram Tour Grind, the Tour Grind FX, and FX2 in LH models.

 

Their model translations from RH to LH were very good.

 

To my knowledge, they did not offer LH models of the TW series or the Tour Grind Axials.

 

Before Jim Bones MacKay was his caddie-

 

Phil Mickelson was an Amateur and given a Special Exemption at the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village in Dublin, OH. He was using a set of Golden Ram Tour Grinds.

[ma_molden]

I just picked up set of the fx tour grind nickel for $50 so far like that it's not too heavy like other blades iv tried the back also reminds me of the new hogan blades, how the muscle is pushed out to the sides a bit making a curved muscle pad I wonder if that helps keep shots more on line?

 

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[HJB]

I have a set of Ram FX tour grinds and on the back of the clubs etched 0064 on them. Very square toe S400 and was told they were Nick Price set. Any info. Thank you

[NRJyzr]

 

Any chance you could share pics?

I haven't seen them, but Price was said to have his own custom grinds, similar to Tom Watson's TW282 and TW Custom Grind sets. Which have a very square toe, also.

Watson's custom grinds are from the Golden Ram era, from around 1980 thru 1992 or so.

I would expect Price's are from his ascendant era in the early 90s. The FX Tour Grinds were produced in 94-95, per the sources I've seen.

[NRJyzr]

Seeing this thread come up is kind of fun, rereading old posts.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

I know. I just liked a post from 2017!

[Nard_S]

Any chance you could share pics?-NRJyzr

I'll second that.

[LeftyMac]

My son has "borrowed" a set of Golden Ram Tour Grinds I picked up and loves them. They displaced a set of Muirfield 20ths he was using. Only issue is that the set starts with a 4 iron so if anyone has, or comes across a left handed Golden Ram 2 or 3 iron I'd be keen to grab it.

[NRJyzr]

Thanks for sending a pic. I hope you don't mind, going to share it here, so others can see.

On the surface, it looks like a fairly normal FX Tour Grind, such as I've seen in pics; this is one of the few Ram Tour Grind sets I've never owned, or even seen in person. This is a guess, but the number near the toe is likely indicative of a custom order of some sort. When Ram was still producing pro line clubs, you could probably contact them for replacements, or possibly information on that, using that number. Their custom shop was pretty active, it's said.

It could be a custom grind, or just a custom build using standard clubheads. Sadly, that information is probably lost to the past.

Sharing a face image below of one of my Golden Ram TW282 irons. Can't quite tell from the back, is your FX Tour Grind squared like the below?

[UlfBane]

Greetings! I recently retired and picked up a set of the RAM FX Pro-set 3-9 irons and fell in love with them. I am researching the missing wedges etc. While most listings agree that these are FORGED, I came across a listing for a LOB wedge that claims it is Stainless (cast I assume). I now believe that BOTH are correct. These clubs appear to be BOTH cast and forged. The reason I say this with some certainty is because I bought a 2 iron that has subtle differences from the rest of the set:

 

1. The cavity is DARK GRAY, not naked steel

2. It has offset where the other clubs DO NOT

3. The grooves are filled with Black paint unlike the unpainted grooves of the set

3.The green graphite shaft has the GOLD silk-screening while my set has naked shafts with a gold foil band like the FX2 FORGED clubs do.

 

It is most likely that at some point these clubs changed from FORGED to CAST

 

A second question for you RAM guys:

 

I found a listing showing part of a RAM spec sheet detailing a colored LIE ANGLE system.

 

White - Upright

Black - Standard

Gold - Flat

 

There is NO info I can find on the web for this system. Anyone know What is colored or what clubs are being refereed to?

[Nard_S]

6 hours ago, UlfBane said:

Greetings! I recently retired and picked up a set of the RAM FX Pro-set 3-9 irons and fell in love with them. I am researching the missing wedges etc. While most listings agree that these are FORGED, I came across a listing for a LOB wedge that claims it is Stainless (cast I assume). I now believe that BOTH are correct. These clubs appear to be BOTH cast and forged. The reason I say this with some certainty is because I bought a 2 iron that has subtle differences from the rest of the set:

 

1. The cavity is DARK GRAY, not naked steel

2. It has offset where the other clubs DO NOT

3. The grooves are filled with Black paint unlike the unpainted grooves of the set

3.The green graphite shaft has the GOLD silk-screening while my set has naked shafts with a gold foil band like the FX2 FORGED clubs do.

 

It is most likely that at some point these clubs changed from FORGED to CAST

 

A second question for you RAM guys:

 

I found a listing showing part of a RAM spec sheet detailing a colored LIE ANGLE system.

 

White - Upright

Black - Standard

Gold - Flat

 

There is NO info I can find on the web for this system. Anyone know What is colored or what clubs are being refereed to?

The original FX Pro Sets (1994?) are in fact forged. There was a dot on hosel that signaled the lie via color code. The 2nd iteration (1997?) was cast using a high nickel casting. 

 

Edit: I owned V1 of the Fx Pro Set, traded those away for Fx MB's which I still own.

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by Nard_S

[NRJyzr]

6 hours ago, UlfBane said:

A second question for you RAM guys:

 

I found a listing showing part of a RAM spec sheet detailing a colored LIE ANGLE system.

 

White - Upright

Black - Standard

Gold - Flat

 

There is NO info I can find on the web for this system. Anyone know What is colored or what clubs are being refereed to?

 

I only have personal experience with the lie angle dots on Frquency Matched Golden Ram Tour Grinds.  The dots were on the back of the muscle, more or less in the middle.  They also were on the last model year of the Vibration Matched Golden Rams.

 

Attaching an image as an example

 

[UlfBane]

 

 emailed the seller, here is his reply: "on the hosel, most will have a color coded dot and wording, either MADE IN USA or FORGED - USA, also color coded

color is obvious on new, unused set, but not sure if the color is obvious on a used set, 20+ years old"

 

My set has TOUR GRIND in RED? The Cast 2 Iron is Black. Here arev some photos of the 2 clubs for those interested...

 

 

 

[Nard_S]

Always thought they were great clubs. Lookers. USDA bag candy. Mine had the Brunswick Precision FM shafts which were excellent. Like those more than Rifle variant which is what I play now. Ram seemed to monkey with their tagging and stamping a bit. I remember mine being stamped  much like the bottom 3-iron. Cannot recall the red fill, it was either green or black.

[NRJyzr]

I've seen red paintfill in the past on Ram clubs, but I'm not sure if it means anything.  It could be something something done for a year, maybe two?  Could be a custom option?

 

Could even have been done by an owner at some point, who thought it looked good.  <shrug>

 

If you visit ironfinder.com, and look under Single Irons, you'll find Ram listed under the Other Brands link.  In there, you'll see examples of many/most of the Ram models.  They have a listing for the Pro Set, and another for the Pro Set Tour Grinds.  The pics you've shared are the Pro Set Tour Grind.

 

[UlfBane]

Thanks for the help. For the record, I am a regular visitor to  Iron finders. One must keep in mind that the lofts posted there are to be taken as a guide only. The WILSON STAFF Ultra 45 LOB wedge is listed all over the net as 58* but the club is clearly stamped 59* for example.

 

As for the FX lofts given above, I have check my set against a set of BOB TOSKI "LAW" irons using TOSKI'S own specs from 2000 and doing a shaft angle comparison (hardly scientifically conclusive, but adequate for ball parking) and the 3-9 match up to the published figures nicely. I located the PW and it is coming, settled on an FX OFF-SET sw (also coming) and a MacGregor VIP LOB wedge. The GAP wedge will be more problematic I fear.

[UlfBane]

Proof of forging RAM FX PRO-SET iteration 1:

 

[UlfBane]

Differences between iteration 1 (forged) and Iteration 2 (cast) more clearly displayed:

While both clubs came with shaft graphics, Forged club has Gold Flex band at top (early forged like mine have NO shaft graphics, just the gold foil band.

Side by side shows the forged with minimal offset and the cast considerably more:

The V in the M in RAM is squared off at the bottom in the casting, pointed in the forged.

The cavity and grooves are painted in the casting, bare in the in the forged.

 

[UlfBane]

On 12/14/2013 at 4:29 PM, Club junkie said:

I wasn't looking for any year in particular. Just a history. I have a set of Custom FX Tour Grind Nickel irons. I got to looking at them in particular the score lines and started thinking these things are probably cast. I've bent the lies and lofts and they are as easy the bend as anything, but still could be cast.

I hunted up some pics of the Custom FX Tour Grind Nickel irons to bring this back round full circle. Your eagle eye is not wrong, they are cast and appear quite similar to the FX PRO-SET iteration 2 iron pics posted above.

 

Note the gray center sections.

 

 

The grooves on the cast clubs are sharp and filled with black paint.

 

 

Early versions have the same ferrules and the graphite versions the same green Aldila shafts with different silk screening.

 

 

Also note the gold band designating flex near the grip is a much darker and duller gold. (all cast graphite clubs COULD have come with such a band, I was premature declaring that the cast ones did not based on a single club in my possession.)

 

 

The sand wedge pictured below I believe is iteration 2 of the Nickle Tour Grinds.

 

 

Crisp lettering including squared off M bottom (some Forged clubs have the paint in the M squared off, but the paintless indentations are definitely more pointed in the forgings and not as Sharp as the castings.

 

 

Note the updated ferrule and the fact that the graphite shaft is now the black and silver version offered on other cast FX variants (Oversize etc.)