There was a time that Spalding golf clubs were among the best in the business. I think I actually played one of them 150 holes before I gave up. I have two sets of Browning 440 Gold clubs (including the driver, 3 and 5 woods), and a set of Browning 500s. As previously mentioned, you can buy Spalding Molitor clubs at Rock Bottom, and theyre a great option for beginner players. Knowledgable folk say its all in the mind. Buyers can still find Spalding clubs on some secondary sites. Please put any questions or comments here. Top Flite is now synonymous with bargain or cheap instead of being the club of choice for the greatest golfers on tour. The original Strata ball was amazing when it came out spin for days! Club-makers traditional method had been to shape metal heads with an anvil and forge. I may be way off they had a a plain face -but the back was a series of round holes -like a honey comb design does any one remember these what were they called and who made themmy friend died so I cant ask himanyway thanks. Its factory could only make about six million dozen a year, and it was paying patent royalties. I wonder how much influence he had on those? Perception-wise that made Spalding a second-tier, big-box company compared to Titleist. Matched them to Wilson Pro Staff low compressions and I was a happy camper. Sign In. Colin Montgomerie joined the staff, and Spalding had big plans. I will let the then Chariman of FILA Golf tell you a little bit about these 1994 released set of ironsand take you back in time like you were there for the original launch: Never before have so many game improvement features been built into one club. Thanks for doing the digging! Wish the 5 iron would have been there. The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight. - BenHogan. * Note: These irons were designed by Karsten Solheimsure most of you knew that though. So I sent it in and got the iron. Display as a link instead, They are also perfect in a steep slope due to the curved bottom of the club head. I got an incomplete set at the Salvation Army for $15. So for those of you who own a set and are fellow collectors of the ridiculoustoday is your day to shine. The pro-shop who had them could not find a buyer. "height": "342", Our friends[], Amazing Ryder Cup Contest! Jones immediately put his Georgia Tech engineering degree to good use. GolfWRX_Official He also had some copycat Browning irons in the trunk, but I refused I couldnt even look at them with a straight face. I actually like the looks of those babies! OK. Ive got some irons sets you have up (Fila, Cleveland, Slotline, and the Tiger Shark). My woods are Taylormade Burners 1 & 3, and I have two Mizuno hybrids. Various . Its pretty clear KKR didnt do its due diligence. He also was one of the best designers in the golf biz. During their time together, Vardon and Spalding agreed the best way to grow the game in the U.S. and grow the market for Spalding golf products was to build more golf courses. "width": "645", In that year, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) took shape, and many of the fledgling tour's stars already had endorsement deals with Spalding. It overpaid for Spalding and borrowed heavily to do it. The Spalding Top-Flite first came out in 1970. Is my equipment holding me back? GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, February 13. The Black Dots and Red Dots were equivalent to the Titleist black numerals and red numerals. ENTER NOW! Extra weight added to the toe keeps the center of gravity where needed and also keeps the club head square at impact, resulting in straighter shots.. It wasnt very sophisticated back then, and they wanted to add layers of sophistication that they had in their other businesses. Way ahead of their time in the perimeter weighted genre. Iomic Golf Grips: 8 Key Facts Before You Buy. No sir, they are in my bag and are still being used after all these years. Don Wood has the patent for the Plop Slotz Irons. Somehow they squeezed 492 dimples on them Those balls were rocketships. Jeff Sheets had been Director of R&D for Top-Flite since 1995, and his first club for Hogan became a legend. Colgate-Palmolive bought RAM and Penfold in the mid-70s to sell more toothpaste but gave up after only five years. Bought a used set of 3-SW with a sticker decal some 35 years ago and added a 2-iron with stamped lettering later on a trip to Chicago. Inside cavity: blue/back button; EXECUTIVE x EZ. These were great clubs. Sponsored by: GolfCircuit.com, Maxfli Tour, Tour X and Tour S Golf Balls, Penfold Ace Golf Balls: Whats Old Is New Again, Topgolf Callaway 2022 Financials: $4 Billion? *chuckles* Maybe its a good thing I took a 30 year golf hiatus. Their president at the time said this about the newly released irons, Titanic irons are the first long irons even God and you can hit. Now that is a bold statement that should of had you guys flocking to purchase these beauties. The Top-Flite line was to feature investment-cast irons and Strata balls sold through pro shops and off-course retailers, while Spalding was to be the value/recreational line sold pretty much everywhere. (What Exactly Happened?). I tried to restore them by getting some original Browning grips (brown rubber with the Browning deer logo in gold) and exchanged several e-mails with Browning in Belgium would not sell me any. Kind of reminds one of the Hogan radial but not near as wide on the soul. Who Makes Dunlop Golf Clubs? Both were smart, competent leaders but had little golf experience. they were a good iron, that looked good at address, and were easy to hit. Those are the reasons they work. vicunas. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, (your email address will not be published), CONTEST Adams Pro Black Giveaway! If it works for you use it. Can you come up with any info on these? I have a set of Lynx Parallax irons that were my fathers. Non-Tapered Golf Grips: 8 Facts to Know Before You Buy! but fairly forgiving. I was told they only made a few hundred sets. Although they wont win any awards for innovation, Spaldings Molitor clubs are a decent game improvement set and a good option for beginners. Say what you will but I own a set of Ray Cook Titanic irons. And although Top Flite is still in business today, its a brand that most golfers associate with cheap equipment of inferior quality. Yes it has some smoother lines compared to some of the other clubs on the listbut you put that PowerBow as Nike says on any of those other irons and it is a dead ringer for this list of crazies. That was a great history lesson!!!!! The result is the easiest-to-hit long irons ever. Hmmmare you wondering why all irons arent made out of titanium then? I saw a set go for well over $300 (I think it went closer to $500, but I just would not swear to it). In 2001 Spalding launched a $17 million ad campaign for Hogan and Strata. Spalding introduced many variations of hickory-shafted clubs to bring distance and control to the professional and duffer alike. My dad has played a set if vicunas for about 40 years! Hope you find this one interesting!!!! Ive seen several of those uglies up close over the years so this was fun to view. "https://www.linkedin.com/in/swingyard/", Callaway wound up suing Spalding for using its imagery on Spalding packaging. It is more of a you gotta be kidding me), an Integra 650 cc driver (you have to dig a ditch before you swing), etc. One of the most famous Spalding clubs was the Cran Cleek (club with a narrow face and little loft) for poor fairway lies and even putts. I asked him about it and he said he had shown it to Spaulding, Wilson and MacGregor and their response was It will never sell!!!! That year Albert and his brothers opened the A.G. Spalding & Brothers sporting goods company and started making baseballs. !but they had a very proprietary, strange-sized grip. higher loft is really your best bet for getting out of these difficult fairway lies, Top 10 Best Cheap Drivers (Updated 2021 Buying Guide), 5 Advantages of A Strong Golf Grip (Everything To Know), What Is An Overrun Golf Ball? Theres even premium urethane cover options (Pro V1 and X styles) for ~$15 a dozen. More on the tr600!!!! Wed have monthly meetings at their West 57th Street offices in New York. His stuff was marvelous and all original. Long irons with shallow faces, little offset and perhaps slightly softer shafts can be quite playable. The company was founded in 1973 and today produces high-quality golf clubs using the . * Note: These irons were designed by Jim Flood and were considered a controversial design and are often times very hard to find. Today, Spalding Executive clubs arent worth a great deal of money. In one sense, Spalding suffered the same fate irrelevance as did fellow legacy golf brands Wilson Staff and MacGregor. Insurmountable debt, uncertain management, and stiff competition forced Spalding to stop production. In 1962, Pyramid merged with Dunhill International and the AP Parts Corporation. Both are really great. In the 1960s, Spalding introduced the Spalding Executive line of clubs and balls and the Top-Flite Elite Professional irons with the Bird on Ball logo. Yet again, the same fate as MacGregor had. Decent? Callaway Rogue ST Triple Diamond LS Driver Review, Best Womens Golf Clubs for Intermediate Players, Ned Howard Retired PGA Teaching Professional. One of my buddies gave me a Tiger Shark wedge the one with 3 different alignment lines, concave dimples on the face instead of grooves, and a funky dual bounce sole configuration. We want you to get the most out of your Love them oldies. From the 1950s to the 1990s Spalding was in the bag for many major victories, and was played on municipal courses across the country. #PowerToThePlayer. maybe EVER. Heres a set of Slotline irons currently for sale on EBay, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330561978331&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT, some years ago-I bought a trial 7 iron thru golg digest-some years later a friend of mine bought a used set at a second hand storeany way I think it was made by simmons or slotline?? Executives were my first set as wellI thought they were a great starter set. The range is for form anyway. Much cheaper than renting. The reason why Spalding clubs arent particularly valuable is that they have been widely available for so many years. but worth a kings ransom, Great post thanks mgs but i agree with dj ,The doctor rx has to be on the list. Another great history piece. They also specialized in unique clubs like the Cran Creek. You might remember the popular Stan Thompson woods with the unique sole design. Thanks. Back in the day (early-60s), I caddied at a CC in so. He re-gripped them and beats the Taylormade hand-me-downs of his friends. Met a friend in Costa Mesa at Mile Square Golf Club back in the early 1970s and he was with Duke Duclos., a friend from their McDonald-Douglas days. There was a time when Spalding was one of the biggest brands in golf. Pasted as rich text. KKR had been trying to dump Spalding as early as 2000, but no one would take on the debt burden. Spalding took off with sales and production with Bobby Jones joining the team. I demand a re-count!, He went on to say, and as owner of MyGolfSpy you should feel ashamed since you were given a set as a gift 15 years ago and I remember you putting me in play for a few rounds, how could you do this to me?, Slotline had a hit on their hands with their Slotline Inertial puttersthey sold over 2 Million of those flatsticks. Why is that I have the Tiger Shark 7 iron and the Spalding Exec XE 5 iron in my golf collection??? The stickers are silver, but the Slinger logo is a black heavy type face and says pat. info@pgatradein.com Mon-Fri: 9AM - 5PM EST . Still bagging their wedges. Spalding got so inventive with their clubmaking, they had golf bags around America sporting 20-30 clubs. In 1910 Spalding started making fairway clubs made of aluminum, and heavier lead face putters. Im from SD, so I had a set. Great list of wild clubs. 1 Iron (18) Spalding EXECUTIVE XE. In fact, one of Spaldings most popular models was the Bobby Jones collection, selling two million sets between 1932 and 1973. The Top-Flite, Strata, and Hogan brands stayed alive for a while, but Callaway eventually mothballed them all. it was at my range's rental bin. However my 6 iron had twice as much offset as any other iron in the set. Great insight! The company experimented throughout the 1920s and 1930s with lathe-turned hickory shafts that featured circular ridges spaced at standard intervals down the entire shaft. Its high point came in 1998 when Mark OMeara won the Masters and the Open Championship for Spalding. He has provided some keen insights from his time with Mr. Hogan in other articles and podcasts. MacGregors ownership carousel started in 1978 when it was sold to lumber conglomerate Wickes. Too bad. I dont know how people could justify any of the others. I'm 25 years old and I've been playing with my grandfathers Spalding executives for 10 years now, and I shoot about a 80-85. GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, Tuesday at 04:47 PM, GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, February 20, GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, February 13, GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, February 6, GolfWRX_Spotted posted a topic in Tour and Pre-Release Equipment, January 31, By jazzbone, September 4, 2006 in Equipment. OK MyGolfSpyers, its time to get creative! Swing Yard is a participant in the Amazon.com Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk and any other websites that may be affiliated with Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Today, Spalding golf clubs still exist, but theyre nowhere near as popular as they once were. These gentlemen used them to win large amounts of money on the course from unsuspecting victims. I collect odd golf items. The player would then conveniently cover the top of his bag with a towel so that no one would see the length of the irons. If KKR had appointed Scott Creleman as the head man at the time I firmly believe Dpaldi g would still be a player in the golf industry The 1968 arrival of the Executive MV2 Bird Over Ball clubs are among some of Spalding's most easily recognizable clubs. I play them still and love them. Money put a few of these clubs on touralthough that does not mean they were worth a penny. The nineties saw the release of the Top Flite Tour Ti irons, which were among the last clubs that the long-standing brand would manufacture. In 1895, Spalding started manufacturing golf balls. Shortly thereafter, Spalding signed him as spokesperson, vice president and director of research. PING was still PING, and Tiger was becoming Tiger. ), Takomo Golf Clubs Review: (As Good as Expected? By 1910, the company was selling aluminum fairway clubs and its Gold Medal series (1910 to 1919) featured aluminum bronze. Here Im going to date myself a bitBack in the late 70s there was a company called Unique..The iron set design was oversized head with a deep cavity that was covered with a hard plastic. BarbaJo, you da man! Never get tired of reading these types of articles. WITB Albums. The VAS are ugly, but they work. I also have a set of Browning TR600s. "datePublished": "2022-05-12", It means the Son of a Scottish brood that keeps getting into trouble only to easily find his way out of trouble! For more info on Stan Thompson click here. Jones famously retired from golf after winning the 1930 version of the Grand Slam. Or maybe it was just wacky that a German car company decided to start selling $1500 golf clubs that sucked. Incidentally, Vulcan (Chicago suburb club makers who made some of the earliest hybrids) made a full set of hybrids 3-SW. You have not lived until you hit good hybrid wedges! I have a left handed set that I got from a guy on the senior tour, Bob Carson, who also owned a golf course in Titusville FLA. LOL. I agree, though it does deserve a deep dive. The primary reason why Spalding halted the production of golf clubs was that they couldnt keep up with the competition. However, the name of their popular brand Top Flite was sold to Callaway, and is used for discount clubs and balls. I had some Staff FG-17 and my friends dad had the Executives. Terrific article as usual Mr. Barra. Leather Golf Grips Review: Should I Use Them? Two years prior, they sold Spalding and Evenflo to Wall Street investment firm KKR for an estimated and unbelievable 1 billion dollars. Many of which might have even found there way into a few of your bagseven if you dont want to admit it. If you are a beginner and are looking for a . Starting in the early 1900s, Spalding started making golf balls before manufacturing clubs. and had a driving range there for many years. i used to work in a golf shop in ohio and we had the worst set i ever saw. What a mess that design was! With Spalding's mass-market success breeding scores of imitators, players could pick and choose from countless club lines. MGS can never have too much content regarding the man, his company, or his impact on golf. The success of Spalding golf clubs had compelled the USGA to act, but this success was not destined to last forever. Its an interesting question to ask about a company that was a factor for over 125 years. I was the Sales Manager of Stan Thompson golf company for several years and worked very close with Stan. Unfortunately, the remaining companys sales still couldnt support the debt. Starting in the early 1900s, Spalding started making golf balls before manufacturing clubs. I just searched eBay right now and saw a set for $139. I have a set of clubs with Belmont Power on them. The Black Dots were longest (for me) but that cover would smile back at you with the slightest mishit. My Uncle had the Executives and my Dad had the XL-4s. KKRs $25 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco was chronicled in the book (and tv movie) Barbarians at the Gate. Spalding used to own Top Flite before selling the subsidiary to Callaway. Written by June 5, 2022 . I have a set of Fila Solerno irons/fairway woods that I havent been able to find anything about on the internet. $89.99. But, they were NOS (New Old Stock) and with Ohio State grips and headcovers; so a diehard Buckeye fan. It was just crazy how many golf balls we would sell through Wal-Mart in 18-ball pack, adds White Wed get orders on the fax machine for 50,000 18-ball packs, and theyd want them in two weeks.. Cleveland was giving them away for free if you send in some coupon from golf digest. 1968 Spalding developed the first 2-piece performance golf ball, the Spalding Executive. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Mismanagement and a growing golf market led Spalding to cease manufacturing golf products, selling off popular brands like Top Flite to Callaway in the early 2000s. Clear editor. He could not believe the smoothness of the Driver. Man, some of my favorites on this list. I shoot mid-80s like OP. Overall, Spalding clubs arent worth a great deal of money today, but theyre a good option if youre hoping to pick up an affordable set of clubs to get started with. Spalding spent the last half of the 20th-century battling with Titleist for golf ball supremacy. *We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Wright was the driving force behind Bostons Franklin Park golf course, the first municipal course in the U.S. Bostons other muni is named after Wright, who donated the land for the Donald Ross design. Does anyone know anything about them? But under Section 363 of Chapter 11, a seller can sell assets without having to negotiate with its creditors. Since the Ryder Cup is shortly upon us MyGolfSpy & GolfCircuit.com thought it[]. my 5w distance matches my friends new drivers in distance off tee,,they are amazed. Anybody know anything? They looked like a full set of hybrids but only lasted a short period of time. I have had many pros in proams hit them and fascinated by how the ball comes off the club face so fast,,good distance. and they wonder why they went out of business. (ENTER TO WIN) Super cool contest we have for you fellow GolfSpies today! What a great list! I bought them new. Whats troubling to us is the extent to which a reputable company that has its own trademarks and has invested a lot of money and time feels it needs to become a predator on somebody elses goodwill to sell its products, said Callaway chief Don Dye at the time. These articles are all outstanding. Circa 1985-ish if memory serves. John is an aging, yet avid golfer, writer, 9-point-something handicapper living back home in New England after a 22-year exile in Minnesota. Since you mentioned it in the article, how about doing the history of Ben Hogan golf from its inception in 1953 to itd ultimate demise under Callaway and then its resurrection in 2015. I STILL play with my Spalding Executive set 2 SW. Callaway had long wanted Top-Flites ball factory and patents but didnt want to assume any debt. I have not 1 but 2 sets of Browning 440 irons. Basically, the new irons are all the same cavity backed design tweaked for the metal content and painted pretty for your golf bag. pend. beneath. Theyre awesome. "https://www.pinterest.com/Swingyard/blog/" By I don't mind the executives though, don't really know much about them either. "https://www.facebook.com/swingyard/", i knew a guy who was a 4 handicap, and he used the spalding executives. I have a Simmons Great White Shark putter with a 7 blade. Throughout the 90s and into the early 2000s, Spalding and Titleist were running neck and neck in golf ball production. All that creativity has led to the great clubs we have today. Also, consider TaylorMade sold last spring for $1.6 billion, while KKR paid nearly $1 billion for Spalding in 1996. Again THANK YOU FOR THE GOLF LESSON!!!!! Corey Pavin won the 1996 US Open Shinnecock with a purple set. Whats more, Spalding Molitor clubs currently retail at $280 for an entire set, which is a price point that is pretty hard to beat. Of course Drivers and putters are like women. Starting in 1900, Spalding opened club-making factories in London and in Fife, Scotland, producing forged iron heads for Spalding clubs sold both in the UK and U.S. I accidentally broke it in the late 1970s the shaft was installed over a milled section of the hosel! That might be because Golfsmith acquired them back in 2003.
