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How many here play either occasionally or predominantly woods made of persimmon or maple (laminated)?  While I game modern equipment I occasionally bring out one of my classic persimmon drivers from the 50s (MacGregor) out for a play date.  How many here do this?  I know BigStu does (from interaction on another site).  Here's a few of mine.  These are my 1950-1952 693, 1952-1953 M09 LFF, 1954-1955 M85W and Wood Brothers Texan made for Gene Sauers.

 

 

693 face.jpg

LFF face.jpg

M85W.jpg

Wood Bros Sauers.jpg

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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I have a few woods to choose from.  There is also a tremendous MacGregor 1950-1952 M43T driver in the MacGregor bag and I have a terrific former gamer MacGregor 1954-1955 945W.  My old Cleveland Classic driver from the late 80s/early 90s with X100 shaft is on the PowerBilt bag.  Included is also my 1954 TP Special driver that I have not taken out.

Office Staff bags.jpg

Cleveland DG43 face.JPG

TP Special face.JPG

TP Special sole.JPG

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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I do.  My persimmons dont look as good as the OP's do though.  Ive got an old Wilson persimmon driver and a Spalding.  I love the look of them, although I dont hit the ball very high with them.

"I suppose its better to be a master of 7 than to be vaguely familiar with 14." - Chick Evans

Whats in my Sun Mountain 2.5+ stand bag?

Woods: Tommy Armour Atomic 10.5* 

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3H

Irons: Mizuno T-Zoid True 5, 7 and 9-irons

Wedge: Mizuno S18 54* and Top Flite chipper

Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi A-02

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

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Wow!  What a beautiful collection of persimmon woods.  I didn't keep any of mine and I now regret that.  I hope to start collecting some older equipment.  

Ping G425 Max 10.5 with a Tour AD IZ-7 XStiff 

Ping G425 3-wood (14.5 degree)

Ping G425 Hybrid (19 degree)

Mizuno JPX 921 Forged W/Stiff Shafts

Vokey SM8 50.08, 54.14, 58,10

Scotty Cameron Fastback 1.5 (2020)

Pro V1x 

 

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I go on Ebay from time to time and look at persimmon woods.  All of them are so beautiful that I want to buy them all.  In a perfect world, I would have a bag full of persimmon woods, blade irons, hickory shafts and a persimmon putter; but then I remind myself at how underpowered they would be on modern golf courses.

"I suppose its better to be a master of 7 than to be vaguely familiar with 14." - Chick Evans

Whats in my Sun Mountain 2.5+ stand bag?

Woods: Tommy Armour Atomic 10.5* 

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3H

Irons: Mizuno T-Zoid True 5, 7 and 9-irons

Wedge: Mizuno S18 54* and Top Flite chipper

Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi A-02

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

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My first set of clubs(1959) were hickory shafts....I only have one left, a putter that is mounted on the wall if my home office.

As for persimmon woods, I gamed PowerBilt Citations with Citation blades. They were sweet.


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Driver: image.png.6ba1c8a254ad57aa05e527b74c2e04ba.png0311 XF 10.5* w/Project X Cypher 40 gram Senior shaft or 0811 XF 12* w/Evenflo Riptide CB Senior shaft

Fairways:  image.png.80321f01fc46450b6f428c7daf7b3471.png0211 5W & 7W w/ Evenflo Riptide CB  regular shaft and Tour Edge E521 9W w/Fubuki HD50 regular shaft

Hybrid: None in bag at the moment

IronsTitleist T300 5-PW w/Fubuki MV Senior graphite shafts w/Golf Pride Tour

Wedges: Edison forged 49*, 53* and 57* wedges with KB PGI Senior shafts(80 grm).

Putter: 33” Evnroll ER6R or  ER2 or Bellum Winmore Model 707,   or Nike Method Core Drone  w/Evnroll Gravity Grip

Bag: Vice cart bag(Black/Lime). 

Ball: Snell MTB Prime X, Maxfli Tour/S/X CG, Titleist Pro V1x or Titleist TruFeel

Using Shot Scope X5 and Pinned Rangefinder

 

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1 hour ago, Retrogolfer36 said:

I go on Ebay from time to time and look at persimmon woods.  All of them are so beautiful that I want to buy them all.  In a perfect world, I would have a bag full of persimmon woods, blade irons, hickory shafts and a persimmon putter; but then I remind myself at how underpowered they would be on modern golf courses.

The temptation is huge for sure.  For me there are certain models I am not looking for.  Classic MacGregor woods of the early/mid 1950s.  Pretty basic stuff -  693, M43, 945, M85 and any LFF I can find.  I have pretty solid sets/individual drivers of these and am looking for the perfect specimens if I can find them without paying a kidney for them.  I just picked up this M85W driver for a rather low Buy It Now.  I was kind stunned with the price so I purchased it.  I removed the sole plate and found that this is solid block persimmon.  The driver is 43 inches and comes in at a bit more than D7.  A 43 1/2" shaft would probably make this a D5 driver.  I contacted Dave Wood and he proclaimed this as a deep face M85W and "Rarest of the rare".  This driver is making its way to Texas for a Dave Wood spa treatment this coming week!!!

 

 

M85W face natural light.jpg

M85W crown.JPG

M85W skirt.JPG

M85W sole.JPG

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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7 hours ago, RobotDoctor said:

The temptation is huge for sure.  For me there are certain models I am not looking for.  Classic MacGregor woods of the early/mid 1950s.  Pretty basic stuff -  693, M43, 945, M85 and any LFF I can find.  I have pretty solid sets/individual drivers of these and am looking for the perfect specimens if I can find them without paying a kidney for them.  I just picked up this M85W driver for a rather low Buy It Now.  I was kind stunned with the price so I purchased it.  I removed the sole plate and found that this is solid block persimmon.  The driver is 43 inches and comes in at a bit more than D7.  A 43 1/2" shaft would probably make this a D5 driver.  I contacted Dave Wood and he proclaimed this as a deep face M85W and "Rarest of the rare".  This driver is making its way to Texas for a Dave Wood spa treatment this coming week!!!

 

 

M85W face natural light.jpg

M85W crown.JPG

M85W skirt.JPG

M85W sole.JPG

Those are some beautiful woods.  I just scored a set of Mizuno MS-5 persimmons.  Drive and 5-wood.  I'll had to post up some pics when they get here.  I also scored an old Mizuno mallet putter with a brass insert.  I believe that the persimmons and the putter are from the late '80s.

"I suppose its better to be a master of 7 than to be vaguely familiar with 14." - Chick Evans

Whats in my Sun Mountain 2.5+ stand bag?

Woods: Tommy Armour Atomic 10.5* 

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3H

Irons: Mizuno T-Zoid True 5, 7 and 9-irons

Wedge: Mizuno S18 54* and Top Flite chipper

Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi A-02

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

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Since our course opened in 1906, it's completely playable with hickory shafts, never mind real wooden club heads.

I had no trouble adjusting to the first metalwoods like the original TaylorMade series, the Hogan Series 56 model, and the venerable Titlest PTs.

Veteran players will remember that these were essentially copies of the persimmon / laminated maple woods except that they were made of hollow stainless steel.

When metalwoods began to take on their own personalities, they changed in more ways than just adding a lot of tech.  They became longer, more upright, had larger heads, and the higher lofts tended to have closed faces.   That's when I started to struggle with them.

Louisville Golf no longer works in laminated maple, but they still offer a nice selection of persimmon woods.  They come with graphite shafts, hickory shafts, and while they last, steel shafts. Steel shafts for woods were discontinued by True Temper in 2017, but some remain in Louisville's stock.

If you play at 7000+ yards, persimmon probably won't cut it.  Otherwise it does have things to offer.

The clubs are shorter with flatter lie angles and more open faces if that suits you.  The available lofts are wider spaced.  You might not want a 16.5º metal four wood and an 18º metal five wood.  However, an 18º persimmon 4-wood and a 21º persimmon 5-wood could very well be found in the same bag.

Another thing is that wooden clubheads are more easily customizable for fit metrics.  For fifty extra bucks, you get any loft, lie angle, and face angle that you want.  They're merely lathing wood.  Choices in finishes and inserts are available too.

If I could still play, I'd be very tempted to go with a Louisville 2, 4, 5 set.  It would be perfectly functional at our old club.  I'm more than old enough for it not to be something radically new to which I'd have to adapt. 

 

PS: My first set of woods were MacGregor 945s handed down to me by my uncle.  They're not in playable condition, but I still have them.

Edited by NiftyNiblick

 

 

 

 

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4 hours ago, NiftyNiblick said:

Since our course opened in 1906, it's completely playable with hickory shafts, never mind real wooden club heads.

I had no trouble adjusting to the first metalwoods like the original TaylorMade series, the Hogan Series 56 model, and the venerable Titlest PTs.

Veteran players will remember that these were essentially copies of the persimmon / laminated maple woods except that they were made of hollow stainless steel.

When metalwoods began to take on their own personalities, they changed in more ways than just adding a lot of tech.  They became longer, more upright, had larger heads, and the higher lofts tended to have closed faces.   That's when I started to struggle with them.

Louisville Golf no longer works in laminated maple, but they still offer a nice selection of persimmon woods.  They come with graphite shafts, hickory shafts, and while they last, steel shafts. Steel shafts for woods were discontinued by True Temper in 2017, but some remain in Louisville's stock.

If you play at 7000+ yards, persimmon probably won't cut it.  Otherwise it does have things to offer.

The clubs are shorter with flatter lie angles and more open faces if that suits you.  The available lofts are wider spaced.  You might not want a 16.5º metal four wood and an 18º metal five wood.  However, an 18º persimmon 4-wood and a 21º persimmon 5-wood could very well be found in the same bag.

Another thing is that wooden clubheads are more easily customizable for fit metrics.  For fifty extra bucks, you get any loft, lie angle, and face angle that you want.  They're merely lathing wood.  Choices in finishes and inserts are available too.

If I could still play, I'd be very tempted to go with a Louisville 2, 4, 5 set.  It would be perfectly functional at our old club.  I'm more than old enough for it not to be something radically new to which I'd have to adapt. 

 

PS: My first set of woods were MacGregor 945s handed down to me by my uncle.  They're not in playable condition, but I still have them.

Would love to see pictures of the 945s!

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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My Mizzy persimmons arrived today. I must admit, they're better than I expected.20200401_155944.jpg20200401_155931.jpg20200401_155922.jpg20200401_155914.jpg20200401_160006.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

"I suppose its better to be a master of 7 than to be vaguely familiar with 14." - Chick Evans

Whats in my Sun Mountain 2.5+ stand bag?

Woods: Tommy Armour Atomic 10.5* 

Hybrid: Mizuno MP Fli-Hi 3H

Irons: Mizuno T-Zoid True 5, 7 and 9-irons

Wedge: Mizuno S18 54* and Top Flite chipper

Putter: Mizuno Bettinardi A-02

Ball: Maxfli Tour X

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21 minutes ago, Retrogolfer36 said:

My Mizzy persimmons arrived today. I must admit, they're better than I expected.20200401_155944.jpg20200401_155931.jpg20200401_155922.jpg20200401_155914.jpg20200401_160006.jpg

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
 

Nice looking Mizunos!

 

MDGolfHacker

TSssWhat's In This Lefty's Bag?

Driver: :titleist-small: TSR2 11° Project X HZRDUS Black 4G 60g 5.5 Flex

Fairway Woods: :cobra-small: F8 3W Project X Even Flow Blue 75g shaft

Fairway Woods: 

Hybrid: :titelist-small: TSR2  18° Graphite Design Tour AD DI-85 Shaft

Irons: :titelist-small: 2021 T200's 4-GW AMT RED shafts Regular Flex

Wedge: :cleveland-small: Tour Satin RTX 4 Wedges in 52° and 56° 2 Dot

Putter: :nevercompromise-small: Gray Matter TDP 2.2 32.75"

Bag: :1590477705_SunMountain: Three 5

Ball:  :titelist-small:  PRO V1 / :srixon-small: Z*Star

RangeFinder:918457628_PrecisionPro: In search of new range finder

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My plan for 2020 season is to play classic/retro golf exclusively, at least to start.  I have a fair number of Ram persimmons, befitting my Ram Ho status.  Over the off-season, decided to pick up a 1/3/4 set of Orlimar persimmons, plan is to start with the driver and 3w from this set, mix in the 4w where I'd care to.

Have a Ram TW800, TW801, TW802, and TW805, and a couple other Golden Rams in there.  Also have a Louisville Smart Driver and a Personal Model, a MacGregor M09T Jumbo (80s reissue), and John Deere 150th anniversary commemorative driver, and driver/3w in both Eye2 and Zing Blonde.

I only started playing golf in the late 90s, I didn't have any experience with actual wood clubs until I bought a Louisville Smart Driver in the early 2000s.  Became intrigued when I took it on the course and found I was hitting it as far as my Ti driver at the time.  And here we are.

I'll have to scrounge up some pics....

Edited by NRJyzr

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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Some pics of a few of mine

From top to bottom, Louisville Smart Driver, Ram TW805, Ram TW801, Ram TW802

image.png.19dba2fc59f1110462f46ad3d8fd3321.png

My set of Orlimar 1/3/4
image.png.63cc4df50885dc725df8eb0edc7c4da6.png

And a sole/face shot of the four in the first pic, with my John Deere Commemorative added

image.png.b165ad9f3d09d3675fee1f6a3461ffab.png

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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Here are the woods in my MacGregor staff bag.  Most are MacGregors but also in there are other makes. A Wood Brothers driver made for Gene Sauers, a custom Mike Coppola (my former club restoration person in Delaware), my Cleveland Classic DG43 gamer from 1990-1992.  I am missing my new M85W driver and 693 fairway woods (2-4) which are in the hands of Dave Wood going through their restoration process presently.  I am also missing my 945W fairway woods that will be restored next year along with my 945W driver.  I will have the M85W fairway woods (2-3) restored as well at some point and the gloss of my M85W taken down to satin.  The graphite shaft is a prototype Graphite Design that is 3X and made for Greg Norman.  It was given to me by a Class A PGA pro who is well connected with a former PGA Tour caddy.

 

Mac Staff Bag.jpg

Edited by RobotDoctor

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've got three rounds in now.  All three rounds have been played with the Orlimar driver and 3w shown in the pics above.  It's been interesting, I've had contact consistency problems with the driver, but have been consistent making contact with the 3w.  Even have hit the 3w off the deck a few times with no trouble.  

I'll either keep these in the bag, or pull out a couple Ram persimmons; I've been hitting the Orlimar surprisingly higher than I was expecting, might try my Ram TW802, which is a little lower loft.

Yesterday after hitting my tee shot on #17, had a guy peek around the corner of the pine trees that separated 17th tee from 12th tee.  He'd heard the sound, wanted to know how old my driver was, and how I liked playing it.  Found that interesting, can't remember that happening before.  🙂

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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6 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

I've got three rounds in now.  All three rounds have been played with the Orlimar driver and 3w shown in the pics above.  It's been interesting, I've had contact consistency problems with the driver, but have been consistent making contact with the 3w.  Even have hit the 3w off the deck a few times with no trouble.  

I'll either keep these in the bag, or pull out a couple Ram persimmons; I've been hitting the Orlimar surprisingly higher than I was expecting, might try my Ram TW802, which is a little lower loft.

Yesterday after hitting my tee shot on #17, had a guy peek around the corner of the pine trees that separated 17th tee from 12th tee.  He'd heard the sound, wanted to know how old my driver was, and how I liked playing it.  Found that interesting, can't remember that happening before.  🙂

There is a different sound with the ball striking a wooden club.  Instead of the metallic "ting" sound it is more like a "thwock".  I have a few dozen new old stock Titleist Balata golf balls that have lost much compression so the sound is a bit more muted but the feel ...... oh baby!  I love the reaction of my young playing partners when they see one of my classic MacGregors coming out of the bag.  They want to hit it and I always say sure as long as any deformation that happens they pay to refinish my wood.  They ask how much and I say between $150 and $200 just to clean up any scratches or pit marks.   Every time the young kids say thanks but no thanks.  I then tell them to look on eBay and search for persimmon driver and they can get one for little to nothing.  I hope some have and find the love of persimmon like we do.

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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1 minute ago, RobotDoctor said:

There is a different sound with the ball striking a wooden club.  Instead of the metallic "ting" sound it is more like a "thwock".  I have a few dozen new old stock Titleist Balata golf balls that have lost much compression so the sound is a bit more muted but the feel ...... oh baby!  I love the reaction of my young playing partners when they see one of my classic MacGregors coming out of the bag.  They want to hit it and I always say sure as long as any deformation that happens they pay to refinish my wood.  They ask how much and I say between $150 and $200 just to clean up any scratches or pit marks.   Every time the young kids say thanks but no thanks.  I then tell them to look on eBay and search for persimmon driver and they can get one for little to nothing.  I hope some have and find the love of persimmon like we do.

 

I've got a sleeve of HT-100s and a dozen Elite 90s that I plan on using sooner rather than later.  Waiting for my game to show some signs of life before I take out the good stuff.  😉

 

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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5 minutes ago, NRJyzr said:

 

I've got a sleeve of HT-100s and a dozen Elite 90s that I plan on using sooner rather than later.  Waiting for my game to show some signs of life before I take out the good stuff.  😉

 

No kidding!!!  My home course (across the street) has been closed due to Covid-19 lock down.  The course might open next week as Colorado is relaxing some of the restriction.  Then I can hit some balls to break off the rust off my old bones and play a few rounds.  Then the Macs and balatas will come out.  Weather forecast next week is mid 70s to low 80s next week with one day reaching 87.  Since I am not working I want to be playing golf!!!

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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What a great topic!

In the early 80's I was in college and got assigned a roommate that was a golf nut. He convinced me to try and get a set of clubs, as the university 

had its own course and students could buy a pass, for the entire year, as many holes as you could play, for $20!!!!

I mentioned to the parental units, who hooked me up with my recently passed grandfathers clubs. He was good, and normally played 18-36 holes a day when he could, right up until he passed. 

Powerbilt Citation irons, Wilson 1200LT woods, a simple blade putter, don't remember the wedges.

After I graduated, I gave the set to my uncle in a weak moment after hearing him talk about wanting his daddy's clubs. 

I loved that set, and have even priced the irons on ebay. Are 80's vintage Powerbilt irons competitive today?

Man I'm stoopid sometimes.

ksted

  • driver: Ping G410 plus
  • 3 wood: Ping G400
  • 5 wood: Ping G400
  • hybrid: Cobra F8
  • irons: Ping G400 4-gw
  • wedges: Ping G400 U 50, Cleveland RTX4 56, Zipcore 60
  • putter: Evnroll ER2
  • balls:  Srixon Q Star Tour/Titleist Tour Soft
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I used to love the way my Wilson woods felt and sounded when you connected perfectly - my 3 wood was one of the most accurate in my bag.

Interesting enough  during this isolation period I have watched several videos that asked the question - What has been the biggest improvement in golf equipment, the Ball or the Clubs.

In them they had clubs and balls from the mid 1980's - Persimmon Woods and blades effectively and Balata pro golf balls vs the latest technology Drivers and Irons and Pro v1 golf balls. Add a swing robots and in one case 4 golfers a pro, a 3, 12, 24 handicap golfers and the latest Trackman.

The winner was by far the ball, on average the Pro v1 flew 15-20 yards further with the driver. Add that the new driver was 6-9 yards longer makes a difference of 20-30 yards. Interestingly the main difference with the wedges was the spin rate, it was slightly higher with the Pro v1 which was opposite to the initial train of thought. There was very little distance difference between the old irons and new with similar lofts.

As you can imagine consistency was not an issue with the robot but was major difference between the old and new clubs.

One thing that I did not realise was how quickly the old balls went out of round.

It was fun to watch and learn.

 

 

Callaway Epic Flash 9 Degree

Callaway Epic Flash 3 wood 15 Degree

Callaway Apex 21 Hybrid 19 Degree

Callaway Steelhead Pro 4-AW Irons

Cleveland 54 Degree Wedge Steel Shaft

Recoil Graphite Shafts in all Callaway

Cobra Vintage Series Stingray 40

Preferred ball - Seed 001

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11 hours ago, Firebird said:

I used to love the way my Wilson woods felt and sounded when you connected perfectly - my 3 wood was one of the most accurate in my bag.

Interesting enough  during this isolation period I have watched several videos that asked the question - What has been the biggest improvement in golf equipment, the Ball or the Clubs.

In them they had clubs and balls from the mid 1980's - Persimmon Woods and blades effectively and Balata pro golf balls vs the latest technology Drivers and Irons and Pro v1 golf balls. Add a swing robots and in one case 4 golfers a pro, a 3, 12, 24 handicap golfers and the latest Trackman.

The winner was by far the ball, on average the Pro v1 flew 15-20 yards further with the driver. Add that the new driver was 6-9 yards longer makes a difference of 20-30 yards. Interestingly the main difference with the wedges was the spin rate, it was slightly higher with the Pro v1 which was opposite to the initial train of thought. There was very little distance difference between the old irons and new with similar lofts.

As you can imagine consistency was not an issue with the robot but was major difference between the old and new clubs.

One thing that I did not realise was how quickly the old balls went out of round.

It was fun to watch and learn.

 

 

 

The problem with tests like that, using old golf balls, is that wound balls degrade significantly more quickly over time than do solid core balls.  A 30 year old wound ball is going to be that much shorter due to that performance degradation.

There are ball tests from 2001 that include wound balls and the new solid core balls.  Those tests show the difference between the wound and solid core to be minimal.  Spin rates off the tee are, of course, pretty different.  

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5"
3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5"
2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S
Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R
GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S
SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft
Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35"
Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

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I recently purchased a M85W driver and sent it to Dave Wood for restoration. He looked at it and emailed me the following responses over a few emails:

"OMG... You possess the Rarest of the rare! Got to wonder who this was made for?"

"... Your M85 is one of the best I have ever worked on. BC's is really good, but yours is absolutely next level."

"Completely taken apart and reassembled. All new Reed & Prince solid brass screws (as original).

"Am currently stripping and detailing the club head. One of the best M85’s ever."

 

He said that the grain is perfect, aligned from toe to back of hosel perfectly, shaped to weight (no lead in the head), a big block while maybe not a Jumbo head but a real big block. No neck cracks and carbon spots and mineral deposits in the wood with perfect micro grain. Dave told me yesterday that he absolutely loves this driver and if he had this wood in the early 80s this would have gone right into Ben Crenshaw's bag as his primary gamer. There is just something very, very special with MacGregor pro line woods from the early 50s.  The M85s, 693s, 945s and M43s were in a class in their own and some of the most sought after woods back in the day.  To say I am pretty excited to receiving this M85W back is an understatement.

 

The first two pictures are from Dave Wood during the restoration process.

M85W no soleplate.jpg

M85W restoration.jpg

 

The following pictures are from pre-restoration when I first received the M85W.

M85W crown.JPG

M85W face natural light.jpg

Edited by RobotDoctor

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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10 hours ago, NRJyzr said:

 

The problem with tests like that, using old golf balls, is that wound balls degrade significantly more quickly over time than do solid core balls.  A 30 year old wound ball is going to be that much shorter due to that performance degradation.

There are ball tests from 2001 that include wound balls and the new solid core balls.  Those tests show the difference between the wound and solid core to be minimal.  Spin rates off the tee are, of course, pretty different.  

I found so Topflite Balada Z balls (2000) and Wilson Pro Balada  (1990) balls in a couple of old bags I have in the roof of the garage so I took them out on the practice fairway. OMG, they Balada Z actually felt quite nice, the Wilson felt like I was hitting a piece of rubber which in reality I was. Interesting to read some where that the R & A has said they are looking at options to reduce the length that a golf ball can fly at a professional level. The PGA current drive distance average for top 20 pros is 310 yards, they want it to be more like 280.

Callaway Epic Flash 9 Degree

Callaway Epic Flash 3 wood 15 Degree

Callaway Apex 21 Hybrid 19 Degree

Callaway Steelhead Pro 4-AW Irons

Cleveland 54 Degree Wedge Steel Shaft

Recoil Graphite Shafts in all Callaway

Cobra Vintage Series Stingray 40

Preferred ball - Seed 001

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My first set of clubs was comprised of a second hand set of Titleist Accu-Flo irons (funky lookin' heads), but I got new woods to go with them. I always hit them well and miss the solidness you felt when you pured one. However, I was never a big hitter and shorter in stature, so once metal heads hit the market I never looked back. I did, however, get them refinished and that was really what put them out of rotation...The refinishing job came out so well, that I couldn't justify ever hitting them again, especially since I would be giving up considerable yardage. Anyway, I do miss them and they're truly beautiful MacGregor's from late 70's.

MacGregor693T-1.jpg

MacGregor693T-2.jpg

MacGregor693T-3.jpg

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On 5/1/2020 at 7:23 AM, RobotDoctor said:

I recently purchased a M85W driver and sent it to Dave Wood for restoration. He looked at it and emailed me the following responses over a few emails:

"OMG... You possess the Rarest of the rare! Got to wonder who this was made for?"

"... Your M85 is one of the best I have ever worked on. BC's is really good, but yours is absolutely next level."

"Completely taken apart and reassembled. All new Reed & Prince solid brass screws (as original).

"Am currently stripping and detailing the club head. One of the best M85’s ever."

 

He said that the grain is perfect, aligned from toe to back of hosel perfectly, shaped to weight (no lead in the head), a big block while maybe not a Jumbo head but a real big block. No neck cracks and carbon spots and mineral deposits in the wood with perfect micro grain. Dave told me yesterday that he absolutely loves this driver and if he had this wood in the early 80s this would have gone right into Ben Crenshaw's bag as his primary gamer. There is just something very, very special with MacGregor pro line woods from the early 50s.  The M85s, 693s, 945s and M43s were in a class in their own and some of the most sought after woods back in the day.  To say I am pretty excited to receiving this M85W back is an understatement.

 

The first two pictures are from Dave Wood during the restoration process.

M85W no soleplate.jpg

M85W restoration.jpg

 

The following pictures are from pre-restoration when I first received the M85W.

M85W crown.JPG

M85W face natural light.jpg

 

Here are a few pictures Dave Wood just sent me of this driver now that the restoration has been completed.  He texted me with these:

"One of the best in the history of M85W Eye O Matics. Better than Ben's!"

"If I had this on that cool autumn morning in 83' it would have gone into BC's bag and won a green coat."

 Very high praise from one of the best persimmon club makers/restoration craftsman ever.  All I can say is WOW.  It should be back to me the beginning of next week.

 

IMG_4960.jpg

IMG_4961.jpg

IMG_4962.jpg

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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On 3/21/2020 at 5:27 PM, RobotDoctor said:

How many here play either occasionally or predominantly woods made of persimmon or maple (laminated)?  While I game modern equipment I occasionally bring out one of my classic persimmon drivers from the 50s (MacGregor) out for a play date.  How many here do this?  I know BigStu does (from interaction on another site).  Here's a few of mine.  These are my 1950-1952 693, 1952-1953 M09 LFF, 1954-1955 M85W and Wood Brothers Texan made for Gene Sauers.

 

 

693 face.jpg

LFF face.jpg

M85W.jpg

Wood Bros Sauers.jpg

I found a Ping ISI Tour 3 wood for $3.00 at a Thrift store. I was so surprised how fun it was to hit that I started buying other wood clubs until I had the 5 and 7 of this model and a set of Driver, 3w, and 5w of the Ping Eye 2 woods. 

I love the sound of impact. The heavy head also seemed to give me a lot more awareness of the club head. 

I game then when I play golf with some old duffers at a local 9 hole executive course to help give them a better chance of beating me. 

I also use them to dial in my swing for better control of impact. When I have these dialed in then my gamer is that much more consistent.

Later, I researched the ISI TOUR to find it was the last wood club used on the PGA tour in 1994. It was the end of an era. It is made of laminated maple, hollowed out in the center, perimeter weighted, and filled with epoxy for forgiveness. Plus the red insert does not use screws as it is bonded. Mine has a graphite w54 woman's flex - it's ok to laugh, but I was hitting it 220 yards. That's about one club gap less than my gamer. 

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  • 4 months later...

Hi. I just bought a set of MacGregor woods on eBay. They were purchased from a golf course that was going out of business.

As far as I can tell, they've never seen grass. Arrived still in the box.

Based on that, I'd say they're early '90's vintage, but possibly older. They're Uniblock, not solid persimmon. Model is 1S300.
 

Any info non these would be appreciated. Trying to decide whether to seal them in a vault or start playing them.

Box label.jpg

driver sole.jpg

fairway woods.jpg

Campbell Tour Grade driver

Honma Big Baffy 4 wood

Wilson K-28 irons 3, 5-PW

Wilson Harmonized SW, 55-degree

Slotline bullseye-style putter

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Here are a few pictures of one of my 945W drivers I just had Dave Wood restored.

IMG_6467.JPG

IMG_6466.JPG

IMG_6465.JPG

IMG_6468.JPG

This is my other 945W that was just restored by Dave Wood.

IMG_6479.JPG

IMG_6480.JPG

IMG_6478.JPG

Driver:  TaylorMade 300 Mini 11.5° (10.2°), Fujikura Ventus Blue 5S Velocore

3W:  TaylorMade M4 15°, Graphite Design Tour AD DI 7S

Hybrid:  TaylorMade Sim2 2 Iron Hybrid 17°, Mitsubishi Tensai AV Raw Blue 80 stiff

Irons:  Mizuno 223 4-PW, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

GW / LW:  Scratch Golf 1018 forged 50°/ 58° DS, Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 stiff

SW:  Callaway MD5 Jaws 54°, TT DG Tour Issue S200 115g wedge shaft

Putter: Byron Morgan DH89 GSS custom, Salty MidPlus cork grip

Grips: BestGrips Augusta Microperf leather slip on

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Here are a few pictures of one of my 945W drivers I just had Dave Wood restored.
IMG_6467.JPG.2db028b955a1bbc2179316506183d9b3.JPG
IMG_6466.JPG.b5275cb5bf580bc277b83357b7cd9bba.JPG
IMG_6465.JPG.f54bfabcaac164a954c68bb97ae01b9f.JPG
IMG_6468.JPG.327221cf386677e675ae1abdc4e936ef.JPG
This is my other 945W that was just restored by Dave Wood.
IMG_6479.JPG.9e3bb0924628cb4ab44512218d7eace5.JPG
IMG_6480.JPG.c0d3ddba2a3c5798b3d11d94cd1a2891.JPG
IMG_6478.JPG.0331c2cdf4614316998555d4a1b6c2bb.JPG

Beautiful restoration!


Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Rick

 

 

Left Hand, 

Driver; PXG 0311XF Cypher 50 gr Senior  
5 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr       
7 wood; Ping 425, Senior Shaft 55 gr      
5 hybrid; Cally Steelhead, Hazardous R2     
Irons; Mizuno JPX 923HM 7-GW Recoil 460 F2
Wedges; Titleist S9 54*, Mizuno SW 56*

Putter; Waaay too many to list

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