Best clubs of all time?

[Jono Horn]

Drivers, fairway woods, putters no real single standout for me - Taylormade have made several really great woods over the years. Different story on irons though. For me, Ben Hogan Apex II irons were the best I have ever owned over 50+ years of playing this wonderful game.

Easy to shape either way and just the purist feeling hitting them. Proviso is the need to be playing regularly as a small sweet spot !

[billybogey]

Got to go with Pings. Any Club made by Ping is great!!

Have found out that it is the "Hittee" not the "Hitter"!! 

You know it is tough getting Old & Shorter!! Especially when you thought of yourself as a "Stud"!!

[igcascade]

In my opinion the Topflight Tour oversize irons with the Dynalite Gold steel shafts from the 90's are hard to beat.  When I need a change in club scenery, I occasionally pull them out to play them.  They hit as far, are as forgiving, and play better, at times, than my current Mizunos forged irons.  I still use my blue Nike Vapor driver because I can't find a new $600 driver that drives the ball farther with more forgiveness.  Also, a side note, my Dave Musty custom wood putter from I received 8 years ago still works as good as any other putter I have tried.  The new adjustable putters, and a fitting, might change that though.

Edited July 14, 2023 by igcascade

[Jbreck10]

For Me, it has to be my Titleist 690.MB irons. Love the profile, turf interaction and long blade length.

Driver- Taylormade R580XD- I could hit any s*** with it. Doesn’t have the distance of todays drivers, but it was a great club for me at the time. 

fairway woods- the Cobra F7, such balanced performance and accuracy. Amazing turf interaction with the rails. 

wedges-Taylormade mg3 wedges. Never had a wedge be better for me. 

putter-Ping Anser 2- the OG that started it all. 

[ctg44]

My favorite irons of all time were the Yonex Super ADX Tour irons with their pro spec long drive team graphite shafts.  My dad had a friend on their team and he gave me a set of these after he decided not to change from his 1st set of the year after getting them adjusted for loft and lie.  I used them for 20+ years.  Other than they were REALLY short, (my 5 iron was shorter than my current 7 iron in the Mizuno Pro 223 set with steel shafts and I'm a lot older now).  However, these had true blade feel and were still very forgiving.  Love them so much but couldn't handle the distance loss any longer as I got older and had to upgrade (first to Cobra ForgedTec and now to my Mizunos).

[foxrock]

Best irons: Mizuno MP32; Ben Hogan Apex2; Ping Eye2 1 iron was a game changer.

Best woods: Titleist TSI; Ben Hogan persimmon; Toney Penna persimmon.

Best putter: Titleist Bullseye; Scotty Cameron Newport 2 303.

[Jason Blank]

Ping Eye 2s Blue Dot were my go to irons for a long long time. Still have them and love them. But finally needed to switch to an iron that would give me some more distance. But damn I still love those irons! 

[Ward Jackson]

Ping eye twos!!

[Nbar]

Ping eye 2 great clubs. The old bullet putter.

[Bob Jerabek]

I also think the Ping Eye 2 was a big game changer.

ping revolutionized the game with it’s clubs.

[Beakbryce]

Best clubs for most folk is what could be reliably played for years.

So I will start with Ping Eye 2. I also had 1-PW with a Wilson R-90 sand wedge. At the time I didn't test any club set as reliable as that set. I played those clubs for 15 years. What changed my mind? Callaway X-12 and then Steelheads that were an updated version of the X-12. 

Wood wise, I hit a lot of buddies woods when I started but my set of Palmer Precision woods were as good as I could afford. I ruined them. A buddy, burgeoning club maker,  said he would put in the "new" technology fiberglass shaft and if I didn't like them, he would put the steel shafts back in. Hated them. Went back in a week but he had already sold the iron shafts with some Golfsmith heads to someone else... It didn't end well.

I really liked my GBB original wood set. My wife got them for me as a retirement present when I left the Marines. Now I can't imagine anything better than my Epic driver. I have hit the Stealth and wasn't enamored with it. Going to test the Mizuno offering pretty soon so will see if they can replace what I have.

Putters. I really regret letting my Bullseye putter go. I am sure there is nothing about it that matches today's putters technology wise, but I had fun hitting puts from both sides.

I have hit a lot of clubs at Demo days. The Mizuno and Titleist irons have been universally fun to hit. 

 

[Wicki]

My all-time favorite wedges was Spalding Cannon II!  As for irons, I loved the Daiwa blades that my bud in high school had (early 90's).  From that point on, love playing blades.  Cannot say much about putters though.  Still looking for that standout putter!!

[Mr_BogeyPro]

I really love the Mizuno MP-33 irons. The feeling when hit just right is next to none. I am looking forward to when I have a couple of bucks saved to get fitted for a new Mizuno set.

[ChiefMikeOfficer]

For me:

Irons: Mizuno Pro (1997-1999) -- to this day, my only solo, scratch tournament victories were with these irons.

Fairway (specifically 3w): Tour Edge Exotics E8 Beta -- really regret getting rid of this one, wish I swapped out the shaft instead.

Driver: Torn. Absolutely loved the Cobra Speed Pro (S, I think), which I was using after a brief break on golf, specifically inspired by Camilo, and friends still rib me about replacing it. But I think my best driver performance came with the Callaway FT-3 Fusion (when I was playing all the time). 

Wedges: Odyssey Blackspin - probably more nostalgic at this point, though. 

Putter: Rife 2-bar (the original - I'm sure the remakes are fine, but this is another one I regret replacing). 

Wild Card: Callaway Big Bertha Heaven Wood. It was my dad's, and I occasionally borrowed it for a round (he also swore by the Divine Nine). But it was so easy to hit back. In fact...still have it, might regrip and try it again.

**And now...keeping my original comment there so you can follow my rambling thought process...it actually looks like it's not the Heaven, and my dad was sold the previous model with the Warbird Heaven Wood cover   I swear it was the Warbird Heaven Wood head too, but I'm pretty sure this is his original (very possible he had both and only kept this one...):

 

[babookohl]

Browning 440. Low center of gravity,good ball flight. Very forgiving. Never saw anyone else playing them.

[mackdaddy]

Wow, my custom fitted Positive Putter is perfect for me.  I think the best putter is the Ping putter that everyone copied.   

For me the KZG forged III were the best irons cavity backs ever made.  I had three sets over 20 years and would still play them if I could get new sets.  I think the Miura baby blades 1957 are the best irons I every hit.  I don't own any game improvement irons so I don't know.

Wedges:  If I can only have one it would be Renegar wedges because there sole design is so versatile.  The favorite wedges now illegal would be the Cleveland CG12 RTG DSG wedges with square groves were awesome.  I just don't believe any one wedge is great for all wedge shots.

Titleist TSR 3 driver is the best of my golf life.  

Fairway wood?

Hybrids?

 

[poprocksncoke]

Have to agree on the Ping Eye 2 irons.  When mine were stolen I purchased a set of Ping Eye 2+ irons and they were not nearly as good of a club.

Honorable mention to Lynx Parallax irons 

[Henry Schonenberg]

1960-1970’s were Wilson Staff Dynapower irons. 1990-2010 were Titliest blades & CB’s.  Now —??. 

[Chaplin]

-What's the best of all time?

(names some very old set)

-Are you playing them now?

HELL NO! 

[Rappers]

The best clubs I have ever played were the original Callaway Big Bertha irons (1995), ugly clubs but great to hit. Moreover, I did not know until recently just how much of a forgiving iron they were until I checked out the Maltby Playability Factor (MPF) - Ultra game improvement irons rated at 1111 MPF, which is nearly double my current set of Mizuno JPX 1919s forged at 619 MPF. 

A link for those geeks interested in checking out irons -  https://www.golfworks.com/head-mpf-ratings/   

[Woodrow72]

Technology is way better now so new is the best but if it comes to the most important to me , it was my MacGregor persimmon woods , my Wilson Staff FG-17 blades , my Wilson R-90 sandwedge and my old Ping Anser putter - they taught me the love of the game 

[Coachbutt]

Picked up a set of Mizuno MX20s early 2000s. Bought them from Maple Hill at golf show 465$ cash no receipt. I was in love. Still have them. Grooves are worn, bent to stronger lofts. The feel was just amazing. 

[BH1]

For me the irons would be Mizuno T-Zoids....first forged clubs I played and still wish I had them.  Woods TaylorMade Burner Bubble, I still have them in garage.  Amazing how small they look now!

[Jeffrey Bernstein]

Seriously. This one's not close.  Ping's Eye 2 irons and Anser putter were game changers, widely imitated to this day.  These two designs set the tone for the next 50 years of premium club builds.  

[Kevin Kelley]

The best clubs for me in the past were the Big Bertha cavity back irons from 1996 with the RCH 96 graphite shafts but……Deejaid makes a great point above. If we are talking about the best clubs of all time, why aren’t we playing them now? Currently I’m playing Callaway Apex 21 irons and Ping G410 woods and technically they are the best clubs of all time for me!

[RCGolf]

Well, I don’t of best, because the performance and playability of anything made in the last 10 years (besides players irons) is so far ahead of the prior equipment, it’s not even funny…but, favorites that really made huge gains for me were: Taylormade ICW and Burner Tour Spoon (had dimples on the back) FW. Titleist 983K and Callaway Big Bertha Titanium Driver. A little newer clubs I absolutely loved: Titleist 905R Driver, Taylormade 2016 M2 Driver, Adams Insight Tech 9015 Driver (still long!)

[Dweed]

As far as "all time" I really can't say. I don't really have the research clout to dig up all the economic metric that would be involved. As far as the "best" for me?  I have to go with my current players, Ping G400 irons and Driver. Had then for past 5 seasons and have no desire to invest in others. They play good for me.

[Rugbymick]

Mizuno Mp-68 for me.

Bought the last model of Ap1's because I couldn't find the middle of the Mizuno's.  After some decent practice and confidence coming back, have gone back to the Mizuno's and in love with them again.

Still love my 2016 M2.  I will have to crack the head before I buy a new driver

 

[NoGimmies]

I see the original post mentioned the Tommy Armour 845 Silver Scot irons. I had the Tommy Armour 855s Silver Scot irons - slightly bigger and little more offset but very similar to the 845 line. They were nice irons - from an appearance standpoint.

However, I respectfully disagree with the original post about the titanium irons that were subsequently introduced by Tommy Armour. I personally found them unappealing from an aesthetic perspective and I believe the Tommy Armour clubs went downhill after that release.

As for the question posed, I'm not sure the context of the "best clubs of all time". Is it with respect to its appearance or its breakthrough technology?

 

[jimber68]

Driver- Titleist D2, my first titanium . Irons - Haig Ultra, same as Wilson Staffs in 70's, and 80's!!  Wedges- Cleveland, the blades from 2005