The failed Hogan experiment.

[BostonSal]

I think it was 2015 or near that when the Hogan company reemerged under new management as a clubmaker.

Their more important innovation--direct sales--seems to have succeeded, at least to an extent.

They now also work through fitters, I've been told.

 

Their less important innovation, eliminating club numbers on irons, did not.

 

It wouldn't have bothered me at all--I know the loft of every club in my bag.

And I am not the quintessential, internet-forum-browsing, highly competitive, launch-monitor-fit  player.

I play social weekday morning golf with other retirees.

It must have gone over like a lead balloon, however, seeing how short-lived the experiment was.

 

I have utility long irons with just stamped lofts on them as well as conventionally numbered shorter irons.

It wouldn't have mattered to me one way or another.

I don't see the club numbers as either necessary or bothersome.

Have any MGS players experienced the Hogan unnumbered irons?

 

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by BostonSal

[MNUte]

3 hours ago, BostonSal said:

 

Their less important innovation, eliminating club numbers on irons, did not.

 

 

 

I love that some makers have gotten back into printing lofts on their clubs. I genuinely could not care less about the numbers since the lofts can change so much between two "7 irons." 

[cnosil]

Don't  care how a manufacturer labels their clubs;  I just need to know what label goes what distance. 

[Golfspy_CG2]

Here we go again.  Same story “different” story teller

[RickyBobby_PR]

There’s 60 seconds of my life I won’t get back 

[BostonSal]

59 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

Here we go again.  Same story “different” story teller

i don't understand.

It's just about something Hogan tried.

Where's the same old story?

I didn't see another thread about it.

If you don't care about equipment aesthetics, just how well you can hit the stuff, that's perfectly fine.

Is there something wrong with discussing the aesthetics?

 

[BostonSal]

11 minutes ago, RickyBobby_PR said:

There’s 60 seconds of my life I won’t get back 

Snarky for a reason?

[cnosil]

26 minutes ago, BostonSal said:

Where's the same old story?

 

It's just a Nifty story.  Maybe they will come out with a Niblick next.

[BostonSal]

12 hours ago, cnosil said:

It's just a Nifty story.  Maybe they will come out with a Niblick next.

???  Does this forum have an "ignore" function?

Perhaps we'd do well to put one another on it.

I didn't join the forum for nonsense like this.

 

[cnosil]

8 minutes ago, BostonSal said:

???  Does this forum have an "ignore" function?

Perhaps we'd do well to put one another on it.

I didn't join the forum for nonsense like this.

 

There is a function to ignore users.   

why do you want do put me on ignore?  

 

[KurtActual]

10 minutes ago, cnosil said:

There is a function to ignore users.   

why do you want do put me on ignore?  

 

I've looked for it after a rash of pointless threads, but was unable to find it. Here I am with a glimmer of hope again

[cnosil]

Just now, KurtActual said:

I've looked for it after a rash of pointless threads, but was unable to find it. Here I am with a glimmer of hope again

If you go to you account settings, there is an option for ignore user,  then you just enter the name of the user you want to ignore.  

[Kansas King]

I didn't mind the idea of stamped lofts but I think it failed because even I tried a few of the original Ft. Worth 15s and I had to stop and think about what club I was pulling. It's nice knowing the loft but our brains are wired to associate an iron number with distance, not loft. Having numbers instead of loft on the bottom of irons gives our brain a shortcut for not having to actually process what the actual loft is. Sure, it's a short-term issue as you would get used to lofts on the irons but I didn't even find it pleasant when I was trying the clubs and I was a fan of the stamped lofts at first. 

I think historically, it's been most common to stamp the loft on the PW and/or GW from the set and I'm all for that. Nobody cares what loft their 7-iron is because they can't really control the clubs around it. The only clubs you need really know the loft on are the wedges. The long-end of the bag is more nebulous because hybrids don't necessarily gap as consistently as wedges do and quite frankly, the average golfer's ball striking isn't remotely consistent with longer irons. 

TL;DR - It really doesn't matter.

[Sluggo42]

Yea, my friends 8 iron goes as far a my 7 iron, I mean how can we know if it’s not all the same? They’re cheaters I tell ya dirty rotten cheaters!

[BostonSal]

The stamping on the sole of a club is only a cosmetic issue.  Nothing more.

Cosmetic preferences are purely subjective.

People who don't care about the cosmetics, however, seem to be highly critical of those who do.

Not sure why it stirs up animosity and belligerence, but it clearly does...on virtually every golf internet forum.

Perhaps it's best to keep one's subjective opinions to oneself.

I just wish that I understood why,

but it's probably better to drop the issue than to try to understand why it makes people as angry as it does.

 

 

 

[fozcycle]

I purchased the Ben Hogan Ptx irons(21* thru 41*) 4 - PW back in 2015/16.  I was a SCOR gamer and knew the new Hogans had the sam3 leading edge.  Anyway, my irons are 4* spaced for consistency.  Have never had an issue pulling the wrong club.  Actually, I have been gaming them again for a couple weeks.  When hit squarely, they feel like a knife slicing through soft butter.  This week I replaced the grips with new Lamkins and they feel great. I also have the Tkt15 wedges(49*/53*/57*) and they play terrific.

Don’t see any failed experiment here…..

[John Bachman]

For all of you that said this post wasted your time or was generally useless, why after reading it did you bother to take the time to respond? If you don’t like it just scroll on. 

Edited October 30, 2021 by John Bachman

[BIG STU]

Had an older gentleman at my former club that had a set of those. Now he loved the clubs but got confused on the loft things. Simple solution he had a guy make him some small vinyl decals and affixed them to the back of each club. They were in white so he could see them well. He also put the small numbers on each shaft too. Problem solved

LOL a while back I had ( and still do) a V-Steel 7 & 9 woods and both had the same shaft then and looked similar. One day I pulled the 9 and needed the 7 and was of course short. In those days I did not use headcovers and had lead tape over the lofts and numbers on the bottom. It was a complete brain fart. Right then and there I took a sharpie and put a big 7 & 9 on the lead tape. When I got home I took regular masking tape and put the numbers on the shaft. Now days the 7 has the same shaft and if I carry the 9 it has a different shaft so my dumb arse knows the difference plus now I use headcovers that are different for each one.

Edited October 30, 2021 by BIG STU

[Low Country Golfer]

9 hours ago, John Bachman said:

For all of you that said this post wasted your time or was generally useless, why after reading it did you bother to take the time to respond? If you don’t like it just scroll on. 

So they could double down on complaining.

[fozcycle]

On 10/30/2021 at 5:32 AM, BIG STU said:

Had an older gentleman at my former club that had a set of those. Now he loved the clubs but got confused on the loft things. Simple solution he had a guy make him some small vinyl decals and affixed them to the back of each club. They were in white so he could see them well. He also put the small numbers on each shaft too. Problem solved

The Ptx irons have the number etched on the back of the hosel.

[silver & black]

Seems like some of you are getting your panties in a bunch over nothing.

The topic has been discussed at length in the not so distant past. The guys commenting were there for the first go around. They aren't dissing any of you... just having a bit of fun. Chill out.

 

 

[fixyurdivot]

On 10/29/2021 at 1:04 PM, BostonSal said:

The stamping on the sole of a club is only a cosmetic issue.  Nothing more.

Cosmetic preferences are purely subjective.

People who don't care about the cosmetics, however, seem to be highly critical of those who do.

Not sure why it stirs up animosity and belligerence, but it clearly does...on virtually every golf internet forum.

Perhaps it's best to keep one's subjective opinions to oneself.

I just wish that I understood why,

but it's probably better to drop the issue than to try to understand why it makes people as angry as it does.

 

 

 

I don't think anyone is angry but rather weary of the subject/debate.  This one, like a handful of others, keeps being recycled. In answer to your question, I have not used clubs with only lofts stamped on them and think Hogan's experiment simply shows that most prefer the traditional iron number.  From there, we establish the distance our swings yield with each club and that has served the vast majority of golfers for a long time.  Marketing guys are always looking for something to make their product unique and, hopefully, outsell the competitors... they win some and they lose some.

[BIG STU]

4 hours ago, silver & black said:

Seems like some of you are getting your panties in a bunch over nothing.

The topic has been discussed at length in the not so distant past. The guys commenting were there for the first go around. They aren't dissing any of you... just having a bit of fun. Chill out.

 

 

Naah aint bothering me one bit--- You know it takes a lot to rattle my cage--- of course I can recite the lofts and lies on all my clubs basically because all of my blade Mac Irons I set alike myself. 

[BIG STU]

6 hours ago, fozcycle said:

The Ptx irons have the number etched on the back of the hosel.

I did not know that or if his was so equipped--- If they were he probably could not see them at a glance because he was 70 yoa at the time--- He engineered that idea on his own.

[silver & black]

3 hours ago, BIG STU said:

Naah aint bothering me one bit--- You know it takes a lot to rattle my cage--- of course I can recite the lofts and lies on all my clubs basically because all of my blade Mac Irons I set alike myself. 

Oh, hell no, Stu. I was refering  to a few of the newer guys that seem to be upset over this...lol.

[RollingGreens]

I mean lee Westwood literally writes down the distances on his irons… seems like a good way to correct the possible issue

[BIG STU]

10 minutes ago, silver & black said:

Oh, hell no, Stu. I was refering  to a few of the newer guys that seem to be upset over this...lol.

Oh I knew that just putting that out there for the new guys

[BIG STU]

5 minutes ago, RollingGreens said:

I mean lee Westwood literally writes down the distances on his irons… seems like a good way to correct the possible issue

Hey if it gets the job done which oviously it does for him because Lee can still play

[fozcycle]

16 hours ago, RollingGreens said:

I mean lee Westwood literally writes down the distances on his irons… seems like a good way to correct the possible issue

I guess he is getting too old to remember a few distances?

[Hook DeLoft]

14 minutes ago, fozcycle said:

I guess he is getting too old to remember a few distances?

I wondered if he did that to make it easier for his wife to pull the right club when caddying.