Case in point: The article makes the statement that The (Cleveland) VAS irons have finally been dethroned from their previous top spot as Worst Iron Ever Made! I dont think Cory Pavin would have won PGA tour events and endorsed them if this had been true. Any Spalding clubs that are still in circulation can be regarded as vintage, thats for sure! Another great history piece. Would the F2 wedges still be legal if the crank were a few inches further up but still keeping the same angle please. what is spanish colonial music? It was a close race but in the end we felt like it was finally time for the super-rare and hard to find Lil David Slingers get the recognition they were due. Please put any questions or comments here. That year Spaldings sales topped $537 million, with over $400 million coming from the golf division. Cleveland VAS was really great Iron. And Spalding predated Mizuno by at least 60 years with a copper undercoating for its forged blades in the mid-50s. But, in the rough the club went right underneath the ball. I seem to remember them being pretty wacky. These irons were designed in Belgium by the Belgium-Browning company. 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. Even tho I play with graphic shafts I really like the way those play. The shaft collapses to 18 inches so it is great for travelsure beats the cost of checking a golf bag these days. Oh I didnt forget about thosethey almost made the list. money, time and performance. Learn how your comment data is processed. Thanks! Great looking blade and the low COG really lets one hit it high. Ive owned a set of VAS, Zings, Slingshots and the Spaulding Execs (for vintage golf days). Keep up the great work. My Uncle had the Executives and my Dad had the XL-4s. When my father would shot a 215 yard iron into the hole, his fellow golfers wold ask him what club he used. We used to say three-quarters of the golf balls manufactured in the world came out of the state of Massachusetts, says Ben Hogan CEO Scott White, who started his career as a golf ball product manager for Spalding in the early 90s. I see that a few from my list made it. APPLY NOW: Cleveland Frontline Elite Putters! Its high point came in 1998 when Mark OMeara won the Masters and the Open Championship for Spalding. The chrome Im a scratch golfer, and to date have found nothing that is better. Your link has been automatically embedded. GolfWRX_Official Got them for $200.00 which was a really great price other pro shops were asking $450.00 for a set. Its an interesting question to ask about a company that was a factor for over 125 years. They were good at it too, in one year selling off companies for more than $7 billion they had bought for only $1 billion. Great collection I remember many of them in the past 30 years often thought of buying some of them, but luckily, I didnt, Ive purchased dozens of iron sets in the last few years (Big Bertha,FTI, Taylor Made, Cobra, Nike V series) NOne of these work as well as my Ping Zings, Hey, what about Shakespeare and fiberglass. * Note: These irons were designed by Don Wood remember the Plop putterswell they are back at it againyou can check them out here. Thanks, John. I didnt realize Spalding was still a player as late as 2000. Look at many of todays hybrids. I play them still and love them. It was first shown at the PGA dealers show at Disney World, Orlando, Florida 1979. What about Giant Irons, I remember seeing those on an infomercial a few times. With long-term debt in the neighborhood of $600 million, KKR found itself in a negative equity situation. Typically about 2 of the three would be OK, but if you hit one thin, you just threw it away on the next tee. I have a full set of Exec XE irons. Tommy Armour TI 100 need to be on the list, they were twice the size of any other iron produced ever. Much cheaper than renting. Happily, I can say that I have seen these over the years, but none of them ever made it into my golf bag. Duclos, a former flight engineer worked on the Skylab and S-IVB (third stage of the Saturn V rocket, responsible for getting the Apollo module from the Earth to the moon). Known for launching the ball from a nice crisp fairway lie but it jumped the shark when it came to hitting it from any kind of fluff. I just found a set of Slingers at the thrift store for $10. As weve discussed before, its extremely difficult for legacy brands to remain relevant, especially when new, fresh brands get aggressive. I think a list of the craziest irons made should definitely include the Jerry Barber Golden Touch irons made over 40 years ago. The remaining golf company was re-named Top-Flite. 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? I have no ideabut I sure loved my Tommy Armour silver Scotts. Now, like Henry Ford's assembly-line Model T's, Spalding craftsmen used a mechanical hammer to craft club-heads, drill sockets in them to attach the shaft and then polish the heads, all of which allowed Spalding to mass produce matching club sets. About half of our sales are with personal names or corporate logos in the back and given as gifts. Anyone ever hear of anything like that? (ENTER TO WIN) Super cool contest we have for you fellow GolfSpies today! Pasted as rich text. Placing the hosel behind the face eliminates the occasional `shank, creating forward-face progression. remove head from shaft? One of my favorite balls back in the late 80s was the Top-Flite Plus. Although they did have issues with the shafts actually wrinkling due to the configuration of the shape of the toe on this ironcrazy little factoid. The stickers are silver, but the Slinger logo is a black heavy type face and says pat. They are also perfect in a steep slope due to the curved bottom of the club head. Welcome back to the latest installment of Historys Mysteries. That might be because Golfsmith acquired them back in 2003. Not sure if the Black Knight, Gary Players endorsement sucked allot of buyers into buying.LOL. I can't imagine them being worth a shit. By then the Cisneros brothers had taken the money and ran. One with the sticker decal and one without. Spalding introduced many variations of hickory-shafted clubs to bring distance and control to the professional and duffer alike. Steve Almo why did patrice o'neal leave the office; why do i keep smelling hairspray; giant ride control one auto mode; current fishing report: lake havasu They are exactly like the Cleveland Ironwood set you see now, but it was made y..e..a..r..s ago. The 1953 Top-Flite Synchro-Dyned irons were particularly innovative, featuring a matched shaft flex and head weight for each iron in the set. Knowledgable folk say its all in the mind. There was a time when Spalding was one of the biggest brands in golf. For more than 25 years, he has contributed to a wide array of publications including "American Heritage," "American History," "Yankee," "VFW," "Golf," and "Golf News." I was wondering if anyone had ever tried Slotline Classic Copper golf clubs. But they seem to work though. 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. Amazing how so of the old stuff works better than the hyped up new stuff! * Note: These irons were designed in Belgium by the Belgium-Browning company. I got balls, well ProV1's anyway. ***GIVEAWAY*** Cleveland CBX ZipCore Wedge! . You can still buy Top-Flite and Strata branded balls at DICKS and Golf Galaxy. During that time, Spalding ownership changed hands a half dozen times, and saw the same fate as MacGregor Irons. The company's unique "baseball mark" A.G. Spalding had helped put baseball on the map--was stamped on the clubs and below it "Made in Great Britain" appeared. The top of the club head is horisontal and is easy to set up perpendical to the target. The pro-shop who had them could not find a buyer. Basically, the new irons are all the same cavity backed design tweaked for the metal content and painted pretty for your golf bag. The market was changing rapidly, as well. Thanks for you4 diligence and reporting. The woods were the strangest looking things. It was a low loft club used for poor lies and putting. The 300XXL Driver was so lightawesome clubhead speed ! i was pretty impressed with the club. An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. By 1970, the ownership group morphed into the Questor Corporation, and Pyramid Rubber was rechristened Evenflo. Used to play traditional blades with the odd shank. With the help of computers, we designed a unique shape we call the `Bull Nose which extends the toe weight out far enough to balance the head without creating an elongated appearance. BombTech Golf Reviews (These Golf Clubs Any Good? With Spalding's mass-market success breeding scores of imitators, players could pick and choose from countless club lines. Laugh if you must, but the design works. any info on this garbage?lol. Great collection! Tommy Armours ownership circus eventually turned it into the Sports Authority (and now DICKS) house brand. Players would switch balls during a round as conditions warranted. }. The primary reason why Spalding halted the production of golf clubs was that they couldnt keep up with the competition. The ball was introduced in 1900. Now I need some crazy Loudmouth pants and a pink ball. With this in mind, this article looks at why Spalding golf clubs are no longer popular and how much some of their most popular sets are worth. So, if youre buying or selling Spalding clubs that are in reasonably good shape, you can set your expectations around $100 to begin with. KKRs $25 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco was chronicled in the book (and tv movie) Barbarians at the Gate. Im 65 and still playing to seven with them. Top Flite is now synonymous with bargain or cheap instead of being the club of choice for the greatest golfers on tour. Today, collectors prize the narrow-faced Cran Cleek. I owned two sets of Unique ironsstarting in 1976. "width": "645", It wasnt very sophisticated back then, and they wanted to add layers of sophistication that they had in their other businesses. Both were smart, competent leaders but had little golf experience. What can you find out about Wilson x 70 irons. When I was first introduced to golf in the mid 70s, spoiling was still a player in the recreational market. Various . I know that this is a very late reply but I actually knew the designer of these irons and spent time speaking with him. The Ginty was the first modern Utility club. My Dad's execs from the 70's were blades that had aluminum shafts. Anybody know anything about them? I take them out every couple of years and play a round with them just for fun. Don Wood has the patent for the Plop Slotz Irons. http://www.geekgolf.com. Of course, it is the Indian not the arrow to some extent, but he does well. Some of the most popular Spalding Club models were: At one time, Greg Norman used the Spalding Tour Edition irons, now a collectors item, on Tour. Whats more, Spalding Molitor clubs currently retail at $280 for an entire set, which is a price point that is pretty hard to beat. We have been making them since 1992ship them all over the worldto soldiers, traveling execs, private pilots, cyclists, retirees that want to walk but cant lug a full set, and many other categories. When youre in the market for Spalding clubs, bear in mind that they were branded as Top-Flite clubs for a while, so be sure to broaden your search to include Top-Flite models. Odyssey to Callaway In July 1997, Callaway Golf purchased putter maker Odyssey for $130 million, or nearly four times the company's annual sales of $35 million at the time. Buyers can still find Spalding clubs on some secondary sites. Great nostalgia with the article. Today, Spalding focuses nearly all of its commercial interests on basketball, producing balls, hoops, rims, and nets. $86.40 shipping. The Ping Zings were the worst! This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, (your email address will not be published), Acushnet 2022 Financials: $2.27 Billion and Counting, Penfold Ace Golf Balls: Whats Old Is New Again, Four Testers Wanted Inesis Spikeless Shoe. I became a +2 handicap using those irons, and a lot of people scoffed at them early ontill they saw me hit them. Peter lived in Ridgefield,Ct. and had a driving range there for many years. Not quite Bryson-like, but innovative for the day. This new construction was a major technological advancement in golf balls. I might suggest you also include input from Tom Stites who worked for Hogan in the 1980s before heading up Nikes golf (mis)adventure. Im a sucker for the odd things, I also had a Power Pod(big mistake). By the Roaring '20s, A.G. Spalding & Brothers was using the process of "drop forging" to manufacture metal club-heads. "name": "Swing Yard", Europe was a bit ahead of the United States when it came to golf, and the sport had only just started to explode in the United States. It was the mold makers attempt to make at a hollow head, wooden shape club. Why is that I have the Tiger Shark 7 iron and the Spalding Exec XE 5 iron in my golf collection??? 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. "mainEntityOfPage": "https://swingyard.com/spalding-irons-by-year/", There was a time that Spalding golf clubs were among the best in the business. I actually like the looks of those babies! Fugly yes looks kinda like a pancake spatula at address but effective.