Connoisseur's Guide to Golf Equipment

[David_Tepper]

"But my favourite irons ever...The Sounder SB IV'S...AWESOME"    Michael W-P


Wayne S. -

Here is a set of Sounder irons(from the 1980's) endorsed by none other than Seve Ballesteros:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sounder-Tour-Limited-SB-IV-Ballestaros-Golf-Irons-RARE-/180476966197?pt=Golf_Clubs

DT

[Jim_Kennedy]

Tom Dunne,

You don't have to lose the grip. It's not a mysterious process to remove the leather grip and the rubber underlisting, cut the shaft, and then reverse the process.

It can be done by any competent clubmaker.

[Garland Bayley]

...I never get too nostalgic about clubs, with the exception of putters, as I seldom have found one that did what it was supposed to do.

Putters always do what they are supposed to do. Unfortunately most of them have a sad life trying to find someone who can properly apply them.

[RSLivingston_III]

Neat thread. I have a question for the group. I don't have much vintage stuff, but I do have an absolutely cherry Wilson 8802. It's a beautiful putter, but I've never played a round with it because the shaft is 36" long. (My understanding is that Bob Mandrella made it custom for a particularly tall business associate.) Is there a way to cut down the shaft without ruining the original leather grip?

And yeah, I guess I could just choke down....

Shafts are usually epoxied into the head. Heat the hosel, pull the shaft, trim off unwanted, expoxy together.

Alternative, leave in car in direct sunlight, car will heat up, after a long wait get putter out and see if you can pull the head off. If so, you are half way there.

8802s have a fluted shaft, so you must shorten from the butt end.  A clubmaker should be able to remove the grip with some solvent and a compressor.

That's a wrap on leather over an underlisting with a plastic back plug. They were not slip-on, so not slip-off.

[Bill Shamleffer]

My collection of old clubs is rather extensive..
I have evry set of Hogan clubs made up and including the mid eighties remake of the Apex blade, including a set of the original"Precision" set.
I have roughly 30 persimmon drivers ranging from the fabled M85..To Macgregors keyholes and Byron Nelson drivers...the Hogan jubilee Driver..
Iron wise I also have the old Wilson fg17's...a set of early seventies dynapowers nad bullet backs...
I just that old stuff.
But my favourite irons ever...The Sounder SB IV'S...AWESOME

I am still using my Sounder SB-IV irons that I bought used in 1988 from a St. Louis discount golf retailer.  The pro at the golf club I worked at back then loved these irons.  Between these irons and my Wilson JP wedges, I can not imagine that I will have have better irons in my life.

[Steve Lang]

  Wade can't imagine anyone holding it against you to use new grips, even new leather grips, and leather is not too hard to find.. you may very well want to backweight your putter also to give the best feel, so take off the old grip, cut the butt and set it up thin or thicker for your needs, you don't have to adapt to old clubs, make them yours.. tinker like the old pros did in secret!

[PCCraig]

How many GCAers use a traditional forged blade? Seems like so many people's favorite irons of the past were the unforgiving blade, but so many now seem to use a cavity back.

[David_Tepper]

"How many GCAers use a traditional forged blade? Seems like so many people's favorite irons of the past were the unforgiving blade, but so many now seem to use a cavity back."


Pat C. -

This topic has been discussed/debated on more than once thread in the past. Maybe the switch from blades to cavity-backs is more about trying to make your misses more manageable than maximizing your very best swings.

There is no doubt that there are now a good number of forged, cavity-back irons available that (hopefully) provide a healthy dose of both the feel & forgiveness most of us are looking for you.

DT  

[Garland Bayley]

...
There is no doubt that there are now a good number of forged, cavity-back irons available that (hopefully) provide a healthy dose of both the feel & forgiveness most of us are looking for you.

DT 

But David, doesn't the cavity back take away the feel of truly puring it?

[David_Tepper]

"But David, doesn't the cavity back take away the feel of truly puring it?"


But Garland, just how many irons shots a round do you truly "pure" vs. how many shots you hit a little thin, a little off the toe, a little high on the club face, etc.?

Unless one's handicap is well under 5, I would venture to guess one hits 3 to 5 times as many of the later vs. the former in a round. Would you agree with that?

Almost every maker of quality forged blade irons (Mizuno, Titleist, Callaway, Miura, Scratch, even Wishon , etc.) now makes a forged clubhead with some form of modest cavity. As I said in my prior post, I think they provide an acceptable trade off between feel and forgiveness. Obviously, it is a matter of personal taste and the trade off may not be acceptable to you.

I am a mid-teen handicap and I have played the Mizuno Quad-MP, the Wilson Staff RM-Midsize and the Titleist 802-OS. They are all slightly oversized, forged cavity-backs and I have enjoyed playing with them. On those too rare occasions when I do "pure one," it feels pretty darn good to me.

DT