Classic Irons Shout Out

SeeMoreGuy

They Make 'em. I Buy 'em.
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As most of you know my love affair with any irons can be fleeting and I have never been partial any one brand of irons havingn purchased just about every type on the market. have gone through numerous set (too many to count) over the past couple of years but recently purchased a set of Classic/Vintage irons and wanted to start a thread for those who may have and play some or have picked up a set. Please feel free to comment on why you still purchased them and your views on how they compare to newer technology. I will start the thread by discussing my most recent additions:

PING Zing Irons (3 - LW): I stopped by a PGA Superstore earlier this week and tried out this set of steel shafted irons and was amazed with them. According to PING the clubs were manufactured in 1992. I had some new Lamkin grips installed and decided to add vibration dampenig cushins in the shafts. Brand new sticks in most respects. I may add some updated shafts in the near future but wanted to see what they played like first.

Took these out today to play 18 and was very excited to see what a set of 20 year old sticks would do on the course. I took my first swing with the 5 iron in the fairway and it was very smooth and I could feel the ball compress and the flight was fantastic. I continued to play mostly irons throughout the day and especially used the 4 iron off the tee and hit most of the fairways. The long irons were easy to hit as were the mid irons. Ball flight was a tad lower than my other irons but still very acceptable. New shafts would probably give me a higher ball flight. I really enjoyed the short irons and wedges which proved to help put me in great birdie positions today. My putting was horrible as I lipped out four times for par and left three birds short. Added up the score at end of round and shot an 86 in some pretty windy conditions. I felt dialed in on everything from tee to green. If I had putted better I may have been very low 80's today.

I could not beleive I hit 20 year old clubs as well as I do the newest technology on the market today. Of course I was about one club higher for distances which is perhaps where the newer technology has shown significant improvements and the newer clubs are more forgiving as well. However, I was truly enjoying hitting these sticks and am looking forward to playing them again soon.

Anyone else every break out a set of old school irons?

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The ping eye two's are a few years older and just as sweet. I could easily game them as my everyday irons.
 
You should post some pics of those! I have always wanted to get out with an older set and see how they feel and play.
 
Will do. I posted some in the What did you buy last week but will add more here.
 
I have a set of Ping Zings that I might reshaft and try out. The Pings stayed in my bag for over 12+ yrs.
 
Will do. I posted some in the What did you buy last week but will add more here.

Awe yes I remember that now. They definitely have the classic look to them, nice buy.
 
Wish I never got rid of all my Ping clubs , had the eye2's non conforming , eye2+ conforming , Ping Zings with graphite shafts , Ping ISI nickel and Coppers , now those 2 I really wish I would of held onto . I have been debating on finding a nice set of ISI nickels on ebay and reshaft them , and play them every now and again .
Another set I wish I would of held onto was the Lynx Parallax Black Cats that Freddie Couples played back in the day .
I still have a Parallax Putter he used too , it had a graphite shaft that was all moulded with a thick area that was rough for a grip , all graphite no rubber grip at all , I had to reshaft it with a steel shaft as after several years sitting in the basement in a closet , the grip area of the shaft was splintering and breaking down .
 
This is a pretty cool thread, SMG! Love the vintage irons going in the bag!
 
Thanks W.E.

I was thinking last night about how irons have progressed and wondered if the materials are the same meaning the same steel being used. I also wondered whether the actual manufacturing processes have change and how.

I think it would be awesome to have a bunch of THPers get together for a round or tournament with everyone playing vintage irons. Whoever used the oldest set would get a prize or recieved a reduced number of strokes based on the clubs age. Maybe it could be you get to reduce your final score by how old your clubs are. Shoot a 90 with 20 year I'd clubs gives you a final 70.

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I have a set of Wilson Staff Gooseneck blades 1-PW. I believe they are from around 1988. They were my 1st irons from my dad and what I learned to play golf with. I will add some pictures of them tonight.
 
A 1iron Bogey? I have only seen someone gaming a one iron once and he was actually crushing it. I took a swing with it and buried the ball in the ground. Got to have skills to game it for sure.

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Just dug these out and added them to my vintage bag.

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A 1iron Bogey? I have only seen someone gaming a one iron once and he was actually crushing it. I took a swing with it and buried the ball in the ground. Got to have skills to game it for sure.

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I used to use it, not anymore, I can tee a ball up and crush it with the 1 and 2 iron.

I believe I have the 3-PW,SW in a bag right now....compared to current lofts, that's 4-PW,GW,SW
 
SMG, those fairways and drivers are awesome! I have a few old Northwestern fairway woods and an old driver in one of the backup bags that I have held on to for sentimental reasons. I will grab some pics tonight and put them up in here.
 
Some more PING Eye 2 Irons I just picked.up. I was in PGA Superstore today and ran into JT and we a good time hitting these. It was fun to watch him crush these old irons along with a driver he was testing.

I also added some pics to show how much drivers have changed over the years. Thank goodness for the larger heads. I did swing the Wilson today and launch monitor was giving me 190 - 205 yardages which was fine with a club that was used in the mid to late 1970's. I hit my Cleveland about 220-230 now.

I added a pic of the grip which was pretty. cool because back in the 1980s when the clubs were made they were using a multi material grip. Not sure if you can see but the bottom of the grip where your fingers are grabbing the club is actually cord material. The top of the grip is rubber.

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SMG,

I gamed my silver dot Ping Zings until March of this year. I agree with you, they really are a great set of irons. I still enjoy playing them.
 
SMG, those fairways and drivers are awesome! I have a few old Northwestern fairway woods and an old driver in one of the backup bags that I have held on to for sentimental reasons. I will grab some pics tonight and put them up in here.

I was actually gaming a northwestern putter until the middle of this year... worked great! I'll have to snap some shots tonight of it
 
Dropped off a set of Eye 2 irons for new grips. May game them this weekend.

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I have Arnold Palmer Original blades with rifle flighted 5.5 they are awesome. I liked them even better when I was younger and stronger.
 
Post some pics Red. Those sound awesome.

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Sadly I do not have a picture, however my go to club over the last however many years has been a 4 wood.
That 4 wood was purchased on my first trip to Florida (1981!!!!!) as part of a set.
Not sure about classic, but they were bought at JC Penney and were Chi Chi Rodriguez Northwestern.
Whenever needed it never let me down. My last shot with it was around 185 yards, put it less than 10 foot from the flag. Went to take it out later in the round and the shaft had snapped!
R.I.P. to my fav club!
 
Posted a pic of these a month ago when I first got 'em. I bought these same clubs back in '88 (2-SW) and paid over $700 for them (they are not the Goose Necks). Got these for $50 off of the used rack at a local shop. Added 3/4" to the butt and new grips. Shot an 80 at Weaver Ridge with them last week. They are about 1 club shorter than my Hogan's and if I'm not careful the ball will spin way too much and a 5 iron will climb straight up like a 8 iron. That may be the balls I'm playing though. I can't imagine the newer MP's are really that much better quality wise. Maybe so. Either way, I love playing the old things. Still use my R11s Driver though. :)

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I still play the same set of Snake Eyes TC-01's I built with my dad in fall of 96, spring of 97.
 
Those Ping Eye's were surprisingly really good when I hit them SMG. I expected a really hard, unforgiving face, but no. They were smooth and very solid at impact. Heck, I hit the 4 iron just to make it was that solid and I was busting it 220 with a really good ball flight. I was super impressed.
 
Well my vintage bas are complete. I picked up my gripped Eye 2irons today. here is a photo comparison of the Eye 2 and Ping Ping 6 irons. The Eye 2s were made in 1988 and Zings in 1992.

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