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Best equipment company that is no longer?

SuperStroke
Ben Hogan for me. Gorgeous blades that my game was never good enough to play with...
 
Spalding & MacGregor. MacGregor got resurrected under Golfsmith, but not the great company they once were. Both were huge at one time.
 
Not a HUGE name but I miss Orlimar. I know they are still around a little but not like they used to be. I had an Orlimar Tri-Metal 5 wood that was a bomb! Don't use it in the rough though or you would pull a Mickelson.

Does anyone know if they were bought out at all or what?
 
rtparty said:
Not a HUGE name but I miss Orlimar. I know they are still around a little but not like they used to be. I had an Orlimar Tri-Metal 5 wood that was a bomb! Don't use it in the rough though or you would pull a Mickelson.

Does anyone know if they were bought out at all or what?
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Another one that is not what it used to be. The company was founded by Lou Ortiz and Jesse Ortiz was their designer. In the late 90s, the company went from making next to nothing to making close to 100 million behind a televised campaign and the Tri-Metal. The company was sold off and Ortiz went and designed clubs for Bobby Jones in the mid 2000s.

They have since come back, but not in the same capacity or with the same people as before.

EDIT: I could go on and on about this one as I studied it for quite some time because its fascinating to me. But its just too much to type. Truly fascinating story involving lawsuits, patents and more.
 
Chunkylover77 said:
I loved my Tommy Armour 845's but I did not love any of the other equipment they made. Same with the Lynx irons
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My favorite Armours are still in my closet, the Evo V-31 reduced-offset "blades." Not really blades at all but they are great irons. I shot my two best rounds with them in the bag. Hmm... maybe they should go back in!!!

Those clubs fit me so well, I have every new set of irons adjusted to the same length and lie angle as them.
 
Smallville said:
I still have that driver. I actually have two of them. I just can't bear to let them go!
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Lol, I had two of them too. 11* and 9* if memory serves. I held onto them for a loooong time before working up the nerve to part with them.
 
JB said:
EDIT: I could go on and on about this one as I studied it for quite some time because its fascinating to me. But its just too much to type. Truly fascinating story involving lawsuits, patents and more.
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I think the Sonartec story is similar and interesting as well.
 
ryebread said:
Does Bullseye still exist? They made some great putters.

I think the Slotlines were great putters. They're actually back in business -- or were a year or two ago. Maybe they have died again.

My grandfather played scratch golf for most of his life and he loved his Daiwas. They've been in and out of the US market.
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I thought Titleist made bullseye putters. They look very nice but they are hard for me to putt with, I was watching a golf tournament and someone(maybe Pavin) was using one and the announcer said it was one of the least forgiving putters ever made. I can believe that, but if it works don't change it.
 
This is not a major name but ZEVO made excellent irons back in the day. When I was finally looking to buy "real clubs" in the late 90's, only 2 companies offered custom fitting ZEVO and Ping. Pings were way too much money. I played the Zevos for 4-5 seasons and I still have them. As I got better I needed less offset but if they made an iron with low offset I would have played them. They were VERY soft for a cast club!
 
The company is still clearly around, but this product I don't believe is. When I was kid, I always had PING golf balls. They were cool, because half the the ball would be white, and the other half some other color, like green or blue or whatever. I even had a white and red one that was some Christmas ball or something. Something like this

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I believe I actually kept those and stored those somewhere.

~Rock
 
I would have to be in the Hogan camp as well. Such beautiful clubs.
 
Hacker said:
I used to see Northwestern clubs all over the place, not sure what happened to them. I would rather play a club named Rocket Launcher than something called J40, or Howitzer than R11, but that's just me
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If you played the J40 you wouldn't say that. It's a remarkable club!
 
Bullfrog said:
If you played the J40 you wouldn't say that. It's a remarkable club!
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I hate to assume what someone meant, but my guess is that he meant he would rather his club had an exciting name than a letter and a number. Not about comparing the clubs against each other, just the name.
 
The Ben Hogan Company & RAM Golf. I played the Hogan Edge with the Apex 4 shaft for several years. The Sand Wedge was unbelievable. Before that gamed the Ram Laser FX with DG S300 along with the Tom Watson Wedges. Also the Zebra mallet putter. Finally who could forget the RAM Laser FX 3 wood. I crushed that thing. Also enjoyed the Macgregor Muirfield MT 3 wood. Great club.
 
I think it was about the time orlimar came out with their Trimetals but I was thinking of Liquid Metal. I don't remember them making anything other than drivers. I just remember they were the most expensive thing on the market at the time. I never got tot hit one though. Is Taylormade still making clubs? I haven't seen a commercial in the last 10 minutes!
 
i had the ram accubar irons and i was able to hit those pretty well when i first started out with the game. they had a classic shape even though they were slightly oversized and had relatively small dual cavity backs. i also had a Ram putter with a brass/polymer face insert that was ahead of its time. was and still is a great putter
 
I was rocking a 20+ year old set of Spalding Super Flite irons until about a week ago. They served my dad and myself well over the years. Before that I had a set of Northwestern junior clubs.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
 
Hogan for sure. Im still playing a set but would love to have a brand new option.
 
Another Hogan vote. It would be cool to see modern sets. My Hogan Radials are the easiest blades to hit by far, and they look gorgeous.
 
Tadashi70 said:
There were some great driver names back in the day. I miss those simpler days when we just hit it and hit it some more. Now I have to find the club that carries the dogleg.
The howitzer, the Whale, boom boom, big Bertha........these are names.
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Don't forget the Bazooka. I believe those are still made, btw.
 
JB said:
Another one that is not what it used to be. The company was founded by Lou Ortiz and Jesse Ortiz was their designer. In the late 90s, the company went from making next to nothing to making close to 100 million behind a televised campaign and the Tri-Metal. The company was sold off and Ortiz went and designed clubs for Bobby Jones in the mid 2000s.

They have since come back, but not in the same capacity or with the same people as before.

EDIT: I could go on and on about this one as I studied it for quite some time because its fascinating to me. But its just too much to type. Truly fascinating story involving lawsuits, patents and more.
Click to expand...

I would like to hear about this over a beverage in Branson. I used to love the Orlimar TM and always wondered what happened to them.

J.
 
Johnny mojo said:
I would like to hear about this over a beverage in Branson. I used to love the Orlimar TM and always wondered what happened to them.

J.
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Happy to.
 
Smallville said:
I hate to assume what someone meant, but my guess is that he meant he would rather his club had an exciting name than a letter and a number. Not about comparing the clubs against each other, just the name.
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That is exactly what I meant, I would rather have a cool name than some numbers and letters
 
Ben Hogan
 
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