Your previous content has been restored. I cannot find any information on this club, maybe they were a golfsmith thing from early 2000s?? Titleist has been the Ball King for so long, its hard to remember a time when it wasnt. If youre looking to buy or sell vintage Spalding clubs, the best place to do so is on eBay or Craigslist, where you can list the clubs in the condition that they are currently in. In 2001 Spalding launched a $17 million ad campaign for Hogan and Strata. In that year, the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) took shape, and many of the fledgling tour's stars already had endorsement deals with Spalding. The Strata, however, proved to be a gold mine for Spalding. Inside cavity: blue/back button; EXECUTIVE x EZ. he is a cleveland iron man now, but he still owns the spalding executives. In 1993 Payne Stewart signed a multi-million-dollar deal to go full Top-Flite, a move that sidetracked Stewarts career. I traded in some Titleist Acushnet blades for themI had only paid $99.00 for the set of Acushnets (used)they gave me $139.00 in trade value, and wanted another $100 for the UniquesThey were some of the easiest to hit irons I have ever ownedout of the 40 50 different sets I have had. Well they made execs for over 20 yearswhich ones do you have? Anyone ever hear of anything like that? Purespin (diamond face)? I just love them! I still have several sets of Hogan forged irons, Hogan/Bettinardi putters, several dozen Apex, and Tour Deep balls. 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. In April, KKR sold the Spalding name and all of Spaldings non-golf businesses to Russell Athletic for just $65 million. Spalding was the leading manufacturer of golf clubs in America throughout the mid-twentieth century, highlighting just how popular the brand was. My Dad's execs from the 70's were blades that had aluminum shafts. These gentlemen used them to win large amounts of money on the course from unsuspecting victims. Don Wood has the patent for the Plop Slotz Irons. In one sense, Spalding suffered the same fate irrelevance as did fellow legacy golf brands Wilson Staff and MacGregor. Those were first made around the end of the 19th century during the hickory era. I just had a guy show me a wedge that is a small diamond shaped club with about a 3/4 hollow core in the back that goes up to the inside of the face of the club. Is my equipment holding me back? You have any pics of the Samurai irons Neilwould love to see them. *chuckles* Maybe its a good thing I took a 30 year golf hiatus. An excellent article well researched The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight. - BenHogan. Learn how your comment data is processed. Albert Spalding was a superstar. I look forward to your future deeper dive into the history of the Hogan company. I just found a set of 10 plops slotz. In 1893, Spalding bought the Lamb Knitting Machine Company in Chicopee, Mass which made, obviously, knitting machines and, less obviously, eggbeaters, bicycle wheels, and rifles. More than 50 percent of that total came from golf ball sales. It was if I walked into the store from a time machine. but fairly forgiving. * Note: These irons were designed by Pat Simmons and ex-pilot and engineer which also had a part in the Zebra putter design. vicunas. By 1910, the company was selling aluminum fairway clubs and its Gold Medal series (1910 to 1919) featured aluminum bronze. Weve done a mini-history on the Hogan Company, with input from a couple of longtime Hogan employees. I have a set of both the 440s and the 500s, and there is no difference in face depth. So, while Spalding is nowhere near as prevalent as it once was in the world of golf, you can still pick up a set of Molitor clubs for a very reasonable price online. LOL. This putter is a remake of the model Bobby Jones used in the 1930s and features a head made from nickel plating over copper plating over forged carbon steel. I didnt realize Spalding was still a player as late as 2000. The RB880 s by Northwestern are also knockoffs of the Browning 440 s. Extra weight added to the toe keeps the center of gravity where needed and also keeps the club head square at impact, resulting in straighter shots.. My golfing buddy borrowed my old set, including the driver and had one of his best rounds ever. Colin Montgomerie joined the staff, and Spalding had big plans. * Note: These irons were designed by Don Wood remember the Plop putterswell they are back at it againyou can check them out here. During the time of the KKR takeover I was employed as the Managing Director in Australia/ NZ These skids are tapered from the leading edge toward the rear of the club head, raising the sole above the ground without raising the leading edge off the ground. But unfortunately for the VASs they were dethroned from their long held position. document.getElementById( "ak_js" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); MyGolfSpy is gearing up to conduct the second edition of our groundbreaking ball test. The brand was popular until the late 1990s, but Spalding opted for a new direction at the turn of the century and focused on other sports instead of golf. They had a premium Molitor ball at the then scandalous price of $2. Spalding used to own Top Flite before selling the subsidiary to Callaway. The Kro-Flite in 1930 was golfs first liquid center golf ball, while the Spalding DOT was a mid-century icon. The Ginty, fueron palos adelantados a su poca, las maderas Ginty parecen las antecesoras de las big bertha de callaway, el material del que estaban hechas no poda aguantar las inercias, pero el diseo ya era adelantado a su tiempo. Ive got a set of graphite Samurai ironwoods years ahead of their time lying around in the basement, I think. Seu lugar para proteger o seu capital. The Top-Flite acquisition made it a player. Havent been able to give them up since my Dad died in 99, Does anyone remember a set of irons made in the 80s (I think) that were actually a bunch of small woods, even the PW was made from wood. Ugly. No matter what brand of club you pull from your bag, you owe some thanks to one company Spalding. Yes, it sold a ton of golf balls, but as one former employee told us, the brand was decidedly blue-collar and not focused on the golf professional. You might remember the popular Stan Thompson woods with the unique sole design. As a former pro athlete, Spalding saw the value of using professionals to help promote both the game and his products. In 1876 Spalding was the manager and ace pitcher of the Chicago White Stockings. "url": "https://swingyard.com/wp-content/uploads/Logo-1.svg" Very well researched and well done, as someone who is not super well versed in some of golfs history, it was a great, informative read! Two years prior, they sold Spalding and Evenflo to Wall Street investment firm KKR for an estimated and unbelievable 1 billion dollars. Ugly or unconventional, I felt a more confident with them and Stan Thompson fairway woods. Made from 1989-1994 and originally sold for $680. So we thought if it was as crazy looking as the original it had to be on the list but a little further down. The biggest of them all, however, may well have been the aforementioned Bobby Jones. Learn how your comment data is processed. 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). Spalding also started the Spalding Athletic Library; a series of sports and exercise books published from 1892 through 1941. Win a bunch of BogeyPro swag! Like its sporting goods brother-in-arms MacGregor, Spalding ownership changed hands in 1958. I learned the game on a set of used Spalding Execs-still have them today. I love it but was told it is no a legal putter. Spalding spent the last half of the 20th-century battling with Titleist for golf ball supremacy. They all looked like mini woods. Really enjoyed them. Spalding EXECUTIVE Iron Set. Today we are going to be spotlighting the crazy, the absurd, and some of the wackiest irons the golf world has ever seen. Im sure Scott White would love to contribute. John, Non-Tapered Golf Grips: 8 Facts to Know Before You Buy! I love them so much I have four sets, just a case a club breaks. But they seem to work though. Among Jones innovations: the first matched set of steel-shafted irons, the first set of irons with the sweet spot in the center of each club (denoted by a circle of dots on the clubface), and an iron set where the scoring irons were one length, the mid irons were one length, and the long irons were one length. I have a med flex shaft, 1 inch extension on each Exec club, and Golf Pride Velvet jumbo grips. i knew a guy who was a 4 handicap, and he used the spalding executives. OK. Ive got some irons sets you have up (Fila, Cleveland, Slotline, and the Tiger Shark). By 1970, the ownership group morphed into the Questor Corporation, and Pyramid Rubber was rechristened Evenflo. Bought a set for $25 as to help out a young lady with cancer. In the mid-80s, Spalding introduced the solid core Tour Edition, and in 1996 it came out with Strata, a true game-changer for Spalding and the first multi-layer solid core ball used on Tour. * Note: These irons were designed by Dave (cant remember last name) which was considered a very good designer by others in the business at the time and one that some felt did not get as much credit as he deserved. I surely do remember those Dot balls that my brother and I would find on OFCC in south suburbs of Chicago because we couldnt afford them but you really had to pay attention to look at those balls before you grounded your club or you would put a significant cut in them. Its a great story that needs to be told. These were actually a pretty good iron for the time and I think Trevino had something to do with this designbut not sure. These were said to be Moe Normans favorite clubs and are rated by the MyGolfSpy Forums resident vintage club expert Big Stu as the third greatest pure forged blade of all time. Thank you for your research efforts. "author": "Ned Howard", I don't mind the executives though, don't really know much about them either. OK MyGolfSpyers, its time to get creative! I am still playing with my set every week! With new sexy companies like Titleist, Callaway, and TaylorMade, and golfers like Tiger and Phil, the new aged golfer wasnt interested in playing their grandpas golf clubs. Sales declined into the 2000s, and Spalding made their last club in 2002. I think this is the web site for me . TaylorMade, by comparison, has been sold twice in the past four years. Its pretty clear KKR didnt do its due diligence. Players would switch balls during a round as conditions warranted. When I was first introduced to golf in the mid 70s, spoiling was still a player in the recreational market. These articles are all outstanding. Spalding started adding Tour staff during the 90s, with Greg Norman, Lee Trevino, Graig Stadler, and Nick Price all playing Stratas. Terrific article as usual Mr. Barra. And Spaldings ace in the hole Strata was old news by the time the Pro V1 and Nike Tour Accuracy hit the scene. 6. Find golf club trade-in and re-sales values for over 4,000 models of used golf clubs at the PGA Value Guide, from leading manufacturers such as Callaway, TaylorMade, Taylor Made, Titleist, Ping, Odyssey, Nike, Cleveland, Mizuno, Cobra, Adams, Wilson. By then the Cisneros brothers had taken the money and ran. To maintain the limit of 14 clubs in the bag, I change off now and then. Their president at the time said this about the newly released irons, Titanic irons are the first long irons even God and you can hit. Now that is a bold statement that should of had you guys flocking to purchase these beauties. Protactic Golf in Chicago. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. I had a VAS 5 iron. You can buy a set in good condition on eBay for around $100. The Early Years Starting in 1900, Spalding opened clubmaking factories in London and in Fife, Scotland, producing forged iron heads for Spalding clubs sold both in the U.K. and U.S. 1-949-642-6484 . My high school graduation present from my parents back in 1973 was a set of Executive clubs (back when the irons were forged before they were cast). Ever hear of Belmont (internal, removable sole weighting)? But, in the rough the club went right underneath the ball. Our friends[], Amazing Ryder Cup Contest! Club-makers traditional method had been to shape metal heads with an anvil and forge. I have a old slotline cigar putter I still use,,no loift at all,looks like a big tootsie roll,but puts great,,friends still get amazed at how it puts,,. Thanks, John. One of my buddies gave me a Tiger Shark wedge the one with 3 different alignment lines, concave dimples on the face instead of grooves, and a funky dual bounce sole configuration. FIND A SET! when were spalding executive golf clubs made MENU. The company stayed the course, and the result is a thriving, profitable company. Forward-face progression creates a hitting surface 20 percent larger than standard and 5 percent larger than over-sized irons. The shelves are full of the latest and greatest technology (hybrids, woods the size of a frying pan, dozens of shaft offerings), in 20+ years people will be laughing at those funky sticks as well. "sameAs": [ I have two sets of Browning 440 Gold clubs (including the driver, 3 and 5 woods), and a set of Browning 500s. Nice article John! In 1962, Pyramid merged with Dunhill International and the AP Parts Corporation. PING was still PING, and Tiger was becoming Tiger. I gave the set to my nephew, and he loves them. Golf bags bulged with 20 to 25 clubs, and the USGA, fearing too many specialty clubs had watered down the skill required in golf, took action. Still playing my cook titanics with the 1 iron. My wife says I never met a strange-looking golf club I did not want to own and play with. Cleveland was giving them away for free if you send in some coupon from golf digest. However, the name of their popular brand Top Flite was sold to Callaway, and is used for discount clubs and balls. Spalding had a long history, terrific heritage, and healthy topline sales of over $500 million. Perhaps they were a little ahead of their time (3-PW). The latter is notable as the Wright of Wright and Ditson is one George Wright, a Hall of Fame shortstop for the Boston Red Stockings and a major mover and shaker of turn-of-the-century golf. On top line: OVERSIZE. We want you to get the most out of your Too bad. I actually have these clubs. And continuity, leadership, and smart decisions matter. Youve forgotten the worst offender. A very easy to hit blade. Those Slinger Irons were the brain child of Jim Flood. By 2002, players such as Hal Sutton, Bernhard Langer, and Luke Donald were playing the Hogan Apex ball. Unfortunately, Spalding has fallen a long way down the pecking order in terms of their sporting equipment, and it has been a long time since they manufactured a new set of golf clubs. They kept slashing the pricing. I saw a set go for well over $300 (I think it went closer to $500, but I just would not swear to it). I have a left handed set that I got from a guy on the senior tour, Bob Carson, who also owned a golf course in Titusville FLA. They owed more to its creditors than Spalding was worth. i used to work in a golf shop in ohio and we had the worst set i ever saw. We had small layoffs on an ongoing basis, and people kept looking over their shoulder. Your link has been automatically embedded. and I firmly believe the demise of Spalding was because a number of CEOs with little or no knowledge of the golf industry were appointed I have a set of Lynx Parallax irons that were my fathers. Who Makes Dunlop Golf Clubs? I have a set of Ben Hogan AHS Hybrids and the SW is even a hybrid! Weird thing was I could hit the XL-4 long irons better and the Executives better from 7-PW. lol..!! The 1968 arrival of the Executive MV2 Bird Over Ball clubs are among some of Spalding's most easily recognizable clubs. Wilson never really recovered after Pepsi bought it in 1970. and had a driving range there for many years. I still think I deserve to be recognized as the leader in this category and will be appealing your decision. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Used to play traditional blades with the odd shank. As weve discussed before, its extremely difficult for legacy brands to remain relevant, especially when new, fresh brands get aggressive. Spalding, like its old school brethren Wilson and MacGregor, simply wasnt sexy to a new generation of golfers. The Browning 440s took my game from the 150s (Wilson clubs) to the low 70s. Fascinating how these once great brands essentially disappeared altogether. They definitely arent the prettiest of clubs but I did enjoy playing them. John is an aging, yet avid golfer, writer, 9-point-something handicapper living back home in New England after a 22-year exile in Minnesota. But the funky look kept me from ever thinking about buying a whole set. 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. Read on to learn more about the history of Spalding clubs and what you can expect from various models. What about Giant Irons, I remember seeing those on an infomercial a few times. At the turn of the 20th Century, golf had stirred mild interest in the United States, and A.G. Spalding & Brothers sporting goods saw an opportunity. Bird on ball was a very popular club. Although the Inertial irons werent so lucky. Another great history piece. Quite honestly, we werent ready for that.. 2 Iron (21) Spalding EXECUTIVE XE . I got balls, well ProV1's anyway. ***GIVEAWAY*** Cleveland CBX ZipCore Wedge! Spalding got so inventive with their clubmaking, they had golf bags around America sporting 20-30 clubs. The Top-Flite, Strata, and Hogan brands stayed alive for a while, but Callaway eventually mothballed them all. Today, collectors prize the narrow-faced Cran Cleek. In 1998 Spalding released the Top-Flite System C and System T golf balls which, Spalding claimed, were designed to perform best with two top-selling drivers of that year, the Callaway Big Bertha and the TaylorMade Ti Bubble 2. Spalding developed the first liquid center golf ball, the Kros-Flite. The shaft collapses to 18 inches so it is great for travelsure beats the cost of checking a golf bag these days. Im not sure how rare they are, but youd think there would be a trace of them somewhere. * Note: These irons were designed by Duke Duclos. Many of which might have even found there way into a few of your bagseven if you dont want to admit it. I'm 25 years old and I've been playing with my grandfathers Spalding executives for 10 years now, and I shoot about a 80-85. Just bought a set of Nicklaus Linear Dynamics N1 Golf Irons at a thrift shop in Vegas. New entries such as Nike and Adams were turning heads as well. Now I need some crazy Loudmouth pants and a pink ball. We have a new #1 For Craziest Iron Ever Made! For years the #1 spot for craziest iron ever made was held by the infamous Cleveland VAS irons (now #2). Starting in 1900, Spalding opened clubmaking factories in London and in Fife, Scotland, producing forged iron heads for Spalding clubs sold both in the UK and U.S. Taylor Made Golf was my Distributor for the U.S. and Canadian market. How about the Spalding Exec SE. Colgate-Palmolive bought RAM and Penfold in the mid-70s to sell more toothpaste but gave up after only five years.