almico

I'm on board with the persimmon as well. Gear effect is a wonderful thing on off-center hits. These are in my bag:

Oooo. Let me get them in the practice rotation and see if they make it into my bag. If so, I'll reach out.

I think the term "game improvement club" is misused. If you want the ball to go the direction, shot shape and distance of your choice, you need to hit it on the "screws", better yet, the middle of the screws. That is the dead center of gravity of the clubhead. Yes, perimeter-weighted clubs have a small center of gravity too. But you can barely feel an off-center hit because of the wide distribution of mass. There is a larger sweet spot for feel, but not for energy transfer. There is just no substitute for compressing and nutting the golf ball. These "players" heads will communicate a solid hit far better than modern perimeter-weighted irons and are therefore, the real game improvement clubs. IMHO.

I was a clubmaker/clubfitter back in the day and in the process of resurrecting some of my old equipment. Look what I found: https://web.archive.org/web/20040411054213if_/http://www.distancecaddy.com:80/index.html It's an old Distance Caddy launch monitor from Innovative Golf Systems and uses Doppler radar to measure clubhead speed at impact, initial ball speed, distance (with or without rollout) and smash factor. Surprisingly, when I pressed the power button, it came to life. Time will tell the condition of the built in rechargeable battery, but I think I'm going to head out to the range and have some fun reliving the 90s.

I'm seeing that. 😁 I have plenty of clubs to hit: Mizuno MS-1, MS-11 and MP-29s to list a few. And now these Haig Ultras. So I don't need to hit these Hogans. But it sure would be fun. I remember loving the Apex shafts on a set of Bounce Soles I had years ago.

I was a clubmaker from the late 90s thru the 00s and beyond. I got into the trade from collecting old clubs that inevitably needed repairs in order to play. The forging that always made me smile was these Haig Ultras. Simple a beautiful design to my eye. When I saw this NOS set I just had to have them. I've spent $250 on much less in this lifetime. But when I opened the box this morning to measure and analyze the 5 iron, I was very surprised to see it was not there. I looked at the first club and saw the 2: Then I went to the other side of the box and saw the PW: It was then that I noticed that there were only 8 slots in the styrofoam and if I'm not mistaken, 2-9 + PW = 9...WTF?! In my defense, it was 5:30am and I was only halfway through my first coffee, so confusion set in. Then I noticed that there was a 5-iron sized indent into the foam above the grips, and the 5 iron must have been displayed on top of the rest. Either way, it was not in the box. I texted the person I bought the clubs from and ...whew...she had just found it amongst a stack of putters. It must have been removed for ogling at some point and not returned to the box. In her defense, she is dealing with a very respectable collection from her Uncle's estate and is inundated with golf clubs. S400 might be a bit stiff for me, but I think I have to try.

Thanks for the input guys. I don't have to make the "to hit or not to hit" decision just yet. I also picked up a NOS set of Haig Ultras with TT (frequency matched?) DG shafts that can scratch the new/old club itch for the time being. Labels marked S400 02J-042264.

Model 5000 Ben Hogan Personal Iron Set. New in box and complete with medallion and ephemera. Too nice to hit?