Hogan Slazenger Sunburst Irons

[pacman16]

 

Hi guys,

This is a set I have. I’m under the impression these are the Sunburst model and from around 1958-1959? Anybody have any intel? These are the heaviest irons I have ever had, even more so than MacGregor M85s.

 

Are these very rare or sought after?

[Jiggered]

I've seen them listed in an old golf magazine (April 1959) as the Star model, although they're pretty much identical to the Saber.

The Hogan / Slazenger partnership began in 1957.

They produced left hand models in quite a few styles too, including this one.

[pacman16]

Thanks and pardon my ignorance. Are the Star and Saber part of the Sunburst model or completely different ?

[Jiggered]

I'm no expert myself, as far as I can tell they're just different names for the same club.

I don't know where the name Saber comes from, I've never seen it stamped on a club or in an advert, the Sunburst name makes sense as that's what it looks like, same for the Star name.

The club was called the Star model in the Slazenger Ben Hogan advert. I referred to

[T308]

On 4/30/2020 at 12:25 AM, Jiggered said:

I'm no expert myself, as far as I can tell they're just different names for the same club.

I don't know where the name Saber comes from, I've never seen it stamped on a club or in an advert, the Sunburst name makes sense as that's what it looks like, same for the Star name.

The club was called the Star model in the Slazenger Ben Hogan advert. I referred to

 

The name Saber comes from the shape of the lower flange.  It looks like a Saber sword in profile.  US Production Hogans used a Saber shaped knurl from 1954-1956.  The 1958-9 clubs are colloquially called Sabers, Stars, Starburst, Sunburst etc.  The US clubs were simply called "Ben Hogan Irons" in the catalogue.  Slazenger UK used "Star" to describe both the 1958-9 style clubs and the Hogan Ball and celebrated Gary Player's victory in the Open Championship describing them as such.

[TheDeanAbides]

21 minutes ago, T308 said:

 

The name Saber comes from the shape of the lower flange.  It looks like a Saber sword in profile.  US Production Hogans used a Saber shaped knurl from 1954-1956.  The 1958-9 clubs are colloquially called Sabers, Stars, Starburst, Sunburst etc.  The US clubs were simply called "Ben Hogan Irons" in the catalogue.  Slazenger UK used "Star" to describe both the 1958-9 style clubs and the Hogan Ball and celebrated Gary Player's victory in the Open Championship describing them as such.

As you can see from my avatar, I'm a big fan of these irons.

[bcstones]

I have a set of these...I believe they are the 1974 Sabers. The bottom of the back is slightly frosted & the "saber" is colored red...They are a beautiful set of blades....

 

 

Edited July 1, 2024 by bcstones

[T308]

2 hours ago, bcstones said:

I have a set of these...I believe they are the 1974 Sabers. The bottom of the back is slightly frosted & the "saber" is colored red...They are a beautiful set of blades....

 

 

 

 

Yes, they were 1974-1977 and were a response to the pricing of the store line value clubs of other manufacturers (although these clubs were still pro shop only sales).  If you share the assembly number on the ferrule they can be dated more precisely.  Hogan still held the "Saber" trademark so they resurrected it for this line.

[T308]

9 hours ago, TheDeanAbides said:

As you can see from my avatar, I'm a big fan of these irons.

The US Sabers were far superior in fit, finish and consistency to the earlier Precisions.  They're still enjoyable to play 65 years later.

[bcstones]

4 minutes ago, T308 said:

If you share the assembly number on the ferrule they can be dated more precisely.

Looks like I've got a couple of different numbers: G43631 on the 3,4,6,7,8,9 irons & J33631 on the 5 iron...the shaft bands on all but the 3 iron are a shiny turquoise AMF Ben Hogan band w/what looks like a single star, the band on the 3 is very dark & hard to tell if different shaft or a black band - the stepping is almost the same, except at the very top closer to the grip

[TheDeanAbides]

4 hours ago, T308 said:

The US Sabers were far superior in fit, finish and consistency to the earlier Precisions.  They're still enjoyable to play 65 years later.

I’m sure they were. They’re rarer than unicorn poop in the UK. 

[T308]

On 7/1/2024 at 6:51 PM, bcstones said:

Looks like I've got a couple of different numbers: G43631 on the 3,4,6,7,8,9 irons & J33631 on the 5 iron...the shaft bands on all but the 3 iron are a shiny turquoise AMF Ben Hogan band w/what looks like a single star, the band on the 3 is very dark & hard to tell if different shaft or a black band - the stepping is almost the same, except at the very top closer to the grip

The five iron dates from October 1973 and would have been one of the earliest production series for the '74 Model Year Saber (J=October, "3"= 1973, "36"=3600 which was the model number, "3" is Regular Flex and "1" is D1 swing weight.)  The rest of the set is July 1974 production with the same model number, flex and swing weight.  The five iron would be a correct match for the rest of the set.