Forgotten Iron Companies

[Foozle]

6 hours ago, Woodridge said:

Northwestern is a name I recall from the '80's; mainly for early metal woods with "Power Kick" shafts. The shaft tapered dramatically about a foot above the hosel. Very unusual, haven't seen one since.

[miamistomp]

 Shakespeare, Arnold Palmer, Wood Brothers, Rawlings

[Bigarch]

5 hours ago, Foozle said:

Northwestern is a name I recall from the '80's; mainly for early metal woods with "Power Kick" shafts. The shaft tapered dramatically about a foot above the hosel. Very unusual, haven't seen one since.

Ahhhhhh....Thanks for that memory Foozle.  My very first metal wood was a Northwestern Thunderbird with the Power Kick Shaft.  I loved that thing and wish I still had it...just for the memories.

[smorg]

On 11/20/2020 at 7:56 PM, DArnie said:

Had a set of these First Flights a long time ago. Just saw that they are starting back up. 

 

 

 

I have a set of the The Standard 85's.  Fabulous blades.

 

[Members Only]

Here is the Shakespeare:

 

I really enjoyed reading through this thread while seeing all these forgotten brands. A more recent one but one that may soon be added to the list is Scratch golf...?

[Foozle]

9 hours ago, miamistomp said:

 Shakespeare, Arnold Palmer, Wood Brothers, Rawlings

I bought a set of irons circa 1986, they were sold new as Toney Penna but the only Penna branding was on the grips. The heads were fairly plain blade design with an oval "Rawlings" boss on the rear behind the (very ellusive) sweet spot.

Not sure what the story is there? Did Rawlings manufacture for Penna or were they simply Rawlings irons with Penna grips?!

I didn't have them long, one of the few sets I ever parted with. I traded them on the spot for my 80-82 Ram Tour Grinds - love at first sight!

[elwhippy]

Didn't Stads win The Masters with Rawlings clubs?

[Divot License]

On 11/20/2020 at 10:40 PM, Woodridge said:

Wow, those look pretty interesting. Did he keep them?

 

I know how your Dad felt, for the first 35 years of my golfing life, I barely had an extra putter or wedge. Now, I have a garage full with more on order. I think I'd go back in time if I could. I was pretty happy just having a set I could call my own. The problem now is trying to decide what to keep and give away. I have a friend that I sent 2 sets of irons to this winter, a set of MP-59 and a set of AP2 712's. I think his wife is getting ready to kill me.

My dad kept them until he passed in 2007. After that my mum donated them to my club pro to use as learner clubs for beginners. 

[cardoustie]

Diawa had irons for a while

 

Liquidmetal .. 

 

Goldwin AVDP?

 

Browning

 

Prima

 

Head

 

Kennex

 

Langert

 

Hey OP, I would love it if you would post the date of all the ads shown at the beginning of the thread

 

Good thread idea.  There have been many threads like this in the past but not with images from magazines

 

My favorite ugly ones that pop up are L'il David Slingers

 

[Divot License]

21 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

Diawa had irons for a while

 

Liquidmetal .. 

 

Goldwin AVDP?

 

Browning

 

Prima

 

Head

 

Kennex

 

Langert

 

Hey OP, I would love it if you would post the date of all the ads shown at the beginning of the thread

 

Good thread idea.  There have been many threads like this in the past but not with images from magazines

 

My favorite ugly ones that pop up are L'il David Slingers

 

 

I had a Goldwin AVDP driver and remember being super excited when I got it. 

 

[cardoustie]

My bud's Dad had Daiwa irons, he was shredding balls with one swing, with long irons no less, they were great looking CB's with green graphite shafts

[Foozle]

53 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

Diawa had irons for a while

 

Liquidmetal .. 

 

Goldwin AVDP?

 

Browning

 

Prima

 

Head

 

Kennex

 

Langert

 

Hey OP, I would love it if you would post the date of all the ads shown at the beginning of the thread

 

Good thread idea.  There have been many threads like this in the past but not with images from magazines

 

My favorite ugly ones that pop up are L'il David Slingers

 

My golfing partner had a set of Browning Low Profile irons in the mid '80's. Probably no more than 1" from sole to top line right through the set with a very broad sole - basically a triangle in cross section and very low cog.

Very easy to pass clean underneath from fluffy lies! When you did hit them they launched incredibly high. Not at all suited to Scottish links golf. He didn't keep them very long....

[Shallowface]

11 hours ago, Foozle said:

I bought a set of irons circa 1986, they were sold new as Toney Penna but the only Penna branding was on the grips. The heads were fairly plain blade design with an oval "Rawlings" boss on the rear behind the (very ellusive) sweet spot.

Not sure what the story is there? Did Rawlings manufacture for Penna or were they simply Rawlings irons with Penna grips?!

I didn't have them long, one of the few sets I ever parted with. I traded them on the spot for my 80-82 Ram Tour Grinds - love at first sight!

Rawlings and Penna were owned by the same parent company during that time.

[Shallowface]

11 hours ago, elwhippy said:

Didn't Stads win The Masters with Rawlings clubs?

The bag said "Rainbow," which was one of those California brands that sprung up with the investment casting boom of the 1970s.  But as to what was actually in the bag who knows?

Stadler was with Spalding at some point in the 80s.  I remember hearing back then that every time he switched irons he reused the shafts he had in the previous set.  Contrast that with Gay Brewer who believed shafts wore out and was known to change them as often as weekly.  

[mocokid]

shamrock irons

[Fairway14]

Maruman, Square Two,  Founders Club, and Zevo  were iron brands which sponsored a few Tour players, but I never saw theses brands for sale at retail or within amateur players bags.

[Woodridge]

The original ad's posted came from a Golf Digest from June 1974.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

6 hours ago, cardoustie said:

Diawa had irons for a while

 

Liquidmetal .. 

 

Goldwin AVDP?

 

Browning

 

Prima

 

Head

 

Kennex

 

Langert

 

Hey OP, I would love it if you would post the date of all the ads shown at the beginning of the thread

 

Good thread idea.  There have been many threads like this in the past but not with images from magazines

 

My favorite ugly ones that pop up are L'il David Slingers

 

 

My first proper set of irons were Daiwa heel-toe weighted. Tritec or something like that. I even got the 1i and 2i later...But Daiwa still make clubs. They're sold as the Onoff brand now, and they have some pretty fine clubs.

 

I didn't know Head ever got into the club business. When I were a lad, Head bags were really popular at school among the sporty types.

[cardoustie]

Head had Big Head irons ... they had a tour player I think

[@_the_crook]

On 11/22/2020 at 3:47 PM, Foozle said:

Northwestern is a name I recall from the '80's; mainly for early metal woods with "Power Kick" shafts. The shaft tapered dramatically about a foot above the hosel. Very unusual, haven't seen one since.

 

Hey Foozie,

looking at two NW six irons -

the Thunderbird with a TT Dynalite shaft has its first step at approx 10 and a quarter inches past the hosel.

the Tournament ProForged (a house brand) with a Pro Action Plus Step shaft first step is at nine and a half.

 

both sets must be from the 70's.

when were Silhouette grips popular ?

 

 

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

5 hours ago, cardoustie said:

Head had Big Head irons ... they had a tour player I think

 

Didn't Head in fact make their name with big head tennis racquets? As in oversized heads? 

[Foozle]

1 hour ago, @_the_crook said:

 

Hey Foozie,

looking at two NW six irons -

the Thunderbird with a TT Dynalite shaft has its first step at approx 10 and a quarter inches past the hosel.

the Tournament ProForged (a house brand) with a Pro Action Plus Step shaft first step is at nine and a half.

 

both sets must be from the 70's.

when were Silhouette grips popular ?

 

 

Thanks for the info. I wasn't too far out with my 1' guess! Not bad after what must be about 35 years!

I am in the UK so Northwestern was not a well known brand.

I am not familiar with Silhouette grips but did find a thread here that suggests they were early '80's but now non conforming as they had a bulge or coke bottle shape?

[BIG STU]

On 11/20/2020 at 9:43 AM, Woodridge said:

Thanks for the reply. I agree about the Titleist. But, they were in the ad for the AJAY irons which dropped off the face of the earth.

 

And what we wouldn't do to have the set of clubs that our Dad's played with. Life's indeed a circle.

I am lucky I have my Old Man's set of FC-4000s and play them from time to time. The FCs I am planning on playing today are not his old ones. They are the one our fellow WRXer Stick Fish sent me 3 years or so ago. I have fell in love with those and they are so pristine. I am also going to play a Penna driver our friend Richard 77 sent me for a get well gift. So it is Thanksgiving week and I am thankful some good friends sent me some great clubs and I am thankful I am healed up to try to swing them again

[BIG STU]

9 hours ago, cardoustie said:

Head had Big Head irons ... they had a tour player I think

Never figured out the deal with Head. I know they were a tennis company. They did a demo day at the club I was working at and I loved the irons. They signed me to staff which pleased the owner of the course. Never got anything from them. Even customers that ordered clubs got nothing. Some of those guys put up money for their order. The course owner ended up giving them refunds.  I got out of the business right after that and never got the rest of the story. 

[BIG STU]

17 hours ago, Jedaigeki said:

 

I had a Goldwin AVDP driver and remember being super excited when I got it. 

 

I have a AVDP swing training club in the shop I pulled off the scrap pile one day in good shape. It is like one of those Medicus weighted clubs with a training grip. I save quite a bit of that stuff and in the past have given them to kids to help them learn

[Sean2]

Founders clubs. 

[cardoustie]

4 hours ago, Sean2 said:

Founders clubs. 

they had some sweet blades way back didn't they?

 

I may be thinking of Sounders as well

[Foozle]

15 minutes ago, cardoustie said:

they had some sweet blades way back didn't they?

 

I may be thinking of Sounders as well

Sounder Seve Blades are a stunning set of irons. On my wish list but come up only rarely and never at sensible money.

[NRJyzr]

23 hours ago, cardoustie said:

Diawa had irons for a while

 

Liquidmetal .. 

 

Goldwin AVDP?

 

Browning

 

Prima

 

Head

 

Kennex

 

Langert

 

Hey OP, I would love it if you would post the date of all the ads shown at the beginning of the thread

 

Good thread idea.  There have been many threads like this in the past but not with images from magazines

 

My favorite ugly ones that pop up are L'il David Slingers

 

 

I had the AVDP XL driver, both the Oversize and Tour versions of the irons, and even picked up an XXL driver from GolfWorks when they were clearing out old inventory.  

 

That XL driver gave me my personal best drive back in 1999, not long after I'd bought it.  I didn't beat that for maybe a dozen years.

 

Blast from the past.

 

[Sean2]

1 hour ago, cardoustie said:

they had some sweet blades way back didn't they?

 

I may be thinking of Sounders as well

They made good equipment. Not sure what happened to them.