Hand Tailored to the Ginty....Stan Thompson

[deejaid]

So our esteemed member Foozle asked for a bit more info about Stan Thompson.  I am by no means an expert on the history of Stan Thompson at all.   Info on his clubs is scarce so just going to share what I’ve gleaned from different sources.

 

Stan Thompson was born and raised in Kansas City and went to work with Kenneth Smith which I assume would be at the Shawnee, Kansas factory.   After learning from Kenneth Smith, Thompson moved West to build clubs,  settling in Los Angeles in 1937.

His clubs were similar to Kenneth Smith in that they were custom fit to the customer and very high quality.

 

Through the 40’s, 50’s, and into the early 1960’s, Stan Thompson built his clubs in Beverly Hills, and the soles are stamped as such.   These high quality persimmon woods rivaled or even surpassed all the big manufacturers.  Lovely head shapes from beautiful pieces of persimmon.  The clubs were stamped “Hand Tailored” on either the sole plate or crown.  He also built high quality forged irons.

 

By the mid to late 1960’s Thompson moved his business to Culver City, CA and began focusing more on laminate woods and becoming a larger retail presence.   In 1973 he introduced the “Ginty” rescue wood, a laminate wood with a large zinc keel shaped sole plate and a shorter more upright shaft.  He even launched a Ginty iron set with the keel shaped sole.

 

Like many of the smaller builders Stan Thompson went out of business by the 1990’s and Stan passed away in 1995.

 

 

As for collecting, when I first started buying vintage clubs on eBay a few years ago I kept coming across Stan Thompson woods and they always looked great to me.  Coupled with the fact they didn’t cost as much as the highly sought after Macgregor’s but just as good quality started my Stan Thompson collecting.

 

I tend to focus on the 1950’s era Beverly Hills clubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 11, 2021 by deejaid

[Swingingk]

3 hours ago, deejaid said:

So our esteemed member Foozle asked for a bit more info about Stan Thompson.  I am by no means an expert on the history of Stan Thompson at all.   Info on his clubs is scarce so just going to share what I’ve gleaned from different sources.

 

Stan Thompson was born and raised in Kansas City and went to work with Kenneth Smith which I assume would be at the Shawnee, Kansas factory.   After learning from Kenneth Smith, Thompson moved West to build clubs,  settling in Los Angeles in 1937.

His clubs were similar to Kenneth Smith in that they were custom fit to the customer and very high quality.

 

Through the 40’s, 50’s, and into the early 1960’s, Stan Thompson built his clubs in Beverly Hills, and the soles are stamped as such.   These high quality persimmon woods rivaled or even surpassed all the big manufacturers.  Lovely head shapes from beautiful pieces of persimmon.  The clubs were stamped “Hand Tailored” on either the sole plate or crown.  He also built high quality forged irons.

 

By the mid to late 1960’s Thompson moved his business to Culver City, CA and began focusing more on laminate woods and becoming a larger retail presence.   In 1973 he introduced the “Ginty” rescue wood, a laminate wood with a large zinc keel shaped sole plate and a shorter more upright shaft.  He even launched a Ginty iron set with the keel shaped sole.

 

Like many of the smaller builders Stan Thompson went out of business bumpy the mid 1990’s and Stan Thompson passed away in 1995.

 

 

As for collecting, when I first started buying vintage clubs on eBay a few years ago I kept coming across Stan Thompson woods and they always looked great to me.  Coupled with the fact they didn’t cost as much as the highly sought after Macgregor’s but just as good quality started my Stan Thompson collecting.

 

I tend to focus on the 1950’s era Beverly Hills clubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the Stan Thompson history lesson.  I too really like the looks of his woods.  The blondes look awesome but my heart goes out to those Reactionizers.  Such a great name!  How are those Swingin' Stan Thompson t-shirts coming along?  Sign me up for an XL please!  😆

 

I don't think there is any connection but there was a Canadian golf course designer by the name of Stanley Thompson who designed over 100 courses all across Canada in the period of 1912 to 1953.  Fantastic traditional golf with narrow fairways and small greens that just beg to be played with persimmon and blades.  I've played his 1935 design at Waskesiu in the Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan and it is by far my favorite place to spend 6 hours of golfing in the whole world.  

 

Home — Stanley Thompson Society https://www.stanleythompson.com/

 

[Foozle]

5 hours ago, deejaid said:

So our esteemed member Foozle asked for a bit more info about Stan Thompson.  I am by no means an expert on the history of Stan Thompson at all.   Info on his clubs is scarce so just going to share what I’ve gleaned from different sources.

 

Stan Thompson was born and raised in Kansas City and went to work with Kenneth Smith which I assume would be at the Shawnee, Kansas factory.   After learning from Kenneth Smith, Thompson moved West to build clubs,  settling in Los Angeles in 1937.

His clubs were similar to Kenneth Smith in that they were custom fit to the customer and very high quality.

 

Through the 40’s, 50’s, and into the early 1960’s, Stan Thompson built his clubs in Beverly Hills, and the soles are stamped as such.   These high quality persimmon woods rivaled or even surpassed all the big manufacturers.  Lovely head shapes from beautiful pieces of persimmon.  The clubs were stamped “Hand Tailored” on either the sole plate or crown.  He also built high quality forged irons.

 

By the mid to late 1960’s Thompson moved his business to Culver City, CA and began focusing more on laminate woods and becoming a larger retail presence.   In 1973 he introduced the “Ginty” rescue wood, a laminate wood with a large zinc keel shaped sole plate and a shorter more upright shaft.  He even launched a Ginty iron set with the keel shaped sole.

 

Like many of the smaller builders Stan Thompson went out of business by the 1990’s and Stan passed away in 1995.

 

 

As for collecting, when I first started buying vintage clubs on eBay a few years ago I kept coming across Stan Thompson woods and they always looked great to me.  Coupled with the fact they didn’t cost as much as the highly sought after Macgregor’s but just as good quality started my Stan Thompson collecting.

 

I tend to focus on the 1950’s era Beverly Hills clubs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deejaid, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge of Stan Thomson and  pictures of his stunning clubs. Great story and great clubs.

With some embarrassment I attach pictures of my Stan Thomson collection, and knowledge of the great man prior to your information, in its entirety!

I am now much better informed! Thanks again.

[Jiggered]

Great piece deejaid!

I always like to learn about the lesser known and less "fashionable" brands.

As you say, sometimes they can easily rival the more collected makers for quality and looks.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

Wow, those are some really stunning woods, and I love the somewhat Cubist design on the cap handles. 

[Swingingk]

2 hours ago, Foozle said:

Deejaid, I really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge of Stan Thomson and  pictures of his stunning clubs. Great story and great clubs.

With some embarrassment I attach pictures of my Stan Thomson collection, and knowledge of the great man prior to your information, in its entirety!

I am now much better informed! Thanks again.

Oh man I totally need a Ginty.  That thing looks like a free ride out of the rough.  😀

[Foozle]

1 hour ago, Swingingk said:

Oh man I totally need a Ginty.  That thing looks like a free ride out of the rough.  😀

A machete is probably better suited to the kind of rough I frequent but for those who keep it in closer proximity to the mown stuff a Ginty is a pretty useful tool! 😁

[Six Pints]

Thanks for the great photos and info on Stan Thomson. I will say that I'm pretty familiar with the laminated head Ginty but have never seen his persimmon woods.  They look great!

Thank you for sharing and taking the time.  

Edited February 11, 2021 by Six Pints

[LeftyMac]

Deejaid,

 

The weight port in the soleplate is really interesting.  I have seen them in clubs from the 80's onwards but not earlier.  Was he one of the first to use them??

[deejaid]

18 minutes ago, LeftyMac said:

Deejaid,

 

The weight port in the soleplate is really interesting.  I have seen them in clubs from the 80's onwards but not earlier.  Was he one of the first to use them??

That’s a good question LeftyMac.   The two sets I showed above I date to 1958-62 era as both have True Temper Pro Fit shafts in them.   I always assumed the blonde set was earlier than the black set as the blonde set had had old-fashioned lead weights in the rear of the head while the black set had “The Reactionizer” port which allowed the weight to be changed with powdered lead.  I figured that was the evolution of his woods but perhaps they were made concurrently with the “Reactionizer” as two different range of offerings.

 

What is interesting is the blonde set has a red plug in the sole where the black set has the grub screw.   So perhaps both clubs were made at the same time and the same sole plates used for all clubs, whether weight adjustable or not.

 

 

[deejaid]

9 hours ago, Swingingk said:

Thanks for the Stan Thompson history lesson.  I too really like the looks of his woods.  The blondes look awesome but my heart goes out to those Reactionizers.  Such a great name!  How are those Swingin' Stan Thompson t-shirts coming along?  Sign me up for an XL please!  😆

 

I don't think there is any connection but there was a Canadian golf course designer by the name of Stanley Thompson who designed over 100 courses all across Canada in the period of 1912 to 1953.  Fantastic traditional golf with narrow fairways and small greens that just beg to be played with persimmon and blades.  I've played his 1935 design at Waskesiu in the Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan and it is by far my favorite place to spend 6 hours of golfing in the whole world.  

 

Home — Stanley Thompson Society https://www.stanleythompson.com/

 

 

Yeah, I have to look into getting some shirts made.  They would be pretty sweet!   I’ll let you know.

 

 

And yes, I’ve come across the other Stanley Thompson, the golf course designer, and he looks just as accomplished in his field as the club maker, maybe more so.

 

 

[deejaid]

Here is a set I am dating between 1954-1957.  They have True Temper Rocket shafts and original leather grips.  What is interesting is Stan Thompson always used some sort of protection over the whipping.  
 

Another interesting feature is the lead weight at the back.  This set has a brass ring or sleeve set in with lead poured into it.  Pretty slick.
 

This set will need a bit of restoration at some point.

 

 

[deejaid]

Going further back in time, this set looks to be from the early 1950’s as it has that era’s True Temper Dynamic shafts.  The head shapes are a bit more old-fashioned looking too, more of a shape seen in the 1930’s and 40’s.

 

This set also has the original cord grips.

 

 

[Foozle]

57 minutes ago, deejaid said:

Going further back in time, this set looks to be from the early 1950’s as it has that era’s True Temper Dynamic shafts.  The head shapes are a bit more old-fashioned looking too, more of a shape seen in the 1930’s and 40’s.

 

This set also has the original cord grips.

 

 

Wow Deejaid! Impressive collection of beautiful clubs. 😍 No wonder the rest of us think they are scarce, you have cornered the market! 

I have a set of irons with similar cord grips. What condition are yours in? Mine have gone very hard and are quite rough on your hands. Can't imagine they started life that way! 

[scomac2002]

17 hours ago, Swingingk said:

I don't think there is any connection but there was a Canadian golf course designer by the name of Stanley Thompson who designed over 100 courses all across Canada in the period of 1912 to 1953.  Fantastic traditional golf with narrow fairways and small greens that just beg to be played with persimmon and blades.  I've played his 1935 design at Waskesiu in the Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan and it is by far my favorite place to spend 6 hours of golfing in the whole world.  

 

I'm fortunate enough to live amongst several celebrated Stanley Thompson designed courses.  There are three that I play on a semi regular basis.  Sadly, I have yet to play any of them with vintage kit, but I would agree that they do beg for the experience.

 

Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club is purported to be the oldest surviving golf course in North America with the first few holes being laid down in 1875 upon an old gunnery range.  It was ranked 9th by Golf Digest in 2013 as best 9 hole course outside the US.  The Golf Historical Society of Canada plays an annual hickory event here.

 

The Dunnville Golf and Country Club is a sister 9 hole layout along the banks of the Grand River that was established in 1928.

 

Finally, the Martin Course at Chedoke Golf Club in Hamilton was the original home of the Hamilton Golf and Country Club which is a regular host to the Canadian Open is the third of Thompson's designs.

 

All three are a similar style of parkland layout with tight fairways, plenty of undulation and small tricky greens.  Plenty of challenge that play tougher than their 6000 yard length would suggest. 

[Bigarch]

My first job in golf was at a country club in St. Louis in the 80's.  Big club...about 550 bags in storage in the bag room.  I'll take a guess that there were about 200 Ginty's in those bags.  The first sole plate I ever reset was a Ginty (we used to have about 5 of those things fly off every year) and the first insert I ever built a dam for and poured was on a Ginty.  Regripped a helluva lot of those things too.  Great memories men!

 

Side note:  @deejaid you mentioned that Stan Thompson always used some protection over the whipping.  We used to order that stuff in raw sheets from Kenneth Smith and the head pro I worked under would rebuild those by hand for members.  I watched him make a bunch of his own ferrules by hand with that stuff using an acetone and water mixture to soften it up and then wrap them by hand.  He'd then turn them down to the proper size and polish them up with raw acetone.  It's the one club repair thing that I wish I had paid closer attention to and figured out how he did it.  Did any of you guys ever do that with building your own ferrules???

Edited February 12, 2021 by Bigarch
spelling mistake

[Swingingk]

1 hour ago, Bigarch said:

My first job in golf was at a country club in St. Louis in the 80's.  Big club...about 550 bags in storage in the bag room.  I'll take a guess that there were about 200 Ginty's in those bags.  The first sole plate I ever reset was a Ginty (we used to have about 5 of those things fly off every year) and the first insert I ever built a dam for and poured was on a Ginty.  Regripped a helluva lot of those things too.  Great memories men!

 

Side note:  @deejaid you mentioned that Stan Thompson always used some protection over the whipping.  We used to order that stuff in raw sheets from Kenneth Smith and the head pro I worked under would rebuild those by hand for members.  I watched him make a bunch of his own ferrules by hand with that stuff using an acetone and water mixture to soften it up and then wrap them by hand.  He'd then turn them down to the proper size and polish them up with raw acetone.  It's the one club repair thing that I wish I had paid closer attention to and figured out how he did it.  Did any of you guys ever do that with building your own ferrules???

More great memories Bigarch, and great observations on the plastic covered whipping too.  I have several woods with that product on them and have been wondering about how one might restore it.  Yours is the first description I've ever heard on repairing it.  Cool!

[Swingingk]

2 hours ago, scomac2002 said:

 

I'm fortunate enough to live amongst several celebrated Stanley Thompson designed courses.  There are three that I play on a semi regular basis.  Sadly, I have yet to play any of them with vintage kit, but I would agree that they do beg for the experience.

 

Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club is purported to be the oldest surviving golf course in North America with the first few holes being laid down in 1875 upon an old gunnery range.  It was ranked 9th by Golf Digest in 2013 as best 9 hole course outside the US.  The Golf Historical Society of Canada plays an annual hickory event here.

 

The Dunnville Golf and Country Club is a sister 9 hole layout along the banks of the Grand River that was established in 1928.

 

Finally, the Martin Course at Chedoke Golf Club in Hamilton was the original home of the Hamilton Golf and Country Club which is a regular host to the Canadian Open is the third of Thompson's designs.

 

All three are a similar style of parkland layout with tight fairways, plenty of undulation and small tricky greens.  Plenty of challenge that play tougher than their 6000 yard length would suggest. 

You are indeed fortunate to be so close to so many Stanley Thompson courses.  We have four here in Saskatchewan, three of which are in Regina.  I haven't played the Regina courses yet but plan to this summer.  And yes, I will be playing with persimmon and blades.  😆

[Bigarch]

I really wish I could figure out the source of that material.  I've tried to describe it to a few people before and they all think I'm crazy.  It made great ferrules and grip collars for leather wrapped grips. 

 

The pictures that deejaid has for the 54-57's with the green rocket shafts are awesome.  Those ferrules and grip collars in his pics look exactly like how these would turn out.  Seeing those really took me back about 35 years.

[deejaid]

1 hour ago, Bigarch said:

My first job in golf was at a country club in St. Louis in the 80's.  Big club...about 550 bags in storage in the bag room.  I'll take a guess that there were about 200 Ginty's in those bags.  The first sole plate I ever reset was a Ginty (we used to have about 5 of those things fly off every year) and the first insert I ever built a dam for and poured was on a Ginty.  Regripped a helluva lot of those things too.  Great memories men!

 

Side note:  @deejaid you mentioned that Stan Thompson always used some protection over the whipping.  We used to order that stuff in raw sheets from Kenneth Smith and the head pro I worked under would rebuild those by hand for members.  I watched him make a bunch of his own ferrules by hand with that stuff using an acetone and water mixture to soften it up and then wrap them by hand.  He'd then turn them down to the proper size and polish them up with raw acetone.  It's the one club repair thing that I wish I had paid closer attention to and figured out how he did it.  Did any of you guys ever do that with building your own ferrules???

Thats some cool info Bigarch, thanks for sharing.  It makes sense that Stan Thompson did that if it was something Kenneth Smith was doing too.

[Swingingk]

35 minutes ago, Bigarch said:

I really wish I could figure out the source of that material.  I've tried to describe it to a few people before and they all think I'm crazy.  It made great ferrules and grip collars for leather wrapped grips. 

 

The pictures that deejaid has for the 54-57's with the green rocket shafts are awesome.  Those ferrules and grip collars in his pics look exactly like how these would turn out.  Seeing those really took me back about 35 years.

I've been curious about making my own ferrules for a long time.  I don't know for sure what kind of plastic it is but I think it might be ABS.  I'm wondering now if the sheets you are referring to were maybe sheets of ABS plastic?  I makes sense that if acetone softens it like when you turn a ferrule that maybe it would soften sheet enough to wrap and blend it. 

 

I guess I'm pretty darn far off the original topic here...  sorry bout' that.  Back to Stan.  Check out this crazy Ginty I found a picture of:

 

[deejaid]

1 hour ago, Swingingk said:

I've been curious about making my own ferrules for a long time.  I don't know for sure what kind of plastic it is but I think it might be ABS.  I'm wondering now if the sheets you are referring to were maybe sheets of ABS plastic?  I makes sense that if acetone softens it like when you turn a ferrule that maybe it would soften sheet enough to wrap and blend it. 

 

I guess I'm pretty darn far off the original topic here...  sorry bout' that.  Back to Stan.  Check out this crazy Ginty I found a picture of:

 

I’m into the Beverly Hills era stuff but have always wanted one of these.  I believe they were called the “Californian Ginty” if I recall.

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

2 hours ago, Swingingk said:

I've been curious about making my own ferrules for a long time.  I don't know for sure what kind of plastic it is but I think it might be ABS.  I'm wondering now if the sheets you are referring to were maybe sheets of ABS plastic?  I makes sense that if acetone softens it like when you turn a ferrule that maybe it would soften sheet enough to wrap and blend it. 

 

I guess I'm pretty darn far off the original topic here...  sorry bout' that.  Back to Stan.  Check out this crazy Ginty I found a picture of:

 

 

It's like 1970s Elton John became a golf club!

[Nels55]

I had a couple of Ginty 7 woods back in the day and I loved those things.  I could hit a nice high shot out of a fairway trap 170 yards with no problem!  They were great clubs maybe one of the best trouble clubs ever.  As mentioned above they did tend to fall apart every now and then.  

Here are some pictures of one that I repaired a few decades ago:

Geez, I guess that I could have cleaned it up before I took the pictures...

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by Nels55

[seis]

On 2/11/2021 at 9:49 PM, Swingingk said:

I've been curious about making my own ferrules for a long time.  I don't know for sure what kind of plastic it is but I think it might be ABS.  I'm wondering now if the sheets you are referring to were maybe sheets of ABS plastic?  I makes sense that if acetone softens it like when you turn a ferrule that maybe it would soften sheet enough to wrap and blend it. 

 

I guess I'm pretty darn far off the original topic here...  sorry bout' that.  Back to Stan.  Check out this crazy Ginty I found a picture of:

 

One of these on E Bay right now, with an Lflex shaft and cool grip

[Eddymeboy]

I recently picked up an old set of Stan Thompson's. Irons and woods. The woods are 1-4 and the irons are 1-10. Shafts are

R flex Stan Thompson  pro only I have pictures but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to insert them 

 

Hey I figured it out! Yea me!  The reason for the post is I'm trying to figure out how old these are. There is a serial number on the soles of the woods is there any information to be gleaned from the serial number?

Spoiler

 

.

Edited March 30, 2021 by Eddymeboy

[deejaid]

20 hours ago, Eddymeboy said:

I recently picked up an old set of Stan Thompson's. Irons and woods. The woods are 1-4 and the irons are 1-10. Shafts are

R flex Stan Thompson  pro only I have pictures but I'll be damned if I can figure out how to insert them 

 

Hey I figured it out! Yea me!  The reason for the post is I'm trying to figure out how old these are. There is a serial number on the soles of the woods is there any information to be gleaned from the serial number?

  Reveal hidden contents

 

.

Very cool clubs.   I don’t think the serial numbers will do much good.   Pics of the shaft bands would help a bit in dating them.  The woods are definitely 1960’s or later due to the laminate construction.   All the 1950’s era Stan Thompson woods I’ve seen have been persimmon.

 

As for the irons, hard to tell.  Again, shaft band pics will help.  I’d guess 1960’s to early 70’s.   They look fantastic.   I’ve yet to find a set as most I’ve found have been a bit beat up.    They look to be in very good condition.

 

 

 

[Eddymeboy]

Here is pic of the shaft wraps they're the same on the woods and the irons

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by Eddymeboy

[deejaid]

With those shaft bands I’d say they are early 1960’s.  The shafts are True Temper Pro Fit shafts.   Stan Thompson began using those shafts in the late 1950’s with the original Pro Fit shaft bands, then began using his own labels on Pro Fit shafts at some point.

 

Fantastic set of clubs you have there.

[Eddymeboy]

Thanks so much for your help im going to take a few swing with the 1 iron just for kicks then figure out a way to display them in the man cave