If you played them, what made the the Tommy Armour 845 Silver Scots such a great iron?

[CyFan]

I played them a couple years and as others have noted they offered forgiveness similar to Eye2s but with a more traditional head shape.  Ultimately, I couldn’t get over the offset in the long irons.  TA came out with the 855s and offered a RO (reduced offset) model which attracted my interest, but I moved on to Hogan Apex Grinds. 

[RedMedic]

They were my first irons. I shot a legitimate even par round with them before trading them for some Mizuno irons. I kinda wish I still had them.

[jplroper]

11 hours ago, RedMedic said:

They were my first irons. I shot a legitimate even par round with them before trading them for some Mizuno irons. I kinda wish I still had them.

    I'm pretty sure there are a lot of players that shoot a good score, then " upgrade" their irons. Picking up another set in great condition would probably only run you a $100 or less.  I have 2 sets, one set cost $50 and the other was less than that, perfect shape, lots of sets out there.

[19thteegala]

I just picked up these for $40usd as a second set

[driveandputtmachine]

On 3/27/2022 at 10:16 AM, jll62 said:

Because they weren't Ping irons. For many of us, that was the key differentiator. There weren't a lot of great cavity back options in the late 80s / early 90s except for Ping; most players I knew were playing blades or Eye2. The 845 felt like the first good, cast cavity back club if you weren't a Ping fan.

 

From a performance standpoint, I don't recall them being anything out of this world. They were good irons, but not magical. I do recall their marketing campaign around dynamic lie angle fitting, as opposed to Ping's static fitting. That was something that resonated with me even as a teenager. WRX-er from birth, I guess. lol

 

As a kid I started down the road of, well if everyone is using A, then I will use B.  It started with the 845's.  I got them mainly because they weren't Pings, and most everyone else had Eye2's.  I also didn't care for the shaping of the Ping's as I have owned more than a few sets of the BeCU Pings and sold them quickly each time.  I also refused to play Titleist as a youngster.  DCI - Nope.  975 - Nope.  Tour balata, Professional, ProV1 - Nope.  I played Maxfli HT Tour Balata, Precept EV Extra Spin and Tour Edition's.  I think I even played the strata and the Top Flite Z-balata.  Callaway S2H2 three wood was in my bag from 1992 as a 15 year old until 2005.  GBB, Greatest BB, Ping, TM, anything but Titleist.

 

I still have 6 sets of irons in my house.  845's - my oldest step son is playing them.  My Maxfli VHL's - Brunswick 7.0 rifles in them, couldn't play X100 since everyone else was.  Plus a few other newer sets.  I had one Course record with the 845's(It was broken) and have three(1 of those is tied) with the VHL's, 2 will never be broken (Marsh Harbor and Ocean Harbor in Calabash).  Marsh has been closed forever(no redevelopment though) and Ocean Harbor cannot be re-opened as four holes lost their land lease when it closed.

[jplroper]

6 hours ago, 19thteegala said:

I just picked up these for $40usd as a second set

    That is a hell of a deal, how do you like the sand wedge?

[19thteegala]

17 hours ago, jplroper said:

    That is a hell of a deal, how do you like the sand wedge?

I have only done some carpet chipping so far, feels ok compared to my jaws raw wedges. Hopefully get out for a hit this w.e

[braincramp52]

As the original starter of this thread my experiment with the 845's lasted less than a month. Didn't care for them. 

 

[SEP1006]

Funny this thread popped back up again. bought these when they first came out and played them for probably 13 years. Absolutely loved them. To me they were way ahead of their time, very forgiving and distance was good as well.

 

Just for kicks I just bought a set (3 - PW) in "very good" condition. They have the G-Force graphite shafts. Don't know to much about them but anxious to get them and take them out just for fun.

 

Anyone have any input on the G-Force shafts?

[kwcsports]

I bought a set because Freddie played them. They were awesome irons, used them for a few years then switched to Parallax.

[RandyNichols]

I've played the 845's for the last several years. I've had custom clubs, and have tried several different kinds. I've never had an iron that hit as sweet and the TA's. That being said, I'm thinking of trying a new set of irons to improve on distance. I researched the TA's when I bought them. They were believed to be the best game improvement irons on the market. And they are still in great shape. I have nothing but good to say about the 845's.

[Scootre]

I got a set in 1991 after using a couple different cast, cavity back Ping'ish looking knockoff sets (anyone remember Pal Joey?). These came with Dynamic Gold S300s, which I never saw in another set. Used them through high school and college until I got my first job after school. I still have them 1-PW. Felt more solid than any clubs I'd hit at that point, consistent distances and forgiving. 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2024 by Scootre

[@_the_crook]

On 5/29/2024 at 2:23 PM, SEP1006 said:

Funny this thread popped back up again. bought these when they first came out and played them for probably 13 years. Absolutely loved them. To me they were way ahead of their time, very forgiving and distance was good as well.

 

Just for kicks I just bought a set (3 - PW) in "very good" condition. They have the G-Force graphite shafts. Don't know to much about them but anxious to get them and take them out just for fun.

 

Anyone have any input on the G-Force shafts?

my first set had those shafts, dark gray color. they were pretty good sticks, enough that I bought a few more sets.

still have the SW. hits great flop shots out of wet rough.  same for an 855 SW. like butter.

sold a few of them but I will always keep the 845 Pat Pend and the 845 FS sets.

 

[tsecor]

The 845's had the same technology as the pings...on the face......those grooves are now illegal

 

[jplroper]

On 3/14/2023 at 2:25 PM, BDubya said:

For cast irons, they were (and still are) fantastic.  The stock tour step shafts were eventually used by multiple companies.  As most have said, the main clubs being played at the time were Ping Eye2.  For those of us who were just getting in the game of golf, rather than have to be confused with measurements to determine which color dot Eye2s fit the best, Tommy Armour 845s were a welcome option.  I loved the offset of the 845s.  I have tried multiple sets of the newer clubs since then (Nike, Titleist, etc), and I never could hit them consistently because the lack of the offset in newer sets wasn't comfortable to what I had played for years with the 845s.  I recently found a gently used set of 845s on the Bay (3-PW) for cheap and bought them.  I'll be regripping them soon and putting them in my bag as my new/old gamers.  For anyone interested, another HUGELY popular set of clubs that came about in the early/mid 90s, the Titleist DCI gold triangle irons (played by numerous PGA pros), the measurements for loft, lie, and offset are almost identical to the 845s.

   Scrolling through this old thread since I'm a fan of the 845's. have 2 sets bagged up and ready to go. Just wondering if you are still playing yours and if you have any serious thoughts of replacing them or just glad to have them.

[NRJyzr]

On 7/2/2024 at 2:50 PM, tsecor said:

The 845's had the same technology as the pings...on the face......those grooves are now illegal

 

 

Except for pro competition, the grooves are still OK to use.  The announcement mentioned in the original groove rule decision has not yet been made.  We have four more years after that point before they would become non conforming.

 

I suspect they'll never made that announcement.  🙂

 

Yes, I know, I'm six months late   LOL

 

Edited January 8 by NRJyzr

[BDubya]

2 hours ago, jplroper said:

   Scrolling through this old thread since I'm a fan of the 845's. have 2 sets bagged up and ready to go. Just wondering if you are still playing yours and if you have any serious thoughts of replacing them or just glad to have them.

That's awesome. The ones I spoke of have been regripped and I'm still gaming them. I'll admit they may look a little awkward in the bag next to TSR woods and Vokey wedges, but when I hit them right, they feel amazing, and fly as straight as the sprinkler line.

[bluedot]

This won’t be popular with some, but the 845s weren’t especially great irons.  The 845 stepped into a market niche for a very short period of time. They were easier to hit than blades, for sure, but in no way comparable to the Eye2.

 

What they were was a sort of “normal” looking alternative to the Eye2, at a time when a lot of better players wanted the advantages of a cast club with perimeter weighting and a clean(er) look.  Even today, the first look down at an Eye2 can be a little jarring because of the high toe and thick top line; the 845s weren’t like that, and that was really the main appeal.  When the Hogan Edge came out a couple of years after the 845s as a forged perimeter weighted club, 845 sales cratered.  The Eye2 was by far the best of the three, but the Edge satisfied “traditionalists”. 

[sheepdawg]

They weren't goofy looking Pings back in the day. I hit them for a while but never could get over the offset. Don't remember what I hit after them.