Info needed about Macgregor CF4000

[DTC100]

Hi there,

 

I’m hoping that I’m in the right place to ask for some help. I’ve recently been reacquainted with a set of my old irons from 20+ years ago. They are Macgregor Tourney CF4000 SS1’s with Aldila HM40 boron shafts. I can’t find anything online about them. Not sure if they are rare or common? Any help would be appreciated!

 

thanks in advance 

 

DTC

[hardten]

I have a set of MacGregor CF4000s with black faces on scoring lines. Must be different versions because they look nothing like yours.

[DTC100]

I think I’ve seen these on Google images whilst looking for mine. Where are you located? I’m in the UK. Maybe different models for different countries?

[Foozle]

22 hours ago, DTC100 said:

Hi there,

 

I’m hoping that I’m in the right place to ask for some help. I’ve recently been reacquainted with a set of my old irons from 20+ years ago. They are Macgregor Tourney CF4000 SS1’s with Aldila HM40 boron shafts. I can’t find anything online about them. Not sure if they are rare or common? Any help would be appreciated!

 

thanks in advance 

 

DTC

These are reissued versions most likely from the 1980's.

SS1's were the clubs played by Jack when he turned pro and date from circa 1959. They were branded "Tommy Armour".

The FC referred to "Flame Ceramic" which was a black coating applied to the faces. This allegedly was a by product of the space race and was a coating designed to protect capsules re-entering earth's atmosphere. 4000 being the temperature it could withstand. In golf terms it was durable and provided a textured surface that helped add spin to the ball. The wedges were and are particularly sought after for that reason.

The '1' stands for stiff shaft. 

MacGregor reissued many classic clubs I the 1980's but had lost the rights to the Tommy Armour name in 1967 hence they used the Tourney or Tourney Custom name. The Tourney Custom script looked very like Tommy Armour!

By that time, environmental legislation had outlawed the FC process so they came with a less durable black coating or, as with yours, no coating at all.

I personally don't understand replicating a club without its defining characteristic?

Original SS1 irons are scarce and collectable given the Jack connection. Reissues not so but still very playable.

I am not aware they came with boron shafts so assume yours have been reshafted.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Foozle
Spelling

[DTC100]

1 minute ago, Foozle said:

These are reissued versions most likely from the 1980's.

SS1's were the clubs played by Jack when he turned pro and date from circa 1959. They were branded "Tommy Armour".

The FC referred to "Flame Ceramic" which was a black coating applied to the faces. This allegedly was a by product of the space race and was a coating designed to protect capsules re-entering earth's atmosphere. 4000 being the temperature it could withstand. In golf terms it was durable and provided a textured surface that helped add spin to the ball. The wedges were and are particularly sought after for that reason.

The '1' stands for stiff shaft. 

MacGregor reissued many classic clubs I the 1980's but had lost the rights to the Tommy Armour name in 1967 hence they used the Tourney or Custom Tourney name. The Custom Tourney script looked very like Tommy Armour!

By that time, environmental legislation had outlawed the FC process so they came with a less durable black coating or, as with yours, no coating at all.

I personally don't understand replicating a club without its defining characteristic?

Original SS1 irons are scarce and collectable given the Jack connection. Reissues not so but still very playable.

I am not aware they came with boron shafts so assume yours have been reshafted.

Thanks for this. I got them second hand from the assistant pro at my club at the time, probably early 1990’s. Both him and the club pro had the same with boron shafts in. Not sure I would say these are playable nowadays, I’ve got bigger butter knives!!

[Foozle]

1 minute ago, DTC100 said:

Thanks for this. I got them second hand from the assistant pro at my club at the time, probably early 1990’s. Both him and the club pro had the same with boron shafts in. Not sure I would say these are playable nowadays, I’ve got bigger butter knives!!

Everything is relative! Most on here enjoy playing sets much older than these and might almost regard these as game improvement! Reacquaint yourself with them on the course. I am sure you will enjoy them and gain a whole new appreciation of players from Jack's era!

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

1 hour ago, Foozle said:

These are reissued versions most likely from the 1980's.

SS1's were the clubs played by Jack when he turned pro and date from circa 1959. They were branded "Tommy Armour".

The FC referred to "Flame Ceramic" which was a black coating applied to the faces. This allegedly was a by product of the space race and was a coating designed to protect capsules re-entering earth's atmosphere. 4000 being the temperature it could withstand. In golf terms it was durable and provided a textured surface that helped add spin to the ball. The wedges were and are particularly sought after for that reason.

The '1' stands for stiff shaft. 

MacGregor reissued many classic clubs I the 1980's but had lost the rights to the Tommy Armour name in 1967 hence they used the Tourney or Tourney Custom name. The Tourney Custom script looked very like Tommy Armour!

By that time, environmental legislation had outlawed the FC process so they came with a less durable black coating or, as with yours, no coating at all.

I personally don't understand replicating a club without its defining characteristic?

Original SS1 irons are scarce and collectable given the Jack connection. Reissues not so but still very playable.

I am not aware they came with boron shafts so assume yours have been reshafted.

 

Do those SS1's with "Tourney Custom" and "Jack Nicklaus" stamped on them have sexy ferrules with XXXX/2500 on them?

I had a 1i-SW set of very similar looking SS1s, and they were 1800/2500 (or something like that). I believe they were a limited edition run from the Eighties that came with a Ironmaster putter and a persimmon driver and 3w.

 

They were too short for me (SW and PW were actually under 35"), so I sold them during the pandemic golf boom. The guy who bought them was a Jack/Mac fan, and seemed really happy to get them, which helped soften the blow of letting them go.

[DTC100]

3 minutes ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

 

Do those SS1's with "Tourney Custom" and "Jack Nicklaus" stamped on them have sexy ferrules with XXXX/2500 on them?

I had a 1i-SW set of very similar looking SS1s, and they were 1800/2500 (or something like that). I believe they were a limited edition run from the Eighties that came with a Ironmaster putter and a persimmon driver and 3w.

 

They were too short for me (SW and PW were actually under 35"), so I sold them during the pandemic golf boom. The guy who bought them was a Jack/Mac fan, and seemed really happy to get them, which helped soften the blow of letting them go.

Mine don’t have those beautiful ferrules. I can’t understand why mine have the SS1 stamped towards the toe and in all other pictures I’ve seen it is towards the heel?

[No_Catchy_Nickname]

5 minutes ago, DTC100 said:

Mine don’t have those beautiful ferrules. I can’t understand why mine have the SS1 stamped towards the toe and in all other pictures I’ve seen it is towards the heel?

 

That's interesting. Any serial number on them? I think SO signified a Special Order, which could explain the unusual stamping.

 

Or a made-under-licence UK set?

[DTC100]

1 minute ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

 

That's interesting. Any serial number on them? I think SO signified a Special Order, which could explain the unusual stamping.

 

Or a made-under-licence UK set?

I’ll have to have a look. They aren’t at my house at the moment though. Be interesting to find out the history behind them!

[Foozle]

18 minutes ago, No_Catchy_Nickname said:

 

Do those SS1's with "Tourney Custom" and "Jack Nicklaus" stamped on them have sexy ferrules with XXXX/2500 on them?

I had a 1i-SW set of very similar looking SS1s, and they were 1800/2500 (or something like that). I believe they were a limited edition run from the Eighties that came with a Ironmaster putter and a persimmon driver and 3w.

 

They were too short for me (SW and PW were actually under 35"), so I sold them during the pandemic golf boom. The guy who bought them was a Jack/Mac fan, and seemed really happy to get them, which helped soften the blow of letting them go.

I only have the 1 iron which has a rather plain ferrule and no numbering.

I suspect this was sold as an individual club and not part of the limited edition run. 

[DTC100]

8 minutes ago, Foozle said:

I only have the 1 iron which has a rather plain ferrule and no numbering.

I suspect this was sold as an individual club and not part of the limited edition run. 

That looks easy to hit 🤣 It is in far better condition than mine are too!

[hueyhoolihan]

the OPs club looks to be an original 1958-59 tourney version of the tommy armour, i've seen documentation that shows macgregor offered a tourney and a armour version of the club in the either '58 and/or '59 along side the armour version which, most likely, had a slightly different shape and stamping to the backside. so i'm thinking it might be the tourney rather than jack's tommy armour's. ...i admit i've never seen one of the tourney's from '58 or '59 before. but there are some simarities with macgregor's tourneys after the classic MT's from 1950 thru about 55, i think. 

 

just a thought. 

[ezgoer]

On 6/7/2023 at 8:45 AM, Foozle said:

I only have the 1 iron which has a rather plain ferrule and no numbering.

I suspect this was sold as an individual club and not part of the limited edition run. 

So awesome! I have 59 PT1’s and it’s one of my favorite sets. SS1 or SS2 set, preferably with rubber grips, is high on my want list. 
 

Wonder if there’s any noticeable playing difference? Looks like the diamond on SS’s is slightly bigger so just a little more mass behind the center? 
 

 

Edited December 31, 2024 by ezgoer

[Shallowface]

11 hours ago, hueyhoolihan said:

the OPs club looks to be an original 1958-59 tourney version of the tommy armour, i've seen documentation that shows macgregor offered a tourney and a armour version of the club in the either '58 and/or '59 along side the armour version which, most likely, had a slightly different shape and stamping to the backside. so i'm thinking it might be the tourney rather than jack's tommy armour's. ...i admit i've never seen one of the tourney's from '58 or '59 before. but there are some simarities with macgregor's tourneys after the classic MT's from 1950 thru about 55, i think. 

 

just a thought. 

It's also possible that those irons could have been re-chromed at some point which I believe would have resulted in the loss of the original black face.