Some scumbag broke into my vehicle and stole the set about 25 years ago. It was an interesting period to work for Spalding but sad to watch the demise of the brand it should never of happened ! "@context": "http://schema.org/", The new club are really pretty, but no better than the original slotlines which I used to have. You might be wondering how the hell did a Ping iron make the listbut look againthis one definitely deserves to be on the list for Wackiest Irons. Thanks for doing the digging! Its impossible to overstate Albert Spaldings vision and ambition. Finally, I think a distinction needs to be made between the wackiest looking and worst irons made. In the early days, golf clubs were hand-forged using a hammer and anvil. Under Chapter 363, it bid $125 million for Top-Flite. Spalding, however, never dominated the pro game as Wilson and MacGregor did. Today its hard to fine a wooden golf club in a bag!!!! Buyers can still find Spalding clubs on some secondary sites. We are here to help educate and empower golfers. MyGolfSpy, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Ive seen several of those uglies up close over the years so this was fun to view. Money put a few of these clubs on touralthough that does not mean they were worth a penny. In one sense, Spalding suffered the same fate irrelevance as did fellow legacy golf brands Wilson Staff and MacGregor. Circa 1985-ish if memory serves. when were spalding executive golf clubs madeoregon dpsst training calendar. Does Spalding make golf balls? And although Top Flite is still in business today, its a brand that most golfers associate with cheap equipment of inferior quality. I gave those up quickly only because they were really odd looking. Especially in America. marrano patio homes lancaster, ny 9, Juin, 2022. horse property for sale pocatello, idaho; Within weeks, Top-Flite filed Chapter 11. Thanks for the memories, John Barba. Fugly yes looks kinda like a pancake spatula at address but effective. Yes, it sold a ton of golf balls, but as one former employee told us, the brand was decidedly blue-collar and not focused on the golf professional. Colin Montgomerie joined the staff, and Spalding had big plans. SPALDING EXECUTIVE 3-PW Iron Set Golf Clubs R/H Jet Step Stiff Flex Steel. spalding executive golf clubs please read DESCRIPTION BEFORE BUYING . Spalding decided it would be good business to provide golf course design services free of charge to anyone with the money and inclination to build one. Acushnet has been sold twice since the 1970s, and each time the buyer took the same approach: be profitable, and well leave you alone. #14 - Spalding Executive Irons These were actually a pretty good iron for the time and I think Trevino had something to do with this designbut not sure. Shank no more, draw, fade, straight, you name it, my Filas do it. single, replacement or add-on golf irons and wedges for Spalding Executive MV2 bird over ball Irons. Great article takes me back to nostalgia. You should shoot me some pics of your new set. What the hey. Non-Tapered Golf Grips: 8 Facts to Know Before You Buy! The old Spaulding Executive set I had back in the early 1980s. Jeff Sheets had been Director of R&D for Top-Flite since 1995, and his first club for Hogan became a legend. I just picked up 6 thru 9 of the Browning 440 Plus irons at the Goodwillcant wait to try them out. when I got my samurais,they were expensive,,but you can get them ocassionally on ebay,,picked up a 6iron for 15$. Men's Right Handed. It made its mark in the 80s through leveraged buyouts buying undervalued or poorly managed companies with other peoples money, improving their bottom lines, and then spinning them off at a profit. "description": "List of all the Spalding Irons by the year each set was released", my 5w distance matches my friends new drivers in distance off tee,,they are amazed. Spalding, along with Wright and Ditson, was importing golf clubs from Scotland. The 15 wood is only a little longer than an 8 iron (in my 70 yr old hands) so I put a 9 iron through sand wedge in the bag and away we go They are straight and land incredibly soft. You can post now and register later. Well done. Spalding sponsored Vardons 1900 tour of America, culminating in Vardon winning the U.S. Open in Chicago. Original? We stand behind our clubs and want you to be satisfied with them. * Note: These irons were designed by Karsten Solheimsure most of you knew that though. A very interesting stroll down golf history. As a former pro athlete, Spalding saw the value of using professionals to help promote both the game and his products. Today, Spalding focuses nearly all of its commercial interests on basketball, producing balls, hoops, rims, and nets. "sameAs": [ Just found and bought a set of Lil David Slingers. Return Policy > WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. I have not 1 but 2 sets of Browning 440 irons. Peter F. Stevens is an award-winning author and journalist whose 10 books include "The Voyage of the Catalpa." "https://twitter.com/_swingyard_", werent as good. It felt like a rock but flew like a rocket and weekend warriors bought them by the bushel. My wife says I never met a strange-looking golf club I did not want to own and play with. I got an incomplete set at the Salvation Army for $15. It was a low loft club used for poor lies and putting. Man, some of my favorites on this list. when were spalding executive golf clubs made. Finally, my number came up along with everyone else in the product management and marketing teams.. It was the mold makers attempt to make at a hollow head, wooden shape club. Im a scratch golfer, and to date have found nothing that is better. Sold millions of those over the years. Just saw a full set of them again today. Couldnt decide between the Slotlines emax and the 845s. It means the Son of a Scottish brood that keeps getting into trouble only to easily find his way out of trouble! For more info on Stan Thompson click here. In 1900, Spalding released the Vardon Flyer, the golf ball used by Harry Vardon. The Browning 440 was a marvelous clubas you say off the fairway!!! Unfortunately, the remaining companys sales still couldnt support the debt. I play with several timesa year. In 1910 Spalding started making fairway clubs made of aluminum, and heavier lead face putters. They are nearly in perfect condition. It wasnt long until Spaldings Executive golf clubs were launched, which were prevalent at all levels of the game. Weird thing was I could hit the XL-4 long irons better and the Executives better from 7-PW. Those Slinger Irons were the brain child of Jim Flood. When my father would shot a 215 yard iron into the hole, his fellow golfers wold ask him what club he used. I remembered them from this article. Not quite Bryson-like, but innovative for the day. One with the sticker decal and one without. I have a set of Spalding exec XE love them- I dont play more than 5-6 rounds a year now, but they are so consistant , I could go a year between swings and still play the same- got them back in 1980- ish. If so, are they any good? The Roaring 20s gave us Babe Ruth, Knute Rockne, Jack Dempsey, and Red Grange. I just had a guy show me a wedge that is a small diamond shaped club with about a 3/4 hollow core in the back that goes up to the inside of the face of the club. Current owner FILA Korea Ltd took Acushnet public, and the company has thrived ever since. KKRs $25 billion takeover of RJR Nabisco was chronicled in the book (and tv movie) Barbarians at the Gate. What a great list! When he would get ready to play, he would hold the club so that the sole was visible to everyone. Within three years, it would be gone for good. I played a lot of Spaulding equipment as a kid in all kinds of sports. Never get tired of reading these types of articles. Irons made during that time are distinguished by an anvil cleek mark. It kept some of those out of my bag Im sure. They had a premium Molitor ball at the then scandalous price of $2. Case in point: The article makes the statement that The (Cleveland) VAS irons have finally been dethroned from their previous top spot as Worst Iron Ever Made! I dont think Cory Pavin would have won PGA tour events and endorsed them if this had been true. Actually, we used to produce more golf balls than Titleist. Inventory available of individual, single, replacement or add-on golf irons and wedges for Spalding EXECUTIVE XE Irons. Unfortunately, Spalding has fallen a long way down the pecking order in terms of their sporting equipment, and it has been a long time since they manufactured a new set of golf clubs. Who knows what might have happened if someone else had gained control, Im 75 and recall that my Dad was a Spalding Dot guy. Mismanagement and a growing golf market led Spalding to cease manufacturing golf products, selling off popular brands like Top Flite to Callaway in the early 2000s. Colgate-Palmolive bought RAM and Penfold in the mid-70s to sell more toothpaste but gave up after only five years. I shoot mid-80s like OP. Man crush on Nicklaus led to this purchase. BarbaJo, you da man! "https://www.instagram.com/_swingyard_/", Brilliant writing! (Everything To Know). Of course Drivers and putters are like women. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google, (your email address will not be published), CONTEST Adams Pro Black Giveaway! No, while you might be able to find Spalding golf clubs at thrift stores and via used online marketplaces, Spalding no longer manufactures golf clubs. By 1910, the company was selling aluminum fairway clubs and its Gold Medal series (1910 to 1919) featured aluminum bronze. I think you are talking about the Spaulding Executive XE irons,ahead of their time,I played a set for a couple of years then sold them, looking back I wish I hadnt. There is nothing crazy about the Slinger! I accidentally broke it in the late 1970s the shaft was installed over a milled section of the hosel! Placing the hosel behind the face eliminates the occasional `shank, creating forward-face progression. they were a good iron, that looked good at address, and were easy to hit. While the Top Flite was initially scorned by better players as the rock flight, it probably caused a rule change. Don Wood has the patent for the Plop Slotz Irons. I had never seen the Fila irons before now. And although Spalding would show operational profits, debt service kept turning those profits into losses. Who Makes Dunlop Golf Clubs? Still use them. Its a great story that needs to be told. *We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. No matter what brand of club you pull from your bag, you owe some thanks to one company Spalding. You had to turn those over to see the ugly, but the cone in the bottom was down right wacky! In 1895, Spalding started manufacturing golf balls. i was hitting 8 iron and was suprised how high the ball flight was. FIND A SET! But more trouble was coming for Spalding. I had some Staff FG-17 and my friends dad had the Executives. * Note: These irons were designed by Jim Flood and were considered a controversial design and are often times very hard to find. pend. beneath. Established in Caracas in 1929 as a small material transport business, the Cisneros Group had its fingers in everything from soft drinks, ice cream, and beauty products to banking and a burgeoning telecommunications business. Corey Pavin won the 1996 US Open Shinnecock with a purple set. Weve done a mini-history on the Hogan Company, with input from a couple of longtime Hogan employees. Spalding is a big name in American sports, having manufactured equipment for basketball, American football, and golf over the years. Ive got a crazy iron set that is one telescoping iron with a blade that changes position to vary the loft. In 1998 Spalding released the Top-Flite System C and System T golf balls which, Spalding claimed, were designed to perform best with two top-selling drivers of that year, the Callaway Big Bertha and the TaylorMade Ti Bubble 2. * Note: These irons were designed in Belgium by the Belgium-Browning company. It was an excellent article and some of the follow-on comments from industry stalwarts like Jack Wullkotte, David Hueber, Tom Wishon, etc. Spalding got so inventive with their clubmaking, they had golf bags around America sporting 20-30 clubs. TaylorMade, now owned by adidas, was rising, and Callaway was a major force. Callaway wound up suing Spalding for using its imagery on Spalding packaging. unbelieveably so..!! I cant believe to Ping Zing 2s are on the list. I was interested in golf until around 2001 and soon discovered spoiling was on anachronism at that point. Theres even premium urethane cover options (Pro V1 and X styles) for ~$15 a dozen. Cleveland VAS was really great Iron. I think this is the web site for me . Learn how your comment data is processed. He could not believe the smoothness of the Driver. The ball was introduced in 1900. Met a friend in Costa Mesa at Mile Square Golf Club back in the early 1970s and he was with Duke Duclos., a friend from their McDonald-Douglas days. "keywords": ["spalding irons by year","when did spalding stop making golf clubs","does spalding still make golf clubs","spalding golf clubs history","spalding executive golf clubs history"], The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight. - BenHogan. What you like is what you like. The strangest set I play with at the moment is a matching set of 3 through 15 fairway woods made by Protactic Golf in Chicago (part of the remains of Northwestern Golf, I think). During their time together, Vardon and Spalding agreed the best way to grow the game in the U.S. and grow the market for Spalding golf products was to build more golf courses. All that creativity has led to the great clubs we have today. 0 bids. I cant remember who made them, but I remember reading about an iron that was adjustable so its loft could be wildly altered. Im 65 and still playing to seven with them. My friends and I (and Im embarrassed to say this now! These irons were designed in Belgium by the Belgium-Browning company. Why is that I have the Tiger Shark 7 iron and the Spalding Exec XE 5 iron in my golf collection??? Why are Spalding golf balls called Top Flite? words that have to do with clay P.O. I played a set of Mags for years until I got to where I could not swing fast enough to bend the stiff shafts. Wilson never really recovered after Pepsi bought it in 1970. Needed a set of clubs to play for a few days and found these. In 1880, Spaldings League Ball became the official baseball of the National League (and later of the American League), a position it held until 1976. Thanks for the history lesson and walk down memory lane. Anybody know anything about them? Havent been able to give them up since my Dad died in 99, Does anyone remember a set of irons made in the 80s (I think) that were actually a bunch of small woods, even the PW was made from wood. Since you mentioned it in the article, how about doing the history of Ben Hogan golf from its inception in 1953 to itd ultimate demise under Callaway and then its resurrection in 2015.