So I had sometime after my appointment in the City today. Since I didn't need to beat the rush hour traffic, I stopped by the local Thrift Store on my way back.
Nothing good in the golf club section, nothing catches my eyes in the book section. I did find a driver cover , the lion head which is John Daly's signature. Nice but I don't need it and probably won't use it unless I'm a few decades younger.
I did found one, 1 sleeve of Ram Tour Balata golf ball, brand new for $1.99, plus the 10% discount today for the group qualified for Medicare.
I snatched it up for later use with the persimmon woods and the old set of Hogan blades next Spring. Too bad that was the only sleeve found. I'd go for dozens if available.
Also found a sleeve of brand new,older model year Pro V1 ( stamped U.S. Open ) also for the same price, which I could not refuse.
At least I didn't spend more than the cash I carried with me today.
That will be fun to hit those balata’s. The thrift stores near me never have anything good golf wise. A lot of 90’s era low end sets, usually missing a club or two.
There was a period of time from last year into the first half of this year, there were some persimmon woods showed up in one of the thrift store. Some are nice enough to be played but nothing in the collectible. Some 70's persimmon which could be good practice restoration project. The only one I picked up was a Ping Zing driver in great condition but missing the whipping. I put the whipping on and ready for action next Spring.
I know this had been discussed many times somewhere else , but is there a good replacement for the balata golf ball ? I mean, to replace the spin rate suitable for persimmon play ?
During my time in the Seattle area (I think you're based out of there) the best selection was the Edmonds Goodwill. The only one that reliably had full sets. Second place goes to the Redmond GW, but pickings were always slim regardless. Ballard and Shoreline never had sets, and I never got down to the Seattle main enough. Towards the end I started to see more modern stuff from the 2000-2005 range, but not really anything desirable.
Never been to the Edmonds GW, although I used to live in the Ballard area in the 70's and the 80's. still a bit of distance to Edmonds but closer than now.
Never like the Downtown location, amongst the homeless camps ( which had been cleaned and moved several times by the City and the County already but they kept coming back ). Parking is difficult and the pricing for used golf clubs are pretty high.
Value Village sometimes have gems in the sand. I got a Rife Barbados putter for a friend last week for $5. I gave it to him because he gad been looking for a similar putter for awhile and he was in depression from his wife's declining health, so something to cheer him up a little.
Thrift stores run by the Churches and the Schools have better stuff, but everyone search online for retail pricing ( you kn ow, those higher asking price but never move the merchandise ). Not having good luck with it.
Craigslist have one of the highest listing price but I guess it's negotiable.
The garage sales probably will be the best bet to find nice stuff. local estate sales might have something nice because the organizer wish to move things out.
Anyway, thrift store is one of the place to find vintage golf clubs and books.
Always checking the thrift stores no matter where we go. My most recent find was on a camping trip in Ohio last August. Wasn't really looking but my wife pointed out a Goodwill in a strip mall we at getting some groceries at. Came out with a Macgregor Tourney Jumbo (laminate) and matching 3 wood. Going to re-grip and play with it next summer.
That is a rare find in a thrift shop. Very good pick up!
Nice find. I know the MacGregor Jumbo persimmon is rare and hard to come by. The laminated head is supposed to come off the same master template as the persimmon heads. Not sure if there is any weight difference between the two heads made with different materials.
That deep face looks so friendly. I wonder how it will play comparing to the smaller heads.
Thanks for the insight on the Jumbo, Release. I would believe the laminate is a lighter wood, just going by the added weights in the toe and in the heel (see pic). I guess the question would be how does it compare after the weights have been added. Maybe someday I will find the real thing at a thrift store! One never knows what you might find.
@terreb
Yes, I agree the solid block of persimmon has denser grain than the laminated block. Definitely there are fewer aged persimmon blocks than the manufactured wood blocks.
I have a putter head made from 133 years old persimmon tree. I just don't have the heart to shaft it up and put it in play.
My wife also put out kids names on it for their "office display"........ I used to have no hesitation of putting new golf clubs into play but this one is something else.
Forgot to add, yesterday picked up a few velvet barrel head covers at 99 cents each, Couple of reds with local Country Club logo and one Golden Ram. Looks like new after passing through the washer.
Perfect for the smaller persimmon heads.
Some local guys must got the drift that there are vintage treasure in the thrift stores.
The last two trips ( happened to be passing by one time and in the neighborhood at the other time ).
There were NO persimmon woods at all.
There are a couple of Wilson store line laminated woods, well weathered. Other than that, the hoarders either ran out of stock or they're not donating any more.
I know that I have not been donating in the last year and probably not much this year. there is no tax incentive to donate stuff. After the general deduction, we're already close to the maximum ceiling for deduction already.
Everyone is on the same shoes, if there is no incentive, there would be less motivation to donate.
On the flip side of the coin, if I don't get rid of some stuff, I'll be less inclines to get more stuff.
The only thing I'm eyeballing is the get a second copy of the golf catalog from the MacGregor, Wilson and H&B Powerbilt, by James Kaplan.
Can someone confirm that Kaplan passed ? There is a sell on the auction block listing the Wilson catalog for a song w another book , in brand new condition. the stated source was from the Kaplan's estate. Hence I wonder if Kaplan passed . The copy listed for a song was the second edition, but a golf club hobbyist only interested in the information, not in the value for the collection.
I also notice the green book ( MacGregor ) has gone higher in listing price all over town.
What's going on ?
;
There's been a drought of no Vintage persimmon woods at our local stores but picked up a few sleeves of the Titleiset Accushnet K ball.
Anyone knows about this golf ball ? Can't find mush of the detail of this golf ball.
It got to be dated at least 30 years old.
Not vintage golf clubs but I was excited to see these and snatched them up. All in good condition.
I know most of the contents and some are available online, however, adding these to my collection is long overdue.
That Carl Paul book is a very good one. I have it as well.
Yes, that Carl Paul Book is harder to find than the Maltby books, although the wire bind Maltby book is also rare.
I love the hard cover books, hopefully I won't ended up like one of my close friends whom had his basement filled from floor to ceiling with collectable books. He finally had to whole sale the lot to a guy from Oregon, because he didn't have the time to list them for sale one piece at a time.
I'm trying to keep my collection to the minimum and I do read each and everyone one of them, including the instructional and repair books.
I figured, there would be a day when I will gradually lose my eye-sight, so might as well make the best while I still have it. '
Found this today, never seen the carrying case/cover like that. Open at the grip end.
Head size seemed to be compact with deep face design.
Shaft band , TT Dynamic S, felt like tour stiff, don;t have my frequency calibrator any longer so can't give a meaningful frequency number.
The other lighter finished is the Ben Hogan 1953, in comparison the Tony Penna is not smaller, the head seemed to be more compact simply because of the deep face. Really looked like a sledge hammer.
That Penna driver is a Jupiter Slugger. Pretty hard to come by. I had one just like yours with a Dynamic stiff shaft in it. Not an easy club to hit, at least for me. I am glad I purchased it and got to try a deep faced persimmon driver before dropping $400-$600 on a Macgregor LFF as I realized I don’t really care for the deep face.
I don’t know what you paid for it but you could make a few bucks flipping that one. I sold my Penna JS and a few other lesser name deep face persimmon drivers and they all went quick. I think people feel more comfortable going from a modern driver to a deep face persimmon.
Jupiter Slugger, is a fitting name.
I purchased this one through a local source, thrift store runs by Church. With the intention of bagging it. On top of it, the cover that came with it was the first kind I had seen. Very unusual indeed.
Since it had been played before ( evident from the sole plate, but the face was mint ). I did take it out to the driving range with a dozen or so of my old balata golf balls from the shag bag. The TT Dynamic shaft in Stiff felt like Tour Stiff ( XS) to me and with the shorter length from the old standard made it double stiff.
I had passed the age of able to use this one proficiently, so if anyone interested in the future, it'll find a better home. unless, that is before I am tempted to reshaft it and play it.
The deep face really made the head looks compact but it is not as shown side by side with the Hogan 1953 model which is ONS with the original Apex 5 shaft in it. You guessed it, I've passed the age of swinging this one also, since it's new old stock with original leather grip, I won't be thinking of re-shafting this one. It'll find a new home some day, in it's virgin state.
Yeah, Dynamic or Dynamic Gold stiff flex is just too much for me too. Apex 4 is a perfect stiff flex shaft for me, absolutely love it, but an Apex 5 would again be too much.
Again, the thrift stores around here continue to disappoint as I went to 3 different ones and found mostly 90’s era junk.
There was a set on eBay that I had watched go unsold week after week. A set of 1959 Wilson Staff persimmons 1-4 that are in pretty rough shape. They had a starting bid of $9.99 with shipping of $15 so could be a nice set for $25. Anyway I watched them get continually relisted and I felt like ai had to rescue them. So I put in a bid of $10 and was the only bidder.
Just received them the other day and they are rough. It looks like someone removed the soleplate of the 4-wood and chiseled wood out of it. But they are a matching serial number set with original shafts and leather grips. I think they will be able to grace the fairways again.
That looks like a good rescue, certainly will keep you busy for awhile. Any idea what you will do to the 4 wood ? Or it's too soon to tell before you open it up ?
Yeah, no idea how extensive the wood removal was until I take off the sole plate. I have a few ideas on how I plan to proceed.
What I love about these classic clubs is researching more about them in the Kaplan catalog books. This set was being sold as a 1959 set but researching the Kaplan book it turns out these are actually a set of 1953 Wilson Staff Model No. 11 woods. The crown and toe decal font styles were only used in 1953. I’d also never seen this model of shaft which is a True Temper Dynamic 286 shaft. This shaft is listed in 1953 as the ”a-t 286” shaft and was the stock shaft. A S flex was special order.
I‘m more excited about the set now that it is a bit older, almost 10 years older than my 1962 Wilson Staff persimmon set.
Are you going to keep the aged paint ? Looks like refinished at one point ( or several ), but it's definitely aged. Early 50's persimmons are priced, a good find turned out to be a great find.
There is a set of MT for sale online 1 iron through PW + extra wedge, and driver, 3 wood and 5 wood.
The listing has conflicting information between the photos and the description and the seller said to go with the photos. Of course he did not provide detailed photos to the face of the woods and irons.
Really was tempted..... but I looked at the projects waiting for me to "start" still sitting in the garage...... had to wait , but someone will snatch it up if they could have a look at the detailed condition of the set.
There is nothing in and around my area for the vintage golf clubs. Most of them are from the 90's and low end store lines or components brands.
I guess when the scavengers look at the asking price online thinking they could make a decent profit from the vintage golf clubs......
This set will be refinished. I love original patina but these might be too far gone. I’ll start by leaving the stripping solution on for a very short amount of time. If I can strip off the clear and preserve the original color and decals underneath then that’s what I’ll do. If not I‘ll go with a full refinish and see if my decal guy can replicate the originals.
Have you noticed there are lots of resale of persimmon woods and vintage golf clubs from the warmer States ? California, Arizona, the Carolinas, Florida, Texas ?
No wonder you could not find any good stuff from your local thrift stores. They're all on the eBay.