spalding tour flite

Spalding Irons By Year

By Coach Erik Schjolberg – Jan 7, 2024

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List Of Spalding Irons by Year

Spalding Irons by Year Table:

Spalding Golf Clubs History

Spalding has one of the most storied histories in sports, and a major impact on golf. Especially in America. Starting in the early 1900s, Spalding started making golf balls before manufacturing clubs.

In 1910 Spalding started making fairway clubs made of aluminum, and heavier lead face putters. They also specialized in unique clubs like the Cran Creek. It was a low loft club used for poor lies and putting.

In the 1920s, Spalding started making irons and innovated an assembly line style forging process that was much cheaper, faster, and more precise than the ole hammer and anvil.

Spalding got so inventive with their clubmaking, they had golf bags around America sporting 20-30 clubs. In an effort to keep golf a game of skill, the USGA implemented the 14 club rule that we see today.

Spalding took off with sales and production with Bobby Jones joining the team. The greatest golfer at the time plays Spalding? Well then so did everyone else. Over two million Bobby Jones sets were sold in America.

From the 1950s to the 1990s Spalding was in the bag for many major victories, and was played on municipal courses across the country. During that time, Spalding ownership changed hands a half dozen times, and saw the same fate as MacGregor Irons .

With new “sexy” companies like Titleist, Callaway, and TaylorMade, and golfers like Tiger and Phil, the new aged golfer wasn’t interested in playing their “grandpas golf clubs.” Sales declined into the 2000s, and Spalding made their last club in 2002.

The Top Flite name lives on, however, thanks to the purchase of its namesake via Callaway in the early 2000s. Top Flite is now synonymous with “bargain” or “cheap” instead of being the club of choice for the greatest golfers on tour. Yet again, the same fate as MacGregor had.

Does Spalding Still Make Golf Clubs?

Spalding no longer makes golf clubs, and hasn’t for some time now. However, the name of their popular brand “Top Flite” was sold to Callaway, and is used for discount clubs and balls.

When Did Spalding Stop Making Golf Clubs?

Spalding stopped making clubs in 2002. Insurmountable debt, uncertain management, and stiff competition forced Spalding to stop production.

About the Author

By Coach Erik Schjolberg – Last Updated Jan 7, 2024

Expertise:     Golf Instruction     Golf Equipment Testing     Golf Practice Programs     Online Golf Instruction

Coach Erik actively coaches several PGA Tour Professionals . He’s the head golf instructor and writer here at Swing Yard, was voted the “#1 Golf Coach in Scottsdale, Arizona”, and has been coaching for over 20+ years. Erik also owns and operates his own online golf school, EJS Golf Academy . His other credentials include: Active PGA Coaches Membership, Titleist TPI Level 1 and 2, Trackman Certified Level 1, Dr. Kwon’s Biomechanics Level I and II, Scott Cowx Certified Level I Advanced, BodiTrack and V1 Sports Pressure Mat Certified, Titleist Club Fitting and Ball Fitting Certified, PGA Hope, and Sportsbox AI. Check out Erik’s full bio and certifications for more info.

26 thoughts on “Spalding Irons By Year”

When was ladies Tee-Flite clubs released

I can’t find an exact year, but it looks like there were two versions. The old school blades to me look like they are probably from the 1970’s based on the shape. The cavity back version seems like it’s a 1990’s release. Hope that helps.

I’ve got a set of Spalding’s “Professional II” irons that i got for Christmas in 1985. My original set has long since worn out and disposed of, but i did find an exact duplicate set at a local golf shop (even down to the original grips!). Anyway, they’re beautiful forged clubs, but i don’t see much info on the internet about them. Any ideas on the manufacture history of them, or if they were played by anyone in the pros?

I don’t know anything about them myself and I can’t seem to find much online either. I do see a few sets on ebay, but that’s about it. I doubt they were played by anyone on tour. Hope that helps man.

I am curious… I have a crossline jumbo Lamkin Spalding professional Double Eagle pro – crafted 8 Iron golf club… Is this an actual Classic cash keeper, or an obsolete used stick??? Thank you for your time & reply…

Honestly, I think it’s more of the latter haha. The single clubs from the Double Eagle set are going on ebay for around $12. You never know what might happen or who might want to pay a lot for it from a COLLECTOR’S standpoint, but it’s a long shot. The reality is that the old technology in those clubs is extremely outdated from a user’s standpoint. Hope that helps!

So enjoyed finding your site. My Dad sent me off to college in 1960 with a set of Top Flight Pros, with which I was lucky and modestly good enough to make the golf team. Haven’t played since 1968z Today, took them all out and conditioned all the grips with Lexol Dad would be pleased.

Nice… such a classic set! That’s a pretty cool story for father’s day, I bet he’s looking down and feeling proud. I’m curious, what college did you play for?

I just purchased a set of Robert Jones Jr. Spalding registered irons, with the fish scale face, and I am having troubles getting any more information on them. Looks like they have a shaft that is wrapped in like a bamboo wrap. They have the leather notched form grip. There is a circle stamped next to the name on the back of the club face and all I have seen are ones with a diamond or triangle. Can you possibly help me out?

Hey Tim, it looks like they are from around 1933! I have found a few on ebay, but they do all have the diamond stamp, not the circle. But I imagine they are very similar. I hope that helps with what you were looking for.

Just found a Spalding Lady Luck 5 iron whilst cleaning out my garage ( belonged to my mother). Probablv from the 50’s I would reckon. I can’t find any info on them. would it be worth selling on to someone who would appreciate it more than me!

I looked and cannot find anything on a Lady Luck iron. Honestly, I don’t think it would be worth much more than sentimental value at this point. I would probably keep it since it was your mother’s haha, but that’s up to you.

Do you know anything about Double Eagle irons? Year? Forged? Thanks, Russ

From the look alone, I’d say they are from the 1960’s era. A far as forged, I’d guess YES… being that they are from that era of the classic forged blade irons. And, the cast clubs back then were really large and clunky.

Hopefully you can help me out dating a club. I have a Spalding Robert T Jones club head that I’m having trouble placing a date on. Someone turned it into a bottle opener. The back is his signature with the word ‘MODEL’ under it and ‘STAINLESS’ in the lower left corner. The bottom of course has Spalding, but instead of a number it’s stamped with ‘RU’. The face is grooved with a circle of eight dots, plus one in the middle, at the sweet spot. I’d say it’s from the 1930’s, but having RU instead of a number has me wondering just what this thing is. Thanks in advance, Paolo.

From your description, it definitely resembles the other Robert Jones models from the 1930’s, so that would be my guess. As far as the RU, I have no idea what that could mean. I hope that helps.

I recently bought a staggered set of Spalding Elite Plus Irons at Value Village. Under 30$ for the 2,4,6,8 from the Original Set. Was interesting that these 4 clubs were/are in near perfect condition, while the odd number clubs were just absolutely beaten hard. Anyhow, these are the 1979 clubs listed above. They are considered Muscle Back-Blades? which are not forged but “Investment Cast” as best I can determine. Can someone enlighten me on exactly what Investment Cast means versus Forged. Thanks very much for your help. JDP.

Hey JDP, Investment Cast is simply the technical name for the casting process. They basically use a wax model of the club head, coat that with a ceramic, and let that harden. Then, the wax is melted away, and the ceramic cast is filled back in with molten metal. The metal gets cooled, the ceramic is broken away, and voila – a perfectly shaped club head is born (and pretty much ready to go). Forged, on the other hand, is a single piece of metal, heated, and then hammered into shape with lots of pressure. Then there is still the process of grinding, buffing, and detailing out to the exact club head specifications.

A few years back I picked up a set of vintage Spaulding Registered irons 2-8 with an All Purpose Top Flight Tournament wedge that has the same grip but doesn’t match the rest of the set at an antique store and basically stored them until now. I ran across your site and pulled them back out for a look. According to your site the Registered irons are from around 1936? They have Spaulding Registered on the bottom and Top-Flight Tournament Model with a diamond on the back and Stainless on the toe on the back. The sticker on the shafts say “True Temper Dynamic” They are narrow, black with red lines. The grips look to factory with a circle inside a circle on the butt end. All but two of the grips are in nice condition for the age. The wedge grip is split on a straight line and the 8 iron is starting to split along the same line. I looked all over that place for the 9 iron but couldn’t find it?

Do you know any additional info about these? Are they valuable or collectible.

I have seen them before on ebay. I would say they are probably worth around $100 for the set as of now. Sure, they are “collectible” in the sense that there are probably some people out there who want to add them to their collection of vintage golf clubs. But that doesn’t necessarily translate to being worth a lot. If they were in mint condition, AND you couldn’t get them easily on ebay, then maybe they could be worth something to someone one day. Hope that helps

I figured they may be worth a little something. When I bought them I was thinking about re-gripping them and playing with them. Now I’m thinking I don’t want to take the original grips off? I’ll likely just leave them as is and put them back up.

Well, you never know what could happen in the future…

I have my fathers Spalding Top Flite irons. They say SYNCHO-DYNED. The registration number is 442576A. 2 iron through 9. They are obviously used but are in good condition. He quit golfing in the late 1950’s but had been a single digit player. I started playing in 1963 at age 11 but these were too heavy. They have been moved from house to house as my wife and I have moved. At age 71, it is time to sell them. What is a fair value and how do I sell them other than e-Bay. Much appreciated

John, they are probably the 1953 model. Other than ebay? Maybe 2nd-swing.com. There is a set going for just under $400 on ebay now, so I’d say you may get something in that range. Maybe they have more value to you sentimentally? Hope that helps

Lovely read. I’ve got a SW and an 8 of Spalding Excellence.. Can’t find any information about them anywhere though.

Yeah I can’t either… sorry man. Spalding has SO many old clubs, it can be difficult to find anything on some of them sometimes.

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Spalding Irons By Year: The Complete List!

Spalding began making golf equipment in the early 1900s and was one of the first companies to introduce the sport to the United States.

Having sat at the forefront of golf club innovation for much of the 20th century with popular lines like Top-Flite, Spalding ceased production of its clubs in 2002.

In this article, you’ll find a complete list of Spalding irons by year.

Spalding Irons By Year

Here is a full list of every Spalding iron release:

Spalding Irons By Year: 1918-1949

The very first Spalding irons were introduced in 1918 with the Ded Stop model.

Marketed as “golf’s greatest iron club,” the Ded Stop irons marked Spalding’s entry into golf club manufacturing, which would continue over the next century.

Throughout this period, Spalding experimented with numerous groove designs to increase spin, including the waffle face pictured above. Other versions featured a small black insert in the sweet spot for improved accuracy and feel.

Until the USGA banned deep-grooved irons, Spalding’s Ded Stop clubs brought a smile to countless players’ faces. My Golf Museum

In the 1920s, Spalding irons like the Stop Em model focused on weight placement by moving more mass towards the toe and heel areas of the clubhead for increased forgiveness. This was an early iteration of perimeter weighting, a technology that would evolve substantially in the coming decades.

Around 1931, Spalding launched the Kro-Flite RTJ (Robert Trent Jones) irons. This model added complexity and was built for consistent distances and accuracy.

Spalding was cementing itself as an innovator willing to test new club engineering theories and bring them to market. The company pioneered the process of “drop forging” to mass-manufacture its golf club heads, allowing for rapid scale.

The 1940 Kro-Flite irons incorporated manufacturing techniques used in World War II to redirect weight savings to the clubhead perimeter — perhaps the earliest example of game improvement irons. By the post-war late 1940s, Spalding had claimed the title as the #1 golf equipment company in America.

Spalding Irons By Year: 1950-1969

With rapidly growing interest in recreational golf in the 50s and 60s, Spalding ramped up the production of its clubs to unprecedented levels.

In 1953, Spalding released the iconic Top-Flite Synchro-Dyned series. These irons were designed to be more forgiving than previous models, with a broader top line to add confidence. Spalding’s goal: make golf “a lot more fun.”

By the 1960s, Spalding’s Top-Flite line was an established name in the premium golf club space. In 1968, the company released the Top-Flite Professional i rons. Check out the video below by The Vintage Golfer to see them in action:

Spalding Irons By Year: 1970-1979

By the 1970s, Spalding irons were some of the most played in golf alongside Wilson irons and MacGregor irons . It was certainly a golden period for these brands.

In 1972, it introduced the Executive MV2 and Elite MV2 irons. Fitted with steel shafts, they featured forged stainless steel heads with a polished finish.

In 1977, the company launched a new version of the Executive irons. This club was in production for over 8 years and featured a hammered finish on the back of the club head. The Executive branding is debossed on the rear of the cavity.

Check out the Executive irons in action in the video below:

A similar hammered texture was utilized on the Elite Plus irons, which were launched in 1979. This time round, the irons were built with a larger cavity, as perimeter weighting technology became preferred during this period.

Spalding Irons By Year: 1980-1989

In 1981, Spalding introduced the XL4 irons. These clubs were engineered with an angular cavity design, and once again catered for the mid to high-handicapper.

By the mid-1980s, the company embraced investment casting manufacturing to enable designs like the Cannon irons with extreme perimeter weighting.

Spalding Irons By Year: 1990-2000

With CAD design taking hold, Spalding engineers had more precision than ever to craft exotic iron shapes and weight placement schemes.

Irons like 1997’s Magna line concentrated mass well behind the hitting area by forming large cavity backs, reminiscent of today’s game improvement irons.

Around this time, Spalding employed golf club designer Jeff Sheets to design a line of clubs titled Tour Ti . Featuring a cavity back design and a muscle shaft, the irons had a clubface made from 100% titanium for optimal weight and power.

Sadly, this was one of the final Spalding designs. The brand ceased production of its golf clubs in the early 2000s, bringing over 80 years of history to a close.

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Jake Taylor

Hailing from the South West of England, Jake has been playing golf for over a decade. He founded Pitchmarks with the aim of helping everyday golfers like himself learn more about the game, through instructional content and honest gear reviews. He has a degree in Architecture and a passion for golf course design, along with a lofty goal to play the world's top 100 courses.

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Notes: Standard shaft options include Top-Flite XL 2000 steel and Top-Flite XL 2000 graphite. Length noted is for steel shafts; add .5" for graphite length.

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Golf Club Design​ ​

Golf Club Development

Sourcing & Consulting

Spalding Top-Flite

In 1995 Spalding Sporting Goods reorganized its golf club division by forming the Top-Flight golf company as its premium club brand.  They dropped the Tour Edition moniker and focused on the expansion of their touring staff on the PGA, Senior PGA and LPGA tours. 

Model:  Tour Pro Offset

Material/Mfg:  Investment Cast 304 Stainless Steel

Introduction:  1996

Numerous iterations of the Top-Flite Tour irons existed when I joined Spalding in 1995. All of Spalding’s PGA Tour staff members were using some version of the design. I developed a more blade-like adaptation called the Tour Pro Offset based on a CNC milled cavity back blade that Payne Stewart was playing with. Spalding couldn’t get Payne into their cast irons until I finished the development of this model. However for his set we had to cut the hosels off and match the offset to his old Wilson Staff blades. This was the #1 iron played on the Senior PGA Tour from 1995-1999 due to a lot of custom grinding options we made available to card carrying tour players. The soft 304 stainless steel made this an easy club to transition to from a forged blade. Note the balance bar in the cavity’s center. It places a thick solid mass of soft steel directly behind the impact are of the face’s center. This was a design feature established early on and incorporated in all Top-Flite Tour irons and also the previous Tour Edition irons.

Model:  Tour Ti Iron with Muscle Shafts

Material/Mfg:  Investment Cast 17-4 Stainless Steel with 100% CP Titanium Face

Introduction:  1997

The Tour Ti iron was another iteration of the popular Top-Flite Tour Oversize iron introduced a year earlier. I worked with Fenwick Golf to optimize the graphite Muscle shaft with each iron head through an engineering principle called Modality Synchronization. This was a scientific process that had yet to be successfully pursued by a major golf OEM. It focused on the shaft’s second, third and fourth frequency nodes by aligning their planes with the center of the face. Few clubs exist where these nodes all align. Lee Trevino took the very first set of prototype Muscle shafts and played with them the week after our initial testing to win the Legends of Golf event in 1996. He touted them in an interview with USA Today . . . eight months prior to us being ready to introduce them to the public.

Model:  Intimidator 400 Woods

Material/Mfg:  Investment Cast 6-4 Titanium

The Top-Flite Intimidator 400 woods derive their name from the .400” oversized tip configuration of the shaft. TaylorMade had been using the .400” tip with great success in their Bubble Shafts at the time and was paying Spalding a royalty for licensing the technology from them. It only seemed natural that we should be using our own technology on products with our name on them. The Intimidator 400 fairway woods were what made this product unique. The soles progressively grew a higher bounce angle as the loft increased throughout the set. You could hit these fairway woods out of bunkers, divots and the deep rough with ease. The sole’s bounce would ensure the leading edge hugged the turf during impact, minimizing both thin and fat shots. Typical wood soles have a convex shape with no bounce. Lee Trevino originally asked me to produce a prototype 5-wood model with bounce on the sole. I created a down and dirty version of the concept by applying automotive bondo to the sole of a 5-wood in order to create the high bounce angle (originally 12°). The model got shipped off to Lee at a Senior PGA Tour event in Palm Springs where he proceeded to shaft the head up and put on a small clinic to spectators on how to hit woods shots out of a bunker. How do I know this? It appeared on the front page of a Palm Springs newspaper’s sports section the following day. That model was never intended to be hit; only a shaping sample. Lee Trevino, the consummate promoter! Lee and I share both a utility and design patent for the Intimidator 400 woods.

Model:  MicroGroove Putters

Material/Mfg:  Invest Cast Aluminum Bronze

These bronze color putters were originally cast in stainless steel but the paint used to finish them did not hold up well with the first prototypes. Coast Cast Manufacturing in Southern California provided some prototype samples in aluminum bronze that looked rich and felt tremendously soft. I approved them for production before Coast Cast indicated they really didn’t want to do the castings in the aluminum bronze due to manufacturing challenges. Too late. They were committed to the program and we forged ahead with the gold colored putters. The faces of the MicroGroove putters may look familiar to all you Rife Putter fans out there. This is the project that brought Guerin Rife and me together back in the mid-1990’s. The putters were designed using Guerin’s grooved face technology under a licensing agreement and helped put him on the putter designing map. He fully designed the subsequent generation of MicroGroove putters which never got introduced to the market place. Next best thing when things don’t go right? Start your own putter company.

Model:  Tour Women's Set

Material/Mfg:  Stainless/Titanium Woods, 431 Stainless Steel Irons

Introduction:  1997​

This innovative women’s set took all of the design leads from our Spalding LPGA Advisory Committee led by Marlene Floyd. Unlike sets of the day the 3-iron was eliminated (and I strongly opposed the 4-iron also but lost that battle). I designed a Diamond Cut Sole sand wedge with an enormous undercut flange size by 1997 standards that many male golfers placed in their own sets. A high end chipper was part of the set configuration and Muscle graphite shafts were standard. All of the irons were finished in a champagne tone plating. The woods were all much higher lofts than found on women’s sets in the 1990’s and off-set hosels assisted with getting the ball airborne more easily than other OEM women’s sets. We got much push back from male golfers over the purple graphics because many found that they hit the Top-Flite Women’s woods farther and more consistently than any men’s models. However the color was ill received by the male golfing populace.

Model:  Tour Wedges

Material:  Investment Cast 304 Stainless Steel with Aluminum Oxide Face Coating

Introduction:  1998

At the 1996 Player’s Championship Payne Stewart gave me an earful about Spalding’s past wedge designs. Even though he was on their staff he never played with any of the models feeling that their sole shapes and face profiles hadn’t been the best on the market. Payne challenged me to not reinvent the wheel when it came to the next generation of Top-Flite Tour wedges. This new wedge utilized a long tapered neck hosel that transitioned into a traditional tear drop face profile. I eliminated the trademark Diamond Cut Sole that had been a design standard for all of the Top-Flite irons at the time in lieu of a traditional flange shape (however we retained engravings of the Diamond Cut sole graphics). In addition to its square grooves I added a rough aluminum-oxide flame sprayed coating on the face to increase contact friction with the ball (higher spin). Strangely enough, even though the U.S. Golf Association allows 180 micro inches of surface roughness on an iron’s face most sand blasted surfaces measure fewer than 20 micro inches. The new Tour Wedge brought the score line area roughness up to the legal limit. Although cast from 304 stainless steel these wedges felt forged due to the dampening properties of the aluminum-oxide face. Payne informed me I did well by designing exactly what he asked for, but he never removed his Cleveland sand wedge from his bag.

Model: Top-Flite Intimidator Fairway Woods Material: Investment Cast 17-4 Stainless Steel Body with Titanium Faces Introduction: 1996

One of my very first projects upon arrival at Spalding was to improve the sound and performance of their topless crown Magna driver and to develop a family of fairway woods to accompany their new Intimidator driver. I began the fairway wood project by queering the Top-Flite staff players on their ultimate fairway features. The general consensus was that there needed to be minimal turf resistance from the soleplate accompanied by more heel and toe relief than on other models on the market. There was a desire to see a progression in face profile depth as the lofts increased. I worked these featured into the Intimidator fairway woods which featured a heavy stainless steel body to deepen the center of gravity along with a light weight titanium face. As for the Magna driver project – let’s just say there are some mistakes that cannot be corrected.

History of Spalding Golf Clubs

No matter what brand of club you pull from your bag, you owe some thanks to one company — Spalding. At the turn of the 20th Century, golf had stirred mild interest in the United States, and A.G. Spalding & Brothers sporting goods saw an opportunity.

The company was already selling golf balls when, in 1905, it became the first in America to offer its own brand of golf clubs.

The Early Years of Spalding Golf

Starting in 1900, Spalding opened club-making factories in London and in Fife, Scotland, producing forged iron heads for Spalding clubs sold both in the UK and U.S. Irons made during that time are distinguished by an anvil cleek mark.

The company's unique "baseball mark" — A.G. Spalding had helped put baseball on the map--was stamped on the clubs and below it "Made in Great Britain" appeared. Throughout America, the affordable Spalding clubs flew off the shelves and reaped huge catalog sales.

Spalding Golf Innovation

Spalding introduced many variations of hickory-shafted clubs to bring distance and control to the professional and duffer alike. By 1910, the company was selling aluminum fairway clubs and its Gold Medal series (1910 to 1919) featured aluminum bronze.

The company’s lead-faced putters also provided better touch for players. One of the most famous Spalding clubs was the Cran Cleek (club with a narrow face and little loft) for poor fairway lies and even putts. Today, collectors prize the narrow-faced Cran Cleek.

Deep Grooved and Drop Forged

Golfers have always known that deep-grooved irons produce better control and spin. Spalding led the way with such deep-grooved designs as the "waterfall" and waffle-face irons. Until the USGA banned deep-grooved irons, Spalding's Stop 'Em and Dedstop clubs brought a smile to countless players' faces.

By the Roaring '20s, A.G. Spalding & Brothers was using the process of "drop forging" to manufacture metal club-heads. Club-makers’ traditional method had been to shape metal heads with an anvil and forge.

Now, like Henry Ford's assembly-line Model T's, Spalding craftsmen used a mechanical hammer to craft club-heads, drill sockets in them to attach the shaft and then polish the heads, all of which allowed Spalding to mass produce matching club sets.

State-of-the-Art Shafts

Spalding club-makers paid as much scrutiny to shafts as heads. The company experimented throughout the 1920s and 1930s with lathe-turned hickory shafts that featured circular ridges spaced at standard intervals down the entire shaft.

The design gave the clubs an exotic bamboo look; the underlying message being that these clubs offered players bamboo's legendary flexibility and whip-like strength.

Too Many Choices

With Spalding's mass-market success breeding scores of imitators, players could pick and choose from countless club lines. Golf bags bulged with 20 to 25 clubs, and the USGA, fearing too many specialty clubs had watered down the skill required in golf, took action. In 1938, the USGA passed an edict limiting players to 14 clubs .

Popular Spalding Golf Clubs

Some of the most popular Spalding Club models were:

• The Cran Cleek
• Spalding Pro Response
• Spalding Eclipse Irons
• Spalding Tour Edition Irons
• Spalding Molitor complete set
• Top-Flite Synchro-Dyned Irons

At one time, Greg Norman used the Spalding Tour Edition irons, now a collectors item, on Tour. Buyers can still find Spalding clubs on some secondary sites .

End of Spalding Golf

The success of Spalding golf clubs had compelled the USGA to act, but this success was not destined to last forever. 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.

Image: Central Press/Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Ball Review: Top Flite Strata

Golfmagic tests the Top Flite Strata in three different guises

The Strata range is aimed at the better player, ideally handicaps between scratch and nine, but it is also a versatile ball that anyone can use as they now have three models, The Tour Professional, ML balata and the Distance.

I tested all three and having always used a three-piece ball in the past, I tried the Strata for the first time last month and I was pleased with the results, especially with the Tour Professional model.

It takes some time to get used to the feeling of a two piece ball, but once you get familiar with it, it feels nice off the clubface, it is longer off the tee than my usual ball and I can spin it just as much around the greens. And it doesn't scuff up as badly when hit out of bunkers.

My only criticism is that they feel hard off the putter and take some getting used to at first.

The Tour Professional model was the best one of all and there was little to separate it from the ML balata model with its soft cover. But the Distance model felt like any other two piece ball, pretty hard and having used a soft cover ball for years, it was difficult to find my putting touch on the greens with that one.

In fairness, that ball is aimed at players wanting the maximum yardage off every wood and iron, not around the greens, so it was to be expected. But the other two, it was hard to distinguish any difference between them. They are both ' good players' balls and after a few rounds with each ball, the ML balata and the Tour Professional grew on me.

And the bit I like about those two is that they spin like silly if you hit a 'pure' wedge. The ball zips back a few feet and the group in front think that they have a pro behind them! Great fun at a pretty good price too.

I you are a single figure handicap player, go for the ML or the Professional model. If you are a higher handicapper or seek a bit of extra distance off the tee, the Distance model will suit you well.

In a market full of confusing golf balls, Top Flite have a winner in that there is a ball for just about anyone in the Strata range.

RRP Tour Professional: £9 for three ML Balata: £7.50 for three Distance: £7.50 for three

GOLFMAGIC RATING: 7/10

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Vintage Iron Database?

By KurtActual July 13, 2020 in Golf Clubs

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I recently purchased a set of Wilson SwingLite irons 3-9i. They're in like-new condition, only needing new grips.

Is there somewhere I can find data on these old clubs? Lofts? Manufacture dates? Etc?

Would be interested in other makes and models, but these in particular.

golf is fun

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Got some pics? Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Stan Thompson “Reactionizer” persimmon woods 1-4

Spalding Tour Edition 3-PW

Spalding Top-Flite E.V.A. Sand Club

Rife Legend Z Putter

adamflowers

I've had success googling specific clubs or heading over to  https://forums.golfwrx.com/categories/classic-golf-and-golfers

aerospace_ray

@aerospace_ray  the department store idea would make sense. There seems to be zero information, and really even less of these on resale websites.

Digging as deep as I could I found multiple advertisements from department stores circa 1985 listing the Wilson Swinglite clubs for sale. From what I can gather the heads were 15% lighter than standard heads and they cost $199 new. I’m not sure if that was for the irons only or with woods too. If you are willing to sign up for a 1-week free trail at newspapers.com you can find the ads there (they want a CC # to Bill after the first week). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Big box or not, older irons always look so dang good!  

Driver: Cobra Speedzone 10.5 Mitsubishi AV Blue S flex

Wood: Cobra Bio Cell 3-4 Grafalloy Pro Launch Blue (low launch original version) S flex

Hybrids: Taylormade GAPR 3 KBS graphite shaft

              Strata 4 and 5 hybrids R flex

Irons: Strata 6-PW R flex

Wedges: Texan Classics 52, 56, 60 R flex

Putter: Odyssey Red Ball mallet

Ball: Srixon Q Star Tour

32 minutes ago, deejaid said: Digging as deep as I could I found multiple advertisements from department stores circa 1985 listing the Wilson Swinglite clubs for sale. From what I can gather the heads were 15% lighter than standard heads and they cost $199 new. I’m not sure if that was for the irons only or with woods too. If you are willing to sign up for a 1-week free trail at newspapers.com you can find the ads there (they want a CC # to Bill after the first week). Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

So one other interesting thing or at least I like this kind of stuff regarding vintage clubs, I use to have notes from another golf site forum in which a collector or former PGA professional use to sell Wilson/Wilson Staff. He knew company history, and details on how to tell the decade a iron was produced. I know circa 1970 Pepsi Co bought Wilson. Several ownership changes since. Something about the style and paint fill colors stamped on sole of Wilsons would alway be key for determining age/decade of production. Can't find my notes. About all I have an old club identification (not many pics unfortunately).

I really wish someone would build a web site with all the companies and every single model ever produced with specs, etc. I sometimes think that would kick off a whole new vintage club business environment again and/or breathe life back in the vintage collector market. Oh well just me rambling. 

I like to use Ironfinder.com, though they dont have everything.  And I have the Maltby guide, which is pretty good, but it generally doesn't have dept. store product.

Which is why Brother deejaid's idea is so awesome.  Searching the depths of the archives should get you all sorts of results.

Driver: TM Original One 11.5* set to 11*, Aldila NV75 X, 43.5" -or- SpeedZone, HZRDUS Black 75 6.5, 43.5" 3w:  Cobra King LTD, RIP Beta 90, 42" -or- Stage 2 Tour, NV105 X, 42.5" 2h or 3h:  TaylorMade Stage 2 Tour, Aldila NV105 S -or- RIP Alpha 105 S Irons:  3-PW Mizuno MP37, Recoil Proto 125 F4 (reshaft in progress, slowly); 1i & 3-PW Golden Ram TW276, NV105 S; 2-PW Golden Ram TW282, RIP Tour 115 R GW: Dynacraft Dual Milled CNC 52*, Steelfiber 125 S; Scratch 8620 DS 53*, Steelfiber 125 S SW:  Ram TG-898 56*, DGX ss2x; Ram Tom Watson 55*, DGX ss2x; Wilson Staff PMP 58*, DGS; PM Grind 19 58*, stock shaft Putter:  Snake Eyes Viper Tour Sv1, 34"; Ping Scottsdale TR Craz-E, 35"; Cleveland Huntington Beach 1, 35" Ball:  Wilson Staff Duo Professional, Bridgestone Tour B-RXS, Callaway Chrome Soft

• sirchunksalot

4 hours ago, KurtActual said: Sent from my iPhone using MyGolfSpy

Those look absolutely gorgeous, big box clubs or not! Wilson knocks it out of the park when it comes to making classy, good looking clubs. 

1 hour ago, sirchunksalot said: Those look absolutely gorgeous, big box clubs or not! Wilson knocks it out of the park when it comes to making classy, good looking clubs. 

Here are the specs for 1989 Wilson Staff blades. Considering they still had a 50* PW in 1989 I’d be willing to bet the 1985 specs were similar. Probably a good guess for your clubs. Club Loft Lie 1 18 56 2 20 57 3 23 58 4 26 59 5 30 60 6 34 60 7 38 61 8 42 62 9 46 62 P 50 63 S 55 64 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Would it be worth reaching out to Wilson directly? See if they have any info they are willing to share?

Test Currently In Progress :  Fit For Golf 2.0

11 hours ago, deejaid said: Here are the specs for 1989 Wilson Staff blades. Considering they still had a 50* PW in 1989 I’d be willing to bet the 1985 specs were similar. Probably a good guess for your clubs. Club Loft Lie 1 18 56 2 20 57 3 23 58 4 26 59 5 30 60 6 34 60 7 38 61 8 42 62 9 46 62 P 50 63 S 55 64 Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Dr. @deejaid  I cannot thank you enough. They are about 4-5* off from my current irons, shouldnt be a huge issue getting these into play, just club up one iron compared to my current gamers.

46 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said: Would it be worth reaching out to Wilson directly? See if they have any info they are willing to share?

I'll give it a shot, you're right. Nothing to lose. Thanks for the idea.

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

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Spalding Tour Flite Perimeter Weighting

By Dave D December 18, 2021 in Classic Golf And Golfers

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I was given a complete set of Spalding Tour Flite Perimeter Weighting clubs starting with the driver down to the pitching wedge. What is the production date for these clubs? I have yet to take them to the course but have swung them at my home golf cage. 

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I am going to say early nineties by the grip design and shaft label. These look like a big box offering. 

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