If I Had $1,500: Barba Goes Used Club Shopping

As the elder statesman among the MyGolfSpy writing staff, I put up with more than my share of abuse. Recently, after yet another gutta percha joke and being asked repeatedly if I went to school with Old Tom Morris, I filed a complaint with our HR department.

Unfortunately, the source of the quips was our Director of Content Connor Lindeman – who is also our HR department. He told me he’d look into it.

After a month of deliberations (in reality, he forgot all about it – something about having a baby, blah, blah, blah), Connor told me MyGolfSpy was ready to settle: $1,500 to spend on old and vintage golf clubs, but I’d have to write an article about it.

I told him I wasn’t sure I could afford the $1,500 and asked if I could pay it in installments.

 He said no, they’d pay me.

Oh. That works, too.

If I had $1,500…

 I do love vintage irons. Turn me loose at either of the 2^nd Swing stores in Minneapolis, the used section at Golfer’s Warehouse in Danvers, Mass., or any thrift shop, and I won’t bother anyone for hours.

To clarify, I’m not into collectibles, like an authentic Calamity Jane or something Walter Hagen gamed in the ‘20s. I just like golf clubs, irons specifically. My current vintage stash is small. It includes the legendary ’99 Hogan Apex blades and my all-time favorites, the MacGregor VIP V-Foil 1025 CM progressive set.

So, what to spend my $1,500 H.R. settlement on? There is a boatload of iron sets on my radar but let’s start with what would probably be the “big ticket” items.

A Spalding legend

Spalding was a pro-level golf giant as recently as 2003. That’s when it crumbled under a mountain of debt, declared bankruptcy and was gobbled up by Callaway. My first “real” irons were the Spalding Executives, circa 1982. They were an unlovely cast set with full art-deco lettering but they do hold some sentimental value.

However, my real Spalding Holy Grail is the rare 1989 Spalding Tour Edition Bird-on-Ball blades.

Sexy, ain’t they?

eBay has a heads-only set from Japan for $1,400. That’s a budgetary non-starter but there’s a gorgeous set from Australia for AU$499, only $336 U.S. That’s a buy, especially since international shipping is only $25 for a total of $361.

An obvious choice

The PING Eye 2 is the best-selling iron of all time. It was current in the PING catalog for nearly a decade and remains eminently playable today. The PING Eye 2 also launched lawsuits between PING, the USGA and the PGA Tour over square grooves. Specifically, the 1984 BeCu beryllium copper models caused all the problems.

For some reason, and no one at PING knew why, the Eye 2 BeCu models were shredding balata balls like a cheese grater on Tour. The stainless-steel models weren’t, just the BeCu ones. Titleist asked Karsten Solheim if he could do anything.

In a competitive world, you’d excuse Karsten if he told Titleist the problem was their balls, not his irons. That, however, wasn’t Karsten’s style. He added a bit more radius to his grooves to help Titleist out. Unfortunately, the USGA hit the roof, claiming the grooves were illegal. That led to a court battle between PING and the USGA that lasted the rest of the decade before finally being settled.

So I don’t want the regular Eye 2. I want the troublemaker Eye 2. eBay again comes to the rescue with an eight-club BeCu set for $275 and free shipping. The fact that they’re orange dot (my PING lie) seals the deal.

Those two big ticket items total $636, leaving me with a balance of $864.

A MacGregor game changer

From the mid-’30s until the late ‘50s, MacGregor was unarguably the biggest name in golf. But starting in 1958, MacGregor was bought and sold more times than a Florida beachfront condo. Through it all, the company never stopped making great forged irons.

And its latest iteration is doing so again.  

However, let’s go back to 1950 for an iconic MacGregor set I’ve lusted after for years: the 1950 Toney Penna-designed M75.

It’s not what you’d call a classic blade with its shallow face, squat body and thick-ish topline. But it was, for 1950, revolutionary. Penna used a proprietary broaching machine developed by MacGregor’s owners to create the unique winged mass pad low and centered on the back of the clubface. It was distinctive and decorative but also functional. It pushed the CG lower, making it easier for golfers to launch them higher. Penna then realized he could strengthen the lofts to get flight down to what golfers were used to. Small side benefit: the irons flew like crazy.

They’re also a bargain on eBay. There’s a set for $70.

A pair of classic Wilsons

Is a retro-iron collection complete without some Wilson blades? I think not. These two are true classics.

First up are the 1971 Wilson Staff Dynapower Button Back blades. When I think of iconic Wilson irons, these are the first that come to mind. It’s a true muscle-back with Wilson’s bore-through Fluid Feel hosel, a squared toe and a top line so thin you could shave with it.

There’s even a touch of offset (every little bit helps with a blade, amiright?). The Button Back artwork is so gorgeous that Wilson resurrected it for its 100th-anniversary blades in 2014.

We found sets ranging from $50 (beat to hell) to over $200 (acceptable). But with less than $800 left and a lot of shopping left to do, I’m open to a bargain. There’s an incomplete set (6-PW) in nice shape for $48.

Next up is the 1959/1960 Dyna-Powered Staff Model irons. This was the era when Wilson started taking over the pro game. MacGregor was purchased by bowling giant Brunswick in 1958 which, according to legend, proceeded to screw the pooch. A profitable juggernaut became a red ink-soaked mess in 24 months and never fully recovered. The ’59 and ’60 Dyna-Powered models put Wilson in the driver’s seat for the next 25 years.

Both are classic Dyna-Powered with the unique sweeping muscle that brings mass down and towards the toe. Arnie played the 1960 models to win the Masters and U.S. Open and nearly win the PGA and British Open, so you’d think those would get the nod. However, I really dig the older old-school Wilson shield on the ’59 models with two flags instead of the W/S. There’s a set available for $95 on eBay.

We’re left with $651. Tough decisions are looming.

I’ll see your Wilsons and raise you a pair of Hogans

As an unabashed Hogan lover, I’d have to turn in my Ben Hogan Club membership card and decoder ring if there wasn’t at least one set of Hogans in the buying spree. On top of that, Jerry Austry would never speak to me again.

The first entry is the 1988 Hogan Edge. Austry was president of the Ben Hogan Company at the time and his memoir The Hogan Edge tells the story of how these irons, the first mass-produced forged cavity-back irons ever made, came to be. They were the most successful Hogan irons ever and one of the best-selling iron sets of all time.

Gotta have ‘em, so the set on eBay for $125 is going right in the cart.

Next up is a quirky, personal favorite: the 1968 Hogan Bounce Sole Plus 1. This iron has it all for me: Hogan’s distinctive blade-on-blade design with an underslung hosel. The blade-on-blade design pushed mass lower while keeping CG towards the heel, and the underslung hosel shifted the shaft axis closer to that CG. That’s supposed to make it more workable.

Someday, baby, I’ll know what it feels like to do that.

Those hash mark-looking notches on the top line? I can honestly say I have no idea what they’re for but they do look badass.

Found a set that’s missing the Equalizer for $79. I can deal with that because I’ll need my $447 balance.

 Some that missed the cut

Because Connor cut me off at $1,500, some difficult decisions had to be made.

I came this close to buying a set of the splendid Cleveland 588 Forged CB/MB irons when they came out in 2012. Those and the 2000 Cleveland TA1 irons will have to wait for the next HR transgression.

Ditto for the Walter Hagen Haig Ultras from the mid-‘80s. Hagen was owned by Wilson back then and the irons were first-class. I only recently learned of the Arnold Palmer Tru Matic irons from the mid-‘60s but, great googly-moogly, they’re sweet.

I tried to find a set of the NIKE Vapor Fly Pro irons from 2016 but they’ve reached a mythical status after Koepka and Finau kept their 3-irons in play long after NIKE shut down. Full sets on eBay are starting around $500 with a still-in-plastic set going for nearly $1,900. 

Nah.

The 2012 Adams Idea CMB irons are in the same category as the Cleveland 588 Forged CB/MB. Additionally, there are several MacGregor sets I’d love to get my hands on. The 2010 VIP forged cavity-backs released by Golfsmith were a winner as were the MT Pro-C and Pro-M irons from 2008. But, man, for classics, it’s hard to top this sweet bastard:

Our last $447

These last two will make you scratch your head, but hear me out.

1976 was a great year. I was 16 and got my driver’s license and my first girlfriend in the same week.

Oh, yeah, there was this Bicentennial thing going on, too.

The original Lynx was making a name for itself with its unique investment cast irons. Its 1972 Master Model iron was cited by MyGolfSpy in 2011 as one of the most important innovations in golf’s modern era.

But that’s not the one I want. I want these:

Lynx celebrated the USA’s 200^th birthday with this beauty called the Liberty. I don’t care what it costs. I want ’em. There’s a set for $204 and I must have.

That leaves me with $243.

With that, I want the nicest set of Golden Ram Tour Grind irons I can find.

We found a couple of sets in good shape for $299. I’d have to dump the MacGregor M75 irons to make it fit but I want it all.

Several Ram Tour Grind FLC sets are available but those have a large dollop of material scooped out of the muscle. Maybe they look better in person but, based on pictures, that’s a bridge too far for me.

If you keep searching eBay, sometimes good things happen. I was ready to give up when I came across a 4-PW set that looked in pretty good condition for, wait for it …

$99. 

BAM! In the cart. A little polish will go a long way.

And what’s this? I have $144 left?

Let’s pick up a set of the second-best-selling irons of all time for $100.

The Tommy Armour 845s.

That leaves me with $44. 

It won’t burn a hole in my pocket for long.

The Final Tally:

Here’s what our shopping spree netted us:

Thanks, Connor.

Now where am I going to put all this s*#t?   

Your turn

If Connor were to give you $1,500, what would be on your classic iron list?