What happened to these Golf Brands?
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From my understanding Spalding's golf division went bankrupt in 2003, so they sold the Top Flite, Strata, and Ben Hogan names off to Callaway. Top Flite became exclusively package set clubs and were later sold off to Dick's Sporting Goods to become a store-exclusive brand much like Slazenger. Strata remains Callaway's package set name, now Callaway Strata. Ben Hogan was sold to Perry Ellis, which a group of investors came in to try and revive the equipment side of the brand. After the investment group filed for bankruptcy, the man put in charge of Ben Hogan's revival decided to go the direct-to-consumer route, which has up to this point succeeded. While Callaway no longer owns Ben Hogan, they retained the rights to use certain trademarks such as Apex and Edge from Ben Hogan, which you can see they both use today.
What happened to Adams still annoys me. I loved their clubs, especially their hybrids. In fact, i still use a set of their IDEA CMB irons to this day. Taylormade buying them, cannibalizing their tech and then effectively killing the brand off was a big loss for golf in my opinion.
Best brand to ever be killed off. I still hit a few of them now and theyre awesome. Especially the last few products they put out. XTD, Blue and their Protos still hold up with most new clubs.
Taylormade bought them out
I will never get rid of my 4 hybrid v4, by far the best club in my bag and I have newer equipment.
played golf for 20 years and never even heard about Adams, b4 today, so it can't possibly have been that bad :D
@@Reavix1 🤷🏻♂️ I find that hard to believe
When I first started playing, about 45 years ago, I used a half set of Swilken irons and had a 2 and 4 wood.
My first full set was also Swilken but kept using the old 2 and 4 woods
I started playing around 1994. Brands I remember from those early days outside of the big names were Maxfli and Precept for golf balls, irons were Wilson, Slazenger, Northwestern, Tommy Armour. When it came to woods outside of some wanting the Lynx Boom Boom set, it was pretty much a Big Bertha or nothing back then. Or you'd get a Big Bertha knock off like I did.
Powerbuilt was my favorite back in the 80's
Yep had them for a while
Great content guys, always like to here your thoughts on what’s happening in the golf world. Keep up the good work.
For years, I've been thinking of this exact same topic. When I started, I played Spalding and then MacGregor. They faded away and along came Callaway and TaylorMade.
Some companies have decided to stick with just golf products, and put all of their money into R&D and marketing. Others decided to branch out into several sports and became “sporting goods companies”. Wilson is not only a generalist company, they even became famous for being a supporting actor in a successful film with Tom Hanks!
my thought as well.
My first set was Wilson. And tbh they were so good for even a beginner set. Bought a new set of callaway off eBay and I love them.
Power Bilt. Back in 70s and 80s. Beautiful woods and solid blade irons under Citation name
I still have a set of John Letters Parbusters from at least 20 years ago, that I got fitted for in Nevada Bobs, before they were bought out by American Golf. Still use them to this day, but that will hopefully change. Searched for a set on ebay and found some for £12 hahaha
I remember a few of these from the 90s. I was a ball picker for the range and had an assortment of lost clubs to try (some players never came back for them). They all fell by the wayside when I tried a more modern cavity back. Like it or not, it was a better feeling hit. Still love the look of older irons but know there is so much more with companies that continue to improve their design.
Wilson staff are definitely back in the game. Over the last 5 years, their gear has been mustard 👌
I’ve always said Wilson balls hold up way longer than others. Wilson will be just fine. They have the best golf ball for the money.
Couldn’t agree more. I feel like Rick is a bit off the mark on present day Wilson. The past 5-10 or so years they’ve done a good job on the reboot, and don’t really focus on the box set anymore.
They’re making a concerted effort to put out more quality. They’re forged blades, and CB’s are the real deal.
I think I actually read an article online where they did a deep dive on where it all went wrong
I've used TP5's, Pro V1's, Chromesofts etc but I've always been very impressed with Wilson Staff balls. For the price point they're punching well above their weight.
Had Wilson Staff's back in the day they were big time even with a sweet spot the size of a dime.
I bought my W/S FG62's in 2013, beautiful irons.
I'm currently playing a full bag of Lynx golf clubs. #BB driver and irons, Lynx black cat 3 wood, Lynx parallax 3 and 4 hybrid, Lynx predator wedges and a Lynx predator putter.
All absolutely fantastic clubs.
My first package set were Pinseeker bought in two halves from my mums "club book". Then I had a couple of sets of RAMS, last ones being ZX before I went to Wilson Deep Red Maxx. Still playing those woods and have just grabbed a set of D7 irons, played them for the first time this weekend.
I still use a Pinseeker putter that I bought 36 years ago
My first proper set was by Founders Club and I had a Yonex driver. Both still have a soft spot in my heart.
My first set of golf clubs were slazenger and I moved onto Spalding which I still use today. However I have upgraded my driver to Callaway legacy. Now looking at the new set of Callaway rogues which I’m trying out today
My dad LOVED Wilson clubs, he played a set of Wilson fat shafts for years until he couldn't really play golf anymore due to back issues.
I still play an old set of Wilson FG 17 blades a couple times a year to remind myself (a) how little blades have changed and (b) that I'm a long way from being a good golfer ;)
My first full set when I was a junior were Spalding Rebels, then went full Lynx with the Black cat irons and woods - good clubs! I think Yonex are another brand who were big in the 90's but you never hear of in the golf world now
I’ve recently switched to Wilson clubs, and even though they aren’t seen as sexy or cool, I always get asked what driver I’m using(Wilson Cortex) and my D9 irons I just got, but wow do they inspire confidence in every shot at the range. I think it’s fun being the guy that rocks a brand that most don’t. It’s fun turning heads with clubs that cost half as much as my friends clubs.
There are so many great, underrated, clubs and brands that people scoff at, but are easy to hit, play so consistently at a fraction of the cost of the new crap.
Good stuff. Bob Parsons screaming at me to try PXG immediately after the clip was just icing
The Dunlop 65 golf ball is one of my earliest memories of playing golf in the early 90s. Iconic!
Dunlop Warwick balls from the 70's 😳😳
Northwestern , Powerbilt , Maruman. Guy mentioned Ram and the tour grind was a beautiful iron , I still have my Spaulding tour edition irons that Greg Norman used . I have a set of tp9 too .
The only iron that would come close to preforming with the modern ball from that era is the Ping Eye 2 which is a timeless classic
Powerbilt was massive when I started in '89
I had an old Wilson 60 degree wedge, it was the club I was most effective with. I swapped it out for Vokey and took a huge step backwards with my chipping...
My first set were
MacGregor Chi Chi Rodriguez forged irons. There's a legendary golfer not many people speak of today...
My first set was MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Golden Bear irons and woods.
Dunlop - Ray Floyd was my first set. The woods had steel shafts, and little heads (compared to today). Could almost pick my spot on the fairway where I wanted the ball to land. Now I slice every wood I have had the last 28 years.
Powerbilt. Absolutely loved them.
They hung on for a while with no pro sponsorship. Junk now days
My first 2 sets of clubs were Wilson. Quality wise I was more than happy but when I moved on and had fitted clubs, I wanted to get a more popular brand. Brand snobbery took over me.
As for Lynx, my local golf club still sell them and apparently are a fairly decent set of clubs at half the cost.
Hello Gentlemen, this was a great conversation looking back on brands of the past. I cannot help to wonder if one day we will look back on the big three the same way. Titleist, Callaway and Taylormade. For a while there it appeared that Taylormade was in trouble and have recovered. I will say, I do not play Taylormade or Wilson irons because of the speed pockets and power holes. I realize its an aesthetic, but I can't get past those so I do not play those brands.
Hippo "John Daly signature" full set: My first ever set of golf clubs. They were great. Gutted that Hippo don't really make golf equipment anymore.
I played my first round of golf in May this year and got the bug. Had a quick look on the web for a quality package set and ended up with a set of Lynx Powertune, for just over £300 including bag. I have to say that they’ve been absolute quality in getting me going in the right direction. That said, I can’t wait to pick up my JPX921’s from a fitting, when they eventually arrive!!
Going back more than 20 years ago, I loved my Soft Cast Pinseeker irons (~1990) They had the only 1 and 2 irons that were hittable. I donated them years ago and I totally regret it.
Still rocking the Wilson Firestick from '07 and Dunlop wedges. I'm still happy with them but I also haven't swung a new club to compare
I started playing in the early 70’s. My first set was piece meal, but I remember I had a Northwestern driver. I would play found balls (still do really, as a 12 year old kid, hunting balls was a necessity but it became as fun as playing and it kind of stuck with me) but I remember if I had a choice I would play Spaulding Eagles (couldn’t cut one with a knife) or Club Specials by Acushnet. My first full set were Sam Snead Blue Ridge by Wilson. I salivated over the Titleist Acushnet irons, with the heal/toe weights but those were well beyond my means. Oh and the same with the Bulls Eye putter. I went in to Wilson Staff Clubs that I loved and when I bought my first set of Tommy Armour 845’s I thought I had made the big time.
Hippo were my first half set as a junior. They were a two in one set. 5/6 iron, 7/8 iron, 9/P. They did the trick!
I am still playing with my Wilson Ci9 irons (3-9, PW,GW,SW) bought in 2010 and still love them. Why change if they suit your game?
I currently still use my Lynx set I got years ago. I have broke the head off my 3 wood and driver so I upgraded those. The irons are fine, I tell myself that I need to become a better golfer before upgrading.
My first set years ago was a packaged Wilson set from a big box store, I gamed those for years (still have the stand bag). I’m still gaming Wilson irons and I love them. I do miss Adam’s golf for the hybrids and fairways but they got their tech taken into Taylormade via their patents.
Adams Golf relaunched the 3-5 Fairway clubs in 16*-19*, and 3, 4, 5, and 6 Hybrids in 20*, 23*, 26* and 29* lofts back in September 2021. They have some good prices on the clubs, or on sets. I just purchased the 3-5 Fairway and 3-4 Hybrid Set for like $550.00 taxes included and free shipping!!!
Arnold Palmer was a set I used, along with Lynx and Dunlop even Wilson. They still to this day have some clubs that are pretty great for begginers.
I have a set of Daiwa Tryace irons from the 90's. Another company that seemingly stopped making golf gear - they now specialise in fishing gear. Ian Baker-Finch won the 1991 Open using Daiwa Advisor DG-273 blades and I believe Tiger also used them in the early 90's
I still miss my Orlimar Trimetal fairway wood. Also a shout out to Makser, who made great drivers and fairway woods as well.
Haven't heard that name in a very long time!
We have that orlimar😊 in the family my nephew used to drive it a mile,my brother has it but I will get it back
Still playing my 23-24 year old Macgregor Tourney Tungsten MT irons (3-SW). Great set of irons.
I still play Callaway 460 driver, Adams knock off 3w, 5w. Ping ISI black dot irons, and an Odyssey 3 ball putter(half moon shape, it’s huge).
The craziest clubs I ever owned were Gary Player Shakespeare Black Fiberglass irons. That's right - fiberglass shafts! The 9-iron went 150 yards high and 120 years long and left a dovot two inches deep. The 2-irons? The 2-irons went everywhere!
I've hit that ......someone had some and we took them out to the range, ....like a buggy whip, ahahaha
First ever set was MacGregor irons and Powerbuilt wood woods, and a bullseye putter. My first new buy were Hogan edge. Wish I still had those. Also still have a set made by Head but currently playing a vintage set of Tommy Armour 845s Silver Scots that were given to me in brand new, never played condition.
Always thought my Wilson Ultra System 45 Irons were great clubs. Came close to switching to Lynx but my ultras at the time were good for me.
Being Canadian the brand that stands out the most were Accuform, an incredible golf club, that had a couple of serious players on staff. DLIII comes to mind.
I have Wilson Staff wedges and I prefer them over anything else I've used. Didn't most of the "old" brands just get swallowed up but the bigger names?
The R&D involved im sure is staggering financially to stay at the top. Some companies just cant keep up and fold while others, like Wilson, stay with tennis, their bread and butter.
As far as wilson wedges, i would love to try, but im now a vokey lifer. I played taylormade tp wedges for yrs, their pro level wedges. I finally broke the mold and bought a vokey, simply unbelievable how much better they are. Whole different planet. While i plan on wilsons “staff model irons” in my testing for new irons this yr i can promise you one thing, give a vokey a fair shake and you’ll never touch your wilson wedges again. It took me hitting maybe 5 balls on the course to be a full believer. I replaced my 60 degree with a vokey 1 day later.
A few other brands I remember using in the past were Brosnan & Infinity. I also had some Tommy Armor 845 Silver Scot irons which served me well.
The 845's were some of the best irons ever made, they still hold up in comparison testing today. But now it's fitting, fitting, fitting... = $$$.
Wilson were a huge name and had good products in most categories, from their Staff range through to their player endorsed ranges such as Sam Snead and Patty Berg. They made great bags and putters, their balls were decent too.
Where they went wrong was in chasing the dollar and losing touch with their heritage. They went solely after the "store-line" market thinking this was where the money lay, they didn't invest in the pro-line market and tragically became known as a budget brand.
Only now, after years of hard grind, are they regaining some respect for their top end clubs.
I found a set of Wilson Laura Baugh blades, beautiful clubs.
I have had a couple of sets of Wilson, i had the Ultras with Graphite shafts, irons were good woods were a bit whippy, moved to the steel shafts with the hybrids, pass them down to my son. Now have Taylormade Burners ,have the bubbleshafts, excellent for me, get good yardage, and straight, excellent clubs
As a fan of John Daly my first full set was Dunlop LoCo (Driver thru Putter). I even used the LoCo balls. They are still in good condition. My wife even uses them when we go out for a round.
I love my Wilson’s, I’m still a newbie to golf and I was using a set of dunlops and couldn’t hit a thing. I grabbed a bargain with a set of Wilson’s and I can’t believe how forgiving they are. Boosted my confidence tenfold in the game
I just purchased a used set of lynx VT. they are lovely clubs. not very forgiving but nice when you hit them well
Wilson "Fat Shaft" was such a good design. There was never a more solid feel for the amateur than the Fat Shaft. One of my playing partners still uses his and absolutely loves them.
My first proper set were Wilson Deep Red Fat Shafts, they were mega, I always wondered why I changed them. Great clubs.
there used to be Precept as well, i had a pretty good set of half blade from them.
I believe another one was Ram. I am also amazed that Jack Nicklaus brand (Golden Bear) never really took off. My first set of clubs were Northwestern. Makes you wonder how long Takomo Golf will be around. Right now everyone is fascinated with the irons and the price but will we be talking about them in 5 years. Great topic!
I have Wilson D350 Irons (6-PW, GW), Launchpad (4-Iron), C300 (5-iron) , D7 Driver 3 wood & 5 wood) as well as a Wilson staff SW and Harmonized lob wedge. I love every club, Wilson is so underrated and has very forgiving clubs!
I still rep the tommy armour 845s titanium irons since getting them from my dad when I picked up the game a couple years ago and still use them now they are a great set of irons for being 20+ years old
Hey I use them too!
Honestly I cannot find any other iron that suits me better. Good feel to forgiveness to profile ratio
Played them for years, loved the clubs and the brand
Ben Sayers John Letters Nicoll o Leven, I was contracted to play Wilson Staff and they had Sam Snead for the beginners and Haig Ultra was an intermediate brand.
PXG didn't change anything in their irons except the pricing. I got the 0311 gen 3's when they dropped the price from $349 to $149/club. Awesome irons. The gen 4's went from $375 to $275/club, still pretty expensive.
My grandmother was a cook in the cafeteria at the Wilson plant just outside Chicago in the 60's and she gave me a prepackaged set of Sam Snead junior, 1 & 3 wood, 3, 5, 7, 9 iron, putter and bag for my 10th birthday. Best gift ever.
Currently loving my Lynx Prowler VT irons and Adams 9031 Hybrids. can't beat some of the lesser known brands for value and performance
I use the Prowler VT’s as well and think they are a great set of irons, they look smart and get a lot of compliments for the simple chic bladed look to them. The Lynx Stinger VT driving iron is a beast off tee as well.
Used to have lynx wedges with rubber insert at the back, in the 1990s, they were best feeling wedges. I was so good with the 56 wedge. Called lynx black cat.
Rick is spot on about Titleist, they make awesome balls and I myself play mostly titleist but not just because of everything matching or a brand snob. The reason i do is because my puttter is scotty cameron which are great. Wedges i go back and forth with vokeys or mizuno and itons are drivers are great.
Still have my Wilson D7 fat shaft irons.
My game out grew them so I don’t use them anymore but I’d certainly consider Wilson players irons in the future.
For now my Honma TW747V irons work just fine.
Some of those brands are big into other sports like you mention. There was less competition in other sports that they could capture a bigger share of the market. Like with Wilson, you mentioned tennis, but they are really big in baseball. Same with Spaulding. Possibly why Mizuno dropped off on drivers for a while, they were working more on the baseball market.
Mizuno is also big in sports shoes, especially indoor sports, but also football (soccer) and budo-sports. Even Nike doesn't cover every sport.
@@menzewouda2 Mizuno is big into baseball. Gloves, bats and shoes.
I have a set of Wilson staff D7 forged that I absolutely love. Forgiving with a great looking design and minimal offset, all I could ask for
The D7's are insane. They beat sooo many big brand sets out there. Completely underrated.
Rick you talk so much sense regarding brands
You do something different to your competition
You consider the value of the club and what the normal person can afford to spend!
Top work
Congratulations on 2 million scribes
Guys a pain in the arse drop him
Sorry
I look forward to the day seen on CZcams you doing a video with Tiger Woods.
You deserve this for your hard work!!
I have the Wilson Defy woods and hybrid set of Irons, that actually play pretty well for me. Wasn't overly expensive for the set.
My first set of clubs were Macgregor. I bought a package set (woods, irons, putter and a green/white bag at K-Mart). I think I paid like $145.00. Must have been like 1986. Played with those clubs for about 10 years.
Played with WS progressive years ago when I started. Awesome set. Wish I still had. Have a set of say 20 year old Maxfli Revolution clubs. Chrome plated nickel. Awesome clubs and feel as soft as a forged or blade. They were bought by TaylorMade for their patents and then name sold to Dick's Sporting goods. They sell the Maxfli Tour balls which I play. As good as a ProV1 but much less. TaylorMade also bought Adams as they were I believe going to be sued for for copying the speed slot technology, so instead of being sued they just bought the company to own their patents. Great show as always.
From a casual golfer like myself, it's nice getting a packaged set but usually they under-perform compared to piecing together a set that works well after testing for myself. So when companies goes to these sets, they are great for starters, but after playing for a while, I brought out my older clubs and found them to be better. So with companies that pay a lot into research and mass producing large number of products, the quality goes down, but they need to offset the price of production/research/diving into fields that they are not the best at, and the prices go up for worse products, and eventually they are only found at heavy discounts and cheap 2nd hand stores. So of course they cannot stay on course. I would love it if the companies could stay focused on what they are really good at and keep on working to improve those respective products, but the issue is then they want a bigger piece of the pie, so they will keep taking their chances at trying to draw bigger audiences, and if they fail, they may just disappear.
I had a set of Lynx clubs I bought new in the early 80's that I used for many years. Now I look at the head of the driver in that set and it looks so tiny that it seems some of my hybrids have bigger heads. I wonder how did I hit with that?
I used to play Wilson Tour Blades & they were the purest, hardest to hit properly irons I've ever played.
Seduced by Cleveland and the gunmetal finish 😄
Would love to see a deep dive on Golfcentric companies like Adams, Scratch wedges, Never compromise, etc. That have passed on...but have also been major contributers. And then put them up against a newer model. Also, what happened to their owners and lead engineers. Didn't the CEO of Adams become the Lead at Callaway? And now we have A.I. and Jail break?
I have wilson irons, D300, as someone who played a lot whennI was younger, now I'm older, slower and less flexible, these are amazing for me.
D200 with uniflex shafts are awesome. Decent sound, nice spin, awesome length. Works great for me (driver chs around 95mph)
My first set was a basic set of PGF's about 1980. 1.5 wood, 5 wood, 3, 5, 7, 9, putter
I’ve had a Tommy Armor 3 wood in the bag for years and I still love it!
I just bought a couple of lynx driving irons. One of them is a 12.5 degree. I haven't hit them yet! I live in Michigan and it's 25°F here right now. I'll let you know what I think of them when I do.
I had alovely set of RAM blades . I probably couldn't use them now. Really interesting discussion.
I started playing in Summer '88 @ that age of 18- Tommy Armour, Ram & Powerbilt were big brands that seemed to have gone the way of the Dodo bird.
I've seen that Powerbilt still builds clubs, but nothing very compelling for me to try.
Working now in the golf business we've been fitting people with Callaway, Titleist, or Wilson irons. Anyone over like a 12 handicap has hit the Wilson Irons 10+ yards further than the other two.
Began with a half set of Pinseeker blades, then onto Pinseeker tour cavity backs(the ones with black cavity back). They just seemed to vanish.
Hit Lynx irons at a golf show and they felt amazing. Great off the face and superb ball flight
Rams! I still own a full set, sand wedge thru 1 iron, Golden Ram Tom Watson Grind irons, plus their Accubar. As I was watching and typing this video I may have heard you mentioned Rams. 🤷🏻♂️
How about Hogan, Burke, Founders, Walter Hagen, Slotline, Yamaha, Confidence and the list goes on. Great topic!
When I first wanted to get into Golf around 2013/14 the only clubs I could get was a full bag of Donnays from my uncle which I still use today. Over the past 3 years my interest to play more has increased (large part due to this channel) and I will obviously upgrade my clubs as mine are nearing 25 years old. Still, I don't think Donnay exist anymore
I used to sell Howson/Hippo and Nicklaus golf equip across Europe our price point really helped increase the number of golfers in many Euro markets especially in France where i was based with some of the most amazing courses still undiscovered by many Brits
Great topic.
My brothers and I have been the kiss of death to these brands. We took up golf in the 90s and 😅I played Top-Flite irons and my brothers had Maxfli and Power-Bilt clubs.
A friend i play with has the XXio Brand, Whats your thoughts? made from the Dunlop i think so yeah would love to hear from you on this.
Ben hogan...I started golf a year ago and my first set that I still play with is a set of Hogans. Absolutely love them
Now I'm feeling old and I'm not even old. I remember playing a lot of golf with Maxfli and Strata balls in the early 2000's
I’ve got Adams clubs, iron and hybrids and an old TM 300 driver. Adams were also taken over by TM.
John Letters putters - Bob Charles brass goose neck putter used for his 1963 open win.
wilson is also huge into baseball/softball football and basketball. they make professional quality gloves and balls for baseball/softball and they are the official used balls in the NBA/WNBA the NFL and the NCAA
I have a Lynx 5 wood and it is brilliant value for money and launches easily. My irons are Wilson Staff . I am a high handicapper and these suit me well.
My first set of complete clubs were the Sterling Arnold Palmer Signature Series.
Rick I didn’t start playing golf till 2013 and recently I have found out about Penfold golf (which I share the same last name with) and I found a set of Penfold irons for sale and I was wondering if you have ever played with any Penfold gear?
I started with a Dunlop DDH set, then McGegor Tourneys, Powerbilt Grand Slams, Hogan CFT irons, a Golden Bear set, Adams a2s then a7s. Playing Cobra now days, they better look out judging by my track record.
There was a Hippo, blue Mizuno Pro, Wilson Killer Whale, Machspeed SQ drivers in there as well. Quite a hall of shame.