Anyone have an opinion about Hogan Directors? Just found a set and was wonder what you folks thought about them.
–Geoff W.
I love the look of the '80 version. Not so much the older ones. Paveveda plays a set of the '80s and likes them from what I understand… perhaps he’ll weigh in.
I did recently get a set of 80’s Directors. I liked the clean look of the back of the blade. It’s my first set of blades and I’m a beginner, been playing less than a year.
I too didn’t care for the look of the 70’s style directors until I saw a photo the other day that made them look like they have a slight indentation from the weighting on the back and the sole that runs the length of the blade. Similar to those step-soles, but not as pronounced. The picture was a really nice one and I think it was in that Hogan WITB thread over at WRX.
I don’t have any experience with other Hogan’s (or any other blades for that matter) at this point, so I guess I can only comment on the ones I have. They are a 3-E matched set in great condition that I got off ebay, Vector 3 shafts, original Hogan grips (probably need replacing, but until they slip one-to-many times, I’m keeping them), and were all D2 or D2.5 swing weight. The Equalizer is D3. They were standard loft&lie, and I just had them bent 5* flat and had the lofts adjusted in descending 4* increments from 48* for the Equalizer.
Before I had them bent, I hit them once off mats at the range and hit them all pretty high. Now they fly quite a bit lower. I don’t hit them very far yet, but I just put 8 grams of lead tape on my 3 iron to bring it up to D6, and doing my module work, I can feel really feel the extra weight which has a couple of effects that I think I’ll like: the club head seems to stay more online to the target (the bag in this case) and I don’t have to fire my hands as hard to get the same amount of force that I had to get when it was at D2. This lets me focus more on keeping the hands quiet during Mod 1 and focus more on the pivot.
I also liked that they had that shorter hosel length, because the long hosels freaked me out when I was looking at pictures of them on ebay. Now that I know what the shorter hosel looks like in person, I don’t think the longer hosels would bother me as much.
It seems to me, after stalking Hogan clubs on ebay for a couple of months now, that most prefer any of the clubs with the older style Hogan signature rather than models with the more modern (late 70’s/early 80’s) Hogan logo. All the better IMO, since I like the modern logo just as much as the old signature.
I was a little unsure about the Vector 3 shafts when I bought the clubs, and figured I could get a set of Apex 4 shafts or some modern equivalent (not that there is an exact modern equivalent) to replace them with, but so far, I like them. The guy who bent my clubs did mention though that since the shafts are pinned in, I’d need to find someone who could handle that (he couldn’t apparently.)
So far, I’m of the opinion, like many on this forum, that you can’t go wrong with a set of these vintage Hogan blades. They are high-quality, typically still in good shape, feel great, and look way better than most clubs these days. (I’m of the opinion that most of the modern blades that look good, look like classic blades. 
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Hope you enjoy them, and make sure you let us know what your experience is with them!
Mine are the 70s versions with Apex 3 shafts 2-E. I actually like the look of them. They cleaned up real well with a little elbow grease and Barkeep’s Friend. Haven’t had the chance to hit them yet, but the weather is getting better so I’ll be able to hit them soon. I’m planning on leaving the lofts standard, I just figure I’ll need to take one more club, not such a big deal esp since I am dropping my Lob wedge this season. I really love the older Hogan blades and hope these compare nicely to the Apex IIs that I so stupidly sold a while back.
I played Hogan Directors in 1980 on the Canadian Tour. My clubs were 2-9pw and d7 with apex#5 and 16ounces each. to accomplish this I had counterbalanced them by putting a wrapping of lead tape under the grips and caked the back of the heads with lead tape. Probably one of the best sets I’ve ever played and theres been many! The ONE POUND CLUBS WOULD TEACH YOU HOW TO SWING WELL BECAUSE YOU COULD NOT FLICK AT IT WITH HANDS AND ARMS>>>TRY IT! Paulsy
Thanks for the post Paulsy. Great to hear that you gamed these clubs on tour and very cool to know how you used them. I’ve added enough lead tape to get mine up from D2/D2.5 to D6. That should put the current weight at 14.25 ounces for the 3 iron up to almost 16 ounces for the PW. Played a quick practice 9 with them on Sunday and the shorter clubs definitely felt quite a bit heavier out there and I really have to hang on (almost pull in) from the point just before impact to P4, but I don’t notice that in the longer irons. All I feel with those is that the club head wants to stay on the line that I start it on more than it did when they were lighter.
Can anyone explain to me how they make the longer clubs lighter although the shafts are longer? Are they taking metal off the longer clubs or, vice versa, adding more metal to the shorter clubs?
The heads are lighter in the longer clubs in an attempt to keep the swing weight consistent throughout the set. If memory serves there is usually an 8g gap between each head.
I got my Canadian tour card in the spring of "80 and was hitting balls on the range at our club with Moes Hogan Apex irons.Yes he let me. These were E2or3 SW and he had shaved the leading edge round because he felt that it was to sharp and “caught” to much turf. To get that SW he had put a huge ammount of lead tape on the back of the iron heads and being that the Apex blade was so small and square most of the tape was on the top porton of the back of the head. He was also using the Apex5 shafts and said that he really liked them.The grips were the large sponge wraps that he preferred…can’t remember what they were called?.The lie angles were up 3-4 and the clubs swung heavier than mine but that is where my set was born.We met in '62…I was 3. Paulsy
Paulsy,
Nice to have you hear…
Let me start a thread for you to discuss gear and what not … and your experiences with Moe, what you knew about George, and of course about your dad who competed head to head with these guys in their primes.
Let’s kick this off in the
“Concepts in Advanced Ball Striking” forum… and I will start a thread there introducing Paul to the forum
Thank you for the invitation John…although I am a bit hesitant because my well is fairly deep. I will do my best to quell any anxieties.Please have patience…and I am very pleased to announce that my father, John(an absolute Hogan Clone) is also willing to chime in on the many times he gave Moe a thrashing.I must go…flushing 4 irons down the fairways of life! Paulsy