Thanks for the headsup. The Bounce Soles were made from 68-71. I found out the last year didn’t use the 1+ in the name. In 72 came the Apex. Even these older models don’t seem to have the long hosel…and I guess that is why they last the weight.
Those “Shark” BirdonBalls are the prettiest blades I have ever owned, and they have a great feel. The only negative is lack of weight. Hate to put leadtape all over them because the backside is so pretty.
Below are pictures of my vintage and playing sets.
Hoganut… don’t you find the amount of offset in the 98’s to be a bit much or did you remove it? I’ve got a mint set with 5’s in them but the offset is just too much to look at and try and work around.
You are correct about the offset in the 98’s. But in my set it’s not that much. I purchased them uses on Ebay. They may have been tweaked a bit throughout the years, because the offset in my set is not that much. Straight line down the center of the shaft in wedge thorugh 4 iron lines up with the 2nd groove. In the 3i and 2i the offset is much greater…lining up with the leading edge. With the 68 bounce soles, the center line of shaft is right on the third throughout the set. The 98’s were standard length, 2 degrees up, and 2 degrees strong when first measured. Our club owner bent them 3 degrees flat, and one degree weak (off standard) for me. The offset may be a problem, now that you mention it, because I have not hit those clubs in about 6 months. I’ve played exclusively with the 68 bounce soles for six months.
Gotcha! I was soooo disappointed when my 98’s arrived. I’ve used them some but always feel like things aren’t “quite right” with all the offset.
Robbo, can’t you have someone remove the offset (or at least some of it)? I think those would make nice gamers!
Still working on putting together some old stuff. Right now I have a composite of a bunch of different stuff that doesn’t match. It’s almost like the old days when clubfitting was done by hefting different clubs one comes across and making a decision based on feel. I have a Nicklaus 2-iron that is ok I guess for now. But…
…the other day I found an old Billy Casper Biltmore 3-iron in the shop that I just love. Great condition and no rust. Don’t know why I like it other than I like how it looks and it feels great. I have no idea what the specs are…and don’t want to know really. The head is so fricken small and there is no offset at all. And the toe area- what toe! From the outside boundry of the grooves to the toe edge is about 1/4 inch, rounded. Man it looks good…and hits sweet 
Just took delivery of some Hogan Bounce Soles on Ebay. Clubheads are great but all but two of the clubs had aluminum shafts. Not what the seller represented so I will have to send them back.
However, a co-worker of mine was a fine golfer in his day-played for SMU in the 60s-and he took my by his storage facility. It was full of old clubs. He gave me a Palmer The Standard First Flight 1 iron that is mint, a MacGregor George Bayer Deep Face Driver, a Top-Flite Driver with the vertical insert, a Cleveland Classic 4 wood and a set of mid-50s stainless steel Top-Flites minus a 6 iron. I went out and played nine with this stuff, and I was shocked at how well the Top-Flites feel. And that 1 iron is a weapon.
Grady
What a nice gift!
Those Top-Flites are cool looking. I have wondered how they felt. Lag recently posted that he uses a Spalding wedge. I don’t know how much Bobby Jones was involved in club design, but if you read what his clubmaker did for him in the hickory days (he searched thousands of shafts to find the closest match)…you get the impression he took great care, and may have been heavily involved at Spalding, not just lending his name.
Lag, is your wedge stainless?
Question: How difficult is it to bend stainless?
Grady
Probably can’t bend them much more than 3 or so degrees. I have a half set of those that don’t seem like they would bend all that well. You could flatten them a bit though.