By Bobby Grace
The Golf, Summer 2024
How deep is your love for classic clubs?
It is accepted collective wisdom among classic club col- lectors that “the deeper the face, the deeper you have to reach into your pocket.” When I first started collecting MacGregor drivers back in the late 1970s, collectors and Tour players desperately wanted to get their hands on the deepest M-85W, 693T, M-43, 945TW, Hogan Pro Model, M09T, Armour BJD and BJM, and Penna LFF drivers they could find as they were big hitters. To this day I have many clients who pay more money for one of these all- original examples then they paid for their first car. Here are some of my favorite examples.
This Armour custom 2668 with an LFF 1⅞-inch face (top) is as rare as it gets. Everything about it screams spectacular. You’ll easily see the drastic difference between the Armour 2668 (with the LFF Face Depth) and the Armour 945W Eye-O-Matic. It’s pretty remarkable!
Another great deep-faced collectible is the Walter Hagen “Bludgeon” Jumbo driver, shown above, top. An article I read recently mentioned the great Babe Ruth gamed a lefty version of this big driver. This makes sense as The Babe was as big a hitter in golf as he was in baseball.
Take a look at this Hagen Bludgeon (top) next to a decently deep faced early 50s M-85W driver. It’s incredible to see the comparison. The Hagen is nothing short of a monster. The Hagen actually has a face that is equal to the su- per sought after Armour BJD and BJM JUMBO. The Hagen is $400-$600 and the Armour is $1600-$3000+.
This Toney Penna M09T LFF is so scarce that it sold to a collector for $2,400 even though it was refinished. It is a superb DEEP example.
This amazing driver was spotted in an international collector’s possession and is so deep it’s mind boggling. It’s a Jerry Glynn massive Jumbo from the early 1940s. The unusual aspect of the stamping is that MacGregor is nowhere on the club, but if you know your history you know that Glynn was on the MacGregor staff and the design traits of this driver have Mac written all over it.
The very sought after deep faced M-85W 6-screw insert is one of my all time favorites, as it is the ‘Holy Grail’ for Tour players from Graham, Faldo, Olazábal and Couples, to Love and Floyd. I was fortunate enough to acquire this driver and had it restored to the beautiful condition you see here. The amount of the white portion of the insert above the top scoring lines reveals an unusual face depth that is nothing less than shocking. It’s certainly an LFF model and as you all know that’s Tour Players’ code for “Let The F#&%er Fly” and their spe- cial tribute to the massive JUMBOS MacGregor made for the big hitters and for the history books.
Special Note: An interesting aspect of MacGregor drivers is that some models, the 693, for instance, were available with various depth faces, from 1⅝-inches to the usual 1¾ to the rare 1⅞, to the hardly ever found 2-inch Jumbo, whereas the Armour 653 models were only available on the shallower side.
As always, it’s my pleasure to arm you with the knowledge that seasoned collectors covet. Good luck in your hunting grounds wherever they may be. – BG