USA irons, aka Honeycomb irons

This'll be an unexpected digression for a regular reader here, and anyone landing on this page won't find much else on ye olde blog to keep them entertained, but these things happen.

In essence, I bought some weird old clubs cheaply back in 2021, from someone who didn't know anything about them, and it took me some effort to find out very much. This post is meant only to help anyone else running into the same problem, which won't be very many of you! 

It turns out that they're from Simmons International, called Honeycomb. Simmons used their name in August 1973 with the US Patent Office, but they were released in 1974, and probably not sold after about 1977.

My set runs from 2-iron through pitching wedge, but I'd LOVE to find the driver, in part because I have NO idea how the technology would be deployed there! Basically, they're alleged to be among the first perimeter-weighted irons, and they were relatively early cavity-back irons.

The iron heads in my set, which is Simmons' original design, have limited explicit identifying markings. The rear cavity is filled with interlocking hexagons, meant to remind you of actual honeycomb. The bottom edges have only the letters USA, the number, and a symbol consisting of three interlocking hexagons. (I don't think I'm the only one to think that the symbol looks a bit genital/scrotal, but maybe.)

Variation #1: I've seen similar clubs on Ebay with the word "Honeycomb" along the bottom edge (instead of USA and the three-hexagon symbol), with the numbers in flowing script rather than blocky, which is quite different from what's in the ads about their introduction.

Variation #2: Ebay has also had clubs with the same cavity design whose bottom edge reads "Golf Tech," and with the words "HONEY COMB CLASSIC" stamped on the back, running vertically up the toe.

Other possible variations: I've seen a few things implying that Crown Golf Inc. made them for a time, and a few that Dunlop took over the design after a few years, but I can't find anything to corroborate those.

Ad from 1976

Although Pat Simmons had founded Simmons International by the time these clubs came out, he's much better known for designing clubs rather than for producing them. He went on to design a number of the clubs that are generally acknowledged to be the strangest ones out there, like the Alien wedges, the Great Tiger Shark irons, the Zebra putter, and so on, but it looks like these Honeycomb irons were meant to be the beginning of something like an empire. They weren't popular, so that's not how it worked out, but Simmons remained a successful innovator for many years after this.

It's also rumoured that the honeycomb design was the inspiration for the classic, much-desired, and suspiciously expensive Bettinardi putters, but I don't have clear evidence about that.

Anyway, I really enjoy playing them, the couple of times a year that I get out. I've also got a set of Slazenger Tournament Model (sold only between 1956 and 1958), which are challenging but fun. Why bother chasing trends?

If you have corrections, reminiscences, or suggestions, I look forward to your comments! 

Ad from 1974