We are fortunate to get our hands on a lot of cool equipment due to this website. That said, we’re still massive gear nerds and always have a bunch of other random golf stuff laying around. As gear tinkerers, it’s not uncommon for us to even make a good golf gear trade between ourselves in the pursuit of finding the perfect combinations. On the surface, it looks like a great case of being practical and good pals. If you really look at it, let’s be honest, it’s actually buddies enabling each other’s golf gear addictions.

A New Team Member, A New Gear Pool

As some of you may or may not recall, we recently added a new contributor to the DRH team. Our vintage golf gear guy, Justin Thompson, was introduced in February which you can check out here. Because Justin is a huge vintage gear nerd (let’s call it what it is), and I am as well, we exchange texts quite frequently both of “new” to us gear pick ups and our general golfing experiences. One thing about Justin, he’s always on the hunt and will acquire large bundles of gear in hopes of unearthing a few real gems. He even wrote a post about how he needs a bigger garage which you can understand after you see this. In short, Justin fits right into this group.

So one day, Justin sends me a picture from his latest gear haul. It was the picture above with an assortment of old putters featuring a few oddities we’d never seen before. However, I particularly noticed the Britsol putter featured third from the left. I have a slight emotional attachment to Bristol largely based on old clubs I have from my dad. Bristol is also a local golf legacy based out of Melrose Park, IL which was eventually acquired by Ram. I asked Justin if he’d part with the Bristol putter estimated to be from the 1930s or 40s. He agreed and a good deal was struck for me to buy it from him. At least, that was the plan.

The Trade

One day, Justin and I were just texting random golf stuff. He tells me he’s hitting the ball well, but doesn’t quite have his distances dialed in on his gear. Apparently this process often takes awhile for him as no one in the Thompson family owns a rangefinder. Then he referred me to the picture above from his first post on this site and said “we have this pasture to hit the ball into, but we’ve never actually measured yardages for targets. We don’t have a rangefinder.” Well, over the years I’ve accumulated a good handful of value rangefinders from reviews and whatnot. I’ve always kept them as there often seems to be a friend in need, and I’m “the golf guy” so they often come to me for a loaner. Fortunately, I can help them out fairly easily.

So I knew I had a pretty basic model laying around that would get the job done at the Texas “backyard” driving range. I proposed to Justin that instead of paying him $30 for a potentially 90 year-old putter, I’d trade him the rangefinder. This deal addressed a “need” for both of us. I’d add a unique club to my vintage collection, Justin and his dad can now measure out yardages in the cow field. Justin was on the same page, and the deal was done.

Final Thoughts On a Solid Golf Gear Trade

When this deal was struck, it was actually right in the middle of the big Texas winter storm of 2021. The impact is well documented in terms of how bad things were in the state. While the lack of electricity and water was the main focus, supply chains took a big hit as well. In many cases, the various shipping companies were completely shutdown. So though Justin and I agreed on our big golf gear trade, we elected to wait to send out our parcels. However, the extra time allowed Justin to dig out a second club to send along with my putter

Justin sent me the photo above of a MacGregor Radite driving iron from roughly the same time period. He said to me, “hey, I’m throwing this in with your Bristol.” Of course this wasn’t necessary, but I told him I’d appreciatively accept it if he insisted. Both clubs arrived about a week later disguised in a box for some new window blinds. I didn’t remember ordering blinds, but let’s be fair, anything is possible with the internet. Maybe one day I’ll write more about these clubs because they’re legitimately interesting pieces from history. But for now, I’m just want appreciate the story of a fun random golf gear trade with a friend.