Question:
I finally got my catalog from Golfsmith and I am going to give club making a whirl. Is there anywhere to get reactions to the differnt club components they make? Can anyone give hints on how to choose which of the components are right for me? A friend recommened XPC Plus because he really likes his (I know, I know everyone is different). I was thinking oversized clubs give me a larger sweet spot, is this truth or fiction? I would appreciate where I can look for some reviews on the different clubs or people’s own opinions. Sorry this is so sloppy, terrible connection. Too painful to fix all of the errors!. Thanks. — GO IRISH!!!!!! GO GATORS!!!! Words to live by: He who dies with the most toys wins!!! "Ya can’t spell it, but it eats good." - The Natural "In a pig’s poop! That ball is drier than your gramdpappy’s scalp!" – The Natural
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I finally got my catalog from Golfsmith and I am going to give club making a whirl. Is there anywhere to get reactions to the differnt club components they make? Can anyone give hints on how to choose which of the components are right for me? A friend recommened XPC Plus because he really likes his (I know, I know everyone is different). I was thinking oversized clubs give me a larger sweet spot, is this truth or fiction? I would appreciate where I can look for some reviews on the different clubs or people’s own opinions. Sorry this is so sloppy, terrible connection. Too painful to fix all of the errors!. Thanks. — GO IRISH!!!!!! GO GATORS!!!! Words to live by: He who dies with the most toys wins!!! "Ya can’t spell it, but it eats good." - The Natural "In a pig’s poop! That ball is drier than your gramdpappy’s scalp!" – The Natural
At the local junior college, Tarrent County, TX, they had a class hosted by a club maker. While I did not attend I talked to some who did. They built a club, of choice, during the class. The class was very well received. The message I got was that the class eliminated many, many of the "stupid" errors. You might look around in your area to see if such a class is offered or contact a local club maker and see if he’ll show you the ropes (maybe for free).
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I finally got my catalog from Golfsmith and I am going to give club making a whirl. Is there anywhere to get reactions to the differnt club components they make? Can anyone give hints on how to choose which of the components are right for me? A friend recommened XPC Plus because he really likes his (I know, I know everyone is different). I was thinking oversized clubs give me a larger sweet spot, is this truth or fiction? I would appreciate where I can look for some reviews on the different clubs or people’s own opinions. Sorry this is so sloppy, terrible connection. Too painful to fix all of the errors!. Thanks. —
Wally, The past Winter I decided I too would attempt to make my own clubs. I found that there are good and bad aspects of doing it yourself. The good part (at least for me) was that I was able to learn something new, put together a complete set of clubs at an extremely reasonable price, and have a set that I thoroughly enjoy playing with. The down side is that I enjoy it so much, I just want to keep building more clubs for no particular reason…. I guess what helped me was to first download Dave Tutelman’s club design notes from the Dunkin Archives and study study study. These are very informative and really help in making design decisions. It may take some time to digest everything and then make your own design decisions, but it was definitely worth it. Next, I got ahold of several catalogs of components and really focused my attention on the Golfsmith, Dynacraft, and Golfworks ones (for no particular reason). I ordered Golfsmith’s very basic clubmaking manual which, while certainly not comprehensive, was adequate for my needs. Since I was only intending on making one set of clubs, I wanted to minimize my costs in equipment and other things (such as books on how to build clubs). As with the club design notes, I read through the catalogs many many times before selecting my heads. I ended up selecting the Golfsmith XPC 2000 heads because I was looking for a basic cavity back head, without huge amounts of offset, and these seemed to fit the bill (again, at a very reasonable cost). Using the club design notes, I made my judgements for shaft flex, weight, and type (i.e., steel or graphite) and length. I selected the True Temper TT Lite shaft with an R flex. I also have tried various grips at golf stores and really like the feel of the Golf Pride Tour Wraps. All I did then was order up the components for a seven iron (my favorite club) and then put it together to see how I liked it. It felt great, so I made more and more and more (2 – 9, PW, PW2, SW). I did a similar thing with respect to the woods. Here I selected the Dynacraft Limited Driver (11 degree), and 3 and 5 woods. Again, I liked the characteristics of the clubs as advertised. Being cocky now, I tried graphite in the driver, but stuck to steel shafts in the others. While the graphite might look cool, I really don’t believe it buys me anything and perhaps some other time I will switch to steel… With my set complete, I got bored and ordered up a lob wedge. I selected the Golfsmith Cavity Back 60 degree wedge because of its low bounce and nice looks (I can be honest if I want to). Actually, I feel the club looks much better in person than in the catalog. Now I feel I am done (unless I really want that 1 iron…). Last, my suggestion would be to really think about what playability characteristics you want in your heads and try to find the ones that closest meet your needs. If there are several that meet your expectations, I would select the ones that look the best. I don’t believe you will see much difference anyway. Next, when selecting a shaft, you should be VERY honest about how you golf. This will go a long way in helping you select the right shaft which will make all the difference in the world in how the clubs perform. Finally, you may want to attack this more thoroughly than I did with scales and such and you could probably make even better decisions about club design. For me, it wasn’t worth the price for 1 set of clubs, and I am still very satisfied with the results (even after 45 days..). Mick Costa
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -I finally got my catalog from Golfsmith and I am going to give club making a whirl. Is there anywhere to get reactions to the differnt club components they make? Can anyone give hints on how to choose which of the components are right for me? A friend recommened XPC Plus because he really likes his (I know, I know everyone is different). I was thinking oversized clubs give me a larger sweet spot, is this truth or fiction? I would appreciate where I can look for some reviews on the different clubs or people’s own opinions. Sorry this is so sloppy, terrible connection. Too painful to fix all of the errors!. Thanks. — GO IRISH!!!!!! GO GATORS!!!!
I would also recommend the XPC PLus woods. I have made several sets of clubs for folks using the various Golfsmith heads. The most popular (after use) are the XPC’s and the 747 kevlar/titanium face woods. I recommend the Hogan Edge knock-off’s to anyone who is un-decided, but most cavity back irons will play pretty much the same. It is really a case of personal likes and looks in my mind. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Words to live by: He who dies with the most toys wins!!! "Ya can’t spell it, but it eats good." - The Natural "In a pig’s poop! That ball is drier than your gramdpappy’s scalp!" - The Natural
Response:
Hi all! This thought came to me recently after building myself a new set of clubs last year (Golfsmith XPC 2000 heads) and then reading through the latest Golfsmith catalog. This year (or maybe I missed it last year), Golfsmith is recommending that people build clubs 1/2" longer than the industry average to accommodate their lighter weights. They provide a table showing the industry average lengths and the Golfsmith recommendations (I think only in the irons). They also provide a table of the industry averages for lie, but no Golfsmith counterpart. My intuition tells me that if their clubheads are designed according to industry average lie for a particular iron, but also built 1/2" longer than the average, this would cause problems. Does this mean that building clubs to the Golfsmith length also means having to correct the lie in every iron? For us very occasional clubs builders, this seems like an expensive proposition. I realize there are other issues involved, especially relating to proper fitting of the clubs to individuals, but it seems that if Golfsmith is changing its "standard" length for their irons, they should also be changing their standard lie, too? Is my intuition incorrect? Thanks! Mick Costa The MITRE Corporation
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with. The down side is that I enjoy it so much, I just want to keep building more clubs for no particular reason….
I have to agree with you on that point. I just finished building a set of woods and a lob wedge, and I am ready to build more, even though I really don’t need them (at least thats what the wife says). The worst part is that Golfsmith opened a store about 30 minutes from the house. Marc
Response:
. . I finally got my catalog from Golfsmith and I am going to give club making . a whirl. Is there anywhere to get reactions to the differnt club components . they make? Can anyone give hints on how to choose . which of the components are right for me? A friend recommened XPC Plus . because he really likes his (I know, I know everyone is different). I was . thinking oversized clubs give me a larger sweet spot, is this truth or fiction? . . I would appreciate where I can look for some reviews on the different clubs . or people’s own opinions. . . Sorry this is so sloppy, terrible connection. Too painful to fix all . of the errors!. Wally, I’ll second the motion on XPC Plus (irons and woods.) Oversized clubs generally do have a larger sweet spot. – Keith
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My "conspiracy theory" will probably fit this in, too. ;-] Cheers! Dave
Dave, I think there were more than two cavity-back clone knock-offs on the grassy knoll. valoo — Valoo
Response:
Golfsmith is recommending that people build clubs 1/2" longer than the industry average to accommodate their lighter weights.
Fallacy #1! The lighter weights could justify 1/4" longer, not 1/2". They’re lighter, but not THAT much. They provide a table showing the industry average lengths and the Golfsmith recommendations (I think only in the irons). They also provide a table of the industry averages for lie, but no Golfsmith counterpart. My intuition tells me that if their clubheads are designed according to industry average lie for a particular iron, but also built 1/2" longer than the average, this would cause problems…. I realize there are other issues involved, especially relating to proper fitting of the clubs to individuals, but it seems that if Golfsmith is changing its "standard" length for their irons, they should also be changing their standard lie, too? Is my intuition incorrect?
Your intuition is right on the mark. When they changed the "standard" that they recommended, they did nothing to change the lie on their existing clubheads, or even on their new clubheads. Unless they’re telling us that golfers are taller today than five years ago, there’s something wrong here. I still haven’t forgiven Tom Wishon for changing Golfsmith from an engineering-driven to a marketing-driven company. (BTW, marketing-driven is not the same as market-driven. The difference is the difference between what the market needs and what you can hype it to buy.) My "conspiracy theory" will probably fit this in, too. ;-] Cheers! Dave
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They just opened a store __across the street__ from me. I guess I’m pretty lucky, although I don’t build my own clubs (yet). They offer a "Build your own club" class (about $35 includes the seminar and the five iron you build), so I’m thinking about enrolling. I’ll post ya on the results. Tim