Question:
At the indoor driving range on Sunday something terrible happened. I was swinging my persimmon 5-wood, and the head snapped off at the neck!
I’ll see your "sniff" and raise you one. I’ve switched to metalwoods for reasons of forgivingness, but I still love the look and sound of persimmon. I am faced with replacing it, and also the possibility that my driver and 3-wood are also likely to expire sometime next season…. Alternatively, I could have a new persimmon 5-wood made, evaluate it, and if the clubmaker did a good job, replace the driver and 3-wood, late in the season.
Did the shaft snap, or was the head itself also damaged? If it’s just the shaft, you can get it re-shafted, and even re-finished. A competent (like PCS Class A) clubmaker should be able to do this for you. Or the big component companies (notably Golfsmith and GolfWorks) can do it. I’ve visited GolfWorks, and was hugely impressed by the crafsmanship they can apply to older clubs. If the head itself broke at the hosel, you’re right that it has to be replaced. If that’s the case, have the whippings on your other woods checked (and maybe re-done). That’s where the neck strength comes from in a wooden wood. It may prevent the need to replace them. As for the design considerations involved, I think you understand them pretty well. (Though I never hear the "metal fatigue" argument before. May be correct, but I’d have thought I’d heard of it if it were true.) Good luck in your quest! Dave
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I suggest you go to a QUALIFIED professional clubmaker in your area and get a component club to replace the one you lost..NOTE: Component…not knockoff. Knockoffs 1) Infringe on the patent rights of the OEM manufacturer and are ILLEGAL to produce, sell or distribute, 2) are inferior in design and manufacture to a quality compnoent clubhead purchased from a reputable manufacturer(i.e. Golfsmith, Dynacraft etc…) The selling point of knockoffs is the appearance, not quality or performance. I have many customers come in and ask for clubs ‘just like’ something else. I simply ask if they worry about the clubs appearance, why don’t they just buy the originals. Carrying a full set of knockoffs says ‘I’m cheap’ to me. If you want to give yourself every opportunity to improve your game, get properly fitted for a set of component clubs. Lee Russ Northcoast Custom Golf Warren, Ohio
Wow! it must really be cold on the "Northcoast". Thomas
Response:
If this is a name brand club, you can probably get the mfg to repair it for free. Hogan replace a buddy of mine’s 3 wood when a big chunck of it broke out. It wasn’t as old as your, but I am uncertain if that matters. My advise would be to replace it with metal. A metal wood is much more forgiving that a wooden club, and it you consistently shoot in the 90’s, there is plenty of room to knock off strokes. I switched to Bertha knockoffs about two years ago, and knocked 6 strokes off (pun intended) my index – 23 to 17, because I stopped miss-hitting my woods. Now if I could only putt . . . – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – At the indoor driving range on Sunday something terrible happened. I was swinging my persimmon 5-wood, and the head snapped off at the neck! It was 9 years old, and 5 of those years it was stored untouched in a storage locker. Not the best of care. But it has served me well for the last three years. I am faced with replacing it, and also the possibility that my driver and 3-wood are also likely to expire sometime next season. I would appreciate some thoughts and comments on my thoughts. I like persimmon woods, but the world is moving to metal, and exotic metals, at that. Some friends have expressed the opinion that metal ‘woods’ suffer from metal fatigue after about 100 rounds and only pros who get free new clubs every few months, or those with too much money should really play them. I can still get persimmon woods locally on a custom basis for what I consider a reasonable price. My options seem to be: Move to metal and get either custom knock-offs or give a thorough try to the name brands at an upcoming golf show in Toronto. In either case I have a month or two to get used to the new clubs before the season starts. Alternatively, I could have a new persimmon 5-wood made, evaluate it, and if the clubmaker did a good job, replace the driver and 3-wood, late in the season. I have always wondered if there is a real advantage to metal clubs. I understand the lower density, bigger head, bigger sweet spot, argument. But on good swings, with square contact is there a difference? I shoot in the low 90’s and with some lessons and drills and practice hope to smooth out my swing and drop into the 80’s next season. The biggest step I need is mental discipline to plan my shots and focus on tempo as opposed to musceling the ball. Stephen Golfers dream in green.
Response:
If you really hit this club well, you should be more concerned about the shaft rather than the head. It has been my experience that fitting a player to a particular shaft is most important. If the shaft isn’t broken, make sure you use that shaft if you choose another persimmon head. I think you will find that the head choice will be secondary to your choice in shafts. Ron – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -At the indoor driving range on Sunday something terrible happened. I was swinging my persimmon 5-wood, and the head snapped off at the neck! It was 9 years old, and 5 of those years it was stored untouched in a storage locker. Not the best of care. But it has served me well for the last three years. I am faced with replacing it, and also the possibility that my driver and 3-wood are also likely to expire sometime next season. I would appreciate some thoughts and comments on my thoughts. I like persimmon woods, but the world is moving to metal, and exotic metals, at that. Some friends have expressed the opinion that metal ‘woods’ suffer from metal fatigue after about 100 rounds and only pros who get free new clubs every few months, or those with too much money should really play them. I can still get persimmon woods locally on a custom basis for what I consider a reasonable price. My options seem to be: Move to metal and get either custom knock-offs or give a thorough try to the name brands at an upcoming golf show in Toronto. In either case I have a month or two to get used to the new clubs before the season starts. Alternatively, I could have a new persimmon 5-wood made, evaluate it, and if the clubmaker did a good job, replace the driver and 3-wood, late in the season. I have always wondered if there is a real advantage to metal clubs. I understand the lower density, bigger head, bigger sweet spot, argument. But on good swings, with square contact is there a difference? I shoot in the low 90’s and with some lessons and drills and practice hope to smooth out my swing and drop into the 80’s next season. The biggest step I need is mental discipline to plan my shots and focus on tempo as opposed to musceling the ball. Stephen Golfers dream in green.
Response:
I suggest you go to a QUALIFIED professional clubmaker in your area and get a component club to replace the one you lost..NOTE: Component…not knockoff. Knockoffs 1) Infringe on the patent rights of the OEM manufacturer and are ILLEGAL to produce, sell or distribute, 2) are inferior in design and manufacture to a quality compnoent clubhead purchased from a reputable manufacturer(i.e. Golfsmith, Dynacraft etc…) The selling point of knockoffs is the appearance, not quality or performance. I have many customers come in and ask for clubs ‘just like’ something else. I simply ask if they worry about the clubs appearance, why don’t they just buy the originals. Carrying a full set of knockoffs says ‘I’m cheap’ to me. If you want to give yourself every opportunity to improve your game, get properly fitted for a set of component clubs. Lee Russ Northcoast Custom Golf Warren, Ohio
Response:
At the indoor driving range on Sunday something terrible happened. I was swinging my persimmon 5-wood, and the head snapped off at the neck! It was 9 years old, and 5 of those years it was stored untouched in a storage locker. Not the best of care. But it has served me well for the last three years. I am faced with replacing it, and also the possibility that my driver and 3-wood are also likely to expire sometime next season. I would appreciate some thoughts and comments on my thoughts. I like persimmon woods, but the world is moving to metal, and exotic metals, at that. Some friends have expressed the opinion that metal ‘woods’ suffer from metal fatigue after about 100 rounds and only pros who get free new clubs every few months, or those with too much money should really play them. I can still get persimmon woods locally on a custom basis for what I consider a reasonable price. My options seem to be: Move to metal and get either custom knock-offs or give a thorough try to the name brands at an upcoming golf show in Toronto. In either case I have a month or two to get used to the new clubs before the season starts. Alternatively, I could have a new persimmon 5-wood made, evaluate it, and if the clubmaker did a good job, replace the driver and 3-wood, late in the season. I have always wondered if there is a real advantage to metal clubs. I understand the lower density, bigger head, bigger sweet spot, argument. But on good swings, with square contact is there a difference? I shoot in the low 90’s and with some lessons and drills and practice hope to smooth out my swing and drop into the 80’s next season. The biggest step I need is mental discipline to plan my shots and focus on tempo as opposed to musceling the ball. Stephen Golfers dream in green.