Question:
says… Maybe you’d like to get started in clubmaking, Brent. It’s not so hard, really, and is the kind of thing you can do in the cold winter months. And the best thing about clubmaking is that you can quit at any time. Mike
<snip LOL. Mike leading another to the land of the living dead. — Kenny Stultz RSG Rollcall: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/stultzk.htm
Response:
Maybe you’d like to get started in clubmaking, Brent. It’s not so hard, really, and is the kind of thing you can do in the cold winter months. And the best thing about clubmaking is that you can quit at any time.
When I first started playing golf 7 1/2 years ago, I skated along that slippery slope but managed to avoid sliding all the way to the bottom. I didn’t truly quit until we moved a couple years ago and I gave away my big old box of assorted grips, my belt sander and several steel wood shafts. My only successful clubmaking effort was a 13 degree driver (really a 2-wood), 3-wood and 5-wood set made with the Golfsmith XPC Plus heads and Dynamic Lite shafts. That was an easy to swing set of metalwoods that were very forgiving. Oh, and I made a putter with a really heavy Bullseye-type brass head and a black-anodized aluminum shaft. I gave it to a friend of mine because it ended up feeling way too long and heavy for me but he loved it. It was pretty, though. Come to think of it, that was kind of fun. And now that I mention it, the new Golfsmith XPC Tour Steel iron heads and some Rifle Lite shafts could be built out to about a 38.5" 5-iron at D2-D3. They’d probably feel really great — ooh wait, I could use S-flex Tri-Gold graphite shafts. Man, that set of irons would almost swing itself, especially with a few grams in the weight ports… Nah. Probably just as well that we’re renovating the kitchen and I won’t have any pocket money for a couple months. Brent Hutto
Response:
Maybe you’d like to get started in clubmaking, Brent. It’s not so hard, really, and is the kind of thing you can do in the cold winter months. And the best thing about clubmaking is that you can quit at any time. When I first started playing golf 7 1/2 years ago, I skated along that slippery slope but managed to avoid sliding all the way to the bottom. I didn’t truly quit until we moved a couple years ago and I gave away my big old box of assorted grips, my belt sander and several steel wood shafts.
You *gave* them away? When there are hundreds, nay, thousands of clubmakers out there who would have paid you for them? What *were* you thinking? My only successful clubmaking effort was a 13 degree driver (really a 2-wood), 3-wood and 5-wood set made with the Golfsmith XPC Plus heads and Dynamic Lite shafts. That was an easy to swing set of metalwoods that were very forgiving. Oh, and I made a putter with a really heavy Bullseye-type brass head and a black-anodized aluminum shaft. I gave it to a friend of mine because it ended up feeling way too long and heavy for me but he loved it. It was pretty, though.
Sounds like you’ve had some success. Come to think of it, that was kind of fun. And now that I mention it, the new Golfsmith XPC Tour Steel iron heads and some Rifle Lite shafts could be built out to about a 38.5" 5-iron at D2-D3. They’d probably feel really great — ooh wait, I could use S-flex Tri-Gold graphite shafts. Man, that set of irons would almost swing itself, especially with a few grams in the weight ports…
I’m sure they could. Sounds like an ideal combination to try. Nah. Probably just as well that we’re renovating the kitchen and I won’t have any pocket money for a couple months.
But it’s cheap to make clubs. You don’t need a *lot* of pocket money, really. I’m sure you know that. Mike Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
Response:
You *gave* them away? When there are hundreds, nay, thousands of clubmakers out there who would have paid you for them? What *were* you thinking?
I gave the grips and shafts to my golf teacher. He helps run a local junior golf program and always needs that kind of stuff. I also gave him a right-handed (from before I switched) King Cobra deep-faced 3-wood with a really heavy S-flex steel shaft. He let his 12-year-old son use it for a driver and that kid could just rear back and knock the crap out of the ball with it. I think is was something close to 43" long and had about 14 degrees of loft and a really high CoG. I’ll bet that little bean-pole kid could put a Strata out there 240-something. It was a cool club. I gave the belt sander to my father so I can still sneak over that and prep the tip of the odd steel shaft now and again. But it’s cheap to make clubs. You don’t need a *lot* of pocket money, really. I’m sure you know that.
Clubmaking is cheaper in pocket money than in time. For me, it’s an addiction better remembered than experienced. But I wouldn’t say that a set of extra-long irons is entirely out of the question this winter. Off the top of my head, I’ll bet I could build them for — hmmm, let’s say about $183.75 plus shipping, more or less 
Brent Hutto
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -Then I stop by an Edwin Watts store on vacation last week and they have a closeout on Orlimar TriMetal and TriMetal+ fairway woods. Any two for $200. I chose two of the TriMetal+ with the EI-70 shafts: 14 degree "S" flex and 18 degree "R" flex. I would have preferred to get 16 and 22 degree ones but they were out of the 22-degree model. I tried them out this Saturday and they are really, really fun clubs to hit. They have a nice head-heavy feel and I just love the sound and feel they make at impact. I hit them about the same distances as my old 3-wood and 5-wood but they’re so much easier to hit from the fairway or rough. Mishits just end up 10-15 yards short and fade maybe 5 yards or so. Using my old fairway woods from the fairway a heavy, thin or toe shot went exactly nowhere. I’m so excited I just ordered the matching 22-degree TriMetal+ even though I had to pay $150 to find one.
I never paid attention to the TriMetal woods when they were being heavily marketed. Are they intended to be "forgiving" or "good player’s clubs"? Are they supposed to go "straight" or "high" or "long" or "all of the above". I’m just curious to see how my results compare with the hype. They seem pretty forgiving to me, although the face looks kind of neutral so maybe a good player could fade the ball. I bet I couldn’t hit a hook with mine if my life depended on it (which seems like a good thing in a fairway wood right now since I’m hooking the heck out of some mid-iron shots). So far, they don’t seem to hit that ball all that high. The low CoG gets the ball up nicely with thin hits but good hits aren’t really towering shots that land straight down and sit. So I’m guessing they’re supposed to be more "long and straight" than "high and straight". In truth, their best quality is the way good shots sound and feel but I guess that’s supposed to be just a bonus. Brent Hutto
Response:
Maybe you’d like to get started in clubmaking, Brent. It’s not so hard, really, and is the kind of thing you can do in the cold winter months. And the best thing about clubmaking is that you can quit at any time. Mike
<snip new club experiences Mike Dalecki RSG-Wisconsin 2001 Info: http://dalecki.net/rsgwis I do not patronize spammers! Help keep RSG clean. Expect the same etiquette from me on RSG as on the golf course. RSG Roll Call: http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/daleckim.htm
Response:
[...club buying spree snipped.....] — David RSG Roll Call http://u1.netgate.net/~kirby34/rsg/sneddond.htm email: dsneddon AT attcanada DOT ca
Response:
It’s been a few years since I bought any new golf equipment and my clubs have always had steel shafts and stainless steel heads. I tee off with a 3-wood, although lately I’ve been using an old Golfsmith steel-shafted 2-wood that carries and rolls a bit further. My handicap is 27.something which is right where it has been stuck for a couple of years now (although to paraphrase Ray Floyd in the Advil ad, that ain’t the clubs, that’s me!). I noticed that Edwin Watts was getting rid of a whole bunch of left-handed "Ti Bubble 2" drivers for $134.95 so I ordered a 9.5 degree one with an R-80 shaft. In theory, it should be a terrible club for someone who hits low 200 yard no-power fades off the tee with a 15-degree 3-wood. Bu in fact I can hit some pretty good shots by teeing the ball way high and way forward and making a veeeeeery slooooooow swing. I love the way it swings, sort of light and heavy at the same time. It’s a fun club on the driving range although I can’t hit it worth a darn on the golf course yet since the phrases "very slow swing" and "on the golf course" cannot coexist in my wee brain at the same time. Then again, a 260-yard pull hook is mighty impressive when you’re used to weakly slicing tee shots 75 yards shorter than that every hole. Then I stop by an Edwin Watts store on vacation last week and they have a closeout on Orlimar TriMetal and TriMetal+ fairway woods. Any two for $200. I chose two of the TriMetal+ with the EI-70 shafts: 14 degree "S" flex and 18 degree "R" flex. I would have preferred to get 16 and 22 degree ones but they were out of the 22-degree model. I tried them out this Saturday and they are really, really fun clubs to hit. They have a nice head-heavy feel and I just love the sound and feel they make at impact. I hit them about the same distances as my old 3-wood and 5-wood but they’re so much easier to hit from the fairway or rough. Mishits just end up 10-15 yards short and fade maybe 5 yards or so. Using my old fairway woods from the fairway a heavy, thin or toe shot went exactly nowhere. I’m so excited I just ordered the matching 22-degree TriMetal+ even though I had to pay $150 to find one. Long, downhill Par 5 on Saturday. I played two balls. For my third shots, one ball was 212 yards to the center of the green from the middle of the fairway. The other was 176 yards to the center from the short rough, slightly uphill lie. The green is elevated maybe 8-10 feet higher than the fairway and the flag is a couple of yards back of center. The 14-degree TriMetal+ puts the first ball in the front fringe two feet short of the green and 40 feet from the flag. The 18-degree TriMetal+ puts a ball mark 10 feet short of the flag (dead on line) and the ball ends up 15 feet past the hole with a very makable putt, which I lipped out. I’ve never hit a green from 200 yards in my life, much less a green from 180 and fringe from 210 in the same day! I should’ve been buying fancy clubs like this for years Brent Hutto