California Golf Technologies

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Golf Equipment Chronicles 2006 (Part 5)

Searching for Magic Irons--New Product Radar Screen

The traditional beginning of the golf season is the Masters Tournament. Coincidentally, that's about when you can walk out on golf courses throughout the East and upper Mid-West without sinking into the mud over your shoe tops. Those of us who live in California and other states where we play golf year-round just can't imagine how crazy golfers get after six months cooped up indoors, watching all their sports on TV.

I understand. I grew up in the Chicago area and know what it's like to scrape the snow off of the grass to hit a few wedge shots when you're suffering from an extreme case of cabin fever. On that first day in early Spring when you roll down the car window and hang your elbow out without freezing you know that golf season is about to start. It's a great day if you live in that part of the country.

And then comes the question. `How will I play better this year than last?' (Some of us, on the other side of a milestone year ask ourselves: `How can I hold my own?') Whatever your state of mind, you have some choices to make. Will this be the year that you change your lifestyle and `get fit?' That's a scary commitment for most of us. Will this be the year that you decide to work on your technique? Or, will you just ante up to try to buy your game with the latest equipment technology one more year? The Christmas season for retailers, golf pros, manufacturers and everyone else in the golf industry also starts with the Masters tournament. Most of the money that's going to be spent on golf equipment this year will be spent in the next 60 days. I think about golf clubs all the time so you might be interested in where my so-called `investment' is going in 2006.

First Things First

The first question we ask a player who walks into the Golf Lab is `Have you seen your swing on video lately?' If you haven't had a recent look at your swing on video, preferably with a PGA Pro, your swing coach or at least your `practice buddy' looking over your shoulder, you should do that first. Time and again, players are surprised by their videos. Sometimes, a brief look at a video can lead to very simple and effective swing changes. The way you swing has a very important effect on the specifications of the clubs that will work for you. You've got to know your swing before you can make a good choice of golf clubs.

It's all about ball speed, spin and launch angle. With modern launch monitor technology, you can measure and compare golf clubs based on performance. If you are planning to buy new clubs, especially a driver, you no longer have to rely on random chance to make your choice. The worst thing you can do is make a driver choice at a Demo Day. Think about it. You're hitting range balls that are hard as rocks and don't spin like the balls you use on the course. You're hitting drives to distances you can't really see. The ball lands on a surface that's nothing like a fairway. Even if you could see, it's hard to remember a good shot followed by a medium shot and then a bad shot. You might get really unlucky and make three good swings in a row and think that whatever driver you were holding must be `the one.' Lots of mistakes are made at Demo Days. The only reliable way to choose a driver is to hit the balls you use with the ball speed, spin rate and launch angle recorded with a launch monitor. It's a relatively simple exercise to dial in your driver specifications including the driver shaft, head and ball that produce the best ball speed and correct spin and launch angle. You can eliminate the guesswork.

Shaft load must also be measured. For the last several years, club fitters have been making their shaft recommendations based on a player's swing speed. The problem is that electronic gizmos that can measure shaft load are scarce. At the Golf Lab, we use the Max Out Shaft Max. The Shaft Max measures shaft deflection in two planes and plots the results against a timeline that produces a `fingerprint' of a player's swing. The Shaft Max detects exactly how a golfer applies power in his swing and discovers any `power leaks.' The Shaft Max gives us confidence to make unconventional recommendations. We have found senior players with moderate swing speeds who nevertheless loaded the shaft heavily. Imagine their surprise when we recommended extra stiff shafts and guaranteed that they would work.

Finding the `Magic.' If all you want is a set of clubs that you can play with, it's not too hard. Most players can do quite well with a rather broad range of specifications for their clubs. If you get the length, lie, balance and grip size right and you can be OK. For golfers who play a couple of times a month, there's no point worrying about `magic.' Infrequent play leads to inconsistent swings and a sense of feel that has a hard time telling the difference in golf clubs.

But if you play and practice every week, you know what it's like to feel the `magic.' For me, it's a nearly perfect shot under difficult or competitive conditions. I remember those shots for months and sometimes years. At the PGA Show in Orlando, we were playing the ACCRA event at Windermere Country Club. The seventh hole is a par 3 -- playing 210 into the wind. I left my go-to 21¡ Mizuno Fli Hi home by accident. I was stuck with my Ping Eye 3+ Blade 3 iron with Nippon 1150 Tour shaft. Into the wind, I hit that near perfect 3 iron to four feet and made the putt. I followed that up with a gap wedge on the eighteenth that came off of a tight lie on a three-quarters swing and tried to dance its way into the cup. A few shots like that is why you end up loving a certain set of clubs. The Ping Eye 3+ Blades are my number one set but I'm continually trying to knock them out of the bag. To me, pursuing the `magic' is almost as interesting as playing the game.

Musical Chairs. I've got three other sets that are in my current rotation. I've given each of them a fair chance and now I'm convinced that I've might just have the right heads in the wrong shafts. So, this was the month for a little shaft swapping. These are the sets that I'm thinking might have a chance to earn a place in my bag this year.

Miura 201's with Aerotech 95 g. constant weight graphite shafts.

In a way, the Miuras have been my biggest disappointment of the year. We have sold dozens of sets of these most revered blades on the face of the earth. Most customers love them, and if they don't they're too embarrassed to say. I waited for months to get my own set of heads, custom weight at four grams light, from the factory. At an inch over with midsize Tour Velvet grips they seemed to balance out just about right at D-7 swingweight without messing with tip weights. I paired them up with Aerotech shafts, the new constant weight model at 95 grams, a half step up from the 80 gram Aerotech that I had used with success in a couple of sets last summer. This should have been a fabulous combination.

My first couple of rounds I became convinced that they were about half a club shorter than my favorite set. That's a fatal flaw. I don't think it matters if a set of clubs feels perfect and never lets you miss a shot. If they go short, they're out.

I came back to the irons after a few weeks and gave them another test. Once again, I loved the balance and the feel but I couldn't help thinking that something was missing. I can't remember any `magic' shots with that set. It may have been that the Miura heads in combination with the Aerotech shafts came out feeling too soft. Rather than stick with the setup, I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by reshafting the Miura heads with Nippon 1150 Tour shafts and recycling the Aerotech shafts.

My reasoning is that since my current gamers are the Ping I 3+ blade heads I can find out once and for all how forged Miuras compare to the cast Ping heads. It's a concept from seventh grade science class of changing one variable at a time. It's a simple matter to build the set out with all other specifications identical. Miuras with Nippon 1150 Tour shafts, same flex, same swingweight. Would I learn that the Miura heads felt much better than the Pings? If so, there would be a new guaranteed winner in the bag. Or, what if the Miura heads were a little too unforgiving? One thing about Miura blades stands out to me. They have a very sharp leading edge. To call them `diggers' would be a polite understatement. Over the years, I have taken quite a few sets of blades to the grinder to `relieve' the front edge and create a little extra bounce in the sole. It seems sacrilegious to treat Miuras that way. I don't have the heart to grind them.

Dirty Birds with Element 21 Scandium Shafts.

I keep going back to my `Dirty Bird' forged heads. They were my first custom set, hand ground from a set of blanks that came from the old Kahler Classic Company -- long out of business. I bought a few sets years ago and have been using them for special projects since. The Dirty Birds are ground to a very light weight; the five iron at 248 grams is eight grams under the industry standard.

Since the `Birds' were familiar, I mounted the new E21 Scandium shafts, thinking that it would be a good test. It was. I hit several `magic' shots with this setup on cold, rainy days. I began to think that the Scandium shafts were really different, producing more distance. I was excited to meet up with Dr. Howard Butler, the technical brains behind Scandium products at E21 -- the Scandium Company -- at the PGA Show. When I asked him for the `scientific explanation' of why the Scandium shafts were giving me noticeably longer distances, his reply was: `You were lucky.' That was about as scientific as you usually get in the golf business. I decided that I should give the Scandium shafts another test with familiar heads. I picked up another set of Ping Eye 3+ blades off of eBay. My reasoning was to match up my current `gamers' as closely as possible, identical heads with different shafts. That should be a good test of how the Scandium shafts compare to the Nippon 1150 Tours. (One variable, once again.) It would be apples to apples in another way. The Dirty Birds are pretty light and somewhat offset. The Ping heads match up almost perfectly with my current gamers. I want to put the Scandium shaft question to bed, once and for all.

Nike Slingshot Tours with True Temper S-300 shafts.

Last summer, one of the most promising sets that I built was a set of the original Nike Slingshots reshafted with Aerotech 80 gram Steel Fiber shafts. I had plenty of good rounds with that setup. They were aiming for a permanent place in my bag until we got into tournament season. The Palo Alto Muni dries out in the summer. The rough has dips and ridges that require you to get down on the ball to get it out. The original Nike Slingshots had a sole design that was a little too clunky. They were great from the fairway, but trouble when you got off the track. I sold the set to a player in Chicago where the courses are a little softer in the summer.

In 2006 Nike is back with a redesigned Slingshot. They call it the `Tour' and it has a considerably slimmed down sole and especially svelte heel. They trimmed up the outline from the business end as well. Overall, they look like player's blades when you address the ball. One downside in Nike's offerings is that you can only buy the Tour Slingshots with heavy steel shafts. The Nike custom department isn't too flexible either, over length clubs get very heavy because they don't have heads in lighter weights, like Mizuno's custom department. I played one round with the Tour Slingshots with their native S-300 shafts and they were, frankly, nothing special. I think that game improvement clubs need game improvement shafts.

So in the third swap, I've got the Aerotech 95 gram constant weight shafts in the Nike Slingshot Tours. That should solve the problem from last year which was related to head shape and pair them up with a known quantity shaft that was already almost perfect.

I'll have plenty of time to test these setups during March and April `mornings at the Muni' and make a full report for May.

What If You Can't Afford Four (or more) Sets of Clubs?

It's unrealistic to imagine very many players going to the trouble and expense testing as many setups as I can. As a clubmaker who does his own work with access to parts at wholesale prices, it's not overly expensive for me. For a civilian, too much swapping can break the bank. So, what are your alternatives?

The first thing you have to decide is how much finding the `magic' matters to you. If you want to develop your feel so that you can detect subtle differences in setups, you have to try a lot of different sets. And, you have to know the exact specifications of the clubs you are testing. Rather than buy golf clubs randomly and hoping to find your own `magic' clubs by luck -- you might decide to work on the problem methodically.

Many custom clubmakers, the Golf Lab included, have high performance rental sets available. `Try before you buy' is the best way to go. Then you know for sure. It makes sense to understand the exact specifications of the clubs that you are testing. If you have several sets of your own clubs, have them measured and charted. It doesn't cost much to know the different specifications of the clubs you are testing. To make any sense out of testing, you have to know exactly what you're testing.

Finally, when you begin to zone in on the setup that feels and performs the best for you, you can build single test clubs to make absolutely sure that you know what you're buying. It's no problem for a custom shop to order single clubs from any of the major manufacturers so you can test the exact clubs you are thinking about buying. You can swap shafts in the heads of your choice. I like using six and eight irons for testing to get a little spread in the kind of shots you hit. The eight iron is always my go-to short iron and the six iron gives you a chance to hit some pretty long but controllable shots. Plus, six irons are in every demo cart.

The most expensive alternative is buying a new set of clubs that you play for a few rounds and then decide you don't like. Not only do you waste money on the clubs, you also waste your time on the golf course. That's the biggest loss.

Update on the Nakashima Saga

Last month I reported that the Nakashima Golf Company in Stockton, CA was going through some changes. Nakashima was the biggest new success story in the component business in the last couple of years. They caught the wind perfectly and owned the `buzz' with fortunate positioning and quality products. It was one of my favorite companies. We introduced a lot of players to Nakashima.

Last fall, founder Scott Son and sales guy Patrick Boyd left the company to form their own enterprise -- Versus Golf. They moved to Atlanta, Georgia and set to work designing their new line for 2006. After a whirlwind of activity including a trip to China to finalize their designs, they returned to show their work at the PGA Show. Alas, it wasn't quite perfect. The drivers had a great shape but were a little too loud. The irons were `pressure forged' -- which means cast -- from soft stainless steel aiming at a niche in the market for better players who wanted a club they could grind a little bit to shape the sole for their own home course conditions. I thought that was a good idea. Patrick has a terrific eye for classic shape in irons. After the PGA Show, they realized they had more work to do.

Soon after, the Versus partners split up. Scott continued to reside in Atlanta and kept the Versus name with the intention of rounding out the line and getting into the market in May or June. Meantime, Patrick returned to California with the irons that he designed. He wasted no time hooking up with Steve Almo at Geek Golf. Steve is a `lifer' in the golf industry who introduced his new driver designs at the PGA Show. At press time, Patrick and Steve were hard at work putting the finishing touches on Patrick's iron designs that will be distributed under the Geek umbrella.

Meantime, John Nakashima lost no time bringing out the new `interchangeable hosel' driver. The new HTEC driver hit the market in February. The HTEC is probably the most interesting of the new run of drivers that allow a player to swap out a shaft to find out what a certain combination plays like without buying a new club.

The New Drivers -- Interchangeable Shafts.

Three years ago, the Burrows Golf Company hit the scene with what turned out to be an $85 million dollar fiasco. (See `The Price of Their Toys' in Golf Chronicles archives.) Burrows had one innovation that was pretty cool. They shipped a fitting cart with heads and shafts that you could interchange to test the performance of a specific shaft with a specific head. It was an interesting idea, but not quite perfect. The big problem was that the mechanism that connected the shaft to the head added enough extra weight to the driver to make it an unrealistic test. Unfortunately, players who thought they found the right shaft with their demo driver were disappointed when their `custom built' driver arrived. The flex and balance of the custom club was all different. Remember: always buy the demo.

The Burrows system was based on an idea that Bruce Burrows first saw at Max Out Golf Labs in Los Angeles. Mitch Voges, the founder of Max Out created the first set of interchangeable head drivers -- originally designed for launch monitor testing. The Max Out clubs went a step beyond the commercial systems that came out later. Mitch created heads with low, middle and high center of gravity locations to help dial in spin rate and launch angle in combination with loft and shaft profile. For many years, Mitch has pursued the idea that a player can find the driver that gives him the perfect launch angle and spin rate to maximize distance.

The new Nakashima Golf HTEC is an interchangeable hosel driver. It is very similar in execution to the Max Out system. The Nakashima version has an interchangeable hosel that holds the shaft and is secured into the driver head with a set screw. The hosel is fluted so you can insert the shaft at your desired orientation. That's a nice feature for players who are experimenting with spine location -- and for SST PURE aficionados who require precise orientation. With the HTEC, a player can choose his Nakashima head and swap shafts that are playable on the course with the exact specifications as the test club. The test club IS the play club. You can play a Fujikura Speeder in your morning round and swap it out for a UST Proforce V2 for your afternoon round. You even have a little room to change swingweight with set screws of different weights. It is an elegant setup.

Meantime, Mitch Voges is not sitting still. His new driver heads with interchangeable shaft technology are due to arrive in April. Max Out applied for a patent on the system they invented way back in 2001. Stay tuned for developments.

Play Testing the Nakashima HTEC Driver

A few months ago, I reported the `Death of the $500 driver.' Cancel that prediction. The new Nakashima HTEC driver carries a MSRP of $579. I couldn't resist trying out the system so I bought a 9.5¡, 10.5¡ and 11.5¡ head for testing. We picked out a selection of shafts from our pull out bin and mounted them on the Nakashima hosels.

There are some things you need to know before you get too excited. Nakashima has been known for getting pretty close to the USGA imposed limit on COR. Unfortunately, the first shipment of Nakashima heads came in a little too lively and was rejected in the USGA tests. All of the heads are marked `first production run' and serial numbered. The bad news is that they're nonconforming. The good news is that if it doesn't matter to you, you can get a head that exceeds the USGA limits.

Nakashima has been known for labeling their driver heads with actual loft and face angle. For most OEM drivers, the acceptable variance in loft is 1¡ each way which we find to be exceeded frequently. It's disconcerting when your 8.5¡ driver measures out to 10.5¡ of actual loft. The Nakashima heads that I received appeared quite closed. In addition, the lie angle appeared to be unusually flat. The drivers that I measured came out at 56¡ lie angle which is at least a couple of degrees flatter than most other models. If you're thinking about buying a Nakashima HTEC driver, I highly recommend making sure that the head you choose suits your eye and your swing. You might need to work with your clubmaker to have a close look at the options and then make sure you get the one you want from the warehouse.

I had two nine hole rounds at the Palo Alto Muni with the Nak drivers. I found that they were straight, they had the right sound and I absolutely love the idea that you can change shafts in a head that you like. I did not notice any significant additional distance from the nonconforming head. The 9.5¡ head produced an unusually low launch angle. Interchangeable shafts and heads is definitely a good idea and will satisfy a lot of club junkies -- assuming that you can find a head that you want to play.

Testing Procedure -- Mornings at the Muni. Working with Mitch Voges, the creative force behind Max Out Golf Labs in Los Angeles has been rewarding. Mitch is opinionated. Major Champions have their prerogatives. We debate some subjects, but we agree that the best way to test golf clubs is to take them to your home course and hit the balls you play to familiar targets. Mitch has almost totally weaned me off of rock balls at the driving range, except to work on technique to get stronger or loosen up before a round. The ball flight you get off of mats hitting range balls doesn't tell you much. On the other hand, for players who are just trying to groove a swing, repetition helps.

I credit my improvement last year to effective practice. Most mornings all summer I dragged myself out of bed and showed up at the Palo Alto Muni early enough to play nine holes before work. When the weather is good, you have to tee off on the back nine before 7:30. I invited Golf Lab customers and friends to join me. It worked out great. We always had time to drop an extra ball to compare clubs in our bags. I found my handicap stayed at my lowest level for the last several years and I was good enough to win three low gross prizes at Palo Alto Golf Club tournaments. That ranks as a successful year. I've renewed my card for 2006. If you live in the Bay Area and don't mind getting up early, join me for a morning at the Muni. When we finish, you can look forward to one of Don's fabulous omelets in the grill room. Please call the shop a day ahead to make sure that the game is on. (650) 493-1770.

On the Radar Screen. Hooking up with Eric Jones to combine lessons and clubfitting at Poppy Ridge gives us a different dimension to offer players who are trying to find their own magic clubs. Hitting test clubs off of grass to targets you can see at distances you know for sure is a great alternative. We are paying particular attention to wedges, utility clubs and fairway woods at Poppy Ridge. A couple of months ago, I wrote an article urging Chronicles readers to support the underdog companies. I repeat that recommendation today. For the good of the golf industry, try to find something that you can buy from a little company. They need your help more than the big guys.

Scratch Wedges. This is a great little company that deserves to succeed. We have a complete selection of Scratch wedges for testing. We also have a bag full of other premium wedges including Miura, Eidolon, Nike, Mizuno and a collection of classic collectibles. All kinds of great custom wedge shafts including spinners, PX, Nippons and heavy weight graphites.

Utility Clubs and Fairways. The world leader continues to be Sonartec (small, and underdog enough to buy from.) Their MD has been the utility of choice for three years. We also like the Mizuno Fli-Hi and we have several models for low prices from some smaller companies. For utility shafts, you can't beat the Fujikura Banzai. KZG has an interesting utility model at a low price. Nike and Mizuno fairway woods are very good.

Irons. You can't beat Miuras. We've got all models for testing. The Mizuno MP-60 is going to be this year's volume winner in forged irons -- we have them shafted with Rifle PX, Nippon and graphite. Hit them all off of grass at Poppy Ridge. If you're thinking about game improvement, you've got to try the Nike Slingshots. The new Tour version can be an answer for low index players.

Drivers. If you want to blow $800, buy the new Taylormade R7 TP. Keep an eye on the Nakashima line for the next release if you play by the rules and like the idea of interchangeable shafts. But remember that component drivers revolutionized the long drive category. It was SMT that changed the landscape by offering a driver that the gorillas couldn't break -- and backed it up with a lifetime guarantee. Steve Almo's new company deserves a close look. We like the look of the Geek drivers. Eric Jones has never competed with anything but Alpha. The KZG adjustable weight driver is very good for players who want to tinker with their spin rate. Your best buy for a custom driver is going to be going a component head. On the name brand front, the Nike Sasquatch in both the standard and Tour versions is a winner.

Driver Shafts. Matrix is re-engineering its OZIK line, firming up the tips a little. Bob is still playing his `Grand OZIK' -- the $1000 model. We haven't found a buyer for that one but the `bargain' OZIK at a little north of $400 is worth a look. Fujikura's Rombax is on the horizon and they released a bunch of their `Tour Only' shafts to their Charter Dealers. We particularly like the Vista Tour in the 80 gram weight for strong players who want to keep their ball flight and spin down. The `Tour' paint job is noticeable. The ACCRA line provides a broad range of fitting options for weight and flex. If you're looking at the cutting edge, you'll want to try the Stulz triangular `Arrow' model. This is just an overview. There are really too many good choices to mention them all. Launch monitor testing is still the way to find the `Magic Shaft.'

Iron Shafts. In steel, the Nippon 1150 Tour is neck and neck with the Royal Precision Project X. For players who need a little more help, the new Project X `high launch' is a reasonable choice. For women, the Nippon 850 is great, but be aware, it plays very soft. Players who need `regular' flex should start with `stiff.' In graphite, the Aerotech line is still the best, always coming out on top in our pre-installation testing procedure.

Putters. I have covered our favorites in previous articles. We still like Goolie if you want to get a center shafted putter with a custom lie angle. The Heavy Putter has proven its value for a lot of players. If you're thinking about supporting a small guy, the Penneagle line is very good, with some patented design features. Whatever putter you choose, you've got to consider the new UST Frequency Filtered putter shaft and the Balance-Certified counter weighting system.

Bags. I picked up a new Aficionado bag by Club Glove. After years of using their travel bags I've been impressed with quality that can withstand airline abuse. Their new line of golf bags looks like they could last a lifetime. They might even be bullet proof. Recommended.

Leith Anderson is a partner in the Golf Lab in Palo Alto. He will answer all questions related to clubmaking and clubfitting personally. Contact Leith Anderson by email: Leith@calgolftech.com. Cell phone 650-743-2816.