Homemade Clubs

[Cantankerish]

I know a fellow who is in his late 60s, I would guess.  Pretty good golfer.  But like most folks his age, he does not hit the ball far any longer.  He has a nifty club we call the Frankenwood.  It is a driver head attached to the shaft of like a 9-iron or something.  He uses it off the tee on long par 3s.

 

Is that a legal club?

[billchao]

10 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

Is that a legal club?

If it is a conforming head there’s no reason it wouldn’t be.

How does he hit that club? I would think the shorter, stiffer, shaft combined with the low loft of a driver wouldn’t be a great combination for someone who lacks swing speed.

[Cantankerish]

1 hour ago, billchao said:

If it is a conforming head there’s no reason it wouldn’t be.

How does he hit that club? I would think the shorter, stiffer, shaft combined with the low loft of a driver wouldn’t be a great combination for someone who lacks swing speed.

Thank you, Bill.

He hits it low, like most of his shots.  It works for him.  He uses it like a 1-iron or 2-iron.  The shaft is graphite, probably senior flex. It is custom fit because the lie angle is so different with the short shaft.  I wonder if he has it offset or tilted for higher loft.  Whatever the case, he can only hit it off a tee, but it works pretty well for him.  Nifty invention.

[Bonvivant]

IIRC GolfMates on YouTube did this a while back with a 7 iron shaft. I believe that the result was about 15-20% less distance because of the lack of club-head speed with the shorter shaft, but it was very controllable. I believe that Liam was calling it the "fairway finder". They also took the 7 iron head and paired it to the driver shaft, resulting in a club that went toweringly high, but with little control, as expected.

[Typhoon92]

What does the rest of his set look like?

[Buckeyebowman]

32 minutes ago, Typhoon92 said:

What does the rest of his set look like?

Hey, if it works, and as long as it conforms, who cares?! There was a post on here years ago where a guy built himself a "punch out" club. He had an old 2 iron, and either just pulled it from the shaft or mounted it on the shaft of a 7 iron. That's what he used when he had to punch out of the woods and keep the ball low. 

As far as what the rest of his set looks like? I don't really think that I want to know!

[Mr22putt]

11 hours ago, Cantankerish said:

He has a nifty club we call the Frankenwood.  

The real Phrankenwood want built by Callaway as 2W for FIGJAM.

Phil’s Phrankenwood – What You Need To Know – Callaway Golf News and Media

 

[Buckeyebowman]

I used to have a 2 wood. 50 years ago!

[Cantankerish]

On 2/21/2020 at 9:07 PM, Typhoon92 said:

What does the rest of his set look like?

I do not know of it being anything special.  I will see him today though, so I will inquire.

[Bonvivant]

21 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

I used to have a 2 wood. 50 years ago!

My sam snead set has 1 2 3 4 5 wood in it. Only a pitching wedge though on the bottom end. It's a fun set to play. 5 woods 8 irons and a putter. 

[Buckeyebowman]

It wouldn't be a set of Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" clubs would it? That would be my first set of "real" golf clubs, given to me by my parents over 50 years ago! They bought them from some department store that was back then, maybe Kresge's or Woolworth's. I think the clubs were swingweighted about a D8!

[Bonvivant]

On 2/23/2020 at 9:29 PM, Buckeyebowman said:

It wouldn't be a set of Sam Snead "Blue Ridge" clubs would it? That would be my first set of "real" golf clubs, given to me by my parents over 50 years ago! They bought them from some department store that was back then, maybe Kresge's or Woolworth's. I think the clubs were swingweighted about a D8!

Correct. I have no idea about swing weights or even what D8 means. I love those old things though. Loads of fun, and they were quite cheap back in the day from what I have learned. My dad cut down a set of the irons into odds (ages 4-7 for me or so), and evens (8-12ish), before giving me a full length set (the one I still have) with woods and putter included.

[Vinsk]

18 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Correct. I have no idea about swing weights or even what D8 means.

It means It can also function as a  weapon should a gator get a bit aggressive with you...

[Bonvivant]

Just now, Vinsk said:

It means It can also function as a  weapon should a gator get a bit aggressive with you...

Lol....so....club-like? I think I will be playing a vintage match against my buddy this weekend with these clubs. I'll have to remind him that they are D8s so he doesn't get any funny ideas about winning.

[Cantankerish]

Here's the Frankenwood.  Gary told me last week that it is actually a 3-wood that he had cut, so it is quite short.  The head is not adjusted in any way though.  The rest of the bag is pretty standard fare.