Timothy D Watson

After careful inspection, research, and thought, I recommend not messing with the hybrid. Sky marks happen and golf clubs often suffer cosmetic damage. A fairly convincing fix on this club would actually be a very complex job. The whole black/blue crown, back, and sole relief area would have to be carefully stripped and repainted smoothly with a matching color while being well covered beforehand with masking tape precisely on the entire perimeter of that area. Then, the light blue slot in the back would have to be done similarly. Also, the words "TITANIUM CROWN" on the back would need to have a specially made decal applied. The worst part looks simple. The white "MIZUNO" and roadrunner logo in the sole reliefs would need to be manually paint filled with a toothpick and cleaned off with acetone before any of the spray painting described before, let to dry, filled with modeling putty, and then have the putty removed from under that dried spray paint without damaging the finish. If anything goes wrong in the whole above process, it would have to be restriped and the process redone.

What brand and model are the club(s)? Are the "nicks" just surface scuffs or something more significant like a dent?

I was talking about real wooden golf clubs, but I may be able to help. What brand and model are the club(s)? Are the "nicks" just surface scuffs or something more significant like a dent?

I refinish woods. Virtually nobody does it professionally anymore because of the lack of specialized materials, training, and profit involved. I only do it locally at a select basis. It is a very complex, stressful, and time consuming process to do a "like or better than new" restoration. Check out www.louisvillegolf.com and select "Refinish & Repair" on the left-side column. I believe they should do a good job if they know exactly what you want.

Wooden drivers range in volume from around 175cc to 285cc, but much of that is in the traditional tapered hosel. Comparatively sized drivers with modern hosels run at around 130cc to 250cc. From 130cc to 225cc, the clubhead would have to be steel or beryllium copper. All titanium drivers started around 230cc. Graphite drivers come in sizes from 130cc all the way to 460cc. That is almost the full spectrum of legal head volumes for graphite. The problem is that when modern materials like 6-4 titanium, carbon composite, and others are used in a smaller clubhead, the head's feel will be much more solid. Modern driver materials have very high strength to weight ratios. Large headed drivers feel more "hot" because they demand more from these materials to keep the clubhead together through impact and the head is thus less "solid." It sounds like you do not want the older, "solid" feel. My best bet for a persimmon like driver with oversized titanium like feel would be a clubhead that is as big as durably possible within the range of 130cc to 250cc, but definitely with a strong but NOT lightweight body material and a face with a springlike effect equal or greater than 6-4 titanium. The exact reasons for all of that are complex. The closest existing thing I know of to this would be a driver with a titanium face, steel body, and volume around 230cc. Just a club does exist new with graphite shafts available (you can take other old heads and reshaft them too). Look up www.raven•••••••••••••• , select USA, go to titanium, and finally drag down and select "Extreme Distance." I would recommend the 220cc head.

Please don't feel "discriminated against" by the poll choices. I made this poll and even my all-time favorite fairway wood is not listed. There are just too many models out there, so I had to limit the list to the most recent releases and most common brands. Interesting enough, nobody has voted for an Adams wood yet. That is amusing, since I would have thought that brand more associated with fairway woods than any of the others listed.

I dislike pretty much anything on a golf club that is not significantly functional, so I have been aggravated for quite a while. Sandblasting is kind of nice. Sandblasted faces are also practical. I can go either way with tumble finishes. I generally distain paint jobs apart from grooves or simple head stampings. Interesting groove patterns on the face appeal to me, though. Don't get me started on black melonite and the like. That easily rubs off with use and looks bad afterward. All of the rubbish on the new clubs makes them virtually impossible to restore. In my opinion, the persimmon or laminated woods, blade irons, and blade or heel-toe putters of the 60's and 70's are the closest to perfection in appearance. Though... the polyurethane on the woods would quickly rub off and the chromed carbon steel would eventually rust. Those clubs looked like art, but definitely would not stay that way if they were used!

I meant to type "FT-i Squareway" in there. Also, the "SUMO2" is the square Nike fairway wood.

Sorry, I should have explained more... I started this poll to see which of last "season's" big brand fairway wood releases are the most popular at the Sand Trap. I want to see if there are any trends in opinion or if there was something good I did not note about one of the woods. None of last "season's" fairway releases made a lasting impression with me. There sure were a lot of them, though. Added Comments about other fairway woods from different brands or past years are welcome. These are some that caught my eye: Demoed, big brand: Adams Insight BUL - Nice "hot" sound Cleveland HiBORE - Like the scooped crown Cobra Speed LD '07 - Hits good, looks good Cobra Speed LD OS '07 - Hits good, looks better Ping Rapture (V1) - Big & confidence inspiring TaylorMade r7 CGV MAX - Looks awesome, difficult Not Demoed: Henry Griffitts RDH Deep Honma BERES MG713 Honma BERES MG812 Louisville Niblick DC Snake Eyes Mamba 2 Tour Edge Exotics XLD Owned: 1990 Ram Laser X2 - Easiest 3-wood ever! 1998 Cobra Ti Offset - Solid 1987 Ping Eye 2 - Beautiful when refinished blonde 1987 PowerBilt Citation Persimmon - True classic 1988 Spalding Executive - Unorthodox

Sorry, this thread is broken. It was supposed to be a poll.

Of these big brand fairway woods, which is your favorite and why?

Of these big brand fairway woods, which is your favorite and why?

I buy and restore/rebuild/modify a great deal of old golf clubs mostly as an out of control hobby. I always measure the loft of my driver heads before deciding to buy the parts to build a complete club. Most of the time, the loft is 0.5 to 2.0 degrees higher than stated on metalwoods. A loft less than stated is very rare. The farthest off I have ever seen the loft specification on a driver is 3.0 degrees higher than the stated "9.5 degrees" at an actual loft of 12.5. The club is a clone of the 1990 J's (Jumbo Ozaki) Professional Weapon by Bridgestone. It says J Preferred Wood instead.

Polish beryllium copper with Brasso and it looks like gold. This only lasts to full affect for about a day. BeCu alloys can be VERY soft or VERY strong depending on the exact formulation and way they're worked. The common carbon steel used in golf has about a 275 MPa yield strength. BeCu can have a yield strength as low as around 85 MPa. The common titanium used in golf has a yield strength of about 860 MPa. BeCu can be made as strong as 1520 MPa! Don't be fooled, though. BeCu is very dense, so its strength to weight ratio is not as good as the common 6-4 titanium. It will not make a stronger golf club, but can make a very hot face insert.

I hit a bunch of balls with the little driver yesterday. It must be me or something because it was outperforming "The Whale." Both were giving excellent sweet hits, but the 130cc was working the ball back to center a whole lot more on the poor strikes. The distance loss on the off-center hits was essentially the same with the two as well. The 130cc sometimes had a pop-up, but I could hit it off of the short grass too. The Whale has the same loft, but I can't do that with it. The little driver practically has a low profile face, so that helped on the grass. Both had great shaft feedback. The little guy made a tiny ping on the sweet hits, but felt solid also. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience using the 130cc once I forgot about the size. Its performance was not proportional to its volume, so I forgot about it.

I switched from Beta Ti to Limbo for a short time around two years ago. The Limbos were just plain worse for me. They were less consistent, flew to low, and (amazingly) felt harder and less responsive. The Beta Ti is a really good ball for the price. It is a fairly good ball, period. I needed more green holding spin though, so I gave the Betas up.

I have used a 130cc driver. It is scary to look at when addressing the ball. The thing is the size of the ball! It doesn't hit that bad, but does take focus. The original TaylorMade Burner is a little bigger at around 145cc. Metal drivers from about 130cc to 185cc were once called "standard size drivers." A persimmon or laminated sugar maple driver that is 240cc is like a 200cc metal driver. The large wooden hosel takes up a great deal of extra volume. The smallest wooden driver I have seen is 175cc. It is about the same as a 150cc metalwood. I just restored the head on the 130cc and reshafted and regripped it about a week ago. The shaft is spine aligned, the grip custom sized at .960'', and all of the works. I hit it a few times about a month ago. I plan to hit it again soon with the new treatment. I prefer to use a heavily modified version of Wilson's 1993 "The Whale." It is a midsize graphite driver and is equivalent to about a 250cc metal driver. The graphite head feels great and for some reason I hit it really well. I love the contented looking whale on the soleplate. Drivers over 290cc look too big to me. I consistently slice with them. 460cc drivers are just crazy! None of the modern driver offerings of today get my serious consideration. I wish the manufacturers would shrink the size of the drivers. I keep hearing about cracked and dented drivers nowadays. Smaller heads should be more durable. All driver clubheads weight close to 200g. A smaller size could afford to give more weight to the crown, sole, and skirt strength. Why do they keep making lighter crowns when I see people cave in the crowns on their drivers accidentally. I am just plain aggravated by the golf driver trends. I like my Whale!

I have one and it makes walking completely no hassle. The handle takes getting used to. The wheels work great and the thing is much more compact than a push cart. It gets in and out of a car much more easily than a push cart. It even comes with a cover for the wheels when they are dirty and you need to put it in the car. I got mine at a PGA Tour Superstore. It cost me $150 USD.

Check out www.tri-bag.com for a stand bag with removable wheels. It is more compact than a push cart. It is more manuverable. It can be converted for use on a golf cart, too.

I have a BrassMaster M1 putter (brass, heel-toe) with a T2C (super heavy) shaft and Crown Jumbo (massive) grip. I built the putter with a slightly closed face. It feels very soft, but not mushy like some insert putters can. In my hands, bronze, insert, zinc, aluminum, and steel putters just don't feel as responsive as brass. I have had the putter for around nine months and it still looks very shiny and non-tarnished. I love my putter!

I read all of the fine print on www.taylormadegolf.com regarding their warranties. The sum of it is that because "a third party" (a.k.a. your friend) broke it, the warranty is void. There were several other possible obstacles to getting your warranty honored, but not as definite as the before mentioned. They are: Damage not "normal and customary" Warranty only covers "defects in materials and workmanship" Must originally be purchased from authorized dealer "Original cash register receipt" required Abuse, defacement, misuse, or neglect voids warranty Sorry.

Aldila Gamer Driver Aldila Gamer Fairway Aldila VL Aldila VX Fujikura Fit-On E 150 Fujikura Fit-On E 160 Fujikura Fit-On E 250 Fujikura Fit-On E 260 Fujikura Fit-On E 270 Graphite Design Pershing 45 Graphite Design Pershing 55 Graphite Design Pershing 65 Graphite Design Pershing 75 Nippon Shaft N.S. Pro Tour 65 Nippon Shaft N.S. Pro Tour 75 Nippon Shaft N.S. Pro Tour 85

Oh, and to answer your questions, extending a shaft without special care can screw up the club's feel, swingweight balance, lie fitting (if you got that), shaft flex, durability, and possibly even the grip diameter. A 1/4'' extention is not that bad, but remember that the extender weights more than the same length of shaft and is stiffer. Also, the extender will have to be inserted a good ways into the shaft in addition to the length out of it. Even a 1/4'' extension could put the feel, swingweight and flex reasonably off. I would complain to Golfsmith, but not strongly until you are sure that they made errors. Communication is key to find out what is really happening. The length thing could have been right to begin with, though the cosmetic flaws seem like an obvious mistake to me. I really do not know for sure what is wrong other than that the clubheads do not look good. That is all of the information I can give that might help you. I hope things get straightened out for you.

I have a great deal of experience buying components from Golfsmith, but not finished clubs. Other than one cheaper head with a rattle in it, they have always been top notch for parts. I bet that the irons were lie/loft adjusted to correct some tiny manufacturing errors or because of fitting requirements. The equipment used to help adjust the lie/loft angle can be rough on clubheads. In my experience, the Golfsmith staff are rather poor clubmakers too. The clubs seeming 1/4'' too short is probably because they were not measured in the special, official way. Golf clubs can seem about 1/4'' too short if they are not measured correctly. I am deeply sorry that Golfsmith served you so poorly. Once, I got them to do something for me (instead of doing it myself) and they royally screwed it up. I got very upset. It was not a good experience for me. Golfsmith is really just an excellent supplier of club parts, not a place to actually get those parts assembled into clubs. They should link the customer to proper clubmakers and personal fitters if they do not have any themselves.

In most cases, increasing the spin rates on the launch monitors will make the more expensive pro version clubs and/or shafts (pro shafts are a good bit better, but not THAT much anymore) give more distance than the normal versions. Additionally, the pro version heads will probably display a more reasonable horizontal-plane trajectory than should be for their common fade bias. Backspin can reduce sidespin though gyroscopic means because it is the stronger of the two forces. Slices or hooks (curving ball flights) are produced because of too much inappropraitely applied sidespin. Increasing backspin will reduce slices and hooks. Backspin is characteristically a reducer of distance in drives. The pro version clubs will typically score better because they are designed with very low spin for very high swingspeeds. Still, all of the clubs will perform horrible at this stage of modification. To offset the short distances among all of the clubs, the initial speed of the ball is boosted on the monitor, bringing the average back to normal. The special pro versions should still give better distances after that final "correction." This kind of mod to the software defaults in the monitor will almost universally make the more expensive upgrades score better than their normal versions in distance. A large amount of clubs now have a pro/tour version and a standard version shaft, head, or both. I was pointed out this by a launch monitor operator. He fired a sales employee for doing something like this to make a sale.