Anyone still play with wooden clubs?

bitemybanger

Was out with my uncle for a round during the week and he has a beautiful set of wooden fairway woods which he had custom made in the States during the summer(cost a small fortune), i had a go and thier a dream to hit.
Anyone else sticking to tradition?

Sandwich

Played a month or so ago with a guy who had an ancient 3 wood in his bag. Hit it OK too.

Playing timber woods is fine if if you like the traditionalist cache and curiosity value they bring. There's no question but that you will hit the ball better with steel though.

Nevertheless, it really doesnt make any difference if you are a handicap golfer only playing in handicapped competitions - your handicap will just rise to counteract the loss of performance of the wood versus steel clubs of your competitors.

putts18

Sandwich wrote: »

Played a month or so ago with a guy who had an ancient 3 wood in his bag. Hit it OK too.

Playing timber woods is fine if if you like the traditionalist cache and curiosity value they bring. There's no question but that you will hit the ball better with steel though.

Nevertheless, it really doesnt make any difference if you are a handicap golfer only playing in handicapped competitions - your handicap will just rise to counteract the loss of performance of the wood versus steel clubs of your competitors.

Actually Sandwich, you are not strictly correct there. There is no great gain in distance using steel over persimmon woods and persimmon woods are more accurate and provide better workability. In fact the longest recorded drive in pro competition was hit by a 64 year old American named Mike Austin using a persimmon driver. He dove it 515 yards.
The down side of wooden clubs however is lack of forgiveness. Miss the sweet spot and you will loose a lot of distance. Steel clubs offer huge levels of forgiveness and definitely assist us handicap golfers to look better than we are BUT maybe we would be better ball strikers if we used wooden clubs!?
You can still buy wooden or persimmon clubs and beautiful wooden putters from a company called www.persimmongolf.co.uk Its worth a look at their site if only to admire the wonderful craftsmanship that goes into these clubs

Sandwich

putts18 wrote: »

Actually Sandwich, you are not strictly correct there. There is no great gain in distance using steel over persimmon woods and persimmon woods are more accurate and provide better workability. In fact the longest recorded drive in pro competition was hit by a 64 year old American named Mike Austin using a persimmon driver. He dove it 515 yards.
The down side of wooden clubs however is lack of forgiveness. Miss the sweet spot and you will loose a lot of distance. Steel clubs offer huge levels of forgiveness and definitely assist us handicap golfers to look better than we are BUT maybe we would be better ball strikers if we used wooden clubs!?
You can still buy wooden or persimmon clubs and beautiful wooden putters from a company called www.persimmongolf.co.uk Its worth a look at their site if only to admire the wonderful craftsmanship that goes into these clubs

I don't think you are strictly correct yourself there putts18.;)

I didnt state that you will hit steel woods further as you suggest I did. I said better - which you suggest I didnt with your explanation of how steel is more forgiving to the handicap golfer -making him a better all else being equal than his companion choosing to play the timber ones.

However, despite the record you quote - a single event - I think you would be hard pressed to counter evidence that the average distance from a 460cc titanium steel driver will be greater than from an equivalent timber wood.

putts18

I think we are saying the same thing really and that is, for the average handicap golfer steel good, wood not so good.

I do believe that if we played with persimmon woods on a regular basis we would inevitably become better ball strikers. Or maybe we would just take up a new sport.

BrianD3

I have a wooden 3 and 5 wood. Unusually they have wooden heads and graphite shafts.That's how they came from the factory. I have never seen another club with this shaft/head combination.

I have gotten out of hitting them though, it is over a year since I hit either. I have developed a bit of a mental block about fairway woods also I hit my long irons well so if I do need to hit a long shot from the fairway or don't want to use the driver off the tee, I'll use a long iron.

As for forgiveness - I think the major advances came after wooden clubs ceased to be widely available. Eg a metal driver and wooden driver from the early nineties are both relatively unforgiving compare to a brand new metal driver. So it isn't necessarily the wood that makes older clubs unforgiving.