Shambles

Now you have left me in a quandry with this report. I used to like a head heavy feel and these days I am very interested in learning the actual feel of frequency balanced shafts. I'm wondering if I can afford both. Shambles

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Just a side comment. Only the highest grade stainless steel, one with a high Nickel content, will have a very high resistance to rust. I've never seen it happen, but I'm reasonably sure that given enough time and very bad use and conditions, it can happen. Stainless in the minimum grade Nickel content will eventually rust in a highly polluted acid rain environment or a marine environment. You can verify this by visiting the local yacht club. Lower grade stainless can be made more rust resistant but needs a smooth polish for that. This putter was milled so I'm thinking the stainless steel used might have been a lower grade but even unpolished, lower grade resistance to rust is considerable and this should not have happened except in a highly polluted atmosphere or a marine environment or both. That would be rather extreme. Since the problem is a first for the club, it's possible the steel used was a lower grade that got past the inspector at manufacturing. I'm reasonably confident that the owner's use and care for the putter does not allow for the extreme abuse that would be necessary for the stainless to be made to rust. Proof of this is in many homes where there are old stailess clubs that have been heavily used. It's more likely that those spots are something else that we are unable to identify. For example, the thing has a gold color so there might have been a failure in the coloring process. Those spots look to be happening only in the lines or where the milling lines cross so it could also be an infection of lesser metals caused by the milling being done immediatly after doing some simple forged jobs. I don't have the putter for inspection and even if I did, I don't have the expertise to judge by eyeball. I'm just guessing. The thing really needs to be sent back to the manufacturer as they also need to know how and where the failure happened. Shambles

FINALLY. So good to know a manufacturer is finally taking active steps to defend it's market. Shambles

That's the kind of ride that almost makes playing Golf on distant courses that can be driven to mandatory. Shambles

I bow to the master. Shambles

I get the feeling that your comfort with the I 5's is more because it gives comfort for addressing the ball a little farther back because of the offset. It's both a visual and physical effect. The offset allows your eyes to see the loft with less of a delofting effect at a very slightly rearward address, and physically you should be able to feel the toe swing that the offset also has a role in emphasizing a very little bit. The toe swing is most felt by those of us who have a very light grip on the club. There are blades that were weighted to duplicate, to some degree, that toe swing. In my case, it is the SWORD TM 305 which has a visible slab of Tungsten alloy on the flange, but has the look of a non offset blade. Unfortunately, I have been told the company no longer produces clubs. You might be able to find some experienced clubs or some other blades built to the same or similar bias. Bottom line, however, is that the blade designed in this manner resists the fade and slice a little bit so, just like the I 5, you would need to do more to purposely make a slice or fade. Just not as much as in the case of the offset I 5. You also lose the visual support of the offset in addressing the ball slightly farther back. There are other designs that can achieve some of the offset toe swing effect. What can be done, I think, is tip weighting a players design that is fit with lighter shafts. Unfortunately I have never done this and so cannot be definitive about the effect if any, in the perceptible range. The X 20 TOUR and it's subsequent reiterations is a cavity back with very little offset that also allows you to bend the ball in either direction with reasonably equal ease. Again, the weight adjustment would reduce the bend to the right ease. However you could always undo the bias at some future date, or simply build it to a degree of bias you prefer. I HAVE NEVER DONE THIS AND SO CANNOT BE SURE IT WILL WORK. This is the kind of thing wherein you truly need a very good clubmaker's advice and assistance in trying. The cost of experimenting could add up to some pocket pain so I suggest you simply haunt the second hand bins and see if you can find a design that suits your search. I am certain they are out there as I do have the Sword and also some offset irons, but your search might not even be what I am describing. You cheapest alternative is to address the ball slightly more forward and fix your swing. Shambles

I've learned to have greater respect for older golfers than in the past. I recently played a round at my home course, a bit less than 7300 yards, from the tips and that 80 year old senior was putting birdies about 5 or six times during the 18. Of course, he was a very healthy 80 year old but only about 5'7" and probably in the area of 130 pounds. I will never again take anything for granted where a golfer is old. You really have to look at the golfer involved and what he is capable of. I can only say this fellow was formerly a Jun Golfer in a time Jun Golfers were not yet created as a group. I've played with a fair number of older golfers and frankly, they more often play with the same clubs they had as youngsters but have added a couple of Hybrids. Shambles

Just replace the longer Irons with Hybrids, one at a time. Let the change be as gradual as the loss of strength and speed. Accuracy and predictability get even more important as strength is reduced, so minimize the changes so that the learning will be in smaller increments. Shambles

I agree, provided it's not to the extremes. Dialing in can become a long term affair for some, and rather distracting. It would certainly put pause to any improvement program you might be on. Unless the clubs as is are truly unacceptable, I would not do more than shaft changes. Shambles

I agree and would probably have chosen the hand over the machine myself, if I had your nerve. The job certainly looks to have great results and I would consider myself lucky if I ever get the opportunity to look at your clubs personally. Shambles

Spoon, I doubt I will ever have your nerve, personally trying that on such an expensive set. Did you even think about using a grinder fit with a stainless brush and also one fit with a stiff nylon brush? Shambles

You think you have problems ? I have 6 sets to rotate through. Shambles

Metal allergy denies me any kind of jewelry unless it's at least 22 carat gold, silver or copper. Even very good plating leaves marks on my skin. Friends used to use me to test gold necklaces. Shambles

I can pretty much agree with this line of thought. Name brands are a comfort when you are uncertain of which way to go, or what to look for in a product. Not so familiar brands require a closer inspection of the product itself and how that can help your game, if it can help at all. Sometimes you need to look around for a feel you find missing in what you already have to make up a more comfortable bag for yourself. Shambles

I can't be sure but if that isn't the same, it's similar to something I saw too many years ago during the Golf boom and before the stand bag was introduced. It didn't take in my part of the world and faded from the shops. Shambles

I doubt they are all that bad but admit they need more care and maintenance than a Toyota Landcruiser 80 series. The short wheel base gives it more maneuverability in tight spaces and, surprisingly, contributes to climbing ability. I understand that Rover got into the aluminum body construction because there was so much left over after the war. Much of the design consideration was based on the ability to build by hand and the need of farmers for a utility vehicle for general service as well as that of soldiers for romping about in places where roads were not available. At the time it was first built, it was arguably the best vehicle for general purposes that could fairly well be repaired or maintained with very few tools. I think, but am not sure, the Defender was what made the Land Rover a big name world wide. One of the better to me design aspects of the Defender was the fact that it is ambidextrous. These days off road vehcles are much more comfortable but also much more complicated. Shambles

It's not so difficult to believe. China has been very lax in the enforcement of environmental considerations and labor rights. Their trade off has been the ability to deliver products at considerably lower prices and businessmen always find that worth considering. Shambles

My earlier suggestion was to simply wrap or tape 2 or 3 grams to the outside of the hosel so you can personally feel the effect of the added weight and how much weight is involved, but still remove the weight easily without damaging the club. It's close to the intended position so the feel will be as close as possible without the actual and adjusting the amount of weight will be reasonably quick and convenient. When satisfied and determined to proceed, you can put the right amount of weight inside the shaft tip in any of a number of ways and have a better chance at getting what you want. Shambles. .

Interesting. I noticed that about my old sonartec 3 wood but blamed myself for putting a +1" shaft into it. I have a strong tendency to pull or hook a fairway and the extra length helps me a little, plus my knees really don't like being flexed all that much. I think I'll have to look around for some Japanese fairways and see if the change will work out in my favor on the long run. Shambles

I use marker pen refills. It comes in a variety of colors, dries quickly and you just rub off the slop with an ink eraser. Shambles

It would do both, but the player will feel or not feel it's effect depending on how tightly or lightly he holds the club. You can probably feel a bit of the effect by wrapping 2 or 3 grams or so of lead to the hosel. That should be about all the space would allow inside the shaft tip, and is plenty, probably too much. Shambles

I added an inch to my set of NS Pro 950's using graphite plugs made from busted or discarded shafts. I did it only because I was tired of bending my knees so much to get at the ball. The result was, surprisingly to me, the shafts played a little softer and I can now more easily feel them load and unload. My knees also thanked me for making life easier for them. I got lucky with my results because the clubs feel and play much better for me now. The extender is in a non stress portion of the shaft but for neatness I made a small neck and epoxied the extension in. Not perfect but plenty good enough and once the grip is on, only you and your clubmaker know for sure. Shambles

Not as hard as one would expect. A relative broke three of my Drivers trying to learn to Golf. All breaks were pretty much at the same place as Spoon's and he broke them because he was a strong guy who didn't have sense enough to hire a teaching pro. It took him a lot of bad swings to break them. I saved the head of one and rebuilt the others as gifts to children of proud papas who wanted their sons to learn to golf. An argument with a tree branch or a root normally breaks higher not far from where a bad temper will also break a shaft, or a bad caddy who jams the club into the bag. I'm pretty sure shafts break at the hosel mostly from bad preps and bad installations or bad swings, none of which belong to Spoon so I have to blame a manufacturing defect that escaped inspection. I can't even blame repeated pulls because done properly, only the epoxy, even the type used by Ping, will be affected. These breaks I have seen and a couple I was witness to the act. I am certain todays shafts are more durable and closer to standards than the shafts of my youth, and I am still using some shafts of my youth. They made pretty good shafts back then even if todays shafts are better made. Life happens, Spoon was unlucky and we have a mystery to think upon until such time as a possible answer arises. Shambles

That's the kind of care I expect of you. I don't believe the heat. The only time heat was a factor was way back when Glass shafts were truly fiberglass but these days when shafts are graphite, heat in the boot becomes ignorable except for the grips. Since the shaft has been owned a number of times I'm now inclined to believe you were simply unlucky and some owner along the way weakened the shaft with some bad swings and there had to be a lot to damage any shaft made these days. Either that or you just had the bad luck to get a factory defect of the type that cannot be seen via inspection. Just bad luck. I agree the shaft can probably still be used as a three wood or a 5 wood. The 5 wood strikes me as a more true to spec option considering the amount of tip lost in the break. Shambles