nobmontana Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 A few months ago, I picked up a new old stock Honma Super Persimmon 4 wood. Beautiful piece of equipment. However,it had this slinky Carbon Boron stock shaft in R flex which I am sure was top notch technology back in the day. I was not going to possibly use it as is, so I took one of my all time favorite semi-vintage shafts, Rombax Prototype 80B in Sea Foam Green color ( I believe P Mickelson had it in his Cally Steelhead for the longest time ) and decided to use it in this head. Reshafting these things takes special tools and material and skills which I do not have, so I decided to send it off to a clu restoration specialist called the "Golf Club Hospital" out in Minnesota. After a couple of weeks, the club came back with the shaft installed. These Super Persimmon heads actually were hollowed out persimon impregnated with Polymer and had a carbon fiber face piece with and oval titanium center plate with brass pins. Now that's mult - material!! :) This head size is just about the same as a modern 3 hybrid. Real loft was measured as around 21deg ... Wow, the 4 woods back then were pretty lofty!! Anyway, while I'll be mostly be using a #3 driving iron as my gamer, I may from time to time take it out for a round to enjoy some nostalgia and the softest, and I mean "Softest" , impact that no modern metal head would be able to match!! Enjoy the pics! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldracer Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 beautiful club, not sure it looks "right" with graphite shaft and not steel tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Tan Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Wow this brings back memories... I used Honma persimmons 1w,3w & 5w many decades ago...they were the bees knees I reckon....lovely brass sole and back weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 beautiful club, not sure it looks "right" with graphite shaft and not steel tho Yeah, I thought about going steel as well ... like an DG S300.. but that would be too normal. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Tan Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) I do recall Honma was one of the first manufacturers to use graphite shafts in those days....cost you a kidney though..bet you not many clubmaker really know how to work with wooden heads anymore. Off subject but those Honma PP737 blades anniversary are beautiful too. Edited January 10, 2016 by Jeffrey Tan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLL33 Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 Beauty! Can I ask you, where did you find it? Just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 (edited) quite a bit on the auction site. lots to select from. Edited January 10, 2016 by nobmontana Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 I used that shaft it is still excellent . Honma p737 original blades are fantastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted January 10, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 These shafts are getting really hard to find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 I ordered a Joe Powell limited edition persimmon driver last year. Went with a Grafalloy Prolite stiff shaft and Bestgrips Hardcourt grip. It is call the Beast because of the number it is in the series. I love using The Beast when it gets windy here in South Texas. I can keep it low and straight all day! Plus it is fun when you are waiting on tee and everyone things you are laying up with a hybrid or fairway wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 I had been playing with Three Amigos, these Ping Zing Blonde woods. Driver, 3 and 5 wood. These are laminated maple and a bigger than my Beast but they still play beautifully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bngolfer Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Beautiful! I will post pics of my re-finished Honma Tour Model 4-wood with a 2-star shaft; NTB driver with a G-Loomis (bought at the Japanese "Fairway Golf" in San Diego) and a Dunlop driver when I get home. I also have two Mizuno woods, laminate and red painted, from the late 60's. They are in horrible shape and were aparently the first Japanese golf clubs imported to Sweden. They were in my bag when I started playing golf as a 6 year old in 1983. In pretty shabby shape back then too but would be fun to have re-finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLL33 Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Beautiful clubs! Reminds me of my first golf club, a 7-wood my dad gave me long ago and far away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hardboiled Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 Best thing about persimmon woods is the sound they make at impact. Nice crack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mob Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 very cool. I have a persimmon 5 wood sitting in the garage. I can still remember the feel of hitting it on the screws; just wonderful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted February 2, 2016 Report Share Posted February 2, 2016 Since it is hard to find anyone to work on these clubs, I have kinda retired the Pings. I thought about Louisville Golf but settled on Joe Powell for my modern persimmon driver. I was looking at some Mizuno persimmon woods on some sites but went with a custom new club. I love the sound and the feel. No tinny sound, just a good hard THWACK! I like it on long par 5's too, you can hit it off the deck too. I compare it to playing blades, it improves your ball striking skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phillip Alexander Posted February 15, 2016 Report Share Posted February 15, 2016 Not JDM, but a beauty none the less!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolixul Posted February 16, 2016 Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 (edited) You got in just in time with Joe Powell. Believe they have closed shop now (back end of 2015). There are indeed a fair number of Honma persimmons around on auction sites, many of them in great condition. I suspect Honma had a glut of persimmons at the time steel woods took over the market. Remember seeing pictures (Golfwrx?) of a hundred new Honma persimmons that had had the 4* shafts pulled and gold plugs stripped out. The savaged heads and separately the shafts were being sold on Ebay in a couple of job lots. Criminal what had been done to them. Until recently, there was a Japanese craftsman making persimmons at his workshop in Germany. Name was Norio Gondo. Three of his "Gondo" 3 woods (second hand) are still up on Ebay. I saw one of his drivers in person and it was a fabulous block of wood. Rifle 7.0 shaft. Sadly left handed or I would have tried to buy it from the guy. Anyone know of Norio Gondo (background, current) and if he is still handcrafting persimmons? (I'm guessing he must have been with Honma, Maruman, Daiwa or Mizuno at the back end of the persimmon era?) This was his website until 2015: https://web.archive.org/web/20131006024744/http://golf-workshop.de/index.php?Site=home https://web.archive.org/web/20131006024748/http://golf-workshop.de/index.php?Site=clubfitting https://web.archive.org/web/20131006024214/http://golf-workshop.de/index.php?Site=presse Edited February 16, 2016 by Nolixul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobmontana Posted February 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2016 I remember the gold plug thing a few years back. Was really stupid. Louisville Golf still makes persimmons some more modernized than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bngolfer Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 Here are some of my relics. Must get my really old Mizuno's that are at my moms house to put them on here too. They have seen better days though.. These ones here are not bad. Would love to get a sleeve of Titleist Tour Balata 90 and hit the course. Here goes: Hiro Honma Tour Model 2-star 4-wood NTB Limited Edition G-Loomis Tour X Maxfli/Dunlop Pro Model DP-901 Black Gold S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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