Custom Golf Clubs

A few things to know! Part 1

Submitted by Joel on Mon, 17/12/2007 - 15:40.

What Should I Know About Golf Club Heads?

Golf club heads can be made from many materials. ZINC and ALUMINUM ALLOYS are primarily used in beginner’s sets and putters. HST ALUMINUM is much harder aluminium and is popular in very large drivers. 431 STAINLESS STEEL is a softer stainless steel very commonly used in high quality iron heads. 17-4 STAINLESS STEEL is harder steel found in professional quality irons and wood heads. Maraging metal is a stainless steel put through a very special hardening process that makes it very hard and is a popular material for the faceplates in the highest performing woods. TITANIUM is the most expensive material used in building golf clubs heads and combines light weight and excellent strength. Titanium is used today in the highest end woods manufactured. Direct Custom Golf carries a wide assortment of titanium woods.

Do not confuse Ti-Alloy with Titanium. Ti-Alloy products are Aluminium products with trace elements of Titanium that attempt to take advantage of the Titanium name. Ti-Alloy products are among the least expensive and are meant for beginners and junior golfers. Other materials include ceramics, graphite and plastics. We don't see those much anymore, but they should begin to make a return in the next few years as manufacturing technologies improve.

To conclude our section on materials, we rank golf head materials as follows:

• Beginner woods: Aluminum, Titanium alloys ·
• Good woods: HST Aluminum ·
• Better woods: 17-4ph stainless steel, 431 stainless steel ·
• Best woods: Titanium (usually in drivers only), maraging metal, bi-metal, tungsten insert

 

• Beginner irons: Zinc · Better irons: 431 stainless steel
• Best irons: 17-4ph stainless steel, bi-metal, tungsten insert

 

• Putters: material choices are immaterial. The shape, weighting and type of inserts generally override materials in your decision.

Golf heads are made in a variety of shapes. Key design principles are weight distribution (perimeter, low center of gravity, etc.), size (traditional, oversize, super-oversize) and styling (keel sole, deep face, wide body, etc.). There are not very many utility patents in this area, so most club makers can use most shapes that they desire without violating another company's rights.

Golf heads come in a variety of weights. Here there are some important factors. To achieve the desired swing weight there is an important dynamic between the weight of a golf head, the length of the club and the weight of the grip and shaft. Don't worry too much about it because every decent club maker uses golf club casting foundries that cast golf heads with the correct weights. It would be pretty rare to find a golf head maker that messes up in this area.

Generally, if a club is made from the same materials, using the same shapes, with the same weight distributions and overall weight, it should perform the same as another club similarly constructed. This is a key concept to understanding why golf club clones perform as well as the name brands — it is just molten metal shaped into a form. If the metal is the same and the shape similar, the result should compare very well.

The trick is that many companies and retail stores do not explain or know what their clubs are made from. For example, an Aluminum driver that looks just like a club made from stainless steel will be inferior to that club and vice versa. We will do our best to tell you the straight truth about products and what they are made from so you will be educated to judge quality for yourself. Look at a product on our web site and you will see specifications for materials, size and weight.

Ron Williams & Luka Cvrk