A Publication of Tom Wishon Golf Technology   •   January 2009

January 2009 TW Standard E-Tech Report

 

Items of note before we get down to business...

In the January issue of the TW Standard eTECHreport:

NOTE: the complete January TW Standard eTECHreport pdf version is available by clicking here - 3MB (requires Adobe Acrobat 5 or newer )

 

2009 TWGT Catalog in the Mail

It is that time of the year and that means the 2009 TWGT full line clubmaking catalog is completed, is about to be mailed to be able to arrive in your mailbox by the end of the January.
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A Quick Glance at What’s New for 2009

We’re looking forward to hearing your comments on the new product designs we created for introduction in 2009. We’re not a company that tries to produce a large quantity of new product designs every year simply to be able to say we have a lot of new models. In fact, we take great pride in the fact that the majority of our original clubhead, shaft and grip designs have maintained their popularity for 4, 5 and even 6 years.
 [continues below]

Clubface Design – An Area of TWGT Expertise and Design Performance

TWGT is very proud of its ability to consistently design original clubhead models which not only perform at the highest level, but frequently lead the entire golf equipment industry in original design technology.
 [continues below]

Keys To Selling Custom Fit TWGT Designs

It’s no secret that the huge brand and image marketing programs of the big golf club companies have brainwashed many golfers into blindly thinking the standard made clubs they see sitting on the racks in pro shops and discount golf stores are the best for their game. Such marketing programs are designed to make golfers think that quality is associated with how much they have heard of a particular brand or club model instead of what all golfers really need – professionally custom fit golf clubs that truly will allow them to play to the best of their individual and very different abilities.
 [continues below]

TWGT’s Fall 2008 Clubmaking Seminar in England – A Good Time Was Had by All!

This past October and November, TWGT’s Tom Wishon and Matt Mohi took the European continent by storm with their two week trip through England, Germany and Sweden to spread the word about the benefits and modern technology of professional custom clubfitting.
[continues below]

752 O/S – The Most Unique and Versatile NEW Iron Design in the Game Today

Avid historians of golf equipment are aware that irons made the transition from individual names like “mashie” and “niblick” to the number/letter designation of 1 through 9, PW, SW in the early 20th century. Since that time, virtually 100% of all irons have been manufactured with the individual head number or letter engraved or stamped permanently on the sole.
 [continues below]

 

 

2009 TWGT Catalog in the mail

For those of you with an appreciation for humor, we can’t help but think of the scene from the old Steve Martin movie in which Martin’s character became frantic with excitement when the next year’s new phone book was released!

OK, here at TWGT we do take our work a little more seriously than a comedic scene from a movie! But it is that time of the year and that means the 2009 TWGT full line clubmaking catalog is completed, is about to be mailed to be able to arrive in your mailbox by the end of the January.

Please keep in mind that like all companies, we do mail our full line catalog by US Postal Service bulk rate delivery, so that means the closer you live to Colorado, the sooner you will receive the new catalog. In addition, bulk rate mail delivery is always subject to the work load of the post offices along the route to your mailbox, so it is possible some who live a little farther from Colorado with postal workers who are on top of their work may receive the catalog a little sooner than those whose catalog has to head through a postal location in which the workers are a little more busy.

Overall, we expect that all but a few TWGT clubmakers should receive the new 2009 catalog between February 1-15.

A pdf copy of the 2009 TWGT catalog can be downloaded at the following link: http://www.wishongolf.com/downloads/TWGT2009Catalog.zip (Note: if link does not automatically begin to download, copy and paste link into your web browser).

We have retained the ‘horizontal landscape’ style of layout for the 2009 TWGT catalog that we changed to for the 2008 catalog. We received so many positive comments from clubmakers about the format change in 2008 that we decided to continue that layout for 2009.

TWGT would like to thank you for your support which allows us to continue the very high quality approach we take to our designs, to our R&D work and to our commitment to doing the best we can for your custom clubmaking work. We look forward to helping you all do the very best in your custom fitting and clubmaking projects for 2009!

 

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A Quick Glance at What’s New for 2009

 

We’re looking forward to hearing your comments on the new product designs we created for introduction in 2009. We’re not a company that tries to produce a large quantity of new product designs every year simply to be able to say we have a lot of new models. In fact, we take great pride in the fact that the majority of our original clubhead, shaft and grip designs have maintained their popularity for 4, 5 and even 6 years. In an industry in which most of the other companies’ design offerings are introduced and gone in one year, TWGT takes great pride in the fact the vast majority of our original custom clubmaking designs have real staying power, an indication of the superb design performance an original TWGT design represents.

For 2009, we are pleased to complete the R&D on five new clubhead designs, two new graphite shaft designs and a brand new grip model – all totally original in their concepts and technology to present the innovative differences in design and performance that makes TWGT the very best custom golf equipment design company in the golf industry.

525GRT Fairway Woods

TWGT is very pleased to achieve the goal to design the new 525GRT fairway woods with the very best of all worlds of fairway wood design – semi- shallow 32mm face height for confidence and ease of play, a truly classic and beautiful profile shape in the playing position, and an investment cast construction and face that not only allows for an economical price but which affords a high smash factor. (Ratio of ball speed to clubhead speed)

Designed as a perfect match to the 525GRT titanium drivers or as a stand-alone fairway wood model to match any driver if desired, the 525GRT is designed in RH in fitting options of a #3 (14.5°), #4 (16.5°), #5 (18°) and #7 (21.5°).

An additional custom fitting and assembly feature of the new 525GRT fairway woods is the second weight bore on the toe side of the sole. Designed to accept up to a full 9 gram weight plug, clubmakers may add as much as 18 grams in offsetting hosel to toe positions to enable custom fitting to virtually any length with any weight of shaft or grip.

 

331H Hybrid/Iron Heads

The new 331H hybrid/iron heads offer clubmakers an economical 2-pc investment cast stainless steel construction with design features that are a step above TWGT’s very popular 321Li hybrids. Created with a second weight bore on the toe side of the sole, the ability to add up to as much as 18 grams of weight will allow clubmakers to custom fit and build the new 331H hybrids to any swingweight or MOI with an extremely wide range of lengths with a wide range of shaft weights.

Designed in RH in #2 (18°), #3 (21°), #4(24°), #5 (27°) and LH in the #3 and 4, the 331H hybrids are created with the same, non-offset, iron looking set up in the address position with a 0.335” hosel bore to accept any of TWGT’s proven performance GI-335 light and tour weight hybrid graphite shafts as well as the lightweight steel Series 5-335 shafts for golfers who prefer a heavier steel shaft weight.

The new 331H hybrids have a slightly longer head shape from heel to toe than the 321Li hybrid heads, but with the same face to back breadth. The combination of the profile shape change in design offers a more balanced, more comfortable look in the playing position that we feel is going to be very pleasing to all levels of golfers.

 

752 O/S Investment Cast Irons

To say TWGT was thinking a little outside the box of ironhead design when creating the new 752 O/S irons is a bit of an understatement. In an industry that seems to persist in arbitrarily lowering the loft angles of irons to sell more units, the new 752 O/S irons represent a superb new slightly oversize, game improvement iron. Clubmakers can, for the first time ever, select the head number to loft relationship for each head in the set to be traditional or modern/strong.

This means that each 752 O/S iron is shipped with two different head number medallions so clubmakers can choose to build the set to possess traditional lofts per head number, or to offer their golfers a set in which lofts are modern/strong. This means the individual heads in the 752 O/S irons are sold by loft number and not by a single head number. For example, the 23° loft ironhead in the 752 O/S set is shipped with a #4 and a #5 medallion to be installed by the clubmaker and the golfer’s desire for whether they want the 752 O/S 23° iron to be a traditional 4-iron or a modern/strong 5-iron. If the clubmaker/golfer wish to create a more traditionally lofted set, the #4 medallion would be installed in the 23° head; if a modern/strong loft relationship is desired for whatever reason, the #5 medallion can be installed in the toe/sole cavity to designate the 23° head as a 5-iron.

Because the new 752 O/S is such an unusual iron design, we will be devoting a lot more time and energy to explaining this very unique new TWGT model. See later in this month’s ETECHreport for a full article of the new 752 O/S irons.

 

870Ti Titanium Face High COR irons

Ultra-High performance ironhead design is an area of product development in which TWGT has always held a high level of interest. In 2000, our president and golf industry's designer Tom Wishon created the first ironhead with a thin, high strength steel face iron intended to increase the COR of the irons for a higher smash factor and greater distance. In 2004, TWGT’s high-performance 770CFE irons debuted to rave reviews in the 2004 Golf Digest Hot List competition because of their variable thickness, high strength steel, high COR face design.

Always interested in pushing the envelope to see if further improvement can be made, TWGT is proud to introduce the new 870Ti irons for 2009. With their variable thickness forged Titanium face, slight oversize head profile and greater heel and toe weighting, the new 870Ti irons are positioned to take high performance, game improvement ironhead design to the highest level yet seen in the golf industry.

Why a forged, thin, variable thickness titanium face in an iron? By using titanium instead of high strength steel, TWGT not only squeezed a little higher COR from the face for more ball speed and distance, but the lower density of Titanium allowed us on average, to save an additional 25 grams from the face to be positioned on the heel and toe to further increase the MOI of each 870Ti head. Add to that the greater vibration dampening effect of Titanium, and you have a soft feel with traditional impact sound to cap what TWGT feels will be the game’s highest performing iron.

Yes, the 870Ti irons are a little more expensive than the 770CFE thin face irons because Titanium is a much more expensive material than steel. But for golfers who are looking for the ultimate in game improvement iron design, we believe the 870Ti irons will deliver the highest iron performance in the game today.

 

TWGT Future Pro Clubheads, Shafts, and Grips for Junior Golfers

TWGT is very pleased to put its quality design skills to work tobe able to offer clubmakers a line of junior clubheads with the option of both graphite and steel shafts with grips tooffer families a superb quality design for starting their children in the game.

Key to the quality of TWGT’s new junior fitting line are the all stainless steel, investment cast Future Pro wood and iron heads. The vast majority of junior clubheads offered to clubmakers are made from soft, aluminum and zinc, chosen simply to offer a low price. Shortly after being put into play, aluminum and zinc heads look terrible, not to mention they cannot be adjusted for loft/lie or custom weighted to fit each different junior golfer.

The Future Pro junior stainless steel woodheads are created for clubmakers in 1w (15°), 3w (20°) and 5w (25°), with the stainless irons’ availability in #5 (32°), #7 (40°), #9 (48°) and a Dual Wedge (54°). All Future Pro heads are produced with TWGT’s hosel weight bore to allow a wider range of headweighting options. The 431 stainless steel composition of the Future Pro irons will allow a wide range of lie fitting options. The Future Pro heel/toe style putter head rounds out the best quality junior set clubmakers can buy.

To offer both a price and fitting option, the Future Pro shaft options include both lightweight steel and very light graphite, both designed with a 0.500” butt diameter to match to the new all-rubber Future Pro regular and putter grips.

 

TW ProFlight-EXP 65 and 85 gram Graphite Shafts for Woods

TWGT’s latest new original graphite shaft design for 2009 is the ProFlight-EXP 65 gram and 85 gram. Designed for golfers with better than average to very good swing characteristics, the new ProFlight EXP series of graphite shafts for woods graduated from hit testing with extremely high marks from the players involved in the testing.

For clubmakers interested in knowing how the new ProFlight EXP shafts compare to other good player types of shafts, in a general comment we can say that after testing and final design adjustments, the new 65g and 85g shafts for woods are somewhat similar to the butt and center section stiffness of the Diamana 63/73 and YS6+ shafts but with a slightly stiffer tip section for more crispness feel and control at impact.

 

TW TourFlight-85 Graphite Shafts for Irons

The new TourFlight 85 iron shafts are the company’s heaviest graphite iron shaft, created by TWGT with different bend profile designs in the two different flexes of R and S. Typically when a shaft company designs a new model, they duplicate the same bend profile in each flex, and simply separate the overall stiffness to delineate between each flex.

TWGT decided to design the new TourFlight 85 iron shafts with a bend profile for average player swing types in the R flex, while creating the S Flex with a bend profile designed to fit golfers with better swing fundamentals.

TourFlight 85 graphite iron shafts are also designed to be the perfect shaft weight for the majority of men – 85 grams so the total weight of the irons is not too light to cause tempo problems, but light enough to offer the higher clubhead speed that should be a part of a lower total weight, graphite shafted iron set.

 

 

 

 

TW Tac-Wrap Grips

New for 2009 in a modern yet traditional cosmetic design manufactured from an all new tacky synthetic material, TWGT’s new Tac-Wrap grips feature just the right amount of tackiness in feel without being too soft or too tacky. All rubber underlisting makes installation as easy as a conventional rubber grip.

Of special note to clubmakers – in addition to the men’s standard and +1/32” oversize models, the Tac-Wrap Jumbo Putter grip is bound to be a popular model. Slated for availability in March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes in the TWGT Custom Clubfitting Design Line

In advance of the 2009 TWGT Catalog arriving in your mailbox, we wanted to give you a head’s up to focus attention on some of the other changes in our product design line, as well as offer some more information.

Clubhead Models Retired from the TWGT Design Line

Shaft Models Retired from the TWGT Design Line

 

Accessories Added to the TWGT Product Line

 

 

 

 

 

Other Changes and Updates for 2009

 

 

 

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Clubface Design - An Area of TWGT Expertise and Design Performance

TWGT is very proud of its ability to consistently design original clubhead models which not only perform at the highest level, but frequently lead the entire golf equipment industry in original design technology. Examples of a number of the clubhead design firsts achieved by TWGT can be seen on our web sites at the following links:
http://www.wishongolf.com/firsts_post_2003.php
http://www.wishongolf.com/firsts_pre_2003.php

One of the areas of clubhead design which allows TWGT to stand above other companies is our ability to design the clubfaces of our drivers and selected fairway wood, hybrid and iron models to deliver the highest possible on and off-center hit performance. In 2004, our 515GRT became the first fairway wood to reach the USGA limit of 0.830 for COR. The succeeding 949MC and 919THI fairway woods with their 0.830 COR proved that we could push the envelope of fairway wood face design to decrease the face height to offer golfers models with a lower center of gravity and still achieve the COR limit of the USGA Rules.

TWGT’s model 785HF proved our ability to design a very high COR face in a hybrid clubhead. The extremely thin forged T275 alloy faces of the 785HF proved to the golf industry that the same high COR benefits of drivers and fairway woods could indeed be created in a hybrid clubhead design.

When the 770CFE irons were introduced in 2004, the super game-improvement model with its CNC machined variable thickness face design immediately won acclaim in the Golf Digest Hot List competition as a result of their high COR face performance. In an equipment industry in which every company can design drivers with a high COR, what is it about TWGT’s face design ability that allows us to be the only company to achieve a high COR, high ball speed performance for on and off-center hits within fairway wood, hybrid and iron designs?

“It’s a matter of understanding exactly what the face has to do at impact to achieve a higher COR and combining that with a knowledge of what mechanical properties of which alloys will allow that to happen,” shares TWGT’s designer, Tom Wishon. “What you have to do is to keep searching for materials with the right properties to enable the face to deflect more, and develop forms of face construction that will combine with the face material properties to enable the face to flex inward as much as possible over as wide of an area of the face as possible without reaching the point the face permanently deforms or fails. The trick is to be able to do this given the many variables that affect that fine line between maximum deflection of the face and outright face failure.”

Designing a clubface for maximum deflection requires balancing the variables of:

In short, the higher the face material’s yield strength and lower the modulus, the larger the face size/area, the lower the loft, the less the face radii, the more face that is free of constraints by the method of attachment and the thinner the face thickness, the more the face can deflect from impact, and the higher the COR can be. Sounds easy, but as Tom said, the trick is to know exactly how thin the face has to be over its entire area for all the possible combinations of the other six factors which affect the face’s ability to deflect from impact with the ball.

Most clubfaces in the industry are manufactured with a single, uniform thickness, “diaphragm construction” over the entire face. TWGT has developed a high level of expertise in designing faces to vary in thickness to allow as much face deflection as possible when impact occurs off-center. Every clubface will achieve its maximum deflection in its exact, geometric center. By creating the face so that a specific area of the center portion is slightly thicker than the surrounding areas of the face, it is possible to increase the amount of face deflection over what is possible through a uniform face thickness.

There is a precise combination of how large the thicker central area should be, what shape this thicker central area should be, how thick that center area needs to be and how thin the surrounding areas can be to ensure the face conforms to USGA rules yet offers more off center impact deflection without going too far and permanently deforming or failing. It is within this intricate relationship that TWGT has developed a high level of expertise to design heads which conform to the USGA Rules, yet offer the maximum ball speed for impacts both on and off center.

While TWGT’s excellence in clubhead design is unsurpassed in the custom clubmaking industry, our ability to help clubmakers be the best in their area through our technical information, publications to educate golfers on the importance of custom fitting and our customer service truly makes us the only company you should be working with if your goal is to fit and build the best golf clubs for your golfers. If you’ve not taken advantage of all that TWGT has to offer to your work in custom clubmaking, make 2009 the year you do so you can truly experience the difference TWGT can make.

 

 

 

 

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Keys To Selling Custom Fit TWGT Designs

It’s no secret that the huge brand and image marketing programs of the big golf club companies have brainwashed many golfers into blindly thinking the standard made clubs they see sitting on the racks in pro shops and discount golf stores are the best for their game. Such marketing programs are designed to make golfers think that quality is associated with how much they have heard of a particular brand or club model instead of what all golfers really need – professionally custom fit golf clubs that truly will allow them to play to the best of their individual and very different abilities.

In any industry where a “better mouse trap” exists but is greatly overshadowed by brand/image marketing, the only way to get consumers to take notice of the potential benefits of the “better mouse trap” is to talk to the consumers, one at a time, and present compelling information to get them to really think about the differences and how those differences can impact their goals and desire to obtain the best overall value for their money spent.

In golf equipment, there is no question the “better mousetrap” is professionally accurate custom fitting and how that will allow all golfers to play/score better and thus obtain far more value for the money the golfers decide to spend on their golf clubs. Tens and tens of thousands of golfers have taken the “leap of faith” to choose a professionally custom fit set instead of buying a brand name club in standard form, off the rack, and have been amazed at the difference custom fit clubs can make for their game. But millions and millions more golfers exist who have no idea the benefits of custom fitting far exceed being brainwashed into buying standard made clubs off the rack.

The Key to selling custom fit golf clubs lies in each clubmaker’s ability to explain the differences between custom fit and standard made golf clubs so that golfers can begin to open their eyes and break through the fog in their brains created by the big companies’ brand/image marketing. The message to convey to golfers is quite simple, but the courage to do so and the skill to do it in compelling ways can be difficult for some clubmakers to accomplish. But it can be done and many clubmakers who have taken the time to polish their “presentation” to be able to “talk the talk” about custom fitting vs. standard brand name clubs off the rack have found their sales of custom fit clubs increase as a result.

Many clubmakers have found the most effective ways to get golfers to stop being blinded by image and brand marketing campaigns include the following:

 

Finally, if you are able to get the golfers to really THINK about these points, you may face one last obstacle to closing the deal for them to be custom fit – “I’ve never heard of the name on these clubs - how do I know these clubs you will fit and build are as good as the ones made by the big companies?”

The very best way to overcome this brand/image marketing driven misconception is to use TWGT designs in your clubfitting and clubmaking work. What we mean is that TWGT is the ONLY company you can deal with in your work who has a reputation and expertise that you can PROVE to the golfers. No other company you can work with in your fitting business has the “resume” or “proof of excellence” as TWGT.

Our web sites are filled with the information to explain the quality and expertise differences that can make a golfer realize TWGT designs are the highest in quality and performance. Show the golfer these links from our www.twgolftech.com web site:

http://www.twgolftech.com/who.php

http://www.twgolftech.com/firsts.php

http://www.twgolftech.com/anthology.php

In the end, your ability to convince golfers to be custom fit instead of falling prey to the brand/image marketing campaigns of the big golf companies is just as much tied to your ability to “Talk the Talk” about professional custom fitting as it is to your ability to analyze the golfer and choose the best fitting specifications for their manner of play.

If you can’t “Talk the Talk”, then you best take the time this winter to learn how.

Without the courage to try, and the ability to clearly explain why your custom fit TWGT clubs are better for every golfer than buying standard made clubs off the rack, you won’t succeed in increasing your clubmaking business.

TWGT can help you learn how to do this. Call us and we’ll be glad to help you learn this very important part of your clubfitting work.

 

 

 

 

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TWGT’s Fall 2008 Clubmaking Seminar in England - A Good Time Was Had by All!

This past October and November, TWGT’s Tom Wishon and Matt Mohi took the European continent by storm with their two week trip through England, Germany and Sweden to spread the word about the benefits and modern technology of professional custom clubfitting.

One of the most enjoyable presentations of their trip was the full day of clubfitting seminars Tom and Matt delivered at an event hosted by the UK’s most experienced clubmaking supply company, Diamond Golf International of West Sussex, England. The event was staged to celebrate Diamond Golf’s 30-year anniversary and was held at a wonderful venue for the subject matter of the day called Golf Addiction, on the south coast of England in Brighton.

With eight deluxe hitting bays each equipped with state of the art golf simulators, a full bar and plush seating areas, Golf Addiction not only outclasses most indoor golf facilities in the US, but served as the best possible venue to host a large group of custom clubmakers and golf professionals who traveled from all over England and continental Europe to listen to Matt and Tom speak about the latest information and technology related to clubmaking and clubfitting.

Tom and Matt split the duties of the four technical seminars with Tom speaking about Modern Shaft Fitting and Analysis and The Key Specifications of Professional Clubfitting, while Matt took the reins in leading the group in discussions about the Full Range of MOI in Club Design and Fitting as well as The Business of Custom Clubfitting. After a round of nibbles and a few trips to the Golf Addiction bar, the evening’s highlight was an appearance by UK Ryder Cup veteran Brian Barnes. Brian kept the audience entertained with numerous hilarious reminiscences of his years as a leading player in the 70s and 80s on the European PGA Tour. Brian made it a point to remind the Yanks in attendance that he is the only player to have defeated Jack Nicklaus twice in the same day in Ryder Cup competition!

To use the old phrase, “a good time most definitely was had by all in attendance.” Sincere thanks go to Daren Treacy, Managing Director for Diamond Golf for all the hard work and effort to set up and stage such a wonderful day. Tom and Matt will be back in the fall of 2009. The UK PGA has already asked Tom to speak at the 2009 European Teaching and Coaching Conference to be staged in Birmingham, England in October, and it’s pretty likely other events will be set up for the TWGT boys to continue to talk the talk about professional clubfitting.

 

 

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752 O/S - The Most Unique and Versatile NEW Iron Design in the Game Today

Avid historians of golf equipment are aware that irons made the transition from individual names like “mashie” and “niblick” to the number/letter designation of 1 through 9, PW, SW in the early 20th century. Since that time, virtually 100% of all irons have been manufactured with the individual head number or letter engraved or stamped permanently on the sole.

Ever committed to thinking a little outside the box when it comes to clubhead design, TWGT is about to apply a little “tweak” to that custom with the introduction of the new 752 O/S irons – the first iron design which allows clubmakers to choose the option in their fitting process of which number they wish to apply to each ironhead in the set for the golfer.

Whaaat?? TWGT has designed an iron model which does not have each iron number permanently engraved or stamped on the sole, and which allows clubmakers to choose what number to call each iron in the set? Why would TWGT break with over 90 years of tradition over thousands of sets of irons to do that?

Perhaps the best way to answer that question and explain the concepts behind the new 752 O/S ironheads would be to go straight to the horse’s mouth and ask TWGT’s designer, Tom Wishon to explain in his words.

"All clubmakers are well aware of the golf industry’s trend over the past thirty-some years to gradually and continually lower the loft angles for each clubhead number. This is a trend I refer to as 'The Dreaded Shrinking Loft Disease' in my books. Since the very early 1970s, the loft angle of irons has been steadily decreased by some 7 to 8 degrees. Prior to the 1970s, a 5-iron was made with a 32° loft and every golf equipment company on the planet made their irons with the same lofts per each head number".

"That all began to change when competition got heavier between the golf companies. In the 1970s, the number of golf equipment companies tripled from the decade before and competition for sales went from friendly to heated. Knowing that distance sells, to make their clubs hit the ball farther and garner more sales, a few companies began to lower the loft angles of their new iron models".

"Since loft is THE number one determinant of shot distance in irons, once the first companies lowered the lofts per head number, every company had to follow or else their irons wouldn’t hit the ball as far. When it comes to non-technically minded golfers, of which there are millions, the average golfer knows nothing about loft vs the numbers on the sole of their irons. To the majority of golfers, if the 7-iron in the new set hits the ball 10 yards longer than their old 7-iron, it is because of a 'great new design', and not simply because the company lowered the loft angles".

"From the 1970s through the 1990s, companies continued to lower their iron lofts. However, by the mid-90s it began to appear that 'shrinking loft disease' had 'gone into remission'. The 5-iron loft had pretty much stopped at 25° to 26°. From the mid-90's through the mid-00's, no further loft decreases were seen on new introductions of irons".

"The reason was simple; once the 5-iron reached the area of 25°, companies realized going lower in loft required the long irons to be dropped into ridiculously low lofts to keep the iron to iron loft increment within their normal 3 to 4 degree separation. Because of this, and because I had not seen any further decrease in iron loft from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, I felt “shrinking loft disease” was pretty much over".

"At least I thought that until 2008 when I became aware of two new iron models introduced by two of the larger and more heavily marketed golf club companies. Both of these new sets of irons had changed their lofts as follows:"

"When I saw this, aside from cursing these companies for such an outright sign of greed to keep selling units, two thoughts immediately came into my mind. First, I thought how ‘noble’ it was of them to not take the 3-iron lower than 19°. However, the result was to make the 3-, 4- and 5-iron with only 2° of loft separation; not only would the average golfer never be able to hit these clubs very well because their lofts were so low, but even if they were able to hit these clubs solid, the distance differences between the clubs would be in the order of perhaps 5 yards, based on the average iron swing speed of most golfers".

"Second, it hit me that if a clubmaker were to try to custom fit any golfer with a set of TWGT irons, or pretty much any other company’s ironheads, if the golfer had hit either of these new, super-strong sets, the golfer would probably reject the custom fit irons because they would not be able to hit the ball as far. To the average consumer, the custom fit irons would be “deficient” and of “poor quality” because most consumers judge an iron set purchase chiefly on how far they can hit the clubs. Since most golfers have given up trying to hit long irons because they blame their lack of swing skill rather than realize the lofts are stacked against them, most will base their iron purchase on how far they can hit the 7-, 8-, 9- and wedges. With a 30° 7-iron moving to a 43° PW, there would be no way any clubmaker could win the sale. And once more, an unknowing golfer would walk away with the belief that 'brand name clubs are always better than these clubs I have never heard of'".

"Then I had a thought. Why not design a new set of irons and give the clubmakers the option to choose what head number they would put on each ironhead? If they ran into a golfer who had hit a super strong set of irons, if they had the ability to choose between traditional iron head numbers vs. lofts or 'modern/strong' numbers vs. lofts, they might not lose the sale, and in the end the golfer might realize the benefit of the custom fitting skills of the clubmakers for the benefit of the custom fit features such as length, lie, shaft, total weight, swingweight, grip size and so on over standard clubs bought off the rack with a 'brand name'".

"Thus is the story of TWGT’s new 752 O/S irons – the first iron design in the game which will allow clubmakers to choose between traditional and modern/strong lofts for each head number in the set".

The new 752 O/S irons are available in the following lofts, with the option for traditional or modern/strong lofts explained as follows:

Each 752 O/S ironhead will be shipped with two different number medallions, based on the traditional or modern/strong head number options above. For example, the 752-23 head with its 23° loft is shipped with a #4 and a #5 medallion. If the clubmaker wishes to fit the golfer for the set based on traditional lofts, the #4 medallion is installed in the recess cavity on the sole. Or if the clubmaker wishes to fit the golfer for the set based on modern/strong lofts, the #5 medallion is installed in the recess cavity on the sole.

The same option for traditional or modern/strong head numbers per loft exists on each other 752 O/S iron, except the 54° loft head which we designate only as the Sand Wedge because of its bounce sole angle and headweight design.

Not to focus only on the optional iron head number concept of the design, the 752 O/S irons possess a number of other design elements which will make them an extremely playable model for a very wide range of golfer types.

After all, we are a little different company in all respects from service to innovation

 

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TWGT General Advertising and Sales Policy

For all advertisements and promotions of TWGT designs and products (TV, radio, print, internet) a "Call/Contact for Pricing" policy is in effect.

TWGT designs and products are not to be sold or advertised on auction sites (eg. Ebay, Yahoo).

All and any use of Tom Wishon Golf Technology logos, trademarks and/or images shall be used in a manner consistent as outlined in the style guide Marketing CD.

If you have any questions please contact us at 800-470-0072 or 970-375-0411.

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Comments from the Department of Marketing/Web...

If you haven't noticed, we've added a few things to our www.wishongolf.com and www.twgolftech.com web sites. Tom's been doing a few interviews in his effort to promote custom clubmaking and The Search for the Perfect Golf Club. A 25-minute mp3 audio file of Tom's interview with the SF Bay Area's Golf Talk Radio Show is now available for download. Just take a look at the wishongolf.com home page in the upper right hand corner to find this and a link to a written exchange with BigDogEat.com's Donny Coyle.

There's also a new section on the publicity that TWGT has garnered for its design work. While we receive most of the popular rags (Golf Digest, GolfWorld, Golf Tips, Golf For Women), we don't get them all. If you know of any TWGT sightings that we missed, please drop us an email. If at all possible, a scan of the page(s) of concern would be greatly appreciated.

*SPECIALS -- Please call for details: 1-800-470-0072
All advertised specials are only offered for a limited time; prices are subject to change without notice and do not include shipping or taxes (where applicable). Offers are subject to availability, and cannot be combined with any other offer.

TW is the trademark of Tom Wishon Golf Technology, LLC. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners.

All eTECHreport (ISSN 1551-1103) articles written by Tom Wishon unless otherwise noted. Please refrain from unauthorized reproduction of text, photos, and/or graphics.