Hybrid's

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Clubmaker Report September 2007

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue

-- Ashton Golf XBrid

-- SMT Avocet

-- Hybrid Shafts

-- Short Shots

Greetings!

Ashton Golf XBrid

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hybrid's continue to be a popular replacement for long irons, even for PGA Tour players. For those of you that enjoy building your own clubs, I've found a few component designs that you might consider. The first is the XBrid from Ashton Golf. The first hybrid club that's easily adjustable for loft and lie. Most hybrid clubs are made of 17-4 or 4-31 stainless steel. A lot of fairway woods are made of 17-4 stainless steel. Have you ever tried to adjust the lie on a fairway wood? First thing you have to do is heat the hosel, discoloring the paint and then try your best to bend it without damaging the crown of the club or snapping the hosel. 303 and 304 stainless steel requires much less force to bend and heating is not required. 303 and 304 stainless can also be bent up to 3 degrees without complications*. The X-BRID's hosel is made of 304 stainless steel since 304 possesses better welding characteristics than 303. Using our proprietary fusion welding system, the hosel is successfully attached to the body. The relative density of 304 stainless is also slightly higher than 17-4 or 4-31 stainless steel, giving the X-BRID slightly more natural hosel weighting, leading to straighter shots. Apart from the natural benefit of 304 stainless steel's bendability, 304 also possesses the unique feel of a forged iron. Hitting the X-BRID gives the golfer the feeling of hitting a premium forged club in the center every time.

The first is the XBrid from Ashton Golf. The first hybrid club that's easily adjustable for loft and lie. Most hybrid clubs are made of 17-4 or 4-31 stainless steel. A lot of fairway woods are made of 17-4 stainless steel. Have you ever tried to adjust the lie on a fairway wood? First thing you have to do is heat the hosel, discoloring the paint and then try your best to bend it without damaging the crown of the club or snapping the hosel. 303 and 304 stainless steel requires much less force to bend and heating is not required. 303 and 304 stainless can also be bent up to 3 degrees without complications*. The X-BRID's hosel is made of 304 stainless steel since 304 possesses better welding characteristics than 303. Using our proprietary fusion welding system, the hosel is successfully attached to the body. The relative density of 304 stainless is also slightly higher than 17-4 or 4-31 stainless steel, giving the X-BRID slightly more natural hosel weighting, leading to straighter shots. Apart from the natural benefit of 304 stainless steel's bendability, 304 also possesses the unique feel of a forged iron. Hitting the X-BRID gives the golfer the feeling of hitting a premium forged club in the center every time. Price is $49.

To order

SMT Avocet

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Avocet hybrids feature a radius bottom that allows the player to get the ball airborne from almost any lie or surface. The 19-degree Avocet emulates a driving iron, while the 23 and 26 degree clubs can substitute for a 3 or 4 iron at varying distances. If you struggle with your long irons the Avocet Hybrids may be exactly what you're looking for.

The price on the Avocet hybrid head is $49. In addition to the Ashton and SMT hybrids, we offer Nakashima, Alpha, and Bang hybrids.

To order

Hybrid Shafts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The graphite shaft manufacturers have closely followed the trend to hybrid's and have designed shafts to optimize performance with these heads. Some of my favorites include the Ozik Altus hybrid from Matrix (91g 2.5 torque, $150), the Mitsubishi Bassara (2.7 torque, 87g, .350 tip, $100), the Graphite Design YS+ Hybrid (85g, 2.6 torque, .370 tip $59), the Harrison Impulse Tour (90g, 2.2 torque, . 370 tip, $53), and the Accuflex HL (78g, 2.5 torque, . 370 tip $49.95)

Fujikura, Accra, Aldila and Graman make fine hybrid products. Email me to discuss which hybrid shaft would be best for your game.

Read on...

Short Shots

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Aldila has a new shaft coming called DVS. The DVS is a shaft with a soft tip section (softer than VS Proto, almost as soft as NVS but not quite), with a stiff butt section (5 to 7 cpm stiffer than the same flex NV or VS Proto - this corresponds to being 1/3 to ? of a flex stiffer). The story is to provide a shaft that has outstanding kick (this shaft would be labeled a low kick point) with the corresponding performance attributes of a low kick shaft - high launch / moderate spin, but without the loose/whippy feeling of most low kick (soft tip) shafts. It is also low torque (same as VS Proto, lower than NV) which will give greater control and better control of spin than most soft tip products. Geared towards the player looking for higher launch with controlled spin, that doesn't like the club to feel loose.

The Matrix XCon F7M2 is slowly but surely making it's way to becoming one of the most popular individual wood shaft models on Tour. I received another batch of the SuperStroke putter grips that you've seen KJ use with a lot of success. I finally had a chance to regrip my Yes!Golf Tracy putter with this unique super jumbo grip and I like it a lot. I've been experimenting with different grip positions and have settled on one that's best for my stroke.