I know.
We love the persimmon woods because the color and the wood grains and the durability of the material.
However, anyone has thoughts about the golf clubs made with the laminated wood ?
Persimmon heads been out for more than a century, I believe. How long has the laminated woods been out ? From the 80's ?
I always question the claim of man made verses Nature made. In construction, there been the use of 2x4,2x6 and larger wood products made with pieces and put together with resin ( epoxy ). This is quite common in residential construction, and the builders I talked to assured me that the extended wood is better than the one piece wood the nature provided. They claim it's stronger and less warping in the future.
I question the resin/epoxy they used to glue the pieces together be able to stay strong beyond 3-4 decades.
I was in shock when I walked in the construction sites and discovered even the multi million dollar home site use the wood products glued together from pieces.
Good question. Laminated woods have been around since at least the 1940’s and maybe even the 1930’s. Their popularity exploded in the 1950’s with Wilson’s introduction of ”Strata-Bloc” woods. I think laminate woods were very popular during this time due to not needing the maintenance that persimmon woods needed. Wilson advertised their Strata-Bloc woods main selling point as their durability.
So why are we drawn to persimmon more than laminated maple? I’d say a good analogy would be wrist watches. Mechanical jeweled movements were finely made timepieces that we’re highly coveted. When quartz movements came along, prices dropped significantly and the watches ran more accurately and without as much maintenance as its hand made jeweled counterpart, but were considered less desirable.
Would you rather have a Rolex or a Seiko? A Macgregor M85 or a Wilson Strata-Bloc? All will do the job they were created for but some have that more intrinsic value that make them more desirable.
Interesting, I did not realize the laminated wood in the golf clubs were invented in the 30's.
Do they really wear better then the solid block of persimmon ? I had never encounter laminated heads older than 5 decades so I can't tell you.
I remember the longest drive on the Guinness Book of record for tournament golf was 515 yards set by Mike Austin with a Wilson Staff persimmon driver , steel shaft at 33" long.
I do like the Ping Zing with laminated wood, not because of the laminated wood but because of it's shape and size.
Had re-grip a set before the next season starts.
I‘ve seen a few pictures of laminate clubs from the 1930’s on WRX, so they did exist then, but surely only very small numbers were made during that time.
Wilson introduced their “Strata-Bloc” laminate woods in 1948. Their claim was the durability and protection from moisture. The price of a Wilson Strata-Bloc laminate club was the same as one of their persimmon models, so at the time it definitely wasn’t considered an inferior club. I believe many people were tired of maintaining their persimmon woods and loved the fact that the Strata-Bloc could hold up to more abuse.
As the years went on into the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s, high quality persimmon blocks suitable for woods became harder to come by, so more and more manufacturers began making laminate maple woods. Karsten Solhiem was one that always believed in function over form, so whether it was a investment cast stainless iron head or laminate wood he focused on building clubs that performed without worrying about aesthetics.
With the low prices one can get vintage woods persimmon is easily more collectible than laminate, but both will perform the same. There aren’t many better wooden woods than the laminates Ping was producing in the 1980’s and 90’s like the Eye, Zing, and ISI Tour woods.
I tend to play more with the laminated woods in morning dew , wet grounds than the persimmon woods.
My father's comment when the metal woods came out was, now we don;t have to worry about keeping the persimmons maintained after playing in the wet weather. I remembered seeing him working on his golf clubs in the middle of the night preparing for tournament play. Back then we have a log style house which combines the living area with the bedroom.
Waking up in the middle of the night, smelling the polyurethane and watching my father working on the golf clubs was an image burned into my mind.
Like most or all of us here we’ve owned and played both solid wood and laminated woods. I kinda liked them to fine musical instruments and the materials used by carpenters and materials used by woodworkers. I have several guitars made with laminated backs and sides with solid wood tops and some with solid wood backs, sides and tops. The playability of each is not so different but the sound is. The laminated models are generally less expensive, mass produced in great numbers almost machine made. The solid woods instruments are virtually hand made And priced accordingly due to scarcity and quality of the materials. To put this in golf perspective, the laminated woods were sold mostly with relativity inexpensive store line sets. Remember, pro line clubs were sold only thru
pro line shops and the majority of woods were solid wood, mostly persimmon. With the solid wood clubs, the grain, density and other characteristics were basically hand selected, stained and varnished to enhance the beauty. Not a thing wrong with either laminated or solid. Serves the same purpose, to make music or hit golf balls. I’m sorry I didn’t spend more time at David Wood‘s shop when I lived in Kingwood Texas when he and his brother made all the beautiful Wood Bro’s woods and the famous Texas sole plate model. From a personal perspective, I don’t like paint on fine , beautifully grained wood. But I Shudder to think how many nice wood clubs I mistreated carrying them around in the trunk of my car. Ps. I like the comrade ride of forums as long as they are courteous and civil. I don’t spend much time anymore at gwrx since the change. I hope this one grows.
Yeah, I went back to WRX for a sneak peek and found they had inserted "commercial" into all threads. Even the old threads from way back..... reading down the page and I bumped into some WRX Commercial.
I guess, either the the sponsorship is getting skinny. or the membership is dropping. Same with other sites, there are too many of the site supporting sponsors, trying to boost or promote a sponsor's product. Kind of sad when we know he OP and the subsequent replies were made by the site. Sad also for the sponsors to buy into the believe that the internet noise alone will bring more sales volume.
Nice comparison with the musical instrument, dickgarrison26.
I can relate to that, had played musical instrument in my youth.
Same with the stock on the firearms, I used to be interested in the skeet and trap sports, was involved in local competition for a few years. Those stock on the shot guns can vary in price by the ten folds, or even more with engraving. The type of material and the natural grain with the stain and polish really showed off the piece. As far as functionality, a synthetic stock performs just as well as the expensive counterparts. I use to have a few pieces with maple , English walnut, and myrtle. They always brought compliments at the range.
I'm more interested in the laminated woods these days because I like the shape and the larger size of the Ping Zing , which is made with laminated woods. For some reasons, the Zings are more in demand than any other golf clubs made wit the laminated wood, thus the price is quite high, higher than some of the beauties from the 50's and the 60's.
Toney Penna was my uncle. Contrary to most opinions, TP was not too concerned whether the club was laminated or persimmon.
His personal woods were ALWAYS finished in Black. prior to the urathanes, his clubs were water based black stain followed by clear lacquer . The top stamp was often applied by a woman.His personal stamp was usually white or red. Prior to the end of WWII, his inserts were red fibre. His Grips were 1/16 oversize and an inch shorter than standard. I have his backup driver from the late 40's. He didn 't
'wear a glove .He used the model 40 MacGregor woods, usually 1,2,3,4. The irons were1-9 plus wedges.Prior to 1938, 16 clubs were allowed. After , the 14 clubs were adjusted depending on course conditions. Toney and my dad, Charley, started in golf with Tommy Armour. The Pennas were caddies .
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CHARLEY PENNA
I‘ve grown to appreciate laminate woods more recently with the purchase of some Ping Karsten and Spalding Executive laminate woods. Both sets feel great and the more unorthodox head shapes allow for a large head. Both very nice and I’d say great clubs for the beginning wood wood player.