From the time I was 4 years old, until the day I got fitted for my first Titleist driver at 16, my father and I made every single club I had ever used.
These experiences have allowed me to make repairs whenever a club gets broken, or I need to regrip my irons. I can get cheaper components online and have quite the back-stock filling up the basement, which saves me the hassle and expense of going to a golf professional.
There is something special that comes with making your own clubs. Not only are you able to custom fit them to your height and swing, but you derive a certain pride that comes with making your own equipment. You show up on the first tee and you look into the bags of your playing partners and see the same stock irons and drivers that you see in every other bag in the golfing world.
Then they look in your bag, and you see the puzzled looks on their faces. “What are those?” they ask, and you can tell them that you made them yourself. That is worth half a stroke right there.
The actual process of building clubs is something special. You take all the components, the clubhead, the shaft, and the grip and you assemble them. It’s a lot like baking. You have all the ingredients there, but you have to use each of them in the right amount, and in the right order, to come out with something that leaves you drooling.
I use a tile cutter to cut the shaft to the correct length. With the irons, I have to trim the tip of the shaft a different length in each club to keep the flex point the same. After cutting the shafts I use a belt sander to take off the flanges of metal that stick out, as well as buff the tip to help the glue stick.
The next step is to put on the grip. I use double-sided grip tape, and since I like to think I’m a professional, I use two wraps under the grip, which serves the practical purpose of keeping me from over-rotating my hands during the swing and avoiding the dreaded snap-hook.
Mineral spirits are my substance of choice when it comes to a liquid that allows me to slide the grip on easily while bracing the club against the wall of the basement.
Putting on the ferrule requires a block of wood and a mallet, at least if your sizing is correct. I hammer the ferrule down to the point where the end of clubhead will rest on the shaft.
And then comes mixing the epoxies and gluing the clubhead on. I take a healthy dose of the epoxy and apply it to the shaft and inside the hosel of the clubhead. Then I fit the shaft inside the clubhead and make sure I align everything properly.
All that’s left is to let the glue dry for 8 hours. Oh, and of course, there’s the final—and best—step: playing with the finished club.