Just how big were they?

[Liverbirdie]

I was talking with a 19 year old lad in work the other day, who is a golfer and was discussing the old persimmon woods.

I said I remember when the massive headed drivers first came on the market with humungous heads on them. I had a Hippo at the time.

Now were they massive or just massive compared to the wooden drivers that came before them? I know there are limits to size in terms of CC (475CC ????), but was there at the time and were some of them even over 500CC, or am I just dreaming? Possibly some of them were illegal, or it was only with the advent of the big clubs that the R & A cracked down on their size, possibly.

How big was yours back in the day........

 

[Hobbit]

I have an old persimmon Titliest driver kicking about somewhere. It has a marginally deeper face than a 3 wood, but is very small compared to a modern driver.

 

[Three]

From my memory, played since early 80s, they were never as big as they are now, which is a max of 460cc.

 

[delc]

I was talking with a 19 year old lad in work the other day, who is a golfer and was discussing the old persimmon woods.

I said I remember when the massive headed drivers first came on the market with humungous heads on them. I had a Hippo at the time.

Now were they massive or just massive compared to the wooden drivers that came before them? I know there are limits to size in terms of CC (475CC ????), but was there at the time and were some of them even over 500CC, or am I just dreaming? Possibly some of them were illegal, or it was only with the advent of the big clubs that the R & A cracked down on their size, possibly.

How big was yours back in the day........

I still have a Hippo driver like that in a cupboard. Won a longest drive prize with it once, but it looks tiny now! Wooden drivers were about the same size as a modern 3-wood.

 

[williamalex1]

I had a big one back in 1982 it did seemed bigger compared to most, it was a Ping Eye 2.

 

[Luca4]

I have an old Wilson The Whale driver in the shed complete with its red and black firestick graphite shaft.

I was always a Payne Stewart fan

Going to have to find the key and a torch and go and dig it out, maybe take it down the range and put it up against the 915

 

[ruff-driver]

I had the integra with a 650cc head, could probably fit two old driver heads inside

It looked like half a water melon on a stick

you could actually hit 2 balls at once !

 

[Liverbirdie]

I have an old Wilson The Whale driver in the shed complete with its red and black firestick graphite shaft.

I was always a Payne Stewart fan

Going to have to find the key and a torch and go and dig it out, maybe take it down the range and put it up against the 915

Yep, remember the whale. Post a pic up.

Did anyone else send off for one of them diamond faced drivers, that were made from shavings from industrial diamonds.........can't imagine anyone falling for that one. You could only get them from America, or so I'm led to believe. They were about £180, so rumour had it.

 

[ruff-driver]

Yep, remember the whale. Post a pic up.

Did anyone else send off for one of them diamond faced drivers, that were made from shavings from industrial diamonds.........can't imagine anyone falling for that one. You could only get them from America, or so I'm led to believe. They were about £180, so rumour had it.

Had one of the diamond wedges, destroyer of old balata balls

 

[Sponge1980]

The club on the right is a Callaway ERC II which I thought was massive when I first got it. Club on the left is a Titleist 913.

 

[Three]

The club on the right is a Callaway ERC II which I thought was massive when I first got it. Club on the left is a Titleist 913.

Exactly, great example.
Much bigger now due to lighter materials.

 

[Sponge1980]

Exactly, great example.
Much bigger now due to lighter materials.

First driver I had when I started in 1994, at 14, was a persimmon Wilson 1200. Would have liked to put it in the photo too as it would look tiny but don't have it to hand.

 

[Three]

First driver I had when I started in 1994, at 14, was a persimmon Wilson 1200. Would have liked to put it in the photo too as it would look tiny but don't have it to hand.

I think there's a wooden headed driver in my workshop at work, might pop down there and take a pic. Everything closed for winter though

 

[Crow]

Interesting question, just made a quick search and found the following:

Metal wood size was slightly smaller (150cc) to that of the wooden drivers (195cc) at the time. The volume remained relatively unchanged until 1991, when Mid-size metal woods came into existence. These “larger” sized heads where about the same size (185-190cc) as the wooden driver. A milestone of sorts came in Japan in 1990 as Mizuno created the first titanium driver called the Ti-110.

Driver heads produced from titanium didn’t become popularized until 1995 when the Callaway Great Big Bertha and the TaylorMade Titanium Bubble were introduced. These enormous sized heads were among the first heads to crack the 250cc barrier in volume. It took just 4 more years for Callaway and the rest of golf industry to make drivers that were 300cc.

In golf, progress is usually measured by decades, but in the case with driver size and the ability to produce these clubs out of lighter, yet stronger materials, size grew exponentially in only the next few years. As a timeline, the year 2000 saw the first 350cc driver, followed by 2001 with a 400cc driver and finally a 500cc driver was made in 2002. It was known at this time that the larger driver would have a higher moment of inertia and subsequently makes it easier to hit the ball straight even on off-center shots. At this point, the USGA stepped in and began to propose limits on drivers as they were potentially seeing technology threaten to diminish skill level. So in October 2003, the USGA imposed a 460cc limit on club head size effect January 1, 2004. Now that we have seen a cap on the driver at 460cc by the USGA and the R&A of St. Andrews.

 

[fundy]

The first "Big Bertha" was 190cc , even the "Biggest Big Bertha" was only 290cc

Only Callaway but some reference points

http://www.equip2golf.com/archives/history/callaway_frameset.html?callaway.html~archives

 

[Crow]

Here's my Titleist 909 D2 and a Master Built persimmon 1 wood purchased recently for The Old School Challenge. Also note the shaft, shorter by 1.5 inches!
(And it weighs a ton!)

 

[palindromicbob]

My first driver was a cheap junior thing so was tiny. My first adult driver when starting back into golf was a King Cobra 440 and it looked small compared to my current driver.

I did see Brendy hit a minute old persimmon yoke at Galgorm on the range that he brought along for a laugh. I tried it an quickly handed it back but he got it to go like brown stuff off a shovel. Couldn't convince him to put it in the bag though.

 

[richart]

Here's my Titleist 909 D2 and a Master Built persimmon 1 wood purchased recently for The Old School Challenge. Also note the shaft, shorter by 1.5 inches!
(And it weighs a ton!)

View attachment 18289

Would you be interested in bringing the driver to the H4H day, so we could use it for a long drive contest Nick ?

 

[Crow]

Would you be interested in bringing the driver to the H4H day, so we could use it for a long drive contest Nick ?

I'd be delighted to.

It needs a little tlc as the binding is a bit frayed but I should be able to sort that.

One of the screws is missing from the front and the grip is, let's say "not very grippy", but that will only add to the challenge.

 

[richart]

I'd be delighted to.

It needs a little tlc as the binding is a bit frayed but I should be able to sort that.

One of the screws is missing from the front and the grip is, let's say "not very grippy", but that will only add to the challenge.

Sounds perfect Nick. I was a bit worried that it might be in too good a condition to let the forumers loose with it.

Now just need to find some old Dunlop 65 balls.