Just how big were they?

[fundy]

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.

id make the likes of Swinger and Mendie go last still

 

[Deleted member 21258]

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

OMG I think it was called Orcinus The Killer Whale IIRC, first driver I ever had, carbon faced or something like that and as you say the red shaft IIRC, head look big at the time but must be very small against a 460 head.

EDIT - Just found a picture of it, only 180cc LOL (edit what a wally that a 5 wood!!)http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/pJQAAOxywXFSawYp/s-l225.jpg

John Daly,. ,grip it and rip it :-


I think it was 275cc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e2Gu5ZRhRxo

I also remember some heads being mega big like 500cc and being released around when the rule on head size and smash factor restrictions came in, but maybe remembering wrong. Don't think I ever played with anyone with such big heads tho.

 

[Fyldewhite]

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

Yeah, remember having a hit with my mates original "Big Bertha". It was massive, went long and straight. I just HAD to have one!! Look back now and they look so small....don't know how we ever managed to hit persimmons...but we did!

 

[Qwerty]

Not persimmon (I'm not that old) But I Started out with a Wilson Prostaff Driver and 3 wood, the Steel shafted 3 wood was superb and actually went further than the Driver. Although I struggled to hit anything other than Huge Slice back then.

I then Moved on to the Taylormade Firesole,The Brown one with the Bubble Shaft. I couldn't hit that either.
My first Biggie was a Ping isi,Then I started to hit them a bit straighter. That was the dogs danglies and I'm sure if paid £299 for it in the late 90s. At the time I think it lasted a record 6 months in the bag.

I must of spent a Flippin fortune on Golf clubs

 

[Liverbirdie]

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.

Could you be a bit more specific.....

Sound, just what I wanted, good piece. So it did answer my question, they didnt get much bigger until 10-14 years later (I started playing in 1989), so it must have just been the difference in size that made me remember them as mahoosive.

So wagon wheels,.........

 

[Luca4]

OMG I think it was called Orcinus The Killer Whale IIRC, first driver I ever had, carbon faced or something like that and as you say the red shaft IIRC, head look big at the time but must be very small against a 460 head.

EDIT - Just found a picture of it, only 180cc LOL (edit what a wally that a 5 wood!!)http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/pJQAAOxywXFSawYp/s-l225.jpg

Nope mine is the wooden headed version with the graphite shaft

"It was the first oversize driver on the market at a whopping 250 ccs. It was introduced in 1987, four years before the introduction of the Big Bertha driver, which had a volume of 190 ccs. One of the most popular players on tour was playing it, and actually won the 1989 PGA Championship with the Whale Driver. Wilson simply refused to promoted the club."

https://www.louisvillegolf.com/the-wilson-whale/

 

[Slime]

I've still got my Ping Eye 2 Driver, 3 & 5 woods and, my god, they look tiny!

 

[Ethan]

The first TM metals were barely bigger than persimmons about a modern 5 wood at most, maybe 160cc. The original Big Bertha was 190cc. The Great BB and especially the Biggest BB looked enormous at the time and was probably only 250cc. By the late 90s, 300cc plus was common. Some like the Titliest 975D were a bit smaller at 260cc. Don't forget that the balls didn't fly like a Pro V1 in those days either.

 

[delc]

I think that the R&A and USGA were far too generous in allowing 460 cc headed drivers! If they had set the limit at say 250cc, then drivers could be made out of cheaper materials, so golf would become a cheaper sport and the skill factor in hitting a driver would have been kept at a more traditional level. Less grip it and rip it!

By the way. I still have a Callaway Steelhead driver in my collection of golf clubs. When you hold it it seems to have a very long shaft, but this is an optical illusion caused by the relatively small head at the other end. Its shaft is actually an inch or so shorter than modern offerings! :mmm:

 

[HomerJSimpson]

My old persimmon looks miniscule compared to the modern offerings and I wonder how I ever found the fairway. Certainly wouldn't want to go back to those days and while the metal woods when they arrived looked huge at the time even they are tiny compared to the 460cc heads we have. Let's be honest, the bigger, more forgiving heads have made golf more accessible to new players.