Tour spec Club vs off the shelf.

[tugglesf239]

Morning.

Been perusing EBay for driver heads recently. Possibly in the market for a new boom stick but don’t really need a shaft as I like my current PX hzrdus one and could easily get it re tipped.

I have noticed a lot of tour van spec heads on there for sale and was curious of what tangible differences they have beyond a normal off the shelve club?

I get they are measured more accurately so the loft is exact. What I am not sure about I’d what a hot melt port is / does.

Likewise is there any real differences between these heads other than the kudos of owning a tour club?

Will there be potential performance wins in a direct head to head?

Thanks

 

[Jacko_G]

Tolerances are less, as you say digitally lofted for an exact loft. Most, not all have a slightly open face.

Hot melt port is where they can inject a hot glue into the head and then position the glue at a certain point to get an exact swing weight or to influence spin. It adds dampening as well as influences acoustics.

https://thepeoplesclubs.com/hotmelt

 

[tugglesf239]

Tolerances are less, as you say digitally lofted for an exact loft. Most, not all have a slightly open face.

Hot melt port is where they can inject a hot glue into the head and then position the glue at a certain point to get an exact swing weight or to influence spin. It adds dampening as well as influences acoustics.

https://thepeoplesclubs.com/hotmelt

Thanks Jacko

I read from that then that a hot melt really needs to be decided on during a fitting and there is probably no benefit off the peg.

One question i do have is that i have seen some claims on the adverts that the faces are possibly thinner on a tour van club. Still within COR limits but pushed to the absolute limit. Does that sound feasible? or just advertising nonsense?

The open face is something that would have traditionally suited me as a hooker of the ball for the last 10 years. However i am pushing everything at the moment so is probably a reason to avoid buying a tour head.

 

[Jacko_G]

Thanks Jacko

I read from that then that a hot melt really needs to be decided on during a fitting and there is probably no benefit off the peg.

One question i do have is that i have seen some claims on the adverts that the faces are possibly thinner on a tour van club. Still within COR limits but pushed to the absolute limit. Does that sound feasible? or just advertising nonsense?

The open face is something that would have traditionally suited me as a hooker of the ball for the last 10 years. However i am pushing everything at the moment so is probably a reason to avoid buying a tour head.

Not necessarily as its usually a degree or a degree and a half. This is mainly done to suit the eye.

You can hot melt for different reasons, old Cobra drivers used to sound like an explosion on impact, hot melt can soften the sounds and make the club feel different. So in theory and depending what it is you want to achieve you can hot melt after you purchase the club.

 

[patricks148]

wasn't there some guy on one of the American Golf sites saying all the drivers pro's were using were illegal and had Trampoline faces?

 

[Foxholer]

wasn't there some guy on one of the American Golf sites saying all the drivers pro's were using were illegal and had Trampoline faces?

If he did, he would be wrong!

Heads can be tested without damaging them for some time now, so the CoR(CT) can be checked on demand. Players have been known to request that one they feel is 'hot' be checked!

I believe from about this time each year, most of this year's model Tour heads - of which there are large numbers - are 'released' as players are pretty set for the rest of the year. The next model is generally released early in the new year, with players getting advance models over the 'break'.

The Hot Melt Port is actually in the base of the Driver - not the Face - so there is nothing 'super-special' about that from a performance point of view. As JackoG posted, it allows minor adjustment to be made to Head Weight, CoG (not such a big deal these days with the adjustment available externally) or sound. I've had a number of Tour heads and the only ones that had anything 'extra' was the R5 - the Tour version having adjustability that wasn't available on the non-Tour version. My Tour FT3 also had/has a 'Tour hozel' which allows adjustment of a degree or 2 each way. The classic R510TP was only ever made using Tour tooling. I once, allegedly, acquired one of Justin Rose's 'rejects' - With Rifle 6.5 Steel shaft. Certainly kept the ball low for links play!

So if the price is right, there should be no problem with Tour heads. But don't be tempted into overpaying. They ain't that much better, if any, than 'Retail' ones!

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

The question in my head is are you good enough to tell the difference? I don't mean that in a derogatory way but tour players hit the ball much more consistently than us amateurs.

 

[tugglesf239]

The question in my head is are you good enough to tell the difference? I don't mean that in a derogatory way but tour players hit the ball much more consistently than us amateurs.

Its a question i am asking myself TBH. Short answer is no i am not.

It was more a curiosity question as to why they are generally more expensive and if you take the equipment in isolation (and remove me from the equation) is there any tangible differences. More me being interested in the kit as opposed to buyers research.

That said, if i see a head that suits my fancy and its a similar price to a normal head. i might have a blast

 

[tugglesf239]

If he did, he would be wrong!

Heads can be tested without damaging them for some time now, so the CoR(CT) can be checked on demand. Players have been known to request that one they feel is 'hot' be checked!

I believe from about this time each year, most of this year's model Tour heads - of which there are large numbers - are 'released' as players are pretty set for the rest of the year. The next model is generally released early in the new year, with players getting advance models over the 'break'.

The Hot Melt Port is actually in the base of the Driver - not the Face - so there is nothing 'super-special' about that from a performance point of view. As JackoG posted, it allows minor adjustment to be made to Head Weight, CoG (not such a big deal these days with the adjustment available externally) or sound. I've had a number of Tour heads and the only ones that had anything 'extra' was the R5 - the Tour version having adjustability that wasn't available on the non-Tour version. My Tour FT3 also had/has a 'Tour hozel' which allows adjustment of a degree or 2 each way. The classic R510TP was only ever made using Tour tooling. I once, allegedly, acquired one of Justin Rose's 'rejects' - With Rifle 6.5 Steel shaft. Certainly kept the ball low for links play!

So if the price is right, there should be no problem with Tour heads. But don't be tempted into overpaying. They ain't that much better, if any, than 'Retail' ones!

Really interesting that Foxy. Thank you

 

[Deleted Member 1156]

That said, if i see a head that suits my fancy and its a similar price to a normal head. i might have a blast

Absolutely.....go for it! :thup:

 

[UlyssesSky]

It was more a curiosity question as to why they are generally more expensive

That's because there's a whole bunch of people who are willing to pay more for a product as long as it hast "tour" or "tour spec" printed on it