A Golf Club Builder
The Miracle Maker

All you need to be a golf club builder is a working knowledge of the parts and pieces that go into a golf club and how they influence the final assembly. Sounds simple doesn't it?

Start by going to a reputable school - there are some fine ones. My personal favorite is located in Newark, Ohio. Heading up the club making/fitting school is Jim, (that's all the clues I am going to give you - find the place and you will not be disappointed).

Just so you know, taking a four-hour class on Saturday morning will not transform you into a club maker. If you are a hobbyist and just want to know how clubs get glued and grips are installed that's fine, but if you just cut and glue you will have something resembling golf clubs that are more than likely impossible to hit with any accuracy.

I had one guy that liked to frequent my shop and he called himself a golf club builder. First it was to question how things were done, then slowly he would ask to use my scales, spine the shafts that he bought elsewhere and frequency his shafts. One day he came in and asked me to pull a head from a driver, when I told him that there would be a charge for that service he left very unhappy. He could not understand why he had to pay.

I had asked him why he did not buy the tools needed to build clubs - his response was that he only built clubs for his friends at cost. I am sure he enjoyed what he was doing and more than likely his intentions were good (unless he played those same friends for money). He even realized he needed to do more than cut and glue; he just didn't want to invest in the equipment for golf club building.

Once you have gone to a good school and have decided to become a club maker, purchase the right equipment and then you need to read and read some more. Stay on top of golf technology - learn all you can about the trends in golf and which direction it is going.

If you have a set of clubs you feel you could or should hit better, you can always find a builder or come by and have your equipment checked by me. There is some tweaking that we can do, such as loft/lie adjustment if they are adjustable, flex adjustment, and proper grips. However there are some high dollar OEM clubs available that are not adjustable.

Golfers beware - many times fitters work on commission and rely strictly on the purchasing power that OEM's bring.

The building starts with the fitting. The hardest thing when fitting a golfer for his or hers next set is to be patient. You have to be aware of how they are swinging and how much they talk about OEM clubs, inevitably your golfer will change their swing and start posing and copying their guy they saw on TV last weekend.

I have found the best time to watch is when I ask them to warm-up and then walk away, that's when you see all things that make their swing unique and that in turn helps you in the fitting process to give your client a good fitting and great set of clubs built just for them. If you like to fit and have a qualified builder in your shop, by all means let him build the clubs, but make sure you the fitter gives the builder all the info that he is going to need to build a quality set of clubs.

Do you need certification to be a golf club builder - not really but it helps to have some things hanging on the wall if you are going to be in the business of building clubs. It does not take long to figure out if the person you are considering to build your next set of clubs has a passion to build you your favorite clubs or he/she is just a cut and glue builder.

Tell Me About the Equipment I Need to Build Golf Clubs.

What is swing weight and how important is it?

I Am a Golf Club Builder so Take Me to About Custom Golf Home Page