I'll take a stab at it. It is someone who builds clubs with little
knowledge. Experience is not necessarily a qualifying nor disqualifying
trait. An example might be someone who builds clubs for others and merely
uses the manufacturers trim specs. Hence, cut em and glue em. Those that
would present themselves as club makers, with no knowledge of what they do,
might even be called hacks. ;-) I personally have seen the term used in
the case of folks pretending to be club makers but with little more
knowledge than what the spec. sheets call for. It is not necessarily meant
to be a compliment and points to the lowest link in the club making food
chain. Not to be confused with hobbyists or club making aficionados, who
in my experience, are able to live with their qualifications, and don't
pretend. As hobbyists, you find them always seeking more information and
often can find some pretty qualified club makers amongst them. Anyone can
glue clubs together. You aren't a club maker till you can fit a golfer
properly. There is a fellow in my town, whose family has owned a driving
range for decades. He's a scratch golfer. He makes clubs. He assembles
them reasonably well. He can't fit for crap. He sells a lot of clubs. He
is not only a cut and gluer, but a hack, as well. So, both of your
assumptions are generally correct. Knowledge, mainly fitting skills, is
the operative word. FWIW, IMHO.
Al
At 12:54 AM 12/18/2002, you wrote:
Q. What is the definition of a cut and gluer?
I see this term on this mailing list occasionally. I assume it to
mean someone who just throws clubs together using the manufacturers
recommendations of trimming without considering much else. Or, is
it a slang term used by the experienced club makers to describe a novice
who doesn't know as much as he should about the science of it all.
Just curious,
Rob
