Paul: I have two strikes against me in that regard. One, I insist on designing every head, shaft and grip from scratch so that means I have to pay for the tooling costs for everything. Two, my production orders with the foundries are not large enough yet to get to the point where they will do the tooling for no cost as a service to get big orders. And that's not just in LH versions but the RH models as well. Companies in this side of the business that have a lot of LH models are using open model tooling, made by the foundry so golf companies who don't know how to or cannot do their own design work can put their name on the open model and sell them like their own. In those cases, tooling is free other than a cursory charge to put the company's name on the open model heads.
Even when I designed everything for GOlfsmith's catalogs from 94 to 02, GS could have gotten free tooling on everything, RH and LH, because of their production order volumes, but I remember holding off on doing more in LH back then (also at the behest of the Golfsmith CFO !!) because of the inventory problems that would cause. In the 90s, I was handling a clubhead product line alone that had 26 different models of woodheads, same number of ironheads, and lots of the other heads to go with them. That many SKUs was a problem when any one of them did not sell that high in volume. And since no LH model has ever sold more than 8% of the units it did in RH for the companies I have designed for, that meant small numbers taking up space in the warehouse and taking time from the purchasing people to manage. Sorry about that, but it was a business decision prompted by the financial people, just as it is with all companies. Forging tooling is impossible to do in LH for any company that designs its own original models, with the exception of Mizuno and Titleist. If you see other component companies with LH forgings, they are open models, period. For example, each forged iron head requires $5,000 worth of forging dies. Multiply that times #3-PW, AW, SW and you have $50,000 in up front tooling costs to cover. That takes a few years of selling heads to make that up, and when you do the unfortunate math for LH forgings, it never adds up, I am sorry to say. In this regard, I should have chosen tennis or baseball to be a designer! TOM -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Doxey, Paul N Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:37 PM To: ShopTalk@mail.msen.com Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges If I could add a follow up question as well, Tom, When will more heads be available for leftys? I noticed that only the 56 degree is available in LH. Also, the forged iron set looks very interesting as well, but only available in RH. Thanks, Paul Doxey [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Donald T Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 12:59 PM To: ShopTalk@mail.msen.com Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges Tom, Thank you for your full answer which is, as always, easily understood by the non-expert. And now the supplementary question. How can I buy a set of the CX heads and matching Series 5 steel shafts from you without my wife finding out???? Donald ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Wishon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <ShopTalk@mail.msen.com> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 5:36 PM Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges > DONALD: > Thanks for the question that allows me to tell you about them. > > First thing is the faces are all CNC Machined with very small milling > marks on the whole surface of the face. But the main new thing is that > I changed the scoreline design to put more lines closer together than > anyone currently has on wedges. Typically, all irons and wedges today > have scorelines that are 0.8mm wide and either 2.6mm or 2.8mm spaced > apart. At impact, that puts the edges of THREE lines in contact with > the surface of the ball. The CX micro-grooves are 0.6mm wide and 2.0mm > spaced apart so you get FIVE line edges in contact with the ball at > impact. > > The new micro-grooves are definitely within the USGA's current groove > rules which say the minimum spacing between grooves cannot be less than > 1.91mm. > > The USGA's recent groove study did confirm that the edges of the lines > do play a significant role in friction imparted on the surface of the > ball. So the CX Micro wedges have both the friction enhancement of the > CNC Milling of the face plus the increased number of groove edges in > contact with the ball. Trackman testing of the CX's against wedges with > conventional scorelines of the same loft and same headweight, swung at > the same speed, showed an increase of +1100 rpms. Since we have sold > quite a few so far to Clubmakers, the reports coming back to us confirm > they do make a difference in golfers of all abilities being able to stop > the ball sooner on the greens. > > Thanks for the question and thanks John for letting me answer it!! > > TOM W > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Donald T > Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 9:35 AM > To: ShopTalk@mail.msen.com > Subject: Re: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges > > Tom, > > What is it about the CXs that make them 'wondeful and precisely as > advertised' > I'm a member of TWGT & I'm interested, though I've a full set of the PCF > > that are just about 1 year old. > > Thanks > > Donald > ----- Original Message ----- > From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <ShopTalk@mail.msen.com> > Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 2:34 AM > Subject: RE: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges > > >> Ron - >> >> That was a minus sign, right? No golf for you for a while. >> >> I've had the new CX's as my 56 and 60 for the last two rounds. > Replace >> worn out Snake Eyes (as Tom Wishon said, new Tom's to replace old > Tom's) >> and the results have been wonderful and precisely as advertised. Take >> the plunge, you won't regret it! >> >> Ted Way >> -----Original Message----- >> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> On Behalf Of Ron Kellison >> Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 3:23 PM >> To: ShopTalk@mail.msen.com >> Subject: ShopTalk: Wishon CX microgroove wedges >> >> Has anyone had experience with these wedges? I've been playing with >> a mismatched set of wedges for several years now, (Tltleist Vokey 52- >> degree, Dynacraft 55-degree w/3 degrees bounce and a 60-degree Johnny >> Revolta dot punched sand wedge) and it's time to change. I'm playing >> 770 CFE irons paired with Apache shafts, and love them. I'm fairly >> certain I'll be ordering these but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask >> for others impressions. >> >> Regards, >> >> >> Ron >> >> BTW, the Ottawa weather was -41 this morning with wind chill, and the >> low tonight is supposed to reach a balmy -26! God, I love Spring!!! >> >> > > > >
