CARPE DIEM
The year was 1979, woods were still plainly woods, either in persimmon or maple ply, classic or pear shaped, drivers had face inserts of cycolac, and the heads were attached to shafts by whipping. And if you have ever heard of the phase “catching it on the screws”, it was because the driver inserts were indeed secured to the face with screws.
Then one Gary Adams upset the applecart with the metalwood, a revolutionary steel headed driver he termed Pittsburgh persimmon. Taylormade’s hollow headed club introduced perimeter weighting for the first time and a driver that eliminated the inconsistencies of wood, hitting longer than anything else out there at the time. But oh… how they hated the sound.
Critics decried the innovation, saying that metal headed woods were nothing new, pointing to cheap magnesium head drivers that were used at driving ranges in the ‘50s.
And so it goes with Taylormade’s latest innovation, the Stealth carbonwood. Rinse and repeat.
“Carbon-faced drivers aren’t new. They sounded and felt awful.”
Taylormade has been down this road before, having moved the industry and game from wood to metalwood, and they’re so confident as to stop titanium driver production and are heralding in the age of the Carbonwood. Yes, Taylormade is putting all their eggs in a carbon basket. A bold move… again. Engineering-wise, the company has broken new ground far ahead of everyone else. Taylormade is only at the start of the innovation S-curve, and If the first generation Carbonwood is already as good as the latest titanium drivers, I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Born in England in 1961, Andy has been a professional freelance travel writer for the past 20 years, During that time, he has travelled to over 50 countries including Sri Lanka, Solomon Islands Barbados, Panama and Hungary to cover a diverse range of lifestyle, travel, golf, food & wine features for various magazines around the world. These days he regularly works with his professional photographer brother Paul particularly on golf, lifestyle and travel features. Andrew lives in a 17th century cottage on the outskirts of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire and most weekends he can be found walking the Pennines with his partner Amanda.
Born in England in 1965, Paul is a professional photographer living in Stockholm with his wife, daughter and Welsh springer spaniel. He works on a freelance basis with different kinds of reportage and portraiture work for various publications in Sweden, ranging from lifestyle and golf to travel and business magazines. Internationally he works with Andy to supply quality images to illustrate their golf features from around the world.
A seasoned editor and writer with more than 20 years under his belt, Benny Teo has travelled the world for golf and now owns and runs a marketing and PR firm and has been keeping busy working on digital marketing campaigns, e-commerce projects and running virtual shows, the latest of which is a fundraiser for a national charity. Outside of that, his life is all about his three girls.
Ken is a keen golfer and currently plays off a 4 handicap. Ken loves golf and pretty much all things related to golf. He especially loves checking out new golf equipment and enjoys travelling to explore new golf courses in the region and beyond. Ken also has a keen interest in the Rules of Golf and has refereed at professional, certain major regional and local amateur events since passing the R&A Rules School in 2005.
Natasha started playing golf some 10 years ago and has developed a self-confessed love-hate relationship with the game. These days, she plays off a 9-handicap and encounters a daily battle to curb her over-swing. Aside from being an ardent supporter of women’s golf, Natasha is also passionate about golf travel and photography. Armed with her camera, this amateur photographer is constantly seeking the elusive perfect golf shot… no pun intended!