Get ready for Round 4…Please keep the comments coming!

Thank you so far for your comments in the “Hireko Wants You to Help Design Our Next Driver from the Ground Up!” campaign. As of now we have a basic shape compiled from your requests and a general design principle to guide us by so that you can not only gain more distance, but more accuracy as well. While many of the opinions are varied or diametrically opposed, we are still sifting through the response in order to incorporate the common elements into your design. But we still need your valuable input.

We have decided to position this driver in the Acer XDS line as it will be
definitely a game-improvement model, plus we have some additional new clubs on the horizon that would be a good complement.

But we still need your input on a few more items on our house cleaning list.

Weight
The adjustable weighted screw that was shown in Part 3 is being nixed for a couple of reasons. One is the added cost as it appears it would cost in the neighborhood of a $4 add-on in the final retail price. But more importantly, the overall responses had slightly more people against adjustability compared to those in favor. See what project managers have to decide and weigh all the benefits? But this is you time to express your opinions. However, the weight will be heavier as many of you want a driver that can be made shorter (44” for men) to make more solid contact on a regular basis.

o No adjustable screw as I or my customers would never change it anyway
o Yes, I am willing to pay more for an adjustable weighted driver

Volume
The volume is a measure of club head size with the maximum limit allowed by the USGA is 460cc. The larger volume coupled with a broad footprint at address helps to create additional forgiveness or a higher moment of inertia. Golfers are looking at all the advantages they can get, so it is only natural that the vast majority of drivers on the market today go right to this limit. However, some of those that responded would like to see a smaller size. So here is your chance to answer.

Face Construction
The only impact the golf ball should ever make on a driver is the face, so the most attention should be paid to its construction. There are two basic options to choose from. The first is the standard construction where the face is a flat sheet welded around the perimeter of the face. In tooling, this is by far the most cost effective method.

The other alternative is the Cup Face construction where the welded is several millimeter behind the face so that there is more spring action in the face around the perimeter. After all, we don’t always hit the center of the face. In addition, we can make the face variable thickness, further reducing the thickness around the perimeter like what we have done with the Acer
XK driver series. Realize that a variable face thickness + cup face will add to the cost of the driver in the neighborhood of $10.

Face Material
Many of you have expressed a desired for a different mace material than what we normally use, which is 6-4 Titanium (6% aluminum, 4% vanadium, 90% titanium). This is a very good, durable material for the face that allows us to push the limits on spring-like effect and go right up against the USGA limit on CT (Characteristic Time) to make sure it conforms to the Rules of Golf.

We could use one of the many more resilient beta titanium grades of titanium. But here is the skinny. We still need the club to conform otherwise sales potential is greatly diminished. Therefore we end up having to make the face thicker defeating the purpose of using the more elastic metal. The only other alternative on why to use one of the beta titanium grades is for weight savings and remember this head will be heavier than normal to allow for a shorter assembly length and the ability to achieve standard swingweights. Here is the real kicker, it will add $10 to the retail cost of the head and still not produce any additional ball speed / distance. So which material would you use?

It is you time to speak now or forever hold your peace!

Clubmakers have to look at their resources – primarily their time.”

There are many methods in which to fit, match and build golf clubs; none of which are universally accepted by all those in the golf industry.  Some clubmakers build clubs as a hobby for themselves, family, friends or neighbors, while others build golf clubs for the general public.  Those who do so professionally have to look carefully at their resources – primarily their time.

A number of clubmakers simply rely on the components at hand to have tight enough tolerances and then carefully assemble each club making sure the shafts are trimmed properly, lengths are correct and grip are on straight. On the opposite end of the spectrum you have other clubmakers go to great lengths to provide clubs to their customers that are built to the nth degree.  They may Continue Reading

Download The Slides And Learn At Your Own Pace – For Free!

Now you can download the slide presentations of our popular webinars in pdf format and improve your clubmaking skills. Each webinar is approximately 1.5 meg in size. Download, learn and build better clubs now! Free!

> Download SK Fiber Golf Shafts Webinar PDF with creator Charlie Blume

> Download The Dynamic Shaft Fitting Index and 2009 Shaft Addendum Webinar PDF

> Download New Image Shafts Webinar PDF with creator Brad Stephens

> Download 2009 Golf Club Preview Webinar PDF with Technical Director Jeff Summitt

Unique, transitional hybrid set provides extreme game improvement and progressive appearance.

CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA – May 20, 2009 – Hireko Golf today announced the launch of its new Dynacraft Avatar XMOI Hybrids, a design that is part hollow-bodied iron and part hybrid that is one of the first hybrid sets in the golf industry to embody a truly progressive appearance throughout the set.

“Most hybrid profiles continue the same design profile throughout the set,” states Hireko Technical Director Jeff Summitt. “To gain maximum effectiveness, however, the long irons should be wider soled for maximum forgiveness, and the short irons scalloped for effective short game play. The new Avatar XMOI Hybrids transition faultlessly from the long to short hybrids to give the weekend warrior the necessary tools to help them score better.”

The Long Hybrids
The #3 and 4 irons have a wider footprint sporting an increased breadth and shallow face. This positions the center of gravity much lower and more rearward within the design to give less skilled players added confidence and the ability to easily get the ball airborne and also increase solidness of contact.

The Mid Hybrids
The mid-irons progressively become narrower (as less game improvement is required) and bridge the gap between conventional iron appearances.

The Short Hybrids
The scoring clubs starting with the #8 look traditional at address. The additional loft beautifully hides the hollow-body but still helps to increase the moment of inertia. The rounded toplines provide plenty of face area and raise the center of gravity enough to control the trajectory. The inclusion of three wedges provide for better course management by eliminating distance gaps.

Every club in the Dynacraft Avatar XMOI features extreme moment of inertia (hence XMOI), increased perimeter weighting and an optimized center of gravity, which combine to boost the moment of inertia for greater stability and better trajectory control.

The custom assembled Dynacraft Avatar XMOI Hybrids are available right hand 3-PW, AW, SW and come with free Dynacraft hybrid headcovers. They are available custom assembled online for $44.95 each at Hirekogolf.com.

Reflections from a quarter century ago

The most hallowed of golf trophies - The Pork Memorial Scramble

As colleges let out for the summer, it is a friendly reminder of when I starting working in the golf business. This May marks my 25th anniversary in the golf industry and coincidentally the date I started to play golf too.  I began working for a company called Pal Joey Dominion which was a small division of Pal Joey Golf, whose other division was the fledgling Dynacraft Golf Products. It was an easy job filling boxes with cheap golf bags, shoes, pull carts and the like which were imported from Taiwan.

I had no real knowledge of golf when I started working other than watching local hero Jack Nicklaus on TV. I just needed money for books and whatever a young college lad spends money on.  It was the end of a tumultuous year as I had been away from home for the first time plus my Mom had just passed away from a long battle with cancer; so it was important to come back home and start anew.
Continue Reading

We just completed our newest webinar discussing the“SK Fiber 2009 Golf Shaft Line ” that was held May 15st.

Charles Blume, owner and designer of SK Fiber Shafts discussed not only the new 2009 SK Fiber Shafts, but existing product and what makes SK Fiber shafts so unique. The webinar lasts 50 minutes and is divided into 6 sections. Charles is an industry veteran and extremely dedicated to his shaft creations.

New irons feature high MOI game-improvement and forgiving product design.

Hireko Golf introduces the latest offering in the renowned Power Play Caiman line, the 2009 Power Play Caiman Irons. The new irons build on the Caiman heritage of maximum forgiveness and playability coupled with superior technology that delivers improved performance.

The foundation of this iron is the precision cast 431 stainless steel outer shell that optimizes the deep, rear center of gravity location for an extremely high moment of inertia. This results in superior accuracy, driving trajectory and increased forgiveness on off-center hits. The outer shell is joined together with a separate high-performance face plate formed by an ultra-thin sheet of high strength 420 specialty maraging steel. This combination of stainless steel body with maraging face translates into more explosive ball velocity for the ultimate in distance.

“Big, bad and bold are just some of the words to describe this powerful new iron design,” states Hireko Golf Technical Director Jeff Summitt. “After several attempts of creating the tooling to be able to pull the wax out efficiently, special heat treatments, plus the air cannon testing to test for durability, we created one of the most modern engineered irons in the golf industry. It incorporates a high COR maraging steel face for increased ball speed and weight re-distribution. This allowed us to make the sole incredibly wide measuring 30mm across for extreme forgiveness and stability.”

The wide sole design of the Power Play Caiman Iron also serves to instill confidence. This not only ensures more solid contact, it also enhances playability from a variety of lies.

From the ultra-wide beveled sole and heavy rear mass to the high-tech maraging face design, the Caiman Irons are the unparalleled leader for players seeking solid game-improvement, forgiveness and accuracy.

The custom assembled Power Play Caiman Irons are available in both right hand 3-PW, AW,SW and left hand 3-PW, SW and come with free Countour iron headcovers. They are available custom assembled online for $29.95 each at Hirekogolf.com.

A day at the range yields unexpected equipment wisdom

This past weekend I attended a Demo Day at local driving range in my area.  If you don’t know what a Demo day is, it is where manufacturing representatives come out with their latest clubs for people to try.  It is all free and a great way for customer to try new products out and see first hand how they work and potentially what they need like a specific loft, shaft, flex, etc.

One of the vendors had a launch monitor set up to show detailed results of the various clubs and a great way to compare your old driver to latest gear. One of my friends happened to be there who I hadn’t seen in a while. I Continue Reading

“If you’re looking for a set of clubs that will perform better than your 401(K) (and will likely hold their value better too), Hireko is worth a look.”

Have you visited WorldGolf.com lately? You’ll notice the lead article is a review of the Acer XK family of golf clubs. WorldGolf.com is one of the web’s largest golf websites and they independently tested our Acer XK Line.

Read the review online at WorldGolf.com or download the printed version of the Acer XK Golf Club review here.

Here’s a few select quotes from their review:

Acer XK Titanium Driver $99.95 custom assembled

“The Acer XK line is solid from top to bottom.”

“Hireko’s various lines present golfers solid clubs that are affordable even in this soft economy.”

“The Acer XK Titanium driver … produced a ball flight that was perfect for the conditions (30mph headwind).”

“Considering that big-name companies can charge as much as $250 each for these types of utility clubs – which most golfers don’t use all that often – the Hireko sticks are a bargain.” (Acer XK +3 Wood)

“Even into such a strong wind, I was able to hit both low and high shots, (XK Pro Irons) with both a draw and a fade. Shots struck on the sweet spot were nearly as buttery soft as with many more expensive irons.”

Acer XK Pro Irons $24.95 custom assembled

“For high-handicappers under normal conditions, these irons (XK Standard Irons) would be well worth a look as an alternative to big-name sets costing hundreds more.”

The Acer XK Irons were also positively reviewed in Golf Digest’s 2009 Hot List Issue and were named “Best Value”. Read the Golf Digest Hot List Best Values review of the Acer XK Irons here.

Shop Acer XK Titanium Drivers $99.95 custom assembled.
Shop Acer XK Fairway Woods $49.95 custom assembled.
Shop Acer XK Hybrids $44.95 custom assembled.
Shop Acer XK Irons $24.95 custom assembled.

Hireko Has It! The New Winn Wedge Grip

Winn Wedge Grip $5.99 each

The title kind of says it all, but Winn has introduced a model aptly named the Wedge Grip. So you are probably wondering, “What make this grip different from any ordinary grip?”

Some items often get overlooked in a catalog or on a website that need some further explanation and this happens to be one of them.  The Wedge Grip is a variation off of the original Winn Classic Series grips with the soft outer surface and the spiral wrapped pattern.  But that is where the similarity stops.

Think of how you use or grip a wedge compared to the rest of your clubs.  Unless you are Anthony Kim, you probably don’t grip down on the grip with each club, but you may need to on a wedge when the opportunity arises.  Whether the ball is above your feet in a bunker or greenside slope or you are trying to take a little off of the shot, you may be tempted to grip down.

This is the reason the Wedge Grip was developed. For one it is approximately 1” longer than a normal grip providing more area to grip down (also known as choking down). Whenever you grip down on a standard grip, it most often becomes narrower as the vast majority of grips taper smaller as you get closer to the mouth.  But not the Wedge Grip – it stays the same dimension so it feels normal sized in your hands.

So the next time you are thinking about re-gripping your current wedges or planning on buying some new ones, remember that there is a grip out there devoted to wedges that may help to improve your game especially if you like to be creative with your scoring clubs.

Shop For The New Winn Wedge Grip Now $5.99 each.