This is more for some of the new folks who may not have seen this info I posted 3 years ago.
Some interesting info about Langer's Texan as well as some more history of the club.
I had a very cool opportunity to communicate back and forth with Dave Wood, the founder of Wood Bros, who made some of the finest persimmon woods for Tour Players as well as the public. Dave said it would be ok if I shared this info with wrx. I wanted to do so because i know there are still a lot of persimmon fans out there, especially us that have a great appreciation for the infamous Texan, one of the best looking drivers of all time. As most are aware Wood Bros custom made persimmon drivers for a lot of the tour players in the 80s and early 90s, including Jeff Maggert, Bernard Langer, Bob Tway to name a few. Dave is a super nice guy and was open to a few questions I had about persimmons in general.
I asked Dave what Bernhard Langer's Texan was like and if it was any different in size compared to what a non tour player would get their hands on.
DW Answer - Your observations are correct. Most of the retail Texan heads were based on an altered turning master, who's DNA, was tied to the MacGregor Nelson model 69 that was used in the M85. As a raw turning form, the apex of its height on the face profile, would be slightly over 1 3/4". The crown height began at 2".
But these dimensions are in the turning masters raw form. I think most Texan face depths would measure between 1 5/8 to slightly under 1 3/4" in finished form, due to top-line edges and stain line optics. (sole radius and leading edge cambering affected this visually as well)
As you are intimately aware Fred, WB Driving Instruments were hand crafted and sculpted from solid blocks, Overall they look the same, but upon critical inspection... each had is own uniqueness and character. Many variables in club-making to achieve the finished specifications and harmonized optical results.
Langers head did not appear overly deep, because he wanted his top-line softly rolled under. The stain line would encroach on the face. Bernhard also liked for the face-line to appear very square at address, so the toe stain-line would continue to the edge of the face profile. If you took that same head and brought the stain-line downward, it would look closed to his eye. Another detail was that he wanted the club bored to 56.5 degrees, which was upright for the time, but he wanted it to appear flat at address. To do this the crown was lowered and blended just a little more than a standard model. Very subtle things. He was a perfectionist and a technician and always a challenge to work with.
F - I also asked Dave is a Tour player had a preference in a certain grain patter in the wood, or where they less concerned with grain, but more so with shape, face angle, weight, ect.
DW- Their first concerns would be the heads physical specifications such as loft, face progression, lie angle etc. Then, profile optics (shape). Actually grain and growth rings were controlled it the raw flitch of persimmon, before it was turned from a master. You always want the growth lines going into the face, even on a tight U or Horseshoe. All of our Driving Instruments, Texan, All-American, Australian, Japan etc, were very choice blocks. Although they were oil hardened and cured to weight, we started the process with the most dense persimmon.
Many Tour players did like to see uniqueness in the grain like the carbon spots on the one being offered. Hal Sutton had one that he loved that had a lot of carbon in it. He called it "Christine" like the car in the horror film by Steven King.
DW- Many people think that I changed the name from "Texas Golf Co." to "Wood Bros." because my brothers, Don and Charlie started working there while in college, but actually... The name was inspired by "The Blues Bros" and intended to be a fraternal brand
Some general info about the making of Wood Bros Persimmon instruments:
Stage one of the WB Persimmon oil hardening process, required that all raw turnings were soaked in linseed oil vats for several months, to unify and strengthen the persimmons grain and increase its total gram weight... Stage two, required baking the wood turnings in the hot Texas sun, within glass covered, solar hot boxes, for several more months.......... Once the Oil Hardening process was complete, the heavy-and-dense wood block, was sculpted into its classically symmetrical shape to exact gram weight. No holes, lead or internal weights were ever used, all were completely solid blocks controlled by mass and geometry .... More than one hundred hand craft stages later, a totally solid Championship Balanced driving instrument was ready for play (Wood Bros was the first club maker to mark precise Degree's of loft on woods- a practice that all equipment producers soon followed and continue today)... During the 1980's and 1990's Tour Players using Texan Driver's won more than 150 TOUR events worldwide and six Major Championships..... All Tour Players custom ordered and purchased their Drivers and Fairway woods from Wood Bros...Bernhard Langer purchased a Texan similar to the one being offered, to win the 1993 Masters Tournament... The FINAL Major Championship to be won with a wooden driver..
pic of Langer's 1993 bag used to win the Masters Tournament below
Edited by freddiec, 23 December 2012 - 01:49 AM.
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