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Davis Love III was still using a persimmon driver in 1997?!

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The revolution of metal drivers was happening quickly in the early-to-mid 1990’s, but Davis Love III was set on sticking with his Cleveland Classic Oil Hardened RC85 persimmon driver. He wasn’t oblivious to the emerging technology, though. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why.

“The Cleveland has been in my bag since 1985,” Love III wrote in his 1997 book, “Every Shot I Take.” “It was given to me by a good friend, Bob Spence. I experiment with metal drivers often; I find – for me, and not necessarily for you – they go marginally longer than my wooden driver, but they don’t give me any shape. I find it more difficult to create shape to my drives off the metal face, which is important to me. …I also love the sound my ball makes as it comes off the persimmon insert of my driver.

“I’m no technophobe,” he added. “My fairway ‘woods’ have metal heads … but when it comes to my old wooden driver, I guess the only thing I can really say is that I enjoy golf more with it, and I think I play better with it…golf is somehow more pleasing to me when played with a driver made of wood.”

Although his book came out in 1997, Love III switched out his persimmon driver for a Titleist 975D titanium driver in the same year.

It was the end of an era.

During Love III’s 12-year-run with the persimmon driver, though, he piled on four wins in the year of 1992, including the Kmart Greater Greensboro Open — now known as the Wyndham Championship.

Love III, who’s captaining the 2022 Presidents Cup United States team next month at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C., is playing in the 2022 Wyndham Championship in nearby Greensboro. In celebration, we took a look back in the archives to see what clubs Love III used for his win in 1992 for an article on PGATOUR.com. We discovered he was using a Cleveland Classic persimmon driver, in addition to a nostalgic equipment setup.

In our latest Two Guys Talking Golf podcast episode, equipment aficionado and co-host Brian Knudson, and myself (GolfWRX tour reporter Andrew Tursky), discuss Love III’s late switch to a metal-made driver, and why he may have stuck with a wooden persimmon driver for so long.

Check out the full podcast below in the SoundCloud embed, or listen on Apple Music here. For more information on Love III’s 1992 setup versus his 2022 WITB, click here.

 

 

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He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

10 Comments

10 Comments

  1. Edward

    Aug 8, 2022 at 5:20 pm

    Who would win on the pro tour if players were only allowed woods, forged blades, and balata balls? Tiger.

    • Rich

      Aug 9, 2022 at 9:02 am

      I think the PGA should be like MLB. Standard clubs and balls. Tiger would win.

  2. Hi my name is Davis

    Aug 8, 2022 at 9:06 am

    Love the turd

  3. Garry Flanders

    Aug 8, 2022 at 8:46 am

    This guy says its a 6.5 975D in ’97 https://www.instagram.com/p/CZQooODsU-B/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

  4. Tom Newsted

    Aug 8, 2022 at 8:23 am

    I think thats pretty cool. I remember when the metal woods first hit and many players like Davis Love III, Fred Couples and many others said they wouldnt switch. After the Big Bertha and the Yonnex driver they all started to move over to them. Cobra had a great driver for a little while. This Tiger kid used it in 97 to win some tournament in Georgia.

  5. The truth

    Aug 6, 2022 at 5:17 pm

    Kuch sucks…

  6. Dustin

    Aug 6, 2022 at 11:23 am

    Remember when he spearheaded the fact the Ryder cup was not being paid. The event was making over $20,000,000 and the PGA tour was reaping the $. What if I told you the tour spends over $100m just off top level brass? Non profit?

  7. Hollabachgt

    Aug 5, 2022 at 9:10 pm

    Pretty sure Davis changed from Persimmon to a 976R. The same for Leonard. Who started the 1997 season with Persimmon, but by the Open was playing a 976R.

  8. chip75

    Aug 5, 2022 at 6:33 pm

    If I remember Davis used a persimmon to a record 380+ yards drive during his first few years on tour. The 975D was a huge gamechanger. After that it was the widespread adoption of a solid-ball (Pro V1).

  9. Snoozer

    Aug 5, 2022 at 5:26 pm

    Snore

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Whats in the Bag

Kevin Chappell WITB 2024 (April)

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Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Project X Denali Black 60 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 HL (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X

7-wood: Cobra King LTDx Prototype (21.5 degrees @20.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9 X

Irons: Srixon ZX (3), Cobra King CB (4-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM6 (52-08F, 56-10S), Cobra Snakebite (60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putter: Scotty Cameron SB-2, Scotty Cameron TourType TG6.2
Grip: SuperStroke Traxion Flatso 1.0

Ball: Titleist Pro V1x

Grips: Golf Pride MCC

Check out more in-hand photos of Kevin Chappell’s clubs here.

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Equipment

Spotted: Axis1 prototype broomstick putter

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We have seen an uptick in longer putters out on the professional tours with players gravitating toward either counterbalanced or broomstick styles. As a refresher, A “broomstick” putter is a long putter that is usually built to a length that goes up to your chest. If you have seen Adam Scott putt in a tournament recently, he uses what is classified as a broomstick putter.

Axis1 might not be the most common brand in the world of putters but they have been around a while, most notably in Justin Rose’s bag.

Axis1 is known for a putter that doesn’t look traditional but a design is used to get the center of gravity to the center of the club face, aligned with the shaft. This technology keeps the face aligned with the ball throughout the stroke. More traditional putters rotate around the shaft axis, which doesn’t align with the center of the putter, making it easier for the putter face to not be square to the target at impact.

This week at the Valero Texas Open, we spotted a prototype Axis1 putter in a long broomstick version. The head shape looks very similar to the current Axis1 Tour-HM putter that the company currently makes, which is a more squared-off mid-mallet. The prototype looks to have a similar multi-material head with a 304 stainless steel face mated to a composite back. Twin site lines run together, on the topline and on the flange, to create a longer line for aligning the putter. The steel face has a fairly shallow milling to it, and the flowing heel hosel connects to the aggressive shaft bend.

A matching black shaft is installed, and at the grip end is Super Stroke’s Zenergy Tour 1.0 two-piece in white and black. No word on if or when this will come to retail yet.

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Coolest thing for sale in the GolfWRX Classifieds (4/4/24): Mint set of TaylorMade Qi 10 irons

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At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals that all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, there is a listing for a Mint set of TaylorMade Qi 10 irons.

From the seller: (@ch1985): “Mint set of TaylorMade qi 10 irons 5-PW, AW (used 1 round and some range balls) with factory stiff steel shaft –  $925 shipped.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link: Mint set of TaylorMade Qi 10 irons

This is the most impressive current listing from the GolfWRX BST, and if you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum you can check them out here: GolfWRX BST Rules

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