That's What Friends Are For | USHandicap Classic

ThatsOB Amateur
Go to Last Reply 114 Views 22 Replies 1 Like
So I took a friend golfing last week. It was the third time we've been in as many weeks. He is just learning but he's doing alright for a beginner. He doesn't have any clubs so I've been letting him use mine when we go, and I even let him take them to the range once when I couldn't make it. So on the second hole of our last outing, I hit my tee shot and handed him my driver. He has hit it several times before so I really wasn't worried about letting him use it. Well, somehow (I think it was a combination of an extremely open face and an over-the-top move), he actually hit the ball with the back of the driver!!! The impact (below the hosel) shattered the carbon fiber shell. He is an 18 year old college freshman who doesn't have a dime to his name, so I told him not to worry about paying me back. Oh, well, I've regripped my old X460 and I'm ready to roll. RIP FT-5 You guys ever had a similar experience?
bradley894 Legend
# 1 3/2/2009 10:57:54 AM
wow.. i would take it back to the place i baught it from.. ya never know maybe you could get some help from the factory its not like you ran it over with the lawn mower have them send it in maybe you will get some help from the factory... worth a shot... good luck and check ebay or some second hand stores for a complete set for your freind.. at this stage he doesnt have to be hitting a 1000 dollars worth of equipment.. equipment purchased ten years ago that cost 1000 bucks back then is fine! lol..
ThatsOB Amateur
# 2 3/2/2009 11:40:42 AM
I actually bought this one off eBay about a year ago, but I was thinking about contacting Callaway just to give it a shot. I had the opportunity to go back home from school this weekend and was able to put him a set together from some of my old clubs, so I donâ€™t have to worry about this happening again. On a related note: Iâ€™ve never actually tried to teach an adult how to play until now. Itâ€™s pretty hard work, haha. Iâ€™ve only been playing seriously for about 3 years, so I definitely donâ€™t have all the answers. I just try to keep it simple and not fill his head with a million thoughtsâ€¦any suggestions for teaching a newcomer?
mojo69 Amateur
# 3 3/2/2009 11:42:47 AM
A couple weeks ago my girl decided she wanted to learn how to hit a golf ball. I went downstairs and got this old XTC driver I had and handed it to her. Nuff said, and I'm sorry about your driver. Now, you should check out a site called Propertyroom.com. It's all police property room stuff that they clean,tag and auction off on-line. I just bought a full set of Dunlop clubs for $55. Driver,3&5 fairway metals,3 iron thru wedge and had them shipped to my moms place in Florida so I don't have to take my TaylorMade clubs with me on the plane. It also goes under stealitback.com. Check it out. It may save you and your friend in the long run.
dewsweeper Legend
# 4 3/2/2009 1:11:35 PM
Call Callaway customer service. You can also write to Callaway Golf at 2180 Rutherford Road, Carlsbad, CA 92008, or contact our Customer Service team at 800-588-9836. Call them up and they'll set you straight with shipping and everything else. For your friend, trying to keep him not to swing like a baseball bat at the beginning is important. Just make sure the set up is correct with the grip, and alignment. Talk a little bit of the impact position so he'll understand how to bring the club into the hitting position ( an impact bag or something that will hold the club head will do, please use an iron for this ). Have him hit to a distance only 50%-70% of his ability with each club and concentrate on hitting the sweet spot of the club face. I actually bought this one off eBay about a year ago, but I was thinking about contacting Callaway just to give it a shot. I had the opportunity to go back home from school this weekend and was able to put him a set together from some of my old clubs, so I donâ€™t have to worry about this happening again. with a million thoughtsâ€¦any suggestions for teaching a newcomer?
ThatsOB Amateur
# 5 3/2/2009 1:50:01 PM
I shot Callaway an email, so we'll see what the say. Dewsweeper, I keep telling him to swing easier, but when I say 75% he swings 99%. When I say 50%, he swings 98%, haha. We have a long way to go, but except for the driver fiasco, he has made some decent progress in our 3 trips. He has pretty much stopped the reverse pivot, and most of the time he can make decent contact but leaves his club face wide open a lot.
mojo69 Amateur
# 6 3/2/2009 2:32:30 PM
Have you considered making him work it off? Wash your car before you go to the range, clean the dog doo out of your yard--you know stuff like that?--- On a lighter note, I saw same driver is on sale this last week at Dick's-- lmao!
dewsweeper Legend
# 7 3/2/2009 3:03:48 PM
Use distance instead of % of strength. Say he hits his PW about 110 yds, tell him to aim at a target 75-80 yrads, with shorter back swing and a full follow through. I shot Callaway an email, so we'll see what the say. Dewsweeper, I keep telling him to swing easier, but when I say 75% he swings 99%. When I say 50%, he swings 98%, haha. We have a long way to go, but except for the driver fiasco, he has made some decent progress in our 3 trips. He has pretty much stopped the reverse pivot, and most of the time he can make decent contact but leaves his club face wide open a lot.
mojo69 Amateur
# 8 3/2/2009 4:51:42 PM
Remember the old adage; No good deed goes unpunished. Maybe he'll turn pro someday and buy you a fleet of drivers.
ThatsOB Amateur
# 9 3/2/2009 5:43:20 PM
Remember the old adage; No good deed goes unpunished. Maybe he'll turn pro someday and buy you a fleet of drivers. That's what I'm banking on :)
PISC Legend
# 10 3/4/2009 11:22:22 AM
how old is it? Write Callaway they may replace it for you! Good Luck
PISC Legend
# 11 3/4/2009 11:25:43 AM
how old is it? Write Callaway they may replace it for you! Good Luck
dewsweeper Legend
# 12 3/4/2009 11:30:55 PM
If you're waiting to hear from Callaway customer service, then you don't want to take the shaft off the broken head, if the driver had ever been worked on by unauthorized person, Callaway will not warranty it.
ThatsOB Amateur
# 13 3/5/2009 7:38:27 AM
I did email Callaway, and got one back saying I needed to call to discuss my options with someone. I'll try to get to that today and let you guys know what they say. I did put together a set of clubs for him from some of my old ones. They are Big Bertha imitations, with big oversized heads, so I think they'll work fine for him. With a graduate student income, it's tough for me to dish out even $200 bucks for a new driver. I'll probably just play my X460 for a while, and then hit up eBay sooner or later for a new driver.

Amateur

114 Views 22 Replies 1 Like

So I took a friend golfing last week. It was the third time we've been in as many weeks. He is just learning but he's doing alright for a beginner.

He doesn't have any clubs so I've been letting him use mine when we go, and I even let him take them to the range once when I couldn't make it.

So on the second hole of our last outing, I hit my tee shot and handed him my driver. He has hit it several times before so I really wasn't worried about letting him use it.

Well, somehow (I think it was a combination of an extremely open face and an over-the-top move), he actually hit the ball with the back of the driver!!! The impact (below the hosel) shattered the carbon fiber shell.

He is an 18 year old college freshman who doesn't have a dime to his name, so I told him not to worry about paying me back. Oh, well, I've regripped my old X460 and I'm ready to roll.

RIP FT-5

You guys ever had a similar experience?

bradley894

Legend

# 1 3/2/2009 10:57:54 AM

wow.. i would take it back to the place i baught it from.. ya never know maybe you could get some help from the factory its not like you ran it over with the lawn mower have them send it in maybe you will get some help from the factory... worth a shot... good luck and check ebay or some second hand stores for a complete set for your freind.. at this stage he doesnt have to be hitting a 1000 dollars worth of equipment.. equipment purchased ten years ago that cost 1000 bucks back then is fine! lol..

ThatsOB

Amateur

# 2 3/2/2009 11:40:42 AM

I actually bought this one off eBay about a year ago, but I was thinking about contacting Callaway just to give it a shot.

I had the opportunity to go back home from school this weekend and was able to put him a set together from some of my old clubs, so I donâ€™t have to worry about this happening again.

On a related note: Iâ€™ve never actually tried to teach an adult how to play until now. Itâ€™s pretty hard work, haha. Iâ€™ve only been playing seriously for about 3 years, so I definitely donâ€™t have all the answers. I just try to keep it simple and not fill his head with a million thoughtsâ€¦any suggestions for teaching a newcomer?

mojo69

Amateur

# 3 3/2/2009 11:42:47 AM

A couple weeks ago my girl decided she wanted to learn how to hit a golf ball. I went downstairs and got this old XTC driver I had and handed it to her. Nuff said, and I'm sorry about your driver.
Now, you should check out a site called Propertyroom.com. It's all police property room stuff that they clean,tag and auction off on-line. I just bought a full set of Dunlop clubs for $55.
Driver,3&5 fairway metals,3 iron thru wedge and had them shipped to my moms place in Florida so I don't have to take my TaylorMade clubs with me on the plane.

It also goes under stealitback.com. Check it out. It may save you and your friend in the long run.

dewsweeper

Legend

# 4 3/2/2009 1:11:35 PM

Call Callaway customer service. You can also write to Callaway Golf at 2180 Rutherford Road, Carlsbad, CA 92008, or contact our Customer Service team at 800-588-9836.
Call them up and they'll set you straight with shipping and everything else.

For your friend, trying to keep him not to swing like a baseball bat at the beginning is important.
Just make sure the set up is correct with the grip, and alignment.
Talk a little bit of the impact position so he'll understand how to bring the club into the hitting position ( an impact bag or something that will hold the club head will do, please use an iron for this ). Have him hit to a distance only 50%-70% of his ability with each club and concentrate on hitting the sweet spot of the club face.

I actually bought this one off eBay about a year ago, but I was thinking about contacting Callaway just to give it a shot.

I had the opportunity to go back home from school this weekend and was able to put him a set together from some of my old clubs, so I donâ€™t have to worry about this happening again.

with a million thoughtsâ€¦any suggestions for teaching a newcomer?

ThatsOB

Amateur

# 5 3/2/2009 1:50:01 PM

I shot Callaway an email, so we'll see what the say.

Dewsweeper,
I keep telling him to swing easier, but when I say 75% he swings 99%. When I say 50%, he swings 98%, haha.

We have a long way to go, but except for the driver fiasco, he has made some decent progress in our 3 trips. He has pretty much stopped the reverse pivot, and most of the time he can make decent contact but leaves his club face wide open a lot.

mojo69

Amateur

# 6 3/2/2009 2:32:30 PM

Have you considered making him work it off? Wash your car before you go to the range, clean the dog doo out of your yard--you know stuff like that?---

On a lighter note, I saw same driver is on sale this last week at Dick's--

lmao!

dewsweeper

Legend

# 7 3/2/2009 3:03:48 PM

Use distance instead of % of strength.
Say he hits his PW about 110 yds, tell him to aim at a target 75-80 yrads, with shorter back swing and a full follow through.

I shot Callaway an email, so we'll see what the say.

Dewsweeper,
I keep telling him to swing easier, but when I say 75% he swings 99%. When I say 50%, he swings 98%, haha.

We have a long way to go, but except for the driver fiasco, he has made some decent progress in our 3 trips. He has pretty much stopped the reverse pivot, and most of the time he can make decent contact but leaves his club face wide open a lot.

mojo69

Amateur

# 8 3/2/2009 4:51:42 PM

Remember the old adage; No good deed goes unpunished.

Maybe he'll turn pro someday and buy you a fleet of drivers.

ThatsOB

Amateur

# 9 3/2/2009 5:43:20 PM

Remember the old adage; No good deed goes unpunished.

Maybe he'll turn pro someday and buy you a fleet of drivers.

That's what I'm banking on :)

PISC

Legend

# 10 3/4/2009 11:22:22 AM

how old is it? Write Callaway they may replace it for you! Good Luck

PISC

Legend

# 11 3/4/2009 11:25:43 AM

how old is it? Write Callaway they may replace it for you! Good Luck

dewsweeper

Legend

# 12 3/4/2009 11:30:55 PM

If you're waiting to hear from Callaway customer service, then you don't want to take the shaft off the broken head, if the driver had ever been worked on by unauthorized person, Callaway will not warranty it.

ThatsOB

Amateur

# 13 3/5/2009 7:38:27 AM

I did email Callaway, and got one back saying I needed to call to discuss my options with someone. I'll try to get to that today and let you guys know what they say.

I did put together a set of clubs for him from some of my old ones. They are Big Bertha imitations, with big oversized heads, so I think they'll work fine for him.

With a graduate student income, it's tough for me to dish out even $200 bucks for a new driver. I'll probably just play my X460 for a while, and then hit up eBay sooner or later for a new driver.

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