EPSOM, England (Reuters) - Before titanium, before graphite, before composites and before steel, golf clubs had shafts of wood, ideally hickory. That era ended 80 years ago for most golfers.
But it lives on today among a coterie of enthusiasts who revel in their anachronism, spurning modern clubs that promise maximum "moment of inertia," minimum "cross-sectional deformation," and other attributes from that twilight zone between technology and marketing.
"Some people think steel shafts will catch on, but I don't want to rush into it," says Philip Truett, president of the British Golf Collectors Society. Many golfers felt likewise a century ago, when steel shafts first appeared, painted brown to look like wood.