BeCu (Beryllium Copper) - What's the benefit?

dtgolder · February 18, 2006

And why aren't these being made any more?

Ok, bought a new (well old) sand wedge this winter on Ebay--it's a Cleveland BeCu 588 56 degree.

Supposedly the Beryllium Copper alloy gives a "softer" feel...just wondering how many folks are playing this alloy? I know Ping made sticks out of this stuff at one point...

The other questions I have are: if this stuff is so good, why isn't anyone making clubs out of this anymore? I heard it was costly, but that can't be it (can it)?

Also heard the metal is TOO soft, and that the grooves wear out quickly (and lose their bite). Any truth to this?

I love the look of the wedge, just hoping that when I get to the course in spring that I'll love the way it plays. Any BeCu junkies...please let me know the truth here! I know the Pings command a good premium on the used club market on Ebay, so there has to be something desirable about this material.

Opinions?

Johnny · February 18, 2006

If just soft... other then that it's not that special.. I played PING and RAM BeCu wedges for years...The ping lob command the most $$$.

03trdblack · February 18, 2006

I'm pretty sure that because it's soo heavy, it's hard to make anything that's considered "modern" out of copper. You can't reall move the weight around in the design and make things really oversized. I would also imagine that copper is much more expensive to buy and manufacture into golf clubs than steel and since the demand is low, they just don't make stuff with it.

Onebulldogs · February 18, 2006

I did the same post a while back (but it may have been on the Golf Channel DB). I didn't get any feedback on the soft groove issue. Apparently, the BeCU feels great and the Pings do command quite a bit of a premium. When I inquired why Ping stopped making them, I recieved numerous replies indicate that there were serious environment issues with using the metal. Apparently, when machine, toxic fume and/or dust goes everywhere. As a result, nobody uses it for entire club anymore.

dan360 · February 18, 2006

Short answer, the danger/benefit ratio is not feasible for golf equipment manufacturers. It's also very expensive to use, at around 400USD per pound.

The handling and exposure to solid Beryllium poses no threat--it's the inhalation of the dust, and handling of the dust that poses severe risk. OSHA has set limits on exposure to the byproducts of machining/casting Beryllium, and those limits required extensive modifications to existing production lines, which golf manufacturers either did not want, or could not afford, to effectively introduce.