Wood Brothers Texan

[freddiec]

Thought I would share some more golden nuggets I received from Dave Wood regarding his solid blocks during a recent conversation with him.

There's not an easy-single answer to defining old growth in hardwoods-specifically virginiana persimmon. There are multiples of growing locations, climates, soils and forrest conditions and a multiple of methods for measurement including age and growth ring density. Its really worthy of a future article for my site (Thank you).

Most "all" of WB solid blocks (Driving and Fairway Instruments) were from very dense old growth trees. It wasn't that OG didn't exist in the 70's to 90's. it was Very Expensive. My source supplier was NTB; a Japanese materials company with US logging and high quality process operations in North Carolina.

Persimmon turnings used by other OEM's such as Cleveland, would be in the 3 to 5 dollar area. Our kiln dried turnings were 10 to 14 in volume. (These were our raw material cost before our oil hardening and sun curing processes that took months) In the same period, a totally finished stainless metal wood, ready for assembly was around 12 to 14.

[Texsport]

Remember that the superiority of Dave's blocks was what created his business.

Before he designed the Texan, he was busy fitting sole plates and inserts from other companies' clubs into his heads. When I first met Dave, his work shop generally had one Tour pro or another's clubs in the process of being retrofit.

His oil hardening and curing operations have been pictured here before.

But freddiec, can you imagine being able to pick your own head from hundreds he had in process?

I'll remember that experience forever.

Texsport

[freddiec]

, yeah, that would be one unforgetable exceptional experience Texsport. I have 1 or 2 mint Texans that I don't think I could have done better if I hand picked the block myself. When I was at Joe Powell 12 months ago, he allowed me to look at about 25 finished drivers and I choose 3 I really liked, that was really like being a kid in a candy factory... It would have better at WB in Humble I'm sure... Moreover, if I had the opportunity to visity Wood Bros back then, I would have had to go up on the roof to see the blocks soaking in the sun. , I'd pay extra for that.

[Texsport]

The oil hardening tanks on the roof was where Dave let us pick our heads from.

Lots of fun pulling out each head, looking for grain and carbon spots.

Dave's old growth heads were exceptional and I don't recall pulling any out that weren't wonderful.(If you look closely at the picture posted, on this thread, of Dave inspecting the tanks, you can see the grain in some of those heads)

It would get to be a matter of perfection - how tight was the grain pattern, was it perfect out of the toe, and were there carbon spots?

Only wood I ever saw that was more spectacular was in a set of 1940s small headed, Ben Hogan MacGregor fairway woods with no face inserts. Years ago, Tom Wishon and a partner had a golf repair shop in Bellaire, Texas.(Suberb of Houston). They installed white fiber inserts in the heads for me. I shafted them up for my daughter and she played them for years. That set had very wide, black grain lines - obviously from the root of an old tree. I always said that you could have driven nails with those heads!

I need to see if she still has those clubs - a 3 and 4 wood.

In the meantime, the search for Wood Bros treasures continues.

Texsport

[freddiec]

Texsport, here is my Ben Hogan (MacGregor Tourney) persimmon driver. Dave Wood thought this was vintage around 1950 to 1952. The Grain is horseshoe (perfect at toe) and very round symmetrical U growth lines. It might be the best I've seen, besides the Langer Texan. This is the driver Dave thought might have been made up for Ben himself.[attachment=2730175:HoganPer2.jpg]


btw, I've always noticed the grain pattern on those blocks in the pic in the soaking tanks. They all look pretty awesome.

[Texsport]

Sweet!

[CanadianCrippler]

That is a beautiful club Freddie! Being that I have a nice collection of Hogan drivers myself, I must say it would fit nicely in my display!

[RobotDoctor]

Dang Fred! Another driver of yours that would love to permanently reside in Colorado!!!

[HoganApexBlades]

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1430074221' post='11445679']
Texsport, here is my Ben Hogan (MacGregor Tourney) persimmon driver. Dave Wood thought this was vintage around 1950 to 1952. The Grain is horseshoe (perfect at toe) and very round symmetrical U growth lines. It might be the best I've seen, besides the Langer Texan. This is the driver Dave thought might have been made up for Ben himself.[attachment=2730175:HoganPer2.jpg]


btw, I've always noticed the grain pattern on those blocks in the pic in the soaking tanks. They all look pretty awesome.
[/quote]

This driver would look so very nice in my bag next to my '51 Mac Ben Hogan 1622C Par-Makers!!!

[Prsmnstudio]

Here are some before and after pics of a restoration I just did on an 86-87 era Texan. This is one I originally posted info about on the "Vulcanized Fiber Inserts" thread ([url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/topic/468139-vulcanized-fiber-fibre-inserts/"]http://www.golfwrx.c...-fibre-inserts/[/url]). In this model you will notice that the insert is wider than in later years, more parallel on the sidewalls with a thinner black middle section. The =W.B= stamp was done by Dave, he said, as was the sculpting at the back of the insert. The head shape is very reminiscent of Fred's Langer driver; it was unique to this period and one a lot of pros liked. This is the first WB I've seen with grain running straight into the face like this in wide bands. It had been refinished at some point in a non-factory salmon color stain that hid the character of the wood, so I went with a lighter dye which reminds me of "baseball glove." It has an interesting carbon fingerprint right on the tip of the pear.
[attachment=2733351:IMG_5224.jpg]
[attachment=2733361:IMG_6141.jpg]

Here you can see the wide insert shape and soleplate, six uniform scoring lines, plus a little carbon spot near the bore through. I reshafted with a brand new DG S300 (the old shaft had a wooden dowel extension), and kept it without a lockscrew, per the original.
[attachment=2733373:IMG_5242.jpg]
[attachment=2733375:IMG_6144.jpg]

The biggest trouble area was the sole stampings, which were all but destroyed. I used an automotive clear coat paint which I've been experimenting with to finish it off. I like this coating because it dries water clear, but it's a little tricky to work with. Can't wait to see how it plays!
[attachment=2733383:IMG_5342.jpg]
[attachment=2733385:IMG_6069.jpg]

[Blade Junkie]

That looks great Prsmnstudio !

I fancied seeing the "before and after pics" side-by-side on a single page, so forgive me for putting this little A4 montage together ... Wood Bros clubs are so beautiful that they deserve to be "wall art"

[attachment=2733485:Wood Bros Texan by Prsmnstudio.JPG]

Nice to see some grain a bit different to the standard "horseshoe" aesthetic ... I was wondering if you have hit this club, and what the performance is like ?

[Prsmnstudio]

I love it Blade Junkie! Looks good that way!

I didn't play the club before restoration, mostly because it was not in shape to play. Primarily, the insert was loose and I didn't want to damage the club. Because it came to me with an X100 with no lock screw and it was clearly used a lot, Dave and I were guessing it was a gamer for a strong player. I'm really looking forward to taking it out now.

[CanadianCrippler]

She's a beauty Prsmmstudio, love the grain! The work you did is excellent!

CC

[freddiec]

persimmonstudio, your refinish work is exceptional. When I first saw this club months ago I was surprised to see a Texan that looks so much like the Langer. I like the insert and how Dave designed the score lines on this club. The Langer Texan has a slightly different toe shape visible at address. The only time I have seen grain like that was on a old m85. I bet it was played on tour no doubt about it. Sweet club.

[freddiec]

Here are a few updated pics I took today in late in the afternoon sunlight. I thought it would be good to post a few pics of the Langer Texan for comparison to show the similarities Persimmonstudio mentioned. In 1988 at the LA Open Langer tried this driver on the range and hit it very well and ended up keeping it. It was his 1st Texan. Its has a very thin neck and about 60 growth lines, they are so tight its very hard to count. The face is pretty deep just very slightly under 1 3/4th inches as deep as I've seen on any WB.

[Bella Woods]

Great pics and clubs guys

I love seeing this.....

[CanadianCrippler]

Freddie, that Texan is BUTTER!

[Texsport]

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1429874625' post='11431465']
Thought I would share some more golden nuggets I received from Dave Wood regarding his solid blocks during a recent conversation with him.

There's not an easy-single answer to defining old growth in hardwoods-specifically virginiana persimmon. There are multiples of growing locations, climates, soils and forrest conditions and a multiple of methods for measurement including age and growth ring density. Its really worthy of a future article for my site (Thank you).

Most "all" of WB solid blocks (Driving and Fairway Instruments) were from very dense old growth trees. It wasn't that OG didn't exist in the 70's to 90's. it was Very Expensive. My source supplier was NTB; a Japanese materials company with US logging and high quality process operations in North Carolina.

Persimmon turnings used by other OEM's such as Cleveland, would be in the 3 to 5 dollar area. Our kiln dried turnings were 10 to 14 in volume. (These were our raw material cost before our oil hardening and sun curing processes that took months) In the same period, a totally finished stainless metal wood, ready for assembly was around 12 to 14.
[/quote]

freddiec,

Dave once told me that a lot of his best wood came from family property in the N C wilderness. He first discovered an ancient 5 foot diameter persimmon tree once while exploring the forest.

There were no roads, so a crew had to walk in, cut that tree, and others, into sections, and then air lift the whole thing out with helicopters.

Texsport

[freddiec]

Thats a cool story John... I don't remember him ever telling that one to me. That sounds just like something Dave would do... Thanks for sharing.

[ScooterMcTavish]

You guys have awesome clubs and stories. Please keep them coming.

[Texsport]

Speaking of Dave Wood, most don't know that he was/is a plus handicap player himself.

No big thing for him because he was around Tour players all the time, evaluating their swings for fitting, and later. determining who MacGregor wanted to have as contract players. As such, he's a great judge of player swings and can tell you the strengths and weaknesses of everyone he dealt with.


His grandfather worked for MacGregor and I believe was a pro, as were his father, brother and sister. His other brother Charlie was a club maker at Wood Bros and later at MacGregor's Tour Shop in Albany, Georgia.

Dave had a great amateur career, and even played exhibitions around Houston with pros when he ran Wood Bros. and wasn't out on Tour delivering clubs and taking new orders.

He often played golf with former Tour player Elroy Marti, son of Tour player Fred Marti. Other golf buddies included Art Sellinger, former multiple time World Long Drive Champion, and his pro brother Sol. Art is the force behind the Long Drive Tour now.

I believe that Dave's father was the Head Pro at East Lake, the Atlanta course where The Tour Championship is now played. That's where he played growing up.

He was also somewhat of a swing and club advisor to Former Tour player George Burns.

Dave's experiences in golf could fill a good sized book - something that I often tell him he should write.



Texsport

[freddiec]

Courtesy of Dave Wood, Elk and his Wood Bros Australian..

[CanadianCrippler]

That is butter Freddie!

[Texsport]

That classic Wood Bros driver being classically utilized! Elk's "fairway finder".
[attachment=2773958:image.jpg]

Texsport

[freddiec]

Tuesday I'm planning on going to the practice round of the Champions tour event. I plan on trying to talk to Langer about the Texan I posted above and showing it to him and get his comments...

[Blade Junkie]

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1432586336' post='11624078']
Courtesy of Dave Wood, Elk and his Wood Bros Australian..
[/quote]

This is the same club as was for sale on EBay recently at a humdinger of a price ?

[freddiec]

Yes it is BladeJunkie

[Blade Junkie]

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1433708650' post='11706796']
Yes it is BladeJunkie
[/quote]

Never saw if it sold ? Or the Green Masters one come to that ... ?

[freddiec]

Blade, not sure about the Green Masters, Dave Wood purchased the Australian.

[Bella Woods]

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1433702626' post='11706432']
Tuesday I'm planning on going to the practice round of the Champions tour event. I plan on trying to talk to Langer about the Texan I posted above and showing it to him and get his comments...
[/quote]

Fred:

Any luck with Langer on the club?