The Advent of the Metal Driver

I remember getting my first TM Tour Preferred driver. I was so pumped. S300 steel shaft. Looking back, it's amazing how well I hit that thing.

I still have this one.

Absolute Nitro.

I love this Topic.

I was playing a Persimmon Wood Brothers Texan Driver and it was absolutely beautiful.

Then the Taylormade Tour Preferred came out with a steel shaft and I got one of those. The finish was awful and easy to scratch.

A better product came out the next year by Mizuno called the MST driver and it had a gold graphite shaft.

I could crush that club even though it was smaller than today's 7 woods.

A few years later Eli Callaway brought out the original Big Bertha and that changed everything.

A few years after that they brought out the Cally Warbird and a new Mizuno MST that was bigger with a green Exsar shaft.

During all of this new innovation Aldila brought out the Gold HM40 Graphite shaft which became one of the top selling shafts of all time.

Titleist eventually brought out the PT metal wood series.

I still believe the second generation Mizuno MST was the best driver at that time even though Cally grabbed the market share.

A little later the Japanese clubs like Diawa, Yonnex and Yamaha hit the US market .

One of the greatest clubs I ever had was a Nicklaus Air Max driver from about 2001. It was incredible, snagged it at the Watts on Veterans Blvd. in Kenner.

One of the best fairway woods was a Tour Issue TaylorMade V Steel.

Billy Ray Brown use to bring in every season end a bunch of Tour Issued clubs to sell at a Play Again Sam's in Sugarland. He turned in several V Steel 3 woods and 5 woods with unmarked proto shafts. I played one of his 3 & 5 woods for a long time.

I still have Ping black wood set complete w 7 wood I sanded off black and refinished natural. That 7 stayed in my bag till 2014.

I have a bunch of bubble shafts sitting in my closet now. Had them on the irons I bought on eBay. Just swapped them for Takomo.