Golf

Early History of Composites

Early History of Composites

• Golf club shafts were initially made from hickory wood, until in 1893 Scottish blacksmith Thomas Horsburgh made the first steel shaft
• 1969: Frank Thomas (Shakespeare Sporting Goods Co., USA) made first “graphite” shaft
• 1973, Gay Bowers did win the Pacific Ocean Masters suddenly increasing dramatically the demand for carbon fibres
• A posteriori justifying Toray’s audacious investment in 1971 in their first industrial plant, producing 300 kg/month of Torayca T200 and T300 (continuous fibre)

Recent Development

Recent Developments

• Golf shafts are made by wrapping several layers of UD carbon fibre prepregs around a (slightly conical) metal mandrel (fig.1)
  • Fibre orientation in different layers is optimised towards optimum combination of bending and torsional stiffness and vibration damping
  • Also filament winding of prepreg tapes or triaxially woven fabrics are being used
• Further optimization of the performance via (fig.2)
  • Super low resin volume fraction (up to 20%) for “lighter weight while maintaining strength” (Mitsubishi Golf Shaft)
  • Adding amorphous (steel) wire for “increased activity in the handle of the shaft to maximise ball speed and club head acceleration” (Mitsubishi Golf Shaft)
  • Using very thin carbon UD plies made by TPT (Switzerland) allowing “further optimisation of performance, balancing weight, strength and flexibility”. (fig.3)
  • Hybridising carbon weaves with aramid fibres (Enigma Golf Shafts, Germany)
• Even golf club heads use carbon fibre composites (fig.4):
  in the TaylorMade Stealth the club face is made up of a 60 layers of carbon prepregs, making it 40% lighter than it’s titanium equivalent
• Foldable golf trolleys have appeared on the market, reducing drastically the weight :
  the Go-Carbon+ electric golf trolley by At-hena (Switzerland) weighs only 4.1 kg! (including battery)
  (fig.5)

Gallery

Gallery