6 Responses

1. Phana24JG

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   1

   There are two possible answers for what happened. The first is the one other contributors referred to, which is that the clubs were of poor quality to begin with. If a cheap epoxy were used to secure the shaft to the hosel, or it was not done properly, that could explain it.

   The other possibility would be if you live in a very warm area, and your friend keeps his bag in the trunk all the time. The epoxy will begin to degrade if the temperature in the trunk exceeds 150F. If that is the case, and you have a decent swing speed compared to your friend, that might be why you had the problem and he did not. Remember, clubmakers use heat to remove shafts from clubs.

2. dunnmills

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   2

   Improperly joined club heads and shafts result in heads flying off. This happens frequently when graphite shafts are replacing steel originals and the new shafts are not put on properly.

3. t1m3_warp3r

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   3

   Depends how you use it.

4. matthew

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   4

   Any golf club can break. It wasn’t something that you were doing unless you were beating it into the ground. Golf clubs are designed to be hit into the ground, hence taking a divot. Were you hitting off mats? If you hit off mats clubs will break or bend more often, but it will still rarely happen. If you broke 3 of his clubs I would bet the shafts were rusted which makes them weaker. Now as to who’s fault it is that’s for you and him to decide. But if they were crappy clubs they should be easy and cheap to replace. I say split it!

5. green_lantern66

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   5

   If the heads flew off, there should be some questions answered:

   Did they just fly off? Did the shafts break? Where do you live? Where were the clubs? How long were they there?

   If the heads just flew off, it’s possible the epoxy holding the heads on was compromised somehow. This will happen to cheapo clubs from Wal-Mart, or even the best forged set of Titleists, because the epoxy that holds them together is the same. That’s where the questions come from… if you live in a place like Arizona or Florida, and the clubs were in the trunk of his car all day (or even if you live in, say, Chicago and it was a pretty warm day), then the epoxy would’ve been heated up enough to liquify, then reset. However, it wouldn’t have the necessary 24 hours to fully cure. It would’ve happened whether you swing like Tiger Woods or Mr. Magoo.

   If the shafts broke, the trunk theory could still hold up. It would be slightly trickier, though. If he constantly stores his sticks in his trunk, the switching between really hot and fairly cool temperatures can affect the integrity of the shaft, making it weaker. It would’ve taken a nasty fat shot, but it’s still possible to make it snap. If that isn’t the case, it’s possible that he had a crack somewhere. Every graphite shaft, regardless of brand or cost, develops microcracks in the first few rounds played with it. That shouldn’t hurt it, so it’s possible that it had bigger cracks from some abnormal use prior to you using it, or you causing it. Can’t say for sure without seeing what went down, though.

   Unless you gather enough evidence to point to one specific cause, you’re better off just making a deal with your buddy. There’s no reason to lose a friendship (especially if you’re really good friends) over something that, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t that important.

6. googie

   July 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm

   6

   Let’s make the answer real simple: Good golf clubs seldom if ever break under normal use and wear and tear. In 75 years of play I only had to replace 2 steel shafts, both on pitching wedges when playing from a fairway bunker and hitting buried boulders below the surface of the sand. So far ( 6 years of graphite ) all shafts A OK.