As we transition to fall, I’ll give you a few pointers to give to your members.  These will be shorter each week (I know, thankfully).  This week, let’s talk about headcovers.  All woods and hybrids come with them, and they do for a reason.  Most irons don’t, and they don’t for a reason.  

Where did this come from, you may wonder.  A few weeks ago I played golf with Alice Cooper and a couple guys in his band.  Alice is a Callaway Brand Ambassador, so whenever he travels to a city to do a gig, he reaches out to the local Callaway guy to set up golf for him.  Most of the time, that local guy gets a chance to play with him.  Sometimes I get the green light to bring a guy or two to join us.  (If you’re interested, let me know!!).  Anyway, I’m riding with one of the guys in the band and he has a driver, a couple FW Woods and a couple of hybrids in his bag.  No headcovers on anything.  These things looked like they had been dragged behind the tour bus for the entire tour.  Literally.  Cracks in the crown on all of them.  One FW Wood has a hole in the top of it.  He didn’t care – he wore it like a badge of honor.  He didn’t want a new one.  I guess if you’re a rock star you can play whatever you want.  Most people, if this happens will want (read demand/ expect) a replacement.  Defective they say.

The crowns on these clubs are made with a very light, very thin, and VERY fragile piece of carbon fiber.  The crown on the driver weighs less than 10 grams and is thinner than 1 millimeter.  Put in perspective, a dime weighs about 2.2 grams and is 1.5mm thick.  Bang it hard with an iron head and it will crack.  I see 20-25 of these every year.  This is not covered under warranty.  Sooner or later, cracked heads will be brought in and inspected before a warranty claim will be granted.  

Most people have a case for their cellular phone, but they don’t bother to use one for their $550 driver?  That makes sense…  Do you know how many drivers I see that are cracked on the body (not the face) that are in pristine condition?  If you guessed none, that’s a good guess.  The headcovers also extend down far enough to protect the graphite shaft from the iron heads banging into them.  Do you know how many drivers I see that have a cracked shaft within 2″ of the hosel that have a head in pristine shape?  If you guess not many, that’s also a good guess.  Cracks and other damage to wood style club heads comes almost exclusively from players not using headcovers.  I have 2 fleets of demo drivers in my fitting event rigs.  Each of these heads will see thousands of strikes.  I deleted 20,000 shots from my trackman from January (we have 2 of these plus a bunch of shots that are not hit on a machine).  These are iron shots and wood shots, but the point is, do you want to guess how many cracked heads I had this year?  Last year?  The year before that??  None would be a good guess.  We get a couple broken shafts each year, but none with graphite layers spreading apart.  I will guarantee you that most of my fitting clubheads get more use than a player who uses a driver 14 times per round, plays 100 rounds per year, and practices in between. If mine can withstand it, the heads can withstand thousands of strikes by a player on a golf ball.  The cracks come from abuse and neglect.  Headcovers WILL protect these clubs.  They come with one for a reason. 

So, what about irons?  How come they don’t come with headcovers?  These will store moisture.  Moisture plus steel equals rust.  If a player needs to use them, my suggestion would be to put them on when they are playing and remove them for storage.

Not using a headcover on your woods is just plain old lazy, and it will ruin your golf clubs.  We warranty woods with cracks on the head, or on the shaft.  In my opinion, 95% of these cracks occur due to laziness and neglect and shouldn’t be warranted.  The club comes with the cover to protect and prevent this from happening, if a player doesn’t chose to use it, the manufacturer shouldn’t have to provide a replacement at N/C.  This is not a defect if a headcover isn’t used.  

When you sell a new club, please instruct the player to use the headcovers.  If you see players riding around without headcovers on, please ask them to use their headcovers.  Yes, it may be uncomfortable to mention it, but it will be much, much less uncomfortable than telling him that you’ can’t warranty a driver that is 4 months old because he neglected and abused the club by not keeping it protected.  

Hope this helps. Until next time – happy fitting!!