My Boyd Blade&Ferrule Hand Ground by Don White Project (In-Hand Pics Added)

[HoganHO]

This all started with an innocent order of 2 Don White wedges through Sugarloaf Social Club and quickly turned in to a full-on project. After my first email exchange (we've now had over 90!) with Patrick Boyd about the wedges, I knew this was something special and decided to work on some irons as well as the wedges. It has been said many times before, but working with Patrick is incredible--he answers every question and concern--not one detail is left to chance. We started with many questions about my divot patterns, course conditions I generally play, my misses and tendencies. I tend to get steep when I'm off, or out of sync--a digger essentially--and so the wedges and irons are being ground to help mitigate that. Interestingly, the new course at my club has VERY tight green surrounds and sand on the firmer side and so we still needed to get the clubs so I could open them up whilst being able to keep the leading edge close to the turf/sand.

 

I also really wanted to begin to carry less irons/wedges overall and so we got my current set of 9 down to 6. I definitely took some cues from FairwayFred (Thanks!) and went with the completely hand-ground shape based on the Mizuno MP-5. I wanted a more square toe shape, straight toplines (similar to some of the clubs Pure745 had made by Scratch and Don White back in the day). I also wanted to get away from both conventional numbers on the clubs and/or lofts stamped on the clubs in order to get more focused on distance control as opposed to just "hitting a 7 iron".

 

I'll get more in to the nitty gritty about the specs and build in a subsequent post but here are the lofts and stamping that will designate that specific club:

 

28* (LI for long iron)

34* (MI for Mid Iron)

41* (SI for Short Iron)

48* (E for Equalizer--I'm a huge Hogan fan)

55* (W1)

59* (W2)

 

Now, for the best part which are the pics Patric sent me of one of the heads fresh off of Mr. Don White's grind wheel! These are raw--ground from a Japanese flatback (I'll try to get a pic of the raw head on here). Patrick is going to tumble these raw heads and paintfill 'em (I'll keep the thread updated with more pics as they come in). I'm going to keep them raw.

 

 

 

 

[HoganHO]

Here is the raw Japanese Flatback that Don White worked with

 

[PeanutsDaddy]

Shwing!!!!

[HoganHO]

Pre-tumble shots

 

 

 

 

 

 

59 degree

 

 

28 degree

 

[bladehunter]

Goodness. Love it all. The wedges are amazing !

[kaaayelll]

Address pic, pretty please!!

[HoganHO]

Address pic, pretty please!!

 

That's all I got for now! More to come.

[kaaayelll]

Haha, beat me to it!

[jonn443]

That last one is a butterknife... Holy no offset.

 

Beautiful heads though... kind of Pingish with the pointed toe no? A beautiful blend of Ping and Mizuno Muscle.

[HoganHO]

That last one is a butterknife... Holy no offset.

 

Beautiful heads though... kind of Pingish with the pointed toe no? A beautiful blend of Ping and Mizuno Muscle.

 

Right on with your thoughts--I always loved classic ping clubs and have loved mizuno as well.

 

There is a touch of offset believe it or not.

[doublepar93]

Those are sweet looking. Like the minimalistic idea as well!

[jokerusn]

Wow... I'm speechless. Just wow.

[kcsf]

Aw man, why'd you have to post those?????

 

Let's see, I have $$ in paypal....I can sell off my blades.....I have an extra kidney....

[gioguy21]

oh sweet baby jesus in a tuxedo onesie.

[HoganHO]

Decided to go un-tumbled for now, and will keep the irresistible raw-satin finish as seen in the pics. Patrick is doing some seafoam paintfill as we speak and I'll have some more pics to share.

 

Then the heads are off to Will Peoples to do the build before these puppies journey to the West Coast.

[PowderedToastMan]

You either have gigantic hands, or I'm guessing a golf ball would look like the size of a beach ball next to those blades.

[HoganHO]

Haha. Those are the hands of Patrick Boyd--not mine!

[kekoa]

So cool to see DW come out of retirement and work with Patrick.

 

Congrats on that set. They look amazing.

[HoganHO]

So cool to see DW come out of retirement and work with Patrick.

 

Congrats on that set. They look amazing.

 

Yes, I figured who knows when DW goes in to retirement for real--better get mine now.

 

For this reason I got 2 of each wedge (W1 and W2) made and I also had a second MI (34 degree) made that will be my primary iron for range practice. Figure this will help extend the life of this set.

[Pure745]

Damnit.. Don White is a magician! Congrats.. such an awesome set!

[HoganHO]

Damnit.. Don White is a magician! Congrats.. such an awesome set!

 

 

 

Tai, truth be told our paths crossed on the course about 8 years ago now. I hit a shot with one of your Scratch DW clubs and I've never forgotten the feel!! Seriously.

I'll PM you to remind you of the details...

[84425]

So cool to see DW come out of retirement and work with Patrick.

 

Congrats on that set. They look amazing.

 

Yes, I figured who knows when DW goes in to retirement for real--better get mine now.

 

For this reason I got 2 of each wedge (W1 and W2) made and I also had a second MI (34 degree) made that will be my primary iron for range practice. Figure this will help extend the life of this set.

Smart thinking!

[Santiago Golf]

I want this set in Lefty!!!!

[HoganHO]

Paintfill and Ferrule Pics before they are shipped off for the build. I'm really happy with how the Seafoam turned out--really subtle such that the raw satin still is at the forefront, but the right splashbof color for me.

 

 

 

 

[padget]

Those look awesome! Like the paintfill color, it does flow with the finish nicely. I am guessing they will rust with the raw finish? I don't think I could handle rust on a set like this lol.

[HoganHO]

Those look awesome! Like the paintfill color, it does flow with the finish nicely. I am guessing they will rust with the raw finish? I don't think I could handle rust on a set like this lol.

 

Yep, they will rust. Discussed with Patrick that by using Eexox and some 0000 steel wool about once a month the rust will blend and form a nice patina--I'm looking forward to that.

[kekoa]

So cool to see DW come out of retirement and work with Patrick.

 

Congrats on that set. They look amazing.

 

Yes, I figured who knows when DW goes in to retirement for real--better get mine now.

 

For this reason I got 2 of each wedge (W1 and W2) made and I also had a second MI (34 degree) made that will be my primary iron for range practice. Figure this will help extend the life of this set.

 

Thinking back, I should have ordered a few extra wedges too. I think mine are about 10 years old now. Beat to hell, but they still work and I can't find any other wedge with the same shape.

[SubaruWRX]

Diggin the wedges with the high toe. Very Callaway PM like.

 

Slick set you got there!

[HoganHO]

Diggin the wedges with the high toe. Very Callaway PM like.

 

Slick set you got there!

 

Which is to say, very Ping eye-2 like!

 

Thanks

[84425]

Thinking back, I should have ordered a few extra wedges too. I think mine are about 10 years old now. Beat to hell, but they still work and I can't find any other wedge with the same shape.

Having read most threads on Don White's work I think it is safe to say that you can give Patrick a call and ask for a wedge with the exact same specs as your old wedge and Don will be able to make it (probably still has all the design details for your clubs archived somewhere).