Custom Grinds
Performance in irons is determined by the shape of the sole, leading edge and the amount of bounce. The type of course you play, and the style of your game will determine the optimum grinds. For example, hard fairways with short grass require a sharp leading edge and less bounce to make consistent, solid contact.

We have a nice collection of "custom grinds" including a few that have belonged to Tour Professionals. The one consistent "touch up" that seems to be consistent among all the professionals is grinding a little off the leading edge, creating a small bounce even in relatively flat (or "digger") soles. That grind is combined with taking a little off of the bottom creating the impression of "getting closer to the ball" at address.

Many other grind options tend to be more cosmetic than functional. We have a few specific comments on custom grind options for you to consider.

Bounce
There are two extremes. Better players tend to prefer "sharp" leading edges. This comes from their need to "nip" shots from short grass. For many public course golfers, this is a foreign concept as they never get a chance to play "manicured" courses where grass in the fairway is cut short.

"Sharp" leading edges are sometimes called "digger soles" from their tendency to stick in the dirt if your swing path is too steep or your talent doesn't permit "picking" the ball from a tight lie.

If you play a very "hairy" course, you will need extra bounce in your irons.

Our favorite is a "digger shape with bounce". The digger shape gives the impression of getting closer to the ball at address, but a little bounce prevents a small mistake from becoming a "chunk". We tend to shy away from excessive bounce as we play municipal courses frequently that have hard spots. There's nothing worse that looking at a tight lie, maybe bare dirt, when you're holding a club with a lot of bounce. All you will think of is "skull!!"

Sole Radius and Camber
Radius is a gradual curve of the leading edge seen from the front. Camber is radius in the sole from front to back.

Many "player's" clubs from the past were designed with a very straight leading edge. Hogans were that way, MacGregors, particularly the 985's and "Customs" were that way. We don't like that feature for today. The straight leading edge is appropriate for a very soft golf course with good grass in the fairways, assuming you hit the fairways. A straight leading edge is not good out of the rough.

A little radius helps you get to the ball in tighter lies and is better on hard ground. When we remanufacture vintage blades, we frequently shape the front edge to create a little radius. All of our custom grinds come with a little radius. Too much radius is not desirable, as the club can easily become a "digger".

We also like camber. In the sets we've acquired from tour players we always find that the leading edge has been ground. Our preference is for a gradual grind, taking a little off of the leading edge and a little off of the trailing edge. This "rounded" shape is good off of tight fairways and also out of the rough. It cuts down on "drag" and reduces bounce.

Toe Shape
In the past, some players have liked a square toe shape, thinking that it helped them with alignment. We're not too crazy about square toes, not having grown up with them.

We recommend an "angled" toe to those who want the "look". However, our designs do not lend themselves to a very square toe shape. If you like that, we should find you a set of 985's and let us remanufacture them. Or, if you really want square toes, find a set of "Champagne Tony" models from the 60's. He's still the only guy who won the British Open on his first try. Square toes must not be all bad.

Topline
There was a day when we thought every good player wanted a "thin" topline. Then, Darren Clark came out in one of the golf publications and said he liked a "thick" topline.

Topline is a cosmetic feature. You can have thick or thin but as far as we can tell, it has nothing to do with how your clubs are going to play. We think we prefer "thin" - (but then we're from California).

Maltby's Playability Factor
Ralph Maltby is the reigning guru of golf club design. He literally wrote the book on the clubmaking and repair and is now adding to his legend by inventing a way to measure the "playability" of irons. We recommend contacting the Golfworks and requesting a catalog that describes the methodology behind determining the "playability" of golf clubs.

In a nutshell, the Playability Factor measures the vertical center of gravity, the horizontal center of gravity, the front to rear center of gravity and the moment of inertia. A formula and a calculation ensue that basically says that the vertical center of gravity of a club needs to be at or below the center line of a golf ball, the horizontal center of gravity needs to be at or outside the midpoint of the clubface, the front to back center of gravity needs to be rearward and the moment of inertia needs to be greater. Swirl them all together, hit the "calculate" button and you have a way to measure relative differences among various club heads. As you might guess, Maltby's designs come out to be very playable. He also pays homage to Callaway as an engineering leader.

The conclusion we draw from Maltby's playability factor is that they have two club heads that you could consider. One is the Logic Pro Forged, which looks a lot like our "USA Forged" model. Maltby's calculations say that his forged cavity back blade is in the "super game improvement" class. We've tried both his and our "USA Forged" and can discuss the pros and cons, but the interesting conclusion is that a forged, cavity back blade can be a "super game improvement" club. We are Maltby dealers and if you want to try a comparison for yourself, we can arrange that.

The other possibility with Maltby is to think about the next category up, which is the "extreme game improvement" category. He has designed a set of irons that is, to be polite, radical in design. They are called the "Outburst" irons. If you want to try the clubs his formulas say are the easiest to hit, we can arrange that as well.