RECENT DONATION – Elof Hansen irons.
Recently the Museum received a set of irons that created this research project. The irons included 4 – PW marked Elof Hansen cavity back Real Magic probably made in the late 1980’s or early 1990’s. The shaft triggered the research project. The club has a “New Super Boron” shaft. The question is: When was the first boron shaft produced? In April 2016 we produced an article on the first graphite shaft.
As we discovered in the graphite story in the late 1960’s and 1970’s manufacturers began to investigate how the new space age materials could be used in every day products. Shakespeare gave Frank Thomas the task to use these new materials to develop a new fishing rod and golf shaft. Thomas produced the first graphite golf shaft in 1968. It is logical the golf industry shared common requirements with the space industry namely weight, strength, and durability. After graphite was found to produce lightweight golf shafts boron became the next material to come under scrutiny.
Boron is a chemical element found on the periodic table that is made from borax and kernite. Boron was first discovered in the 1960’s when the space industry required lightweight products that were much stronger than steel. Boron is five times stronger than steel and lighter than aluminium. It was first used to strengthen and stiffen the vertical and horizontal stabilizers on jet aircraft and latter on the space shuttle. Mike Dorf, Textron Specialty Materials produced the first boron suitable for use in making golf shafts. “By incorporating boron into the shaft the integrity of the shaft is strengthened so that it resists breakage but also twisting.” Even though graphite was very expensive boron was EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE.
In 1984 HONMA, a Japanese golf club manufacturer produced a driver with a boron shaft. Boron had several advantages over graphite. The shaft was stronger and “ the shaft’s kick point could be positioned specifically by adjusting the location of the fibers in the shaft. The main disadvantage of the early boron shafts was the cost and the shaft was too stiff. The added strength of the boron enabled the shaft to be constructed over length. In 1990 Kelly Murray used a Homna over length driver to set the world’s long drive record.
Other Japanese manufacturers such as Yonex and Yamaha followed Honma in the mid 1980’s to produce woods with boron shafts. In 1988 and 1989 Wilson added boron shafts to their list of shaft options. Because of the cost of the shafts the boron-shafted clubs were only a special order item. Cobra and Callaway soon followed Wilson with the boron shaft option.
To reduce the cost of the boron shafts for clubs in the 1990’s manufacturers began looking at composite shafts with a graphite and boron combination. The boron added the strength to graphite. “The beauty of the boron was that it added strength without adding weight” Manufacturers soon discovered the graphite/boron enabled the shafts to be manufactured over length. This was a common requirement for senior golfers during this period.
Sandvik Titanium introduced his Ti-shaft to the market in the early 1990’s. Titanium became the third space age material to come under scrutiny by golf manufacturers. Other than just shafts manufactures experimented with titanium for club heads. Titanium shafts were flexible, strong, and durable. Proponents claimed the shaft eliminated vibration. Because titanium is lighter than steel but very strong, the weight saved over steel heads could be positioned near the clubface in a titanium club head.