Genius At Work: Swingers

Custom clubs just might take you to the next level. They'll cut down on excuses, anyway.

-  Robin Swithinbank

Even to the most robotic of players, golf is about feel. Mashies and niblicks, those clubs of yore, might feel like Iron Age artefacts in the hand now, but since the sport's early days, club makers have sought to give players tools that send clear signals from their fingertips to their brains and make them better golfers.

One of those driving club design and manufacturing forward is Parsons Xtreme Golf, known as PXG, an Arizona-based company set up in 2013 by the colourful GoDaddy founder, billionaire and golf fanatic Bob Parsons. The brand makes precision-engineered clubs to order.

Parsons' vision, backed up by former tour professional and expert club designer Mike Nicolette and former Ping director of engineering Brad Schweigert, is to make "clubs without compromise" using computer-aided design (CAD) drawings, 3D printing and laser-guided milling. Not only would this mean players get a full set of clubs tailored to the idiosyncrasies of their game, but they could also get them reproduced to the same tolerances and finishes if their clubs were lost, stolen or simply wore out. Tourlevel professionals hit thousands of balls every month, hammering their wedges in particular as they hone control and distance. Some, according to PXG, replace them every month, having worn down the grooves that deliver so much of that all-important feel.