Lately I have had individuals asking me what the benefits are, if any, to a bore-through wood head.  They are not the only individuals interested.  Callaway had pretty much claimed bore-through as their idea, and only theirs.  That was until Titleist began selling a bore-through wood head.  Prior to Titleist, Callaway had sued every one successfully. No one dared to produce a bore-through club head or Callaway sued.  Well, Titleist fought back.  Callaway’s claim was not that they invented bore-through.  They said it was a trade dress violation.  The reason being individuals would think it was a Callaway club if it had a bore-through head.  Now Golfsmith also is selling bore-through wood heads.

A bore-through head is simply a head where the shaft goes all the way through the head and out the sole.  The idea of a bore-through head is not a new concept.  Many of the Persimmon woods in the 30’s through the 60’s were bore through.  Some irons were also bore-through.  I have a hickory shafted iron made here in Minneapolis by Willie Watson, in the 20’s which has a bore-through head.  In his book, The Clubmaker’s Art, Jeffrey Ellis found what was one of the first bore-through patents.  It was a British patent given to Robert Anderson in 1891.  So, bore-through heads have been around for over a hundred years.

With persimmon woods, or wood woods, the benefit of a bore-through shaft was that a screw could be placed in the end of the shaft spreading a wooden insert.  This would hold the shaft tighter in the head.  The epoxies back then were not near as good as today’s, and heads could come loose much easier.  With today’s epoxies, the bore-through design is no longer necessary to hold the head on the shaft.  Still many individuals think a club plays better with the shaft going through the head and sole.

What are the benefits of a modern bore-through head?  To be honest, next to none.  Tom Wishon at Golfsmith did a study where he used identical heads, except one was a bore-through and the other was a standard steel head bore.  More than 60 name-brand shafts were used with both heads.  Tom and his staff found “No discernable differences in distance, accuracy, or playability.”

In addition to being bore-through, Callaway’s head is made without a hosel. The amount of weight or mass used to make the hosel can be moved into the head and place in other locations.  What is the effect?  There is virtually none.  We do see shafts on club heads without hosels break more often than shafts on club heads with hosels.  The hosel is a support mechanism for the shaft and without it clubs tend to break more often at the top of the head.

It was also found in the Golfsmith study that bore-through heads feel harsher than a standard bore head.  This can be eliminated with the proper shaft being placed in the club.