Golf Care golf insurance.

I snapped my driver shaft a fortnight ago, a rare roddio pentacross driver shaft and was quoted £360 for a replacement. A lot of money for a shaft granted but it has made a world of difference to my game.

Well anyway, I snapped it when my tour bag fell over at the car and the driver headcover landed against a wall.

Golf care did not hesitate to provide me with a cheque for £310 (360 - fifty quid excess) which I thought would have been a problem as it was a shaft that was imported from Japan. Well I had a replacement souced and when I presented Golf Care with an invoice for the shaft they paid up without fuss.

I said I would mention Golf Care to my friends because if truth be told I thought they were going to be awkward about paying up as it is an exotic shaft that is hard to get hold of. Best shaft i have ever played, second best is oban devotion, third is UST ATTAS t2.

The policy was about 35 quid and it has covered me for two trips to portugal this year so I recommend it to my friends on this board.

Fair play....obvious question....did it cover your hole in 1 bar bill too??

For general info and possibly comments.

Have been sent a mailshot which pointed me here:

http://www.thegolfersclub.co.uk/dge033.aspx

The stuff thrown in makes it sound like a no-brainer at first glance - although I suppose it depends on individuals' circumstances as to whether they can make use of the 5 free rounds / Greenfree 2-for-1 vouchers. [Are there restrictions on tee times perhaps? Don't know.]

Offer is only open for a few days it seems.

Seriously thinking about getting some insurance after an old boy at our place had his nose broken in 3 places, glasses smashed (lucky not to lose an eye!). Made all the worse by pushing my trolley through the big pool of blood by the 18th tee....

Nice to know Im Tarkas friend.
Our golf subs include basic insurance third party etc but that sounds pretty good.

Are you entitled to a free drop from a pool of blood?

Would have thought it could be classed as casual water(by the augusta committee)however nearest point no nearer blah blah blah .You would be able to move the broken glass

A £360 shaft Does it really make that much of a difference Tarka? You must be a pretty high standard to notice such differences. Hope they gave you a free towel with it, very least they could do i'd have thought

lorus59 wrote:Are you entitled to a free drop from a pool of blood?

Ask Tiger, he knows all the Rules.

Does the policy include cover for the accidental soiling of shorts Tarka?

barragan wrote:A £360 shaft Does it really make that much of a difference Tarka? You must be a pretty high standard to notice such differences. Hope they gave you a free towel with it, very least they could do i'd have thought

[code]

I am very much interested in Japanese culture and also the Japanese golf culture. I consider amongst others the craftsmanship to be the finest and the clubs to be of a superior quality. Things are more expensive if they are made in a developed country where workers are paid a decent wage, that is a fact of life. Japanese tend to buy the best that they can afford and I suppose there is a degree of getting one over your friends and keeping up with the Jones's. Regarding my standard I am a 16h/c so these clubs, shafts etc are probably above my standard but it is what i like, what I am interested in and I like having something different to anybody else. I would by a second hand shaft for say £100 and a head for £200 and that together would be the cost of a new TM R1.

The problem I have with these mass produced shafts is the tolerances that they are made to and they are not the real deal compared with an aftermarket shaft. They are also manufactured in china and Bangladesh by workers in poor conditions. I don't mean to pontificate but I would rather pay money for something that has been made by a craftsman who takes pride in his work than a copy of something I have seen on TV but a guy who is paid a bundle for endorsing it. I like the graphics on these exotic shafts and the fact that nobody really knows what they are. On saying that I recieved three shafts this week, quadra fire express that are $595 each new (I paid a hundred quid a piece. The 75g and 65g fairway woods are something else but I am not liking the 55g driver shaft in a i15 head, may well just be the head but it is not suiting me so far). Before I had my driver made up with Roddio pentacross shaft I never hit a driver for six months as it was a wild slice but now carry it about 240-250 usually down the middle which suits me.

Regarding the towel my bowels have been in good order of late and I was saddened to see the schitty towel gone as the course is being prepared for county week

That's an interesting point about craftsmanship tarka. I can see how that would apply particularly to club head production but admit I've no idea how shafts are manufactured. Seems the real craft would be in the design rather than production where it comes to shafts would it not? Maybe this is what you're getting at though?!

barragan wrote:That's an interesting point about craftsmanship tarka. I can see how that would apply particularly to club head production but admit I've no idea how shafts are manufactured. Seems the real craft would be in the design rather than production where it comes to shafts would it not? Maybe this is what you're getting at though?!

YouTube videos are available from inside "crazy" an ultra high end boutique golf manufacturer in Japan. They buy the graphite from quadra composite and this stuff is the finest quality 80t graphite sheets in the world. These graphite sheets are hand worked by technicians that are responsible for their process so it is the same as making anything if you are an Artisan. You can't make the worlds finest steak dinner with a packet of crisps and a tin of corned beef. Especially not those scottish highlander brand crisps from my youth as there was never a whole crisp in the bag. Anyway, I digress, a club head, a shirt, a loaf of bread or a blade these guys are the best at their game. A lot of the shaft technology is in the weave of the carbon and the technical design of the shaft eg kick point weight etc. I am not really interested in the technical side and don't profess to know very much about shaft manufacture but would trust the opinion of people to review these poducts as they do not have a vested interest in if the product is well received or not. I mean I have stopped buying uk golf magazines as every product gets a 4 star rating at least. I mean what is objective about that? The only downside in Japanese domestic market gear (JDM) is that there is little opportunity for me to try before I buy. It would be a lie to say that everything I have ever bought has improved my game but conversely I have enjoyed owning it and very seldom lost much money on a punt.

Thanks for the insight tarka, interesting reading. Investing in craftsmanship is a dying pursuit. As a designer myself, it saddens me to see the lack of trust, ambition and enjoyment people have for the exploration of new ideas and possibilities. I guess it is symptomatic of the time in which we reside. The mystery this world had has departed.

Highlanders were pretty disappointing. Weren't they all crinkle cut?!

barragan wrote:Highlanders were pretty disappointing. Weren't they all crinkle cut?!

the crisps were rubbish - like shards of slightly potatoish acrylic - would cut your mouth to hell. Almost as bad as those Kettle Chips which are like chewing on iron filings. Can't beat Seabrook. As an aside I think Highlander were the purveyors of the foil lined bag, may be wrong; I don't like crisps anyway