Quote:
Originally Posted by pwgolfpro
Larry,
I think we have had this discussion in the past.
The Iron Byron is still used by some of the club manufacturers. I have pictures of the one at Golf Smith, as well as the 2 side by side at the Wilson facility. Last year, I visited the Titleist TPI center and they had 2 machines side by side. One was the Golf Labs machine and the other was the actual Iron Byron. They had Iron Byron hitting shots testing golf balls the day I was there. I asked them if they used the Golf Labs machine and they said they did not because they can depend on the results they get from Iron Byron.
MacGregor has an actual Iron Byron because we were talking to them about doing our video shoot there. Nike has a Golf Labs machine because we talked to Tom Stites about it. Taylor Made has a Golf Labs machine which I have video of and I think Callaway has both of the machines but I am not sure because I never made it to that facility.
So, they do in fact use Iron Byron to still test golf clubs.
Paul Wilson
Creator - Swing Machine Golf
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I was unaware of that, of course. The details of golf club or ball testing is a pretty esoteric subject, even to golf pros.
Out of curiosity I will ask Gene Parente, owner of Golf Labs and the engineer who developed the servo powered swing machines. I will see him next week when Golf Labs does a 10-amateur "before and after" product evaluation on our new RUlate golf swing training aid.
When I visited their facility a few years ago, talked to Gene then, I certainly got the impression the industry had abandoned the old air machines because the new electric servo motor version could produce programmable and extremely reliable results-- and a printout that means something to manufacturers. ANd those old machines were HEAVY and expensive, in the $30K range. I can understand why an owner might want to hang on for a while.
Larry