Wood Bros "Texan" Driving Instrument Prototype

freddiec · January 5, 2011

Here is one of the rarest Persimmon drivers I've come across. This is one of about 10 Prototype drivers Dave Wood produced (in the early 1980s), later became the popular "Texan" driver. This still has the orig S500 shaft. Bob Tway was one of the 1st Tour Players to put a Texan in his bag. Bob's Texan evolved from this head shape. Dave Wood made about 10 protos, some more pear shape than others and only a few had "Texan" written on the crown. He also had "HUMBLE" stamped on a few of these models' inserts, including this one. Wood Bros was based out of Humble, Texas. Dave Wood decided not to have Texan on the crown when he went to full production. I'm also glad to say I didn't pay an Arm and a Leg for this. The insert has definitely seen better days, I'm going to have this one refinished this year and should look really nice.

Troon pro · January 5, 2011

Please keep us posted on the refinish..very, very nice club.

professor_doom · January 5, 2011

Wow, interesting shape. Almost reminds me of a Wilson driver.

ProForceX · January 6, 2011

Be careful who you hand that club over to for refinishing. My dad's uncle had a set of MacGregor Tourney blades PW-2i and the full set of 1,3,4, and 5 woods. He planned on having them refinished and after the refinish, giving them to my dad. Now, I know these aren't a really rare set by any standard, but still, with all original grips, shafts, shaft bands, and in relatively good shape? Down the road they could've been worth something, if not in money, but in the "cool factor" to grand kids or something of the like. Long story short, he dropped them off to be refinished and came back the next day and all but the 5 wood looked like the guy had taken a drill to it and filled the wholes with sawdust and wood glue. Such a sad situation, if the clubs were worth a little more, he said he would've sued, but the means didn't justify the end.

Moral, just be careful with something that special and make sure the guy knows what the hell he's doing.

Feedback · January 6, 2011

Great find Fred! Looks in a lot better shape than the proto Texan I own before I got it.Nice detail the Humble text on the insert.Make sure you post pictures once it is refinished!

putterho009 · January 6, 2011

great find!! keep us posted on the refiish!!!

Bella Woods · January 6, 2011

Nice club freddiec! It will look great after refinish. The insert doesn't look that bad to me from the pictures
(and obviously irreplaceable with the "Umble" stamping), just separated from the head a little?

You have quite the Wood Bros collection!

freddiec · January 6, 2011

Thanks Bella. Yeah, the black part of the insert has popped out a bit, (as well as a good part of it) specifically the area right above the writing of "HUMBLE". That small part of the insert almost seems like its come apart a little and its raised. I spoke to John about it and he's going to do what he can to save it. I don't think I'm going to replace it, eventhough John has some old Mac Fiber W/B/W M85 type inserts. I think John should be able to remove this insert and do some of his crafty magic to it, reset it, ect. We'll see, I'm really hoping. The club is a beauty, everything else about it, hosel, neck, ect are rock solid from what I can see. Stamps are great, should come out really nice I think. I'll keep everybody posted over the next 4 weeks or so.

persimmonpal · January 6, 2011

[quote name='freddiec' timestamp='1294319884' post='2878067']
Thanks Bella. Yeah, the black part of the insert has popped out a bit, (as well as a good part of it) specifically the area right above the writing of "HUMBLE". That small part of the insert almost seems like its come apart a little and its raised. I spoke to John about it and he's going to do what he can to save it. I don't think I'm going to replace it, eventhough John has some old Mac Fiber W/B/W M85 type inserts. I think John should be able to remove this insert and do some of his crafty magic to it, reset it, ect. We'll see, I'm really hoping. The club is a beauty, everything else about it, hosel, neck, ect are rock solid from what I can see. Stamps are great, should come out really nice I think. I'll keep everybody posted over the next 4 weeks or so.
[/quote]

Cant wait Fred! Obviously the way to go would be to save that insert.. I'll make it my mission!
The reset is a piece of cake.. just remove it, cean up the cavity, epoxy and clamp it. The tricky thing is that if that middle section has delaminated, and is starting to fray on the sides, that will make it a little trickier. We'll see though! I am jazzed to make this one like new.. The rarity and cool factor of this driver is definitely not lost on me, so this one will get LOTS of love..
See ya!