Evolution of the Golf Club

Since the 16th century, the golf club has endured a steady state of evolution. However, due to costly development, the advancement of the golf club has been rather stagnant and has limited manufacturers’ production to only a few new designs per year. Luckily, we’re in a day and age where 3D printing has and continues to revolutionize the world of “making” and manufacturing. 3D metal printing has allowed us to manufacture complex and customizable products quicker than ever imaginable while allowing us to not worry about the costs of prototyping. With 3D metal printing, designers can experiment with factors such as depth, weight, shape and so on, thereby creating a golf club that is individualized to the user – and that is a hole in one!

Golf Club Design 

The golf club is a multi-dimensional piece of equipment with a complex set of variables that must work in tandem to create the perfect design. From the shape and depth of the cavity to the club angle and bounce angle, a designer must analyze every facet multiple times to produce an optimal configuration. Without 3D metal printing, the traditional prototyping process would cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars and would result in possibly one usable design. Today the possibilities are almost limitless- designers are able to create faster, and more cost-effective than ever before- with 3D metal printing we can develop tens or even hundreds of designs for a single club.

Golf Clubs & 3D Printing 

A Golf Club That is Perfect For You- Customization 

Whether a golfer plays on the weekends for leisure or deems themselves the next Roy Mcllory, everyone is looking to invest in the perfect club that will optimize their swing- the key to this is customization. The Studio System is now allowing us to customize designs to levels that we never thought possible. Through 3D printing, designers are able to quickly print parts as they are needed; an advancement that was never possible through traditional tooling. Today, a golfer is able to analyze their needs and then work together with a designer to develop customized parts that will best suit their body and performance- a player can then fine-tune the design to ensure their success on the course. Once all the clubs’ variables and dimensions are optimized for that individual player, it can be printed in a matter of days. Because of 3D printing, we have entered an era that is allowing us to revolutionize product customization that would have been far too costly in the past- now anyone can play like a pro!

3D Metal Printing- The Future of Making 

The golf club has come a long way from being forged from wood and metal in the 16th century. Today, 3D printing has allowed us to move away from the generic production of goods, towards highly customizable and efficiently produced products that are individualized to the consumer. The golf club has already gone through a great evolution, but with 3D metal printing, the future possibilities of design and manufacturing are endless. We can expect to see golf clubs with internal light weighting, organic generative design, and selective mass placements to tune clubs to perform better. Additive manufacturing systems like the Desktop Metal Production System allows for cost-competitive, high-volume rapid prototyping that will change the way the golf club is envisioned. There is no doubt that these newly designed additive golf clubs mark just the beginnings of the way that 3D metal printing has, and continues to shape the way things are made.

Cost Comparison

When comparing the costs associated with product development, 3D printing a golf club with Desktop Metal’s Bound Metal Deposition Technology reduces cost-per-part by about 94% when compared to traditional CNC manufacturing methods and Power Bed Fusion processes.

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