Southern California's No. 1 Golf Source
 |
SITE
SEARCH
GOLF RESOURCE GUIDE:
Par For The Course
|
||||
 Orange-based Craig Orr has repaired thousands of clubs over the years (PHOTO: Eddie Meeks). For most of the 20th century, American manufacturing was so good we didn’t throw things away, we fixed them. We rebuilt car engines. We reupholstered furniture. We refinished golf clubs. For the most part, things have changed — especially in golf. But not for Craig Orr, who has restored, rebuilt and refinished thousands of woods and irons over the past 40 years. “There isn’t anything I can’t do to a golf club,” said the master craftsman. Recently, I made the 65-mile trip from my home to Orr’s Custom Golf in Orange with a trunk full of golf clubs no one else would touch. One of them was my original 1984 Callaway Hickory Stick that needed whipping — that’s the monofilament thread you’ll see on old clubs tightly wrapped around the joint holding the clubhead to the shaft. These days, whipping is becoming a lost art — today, most repair shops use a plastic or metal cap they glue over the joint. Orr had my 26-year-old club whipped and re-gripped 10 minutes after walking into his shop. Orr’s Custom Golf has been a fixture in Orange for more than 40 years. Bill Orr, Craig’s father, started the business when he bought a small golf repair shop from a friend for $250. “At one point during the ’70s, we were refinishing 300 clubs a week,” Craig Orr reminisced as he studied my matched set of 1964 PowerBilt Citation woods, all made from the knot of a persimmon tree. The clubs only needed new grips but, Orr said, “When you’re ready to refinish these, I’ll make them look better than the day they came out.” With that kind of attention to detail, Orr’s reputation for quality work spread through the golf community. Customers over the years have included Jack Nicklaus, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Tom Kite and Tiger Woods — until he turned pro. Those players and others have trusted Orr with the tools of their trade. “ [Fourteen-time PGA Tour winner] Bruce Crampton told me, ‘Craig, you do the best club work I’ve ever seen.’ I’ll never forget that,” Orr recalled. Through the years, Orr Custom Golf has been in four locations, all in Orange and all within two miles of each other. Today you’ll find Orr’s shop at Super Sports Golf & Recreation Center. Orr still custom builds clubs. He said he’s enjoyed having his shop at a driving range for the first time because he can see ball flight and fit golfers better. Right now, Orr is refinishing a set of my metal woods. I also brought him a set of 1953 Walter Hagen Ultra irons. All but one of the clubs has the original leather grips — and leather can be conditioned. “Wait until you see these clubs when I get finished with them,” Orr said. I have a feeling that when Craig Orr finishes restoring my irons, there is nothing new I could buy that would equal the care and craftsmanship he’ll put into my nearly 60-year-old clubs. Why would I ever get rid of them? |
||||
RSS Subscribe