Sweet Wood Golf...If You Like Hickory, Have A Sample

There is something discordant about a company that makes wood-shafted golf clubs, yet has its own online channel. Yet, in an era when digital communication is a necessity, perhaps the discord fades within nanoseconds.

In a time when metal means most to many, Sweet Wood Golf hopes to take golf club purchasing on a 180-degree U-Turn toward feel and sensation. I sat down, laptop to laptop, with company President Kerim Antoine Kfuri, for a quick nine (questions, not holes) on all things Sweet Wood…

1.  How did you come to enter the golf industry?

ANSWER: Sweet Wood Golf Company was founded in 2006 by several golf 
enthusiasts, historians and collectors.

2.  What was the genesis for Sweetwood Golf?

ANSWER: In response to the oversaturation of the golf market with 
high-tech clubs, gadgets and paraphernalia which essentially takes 
the “golfer” out of the equation. The partners at Sweet Wood Golf 
Company decided to develop a luxury line of handmade clubs, leather 
goods and apparel which emphasized craftsmanship and high quality 
traditional components and materials. Thus restoring elements of 
traditional golf products in a very modern way and regenerating an 
interest in “FEEL BASED or SENSORY GOLF”.

The sensory experience and club/shaft responsiveness a golfer could 
expect by using hickory clubs with leather grips and forged steel 
heads is unparalleled with today’s high tech equipment. So the idea 
came about to try to take the best of both the traditional & the high 
tech and fuse them together to create modern/traditional equipment.


3.  Given the expected strength of all the metal clubs on the market, 
how do you eliminate a consumer's fear about the durability of 
Sweetwood Golf wooden instruments?

ANSWER: Even steel & graphite shafted clubs break today. We have 
demonstrated durability on our side in that there are millions of 
Hickory Shafted clubs & Leather bags/products from the early 1900’s 
that are still very useable today almost 100+ years later. This is 
because good craftsmanship and high quality materials create durable 
products. That is our philosophy and we are very passionate about it.

4.  What can you tell us about the wood that your company uses to 
make its products?

ANSWER: All of our shafts for our clubs are 100% Hickory Wood which 
originates from Tennessee or Maine. The shafts are cut with the grain 
to add strength and not from the Heart of the tree. The shafts are 
stained & treated with a 3 weeks water tested lacquer which is 
scratch resistant. As far as our exotic wood heads we use a variety 
of hardwood from all over the world. These include Bolivian Pau 
Ferro, West African Zebra-Wood, Rhodesian Teak, Brazilian Cherry and 
Birdseye Maple to name only a few…

5.  Do you envision your golfing instruments to be equipment, 
keepsakes, or perhaps both?

ANSWER: Probably our greatest compliment/insult we get is that our 
products are “too beautiful to play with” or use. Obviously we do 
make our clubs to be used on the links but we can’t stand in the 
way of folks who want to keep them as beautiful display pieces.

6.  You use the term "simplicity" to describe the art of the early 
clubmakers.  Can you elaborate on what this means, in contrast with 
today?

ANSWER: The early club makers, due to resource restrictions were only 
able to control certain aspects of the materials or primarily the 
organic components which went into the clubs they made. They did not 
have robotic swing arms, trajectory monitors, etc. So, performance 
was based upon how steel was shaped, wood was cut and leather was 
utilized. Very simple, very effective. Clubs were clubs…GOLFERS 
made the difference.

7.  You have quite a list of clients and we suspect that there are 
more that didn't make the "roll call" on your website.  What aspects 
of Sweetwood Golf bring your clients the greatest satisfaction?

ANSWER: The beauty of our products, their uniqueness, the overall 
high quality & materials and without a doubt our abilities to FULLY 
customize of products from the ground up. In this way we take a 
philosophy similar to the Kenneth Smith company who had the slogan 
“Handmade for You”. Thus, we maintain an impressive list of 
who’s who celebrities, corporations and organizations that is quite 
large for a company as small as we are.

8.  It is apparent that Sweetwood Golf's line of product fits nicely 
into the luxury item niche.  For the budget-minded traditionalist, is 
there a multiple-component package that might appeal?  (IF THIS 
QUESTION DOESN'T WORK, I WILL SUBMIT ANOTHER ONE.)

ANSWER: The Luxury Golf Niche is a NEW place & so the overall concept 
is not very apparent to golfers at large who mainly have the High 
Tech Blinders on. We feel our product not only fits nicely into the 
Luxury Golf Niche, but we feel as though we “Define It” in many 
ways. We always are willing to work with folks on special projects 
and the combination of several items (Putters, bags and Irons) for a 
good deal. As a smaller company who does not carry much inventory (as 
all is made-to-order) we have certain flexibilities that benefit our 
clients.

9.  What question haven't we asked, that no one has asked, that 
you've been dying to answer?

ANSWER: What does the Future hold for Sweet Wood Golf Company? 
Currently we are working on a Nationwide Initiative which includes an 
Exclusive “Preferred Vendor Program” for select Country 
Clubs/Resorts/Courses to carry our line. This will only be available 
to  3-5% of the market and will be very exclusive. As well, we are 
planning on producing a “Luxury Golf Tour” which will be a 
multi-day luxury experience for high net worth & celebrity clientele. 
It will be an all inclusive event with 5 Star Hotels & Restaurants, 
Luxury Seminars/Showcases and culminating in  a unique Modern 
Clubs/Hickory Club golf scramble. In short, Sweet Wood Golf 
Company’s goal is to push “Luxury Golf” out to the golf 
industry in our own creative way.