characteristics unique to each manufacturer, the basic principle of the component can be traced back to a small factory in Ohio that started it all.

The concept of the rubber grip was originated by Thomas Fawick, a Cleveland, Ohio industrialist who also invented the pneumatic clutch and brake and was an accomplished violinist. In the late 1940s, Fawick “conceived” the idea of the slip-on grip while watching lab experiments on condoms. He theorized if a grip could be rolled onto a steel shaft, well you know… it would greatly reduce the expense and effort required to put a grip on a golf club, which was done almost exclusively with leather at the time. Fawick’s original plan was to have a core bar dipped into liquid rubber, as condoms were with latex. That idea would be eventually abandoned. However, through trial and error experimentations the grip would have to be molded from a more sturdy rubber compound to stand up to the rigors of the golf swing.