Harold Varner III made eight birdies in a bogey-free round of 63 to take a one-shot lead at the RBC Heritage on Saturday.
That certainly used to be the case. But like Bob Dylan said, “The times, they are a-changin’”. Composite materials are lighter than steel and therefore represented the best option to build lighter, more flexible shafts. To date, plenty of golfers can benefit from iron shafts that weigh less than 60 grams and that’s still the primary use case for graphite iron shafts.
Golfers with slower swing speeds can benefit from lighter shafts than help them swing faster which creates higher launch, more ball speed, and ultimately more distance. But, because graphite shafts only served the needs of a particular set of golfers, it got a reputation. And that history is a good bit of why better/faster golfers often carry a stigma against graphite iron shafts.
But that history, is well, history. Fujikura, Mitsubishi, Aerotech Steelfiber and LA Golf are several manufactures that produce graphite iron shafts that are played around the world by some of the strongest, fastest players in the game (See: Bryson DeChambeau)
So, no. Graphite isn’t only for slower swing speed players. The options aren’t as plentiful as steel, particularly in heavier weights (120gr+) but that’s slowly changing as well
2. Why do graphite shafts cost so much more?
Short answer, that’s not always the case. Longer answer – but it generally does.
If it were a Venn Diagram with one circle representing the cost of steel shafts and the other graphite shafts, there’d still be some amount of overlap. Most steel shafts on the market fall in the $30-$60/shaft range (uninstalled). Comparatively, graphite iron shafts start around $50 and go up from there. LA Golf’s graphite iron shafts all sit slightly north of $100 per shaft.
Why does graphite cost more? The quick answer is that graphite shafts cost more because they’re more expensive to produce and use higher cost materials. The other element is supply and demand. With relatively few choices in the market, scarcity helps support higher prices. Should that equation change and we start to see additional options, that could start to bring prices down a bit.
3. Will a tour player ever use graphite iron shafts? Why haven’t we seen it much?
Yep, and we’ve already seen it.
Brandt Snedeker and Matt Kuchar have both routinely used Aerotech SteelFiber shafts in their irons throughout their careers. And keep in mind, these aren’t two fringe players struggling to keep a PGA Tour Card. Kuchar has 9 PGA Tour wins, 3 international wins and over $54 million in on-course earnings. Likewise, Snedeker won the FedEx Cup in 2012 and also has 9 PGA Tour victories. More recently, players like Abe Ancer (Mitsubishi MMT) and Bryson DeChambeau (LA Golf) have switched to graphite iron shafts.
And if we’re willing to look beyond the PGA Tour, you’ll see plenty of LPGA Tour players with graphite iron shafts.
I think the reason we haven’t seen more graphite iron shafts, specifically on the PGA Tour is for two reasons. First, is a lack of clear benefit. That might sound harsh, but there isn’t any wide-scale evidence that shows PGA Tour players are struggling to perform with existing steel shafts. Moreover, if we look back at momentous changes in golf equipment that resulted in relatively fast and near universal adoption (solid core golf balls, graphite wood shafts), the performance implications were obvious and undeniable. That isn’t the case right now with graphite iron shafts.
The second reason isn’t as impactful, but it’s a factor nonetheless. With graphite iron shafts, players have to consider and assess the impact to at least 50% of the clubs in his/her bag. That takes a lot of time and testing. The only real opportunity players have to do this is during the off-season, which is when players are also looking to spend time with family, travel and rest. This gets us right back to “if it ain’t broke….” and round and round we go.
Hyo Joo Kim rallied with two late birdies for an even-par 72 to maintain a three-stroke lead Friday in the LPGA Tour's LOTTE Championship.
FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay birdied the final four holes Friday for a 4-under 67 and took a two-stroke lead over Robert Streb halfway through the RBC Heritage.
Golfer Morgan Hoffmann, who was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in 2017 and hasn't participated in a PGA Tour event since 2019, has missed the cut at the RBC Heritage. "I definitely wanted to prove to myself that I could do it again," he said.
The Australian golfing great died at aged 72 due to health complications.
Adrian Proszenko and Sam Phillips filed the Sydney Morning Herald’s tribute.
Newton’s Australian Open victory was one of three triumphs on the Australian tour – he also won once on the PGA Tour and was a three-time winner on the European Tour. Having turned professional in 1971 and won the Dutch Open the following year, the Cessnock-born Newton’s stellar career went on to include runner-up finishes at the British Open in 1975 and the US Masters in 1980.
“I always felt that if I came into a major with some good form, then I could be dangerous,” Newton said of his career. “That’s the way I played golf. Once I got my tail up I wasn’t afraid of anybody.”
Edel Golf just announced the addition of the 1.5 model to their EAS (Edel Alignment System) putter line.
Granted, I find significance in every putter release but you may be wondering why this new Edel EAS 1.5 merits your attention. I hope to sate your wonder by exploring it from a couple of perspectives.
First, its appearance gives us the opportunity to become reacquainted with the Edel EAS putter line and Edel putter fittings. Second, we shall dive into how this new 1.5 model fits relative to the existing the line-up. I’d say it kind of fits with its kin. In fact, this putter disturbs the production paradigm of the other EAS putters. Let us start the Edel education and metal machinations forthwith.
.truegolffit-banner-inner-right { padding-top: calc(574/1020 * (100% - 430px)); } @media screen and (max-width: 991px) { .truegolffit-banner-inner-right { padding-top: calc(574/1020 * 100%); width: 100%; } }Unbiased. No Guesswork. All Major Brands. Matched To Your Swing. Advanced Golf Analytics matches the perfect clubs to your exact swing using connected data and machine learning.
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Ever wanted to be a part of the data MyGolfSpy collects over the course of the season? Welcome to Testers Wanted, where we recruit readers like you for objective feedback on products that roll into HQ throughout the year!
Ten years ago, Japanese shaft manufacturer Nippon debuted the N.S. PRO MODUS line of golf shafts. Now, with the addition of MODUS Tour 115, the resumé is starting to feel more complete.
According to Nippon, N.S. PRO MODUS Tour shafts are designed to address the exacting requirements of elite professional and competitive amateur golfers.
With that, MODUS Tour 115 is the fifth (and perhaps final) model in the MODUS family of shafts.
That said, we need testers like you to assess, and report back to us here at MyGolfSpy!
The COBRA KING Forged TEC iron family now includes two models.The standard Forged TEC slants towards the better player.Forged TEC X is suitable for 10 to 20 handicaps.Retail price is $1,199. Available April 29.
The new KING Forged TEC and Forged TEC X are the best COBRA irons ever.
I originally had an expletive in that sentence but I took it out because not everyone appreciates my potty mouth. Point is, they’re really f$*king good. Full transparency: That’s my opinion. I don’t have any data—at least none beyond what COBRA provided—to back that up but, after a plus or minus decade-long streak of being pretty meh on COBRA irons, I’m anything but. And that’s exciting.
Seriously. I’m juiced.
If you’re unfamiliar with KING Forged TEC, it’s COBRA’s every two-years-or-so entry in the player’s distance category. With the previous generation, COBRA made the jump to hollow-body construction to compete more directly with P790s of the world. The plan was fundamentally good but the feel was just OK and, cosmetically, as Tiger Woods said in a recent post-round interview, “Well …”.
Hyo Joo Kim took a three-shot lead after her second round of 67 on Thursday at the Lotte Championship in Hawaii.
Australian golfing great Jack Newton, who has died aged 72, is being hailed as a trailblazer and fearless competitor who leaves a lasting legacy on his sport.
Cameron Young shot an 8-under 63 on Thursday to take the first-round lead in his RBC Heritage debut.
After Thursday's wrist surgery, Bryson DeChambeau said he looks "forward to competing at the highest level within the next two months."
Before coming to Augusta, Mackenzie designed two courses in California, Pasatiempo and Cypress Point. I have never seen Pasatiempo, but I have played Cypress Point many times. It is a good example of Mackenzie’s ability to recognize nature’s beauty and to retain it. I doubt that he thought of himself as such, but he was truly an artist. And he had seemingly unlimited ability to create original types of golf holes, especially the greens. One of the greatest features of the Augusta National is that each hole bears no resemblance whatever to any other on the course. CLIFFORD ROBERTS
Just another week in the messy disruption effort by the Living Brand.
According to The Telegraph’s James Corrigan, four players of note have committed to the first LIV Golf event in London, including a "two-time major winner” that’s “in talks” with the group. Details have not been confirmed but Corrigan says the names are thought to “include Bubba Watson, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Kevin Na."
Soon after, Watson randomly shared his schedule this week on Twitter for those looking to make summer plans. It did not include any Saudi events, suggesting Watson was refuting the story.
Corrigan quotes Norman as saying the Saudi-backed “League” is going forward with full purses no matter who shows up and hopes this creates a domino effect where top players see guys they can beat winning silly money. Interesting strategy!
Corrigan also quotes sources saying the Saudis and the charming Crown Prince are "willing to up the ante if needs be and lose” $3 billion over three years.
Tiger Woods has committed to play in the JP McManus Pro-Am in Ireland, held 10 days before the start of The Open.
PXG has announced 0311 GEN5 fairway woods and hybrids.The new lineup features two models (0311, 0311XF).Retail price is $379 for each.
As expected, the PXG 0311 GEN5 launch includes new fairway wood and hybrid models. With that said, part of the story revolves around requisite features and benefits. New materials, different weighting schemes and a revamped geometry. That sort of thing. But with PXG, there’s always something else.
Subtext. Nuance. Whatever you want to call it. Once upon a time, PXG founder Bob Parsons likened his upstart golf brand to that of luxury automaker Ferrari. But that was pre-pandemic.
Now we must consider whether PXG can exist as both a value-driven (the 0211 driver is $229) and premium-priced brand ($500 milled wedges). Naysayers and critics already have their answer. But they were wrong before. We will file this one under the “topic for another day” tab for now.
That aside, let’s dive into PXG’s 0311 GEN5 fairway woods and hybrids.
The PXG 0311 GEN5 iron family includes three models (0311 T, 0311 P, 0311 XP).According to PXG, GEN5 irons are longer and more forgiving than their predecessors.An all-black “Black Label Elite” version is also available.Retail price is $349 each for chrome and $449 each for Black Label Elite.
Technically, PXG doesn’t have release cycles but that doesn’t mean the company has ever been content to sit on what it has. Its GEN4 lineup launched about a year and a half ago. By industry standards, more than enough time has passed to justify the release of the new PXG 0311 GEN5 irons.
Those close to the development of the new irons believe GEN5 represents the biggest model-to-model advancement in the company’s history. And while that’s the kind of bravado that accompanies nearly every product release, the jump from GEN4 to GEN5 is certainly the most intriguing I’ve seen from the company to date.
Let’s dig in.
It’s not the most fascinating stuff. It’s also not likely to be the reason you buy (or don’t buy) the PXG 0311 GEN5 irons but I wanted to start with an overview of the construction of the PXG’s latest flagship irons.
PXG has announced 0311 GEN5 drivers, featuring two models.The 0311 GEN5 is designed for the majority of golfers while the 0311 XF GEN5 offers extreme forgiveness.Retail price is $499.
As the GEN5 product line which includes PXG 0311 GEN5 drivers launches, there’s a larger discussion to be had about PXG and how its business evolved during two years of COVID. Suffice it to say PXG is emerging from the pandemic as a dramatically different company from the one that went in. Chalk that up to a mix of necessity and opportunity.
While some of the lowest equipment prices we’ve ever seen have led some to believe otherwise, rumors of PXG’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Again, that’s something we’ll explore in detail later. For now, take the release of the 0311 GEN5 lineup (and the opening of another handful of retail stores) as evidence that the company isn’t going belly up any time soon.
With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at PXG’s 0311 GEN5 driver lineup.
It’s a small detail but with the GEN5 lineup, PXG has changed the naming convention of its products. Previously, drivers were 0811, fairways were 0341, hybrids 0317 and flagship irons 0311. The names were based on MOS (military occupational specialty) codes. Call it a nod to PXG CEO and Founder Bob Parsons’ dedication to the Marine Corps. A worthy tribute, perhaps, but for many, myself included, pretty damned confusing. I’ve been covering PXG since before it launched its first clubs and I could never commit model numbers for fairways and hybrids to memory.
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