The New "It" Shaft.... maybe?

[Justin66]

Here is Golf.com's listing for What's In Jim Furyk's Bag at the Tour Championship:

 

 

 

DRIVER: Titleist 910D3 (9.5°) with an Oban Devotion 70 X shaft

FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade Burner TP (15°) with a Mitsubishi Diamana White Board 83 X shaft

HYBRID: Cleveland Launcher DST (18°) with a Fujikura Speeder 904 Graphite X shaft

IRONS: Srixon Z-TX Forged (3, 5-PW) with Apollo Hump X shafts

WEDGES: Cleveland CG15 (50°, 56°, 60°) with Apollo Hump X shafts

PUTTER: Yes! Sophia

BALL: Srixon Z-Star X

 

http://blogs.golf.com/equipment/2010/09/my-bag-jim-furyk-at-the-tour-championship.html#ixzz10gEO29UH

 

Obviously the emphasis is mine because I want to make sure that gets seen. Here is a major player on Tour, the Tour Champion, gaming an "off brand" shaft. My thoughts:

 

1. simply amazing... another "little guy" having current Tour success.

2. I still don't like the Humps, though I do like others in the Apollo lineup. Maybe I'll change my mind...

3a. I wish people (not anyone specific, but the golfing population as a whole) could see that they don't need to spend $1000+ on a fancy set of "it" brands to not only enjoy this great game, but to be REALLY good at it. Sure, if you WANT to, you can spend whatever you please... but you don't HAVE to. So long as it isn't counterfeit product, you'll be just fine with whatever route you choose.

3b. if Mike Stachura is reading this, I wonder if he thinks Jim Furyk is a "pretender" for not gaming PX's, DG's or KBS's... according to him, playing what's "new and hot" is the ONLY way to be a "real" golfer. Which is why I haven't read Golf Digest in a LONG time.

[Dave]

I just love how he actually went into a pro shop a few weeks ago and actually bought the putter instead of getting it out a tour van

[Justin66]

I just love how he actually went into a pro shop a few weeks ago and actually bought the putter instead of getting it out a tour van

 

No kidding. That makes two that I know of- Furyk and Jerry Kelly. I guess the word I'm looking for is "nice"... it's actually nice to hear something like this; not that "well, the guys in the van put this together for me from pieces that no one will ever, ever see in their lifetime".

 

What's even better, the Hump shafts retail for ~$8 each... opposed to the KBS's and Project X's for $20+ each.

[03trdblack]

The only thing is that the hump shaft doesn't come in a .355 tip so unless he bored out his ztx irons, he is using a shaft that you or I couldn't get or he's using a set of irons that were built with a .370 tip bore. Either way he still had some major help from the tour van.

[Justin66]

The only thing is that the hump shaft doesn't come in a .355 tip so unless he bored out his ztx irons, he is using a shaft that you or I couldn't get or he's using a set of irons that were built with a .370 tip bore. Either way he still had some major help from the tour van.

 

Most likely... though it isn't that hard to bore out a hosel, so long as you have a good vice, rubber (or felt-covered) pads, a decent drill and the right size bits (not to mention cutting oil). It sounds more intimidating than it really is. If he went that route, I'd wager he had the Van bore them out.

[RookieBlue7]

I'd be willing to bet getting them in was more intensive than putting them in a vice and reaming them. There was an expensive drill press and drill press vice involved.

 

As for more nice guys out there, Ryan Moore and Tom Watson both are cool guys. I've met both on several occasions and my irons came from a build of Mr. Watson's that he didn't like. Got a deal on them. Ryan is as cool as the other side of the pillow. And I was at the store when he bought the Tiger Shark he used at Augusta. Met him again at the PGA TSS in Roswell last week before the Tour Championship. Both are great regular guys.

[Justin66]

I'd be willing to bet getting them in was more intensive than putting them in a vice and reaming them. There was an expensive drill press and drill press vice involved.

 

As for more nice guys out there, Ryan Moore and Tom Watson both are cool guys. I've met both on several occasions and my irons came from a build of Mr. Watson's that he didn't like. Got a deal on them. Ryan is as cool as the other side of the pillow. And I was at the store when he bought the Tiger Shark he used at Augusta. Met him again at the PGA TSS in Roswell last week before the Tour Championship. Both are great regular guys.

 

Oh, yeah- the drill press would've been used... I'm not that lucky, yet .

 

How awesome your experience must have been- the young "hipster" and a patriarch of golf. From what I've seen/read about them, excellent people as well. I probably would manage to get a "mumumumumum" out of my mouth and that's it.

[RookieBlue7]

Not really, at the end of the day, they're still golf junkies like most of us. Ryan was a little on the eccentric side, but a cool dude. Mr. Watson, that was the more difficult one for me to talk to. He's a man I have deep respect for and admire a bunch for his career and for the way he carries himself. I was a little star struck to speak to him. And he recognized me at this year's Masters on Sunday when he was walking up 9 and I made my way near the ropes as his drive was up the right side. There was literally no one around when he was coming through. So I stood about 4 feet from his ball. He hit a nice fade into the green that I couldn't even see arrive because of where I was standing under the pines. I said nice shot and he looks at me and says "hey, I remember you, we've met before haven't we?" I was kind of stumbling over myself but managed a "yes sir, last time was at the range last year". Both my uncle and I were dumbfounded that he recognized me.

[Justin66]

Not really, at the end of the day, they're still golf junkies like most of us. Ryan was a little on the eccentric side, but a cool dude. Mr. Watson, that was the more difficult one for me to talk to. He's a man I have deep respect for and admire a bunch for his career and for the way he carries himself. I was a little star struck to speak to him. And he recognized me at this year's Masters on Sunday when he was walking up 9 and I made my way near the ropes as his drive was up the right side. There was literally no one around when he was coming through. So I stood about 4 feet from his ball. He hit a nice fade into the green that I couldn't even see arrive because of where I was standing under the pines. I said nice shot and he looks at me and says "hey, I remember you, we've met before haven't we?" I was kind of stumbling over myself but managed a "yes sir, last time was at the range last year". Both my uncle and I were dumbfounded that he recognized me.

 

You are SO lucky! But that does say something about Watson, though, to recognize you like that. I think it shows how much he cares. I can't even put into words how cool that'd be; "incredible" almost seems like a disservice.

[thespoon]

Hireko needs to jump on this right now.

 

Get some of those Hump X shafts into the public's hands and watch their market share grow.

[indacup]

Hireko needs to jump on this right now.

 

Get some of those Hump X shafts into the public's hands and watch their market share grow.

 

The Humps are great shafts...we sold a truck load when Vijay was using them successfully, but that died down...but there is still quite a cult following for those shafts.

[TWShoot67]

Why don't they make them with .355 taper tips. Is it just too much money to spend to get them right bend profile and frequency? They would probably sell much more if they had more options. Most players irons are .355 so if they're that good it would make sense.

[RookieBlue7]

For tour pros, it's probably easier to build using bored out heads and .370 tips because they can get frequencies spot on easier. Hard and soft stepping isn't necessary because the parallel tip, or longs as they're denoted in some places, are designed where you can tip them then butt trim to get to frequency.

[Justin66]

According to Jeff Sheets, there isn't a playability difference between a .355 and .370 shaft. He said that some Tour players think a .370 shaft allows the ball to "drift", but in 20+ years of being in a Tour van, working for OEMs and component brands, he's never seen it actually happen (paraphrased from "The Perfect Fit"). The real difference between a .355 shaft and .370 is inventory control. That's why pretty much all component brands, especially currently, only offer .370 hosels, even in their forged models. Instead of having to stock an entire 3-PW in .355 for all the sets you make (that gets awful expensive), you just stockpile .370 shafts and weight-sort them as the need arises. Any .370 shaft can go anywhere: 3i, 7i, PW... whereas most .355 shafts can only go in their designated clubs. It's the basic premise for the combination flexes, as well- inventory control taken one step further.

 

It's the same with graphite shafts, as well. There was a time when many "tour" driver heads were built with .350 hosels, supposedly for tip-stability (though the .1* difference in torque is negligable). Most Tour pros just installed- or had installed by the Tour van- the more readily-available .335 shafts with a shim.