Graphite Design Tour AD Shafts - 2024 Forum Review

[pete1276]

I finished with the Club Championship today.  I wish the news was better, but I struggled a bit at times this weekend, so I placed in the middle of the pack.  Izzy performed admirably though, and I started to get into a groove.

I did discover something new about Izzy today, though.  When I take a smooth deliberate takeaway, he helps me find the fairway a little more often.  If I quicken my tempo a bit, I can definitely feel the shaft loading quite a bit more at the top, and I am able to get the ball to turn over much easier.  Sometimes it turned over a bit to much.  I think that was because it gave the shaft a different release point that I wasn't used to and I just needed to trust it.  It will be something to play with going forward.

In any event, my final review will be posted soon.  Thanks everyone for reading and contributing to this thread!

[Nick_D]

Final review is up! The more I play with the CQ, the more its starting to grow on me....

[pete1276]

I've also submitted my final review. 

Thank you My Golf Spy and Graphite Design for the opportunity.  This was a lot of fun!

[TJ Hall]

Nice reviews testers…great job with these shafts!  Enjoyed following along with this one!

[Alan Stewart]

Final review posted!!!  See page 1.

[DukeStKing]

Played today and my swing felt better than when I used the launch monitor. Either that, or the VR knew I wasn’t grading it anymore and decided to show me what it could really do (just like the HS kids I teach). It felt smooth as usual, but today I really felt it unload through the ball. That of course was me doing a better job of loading and unloading. First hole, no warm up and I hit this little fade:

All warmed up and I hit this high draw (I flew it to the peak of a hill and it landed on the down slope)- 

I’m glad I had my good swing today and could now feel the sweet release on this shaft. I already gave it a good grade when I was having trouble loading- that’s because it was putting up better numbers (with bad swings) and dispersion than the Kai Li which I had success with earlier in the season. I knew the VR would show me what I could do with it…  

[ancient city]

No one tested the HD?

Just did a shaft retrofit at Club Champion and the HD was the clear winner.  HD has Graphite Design's 3-3-3+ profile.

I'm a 69 year old with an 85 mph driver swing speed.  Since we often have a decent breeze blowing here in St Augustine, FL.  I prefer a fairly low ball flight and typically play a slight fade.  I'd like to call it a "power fade" but I don't really have any power, lol.   My carry distance is between 190-200 yds with a roll out to 210-225.  Don't currently have a HCP index (back in the day I was a +6) but I average +9 at 6000 yards (sea level).  If I move up to the senior tees I'm about 3 strokes better. 

I'm pretty accurate and consistent with my irons and fairway woods and have a competent short game.  When I'm in the fairway off the tee, I'll shoot in the mid to low 70's.  I've shot level par for 9 holes a few times; hence the search for accuracy off the tee.

Swing speed suggests I should play a regular flex but I have a quick transition and get much better performance from a stiff flex, especially in the driver and 3 wood.  Currently have a stock Speeder NX (stiff) in a Qi 10 LS.  Loft setting is either 7.0 or 7.5 degrees.  I get acceptable distance (for me) but I've been spraying it all over the place.  Went to CC looking for the least dispersion I could get without sacrificing distance.

After working through maybe 10 different shafts, the fitting came down to Ventus Blue (velocore) and the AD HD (both in 5 stiff).  Distance was the same.  But the HD was much more consistent and had half the dispersion...ALL of the shots with the HD were closer to the center line than than the best with the Ventus. 

Speeder is purple, Ventus is red, and AD HD is blue in the image below.  Driver loft was 7.0 on those graphics but I will likely play the HD at 7.5 or 8.25, depending on course conditions. 

Looking forward to delivery!

 

 

Edited August 20 by ancient city

[DukeStKing]

9 minutes ago, ancient city said:

No one tested the HD?

Just did a shaft retrofit at Club Champion and the HD was the clear winner.  HD has Graphite Design's 3-3-3+ profile.

I'm a 69 year old with an 85 mph driver swing speed.  Since we often have a decent breeze blowing here in St Augustine, FL.  I prefer a fairly low ball flight and typically play a slight fade.  I'd like to call it a "power fade" but I don't really have any power, lol.   My carry distance is between 190-200 yds with a roll out to 210-225.  Don't currently have a HCP index (back in the day I was a +6) but I average +9 at 6000 yards (sea level).  If I move up to the senior tees I'm about 3 strokes better. 

I'm pretty accurate and consistent with my irons and fairway woods and have a competent short game.  When I'm in the fairway off the tee, I'll shoot in the mid to low 70's.  I've shot level par for 9 holes a few times; hence the search for accuracy off the tee.

Swing speed suggests I should play a regular flex but I have a quick transition and get much better performance from a stiff flex, especially in the driver and 3 wood.  Currently have a stock Speeder NX (stiff) in a Qi 10 LS.  Loft setting is either 7.0 or 7.5 degrees.  I get acceptable distance (for me) but I've been spraying it all over the place.  Went to CC looking for the least dispersion I could get without sacrificing distance.

After working through maybe 10 different shafts, the fitting came down to Ventus Blue (velocore) and the AD HD (both in 5 stiff).  Distance was the same.  But the HD was much more consistent and had half the dispersion...ALL of the shots with the HD were closer to the center line than than the best with the Ventus. 

Speeder is purple, Ventus is red, and AD HD is blue in the image below.  Driver loft was 7.0 on those graphics but I will likely play the HD at 7.5 or 8.25, depending on course conditions. 

Looking forward to delivery!

 

 

Looks like you did a pretty good review of the HD! Nice job. I didn’t fit into it for the very reason you like the HD- low flight for the Florida winds. Up her in the “swamps of Jersey” (Springsteen reference), I need to have more carry. That’s why I played the UB and asked to test the VR- higher launch. The VR gives me a higher trajectory than the UB and the HD for sure.  
I can’t remember if the HD was a smooth as the UB and VR are- that’s why I originally went with the UB over the Ventus Blue- it felt so smooth. Do you find the HD smooth feeling? 

[ancient city]

yes, very much so.  

The optimizer on Trackman showed what I already knew, that if I increase loft a couple of degrees, I'd get 10 yds+ more carry.  But with a slow swing speed, I'd be eaten alive hitting into the wind so I tend toward max rollout.  And I don't hesitate to adjust loft if I need to prior to a round.  If it's 85% humidity and dead calm, or if the course is really soft, I'll bump the loft up a click and tee the ball up a tad more.

  

 

5 minutes ago, DukeStKing said:

Looks like you did a pretty good review of the HD! Nice job. I didn’t fit into it for the very reason you like the HD- low flight for the Florida winds. Up her in the “swamps of Jersey” (Springsteen reference), I need to have more carry. That’s why I played the UB and asked to test the VR- higher launch. The VR gives me a higher trajectory than the UB and the HD for sure.  
I can’t remember if the HD was a smooth as the UB and VR are- that’s why I originally went with the UB over the Ventus Blue- it felt so smooth. Do you find the HD smooth feeling? 

 

[t2490jh]

On 8/20/2024 at 7:53 AM, ancient city said:

No one tested the HD?

Just did a shaft retrofit at Club Champion and the HD was the clear winner.  HD has Graphite Design's 3-3-3+ profile.

I'm a 69 year old with an 85 mph driver swing speed.  Since we often have a decent breeze blowing here in St Augustine, FL.  I prefer a fairly low ball flight and typically play a slight fade.  I'd like to call it a "power fade" but I don't really have any power, lol.   My carry distance is between 190-200 yds with a roll out to 210-225.  Don't currently have a HCP index (back in the day I was a +6) but I average +9 at 6000 yards (sea level).  If I move up to the senior tees I'm about 3 strokes better. 

I'm pretty accurate and consistent with my irons and fairway woods and have a competent short game.  When I'm in the fairway off the tee, I'll shoot in the mid to low 70's.  I've shot level par for 9 holes a few times; hence the search for accuracy off the tee.

Swing speed suggests I should play a regular flex but I have a quick transition and get much better performance from a stiff flex, especially in the driver and 3 wood.  Currently have a stock Speeder NX (stiff) in a Qi 10 LS.  Loft setting is either 7.0 or 7.5 degrees.  I get acceptable distance (for me) but I've been spraying it all over the place.  Went to CC looking for the least dispersion I could get without sacrificing distance.

After working through maybe 10 different shafts, the fitting came down to Ventus Blue (velocore) and the AD HD (both in 5 stiff).  Distance was the same.  But the HD was much more consistent and had half the dispersion...ALL of the shots with the HD were closer to the center line than than the best with the Ventus. 

Speeder is purple, Ventus is red, and AD HD is blue in the image below.  Driver loft was 7.0 on those graphics but I will likely play the HD at 7.5 or 8.25, depending on course conditions. 

Looking forward to delivery!

 

 

I spoke to the HD shaft (6S) at the beginning of this thread.  I've been tinkering with the driver set up.  My previous driver shaft was the Mitsubishi AV white played at 11 degrees (Callaway Rogue LS).  I was looking for an improved dispersion pattern.  Long story short - I'm down to 8 degrees in a draw setting.  Once Callaway TD goes past model, I'll pick up a head in 8 degrees.  Just came back from a round where I had 5 personal long drives on my home course.  I'm 65 years young and still playing the white tees (6700 yards).  I'm a little bit longer than you but not by much.  My 150-yard club is an 8 iron.    My drives are getting more consistent and longer.  

I've hit virtually every GD shaft.  Their description is dead on.  IMO all their shafts are all smooth.  It just depends on what matches your swing. Much smoother than the Ventus line. I had the Ventus Black in 6S and tried the Ventus Blue in 6S.   My experience was the same as yours.  Similar distance worse dispersion.  Every time I make a bad swing with the GD shaft I can feel it.  Only other GD shaft I liked was the TP, but the HD was smoother in feel.  The new GC looks interesting as 4, 3, 3+.  Might be too stiff in the handle.   

BTW - I picked up the HD in 6S in a fairway shaft for the Ping G430 3 wood.  Have it set up at 14 degrees flat. Not the longest 3 wood in the bag.  But I'll take 225 down the middle every time. 

What I've found with the GD shafts in general is that they are underrated for sure.  Second - it takes time to find that Goldilocks setup.  Once you find it their description of "Accuracy and Distance" is not a fib.

 

 

 

[WaffleHouseTour]

So... I'm going to occasionally still post something here - see if i'm improving with this shaft.  One of my goals with this shaft was to lower my spin.  It was suggested to me to try a lower spinning ball as well.  One of my goals was to launch it higher.  It was suggested to me to try a higher launching ball. 

I have been playing the ProV1 - but thought I'd give the ProV1 Left Dash a try as it is supposed to spin less yet launch higher. 

Well, I finally got my hands on a sleeve of Left Dash RCT balls.  Spin averaged 3186 and launched 13.2*

 

I went back and looked at my last session with the ProV1 RCT ball Spinning 3018 and launching 12.2

So I got MORE spin from the Left Dash, but I did get a smidge higher launch.  First time - so we'll see what happens in the future.  However - and I may post more details elsewhere - I just sent my Mevo+ into FlightScope for "assessment" because it keeps shutting down and exhibiting some strange behavior. 

[WaffleHouseTour]

So, I'm not saying I shot my personal best because I had the UB in play.  But I am saying I've never shot this number before I had the UB in play...

 In any case, a good day with the driver.  I don't know if I've ever had a positive, no matter how small, strokes gained for driving... maybe, but I don't remember it.  The double you see on the card is a thinned 8 iron into a bunker - not the drivers fault.  I actually drove it far enough I was trying to get onto a par 5 in two - so naturally made the double.

At my last Skillest lesson my coach and I talked about embracing the fade, and I think I did.  

 

[GolfSpy_BNG]

I played the front 9 today with the VF shaft and the back 9 with the alpha one. Didn’t hit a ton of fairways but didn’t miss any bad either.  Used the Full Swing Kit on the free swing mode. It was basically set and hit for the numbers I wanted to see.  Here are the 2 best. 
 

Alpha one:

 

VF:

[DukeStKing]

Played a gem of a course- Saratoga National in NY state. Too bad I left most of my golf game back in NJ. My slump in scoring continues- I’ve had flashes of brilliance and absolute debacles. My handicap has gone up to 8 because I’m not executing when I need to. But my most consistent part of the game remains the driver with the AD VR. Still feels wonderful and it’s definitely not the cause of my woes. On this trip to upstate NY it got me in trouble only 2 or 3 times out of 3 rounds, otherwise everything was playable. The G430 10K and the VR have been my only models of consistency. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 25 by DukeStKing

[DukeStKing]

… is how I feel about the AD VR. Played yesterday and everything was a nice baby draw- a couple ended up a little too far left, but I need to aim better. That’s exactly why I wanted to try the VR- to draw the ball more easily.  As I’ve been swinging more aggressively I love the feel- it’s sort of like an explosive feeling through impact; it just feels powerful. I hit one on a par 5 that has a very slightly slopped fairway that rolled out to 295. My previous best on that hole was 280. Loving every minute of playing this shaft. 

[ancient city]

Finally got the HD out on the range and the results mirrored the trackman results from the fitting...maybe got a couple more yards carry (I never hit the ball in a simulator as well as I do live...I think it's the squishy footing on the mats).  I'll say this, I don't think it's a shaft that allows for much workability left and right; but that can be a bonus for consistency.  Want a very repeatable result?  This will do it.

[GolfSpy_BNG]

Got some final swings in with the VF vs the Aretera Blue. Looks like the aretera has earn the permanent spot in the bag.  When I time the VF it’s amazing but when I’m a little off it can go either direction. 

 

[HikingMike]

On 9/7/2024 at 11:19 AM, GolfSpy_BNG said:

Got some final swings in with the VF vs the Aretera Blue. Looks like the aretera has earn the permanent spot in the bag.  When I time the VF it’s amazing but when I’m a little off it can go either direction. 

 

Great data there. That's a very noticeable difference on shot grouping. Thanks for sharing!

[DukeStKing]

I conducted a little experiment with my now extra shaft- the Kai Li White. I cut it down to 44 inches playing length. The problem of course was that now the swing weight was C8. So I got at 32 gram weight (it was supposed to be 31 but it was aftermarket from Amazon) for my PING 10k, which brought the swing weight up to D2 (just shy of D3). Well, the results have been phenomenal:10/14 fairways and 11/14 with is set - up. Both of those most recent rounds were with the VR- I didn’t want to cut it, so I choke down to the 44 inch length. With the extra weight and choking down, I estimate it must be at D2/D3 too. I’m getting the same ball flight (draw) with a higher trajectory and better dispersion- I missed a few left with the Kai Li. The results have been great (high baby draws on every drive for 2 rounds straight). There’s really no reason for me to cut the VR down since I’m getting what I want from choking down. Makes me wonder if with a 32 gram weight, I may have a PING 10.1K? This could get me under arrested…

 

[ancient city]

tons of rain here lately but slogged through a round to finally put the HD in play...10 of 13 fairways; no penalties; no big pulls.  It is a very good fit for me; I'm impressed.