Equipment

SPOTTED: 2019 Aldila shafts

Published

5 years ago

Jan 17, 2019

With the beginning of the PGA Tour’s West Coast swing on now, we are really starting to see more 2019 gear work it way onto tour trucks, and onto the range for player testing…and into our forums (in picture format, at least).

Some of the most recently spotted pieces are the 2019 Aldila ATX shafts, including what appears to be an 85g hybrid shaft and a 120g iron shaft.

aldila-2019-shafts

We can only speculate that the hybrid is a low launch shaft — based on the PGA Tour testing being done, but this could be a shaft more suited for the growing popularity of the driving iron category vs. wood-like hybrids in the previous couple of seasons.

The 120g iron shaft has a lot of people talking, since Aldila has leaked some information in our picture thread

“It utilizes a custom prepreg made at our facility in Poway that features a “Metal Mesh” material that is combined with Carbon Fiber to help add stability and weight in the irons.”

aldila-metal-mesh

By using this custom material, Aldila could be solving the common problem that a lot of people have with graphite, and that is the club total weight — although in this case 120g is similar to a lot of steel iron shafts already being used on Tour. As prototyping goes, this material could be put to use in lighter versions of the shaft and have a greater benefit in the sub-100g category — if they plan on going that route.

For the drivers, if previous versions and colorways are any indication, it looks like we will have some new technology packed into popular bend profiles like the NV (Green) and the VS (Blue). As some members on the forums have already discussed, these shafts will be utilizing graphene (an extremely strong carbon material) for additional stability.

We also have new Rogue 130 MSI models following along similar lines with both a black and silver.

Here’s some additional information from Aldila

“Building off of the success of the ROGUE® Limited Edition – which featured 125 M.S.I. Graphitic Carbon Fiber, we have taken ROGUE® to performance to another level by incorporating even stronger 130 M.S.I. Graphitic Carbon Fiber. The ROGUE® Silver 130 M.S.I. is a low-launch, low-spin shaft with a low torque tip-section fortified with 130 M.S.I. Graphitic Carbon Fiber, a higher balance point, and a premium ion plated finish.”

Join the discussion in our forums

Your Reaction?

LIKE39
LEGIT0
WOW5
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB1
SHANK3

Equipment

Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage

Published

7 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.

It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.

When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”

“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.

Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:

“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.

“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.

“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.

“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.

“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”

So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.

His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.

See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here

Your Reaction?

LIKE7
LEGIT0
WOW0
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK1

Equipment

Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron

Published

8 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Brian Knudson

It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.

We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.

From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.

“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.

TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°

TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

Your Reaction?

LIKE9
LEGIT1
WOW2
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK1

Whats in the Bag

Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)

Published

8 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos Collin Morikawa’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)