Equipment
Penley returns to shaft market with Quasar ET3
Carter Penley and Penley Golf Shafts are returning to the marketplace with the continuation of the handcrafted ET line. The Quasar ET3 shaft builds on the fundamentals of the ET2 shaft, including Penley’s proprietary TBAR (Tip to Butt Aspect Ratio) algorithm.
The Quasar ET3 is premised on Penley’s early 2000s work with the ETA shaft (played by Phil Mickelson). With the ETA, Penley introduced the aforementioned TBAR algorithm. With Penley’s return to the marketplace a decade later with ET2 shaft, he set out to develop a shaft that would hold up against major manufacturers’ offerings and gain traction on Tour.
Mr. Penley told us the algorithm is intended to offer more forgiveness and tighter dispersion on mishits, as well as a softer feel overall. “The ET2 has great distance and accuracy, but it’s basically for the harder swingers,” Penley said. “We’re opening this to the everyday players with the ET3.”
“I’ve developed a shaft with…a lot of control in the tip section. My job is to try to correct mis-hits. I had the opportunity to work with Lanny Wadkins years ago when he was going from steel to carbon fiber and he said, ‘No matter how good a player is, all he wants is the club that gives him the best mis-hit.’ I put that in the back of my head.”
Penley stressed the attention to detail and tolerances in his hand-built offerings.
“I’m going to hand build these shafts. I’m going to grind and sand these things right in the center of the range. And I don’t make 10,000 shafts. The biggest lot I’ll make is 100. In long drive, I make only 10 at a time. I hand grind those guys to a perfect TBAR. And I can move it up and down a bit with Zone Flex Characterization.”
“I want to go back to the way it was when Bobby Jones was playing golf. Hand making wooden shafts. Sanding and grinding, that’s what they did. Carbon fiber is just a composite…and so is wood.”
The Quasar ET3 is scheduled for release in late February 2017 and will be available in R, S, and X flexes with a retail price of $249.
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Whats in the Bag
Kevin Tway WITB 2024 (May)
- Kevin Tway what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 80 TX
5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth 2 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ 90 TX
Irons: Wilson Staff Utility (2), Titleist T100 (4-9)
Shafts: Mitsubishi MMT 100 TX (2), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F @51, 56-14F), SM7 (60-10S)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (48-56), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (60)
Putter: Scotty Cameron T-5 Proto
Grip: Scotty Cameron Black Baby T
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Plus4
More photos of Kevin Tway’s WITB in the forums.
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Equipment
Did Rory McIlroy inspire Shane Lowry’s putter switch?
Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from a piece our Andrew Tursky originally wrote for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. Head over there for the full article.
The timing of Lowry’s putter changeup was curious: Was he just using a Spider putter because he was paired with McIlroy, who’s been using a Spider Tour X head throughout 2024? Was Lowry just being festive because it’s the Zurich Classic, and he wanted to match his teammate? Did McIlroy let Lowry try his putter, and he liked it so much he actually switched into it?
Well, as it turns out, McIlroy’s only influence was inspiring Lowry to make more putts.
When asked if McIlroy had an influence on the putter switch, Lowry had this to say: “No, it’s actually a different putter than what he uses. Maybe there was more pressure there because I needed to hole some more putts if we wanted to win,” he said with a laugh.
To Lowry’s point, McIlroy plays the Tour X model, whereas Lowry switched into the Tour Z model, which has a sleeker shape in comparison, and the two sole weights of the club are more towards the face.
Lowry’s Spider Tour Z has a white True Path Alignment channel on the crown of his putter, which is reminiscent of Lowry’s former 2-ball designs, thus helping to provide a comfort factor despite the departure from his norm. Instead of a double-bend hosel, which Lowry used in his 2-ball putters, his new Spider Tour Z is designed with a short slant neck.
“I’ve been struggling on the greens, and I just needed something with a fresh look,” Lowry told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship. “It has a different neck on it, as well, so it moves a bit differently, but it’s similar. It has a white line on the back of it [like my 2-ball], and it’s a mallet style. So it’s not too drastic of a change.
“I just picked it up on the putting green and I liked the look of it, so I was like, ‘Let’s give it a go.’”
Read the rest of the piece over at PGATour.com.
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Equipment
Webb Simpson equipment Q&A: Titleist’s new 2-wood, 680 blade irons, and switching to a broomstick Jailbird
With seven career wins on the PGA Tour, including a U.S. Open victory, Webb Simpson is a certified veteran on the course. But he’s also a certified veteran in the equipment world, too. He’s a gearhead who truly knows his stuff, and he’s even worked closely with Titleist on making his own custom 682.WS irons.
On Wednesday at the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship, I caught up with Simpson to hear about his experience with Titleist’s new prototype 2-wood, how Titleist’s 680 Forged irons from 2003 ended up back in his bag, and why he’s switching into an Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Cruiser broomstick putter this week for the first time.
Click here to read our full story about Simpson’s putter switch on PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report, or continue reading below for my full Q&A with Simpson at Quail Hollow Club on Wednesday.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
GolfWRX: It seems like you’ve been a little all over the place with your irons in the past six months or so, and now going back to the 680’s. Is that just a comfort thing? What’s been going on with the irons?
Webb Simpson: Titleist has been so great at working with me, and R&D, on trying to get an iron that kind of modernizes the 680. And so the 682.WS took the T100 grooves, but kinda took the look and the bulk and the build of the 680’s into one club. They’re beautiful, and awesome looking. I just never hit them that well for a consistent period of time. It was probably me, but then I went to T100’s and loved them. I loved the spin, the trajectory, the yardage, but again, I never went on good runs. Going through the ground, I couldn’t feel the club as well as with the blade. So last week, I’m like, ‘Alright. I’m gonna go back more for…comfort, and see if I can get on a nice little run of ball striking.’
So that’s why I went back.
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OK, that makes sense. I know you had done some 2-wood testing recently. Is that in the bag right now?
It’s like day-by-day. I used it at Hilton Head every day. Valero, I used it one round. And this week, me and my caddie will do the book every morning, and if it’s a day where we think we need it, we’ll just put it in and take the 3-wood out. I love it because it’s a super simple swap. Like, it doesn’t really change much.
Yeah, can you tell me about that club? I mean, we don’t really know anything about it yet. You know? I haven’t hit it or anything, obviously.
It has grooves like a 3-wood. Spin is perfect. And it’s honestly, like, everything is in the middle of a 3-wood and driver number. Trajectory, spin, carry, all of it. So, a Hilton Head golf course is almost too easy to talk about because, you know, there, so many holes are driver 3-wood.
Valero, our thinking was we had two par-5’s into the wind, and we knew that it would take two great shots to get there in two. So instead of hitting driver-driver, we just put it in. And I used it on those holes.
Hilton was a little easier because it was off-the-tee kind of questions. But Colonial will be a golf course where, you know, there’s a lot of driver or 3-woods. It’s kind of like a backup putter or driver for me now. I’ll bring it to every tournament.
So it’s, like, in your locker right now, probably?
Well, it would be. It’s in my house [because Webb lives near by Quail Hollow Club, and is a member at the course.] It’s in the garage.
Oh, yeah, that’s right. Do you know what holes you might use it out here if it goes in play?
Potentially 15, depending on the wind. Second shot on 10. Could be 14 off the tee. The chances here are pretty low (that he’ll use the 2-wood). But, like, Greensboro would be an awesome club all day. I’m trying to think of any other golf courses.
There’s plenty that it’ll be a nice weapon to have.
It’s interesting, the wave of 2-woods and mini drivers. Like, it’s just really taken off on Tour, and all the companies have seemed to embrace it.
Yeah. The thing I had to learn, it took me, like, at least a week to learn about it is you gotta tee it up lower than you think. I kept teeing it up too high. You need it low, like barely higher than a 3-wood. And that was where I got optimal spin and carry. If you tee it up too high, you just don’t get as much spin and lose distance, I don’t know if that’s just a mini driver thing.
And you obviously have a Jailbird putter this week. What spurred that on?
Inconsistent putting. I’m stubborn in a lot of ways when it comes to my equipment, but I have to be open minded – I just hadn’t putted consistently well in a while. And I’m like, ‘Man, I feel my ball-striking coming along. Like I feel better; for real, better.’
If I can just get something in my hands that I’m consistent with. Being on Tour, you see it every year, guys get on little runs. I can put together four to five tournaments where I’m all the sudden back in the majors, or in the FedExCup Playoffs. You can turn things around quick out here. I’m like, ‘Man, whatever’s going to get me there, great.’
My caddie, David Cook, caddied for Akshay at the Houston Open and he putted beautifully. Then, I watched Akshay on TV at Valero, and he putted beautifully. And, I’m like, ‘I’m just going to try it.’
I’ve never tried it for more than a putt or two, and I just ordered what Akshay uses. It was pretty awkward at first, but the more I used it, the more I’m like, ‘Man, it’s pretty easy.’ And a buddy of mine who’s a rep out here, John Tyler Griffin, he helped me with some setup stuff. And he said at Hilton Head, he wasn’t putting well, then tried it, and now he makes everything. He was very confident. So I’m like, ‘Alright, I’ll try it.’”
And you’re going with it this week?
Hundred percent.
Alright, I love it. Thank you, I always love talking gear with you. Play well this week.
Thanks, man.
See Webb Simpson’s full WITB from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship here
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TC
Feb 28, 2017 at 12:12 am
I play Penley Steath in my irons, LOVE THEM, still perfect after 7+ years of playing. I play the Penley Platinum in a BB 3 wood, best 3 wood EVER, it s 20 yards longer than ANY other shaft and much more accurate and consistent. I play the ET2 in a SLDR 460 head, it too, is the longest and straightest shaft I’ve ever hit and I’ve tried them ALL! I haven’t tried the new Quasar but being it’s a Penley, i’m sure it will outperform anything you put it up against!
Don
Feb 24, 2017 at 4:08 pm
Mr. Penley is awesome and very accommodating to work with and his line of shafts rival the big dogs for a fraction of the price. I replaced a HZRDUS black with an ET2 in my M2 driver and haven’t looked back.
Johnnylongballz
Feb 21, 2017 at 4:00 am
My 905R that had a Penley in it, may have been the best driver I ever owned. Looking forward to trying this new line! Great shafts
IDC
Feb 21, 2017 at 2:40 am
Specs look good. Nice graphics
Bro Squad ?
Feb 20, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Please bring back the Stealth 60 and 70!!! (Matte Black and Yellow! #Elcajon
John Muir
Feb 20, 2017 at 7:00 pm
Penley shafts are fantastic.
moses
Feb 20, 2017 at 6:43 pm
I used to play Penley shafts back in the day. They were awesome. Glad to see they’re back.
Jim
Feb 20, 2017 at 10:13 am
For those who weren’t heavy into this from 85 – 05, Penley were the first shafts that incorporated both lower torque & feel….I used custom XXX driver shafts and the IMS iron shafts from him for years until the explosion in shaft tech that started in 2005….since 2007 shaft technology has expanded every year – far beyond the ‘tech’ in the heads…
Penley always gave great service (no problem with returns for breakage) quick custom order filling and produced excellent, consistent shafts…Welcome Back, Good Luck