Equipment

SuperStroke exits putter business, focuses on grips

Published

11 years ago

Nov 27, 2012

At the 2012 PGA Merchandise Show, SuperStroke introduced a full line of putter designs by Bruce Sizemore to compliment the company’s growing selection of putter grips.

SuperStroke added Sizemore in 2010, hoping that his putter and wedge designs could morph the brand from a putter grip company to a full-fledged short game specialty company. But that was before sales of SuperStroke grips grew from 5,000 in 2009 to a projection of 1 million in 2012.

“Right now, our biggest problem is that we can’t make grips fast enough,” said Dean Dingman, president of SuperStroke, which is based in Wixom, Mich.

For that reason, SuperStroke has decided to focus exclusively on the sale of putter grips. The decision means that SuperStroke will part ways with the putter business, as well as Sizemore, effective at the end of the year.

TigerShark, a company led by Dingman and his brother Darrin since 2000, acquired SuperStroke in 2009. Dingman said that the TigerShark product line, which included a full line of golf clubs as well as putters, would also cease production.

“Being a small company, all of our resources, all of our time, all of our energy needs to be put on grips,” Dingman said.

Dingman praised Sizemore’s attention to detail and the process he underwent when designing the company’s lineup of putters in 2012. He called him a putting expert, complimenting not only his knowledge of putters and putting mechanics, but also his rapport with golfers – everyone from high handicappers to tour players. But Dingman and Sizemore had different vision for the putter brand, and 2012 sales missed expectations by 40 percent.

Dingman said the sales goal that was set for SuperStroke putters wasn’t “super ambitious,” but he admitted that the success of SuperStroke putter grips stripped the putter brand of the energy and resources it needed to succeed.

“To build a successful putter brand, you need to have everything that goes with it – a tour presence, marketing, distributors,” Dingman said. “We just didn’t have the manpower.”

Sizemore emphasized that he felt no animosity in the split. He said he was happy with his putters from a design standpoint, saying they were “close to perfect.”

“That’s the cool part,” Sizemore said. “At every end is a beginning. I’ll come up with some good stuff. It will just take some time.”

Sizemore said plans to continue to design putters in his studio located in his hometown of Farmington Hills, Mich. He admitted that SuperStroke’s decision to exit the putter market caught him off guard, but he saw the complications that arose for SuperStroke by partnering with him.

In all likelihood, SuperStroke’s exit from the putter business will make its grips more appealing to OEMs that are interested in installing SuperStroke grips on their own putters.

Click here for more discussion in the Putter Forum.

Click here to read more about Bruce Sizemore, or Click here to read about the new Super Stroke Grips.

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Whats in the Bag

Ruixin Liu WITB 2023 (October)

Published

7 hours ago

Oct 3, 2023

GolfWRX Staff

Ruixin Liu what’s in the bag accurate as of the Walmart NW Arkansas LPGA Championship.

Driver: Callaway Epic Flash Sub Zero (9 degrees @8)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana

3-wood: Titleist TSR1 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 55 S

Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 75 R

Hybrid: Ping G430 (22 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 75 R

Hybrid: Ping G430 (26 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD DI 75 R

Irons: Titleist T200 (6-PW), Titleist T150 (7-PW)
Shafts: AeroTech SteelFiber i95

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (48-10F), WedgeWorks Proto (54-M), Miura MG-R01 (58)
Shafts: AeroTech SteelFiber i95 cw (48, 54), UST Mamiya Recoil 95 (58)

Grips: Golf Pride MCC, Grip Master

More photos of Ruixin Liu’s WITB in the forums.

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Whats in the Bag

Will McGirt WITB 2023 (October)

Published

10 hours ago

Oct 3, 2023

GolfWRX Staff

Will McGirt what’s in the bag accurate as of the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Red 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

3-wood: Ping G430 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 7 X

5-wood: Ping G430 Max (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X

Irons: Srixon ZX5 Mk II (4, 5), Srixon ZX7 Mk II (6-PW)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 120 X

Wedges: Cleveland RTX6 Tour Rack (50-10 Mid, 54-12 Full, 58-09 Full)
Shafts: Nippon N.S. Pro Modus3 Tour 125 Wedge

Putter: Scotty Cameron prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Victory Cord

More photos of Will McGirt’s WITB in the forums.

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Equipment

Club Junkie Review: Graphite Design Tour AD VF wood shaft

Published

12 hours ago

Oct 3, 2023

Brian Knudson

Graphite Design has been a legendary brand in the world of premium golf shafts since the company was founded in 1989. Graphite Design has had some popular shafts over the years, but they are probably most well known for the Tour AD DI that was released in 2010. Today we are talking about the newest shaft in the Graphite Design lineup, the new VF. The letters do stand for something, Victory Force, and according to Graphite Design every victory requires force! For a more in-depth review, please check out the Club Junkie podcast below or on any streaming platform. Just search “GolfWRX Radio.”

Out of the box, the VF has a very familiar look with a red handle section and a black tip section that are separated with the traditional 10 silver rings. The color combination is definitely more subtle than some of the other Tour AD shaft combinations. Graphite Design doesn’t make too many low-launching shafts, so the VF is filling that need. The VF will suit players looking for low/,id launch and low spin shaft to put in their driver or fairway wood.

The shaft profile is a firm+ handle section, it matches the stiffest handles Graphite Design shafts, with a stiff midsection, and finally a very stiff tip. Exotic materials are used along with MSI Design to maintain stability and consistency. Graphite Design uses Torayca M40X carbon fiber in the handle section to make it stiffer and enhance control of the shaft. Ultra-high modulus Torayca T1100G is used in the middle and tip section for added stability without losing that smooth feel.

I built up the VF shaft using a universal tip system that allows me to use the shaft in any driver head. The building went extremely smoothly as every Graphite Design shaft I have ever installed has a consistent tip diameter and I have never had any issues with a sloppy fit. Once the VF was cut to length and installed, the shaft has a great look that doesn’t jump out as distracting or eye-catching. If you are playing a TaylorMade Stealth 2, then the shaft blends in naturally and they look to visually be great partners!

You would expect a smooth and responsive feel from any Graphite Design shaft and you will get just that with the VF. For me the shaft was exactly as Graphite Design describes, being mid/low launch and offering a very penetrating ball flight. The Tour AD XC might launch a touch lower, but I like the feel and consistency I get from the VF just a little bit more. No matter what driver head I used, the VF seemed to offer ball flight in a similar window, slightly lower than the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue I was using. Even shots into the wind showed no real signs of rising or ballooning. Spin was also lower than I expected with the VF shaft. On the course, I noticed a penetrating, boring flight no matter where I hit the ball on the driver face. Shots struck low on the face held a good amount of distance and even the low heel strike seemed to launch lower and carry further.

I even took a couple of driver heads out to the range with a launch monitor and noticed that I rarely saw a spin number with a “3” in front of it. Almost every shot, good and not so good, seemed to spin around that 2,600 RPM number. With many fittings and shaft tinkering, that is usually on the lower end of what I find with my swing. As I said with the shaft being mid/low launch I was seeing an average of around 11 degrees while using a couple of 10.5-degree driver heads. On course, the VF was very straight and consistent and while it seemed easier to square up than I expected, it did not want to go left as easily as some other shafts. I would consider the flight just slightly fade biased but if you release the club properly you will be rewarded with a straight shot down the fairway.

Overall, the Graphite Design Tour AD VF is a really solid mid/low launch and low spin option with a smooth feel. It is starting to gain some traction on the professional tours and could be a great shaft for your swing as well.