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WRX Spotted: LA Golf Shafts “Rebar” wedge shaft

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la golf shafts rebar wedge shaft

Regarding a golf shaft: “It feels like a piece of rebar” is one of those phrases in the golf vernacular. In the case of LA Golf Shafts and its newest prototype being tested on tour, “being as stiff as a piece of rebar” is exactly what the company is going for.

To get the inside information on the new Rebar prototype, we reached out LA Golf Shafts Chief Product Officer John Oldenberg to find the out about the origin and development of the shaft

“The word “rebar” says it all. Our team did some testing with Bryson about a month back in San Diego with the Cobra folks on iron and wedges. At the time Bryson asked if we could make him a graphite shaft that was stiffer than the Dynamic Gold X7 that has been gaming. The answer to him was absolutely!”

Bryson DeChambeau's LA Golf Shafts Rebar wedge shaft

Bryson DeChambeau’s LA Golf Shafts Rebar wedge shaft

This is the biggest misconception that many consumers still have about graphite—it’s not as strong or as stiff as steel, since when it was originally introduced the shafts were targeted as a softer, lighter alternative to steel.

Back to John

“I told Bryson that with graphite, I could make the shaft as stiff as rebar. He was intrigued and ask that we make him shafts to test that were as stiff as we possibly could. So that’s what we did, hence the working name ‘Rebar’.  He tested a ‘Rebar’ 7 iron shaft at Cobra about 2 weeks ago and really liked it, and asked for some wedges to test. 

“The shafts that he is testing now  (that we spotted at the Safeway) are the ‘Rebar’ wedge shafts.  They are at least a full flex stiffer than his X7’s and are a whole lot stiffer in the tip, while also being a bit lower in torque.  So far the response from him has been very positive.  Last I heard he had re-shafted his three wedges with the “Rebar” and was taking them out on the course for a practice round.

“If these shafts work, the plan is to work him into a full set of graphite by the end of the year.”

This is certainly an interesting development since currently there isn’t a single player in the top 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings who plays graphite iron shafts—and the only one in the top 50 right now (based on current bags) is Matt Kuchar. Designers have said for years graphite can be made stiffer and even more reliable than steel, and now we are slowly seeing these product developments make their way to the PGA Tour.

 

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Ryan Barath is a club-fitter & master club builder with more than 17 years of experience working with golfers of all skill levels, including PGA Tour players. He is the former Build Shop Manager & Social Media Coordinator for Modern Golf. He now works independently from his home shop and is a member of advisory panels to a select number of golf equipment manufacturers. You can find Ryan on Twitter and Instagram where he's always willing to chat golf, and share his passion for club building, course architecture and wedge grinding.

8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. Longus Hitterus

    Sep 27, 2019 at 5:08 pm

    I need this in a Driver. Thanks

    Big Dawg

  2. Fred

    Sep 25, 2019 at 6:13 pm

    Bryson is a brilliant idiot who will soon think himself out of golf.

    • Brent

      Sep 26, 2019 at 12:13 am

      Really Fred? He got to be a top 10 player on earth with multiple wins on the PGA tour, doing and thinking exactly how he does. But please, enlighten us what he should do differently with his equipment.

    • Scott

      Sep 26, 2019 at 6:51 am

      Says the guy who can’t break 80 from the forward tees.

    • Chris P. Bacon

      Sep 26, 2019 at 7:32 am

      Fred is the type of guy who uses iron covers.

  3. James Awad

    Sep 25, 2019 at 3:36 pm

    About 25 yrs ago, when graphite shaft innovations were finally yielding some good breakthroughs, one of my students, an engineer (of course) brought me an 8 page print out of all the computations he did and ‘proved’ rebar would be better than any steel or graphite shaft…(as long as you’re Iron Byron)

    Kinda been done with wedges – see ‘Lobster Shaft’…

    I’m in favor of really stiff wedge shafts, but very little tech is required for that 🙂

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Equipment

Putter Roundup: 2024 Zurich Classic of New Orleans

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We always get some great photos of some phenomenal putters at tour events and love to share them. Here are a few from the 2024 Zurich Classic that caught our eye and seemed interesting. (And as a reminder, you can check out all our photos from New Orleans here)

MJ Daffue’s Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype

MJ is going with the new Scotty Cameron T-11 Prototype this week. The putter is a multi-piece mallet that puts an emphasis on stability with the wings on the back. Daffue’s putter does have a design that differs from retail with a monotone finish, which eliminates the black paint on the aluminum parts that we see at retail. He also has a half siteline milled into the top and an L-neck welded on for some additional toe hang. The face features a deeper milling that should offer a softer feel and slightly quieter sound.

Scotty Cameron T-7.5 Prototype

We spotted a few different Scotty Cameron Phantom models with modified rear flanges. It looks like the straight black flange was cut into a half circle for a little softer look at address. On this T-7.5, you can still see the raw aluminum from the back view, so this might have been a last-minute job to get them out on tour. The semi-circle also has a white line on it, maybe to frame the ball differently.

Alex Fitzpatrick’s Bettinardi SS16 DASS

Alex’s SS16 is made from Bettinardi’s famous D.A.S.S., or double-aged stainless steel, for a softer and more responsive feel. The face has a unique diamond pattern milling and features a logo that I feel like I have seen before, but can’t put a name to. The putter is a classic mid-mallet style with a simple, single white siteline on the top. The sole is clean with just the SS16, DASS, and a green triangle logo on it.

Steve Stricker’s Odyssey White Hot No. 2

This putter has made some amazing putts in its long career! Stricker’s White Hot No. 2 might be in the top 10 of most famous putters in golf. When you see all the dents and lead tape, you know the heel will be up and it will be sinking putts! The soft White Hot insert looks to be in good shape and has less wear on it than the rest of the putter. We don’t know how much lead tape is on the sole, but it has to be multiple layers compacted down over the years.

Doug Ghim’s Scotty Cameron T-7 Prototype

This T-7 should win the award for “best color finish” in this list with its deep chromatic bronze. It looks like Scotty added a cherry bomb dot to the heel of the deep-milled face and filled it with a very dark blue paint. The rest of the putter looks pretty stock with its single site line on the topline and twin site lines down the “fangs” of the putter. Twin 5-gram weights are installed in the sole and the putter is finished off with a gloss black double bend shaft with a fill shaft offset.

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Equipment

Spotted: Project X Denali hybrid shaft

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Project X’s Denali wood shafts have been seen in more and more golf bags this year as we start off the season. As a refresher, Denali Blue is the mid-launch and mid-spin model while Denali Black is for players seeking lower launch and spin.

Denali combines great feel with stability and increased ball speed. Currently, Project X only offers Denali Blue and Black in wood shafts, but we spotted a hybrid shaft in Daniel Berger’s bag at the 2024 Zurich Classic.

The shaft looks to be a Denali Blue 105G – HY in TX flex. No word on details from Project X yet but we can assume that this is a mid-launching shaft that weighs around 105 grams in Tour X-Stiff flex.

Berger has this shaft in his TaylorMade P770 3-iron, likely for some added launch and spin to hold the green from longer distances.

Hopefully, this means we will see some more shafts coming under the Denali name in the future, as I think many of us would like to try one in a hybrid or utility iron!

 

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Whats in the Bag

Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)

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  • Daniel Berger what’s in the bag accurate as of the Farmers Insurance Open. More photos from the event here.

Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7 X

6-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8 X

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (3), TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 2011 (4-PW)
Shafts: Project X Denali Blue 105 TX (3), Project X 6.5 (4-PW)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F), Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (56-14F), Callaway Jaws Raw (60-08C)
Shafts: Project X 6.5 (50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (56, 60)

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Jailbird Mini DB
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy PistolLock 1.0

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Wrap

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Check out more in-hand photos of Daniel Berger’s clubs in the forums.

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