Equipment
Don’t do this to your clubs at home! (Part 2)
At GolfWRX it has always been our goal to help inform, educate, and empower golfers to learn more about their equipment, and in many cases, help them take ownership of the process to work on their own clubs. With just a few basic tools, it’s quite easy to do things like regrip, re-epoxy, or change paintfill, but there are still a lot of jobs that should be left to professionals with the proper tools—for both safety and for the sake of your gear.
As we covered in part one of this series, there are some ways to customize the finish of your clubs at home, but you should leave stripping chrome up to the professionals. I know it may seem obvious, but based on the number of questions I get on a weekly basis about how to potentially strip chrome plating, I believe it was a great introductory topic.
For part two, we’re going to get into something a little less complicated but still important.
Don’t pull a graphite shaft without the proper tools!
Graphite shaft technology has never been better, and that includes the materials and processes used to manufacture them. Although driver shafts can handle a lot of forces from the golf swing and the impact of the ball, the one thing they can’t handle is too much heat and twisting. Steel shafts, on the other hand, can take the heat and twisting, which is why they are the best place to start for beginner club builders, since all you need to pull a club head is a vice, rubber clamp, and torch.
If you are going to work on graphite-shafted clubs, the most important tool that any hobbyist club builder should have or have access to is a high-quality shaft puller. It’s a necessary tool for anyone who wants to do repairs and helps prevent damage to a shaft while pulling it.
Why a shaft puller is important
A shaft puller only applies linear pressure down the shaft towards the hosel of the club. The more linear pressure that can be applied to the clubhead, the less heat needs to be used to break down the epoxy. When done properly both the shaft and the head are reusable in the future.
And by the way, if you want to know how to pull a graphite shaft, check out my video below.
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Whats in the Bag
Daniel Berger WITB 2024 (April)
- 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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Equipment
Heavy Artillery: A look at drivers in play at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans
What are the driver and shaft combinations of the best golfers in the world? For gearheads, it’s an endlessly interesting question — even if we can only ever aspire to play LS heads and 7 TX shafts.
At this week’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, GolfWRX got in-hand looks at the driver setups of a wealth of players.
Check out some of the most interesting combos below, then head to the GolfWRX forums for the rest, as well as the rest of our galleries from New Orleans.
Rory McIlroy
Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 (9 degrees @8.25)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alex Fitzpatrick
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Daniel Berger
Driver: Ping G430 LST (10.5 degrees @9)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Wrap
Rasmus Hojgaard
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
Grip: Golf Pride MCC
Alejandro Tosti
Driver: Srixon ZX5 Mk II LS (9.5 degrees @10.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS T1100 75 6.5
Grip: Golf Pride MCC Plus4
James Nicholas
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (8 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Kevin Streelman
Driver: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Sang-moon Bae
Driver: Callaway Paradym Triple Diamond (9+ @8)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 6 X
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Russ Cochran
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke (9 degrees)
Shaft: Graphite Design Tour AD TP 6 X
Grip: Golf pride MCC Align
MJ Daffue
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Max (10.5 degrees @9.5)
Shaft: Project X HZRDUS Smoke Green RDX 65 TX
Grip: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord Align
Check our more photos from the Zurich Classic here.
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Whats in the Bag
Rasmus Højgaard WITB 2024 (April)
- Rasmus Højgaard what’s in the bag accurate as of the Zurich Classic.
Driver: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Callaway Ai Smoke Triple Diamond Prototype (16.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Utility: Callaway Apex UW (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw White 85 TX
Irons: Callaway Apex Pro (3), Callaway X Forged (4-PW)
Shafts: KBS $-Taper 130
Wedges: Callaway Jaws Raw (52-10S, 56-10S, 60-06C)
Shafts: KBS Tour 130 X
Putter: Odyssey Ai One Milled Eight T DB
Grips: Golf Pride MCC
Check out more in-hand photos of Hojgaard in the forums.
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joro
May 22, 2020 at 7:23 pm
I can’t tell you how many came in my shop with the tip like this from trying to take a Graphite shaft out with a torch and twisting it till they ruin it. Most of them do not want to pay the price for a new one so my correction would be to cut off the ruined part, reset it and put a Graphite extender in. Of course that affects the flex a bit, but not that much and of course I would explain it all before doing it. In a Wedge though I don’t think it is that bad because wedges are stiff anyway. If they do want a new one you can save the old and use it for another ruined club. The longer the better. I know some will criticize me but I worked with Several Graphite Companies and club companies and they say most of the shafts are not the same anyway. Callaway once told me all the shafts were basically stiff no mater what the label said. It is not that precise.
Benny
May 21, 2020 at 1:21 pm
Well said and agree. I just about ruined a set of Steelfiber Player Spec shafts. Super rare and expensive.
Completely ruined Recoil wedge shafts.
stanley
May 21, 2020 at 10:35 am
love these series. I am trying to get into a little bit of club builing. thanks for the info.