It’s without question that True Temper Sports holds the No. 1 spot for steel shafts with a, well, steel grip. Whenever I do weekly WITBs, I type “Project X” and “True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue” to the point of arthritis.

Our resident tour photographer snapped some pics of True Temper’s latest offerings—the Project X LS, IO, U and Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 “Spinner” shafts.

For more information, and to add to what our Ryan Barath wrote about the PX LS back in June, I spoke with True Temper’s Product Marketing Coordinator Keenan Phillips, and this is the intel he shared.

Project X LS

“Low Spin” Yes, this shaft is for the player who generates a lot of spin and launch. Not for the faint of heart, it was designed to parallel the Tour Issue X7 but for the PX player.

Rival comparisons would KBS C-Taper, KBS $Taper, X7, and a few others. The point is, if you are looking to find some height, look to the LZ, if you want to knock it down, the LS is your whip.

From Project X

“Project X LS started as an engineering concept to create a shaft to best suit the increasingly stronger golfer. The new era of elite-level golfers are stronger, more athletic and faster than ever, and because of this, they naturally create more launch and spin. With this in mind, we tasked our engineers with one thing—to create the lowest launching and spinning steel golf shaft on the market. The result was a shaft that launched a degree lower and spun up to 500 rpm less than its predecessor.

“Project X LS (Low Spin) is the next evolution of the original Project X. It features an ultra-stable and stiff design that minimizes spin while providing a tight feel to keep up with even the strongest swingers on Tour. LS also features a unique brushed chrome finish that reduces glare and gives Project X LS a distinct look.”

Project X IO

If you read the info on the website, you may get the impression that the IO rivals Dynamic Gold’s AMT in certain aspects. Yes and no. From a performance standpoint, maybe, but the way in is a bit different. Instead of adjusting weight up and down the set to achieve performance, the IO dials in stiffness areas across the set to get what you want. The popular PXi shaft was the foundation for the IO which gave PX players a lighter option but still maintaining the preferred flight windows.

For example, if we were comparing this to the Fujikura Ventus line, the 5.5 (105 grams) IO plays like the Red, 6.0 (110 grams), like the Blue, and the 6.5 (115 grams) like the Black. Simple enough.

Another thing to note, this shaft wasn’t designed as a “Tour part.” You may see some a couple sneak out there but not many—not the spirit of the design.

From Project X:

“The new Project X IO was born from the concept that not all golfers need the same thing from a shaft. While the stronger players require launch and spin reduction to control their ball, many golfers need more launch and spin to help maximize their distances.” 

“Project X IO takes the DNA of the popular PXi shaft and evolves it by having each shaft flex designed with a specific weight and trajectory progression in mind. As Project X IO increases in flex, it gets 5g heavier and is geometrically modified to launch lower…Project X IO is ideal for players who love the stability of Project X but need an easier to load shaft profile and are looking for a lighter weight option.” 

Project X U

Yes, it’s a utility shaft, but for fitters and builders, it’s a breath of fresh air. With utility irons becoming more and more popular across the board, builders face difficulty finding a lighter weight steel option that gives players not only the flight they want but something that doesn’t feel like it comes from another planet.

Project X U was engineered to solve both of those issues. Now players can have a steel shaft in their utility iron that optimizes speed and maintains a penetrating ball flight. Once again, PXi was the way into this, and the engineers have taken it the next step to give every player an option.

From Project X:

“Utility irons and hybrids are designed to perform differently than a traditional iron but are often paired with shafts designed for traditional irons. The new Project X Utility (U) was specifically crafted to work with utility and hybrid heads. 

“The Project X team of engineers looked at what specific characteristics were needed to optimize utility club performance. They started with a lightweight design in all flexes to maintain clubhead speed while still providing the consistency of steel. As shaft flex gets stiffer…U utilizes varying geometrics to lower launch—creating the optimized launch for each flex.”

Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Spinner

Before True Temper came out with wedge-specific S400 shafts, tour builders used to use 8-iron shafts for wedges to maintain weight and add some feel in the tip section, which in turn added spin. The longer tip section was a common sight in bags and will become more popular with this release. True Temper already dominates the wedge portion of bags, but having the familiar feel of the S400 with a bit more play at the bottom will get traction on tour quickly, especially in the 58- 64-degree neighborhood.

At 128 grams and a 37.5-inch raw point, the Spinner will fit right into the TT line up like its been there for 30 years. In a sense, it has, but now builders don’t have to steal 8-iron shafts to get it done.