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GolfWRX Spotted: Aldila Ascent shafts at The American Express

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The PGA Tour is back on the mainland and on the west coast this week at The American Express being played at PGA West in La Quinta, California.

That’s not too far from Carlsbad where a majority of the OEMs in golf reside, which also makes it the perfect place to show off some of the latest technology and components to tour players—including shafts.

This week, we spotted the all-new Ascent shaft from Aldila, which judging from the finalized graphics, could be available soon in the retail market.

We reached out to Aldila and parent company Mitsubishi Chemical to get the details on the new shaft and what makes it different from others currently available on the market, and here’s what we know

  • The new Ascent shaft is designed to help golfers increase their ball flight apex while still offering lower spin performance and stability.
  • The shaft uses unique tungsten-infused prepreg to focus mass towards the tip which in turn improves ball speeds and stability while also maintaining feel.

The shaft also features what Aldila is calling an Impact Stabilization Zone—a section of increased stiffness, which, as the name suggests, helps stabilize the head towards impact. It is designed to pair with the heavier tungsten prepreg at the tip to create an active yet stable shaft that promotes launch while maintaining accuracy.

Shaft specs, pricing, and availability

We don’t have confirmation of the retail availability or the pricing of the new Ascent shaft from Aldila, but we do have the spec sheet, which gives some insight into the options that this shaft will be available in.

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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.

1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. James

    Jan 19, 2021 at 1:21 pm

    What is with those torque numbers? No thanks.

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Whats in the Bag

John Daly WITB 2024 (May)

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Driver: Ping G430 LST (9 degrees)
Shaft: Newton Motion 6-Dot

3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Newton Motion 4-Dot

Hybrids: Ping G430 (17, 22, 26 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold

Irons: Sub70 659-CB (6-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

Wedges: Sub70 TAIII (50, 54, 60)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300

Putter: Odyssey Ai-One Milled One T CH
Grip: SuperStroke Zenergy Tour 2.0

Grips: SuperStroke custom

More photos of John Daly’s WITB in the forums.

 

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Toulon Golf collaborates with Valhalla Golf Club for latest Small Batch putter

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Toulon Golf has today officially announced its latest Small Batch putter — the Valhalla.

Discussing the putter, Preston Toulon of Toulon Golf said: “This putter is a collaboration with the club at Valhalla and incorporates three of the many things that make the state of Kentucky great – horseracing, bourbon and championship golf. The head of the putter and headcover have several allusions to a jockey’s silk and there are thoroughbreds on the sole.”

Inspired by Toulon’s classic tri-sole Santa Monica design, the company sought to modernize the profile and design leveraging its 904 stainless steel and 6061 aircraft aluminium across the sole. Toulon describes the Valhalla’s profile as “slightly oversized blade whose proportions are meticulously balanced to maintain the look and feel of the Santa Monica, while increasing the putter’s inertia to create one of the most forgiving putters we have ever designed.”

Throughout numerous prototypes, Toulon paid particular attention to the L-neck, with its full shaft of offset, adding a bit of length for better blending with the slightly wider and longer blade.

On the rear of the putter are homages to horse racing in the form of jockey silk diamonds and Churchill Downs-inspired font.

The sole of the putter features a large cavity covered by a 6061 aircraft aluminum sole plate. According to Toulon, this allowed for the addition length to the putter and improved inertia as well as moving more mass to the perimeter for greater forgiveness.

In another nod to Valhalla, Toulon uses a milled watermarked limestone pattern, a reference to stone featured widely on the property.

As with all the Toulon Small Batch putters, the team paid particular attention to the topline thickness and radius to achieve a desired look. “Soft yet crisp was the design intent,” according to the company.

Toulon Golf Small Batch Valhalla specs

  • Material: 904L Stainless Steel/6061 Aluminum Sole
  • Face Mill: Fine Double Fly with Big Tuna
  • Finish: Kentucky Bourbon PVD
  • Grip: Custom Toulon Collection Vintage Blue Pistol
  • Shaft: Chrome Stepless Steel
  • Headcover: Valhalla Custom Leather
  • Head Weight: 355 g
  • Toe Hang: 40 degrees
  • Loft: 3 degrees
  • Lie: 70 degrees

Pricing and availability

The Small Batch Valhalla is available for purchase today via the company’s website — ToulonGolf.com.

Supply is extremely limited. The price is $1,800.

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Max Homa is the latest to put prototype Titleist 2-wood in play

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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.

Titleist’s new 2-wood prototype first popped up on the TOUR at the 2024 PLAYERS Championship, in the bag of Cameron Young, who had been working with Titleist on the design since 2023.

Here’s what Titleist Tour fitter J.J. Van Wezenbeeck had to say about the design back at THE PLAYERS Championship:

“(Young) was looking for a certain ball speed and yardage gap from his driver,” Van Wezenbeeck said. “One of the things for him with the 3-wood is he wanted something with a little more volume that he felt more confident off the tee with, so he was looking for a little bigger footprint and something that was a little bit more penetrating than some of the 3-woods he’s played in the past. This will be a club he’ll hit 90 percent off the tee, versus the ground, so for the golf courses that set up for that, that’s what he’s looking for … this may or may not ever come to retail. It’s a chance for us to learn and put it in future products that may not be exactly this.”

Since the initial unveiling of the product at THE PLAYERS Championship, fellow PGA TOUR players such as Homa, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas have also taken notice…

“[The new 2-wood) helps me draw it a little bit better,” Homa told GolfWRX.com on Monday at the 2024 PGA Championship. “I don’t draw the ball well, so left-to-right winds it’s quite helpful.”

Now, according to Van Wezenbeeck, Homa has two different options off the tee: A flat-trajectory cut shot with his TSR3 driver, and a “spinny draw” with his new TSR 2-wood, which flies farther than his former 3-wood.

Head over to PGATour.com for the full article.

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