Equipment
Dustin Johnson joins LA Golf as a partner, member of board of directors
The No. 1 golfer in the world is joining the reigning U.S. Open champion. Dustin Johnson, who put an LA Golf Prototype shaft in play at the PGA Championship, is now an LA Golf partner and member of the company’s board of directors.
As a refresher, the company, which rose from the ashes of Matrix Shafts, features a unique structure and not only offers ownership stakes to professionals but also relies heavily on the feedback of the best golfers in the world in crafting future iterations of its shafts.
Not surprisingly, DJ is switching to LA Golf’s wares in the pursuit of greater accuracy and distance, according to the company.
As we wrote for PGATour.com, when Johnson put an LAGP shaft in play at the PGA Championship, Reed Dickens, LA Golf’s CEO had this to say about Johnson’s prototype: “We custom designed a low torque shaft for Dustin for lower trajectory and have been iterating with him for a few months. We’re excited that the No. 1 player in golf trusts LA Golf enough to put our product in play for the first time at a major championship.”
Johnson himself had this to say about his testing and the prototype development
“I…have been testing the LA Golf shafts for months. I have been really impressed with how much more consistent my ball striking has been and really like the ball flight I’m seeing. I don’t swing hard often, but with the LA Golf shaft, I can really go after it and know I am going to hit the ball more consistently in the middle of the club face. My misses have also been much better…”
I am always looking for ways to get better and have been testing the LA Golf shafts for months. I am excited to not only be switching to their shafts in play but also become an @LAGolfShafts partner and join the Board of Advisors. pic.twitter.com/e8eBJjv0G1
— Dustin Johnson (@DJohnsonPGA) June 15, 2021
CEO Reed Dickens founded LA Golf in 2018 after a tenure as the founding CEO of Marucci Sports. The small-batch company boasts the distinction of being “the only shaft manufacturer where each structure is co-designed with players and built in the USA,” and it has a particular focus on building shafts that perform at the top end of the swing speed spectrum.
LA Golf counts dozens of golfers on world tours among its partners, and the company has seen an uptick recently, with more than 20 pros signing on in the past three months.
LA Golf’s board is an interesting one as well, featuring not only Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, but TV personality Amanda Balionis, entertainer Kelley James, Duck Commander’s Willie Robertson, and Marucci Sports CEO Kurt Ainsworth as well.
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Whats in the Bag
Matthieu Pavon WITB 2024 (May)
- Pavon’s WITB accurate as of the Wells Fargo Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Ping G430 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 6 X
3-wood: Ping G430 LST (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7 X
Hybrid: Ping G430 (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 10 X
Irons: Ping i230 (3-PW)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Wedges: Ping Si59 (52-12S, 58-8B)
Shafts: Nippon Modus3 Tour 120 X
Putter: Ping Cadence TR Tomcat C
Grip: SuperStroke Claw 1.0P
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Align
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Check out more in-hand photos of Pavon’s gear here.
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Equipment
Spotted: Tommy Fleetwood’s TaylorMade Spider Tour X Prototype putter
Tommy Fleetwood has been attached to his Odyssey White Hot Pro #3 putter for years now. However, this week at the Wells Fargo Championship, we did spot him testing a new putter that is very different, yet somewhat similar, to his current gamer.
This new putter is a TaylorMade Spider Tour X head but with a brand new neck we haven’t seen on a Spider before. A flow neck is attached to the Spider head and gives the putter about a 1/2 shaft offset. This style neck will usually increase the toe hang of the putter and we can guess it gets the putter close to his White Hot Pro #3.
Another interesting design is that lack of TaylorMade’s True Path alignment on the top of the putter. Instead of the large white center stripe, Tommy’s Spider just has a very short white site line milled into it. As with his Odyssey, Tommy seems to be a fan of soft inserts and this Spider prototype looks to have the TPU Pure Roll insert with 45° grooves for immediate topspin and less hopping and skidding.
The sole is interesting as well in that the rear weights don’t look to be interchangeable and are recessed deep into the ports. This setup could be used to push the CG forward in the putter for a more blade-like feel during the stroke, like TaylorMade did with the Spider X Proto Scottie Scheffler tested out.
Tommy’s putter is finished off with an older Super Stroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip in blue and white. The Mid Slim was designed to fit in between the Ultra Slim 1.0 and the Slim 3.0 that was a popular grip on tour.
- Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Wells Fargo Championship
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Equipment
Club Junkie WITB, league night week 4: Some old, some new
We enter week 4 of Thursday night men’s league feeling a little more confident in the game. BK is hoping to go a little lower and reduce the mistakes out there with these clubs in the bag. Watch the video for the full breakdown of why these clubs are getting the starting nod this week!
Driver: Titleist TSR2 (10 degrees, neutral setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana WB 63 X
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Lin-Q M40X TSPX Blue 7F5
7-wood: Ping G430 Max (-1 degree, flat Ssetting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 S
Iron: Mizuno Pro Fli-Hi 4
Shaft: Aerotech Steelfiber hls880 S
Irons: PXG 0317 Tour (5-PW)
Shaft: LA Golf A-Series 105 Low (4)
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50-08F)
Shaft: UST Mamiya Dart V 105 F4 Wedge
Wedge: Ping S159 (56-10H)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Wedge: Ping S159 (60-08B)
Shaft: Ping Z-Z115
Putter: PXG Battle Ready II Brandon
Shaft: BGT Stability Tour Spec One
Ball: Callaway Chrome Tour X
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