Equipment

Spotted: 2024 Fujikura Ventus Blue shaft on tour

Published

2 months ago

Feb 13, 2024

We got a sneak peek at the new Ventus Blue shaft from Fujikura a few weeks ago, and we are now seeing out on tour for the best players in the world to test.

This week at the Genesis Invitational, the crew from Fujikura is in attendance and excited for the new shaft to make its debut. The new Ventus Blue shaft will have a very similar profile to the current Ventus Blue and should offer players launch and spin numbers that are comparable. What Fujikura has improved is the internal technology, VeloCore, that has made the Ventus and Ventus TR shafts so popular on tour and in fittings all over the world.

We asked Fujikura’s Spencer Reynolds about the new Ventus Blue and VeloCore Plus:

“The key to this one is really new technology…This will be our first profile to feature what we call VeloCore Plus. What we did is we took the original profile of the original Blue we launched…back in 2018 on global tours. So over the last handful of years, we’ve learned a lot about material integration and material layouts and kind of where we can push the envelope a little bit.

“And we wanted to keep a similar profile that gave similar feel, launch, and spin numbers but we wanted to tighten the dispersion and increase the speed. We figured out how to do that and we kinda reengineered VeloCore a bit. We took the key elements…full -length pitch material and then the 40-ton material…we took those key elements and enhanced some of those. We…increased the tonnage and increased the strength of those materials.

“Then we added a third material as a bias core to essentially give it a really solid feel. I think it’s what we’re left with is a profile that bumps up speed, increases accuracy, tightens dispersion, and has incredible feel to it. So what we found in player testing was increases in speed, and a lot of the feedback we got from feel was it just feels tighter than the original — not stiffer, still kind of the same bend profile, softer in the handle, stiff in the mid, ultra-stiff in the tip — but just an overall tighter feeling to the shaft.

“So we tested it. We’re psyched about it. Obviously excited to have it out here on tour, and we’re ready to rock and roll.”

This new Ventus Blue even sports a new matte blue paint that is lighter than the original and has a slightly different “Ventus” text near the center of the shaft. Fujikura also made some slight tweaks to the Ventus logo near the grip, adding some different micro-texture to the silver graphic.

This new Ventus Blue with VeloCore Plus should be out to Fujikura dealers at the end of February.

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 Genesis Invitational

Your Reaction?

LIKE6
LEGIT2
WOW1
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB0
SHANK0

Equipment

Why Rory McIlroy will likely use the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper at the RBC Heritage

Published

16 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Andrew Tursky

Although we spotted Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper last week during practice rounds at the Masters, he ultimately didn’t decide to use the club in competition.

It seems that will change this week at the 2024 RBC Heritage, played at the short-and-tight Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head.

When asked on Wednesday following his morning Pro-Am if he’d be using the new, nostalgic BRNR Copper this week, McIlroy said, “I think so.”

“I like it,” McIlroy told GolfWRX.com on Tuesday regarding the BRNR. “This would be a good week for it.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GolfWRX (@golfwrx)

According to Adrian Rietveld, the Senior Manager of Tour at TaylorMade, the BRNR Mini Driver can help McIlroy position himself properly off the tee at the tight layout.

Here’s what Rietveld told GolfWRX.com on Wednesday:

“For someone like Rory, who’s that long at the top end of the bag, and then you put him on a course like Harbour Town, it’s tough off the tee. It’s tight into the greens, and you have to put yourself in position off the tee to have a shot into the green. It kind of reminds me of Valderrama in Spain, where you can be in the fairway and have no shot into the green.

“I’m caddying for Tommy [Fleetwood] this week, so I was walking the course last night and looking at a few things. There’s just such a small margin for error. You can be standing in the fairway at 300 yards and have a shot, but at 320 you don’t. So if you don’t hit a perfect shot, you could be stuck behind a tree. And then if you’re back at 280, it might be a really tough shot into the small greens.

“So for Rory [with the BRNR], it’s a nice course-specific golf club for him. He’s got both shots with it; he can move it right-to-left or left-to-right. And the main thing about this club has been the accuracy and the dispersion with it. I mean, it’s been amazing for Tommy.

“This was the first event Tommy used a BRNR last year, and I remember talking to him about it, and he said he couldn’t wait to play it at Augusta next year. And he just never took it out of the bag because he’s so comfortable with it, and hitting it off the deck.

“So you look at Rory, and you want to have the tools working to your advantage out here, and the driver could hand-cuff him a bit with all of the shots you’d have to manufacture.”

So, although McIlroy might not be making a permanent switch into the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper, he’s likely to switch into it this week.

His version is lofted at 13.5 degrees, and equipped with a Fujikura Ventus Black 7X shaft.

See more photos of Rory testing the BRNR Mini here

Your Reaction?

LIKE18
LEGIT1
WOW0
LOL1
IDHT0
FLOP0
OB1
SHANK3

Equipment

Spotted: TaylorMade P-UDI driving iron

Published

17 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

Brian Knudson

It seems like the RBC Heritage is full of new gear to be spotted, and you can add TaylorMade’s P-UDI utility irons to that list.

We spotted a 17-degree P-UDI 2-iron in Nick Dunlap’s bag yesterday, and now have some photos of both the 3- and 4-irons. Nick has his P-UDI 2-iron setup with a Project X HZRDUS Black 4th Gen 105g TX shaft.

From what we can tell, this new P-UDI utility iron looks to have some of the usual TaylorMade technology as we can see the Speed Slot on the sole of the club for additional face flexibility. A toe screw is usually used to close off the hollow body design that will probably be filled with a version of TaylorMade’s Speed Foam that is present in the current iron lineup. This hollow body, foam-filled design should offer additional ball speed, soft feel, and sound, as well as an optimized CG for ball flight.

“Forged” is etched into the hosel, so we can assume that either the face, body, or both are forged for a soft and responsive feel. The club looks good from behind and at address, where we can see just a little offset and a topline that I would consider medium thickness. We don’t have the full details on what is under the hood or how many loft options will be available yet.

TaylorMade P-UDI 3-iron – 20°

TaylorMade P-UDI 4-iron – 22°

Check out the rest of our photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage

Your Reaction?

LIKE12
LEGIT1
WOW3
LOL0
IDHT0
FLOP1
OB0
SHANK1

Whats in the Bag

Collin Morikawa WITB 2024 (April)

Published

18 hours ago

Apr 17, 2024

GolfWRX Staff

Collin Morikawa what’s in the bag accurate as of the RBC Heritage. More photos from the event here.

Driver: TaylorMade Qi10 LS (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 60 TX (45 inches)

3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (13.5 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Check out more in-hand photos Collin Morikawa’s clubs here.

5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana D+ Limited 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (4), P7MC (5-6), P730 (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue Mid 115 X100 (4-6), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (7-PW)