California Golf Technologies

What's new on the West Coast

Golf Equipment Chronicles 2005 (Part 3)

Cognitive Dissonance--”Whatever Works”

I’ve been working on a compelling story (if you’re a golf equipment geek). Readers of the Chronicles are familiar with the debate about the difference between “Tour Proven” and “Consumer” versions of popular drivers.

The “Tour Proven” drivers (or TP as marketed by Taylor Made) are manufactured with .335 hosels, designed to accept the most popular shafts on the market which have tip diameters to fit. Consumer versions, on the other hand, are manufactured to accept .350 diameter shafts. A few thousands of an inch doesn’t seem like too much, but it’s enough to start an argument.

Taylor Made is the poster child for companies that sell two versions of their drivers. The first thing you notice is that the TP drivers are priced almost double the consumer models and they hold their value better in the secondary market. Other companies are quiet about their own “Tour” versions. At the Golf Lab, we occasionally see customers with a “Tour Only” Nike or Cleveland drivers come in for a reshafting. If you check out the market for Nike “Tour Only” models on eBay you’ll find .335 heads selling for up to $500. They are scarce and there have a mystique that players are willing to pay for.

If you drill down one more level, there is even a difference in the TP versions. The TP versions that were aimed at the consumer market come with serial numbers on their hosels. The ones that were sent to the Tour Vans for “Tour Only” use have no serial number or a number that starts with “T”. These are the most coveted of the Taylor Made heads.

Not all companies pursue the same product strategy. Acushnet (Titleist and Cobra) do not offer their drivers in .350 versions. As of this year, Adams is going back to .335 shafts. All component companies offer heads that take .335 shafts.

The Conspiracy Theory

If you’re suspicious by nature, it’s easy to think that the manufacturers are engineering a conspiracy at the expense of their customers. Why else would they have a product that they supply to Tour Players and another one that they sell to their customers? Is there a difference in quality to justify the difference in price? The conventional wisdom is that they are serving their own economic interests. It’s known that .350 diameter shafts are harder to break than the .335 tip models, particularly the light weight, soft tip versions. The simple explanation is that .350 shafts are delivered with mass market drivers to cut down on warranty replacements.

So I started digging into the question. I interviewed shaft manufacturers, company marketers, and tour representatives. Here’s what I found out:

It is true that very few (if any) Tour players use drivers with .350 tip diameter shafts. The reasons given are “tradition” -- Tour players are not interested in experimentation. “Feel” -- there is a belief that the .335 shafts are more responsive. “Availability” -- relatively few of the super premium shafts favored by Tour players (who get them free) are available in .350 diameter versions. No companies could give me the name of any of their staff players who were using .350 shafts. Strike one.

It is true that .350 shafts break less than .335 models. Strike two.

Finally, shaft manufacturers save money building .350 diameter shafts. They get by with thinner walls and still deliver the same flex and torque specifications as .335 shafts. They use less material. Strike three?

I found no actual testing that had been done to detect performance differences between .335 and .350 shafts. That could have been a red flag.

I thought that I had the problem figured out. As a card-carrying golf snob, I disdained any drivers that required .350 shafts. When I tested the flex of .350 shafts, I was not surprised that they tested stiffer than the corresponding .335 models. I imagined that I got less “pop” with .350 diameter shafts. When I bought drivers for myself, I always paid the extra money and bought the TP version. There were even days I contemplated making this perceived conspiracy public in the Chronicles and make the companies to admit that .335 shafts were better and that they were treating their consumer customers like ignorant hacks.

But then experience got in the way.

In the last few months, we have built dozens of drivers with 450 and 460 cc heads and super light weight shafts. There is no doubt that the 460 cc size is easier to hit. When Tiger changed from his Cro-Magnon Titleist driver to a Nike Ignite 460, what else can you say? The component head styles that we favor take .335 shafts, notably the KZG Gemini, the Alpha C-830/2 and the old faithful SMT 455 DB. The shafts that have been delivering the best performance are the Fujikura SIX, the Mitsubishi Diamana and the ACCRA T-50. Over the last few months, I’ve been writing about better distance and control from these combinations. I even reported that these setups had produced “lifetime best” performances for me. I was closing in on the 2005 version of the Magic Driver.

The Relationship between Quality and Price

In the golf industry, there is no equivalent to Consumer Reports. It is almost impossible to make a purchase decision based on proven performance comparisons. You can find any number of subjective opinions. All products have their supporters.

The default method for determining high quality in golf equipment is to focus on price. It’s a simple exercise if you believe that the most expensive is the best. Fujikura established a premium price point for their popular Speeders at $300 retail based on Tour play. When ACCRA came into the market, the only way they could compete with the Fujikura Speeder mystique was to price their top-of-the line shaft at $425. The only way they could claim it is better was to price it higher. The next premium shaft poised for market acceptance based on Tiger, Vijay, Retief and friends is the Mitsubishi Diamana - priced at, you guessed it, $300. How could a lowly $100 shaft compete with this royalty?

At the Golf Lab we have discovered dozens of products that perform great but aren’t the most expensive. It’s easy to say: “It’s the best and costs the most.” It’s much more difficult to make a sales pitch for an inexpensive product. Golfers are simply not ready to believe that they get world class performance without breaking the piggy bank. As an example, the best graphite iron shaft we have found for normal amateurs is the Apache 30+, the least expensive one that we offer.

The Surprise of the Month

It’s hard not to notice that Nike is making inroads on the PGA Tour. Everyone knows they have Tiger locked up. It looks like the Nike Tour relations staff is going to school on Billy Ball. They picked up Stewart Cink and he’s playing well. They picked up K.J. Choi to solidify their Global appeal and to compliment Grace Park. They’re frequently at the top of the leader boards. Michelle Wie had a bag full of Nike clubs at the Sony. Then Justin Leonard left his longtime relationship with Ben Hogan and won the next week with Nike. Astute picks make headlines while Nike covers every significant demographic group.

It was curiosity that motivated me to pick up an off-the-shelf Nike 460 Ignite. It took a while to screw up the courage to play a consumer product instead of my golf snob preference TP model. But I drew the line at playing the stock shaft. With very few of my favorite expensive shafts available in .350 size, I needed a new idea.

Bob had been testing shafts from one of those embarrassing companies that don’t have anyone in their marketing department who went to Harvard Business School. Aerotech makes a good product with an unique design based on wrapping fine steel fibers around the shaft. Aerotech shafts are relatively inexpensive. Bob and Chuckie have been playing 75 and 85 g. Aerotech Steel Fiber shafts in their Nike Ignites for over a month -- and the setups stayed in the bag.

I made one false start. Since I’ve been working with super light weight (55 g.) shafts, I thought I’d go my own way and install the 65 g. Steel Fiber Shaft. It was too weak. The thing you notice about Aerotech shafts is that the shaft walls appear to be thinner than other manufacturers. Then I went with Bob’s suggestion. I mounted the 75 g. Steel Fiber and took it to the course for the early season Five Club tournament at the Palo Alto Muni.

It’s the new magic driver -- at least for now. Despite the cool weather and wet fairways, I found my ball at near record distances. Apples to apples comparisons of distance and control with my previous contenders were no contest. You can tell something is different when your playing partners notice. By the end of the round at least one Cleveland Launcher was headed for eBay to be replaced with an Ignite 460 shafted with an Aerotech Steel Fiber. That’s when you know for sure.

Lessons Learned

For years I sought out exotic golf equipment for high prices and I’ve ended up with an off-the-shelf, consumer grade club with an inexpensive .350 tip shaft. It’s the best performer I’ve found. Oh well, whatever works.

All of my doubts and speculation about the .350 versus .335 debate is out the window for now. I had the best driving day I can remember with my lowbrow driver. If there was a difference in feel, I certainly can’t describe it. I’ve tested at least a hundred drivers in the last year. This one is the best of the bunch. At least it was last Saturday.

I may continue to try to figure out whether there is a performance difference between .335 and .350 shafts. The next time around, it will be under much more scientific circumstances than taking a bag full of drivers to the range. I’d like to find a real Iron Byron and set up a series of tests to see if performance differences are measurable -- and then reproducible. Player testing is, and always will be, unreliable. We’re just not good enough to know for sure.

The Palo Alto Five Club Tournament

If you want to sharpen up your game, get yourself a Sunday bag that holds five or six clubs and play a round or two. If you’re afraid to commit for a full 18, you can always make nine holes. The Palo Alto Muni Golf Club organizes a few “fun” tournaments early in the year. The “Five Club” was new this year. You have to give your club selection some thought and you might want to move up to the short tees, but you’ll get intimate with the clubs that make it into your bag.

You’ll be surprised how well you play. The winning gross score at Paly was even par from the whites. I shot a 78.

I chose my driver, putter, seven wood, seven iron and sand wedge. I gave it a lot of thought, but it was the wrong set. If I had it to do over, I’d swap the seven wood and seven iron for a five and eight iron. The tees you play will have a lot to do with picking the right clubs. I used my seven iron 12 times, from full shots to knock downs to little run ups. Some shots came out great. Because of that experience, I’m going to put the set of PRGR Data irons, shafted up with Project X 5.0’s soft stepped once back in play.

Tournament Conditions

I recommend joining one of the local Muni Golf Clubs if you want to get better. There is no substitute for competition when you’re working on your game. You find yourself playing under tournament conditions with players of like ability. You test your game under pressure. And, you have a chance to demonstrate your sportsmanship.

I had a little mix-up in the tournament. I left a putt on the edge of the cup on the 14th. Not thinking too much about the rules, I walked up and brushed the ball into the hole backhand. OOPS! I failed to notice the exact position of my feet. It turns out that if your ball is positioned between your feet and you brush it into the hole, you’re violating the “Sam Snead” rule against croquet-style putting. Two strokes. A world-class bogey four turned into a kick-in-the-stomach triple bogey six courtesy of my eagle-eyed blue coat playing partner.

That’s an example of playing under tournament conditions. It would be a severe test of friendship to call that penalty in a friendly match. But in a tournament, it’s your responsibility to know and observe the rules. If you want to slap the ball into the hole, make sure you’re standing on one leg.

Leith Anderson is a partner in the Golf Lab in Palo Alto. He will answer all questions related to clubmaking and clubfitting personally. Contact Leith Anderson by email: Leith@calgolftech.com. Cell phone 650-743-2816.