DOWN TO THE SCIENCE
Westover calibrated Trackman as I warmed up with a few seven-irons before putting into play what he labeled as my “Gamer” club, a TaylorMade 9.5 degree R9 circa 2009 with a stock R-flex Fujikura Motore F1 65 shaft, set to a neutral bias. Even with the occasional, familiar pull-hook cropping up when I got too quick in transition, the numbers I produced were solid, especially in terms of smash factor (the ratio between ball speed and club speed), which was solidly in the 1.45 range.
“That’s pretty close to what the Tour guys do,” Westover said.
Swing speed hovered around 91 mph, not bad for a dude pushing 60, with ball speed hanging in the low 130s. Again, acceptable. But I wasn’t reaching optimum launch angle (above 12 is in the ballpark) dynamic loft (looking for 13 or above), hang time (around 4.11 seconds, meh); one bright spot was the spin rate, consistently below 2,000 rpm.
But, clearly, I could do better. Indeed, had to do better to have any chance of maintaining even a passing relationship with my higher-lofted irons on the approach.
So commenced the parade of shafts of various weights, frequencies and kick points. My old R9 did OK on the frequency machine when I’d had it tested at the glistening new teaching and fitting facility at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (page 52) a few weeks after my Club Champion visit, which was reflected in the numbers here. For a stock stick, it acquitted itself well. But with TPT I was promised a new dimension of drill-down in terms of millimeter-by-millimeter matching of its proprietary materials to my movements in time and space — and to the characteristics of the head that won out for overall speed, carry distance, spin and dispersion — with virtually no variation from fitting shaft to the final product I’d enjoy for years to come.
How? That’s where TPT excels, with a heady combination of materials (carbon fiber that’s four times thinner than a human hair, one-quarter the weight of a sheet of paper) and “Thin-Ply Winding Method” that, says TPT Golf Director Sebastian Sebayang, “can produce a perfectly consistent golf shaft each and every time.” They aren’t cheap, retailing for $499 and up a copy, and you can only get them through a custom fitting facility (including all 32 Club Champion locales across the nation), but I’m here to tell you that for serious golfers looking to kick their driver game up several notches, it’s worth saving up for.
“This is a new product for us and we’re just getting used to putting into our fitting system, but so far it has really done well among our customers who want the best, the ultimate fitting outcome,” Westover told me we worked our way through the three TPT configurations — heavier 15 Series for higher swing speeds (over 100 mpg), 17 Series for speeds in the 80-90 mpg range and 19 Series (lighter for 60-70 mpg swing speeds), in various configurations. “It takes longer to get once it’s ordered, but people know they’re getting the perfect shaft for their game.”
In the end, Trackman married my middling clubhead speed and low-double-digit handicapper’s somewhat wobbly swing planes and attack angles to the TPT 17 MKP-MT-SW (58 grams, 46 inches long with a mid kick-point), no matter what head it was attached to. I could physically feel the improvement in ball flight and velocity through the hitting zone, the percussive snap of the shaft whipsawing, subtly yet powerfully, at impact.
