What’s More Important: Shaft Weight or Shaft Flex?
Opinion & Analysis
AVL: My U.S. Amateur local qualifying experience
This past Monday, I played in the U.S. Amateur local qualifier at Rock Creek Country Club in Portland, Oregon. A full tee sheet from 7:30 a.m. to 1:55 p.m., the top 11 scores would make it to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying.
I teed off at 10:48 a.m.. With the 7:30 am tee time, you can get a feel for the leaders’ pace, and they were off and running on the challenging setup at Rock Creek.
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Getting to the highlight of the round on the par five 17th, a drive up the left side and 212 yards left to the front hole location. I took out a 5-iron with plans of middle of the green. The ball ended up 8 feet left of the hole, pin high. A slight downhill putt dropped in for an eagle 3 on the 17th. With the cut line looking to be anywhere from -2 to even par. This was the boost I had been waiting for all day.
With making par from the trees on 18, it was time to wait for a potential playoff with a posted score of one under par 71.
Three hours later, it was playoff time. 8 players for 6 spots. I made par on the playoff hole, which was good enough to advance to the U.S. Amateur final qualifying in July. USGA qualifiers sure deliver on all of the emotions in golf!
Club Junkie
Building my 2026 gamer WITB: Ranking the contenders and new putter projects – Club Junkie Podcast
The annual What’s In The Bag build is underway, and on this episode of Club Junkie, Brian breaks down the clubs currently leading the race for a spot in his 2026 gamer setup. From drivers and fairway woods to irons, wedges, and shafts, he ranks the equipment that’s performing best and explains what’s separating the front runners from the rest of the field.
Brian also heads into the workshop to discuss several putter projects currently on the bench. From head options and shaft choices to build ideas and testing plans, he shares what he’s working on and which putters could become serious contenders for the bag this season.
If you’re a gear junkie who loves equipment testing, club building, and the never-ending pursuit of the perfect setup, this episode is for you.
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Club Junkie
Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie
On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.
I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.
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KK
Jul 30, 2016 at 7:26 am
It’s all about feel, with lighter shafts generally spinning a bit more with a bit more speed. The real problem is many golfers choose ego and show over darts-into-the-green control and scoring.
Nooner
Jul 27, 2016 at 3:25 am
I think the length and girth of the shaft are more important in satisfaction for all involved
Variable Step Patterns
Jul 26, 2016 at 7:51 pm
You’re talking about two shafts with variable step patterns as well. So that should be considered. Mark obviously loads the shaft different than coach. And as Mark stated he adjusted to the lighter shafts second time around. You shouldn’t have to adjust to a shaft. Your natural tendency will come out eventually. I’m willing to bet if they went with the lighter shaft they would develop different swings to compensate to get his timing right all the time to play the irons. But then he will have to compensate the rest of the bag. You should swing what ever allows you to achieve the proper shot window and dispersion and swing the same through out the bag.
Like people have stated people need to be fit. what works for one may not work for another. Plus not having an industry standard for flex doesn’t help. DJ plays KBS Tour 120 in his wedges….that’s light for a wedge shaft…..but look at his stats…
FlexVariesWithWeight
Jul 26, 2016 at 5:43 pm
It’s disappointing to see Mark Crossfield completely miss the fact that flex does in fact vary according to shaft weight. Even Nippon will tell you that a 950GH stiff is not equal to the 1150GH stiff in absolute flex. Looking at EI profiles, the Zelos 7 is nothing like the Modus3 shafts that Mark compared. Mark continually “emphasized” that all the shafts were stiff flex, but he just doesn’t seem to get it. So unfortunately there were a lot more variables in play here than just shaft weight.
Nooner
Jul 27, 2016 at 3:27 am
And what about MOI? He’s only swinging one middle club. I would love to see how this same test works with the PW and 3 irons
Mmmmm
Jul 26, 2016 at 3:17 pm
What
Was
The
Swingweight
in
Each
Club
Tested
MB
Jul 26, 2016 at 8:03 am
I agree with Steve. Also I think it has to do with feel. A full swing wedge made by a pro, is different to a full swing 3i – 9i. The shaft is shorter, not generating the same speed and a greater value is put into dispersion and zooming in on target. In order to create the same feel as with X100 in their other irons they choose a shaft with the same weight but slightly softer in overall flex, adding a fraction more spinn. Feel being factor No. 1 in their priority.
JG
Jul 25, 2016 at 4:30 pm
Great analysis! My question goes back to flex… Many tour pros use a different shaft in their irons versus their wedges with TTDG S400 being the popular wedge shaft choice. Is this just a feel thing? How would an amateur know whether they would benefit from different flex in their wedges?
steve
Jul 26, 2016 at 7:35 am
From what I understand they want a softer tip in wedges to create more spin
jo
Jul 26, 2016 at 7:42 am
Test it. Like Mark said, go to a golf shop and hit as many different weights and flex’s of shaft as you can. And instead of looking at the results, only go by ur feel to narrow down ur top three shafts. Then look at the numbers or results. I did this with my irons. Did it with the Mizuno shaft optimizer fitting system, even tho I don’t play Mizuno irons. I fully went in thinking I was going to be getting KBS tour shaft because of the hype. But after testing my top three where in order Project X 6.5, DG X100 and then KBS tour. I didn’t not like the feel of the KBS shafts at all. And the Project X shafts distance numbers were slightly longer then the DG X100 by a yrd or 2. But the feel of the DG X100s for me was way above the others for my swing which is compact, short and aggressive. All and all no one person can tell u ur shaft weight and flex, you need to go out and feel the perfect shaft for you.
Alex
Jul 26, 2016 at 3:01 pm
The s400 is heavier than the x100 so it gives the feeling of fractionally more control with the s400 wedge shafts. Thats the main reason why the s400 is more sought after is the weight. But there are a few outliers i.e. Rory McIlroy who uses PX 7.0 in his irons and PX 6.5 in his wedges. The 7.0 weighs more but is also stiffer, so he choose the lighter but not quite as stiff shaft in his wedges. To answer your question, most off the rack wedges come with DG s200 aka “Wedge Flex” These shafts are plenty heavy enough for I would say >90% of golfers. For most people I would say start with the s200 and work you way down to a lighter shaft.