Equipment

How defending John Deere Classic champ Dylan Frittelli gained nearly 20 yards

Published

5 years ago

Jul 9, 2021

Editor’s Note: We filed this piece for PGATOUR.com’s Equipment Report.

Let’s begin with some trivia: Looking at the past 10 years, which PGA TOUR golfer has made the biggest distance gain year over year? “That’s an easy one,” you say. “Bryson DeChambeau.” Correct. But who’s right behind Bryson and his 19.8-yard increase in distance from 2019 to 2020?

Who picked up 18 yards off the tee from 2020 to 2021, increasing his average drive from 291 yards to 309?

Here’s a clue: He’s the defending at this week’s John Deere Classic.

While the riddle would have been much more difficult without a headline and image atop this story, it takes nothing away from Frittelli, whose driver clubhead speed is now an impressive 118.7 mph.

“If you hit it 10 yards longer, you increase your prize money by $1 million,” Frittelli said earlier this year, citing statistics. “Things like that are non-negotiable in my mind. It’s fun for me. It’s re-invigorated my game. I’m excited to hit tee shots and see how I can play holes on golf courses differently. Not going full bore, just adding a little speed training in certain situations.”

After doubling down on his fitness — “two solid years of lifting,” according to Frittelli — he wasn’t seeing his increased strength translate to a boost in distance.

“Basically July last year, I looked at my trainer and I said why am I not hitting it any longer? I’ve been doing all these power workouts, strength workouts in the gym, and I’m getting stronger for sure because I can see my PRs moving up in each exercise. I then figured out that he said to me you actually want to hit it further? I didn’t realize that. Yeah, so we switched that up had a little more speed in the workout, so instead of just power and strength, trying to lift heavy and lots of reps, went down to fewer reps and lighter weight.”

In addition, the South African has made some interesting adjustments to his driver setup. And as this is the Equipment Report, we wanted to get more information on the artillery the bomber-come-lately is employing.

We spoke with Callaway’s PGA TOUR manager, Jacob Davidson, to learn more.

GolfWRX: When did the discussion about switching to a longer driver shaft begin, and what was that process like to get him into his current setup?

JD: It started last year. His driver cracked and he put the same model with a new shaft in play at THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK. We did some more work the next week at the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD, and we moved him into a Callaway Mavrik Sub Zero D head that was a little bit wider. We did a bunch of testing at that point with different shafts, tipping. He played the Mavrik Sub Zero D through the fall. Around the Farmers Insurance Open, he did some new testing with the Epic Speed and did some more testing at the Waste Management Phoenix Open and ended up putting the Callaway Epic Speed Triple Diamond LS in play for the PGA Championship with a 46-inch Mitsubishi Tensei AV White AV 65 X tipped 1.5 inches.

The head was a natural fit. His misses had been a little right. With this head, he got lower spin with a more neutral start line. It has a little weight back so it’s more forgiving. 7.6 degrees of actual loft. N-1 hosel setting.

Read the rest of the piece here.

Equipment

Slab city on the Korn Ferry Tour — Lead Tape Report

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Andrew Von Lossow

This week, we have our Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, on the ground at the OccuNet Classic at Tascosa Golf Club in Amarillo, Texas, for the 14th event of the 2026 Korn Ferry Tour season. With that, we see some great things in the Lead Tape Report as we roll into Amarillo.

Joel Thelen

Monday Qualifier, Joel Thelen is in the field this week. He has played on the Korn Ferry Tour for a full season in 2023, and he is back in action this week. A couple of clubs caught my eye this week in his bag.

First off: His trusted Titleist 816 H2 hybrid. This club came out in October of 2015, and it still remains strong in the bag. Also, take a look at this Odyssey White Hot OG 7, putting a capital S in the 7S model. This custom neck has some impressive lean for an arm-lock-style putter. The bottom of the putter is covered in tape for optimal weighting.

Mitchell Meissner

Taking a look at Mitchell Meissner’s bag this week, we have some great lead tape coverage. Top to bottom working from fairway metals, irons, and wedges. We can see on the short irons and wedges that there is tape at the base of the grip, adding a little counterbalance. Along with that, some tape on the short irons and wedges as well. Moving to his putter, he rolls the Odyssey 7 Bird putter. Meissner putts left-handed and strikes the ball right-handed.

Whats in the Bag

Bud Cauley WITB 2026 (June)

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

Bud Cauley had >14 clubs in his bag when photographed prior to the Memorial Tournament.

Driver: Titleist GTS2 (8 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X

3-wood: Titleist GTS3 (15 degrees, B1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 70 TX

7-wood: Titleist GTS3 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Chemical Tensei 1K Pro Red 80 TX

Irons: Titleist U505 (3), Titleist 620 MB (4-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 8 X, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM11 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F), WedgeWorks (60-K*)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400

Putters: Scotty Cameron Tour Prototype, Scotty Cameron GOLO 6.3 Prototype

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Align

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

See more in-hand photos of Bud Cauley’s clubs here.

Equipment

Name every set of irons you’ve owned – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

17 hours ago

Jun 10, 2026

Will Schube

In our forums, one user has offered up a prompt for the true sickos, inviting fellow forum members to share every set of irons they’ve ever owned. As to be expected, this is a lengthy forum topic.

@Lamosteve began:

Can you name every set of irons you’ve owned? Here’s mine

Spalding Dots
Spalding Eclipse
Ram Lazer FX
Lynx Parallax
Mizuno EZ Comp
Ben Hogans
Cleveland CG Red
Taylor Made R9s
PING i20
PING iE1
Taylor Made M6

Our members in the forum have been offering up their own collections. Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

macedan: “Started with a hand-me-down Golden Bear set from my brother when I was in high school, never really played more than once a year or got into the game until about summer of 2017. First purchased a set of Cleveland CG4’s (I actually really miss this set sometimes, soft & not terribly large for a GI iron), moved into Nike Vapor Fly’s by the end of the year. Those lasted until spring of 18 when I decided I wanted new, so I traded them in for TM Rbladez. Honestly, although I liked the Rbladez, poor decision on my part, I think this was really about the only time so far that after a week or two I was kicking myself for not staying with what I had. Rbladez stayed with me until late last summer when I switched to P790’s and (knock on wood) I am hoping this will be my longest lasting set.”
JimmyC59: “MacGregor Jack Nicklaus Triple Crown. Palmer The Standard. Still play these.”
jgrzask: “Tommy Armour 845u
Mizuno MP-32
Mizuno MP-33 (2 sets)
Bridgestone J33cb – still own
Srixon i-302 (2 sets) – still own
Tourstage X-Blades – still own
Mizuno Hot Metal – still own
Nike Forged Blades – still own
Titleist 714 AP1 – still own
Cobra Forged SS – still own”

Entire Thread: “Name every set of irons you’ve owned.”