Equipment

Aldila ‘Tour Blue’ and ‘Tour Green’ shafts

Published

13 years ago

Jun 12, 2013

When designing its newest line of shafts, the “Tour Blue” and “Tour Green,” Aldila sought inspiration from its most successful platform, the NV shafts it released to tour players more than 10 years ago.

The NV shafts were made using the company’s Mico Laminate Technology, which means that extremely thin, high-quality layers of graphite were stacked on top of each other to make a shaft that felt smooth and performed more consistently.

A lot has changed in the golf industry in 10 years, but one thing that hasn’t changed is golfer’s appreciation of consistent, smooth-feeling shafts.

For all the technology that went into the new shafts, their design differences are simple. The Tour Green shafts have a stiffer tip section, which creates the low-launch, low-spin conditions that tend to work well with today’s drivers. The Tour Blue shafts have a softer tip section that launches the ball higher and with more spin, making them a good fit for fairway woods.

So what has made the Tour Blue and Tour Green two of the most popular shaft models on tour in 2013? According to John Oldenburg, vice president of engineering for Aldila, it’s the same reason that the NV shafts were so popular on tour — high-quality materials that create smooth feel and consistency.

Oldenburg said the Tour Blue and Tour Green shafts are the most consistent shafts his company has ever produced. They use what he said are the thinnest materials available, graphite fibers that are between three one-thousandths and five one-thousandths of an inch thick, which makes them better in two ways:

Because graphite shafts are built in layers, their manufacturing always results in a bit of overlap (often referred to as a shaft’s seams). Using thinner materials allows the seams to stay thin. When those seams are balanced throughout the shaft, as Aldila does with its Micro Laminate Technology, it results in a shaft that has more consistent wall thicknesses.
Since the graphite fibers are thinner, they also need less resin, or glue, to be held together. According to Oldenburg, resin is the weak link of graphite shaft design, because it is much more flexible than the graphite fibers it holds together. With less resin, Aldila can make shafts that are lighter, stiffer and lower in torque.

Aldila engineers also made the Tour Blue and Tour Green shafts with a balance point that is closer to the handle than its NV shafts, which helps balance out the heavier weight of today’s driver heads. It also allows golfers to play the longer-length shafts that have become more common in the industry, yet still keep the swing weight of the club in the D2-to-D5 range that most golfers are comfortable with.

“Before adjustable drivers … features that added weight to the head … drivers used to weigh between 198 and 202 grams, and measure between 44.5 and 45 inches long,” Oldenburg said. “Now they’re between 206 and 2012 grams, are are 45 to 46 inches long.”

The last, and maybe most important finishing thing for the sales of the Tour Blue and Tour Green shafts are the color-coded circuitboard graphics near the handle, which Oldenburg said he hopes communicate to consumers the high-tech materials and construction used to make the shafts.

“Technology stories like Micro Laminate are hard to tell,” Oldenburg said. “This is a very high-tech product, but unfortunately it still looks like a stick and it has to by the rules of golf. With the circuitboard look we’re saying, ‘Hey, there is technology in this.'”

The Tour Blue and Tour Green shafts will be released on Sept. 15 and carry an MSRP of $349. Aldila will initially release both models in a 65-gram version in R, S, X and TX flexes. In January, Aldila plans to release the 75- and 85-gram versions of the shafts.

Related Topics:Aldila shafts

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9 Comments

chris crawford

Jul 17, 2013 at 9:48 am

i used to have a adila 70x protopype but there hard to pick up these days with it being made in 2005, will the tour green play similar to the protopype?

Reply Report comment
Pernell Stoney

Jun 20, 2013 at 1:54 am

I am looking for 5.5 rifle shafts ( project x)

Reply Report comment
Joe Golfer

Jun 15, 2013 at 1:37 am

I wonder what it actually costs Aldila to make these shafts.
One used to be able to purchase a high end shaft at a reasonable price.
They talk about the original Aldila NV green shaft. I recall that shaft starting out at around $88. After about a year, the price had dropped to around $54 after newer models (not necessarily better) had entered the Aldila group.
The UST ProForce (gold and purple) shaft was super popular for years, and it sold for around $34.
The Grafalloy Prolite was the most popular shaft for several years, and it sold for $45.
So what exactly makes these cost $350, other than that other companies are charging that much for some of theirs?
Wonder how long it will be before we see a similar looking shaft in OEM drivers, but the shaft will say “designed exclusively for (insert name of company making driver)” rather than it actually being the “real deal” shaft.

Reply Report comment
- Lyle
  
  Jun 18, 2013 at 9:29 pm
  
  You are so right. The specs may even be the same so what exactly is the reason the price has gone crazy? In some cases, OEM’s have the EXACT shaft in their stock equipment and you can buy an entire club for the same cost as the shaft. This has nearly totally eliminated reshafts. When they stop making some of those more reasonably priced shafts, we’ll just throw away a driver with a broken shaft. It will be silly to repair it when you can just buy a newer version.
  
  Reply Report comment
DenverB

Jun 14, 2013 at 12:23 pm

Sad to hear they are designed to swingweight properly in 45-46 inch drivers. That is the standard now?

Look at the guys on tour, they are almost all between 44 and 45 inches.

Reply Report comment
- Brian
  
  Jun 14, 2013 at 12:32 pm
  
  While they’re deesigned to play in longer lengths, like all shafts they can be cut down to play shorter – you just need to add weight to the head to get the swingweight you desire. This can be done in many ways – shaft insert weights, adjustable / removable weights, or hot melt in the head. I’ve done all 3 – but usually not all on the same club!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - naflack
    
    Jun 14, 2013 at 1:52 pm
    
    I have no interest in making the head even heavier and/or messing with the club heads center of gravity. If i’m dropping this kind of dough I think slapping tape in various areas should not be necessary.
    
    Reply Report comment
keith

Jun 14, 2013 at 12:47 am

Yeah, I was really hoping this would be like a $150 type of shaft. 3.5 bills is just way to much for a shaft IMO…Looks sweet though,kudos to Aldila.

Reply Report comment
J

Jun 12, 2013 at 10:15 pm

And they join the 300$ shaft prices..

Good for them… Bad for the public

Reply Report comment

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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

18 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

18 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.”