Equipment

Do you need a $1000 shaft?

Published

13 years ago

Jun 19, 2013

For $1000, a golfer can buy a lot of clubs — a driver, a few fairway woods and possibly even a few wedges. But unless that golfer went through a custom fitting, the $1000 worth of clubs he or she bought are likely going to fall short in distance, accuracy or both.

For golfers who want to leave absolutely nothing on the table, adjusting a driver’s loft or swapping stock shafts isn’t going to cut it. They need a club head and shaft to work together to give them the perfect launch and spin numbers, and they want it to feel perfect, too.

All that feel and performance comes at a price, however. For example, the aftermarket Matrix M3 “Black Tie” shaft that U.S. Open winner Justin Rose used in his TaylorMade R1 driver at Merion costs around $320. And get this — two other shafts used by golfers in the U.S. Open field made Rose’s shaft look cheap.

Aldila Rogue

Aldila’s Rogue shaft is still in the testing phase, but John Oldenburg, vice president of engineering for Aldila, said that if it does come to retail it will cost around $1000.

The reason for its high price? Like most graphite shafts, it’s the materials. The Rogue uses what are called “pitch” fibers in its design, which are much stiffer than the graphite fibers used to make Aldila’s other shafts.

According to Oldenburg, the stiffest graphite fibers currently in play on the PGA Tour have a modulus of 65 million pounds per square inch, or 65 msi. The Rogue’s pitch fibers have almost double the modulus — 125 msi.

The stiffer materials allow Aldila to create a shaft that’s lighter and stronger than previous shafts, with very low torque. For Lee Westwood, who used the shaft in a Ping G25 driver at the U.S. Open, the Rogue created a lower-launching, lower-spinning ball flight that propelled him into a tie for 15th finish.

Click here to see what members are saying about the Aldila Rogue shaft in the forums.

Matrix Ozik TPHD

Like U.S. Open winner Justin Rose, runner-up Jason Day also used a Matrix shaft in his driver and fairway wood. But Day’s Matrix Ozik TPHD shaft costs more than three as much as Rose’s 6M3 — about $1000.

Click here to see all the clubs and shafts used by Jason Day.

Like the Aldila Rogue shaft, the Ozik TPHD shafts are made with exotic materials and special constructions that offer increased strength and improved performance. Chris Nolan, executive vice president of global operations for Matrix, said one of the leading factors of the TPHD’s high price tag is a material called Zylon, which has been used to make bulletproof shirts and sells for about $2000 per pound.

“In layman’s terms, Zylon is like Kevlar on steriods,” Nolan said. “Kevlar is very tough and strong, but it doesn’t have a high modulus. Zylon has a high modulus.”

Ozik TPHD shafts also use several other special materials, such as boron and GMAT, which are arranged in a way that gives certain golfers like Day an opportunity to gain as much as 3 to 4 mph of ball speed, Nolan said.

Do you need a $1000 shaft?

Even the experts, Oldenburg and Nolan, admit that most golfers probably don’t need a shaft that costs anywhere near $1000. So while the latest materials and manufacturing processes have allowed Aldila and Matrix to make shafts that are better than ever before, super high-priced shafts aren’t for everyone, even if cost wasn’t a factor.

As a general rule, golfers with more club head speed prefer lower torque shafts — and many tour players like Westwood like as little as possible. On the other hand, golfers with slower clubhead speeds usually need more torque. That’s why the most recent shafts from Aldila have what’s called progressive torques.

For example, Aldila’s RIPd NV shafts, which debuted in 2010, have 4.4 degrees of torque in the regular-flex models, but only 2.8 degrees of torque in the TX, or tour extra-stiff model.

Nolan has a different attitude toward torque, however. He said that Matrix is not that concerned with standard torque numbers — like shaft flex, torque tends to be measured in different ways by different manufacturers, which results in different readings. But what he said is important is the distribution of torque and stiffness throughout the entire length of the shaft, which creates stability and consistency.

As Nolan and Oldenburg both said, choosing a shaft really comes down to one thing.

“Do the numbers make sense?”

Chances are, golfers don’t need to spend $1000 for the answer to be “yes.”

Related Topics:Aldila Matrix

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23 Comments

Gae922

Jul 9, 2013 at 3:51 pm

Personally, I play only Tour shafts on my R1 Driver (Tour head also version 2 8,5° TD1xxxx), 3 wood RBZ stage 2 and on my rescue
This is not the same world… the productivity and the control is better than stock shaft or market shaft… but the price is not the same between 600 € and 1200 €.. performance has a price !…
But this is pure pleasure to play with this kind of equipment.

Reply Report comment
Putt King

Jun 22, 2013 at 8:53 am

I’ve been building clubs for myself and friends for 20 years and have tried a lot of golf shafts in irons and woods. Some of the best performing ones have been the inexpensive ones and some of the worst have been expensive. Price was never really a good indicator of potential performance/success in trying a new shaft whether for woods or irons. As Nolan and Oldenburg state at the end of the article, it all comes down to the numbers – how does the shaft perform for YOU? So then how do you decide what shafts to even try? You can go by the specs – torgue, CPM, kickpoint/bendpoint, etc but those are sometimes more marketing than reality. I’ve had shafts that claim to be high launch (because that’s the current mantra) that don’t launch the ball high at all. It’s probably best to go to a club fitter that has interchangeable shafts and you can use the launch monitor for irons and woods to determine what’s best for you, and then take it out onto the driving range or golf course for final testing. Most people have different swings indoors vs the golf course.

By the way, the best driver shaft I’ve tried in a long time is the TFC-189D Tour-S in my Ping G25 driver, 45″ length. I didn’t lose any distance or trajectory going to the Tour-S vs the Stiff shaft, and I’m hitting 12-14 fairways per round as a 6 handicap golfer (which is coming down because I’m hitting 3-4 more fairways per round now!).

By the way, if anyone has any leftover Utility Master Series (UMS) heads, let me know! I built drivers and 4 woods with these heads years ago and they still perform great. My brother is a scratch golfer and still can’t find a better utility club for his bag. It’s not as long as a modern 3 wood, but for that 225 yard draw/fade/high/low shot, it’s awesome! I wish I still had mine…. I don’t even remember the off-brand shaft I put in these but they worked great too.

Reply Report comment
Chris

Jun 21, 2013 at 7:53 am

Considering all the other expenses associated with gold, including $4+ golf balls and multi-thousand dollar annual memberships I frankly don’t see much difference between a $400 driver and a $1,400 one.

Reply Report comment
Bob

Jun 20, 2013 at 7:31 pm

Ever heard of Honma? Their 5 star shafts come with an even steeper price point. Heck, an iron set with 4 star ARMRQ6 graphite shafts will set you back a cool $20k.

Reply Report comment
BigG

Jun 19, 2013 at 6:10 pm

Taylormade = the biggest swindlers in the golf biz

Reply Report comment
- Lee
  
  Jun 20, 2013 at 7:20 am
  
  Taylormade is like the Ian Poulter of Manufactures. They may be pretty good, but they give you so many reasons to hate them.
  
  Reply Report comment
- Gae922
  
  Jul 9, 2013 at 4:44 pm
  
  BigG… be fair with Taylormade
  
  Taylormade is the biggest marketing company in Golf… I will certainly advise to them to be more transparent with the market, the consumers and players in their Golf market approach…
  The product made for the Tour are not the product branding Taylormade on the golf market… end of discussion… even if they are both design by the same company Taylormade… It means that Taylor has the know how to produce equipment for Tour pro.
  Despite this fact, the Taylormade products are the best for the mass market… 45 to 6 hcp… If you want performance you need to use aftermarket heads and shaft or even better use the graal some Tour equipements… as Tour head from Taylor (see R1 driver version 2) + Tour shaft… etc … difficult or expensive to find this kind of Tour Golf equipments…. My entire golf bag is 10 000 € of equipments.. This is my pleasure… I know that hand crafting tour irons heads cost 60 000 € even for the tour players… quality and pure performance has a price.
  
  Reply Report comment
SSgt. Bear

Jun 19, 2013 at 4:00 pm

Jason Day has three $1000 Matrix TP7HD shafts and elects to have them with Taylormade TP graphics. Is that part of the Taylormade endorsement contract? Do the contracted staffers all have to be “sheeple” and follow the herd?

Reply Report comment
- Scott
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm
  
  All taylormade players have the stock graphics on aftermarket shafts.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Gae922
    
    Jul 9, 2013 at 4:11 pm
    
    You are right Scoot but also you are wrong… The Tour shafts for the professional have the stock graphics not on aftermarket shafts but on special Tour shafts dedicated for the Tour players.
    These are better than the regular aftermarket shafts (selection in carbon, quality process, tests of the final product…etc This explain the price of each Tour shaft – 600 to 1200 €/$)
    This is where is the scam of club & shaft manufacturers … they want us to believe that the champions have the level of performance with their mainstream public products… This is completely wrong…
    This is also right for the head of the club… Tour heads are different… see
    For that reason, I advise good players (-5 to 4 Hcp) to obtain and play Tour products… no compromise o)))
    
    THIS IS PRODUCT MARKETING FOR THE CONSUMERS… WE NEED TO EDUCATE IN THE RIGHT WAY THE PLAYERS.. AND CONSUMERS
    
    Reply Report comment
Socorr4

Jun 19, 2013 at 3:35 pm

Just like watches that cost in the hundred thousand range, Áldila will find some buyers among those people who always want the most expensive item on the market. But seriously, does the watch tell time better or even as well as any cheap quartz model? What on earth can be gained from a shaft that costs a thousand bucks? Most pros play with driver shafts that cost less than a quarter of that.

Reply Report comment
- bradford
  
  Aug 27, 2014 at 9:11 am
  
  But it’s ITALIAN leather…..
  
  Sure, that’s much lower quality than mexican or honduran leather—but we can charge more–because it’s ITALIAN leather.
  
  Will it last? Hell no, and it’s thinner and less comfortable BUT!, It’s ITALIAN leather.
  
  Fact is some idiot will always pay the money for this stuff, and even bigger idiots will believe that it does something. Fair to compare touring pros to us? Do you make millions? If so, feel free to spend it on what is in fact only expensive because someone’s willing to pay for it. You know as well as everyone else that there is perfectly comparable equipment for reasonable prices.
  
  Reply Report comment
Mike

Jun 19, 2013 at 12:37 pm

i think everyone should be required to fashion their own equipment out of materials only found in their backyard. a limit of 3 clubs per bag, and while i’m on the topic…no bags allowed. oh and make the holes 1/2″ smaller.

Reply Report comment
Dave C.

Jun 19, 2013 at 12:32 pm

Nobody needs a $1000 shaft. PT Barnum once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

How true!

Reply Report comment
Soul

Jun 19, 2013 at 11:29 am

Waiting for the Rogue on Classifieds $950 firm

Reply Report comment
M Bartolomeo

Jun 19, 2013 at 11:27 am

good bye golf carts, hello Emus

Reply Report comment
- Justin
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 11:48 am
  
  Hahah well done
  
  Reply Report comment
BreakThrough

Jun 19, 2013 at 10:23 am

All players should eb using Steel shafts. You are changing the materials to a point where the game is no longer what it traditionally designed to be.

Reply Report comment
- stonyman
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 10:45 am
  
  Why steel? Hickory was used before this new fangled technology called steel.
  
  Reply Report comment
- mctrees02
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 10:57 am
  
  Is there any chance we can get rid of the dimples on the balls while we’re at it?
  
  Reply Report comment
- Curt
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 11:22 am
  
  Hell, while were at it, why don’t we go back to balls made of feathers???
  
  Reply Report comment
- joro
  
  Jun 19, 2013 at 12:01 pm
  
  Hmmm, and they say “anchored” putters are “not the way the game was meant to be played” Seems a bit stupid and the shafts to a lot more than the putter.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Blanco
    
    Jun 19, 2013 at 10:06 pm
    
    anchoring is to ______ as shaft is to putter?
    
    Reply Report comment

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Equipment

Then and now: Comparing Rory McIlroy’s current setup to his record-breaking 2019 Canadian Open victory

Published

2 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Alistair Cameron

In Rory McIlroy’s first appearance at the 2019 RBC Canadian Open, he crushed the record books to earn his 16th PGA Tour title in dominating fashion, winning by seven shots over Shane Lowry and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy’s score of 22-under-par 258 is the lowest 72-hole score to date at the Canadian Open, and his closing 61 is also the best final-round score in the history of one of golf’s oldest tournaments. Finally, with his win in 2019, McIlroy became only the sixth player to win the career Triple Crown, adding to his victories at the U.S. Open in 2011 and The Open Championship in 2014, joining Tommy Armour, Walter Hagen, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino and Tiger Woods in a coveted list.

So, with that, why not compare his current setup to the clubs he used to break all the records?

Driver

2019: TaylorMade M5 (9 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees @8), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 7X (45 5/8 inches)

McIroy led the Tour in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee in 2019; he’s doing the same in 2026. Between now and then, McIlroy has switched from the Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 70 TX (a shaft with slightly more feeling in the tip) to the original Fujikura Ventus Black 7X, having just made the change to the heavier version from playing the 60X.

What’s interesting about McIlroy’s 2019 setup is that the weighting on his driver is actually set in the high-draw setting, using the T-Track weighting system, whereas in the Qi4D, he’s currently using a heavily rear-weighted setup. (Two 13-gram weights in the rear and only two 4-gram front weights.)

The TaylorMade M5 driver he played in during his Canadian Open win was the company’s first head that they claimed to design to initially exceed the USGA’s COR limit, and then injected with tuning resin to bring it back in bounds.

Fairway woods

2019: TaylorMade M6 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 80 TX; TaylorMade M5 5-wood (19 degrees), Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White 90 TX
2026: TaylorMade Qi4D 3-wood (15 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X; TaylorMade Qi4D 5-wood (18 degrees), Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 9X

The TaylorMade M6 fairway wood that McIlroy was using during the 2019 season is still in the bag of some of the best golfers on Tour in 2026. Just check out Justin Rose’s winning setup from the Farmers Insurance Open earlier this year. This year, though, McIlroy has still been searching for his top-end-of-the-bag setup, having played both the new Qi4D and the Qi10, which he won the Masters with.

The same shaft swap can be seen in the fairway woods as the driver, along with slightly less loft on the 5-wood.

Irons

2019: TaylorMade P750 (4) Buy here, TaylorMade P730 (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0
2026: TaylorMade P760 (4), TaylorMade Rors Proto (5-9), Shafts: Project X 7.0

The biggest difference between McIlroy’s custom set and the stock P730s is the groove design. While the P730s were constructed with 14 MX-9 grooves on their milled faces, McIlroy’s proto heads instead use the higher-spinning, 16-groove layout of the TW2 grooves. Other big differences between the sets are that McIlroy’s 7- and 8-irons have thinner toplines, are 1 degree stronger in loft, and are 1/4 inch longer than the original P730 builds.

With McIlroy’s 4-iron, the switch from P750 to P760 sees a transition to a two-piece construction with Speed Foam in it, which allows McIlroy to launch the ball slightly higher, with more workability.

Wedges

2019: TaylorMade Milled Grind (48-09SB), TaylorMade MG Hi-Toe (52-09SB, 56-09SB, 60-LB09), Shafts: Project X Rifle 6.5
2026: TaylorMade MG5 (46-09SB, 50-09SB, 54-11SB, 60-08LB @61), Shafts: Project X 6.5 (46-54), Project X 6.5 Wedge (60)

Between 2019 and 2026, McIlroy’s focus on his short game has been much more apparent. It was the reason why he switched back to the TP5 golf ball, to help with launch, spin and control with his wedges leading up to his career Grand Slam victory in 2025. The most apparent changes to McIlroy’s wedge setup are his lofts and bounce. He’s slowly delofted his pitching to a sand wedge, but has increased the loft on the lob wedge, bending his current 60-degree to 61. With that, adding more loft to his lob wedge also slightly increases the bounce and leading-edge sit point, so, as a result, he plays a lower-bounce lob wedge compared to 2019. The MG5 wedges are also softer than the first Milled Grind option from 2019. McIlroy also no longer plays the full-face grooves found on the Hi-Toe.

Putter

2019: TaylorMade Spider X
2026: TaylorMade Spider Tour X

Notice anything similar. Yes, the copper finish on Rory McIlroy’s Spider X putter in 2019 is a slightly more reflective finish than the recently released torched PVD finish. McIlroy was using the True Path alignment system, but now uses only a single white sightline.

Ball

2019: 2019 TaylorMade TP5 (#22)
2026: 2025 TaylorMade TP5 (RORS)

As mentioned above, McIlroy had transitioned from the TP5 to TP5x golf ball since his victory in Canada in 2019, but now is black with the same style of golf ball as his victory at Hamilton Golf & Country Club.

Grips

2019: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
2026: Golf Pride MCC

Interesting, McIlroy actually used Golf Pride’s Tour Velvet Cord grips during his victory in 2019 (it was during a 2+ year switch to the corded TV) as opposed to his usual MCC grips, which he has played for most of his career.

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: Titleist Vokey Proto Wedges 54M, 60T

Published

4 hours ago

Jun 11, 2026

Will Schube

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @Putt4Dough is selling some prototype wedges from Vokey Wedgeworks. These include a 54 degree wedge with the M grind and a 60 degree wedge with a T grind.

From the listing:

(1) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 54M with a Tour Issue DGS400 shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet (logo down). Standard length, lie, and loft. BB&F ferrule. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

(2) Titleist Vokey Proto Wedge 60T with a KBS Tour 130X shaft and Golf Pride Tour Velvet. Standard length, lie, and loft. Raw wedge in good condition. No initials. Price is $200 shipped. Buy both wedges for $380 shipped.

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules.