As far as club builders go, there are few as knowledgeable or experienced as Scott Garrison—or as he is better known by his nickname Scott E.G. 

Scott owns and operates his own independent tour equipment support trailer on the PGA Tour, which not only houses equipment for players including club components, but he is also the only tour trailer that has an SST Pure machine.

For those not familiar with the SST PURE process here is a quick explanation from the company:

“The SST PURE Shaft Alignment System analyzes the structure of any golf shaft and identifies its most stable bending plane or Neutral-Axis. When assembled in the clubhead in this SST PUREd orientation, the result is improved consistency from club to club within your set and set to set within your brand.”

To help explain the SST PUREing further and the benefits, we reached out to Scott to talk about how he uses his machine and what goes into the process.

GolfWRX: For the people who are not familiar, walk us through the PUREing process.

SEG: Golf shafts aren’t perfectly straight or perfectly round. The SST PURE machine analyzes the structure of the shaft by applying force at the tip and rotates to find the “stiffest” and “weakest” points of orientation. It then uses that information to find the axis at which the shaft bends and returns on the most stable plane.

The machine identifies this by marking the shaft so I, as the builder, know where 12 o’clock is and can build accordingly. The hard spot faces the target, 3 o’clock for right-handed golfers.

GolfWRX: How long have you been on tour doing it and has the volume increased over the years?

SEG: This is the start of my 18th season on the PGA Tour, and I have been PUREing shafts for 15 years. The amount of players utilizing this technology has absolutely increased. I’m one of the busiest trucks out there week to week because of it.

GolfWRX: What performance examples can you give us where a player PURE-ed his shafts and saw tremendous improvement?

SEG: It was about seven years ago when I just finished re-gripping Ben Martin’s putter with a SuperStroke grip. As he was leaving, I asked him if he had ever had his clubs PUREd. He said, “No, but I had heard about it and was curious.” I showed him a set I was in the middle of PUREing and he was sold.  It was Monday morning, the week of the RBC Heritage and it was pouring. He said to PURE his entire set. That’s what I did Monday afternoon. I ripped his gamers apart and PUREd the shafts and put them back together (a retro-PURE). He was leading the tournament, he shot a career-low round and finished third.  He told me later how much better his mis-hits were.

GolfWRX: What percentage of your work is PUREing golf shafts?

SEG: A very large percentage! I would say I spend the majority of my time in front of the PUREing machine.

GolfWRX: Being the SST representative on tour, how does your process differ from any competitors you may have—basically, people who “spine” shafts.

SEG: This is the most precise way to align the spine of a shaft, which is why so many utilize it. Any other process that is done by hand or “feel” can only be so precise. The SST PURE machine doesn’t guess.

GolfWRX: In your experience, what are the obvious benefits to PURE-ing your shafts? What should any player experience?

SEG: In my opinion, the obvious benefit to PURE-ing is decreasing mis-hits and tighter shot dispersion. If you hit a toe shot, you can still end up on the green. Shots seem to fly truer.

GolfWRX: A huge number of players on tour utilize the SST PURE system, do you think it’s more of a mental check for them or is it a vital ingredient to getting the clubs just right? In simpler terms, would a player notice if it wasn’t done?

SEG: Yes, most players would definitely know if a club wasn’t PURE-ed. These are the best in the world, and they have the ability to feel the difference. They know when a club head is half a degree flat or upright, they know.

GolfWRX: For players that are PUREing their shafts, are they doing it with just one club like the driver or is it every club in the bag?

SEG: If a tour player always has his shafts PUREed, it would be every club in the bag.

GolfWRX: Does the boom in shaft technology and quality make the PURE-ing process better or does it even matter?

SEG: They still need it. It’s the most precise and effective means to create the result.

GolfWRX: Do you think PUREing is something every golfer should do and why?

SEG: Yes. Golf is an expensive game and a large investment for every golfer in terms of money and time. It is more fun when you hit longer, straighter shots.