PING CFS Iron Shafts

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

As a club fitter it is important to know what your are fitting with and the makeup of my customers existing clubs clubs. I did a reshaft of a set of Ping irons recently and had a chance to profile the pull outs. Here is what I measured:

For comparison with other shafts on this site, the 6 iron butt stiffness was 12.9 lbs. Tip to butt ratio was 56%, indicating a mid launch. This is a parallel shaft with a .370 tip. That can be seen in the descending weight as the shafts get shorter. To some degree, the tip stiffness compresses through out the set. This can be seen by looking at the range of mid shaft stiffness compared to tip and butt stiffness range. This is typical in sets made from the same shaft that have the tip section shortened to create additional stiffness as the club heads in the heads get heavier.

What I have seen in measuring other sets of Ping irons was that they achieved both swing weight matches and were very close to MOI matches. I regret not having measured this set before I pulled it apart. The descending weight caused a fairly substantial change in the shafts contribution to the total MOI of the club. Perhaps this is why I have seen swing weight and MOI matched sets of Ping irons.[\resrict]

True Temper XP 115 Iron Shaft

By Russ Ryden, A Golf Digest America’s 100 Best Clubfitter
Fit2Score, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas

A heavier model of the True Temper XP iron shafts was released in 2014. It joins the 95 and 105 gram versions reviewed earlier. I have been told an 85 gram version has been released in Asia and will likely become available in the US in 2015.

I have added new charts and expanded the measurements I am taking on shafts. The new Fit2Score instrument includes an appliance for measuring hoop strength. This is explained in an article in the technology section. The EI bend profiles show the shaft bend profile as a series of measurements of 10 inch sections of the shaft, in 1 inch increments. While this shows us a detailed view of the shaft and allows for comparison with other shafts it does not show how the shaft behaves when loaded. The deflection chart shown below uses the EI measurements with a load applied to the tip and butt of the shaft, illustrating how the shaft bends when loaded. This is a classical method for measuring shafts. It was done on a deflection board. With EI measurements we can do it with math and chart the results.

The True Temper XP line of shafts solves a problem I have had with True Temper iron shafts. There simply were too many models for me to understand. Now, with a 95, 105 and 115 version of the same design we have a uniform set of weight and stiffness fitting options in the weight range that fits most golfers. If we look at a subset of this, the 95R, 105R, 105S, 115R and 115S we have a fitting matrix with nearly identical bend profiles. And that is a great mix of mid weight fitting options for a product that is available in many fitting carts.

True Temper DG Pro

DG Pro R300
DG Pro S300
DG Pro X100

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Golf Center at the Highlands, Carrollton Texas

The Dynamic Gold Pro iron shaft is now available to the public through True Temper Performance Fitting Centers.  Pro is a play on words, it is short for progressive.  In my golf vernacular the word flighted comes to mind to describe these shafts. But True Temper feels progressive is a better word to describe these sets of shafts.  They are sets. There are three different step patterns in each flex. The design promotes higher launch and spin on the long irons and lower launch and spin on the short irons.  There three step patterns in a set, 2-5, 6-8 and 9-W.  There is a unique design for the 9 iron and the wedge.  This is not always the case in many constant weight shaft sets.  These sets are not exactly constant weight. The weight of the raw shafts decrease slightly from 2 iron to wedge by around 6 grams.  I am told this was necessary to hit the bend profile targets.

The progressive design of these shafts came from tour experience. The modern ball is designed for low spin off of low lofted clubs. This carries over to long irons. Low spin is a benefit on clubs like drivers where the primary objective is distance. But on irons, where control, stability and stopping on impact is important, spin is the golfers friend. The design of the Dynamic Gold Pro “Progressive” is to make the long irons playable, add a little spin to the mid irons and keep the short irons much the same as the Dynamic Gold. We have not tested a set, but the bend profiles indicate a truly progressive set, shaft to shaft through out the set.

The length of the tips, the distance between the tip and the first step are different in each flex design. That results in a different launch between the three designs. This, combined with making the softer flex models lighter is a great update to this iconic brand.