Oban CT-125 Golf Shaft Review

Oban CT-125 Iron Shaft Review

By Russ Ryden, Fit2Score, A Dallas Fort Worth Club Fitter & Club Maker
The Highlands Performance Golf Center, Carrollton Texas 
Golf Digest Certified America’s 100 Best Club Fitter

The Oban CT-125 is the last of the weights that will be made in this model. It joins the previously reviewed CT-100 and CT-115, completing the fitting matrix of the series. Each weight has 11 shafts from which the club builder can select a subset to build a set. The extended range allows for fine tuning stiffness by “soft stepping” or “hard stepping”. This is not exactly the correct term for this design, but it is a concept you may be familiar with. Building a set of 8 shafts from the 11 available allows for three steps in either the soft or hard direction. A smaller set of 6 or 7 irons adds more stiffness options. Most other constant weight shaft brands produce 8 or 9 shafts in a model matrix.

If you do not follow my YouTube Channel, Devoted Golfer, this was shot at the 2019 PGA Merchandise show. Ralph Reichart, owner of Oban talks about briefly about the extrusion process used by Shimada to make the CT series of iron shafts. 

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Russ

Nippon N.S.Pro Regio Formula Driver Shaft Review

NIPPON N.S.PRO Regio Formula

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

NSPro_Regio_Formula_ Image.fw

The Nippon N.S.Pro MODUS3 Tour 120 irons shaft has become one of Nippon’s best sellers.  The design is unique. And that design has now been used in a driver shaft. It is different enough that I cannot comment without testing it.  My first look was with a model that was too soft. Stay tuned, there will be more testing soon.

The closest Ei match is the Graphite Design TourAD DI and the Mitsubishi Series G Ultralight. The Modus Tour 120 profile was uniquely different and has become one of my favorite shafts for low single digit handicap players. When and where it fits, dispersion tightens. The graphic below may look a little bumpy.  These are single shafts profiles, not the averages typically seen in other reviews. The radial quality of this shaft is excellent, The consistency of the bend profile signatures are as good as it gets.

The technical discussion, measurements and testing results are available only to registered readers

Project X Driver Shaft Review

True Temper Project X & Project X PXv Driver Shafts

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

The Project X brand name came from Royal Precision. Royal Precision, an iron shaft only company, was acquired by True Temper in 2006. The Project X brand name was part of that purchase. Project X branded driver shafts appeared soon after that purchase.  They use the same stiffness designation as the Project X irons shafts, numbers, rather than letters.  The 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 & 7.0 numbers designate stiffness.  The original numbering scheme was formula based and came from frequency and length.  The numbering system on the Project X driver shafts, like all other driver shaft stiffness designations I have seen are based on both weight and stiffness.  A heavier 6.0 shaft will also be a stiffer 6,0 shaft.

TTPX Composite Ei.fwI looked at four versions of the Project X driver shaft, the original Blue, the lighter weight Black, the newer, PXV Tour52 and the PXV.

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Russ

Graphite Design Tour AD GT Golf Shaft Review

GRAPHITE DESIGNS TourAD GT DRIVER SHAFT
RANGE TESTS OF THE TourAD DI, DJ, BB, GT

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

GD TourADGT Image
GD AD BBvsGT EIReleased in 2013, the Tour AD GT is intended as a higher launching design than the Tour AD BB released in 2012. That was confirmed in our range testing when the proper weight and flex were used. The torque measurements were right between the Tour AD DJ and the Tour AD BB.  The bend profiles are consistent from shaft to shaft. The Tour AD GT like the Tour AD DJ have slightly stiffer midsections as the increase in weight and stiffness.  This is different from the Tour AD BB which maintain exactly the same profile from weight to weight, and flex to flex.

The technical discussion, measurements and range tests are available only to registered readers

This video is Mark’s comments on the feeling from the 8 shafts we tested.

Graphite Design Tour AD DJ Golf Shaft Review

GRAPHITE DESIGNS TOUR AD DJ DRIVER SHAFT

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

GD TourADDJ Image

The Graphite Design Tour AD DJ was the second shaft released in the current Tour AD series. It followed the original Tour AD-DI and was designed to promote a lower launch by stiffening the tip. GD AD DIvDJ EI.fw

The technical discussion and measurements are available only to registered readers

Diamana B-Series Golf Shaft Review

 Mitsubishi Diamana B-Series Third Generation Blue Board

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

Diamana B Images

The third generation of the Mitubishi Blue Board, the B-Series released in late 2012. The original graphics show on the bottom is sold in Asia. A revised graphic, the top image, toning down the floral pattern is sold elsewhere. Same shaft. The Blue Diamana was to my knowledge the first of the Diamana Family of shafts.  My first encounter was in a Taylor Made TP driver.  It was the beginning of a long lasting relationship.  The Diamana Blue profile has been one of Mitsubishi’s best sellers.  It is butt stiff / mid soft / tip stiff.  The profile has been copied by most brands as one of their models.  The second generation Diamana Blue was the Kai’li.  It was the first of the Mitsubishi Diamana shafts to use a wrapping technique called Multi Dimensional Interlay.  Diamana B MDI image.fwAll the the second generation Diamana’s, the Kai’li, Ahina and ilima featured stiffer tip sections than the first generation designs which resulted in longer sections of uniform stiffness.  The Kai’li refined the original Diamana Blue profile with a slightly stiffer butt and tip.

Diamana B EiProfiles In all the Mitsubishi Shafts, weight and stiffness from shaft to shaft ascend uniformly.  That means the 70 S shaft is stiffer than the 60 S as you can see in this illustration. This makes it easy for a fitter to move from weight to weight, knowing the bend profile of the shaft does not change. Not all brands follow this design choice. Some change profile with weight.

 The third generation Diamana Blue takes the stiffness of the design up a notch.

Diamana B vs Kaili.fwWith the release of the KuroKage model in 2012, Mitsubishi introduced a high density prepreg using more fiber and less resin. The PR talked about adding strength by changing the proportion of fiber to resin. This technology is now being used in the third generation Diamana B-Series. . What I see is a 10 gram weight reduction. The 50 gram B-Series is the same as the 60 gram Kaili. Same stiffness, same bend profile, but 10 grams lighter. Look at the previous chart to understand this.  Recall how the Mitsubishi shafts ascend in weight and stiffness.  Now, just ratchet the profiles up a notch, lighter is now stiffer. And I am now fitting the player I would have put into the 60 gram Kai’li into the 50 gram Diamana B.  The Diamana-B series in available in a wider weight range than former models.  50 gram R, S and X flex shafts are now available.

Where we do see a difference is in torque. The 50 gram shafts have 1/2 degree more torque than the 60 gram models. Still in an acceptable range, 3.0 tip, 4.2 butt in the 50 S. As shafts get lighter, they generally need more torque to transmit feel. With the mix of Kai’li and the B-Series in a fitting cart, the Mitsubishi fitter has an interesting range of options in the search for the perfect fit. The Blue Board design is the a perfect fit for the golfer with a quick tempo and aggressive transition. I view it as a neutral launch, not biased toward high or low. With the addition of a 50 gram model, the gap between the Ultra Lite driver shafts and the typical 60 gram shaft has been bridged.

Diamana B EiGj Table