Introducing the New Project X Graphite Shaft

Categorized | Product News

Introducing the New Project X Graphite Shaft

Posted on 04 November 2009 by Jeff Summitt

The Tour’s Secret Weapon Revealed!

In this economy it is hard to fathom that someone is willing to spend a whole lot of money on a golf shaft unless that person is Warren Buffett. But you might be surprised how many core golfers don’t quibble about price when it comes to their equipment. The newest premium graphite shaft unveiled is the Project X, which on the very day it became available for consumers worldwide, was used by the winner of the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin GC in Spain.

Who Manufacturer’s the Project X shaft?

Wondering, who makes Project X shafts? Well, you might have heard that name in steel, but not graphite. The Project X graphite shaft series is manufactured by none other than True Temper, the world’s number one producer of shafts in the world who use the PGA tour players as their guinea pigs in product development. True Temper also owns the Grafalloy brand that you might be more familiar with. But the Project X is positioned as True Temper’s premium line in both steel and graphite and designed for those who will spare no expense in their game.

Gettin’ Techy

I was fortunate to have Tour-like status to test first-hand the new Project X driver before they became available to the public. You see I get to wear multiple hats. One is the tech or geeky side that wants to know everything about the product. From Zonal Design Theory to specifically target and design the tip, mid and butt sections with specialized layers of ultra-high modulus material to cross-sectional stability, a spin reducing tip section, each flex of the Project X is a completely different animal.

This was evident from my preliminary testing of the shafts, that each flex had a totally different set of specification for weight, frequency, torque, tip and butt stiffness rather than just different frequencies of the same shaft profile. For those fellow techies who analyze all the numbers like frequency, torque, etc., I have one word for you – DON’T!

Quality Range Time

My other hat I wear is the avid golfer – just like you. I headed out to the range with the 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0 flex versions of the driver shafts in the Dynacraft Prophet ICT driver head I have sported all year. Anything more than that would be too stiff for my 100 mph swing speed as I would later find out. The 5.0 would be a middle of the road R-flex, while the 5.5 would be considered a firm R-flex. The 6.0 was a soft to standard S-flex in their system.

Believe me I have tried all sorts of shaft and head combos that my game is predicated on my swing – not my equipment. So I have a pretty good grasp of what type of specifications I can use based on a database of information. The Project X driver shafts might have challenged some of my theories. The 6.0 model was in similar to specs to what I had been using at least on paper. The performance was more than adequate and should have been for a premium shaft, but it felt surprisingly firmer. My only explanation as to why, is most likely the premium materials used in the construction of these shafts.

It was the softer 5.0 flex that I preferred both from a feel and a ball flight standpoint. There is something about these high end shafts that is hard to put a finger on. The mid 50g weight and very low frequency (238 cpm) would normally be a recipe for inconsistency, but what occurred was just the opposite. As a matter of fact, all three flexes I tested produced excellent results. But of special note was the repeated consistency in the ball direction and landing pattern. I didn’t see as many fliers or balls that might have curved as far one way or another as I would normally.

The Real Advantage

This is the reason why the best players in the world want these ultra-premium shafts – consistency. We all know what consistency breeds and that is confidence. Heck, they don’t know what they cost anyway since they get them for free. All they are concerned with is they just want something that will help them perform at their highest level.

For those who have relied on the Project X steel shafts already know how dedicated the True Temper engineers at giving you the tools to perform at your highest level. If you are serious about your game and you won’t settle for anything less, take a look at the new Project X series of graphite shafts.