What’s the difference between True Temper Dynamic Gold and Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts?

Welcome to another edition of Fully Equipped, an interactive GOLF.com series in which our resident dimplehead (a.k.a., GOLF’s managing editor of equipment, Jonathan Wall) fields your hard-hitting equipment questions.

What’s the difference between True Temper’s Dynamic Golf and Dynamic Gold Tour Issue shafts? — Chris Umbrian

You’d be surprised how often I get this question on social media. Then again, True Temper’s Dynamic Gold shaft is the most popular shaft in professional golf, so maybe I shouldn’t be all that surprised. And with Scottie Scheffler winning over the weekend with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue in the bag, the timing feels right to dive into the differences between the Tour version and standard offering.

When the word “Tour” is attached to a product, most recreational golfers immediately assume the club, ball or shaft has special powers that allow, say, Dustin Johnson to crank it 350 yards. In actuality, the difference is usually a slight shape or weight modification that only someone with a discerning eye of hypersensitive feel could pick up on. On the putter side, Scotty Cameron creates Tour-only flatsticks out of high-end materials (German Stainless Steel) that cost far too much to mass-produce.

With True Temper’s Dynamic Gold steel shaft (low launch and spin characteristics), there isn’t a difference in performance, profile or material when it comes to the Tour version versus what you’d find on an off-the-rack set of irons. You can differentiate the two models by their shaft bands and weight tolerances.

While the shaft band is purely cosmetic, weight tolerances can alter the overall feel of the club. With the standard Dynamic Gold, the weight sorting tolerance is plus-or-minus two grams per shaft, which doesn’t sound like much. Because the weight can differ slightly during production — and because Dynamic Gold is a weight-sorted product — the standard stiff flex is broken out into three sub-flexes: S200 (127 grams), S300 (130 grams) and S400 (134 grams). With S300 acting as the “standard” stiff flex, anything that comes in over or below 130 grams is deemed to be a lighter (S200) or heavier (S400) version.

Because Tour players are far more discerning when it comes to their clubs, a difference of plus-or-minus two grams can be noticed by a professional. To keep shaft weights as close to identical as possible, True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue is measured to plus-or-minus half a gram, which is as tight as you can get with a steel shaft in the industry.

With tighter tolerances, Tour Issue is offered in just S400 (132 grams) and X100 (130 grams) flexes. There’s no need for sub-flexes. Considering players like Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas use Tour Issue in their irons and wedges, it’s easy to see why True Temper keeps shaft weights as accurate as possible.

To receive GOLF’s all-new newsletters, subscribe for free here.