The post The fascinating story behind Bryson DeChambeau’s unique driver shaft appeared first on Golf.

The post The fascinating story behind Bryson DeChambeau’s unique driver shaft appeared first on Golf.

Twenty pounds lighter and 21 yards shorter, Bryson DeChambeau of 2019 explained his unbelievable goal to Chris Nolan, Chief Operating Officer of LA Golf Shafts.

“I want to gain 20-to-25 pounds and gain 20-to-25 mph of ball speed off the tee,” DeChambeau told Nolan.

“You’re crazy,” Nolan thought to himself. “He got a good laugh [from everyone there].”

After putting on 20 pounds, and currently averaging 323.8 yards per drive in 2020, DeChambeau clearly wasn’t joking. But, with all this speed increase, wouldn’t you think he’d have to switch driver shafts into something stiffer as to not lose accuracy?

Well, he didn’t have to. And that’s where this shaft story gets interesting.

With the goal of 20 lb. and 20mph increases in mind, way back in 2019, DeChambeau told the shaft makers at LA Golf that he wanted a driver shaft that he could “grow into,” as Nolan explains. Of course, that line of thinking goes against most conventions of club fitting. Typically, shafts are fit to a player’s swing at the moment, not for a pipe dream of increasing speeds of 20-25 mph. That’s like buying an XL shirt size when you’re really a medium, expecting to pack on massive muscle.

DeChambeau has always curved convention, though, apparently even when it comes to driver shafts.

“It’s never been done this way,” Nolan explains. “Bryson is a true designer. Usually engineers dictate the spectrum when it comes to shafts… but he didn’t care about E.I. curves or traditional CPM (cycles per minute). He wanted something totally different.”

After making 26 iterations of prototypes, DeChambeau and the LA Golf team (DeChambeau is a partner with LA Golf) came up with his current LA Golf prototype driver shaft. It was a shaft that fit his driver swing at the time, but it would also fit him as his swing speed increased, according to Nolan.

Note: There are two versions of the prototype shaft. One is called “Trono,” which DeChambeau uses in his fairway woods, and another called “MRDR 1,” which has the same design but is slightly stiffer and has lower torque, that he uses in his driver.

Due to special inserts, DeChambeau’s shaft is 40-50 percent stiffer in the mid section than some competitive Tour-level shafts, according to Nolan, and it’s relatively soft in the tip section. It’s also very soft in the butt section, creating a “whip” effect, as Nolan says. The active tip section of the shaft allows DeChambeau to release the club head from his extremely inside-to-out driver path, while also minimizing unwanted droop at impact.

“It’s like a solid door shutting into the golf ball,” as Nolan describes it.

To prepare for DeChambeau’s speed increases down the road, LA Golf tested that same prototype shaft with professional long drivers to see how the shaft would hold up to speeds of 210mph+.

According to Nolan, the shaft held up to the high speeds, and it will continue to perform for DeChambeau as his speed increases.

“The harder he swings it, the straighter it will go,” says Nolan.

Conventional wisdom says that shouldn’t make sense, but DeChambeau isn’t conventional, and his driver shaft isn’t designed to be, either. The only change he’s made to his driver setup recently is he lightened up the head weight from 196 grams to 185 grams on his Cobra King SpeedZone 5.5-degree driver (yes, it’s only 5.5 degrees) for even more speed.

“Bryson questions everything, but even if he’s wrong or we think he’s wrong, we still try it,” Nolan said. “We can always get off that wrong road if it proves not to work.”

Well, so far, the road of weight gain and speed increase is working for DeChambeau, and his driver shaft is becoming the perfect fit.

To hear more gear insights from Jonathan Wall and True Spec’s Tim Briand, subscribe and listen each week to GOLF’s Fully Equipped podcast: iTunes | SoundCloud | Spotify | Stitcher

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The post World Long Drive tour up for sale by Golf Channel as network focuses on core business appeared first on Golf.

The post World Long Drive tour up for sale by Golf Channel as network focuses on core business appeared first on Golf.

For sale: high-octane sports tour, starring strapping athletes who hit golf balls outrageous distances.

The World Long Drive Association, the sport’s largest and longest-running circuit, is on the market, GOLF.com has learned.

A spokesperson for Golf Channel, which owns and operates the WLDA, told GOLF.com that the network is looking to unload the tour due to a range of pandemic-related factors, including dwindling sponsorship dollars, safety concerns and travel restrictions for what is “a truly global sport with hitters from around the world.”

“Given the current environment and challenges being presented by Covid-19,” the spokesperson said, Golf Channel is also “looking to focus on its core business of media.”

The news comes in the midst of a 2020 WLDA season that was put on hold before it got underway. The first five of the year’s six scheduled events, starting in April, were all cancelled, leaving only the season-ending World Long Drive Championship on the calendar for September.

Late last month, though, the WLDA sent a letter to long drive competitors saying that the season finale had been “suspended, pending the ability to identify a strategic partner” to run the event.

In that same letter, Golf Channel said that it was searching for a “long-term partner to manage the sport moving forward.” 

The WLDA has been part of Golf Channel’s portfolio since 2015, when the network purchased what was then the Long Drivers of America. The acquisition was part of Golf Channel’s efforts to expand its live programming throughout the week, beyond its traditional Thursday through Sunday professional golf coverage. 

At the time, the WLDA had just one televised event per year. By 2019, Golf Channel had increased that number to six. That same year, the WLDA received nearly 120 hours of television coverage in the United States and was beamed onto screens in 60 countries with a total viewership of 130 million people. Entering 2020, the tour was coming of its two most-viewed seasons, according to data released by The Nielsen Company.

Whether that translated into profits for Golf Channel is another matter. The network spokesperson declined to discuss financial details.

For the competitors themselves, it’s no secret that long drive is a comparatively small-money sport. Only a handful of long drivers earn a full-time living at it, with even top performers making less in a year than many Tour pros collect with a middle-of-the-pack finish in a single event. Most long-drivers supplement their incomes with corporate outings and clinics, among other gigs.

But relatively small purses have not stopped participation from swelling. Originally contested as a novelty at the 1976 PGA Championship, long drive has evolved over the years from a niche showcase into a sport staged on six continents, in competitions run by multiple circuits. Last year’s World Long Drive Championship featured a field of 96 men and 20 women, drawn from dozens of qualifiers around the world.

Jason Zuback, a five-time World Long Drive champion (and one-time winner of the senior division) said that while Golf Channel’s decision was “cause for some concern” in the short run, it did not to dampen the passion behind long drive, or the sport’s long-term potential.

“Over the years, we’ve seen interest in the sport grow, with more media attention, more fans, more competitors,” Zuback said. “The fact is, you and I could decide to put a grid up next month in Mesquite (Nevada), and a great field would show up, no matter what kind of prize money we were offering.”

A television deal, Zuback acknowledged, is an invaluable asset for any sport, and in that regard, long drive’s loss may only be temporary.

Despite its decision to sell, the Golf Channel spokesperson said, the network is still interested in covering the sport, adding, “Golf Channel believes in the property, and is looking to remain the future media/broadcast partner of World Long Drive.”

Golf Channel announced in February that it is moving from its Orlando headquarters to Stamford, Conn.

“Geographic consolidation is a growing and sensible trend across the media industry, and as our business continues to evolve, we’ll continue to look for ways to operate as effectively as possible to deliver world-class coverage to our loyal audiences,” the network said in a statement.

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The post Largest purse in long-drive history finally gets paid out: ‘Better late than never’ appeared first on Golf.

The post Largest purse in long-drive history finally gets paid out: ‘Better late than never’ appeared first on Golf.

Like a lot people who hit golf balls for a living, professional long drivers have been out of luck of late.

Official competitions have been postponed or cancelled. So have corporate outings and charity events, which many long drivers rely on to supplement their incomes.

A tough sport in which to earn a living has gotten even tougher.

But in otherwise lean times, there is some good news: This past month, the last of the long overdue winnings from what was the largest unpaid purse in the history of the sport were finally paid in full. The payments put a close to a strange and drawn-out saga that roiled a close-knit sport for well over a year.

“Better late than never,” said veteran long driver Eddie Fernandes.

Fernandes was among the dozens of top long drivers, male and female, who flew to China in November 2018, to compete in the kickoff tournament of the Global Infinity Series, paying the $2,500 entrance fee for a spot in an event that organizers hailed as having “the biggest prize pool in the history of the sport,” with a total purse of $400,000. The first-prize payout alone — $150,000 — was more than most successful long drivers win on the grid in a year.

Almost as soon as they arrived in China, though, competitors noticed worrisome signs. At the host site, Mission Hills, a 10-course golf resort on China’s Hainan Island, little in the way of tournament infrastructure was ready. Not even a hitting grid had been reserved.

After a last-minute scramble, a modified version of the tournament wound up taking place.

Features

Where's their money? The inside story of the largest unpaid purse in long-drive history

By: Josh Sens

But afterward, no prize money was paid. In lieu of checks, the company behind the event — International Golf Associates of New Zealand, or IGANZ — handed out IOU’s.

At long-drive competitions, it is not unheard of for winners’ checks to take days, if not weeks, to get issued. But in the wake of the Global Infinity event, months went by without payments.

On more than one occasion, IGANZ founding director Olna Ford sent competitors written promises that the money was coming. When it didn’t show, and a few players groused, Ford warned them that making a stink would jeopardize their chance of getting paid. Their complaints, she cautioned, risked scaring off the sponsors who were putting up the purse.

If that sounded like a paradox — don’t complain about not getting paid or you won’t get paid — it was persuasive.
For the most part, competitors heeded Ford’s warning, stewing quietly instead of speaking out.

Among them was Wes Patterson, a Florida-based long driver who had won the men’s division in the China event, earning a promised payday of $150,000.

Eight months passed without Patterson getting paid. The same was true of every other competitor who had finished in the money. Not a dime was paid.

Finally, last summer, having spent thousands of dollars on attorney fees in an unsuccessful attempt to get what he was owed, Patterson grew weary of keeping mum and told his story to GOLF.com.

Not all of his peers were pleased. Though Patterson says that most of his fellow long drivers were supportive, a handful rebuked him for speaking out. Some echoed Ford’s argument — that by making noise, Patterson was putting eventual payment for everyone at risk. Others worried that calling attention to an event gone sour would give the sport of long drive a black eye. This is a common refrain in long drive, one that has kept competitors silent in the past when faced with unpaid purses.

For Patterson, the criticism added to the stress of a trying time. An amiable former collegiate baseball player, Patterson has struggled with anxiety throughout his career, and the financial and mental strains that came in the wake of the China event wore heavily on him.

“All of that stuff just kind of put me over the edge throughout (the 2019 season),” Patterson said. “There were a lot of sleepless nights.”

In August 2019, GOLF.com ran a story on the China event, drawing on input from Patterson and nearly a dozen other long drivers. The next month, IGANZ paid Patterson, though Ford said that the payment had not been prompted by the negative publicity. She’d been planning to pay all along, she said.

Why did it take so long?

Ford attributed the lag to a tangle of problems, which had prompted her investors to withdraw their support and forced her to find other ways to make the payouts. In the end, Ford said in an email to GOLF.com, she had raised the money by refinancing five properties in New Zealand and selling another.

In the weeks and months after making Patterson whole, IGANZ continued parceling out payments. Eddie Fernandes, who’d finished in the money in both the men’s and senior men’s division of the China competition, received the $9,000 he was owed in January. Another competitor, Justin James, was paid the $3,000 he was owed in the third week of March. His was among the last of the outstanding payments.

On Twitter, a former long drive competitor who posts anonymously under the handle Long Drive Sheriff celebrated by dispatching a meme of cash being disbursed.

“Sheriff is happy to report that @IGANZlongdrive has paid all of the players that were owed,” the post read.

Other long drivers were pleased as well, and relieved to have the matter finally behind them.

“Olna deserves credit for making good, not the tournament,” Fernandes said. “She could have just wrote it off. Instead she took the high road.”

Justin James, for his part, said he was still just trying to make sense of it all.

“I think we’re all surprised to have gotten paid,” he said. “The whole thing is still shockingly bizarre. Weirdest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

The post Largest purse in long-drive history finally gets paid out: ‘Better late than never’ appeared first on Golf.

The post Bryson DeChambeau reveals plan to test wildly popular long drive gear setup appeared first on Golf.

The post Bryson DeChambeau reveals plan to test wildly popular long drive gear setup appeared first on Golf.

Outside of LPGA star Brooke Henderson and long drive competitors, the 48-inch driver is a rare sight at most golf courses. Going longer in length is one way to add yards to your tee shots, but anything beyond 46 inches typically comes at a cost in the accuracy department — unless you know how to wield the extra lumber.

It’s one of the reasons why so many pro golfers use something in the 43- to 45-inch range.

At 45.5 inches, Bryson DeChambeau’s Cobra driver is slightly above the average, but that hasn’t stopped the PGA Tour’s leader in driving distance from contemplating ways to get even longer. In addition to starting a training regimen to bulk up and capture more speed — DeChambeau recently mentioned trying to get all the way up to 270 pounds — the 5-time Tour winner also confirmed he’s considering the idea of using a longer driver.

During one of his regular Twitch streams, DeChambeau was asked if he’d ever use a 48-inch driver. Without hesitating, he confirmed it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility — he’s already tried out a driver with 4.8 degrees of loft — provided it didn’t come with a noticeable dip in “control.”

“I’d definitely use a 48-inch driver — if I could control it,” he  said. “I’d generate so much more speed, but it’d need to be light enough, though. We’re definitely going to mess with that. Trust me, if the USGA allows me to go to 48 inches with the driver — and I hit it just as straight as my 45.5-inch driver — why not?”

The USGA’s legal limit for shaft length is 48 inches, so DeChambeau doesn’t have to worry about creeping into non-conforming territory if he does decide to test a 48-inch Cobra driver. What he would need to worry about — as he briefly mentioned — is the significant change in swing weight that would occur going from 45.5 to 48 inches. To keep things somewhat similar in the weight department, he’d need to locate a feathery head and shaft. Going smaller in head volume is another option.

In other words, there are a lot of variables at play when you go significantly longer in the shaft department. Considering the numbers DeChambeau has been putting up on the launch monitor recently, he doesn’t need to worry about squeezing every yard out of his driver to keep up with the competition.

Just last week, DeChambeau hit 203 mph ball speed with his driver during the “Speed Zone challenge” — a number normally reserved for the World Long Drive circuit. Then again, with extra free time at home, it couldn’t hurt to test out a longer driver and see what happens.

To hear more gear insights from Jonathan Wall and True Spec’s Tim Briand, subscribe and listen each week to GOLF’s Fully Equipped podcast: iTunes | SoundCloud | Spotify | Stitcher

The post Bryson DeChambeau reveals plan to test wildly popular long drive gear setup appeared first on Golf.