UST debuts a putter shaft that speaks to golfers

By Mike Bailey,
Senior Staff Writer

It's been said that the engine of a golf club is the shaft. When it comes to drivers or fairway woods, most would agree with that assessment. But is it true with every club in the bag?

Apparently so, according to one Texas company that has made its mark in recent years with its innovative golf shafts. Officials at Fort. Worth based United Sports Technologies have come up with what they say is the first true innovation in putter shafts in more than 70 years. That last innovation, by the way, presumably was steel shafts. And most everyone has a steel shaft in his or her putter - but do they know the flex, or do they even care?

In fact, if you polled recreational golfers, 99 out of, say, 99 couldn't give you the specs on their putter shafts. Even the tour pros probably don't truly know. With a swing speed of 4 or 5 miles per hour, does it really matter?

Well, maybe.

Skip Pankewich, product developer for UST, says the company's new special putter shaft does something far more important than help produce clubhead speed or square the clubface - it provides feedback. Pankewich equates UST's new Frequency Filtered prototype putter shaft with a good sound system, which filters out the static and leaves only the sounds that are meant to be heard.

"There are many different types of vibrations that occur when a putt is struck," Pankewich said. "Some of these vibrations are always there but don't provide the player any useful feedback about the putt. I equate these vibrations to static noise on your radio.

"The Frequency Filtered shaft filters out these 'static noise' vibrations, leaving only vibrations that provide feedback about how the putt was struck. Your feel becomes clearer," Pankewich said.

The new shaft is the result of a joint venture between UST and Alabama-bas ed Balance Certified, an equipment technology company known for its Pro-Balance shaft-weighting system. The goal was to design a system that significantly improved a player's ability to perceive or 'feel' exactly where ball impact occurs on the putter face. This feedback to the player results in improved putting ability since the player quickly learns to stroke more putts on the putter's sweet spot.

The putter shaft, which is currently only available as a prototype being used on the professional tours but will be available to the public on Nov. 1 with a suggested retail price of $85, is the latest in a line of interesting innovations by UST, which made its big splash six years ago when it introduced the familiar blue and gold Proforce shaft.

It was the 1999 Masters and Jose Maria Olazabal, not exactly known for his driving prowess, was hitting fairway after fairway on his way to his second Masters victory. The question on many viewers' minds was what in the world was up with that bright yellow shaft on his driver?

Not only did Olazabal win, but so did UST. For the next few weeks that spring, the 9-year-old company, a subsidiary of the Japanese company Mamiya-OP (the company name at the time was Olympic), couldn't keep up the demand.

Eventually, the most recognizable shaft in golf also became the best-selling graphite shaft of all time with more than 2.5 million sold. Designed in part to prevent breakage on the big-headed Callaway drivers of the time, it made "tip stiff" part of the shaft vernacular.

"When the public saw that shaft, our phone started ringing, and it hasn't stopped since," said UST's vice-president of marketing and brands, Gene Simpson.

"I do remember that Masters," Simpson said. "None of us at UST knew that he would be playing the shaft that week, much less win with it. Our European tour rep, Stuart Smith , put the shaft in (Olazabal's) hands, but we really didn't know that he would use it with such success the first week. So, to say the least, we were all totally surprised and of course, pulling for Olazabal."

The company made a good shaft, all right, but it did something perhaps just as important: it found a way to stand out in a competitive market.

Simpson, who spent 11 years with True Temper before coming to UST almost 15 years ago, will be the first to admit that there are a lot of good products from other shaft companies and the competition is stiff, especially in supplying original equipment manufacturers. Where a shaft company can really make a name for itself is in the aftermarket, and good players generally drive that market.

"If one or two of the club manufacturers begins shipping product with a branded shaft, it sets them apart from their competitors and can put them on the leading edge of a new trend," Simpson said. "But if all of the major club manufacturers get on board, there is no longer a point of difference on display at retail. Most shaft companies tout tour usage or wins to promote their products. This is an extremely competitive arena where quantities in play often change dramatically from week to week."

Simpson pointed out that the Proforce Gold was more than a revolution in color. It also was the first shaft series featuring multiple weight options (55, 65, 75, 85, and 95 gram versions), he says. And of course there was tip flex revolution.

"Remember the softer tip version called Proforce ATR? Most of today's shafts follow the Proforce pattern of weights and varying tip flexes for different launch conditions," Simpson said.

The challenge for UST ever since has been to top the original. The company has not sat on its laurels.

Like the putter shaft, UST's IROD hybrid shaft was designed for a specific club other than a wood or iron. It comes standard, for example in all Sonartec's Md hybrid products. UST also has teamed up with the Harmon brothers - Dick, Craig, Butch and Billy - to create the Harmon Tour Design line of driver shafts. And if you think that's just marketing - and undoubtedly some of it is - just try the shaft in a driver. Its counterbalance design has been especially popular and a number of PGA Tour pros have been using it. Peter Lonard won the MCI Heritage Classic this spring with an HTD.

UST also makes a premium shaft - $200 or more - that's a favorite among better players, the Accra line. And earlier this year the Proforce came full circle with the Proforce 2 - or the V2, as its known - a shaft many at the company say is the finest it's ever produced, especially considering the $70 price tag.

The V2, which comes in weights from 57 grams to 96 grams, is more flexible than its predecessor, which provides a little more feedback and feel. But like its predecessor, it's also low-torque, less than 3.2 degrees, which means you can swing hard without fear of spraying - presuming you have a pretty golf swing.

And that should get your putter talking that much sooner.

October 18, 2005

Mike Bailey is a senior staff writer based in the Houston area. Focusing primarily on golf in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America, he contributes course reviews, travel stories and features as well as the occasional equipment review. An award-winning writer and past president of Texas Golf Writers Association, he has more than 15 years in the golf industry. Before joining the WorldGolf.com team in 2008, he held positions at PGA Magazine, The Golfweek Group and AvidGolfer Magazine. Read Mike's golf blog here and follow him on Twitter here.