Equipment
Do you need a $1000 shaft?
For $1000, a golfer can buy a lot of clubs — a driver, a few fairway woods and possibly even a few wedges. But unless that golfer went through a custom fitting, the $1000 worth of clubs he or she bought are likely going to fall short in distance, accuracy or both.
For golfers who want to leave absolutely nothing on the table, adjusting a driver’s loft or swapping stock shafts isn’t going to cut it. They need a club head and shaft to work together to give them the perfect launch and spin numbers, and they want it to feel perfect, too.
All that feel and performance comes at a price, however. For example, the aftermarket Matrix M3 “Black Tie” shaft that U.S. Open winner Justin Rose used in his TaylorMade R1 driver at Merion costs around $320. And get this — two other shafts used by golfers in the U.S. Open field made Rose’s shaft look cheap.
Aldila Rogue
Aldila’s Rogue shaft is still in the testing phase, but John Oldenburg, vice president of engineering for Aldila, said that if it does come to retail it will cost around $1000.
The reason for its high price? Like most graphite shafts, it’s the materials. The Rogue uses what are called “pitch” fibers in its design, which are much stiffer than the graphite fibers used to make Aldila’s other shafts.
According to Oldenburg, the stiffest graphite fibers currently in play on the PGA Tour have a modulus of 65 million pounds per square inch, or 65 msi. The Rogue’s pitch fibers have almost double the modulus — 125 msi.
The stiffer materials allow Aldila to create a shaft that’s lighter and stronger than previous shafts, with very low torque. For Lee Westwood, who used the shaft in a Ping G25 driver at the U.S. Open, the Rogue created a lower-launching, lower-spinning ball flight that propelled him into a tie for 15th finish.
Click here to see what members are saying about the Aldila Rogue shaft in the forums.
Matrix Ozik TPHD
Like U.S. Open winner Justin Rose, runner-up Jason Day also used a Matrix shaft in his driver and fairway wood. But Day’s Matrix Ozik TPHD shaft costs more than three as much as Rose’s 6M3 — about $1000.
Click here to see all the clubs and shafts used by Jason Day.
Like the Aldila Rogue shaft, the Ozik TPHD shafts are made with exotic materials and special constructions that offer increased strength and improved performance. Chris Nolan, executive vice president of global operations for Matrix, said one of the leading factors of the TPHD’s high price tag is a material called Zylon, which has been used to make bulletproof shirts and sells for about $2000 per pound.
“In layman’s terms, Zylon is like Kevlar on steriods,” Nolan said. “Kevlar is very tough and strong, but it doesn’t have a high modulus. Zylon has a high modulus.”
Ozik TPHD shafts also use several other special materials, such as boron and GMAT, which are arranged in a way that gives certain golfers like Day an opportunity to gain as much as 3 to 4 mph of ball speed, Nolan said.
Do you need a $1000 shaft?
Even the experts, Oldenburg and Nolan, admit that most golfers probably don’t need a shaft that costs anywhere near $1000. So while the latest materials and manufacturing processes have allowed Aldila and Matrix to make shafts that are better than ever before, super high-priced shafts aren’t for everyone, even if cost wasn’t a factor.
As a general rule, golfers with more club head speed prefer lower torque shafts — and many tour players like Westwood like as little as possible. On the other hand, golfers with slower clubhead speeds usually need more torque. That’s why the most recent shafts from Aldila have what’s called progressive torques.
For example, Aldila’s RIPd NV shafts, which debuted in 2010, have 4.4 degrees of torque in the regular-flex models, but only 2.8 degrees of torque in the TX, or tour extra-stiff model.
Nolan has a different attitude toward torque, however. He said that Matrix is not that concerned with standard torque numbers — like shaft flex, torque tends to be measured in different ways by different manufacturers, which results in different readings. But what he said is important is the distribution of torque and stiffness throughout the entire length of the shaft, which creates stability and consistency.
As Nolan and Oldenburg both said, choosing a shaft really comes down to one thing.
“Do the numbers make sense?”
Chances are, golfers don’t need to spend $1000 for the answer to be “yes.”
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
Camilo Villegas WITB 2025 (July)
Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
WITB Time Machine: Brandt Snedeker’s winning WITB, 2018 Wyndham Championship
Brandt Snedeker fired a final-round 65 at the 2018 Wyndham Championship to outlast Webb Simpson and C.T. Pan. His 5-under...
Gae922
Jul 9, 2013 at 3:51 pm
Personally, I play only Tour shafts on my R1 Driver (Tour head also version 2 8,5° TD1xxxx), 3 wood RBZ stage 2 and on my rescue
This is not the same world… the productivity and the control is better than stock shaft or market shaft… but the price is not the same between 600 € and 1200 €.. performance has a price !…
But this is pure pleasure to play with this kind of equipment.
Putt King
Jun 22, 2013 at 8:53 am
I’ve been building clubs for myself and friends for 20 years and have tried a lot of golf shafts in irons and woods. Some of the best performing ones have been the inexpensive ones and some of the worst have been expensive. Price was never really a good indicator of potential performance/success in trying a new shaft whether for woods or irons. As Nolan and Oldenburg state at the end of the article, it all comes down to the numbers – how does the shaft perform for YOU? So then how do you decide what shafts to even try? You can go by the specs – torgue, CPM, kickpoint/bendpoint, etc but those are sometimes more marketing than reality. I’ve had shafts that claim to be high launch (because that’s the current mantra) that don’t launch the ball high at all. It’s probably best to go to a club fitter that has interchangeable shafts and you can use the launch monitor for irons and woods to determine what’s best for you, and then take it out onto the driving range or golf course for final testing. Most people have different swings indoors vs the golf course.
By the way, the best driver shaft I’ve tried in a long time is the TFC-189D Tour-S in my Ping G25 driver, 45″ length. I didn’t lose any distance or trajectory going to the Tour-S vs the Stiff shaft, and I’m hitting 12-14 fairways per round as a 6 handicap golfer (which is coming down because I’m hitting 3-4 more fairways per round now!).
By the way, if anyone has any leftover Utility Master Series (UMS) heads, let me know! I built drivers and 4 woods with these heads years ago and they still perform great. My brother is a scratch golfer and still can’t find a better utility club for his bag. It’s not as long as a modern 3 wood, but for that 225 yard draw/fade/high/low shot, it’s awesome! I wish I still had mine…. I don’t even remember the off-brand shaft I put in these but they worked great too.
Chris
Jun 21, 2013 at 7:53 am
Considering all the other expenses associated with gold, including $4+ golf balls and multi-thousand dollar annual memberships I frankly don’t see much difference between a $400 driver and a $1,400 one.
Bob
Jun 20, 2013 at 7:31 pm
Ever heard of Honma? Their 5 star shafts come with an even steeper price point. Heck, an iron set with 4 star ARMRQ6 graphite shafts will set you back a cool $20k.
BigG
Jun 19, 2013 at 6:10 pm
Taylormade = the biggest swindlers in the golf biz
Lee
Jun 20, 2013 at 7:20 am
Taylormade is like the Ian Poulter of Manufactures. They may be pretty good, but they give you so many reasons to hate them.
Gae922
Jul 9, 2013 at 4:44 pm
BigG… be fair with Taylormade
Taylormade is the biggest marketing company in Golf… I will certainly advise to them to be more transparent with the market, the consumers and players in their Golf market approach…
The product made for the Tour are not the product branding Taylormade on the golf market… end of discussion… even if they are both design by the same company Taylormade… It means that Taylor has the know how to produce equipment for Tour pro.
Despite this fact, the Taylormade products are the best for the mass market… 45 to 6 hcp… If you want performance you need to use aftermarket heads and shaft or even better use the graal some Tour equipements… as Tour head from Taylor (see R1 driver version 2) + Tour shaft… etc … difficult or expensive to find this kind of Tour Golf equipments…. My entire golf bag is 10 000 € of equipments.. This is my pleasure… I know that hand crafting tour irons heads cost 60 000 € even for the tour players… quality and pure performance has a price.
SSgt. Bear
Jun 19, 2013 at 4:00 pm
Jason Day has three $1000 Matrix TP7HD shafts and elects to have them with Taylormade TP graphics. Is that part of the Taylormade endorsement contract? Do the contracted staffers all have to be “sheeple” and follow the herd?
Scott
Jun 19, 2013 at 4:39 pm
All taylormade players have the stock graphics on aftermarket shafts.
Gae922
Jul 9, 2013 at 4:11 pm
You are right Scoot but also you are wrong… The Tour shafts for the professional have the stock graphics not on aftermarket shafts but on special Tour shafts dedicated for the Tour players.
These are better than the regular aftermarket shafts (selection in carbon, quality process, tests of the final product…etc This explain the price of each Tour shaft – 600 to 1200 €/$)
This is where is the scam of club & shaft manufacturers … they want us to believe that the champions have the level of performance with their mainstream public products… This is completely wrong…
This is also right for the head of the club… Tour heads are different… see
For that reason, I advise good players (-5 to 4 Hcp) to obtain and play Tour products… no compromise o)))
THIS IS PRODUCT MARKETING FOR THE CONSUMERS… WE NEED TO EDUCATE IN THE RIGHT WAY THE PLAYERS.. AND CONSUMERS
Socorr4
Jun 19, 2013 at 3:35 pm
Just like watches that cost in the hundred thousand range, Áldila will find some buyers among those people who always want the most expensive item on the market. But seriously, does the watch tell time better or even as well as any cheap quartz model? What on earth can be gained from a shaft that costs a thousand bucks? Most pros play with driver shafts that cost less than a quarter of that.
bradford
Aug 27, 2014 at 9:11 am
But it’s ITALIAN leather…..
Sure, that’s much lower quality than mexican or honduran leather—but we can charge more–because it’s ITALIAN leather.
Will it last? Hell no, and it’s thinner and less comfortable BUT!, It’s ITALIAN leather.
Fact is some idiot will always pay the money for this stuff, and even bigger idiots will believe that it does something. Fair to compare touring pros to us? Do you make millions? If so, feel free to spend it on what is in fact only expensive because someone’s willing to pay for it. You know as well as everyone else that there is perfectly comparable equipment for reasonable prices.
Mike
Jun 19, 2013 at 12:37 pm
i think everyone should be required to fashion their own equipment out of materials only found in their backyard. a limit of 3 clubs per bag, and while i’m on the topic…no bags allowed. oh and make the holes 1/2″ smaller.
Dave C.
Jun 19, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Nobody needs a $1000 shaft. PT Barnum once said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
How true!
Soul
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:29 am
Waiting for the Rogue on Classifieds $950 firm
M Bartolomeo
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:27 am
good bye golf carts, hello Emus
Justin
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:48 am
Hahah well done
BreakThrough
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:23 am
All players should eb using Steel shafts. You are changing the materials to a point where the game is no longer what it traditionally designed to be.
stonyman
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:45 am
Why steel? Hickory was used before this new fangled technology called steel.
mctrees02
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:57 am
Is there any chance we can get rid of the dimples on the balls while we’re at it?
Curt
Jun 19, 2013 at 11:22 am
Hell, while were at it, why don’t we go back to balls made of feathers???
joro
Jun 19, 2013 at 12:01 pm
Hmmm, and they say “anchored” putters are “not the way the game was meant to be played” Seems a bit stupid and the shafts to a lot more than the putter.
Blanco
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:06 pm
anchoring is to ______ as shaft is to putter?