Equipment
Matrix TPHDe shafts
Matrix’s new TPHDe shafts use the latest materials in a new construction that can improve ball speed, feel and stability, according to the company.
Like its predecessor, Matrix’s TPHD shaft, the TPHEe uses exotic materials such as Zylon, Boron and Gmat to stabilize the shaft without increasing weight or making the shaft feel stiffer.
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In Matrix’s TPHD, the HD section, or 16-sided hexadecagonal internal platform, was located in the upper portion of the shaft. In the TPHDe, Matrix extended the HD section down the body of the shaft. According to Chris Nolan, Matrix’s executive vice president for global operations, that allowed the company to make improvements to the shaft’s design that were not possible with the TPHD.
“In car terms, we’re trying to make sure the chassis is as stiff as possible,” Nolan said. “By extending the HD section, we’re able to increase stability without losing feel.”
The exotic materials and the construction of those materials, however, come at a cost. With a $1200 MSRP, the TPHDe is one of the priciest shafts on the market.
“We’re dealing with different raw materials that have different properties, and it’s a very technical process to get those materials to stay together,” Nolan said.
The TPHDe shafts offer a mid-launch, mid-spin trajectory and are available in weights of 50 grams, 60 grams and 70 grams in eight different flexes ranging from lady to XX-stiff.
They have a balance point that is about 0.5 inches higher (toward the butt section) than the TPHD, which allows golfers to retain traditional swing weights with today’s heavier club heads or build the driver to a longer finished length to increased club head speed.
Matrix’s TPHDe shafts will ship to retailers later this month.
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...
xboxkilla
Jul 22, 2014 at 2:50 am
If you really want a $1200 shaft, but for way less than these guys are charging- go with a Penley shaft. They sell them on their site and the designer can be contacted almost anytime to answer questions-
check out the ET2 on there-
http://www.penleysports.com/products/penley-et2-shaft/
TheLegend
Apr 20, 2014 at 5:28 pm
lol nice trying to save this guy zak. He should never talk again. But you did a good job trying to find out what these shaft actually do better. But he had no real answer.
Zak Kozuchowski
Apr 20, 2014 at 7:43 pm
Guys,
I think you’re being a little hard on Chris. It was an impromptu interview about a very complex shaft. He’s an extremely kind, knowledgeable guy, and the fitters I speak to on a regular basis praise Matrix’s products as some of the best at creating a little extra ball speed.
Shaft companies spend a lot of time trying to explain their products to the masses, but the only real way to know how each will affect your performance is to find a custom fitter who stocks a lot of shafts and hit them for yourself. Most good club fitters will work within their customer’s budget, giving them several options at different price points. The TPHDe is certainly not for everyone, both in its cost and profile, but fitters such as Modern Golf in Toronto sell quite of few of them. To each is own.
brad
Apr 17, 2014 at 7:19 am
In his defense, it is quite difficult to push the tech boundary…these things are pricey in the beginning, but as it takes hold and materials and processes become more common, we’ll see similar shafts at “reasonable” prices. Remember, none of our wives or girlfriends understands why the thousand dollar irons we play are any better than the irons she saw at Target. If it were anyone but Matrix, I would call BS, but they’ve never let me down. Now we wait…
west
Apr 17, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Umm it’s not the price that I’m surprised by. Yes, the materials and processes used to make this shaft actually justify its cost. This shaft is like the Lamborghini of golf shafts, and while not everyone can afford an exotic or needs the performance of an exotic, it’s the people with excess cash who can justify the self indigence, no questions asked. What shocks the hell out of me is this “executive’s” piss-poor ability to market his company’s product. If I didn’t already know all the tech about golf shafts, and was just an average Joe golfer in the market, after seeing this interview I would not have any confidence in the TPHDe line or Matrix as a company. Just surprises me how unprepared this guy was to pitch his product…
west
Apr 17, 2014 at 4:04 am
This guy is the VP of operations? Seriously??
R
Apr 17, 2014 at 12:19 am
Gotta say I wasn’t impressed with this guys interview. Zak had to come in at the end and kind of bring some positivity back to it.
Nick
Apr 16, 2014 at 7:16 pm
For $1200 Im taking another golf vacation instead.
Petercybulski
Apr 16, 2014 at 7:42 pm
Well said
Petercybulski
Apr 16, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Gonna put those bad boys in my woods and irons!!!
Xreb
Apr 16, 2014 at 4:39 pm
You can see the guy struggling to explain the price point of the shaft, although I give him credit for keeping the BS to a minimum !