Live from the shop: Building an iron set
Master club builder Ryan Barath takes you inside his shop for the complete process of building a set of irons from start to finish.
Time to jump into Aaron Rai’s WITB from his win at the 2026 PGA Championship. Aaron is an equipment free agent but pretty much has two brands, TaylorMade and Titleist, in the bag. We get to see clubs and shafts from 2018 up to current products and even some custom stuff!
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (9 degrees)
Shaft: Aldilda Synergy Blue 70 TX
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue 8 X
5-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (18 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (24 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei CK Pro White Hybrid 90 TX
Irons: TaylorMade P7TW (5-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold S300
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F @44, 48-10F @49), SM11 (54-12D), WedgeWorks (60-04L)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S300
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour V
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
Alistair Cameron is on site and inside the ropes for the second major of 2026. This week’s episode of ITR features a heavy dose of WITBs (Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed) and custom PGA Championship gear, as well as Cobra Golf’s Ben Schomin talking Rickie Fowler’s driver switch and Odyssey’s Cody Hale.
On a related note, you can check out all our photos from Aronimink here.
Kristoffer Reitan just won his first PGA Tour event at the 2026 Truist Championship. He is a Ping staff member and has a complete set of clubs from the brand. He did make a late driver switch this weekend that helped propel him to victory.
Driver: Ping G440 Max (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 60 TX
3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
7-wood: Ping G440 Max (21 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Black 85 TX
Irons: Ping Blueprint S (4-9)
Shafts: KBS Tour X
Wedges: Ping S259
46-S
Shaft KBS Tour X
50-S
54-S
58-S
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Ping PLD Custom Ally Blue H (white finish)
Grips: Golf Pride MCC Midsize
Ball: Titleist Pro V1
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Whats in the Bag3 weeks agoKristoffer Reitan’s winning WITB: 2026 Truist Championship
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Whats in the Bag2 weeks agoAaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
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Tour Photo Galleries3 weeks agoPhotos from the 2026 PGA Championship
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Equipment2 weeks agoGolfWRX Launch Report: 2026 Titleist GTS drivers
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Equipment2 weeks agoPGA Championship Tour Report: Fitzpatrick, Koepka among big-name putter switches for Aronimink
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News2 weeks agoWITB Time Machine: Phil Mickelson’s winning WITB, 2021 PGA Championship
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Equipment2 weeks agoWhich of Tiger’s major winning irons are your favorite? – GolfWRXers discuss
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Equipment2 weeks agoLead Tape Report: Adjusting the swingweight of the Wanamaker Trophy
kent franklin
Jul 29, 2019 at 5:05 pm
I’ve learned a lot, Thanks!! Please explain how you polish Ferrules and with what? cloth belt, type, etc? They are my nemesis.
Thanks again.
kent franklin
Jul 29, 2019 at 4:53 pm
Favorite component heads to work with ?
Neil Cameron
Jul 29, 2019 at 12:47 am
McGolf is better
this is just attaching shafts that were already built.
not much to it
Ole Man
Jul 29, 2019 at 3:24 pm
Long winded presentation but spot on. Problem was he already had the grips on the shafts. Never build a set of irons without Spine Aligning the shafts. Don’t take my word for it – read the article by Mizuno on spine aligning shafts and the benefits.
Murv
Jul 29, 2019 at 3:42 pm
Yep. Soon as he said they were already gripped, I began to wonder about length and swing weight. Then he said the heads had been weighed and tip weights added. Those would have been interesting to watch him calculate.
Marks23
Jul 28, 2019 at 11:29 am
Any guidance on installing graphite irons shafts? Guidance on using shims for taper tip shafts in to parallel iron heads?
Ole Man
Jul 29, 2019 at 3:29 pm
Go to the Golfworks and purchase their shims .355 to .370 brass. 5 pieces to each container so you’ll have to buy 2 each. High quality product and will take care of the problem. I’ve been using their shims for a long time with no problem. Put the epoxy in the head and some on the shaft then insert the shim part way into the head. Using the shaft push the shim all the way into the head making sure it’s seated on the bottom and you’re good to go. I always wait 24 hours before hitting a club I’ve built. Epoxy needs time to cure properly. Hope this helps you.
Clint Merrill
Jul 27, 2019 at 8:27 pm
Absolutely the worst presentation I have ever seen, I am a 20 year veteran club maker and it was extremely difficult to follow his procedure.
From what I could conclude is that, he knows how and does very good work. How ever his presentation, skipping around, adjusting camera angles etc. would make most viewers turn him off within a few minutes.
E
Jul 28, 2019 at 11:29 am
Yeah, and he mumbles as if he’s got chew in his mouth all the time. People like this should not be on camera. That’s why we have writing lol
geohogan
Aug 3, 2019 at 9:07 am
Better editing would have made an improvement but
nevertheless a very good presentation for novice builders.
Joe Cardosi
Jul 27, 2019 at 7:34 pm
WHAT ABOUT SPINE ALIGNMENT OF THE SHAFT?
Mark
Jul 27, 2019 at 7:04 pm
Enjoyed video. Any guidance on installing graphite iron shafts? Also, guidance using shims on taper tip shaft to be installed in parallel bore head?
Dan
Jul 27, 2019 at 6:49 pm
Can you share contact info as I have been looking for Srixon build
Randy Wall
Jul 27, 2019 at 6:37 pm
Thank you, that was informative.
2putttom
Jul 27, 2019 at 12:01 pm
wonderful !
bob
Jul 28, 2019 at 11:56 am
What kind of tip weights were you using? Where do you get them? I noticed you did not use a tip weight in the 4 iron.
You did a swing weight on one club. How did you know to use tip weights on all the others?. What was the weight of the tip weights?
Where do you get the ferrules?