Equipment

500 wins: Mitsubishi Chemical’s history of tour success, innovation

Published

5 years ago

May 19, 2021

Mitsubishi, broadly, is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, owing largely to the visibility Mitsubishi Motors. Golf gearheads, however, are just as familiar with Mitsubishi Chemical, makers of some of the most popular golf shafts at both amateur and professional levels.

With respect to the latter, Mitsubishi’s history is impressive: More winning driver shafts than any other brand for 16 of the past 17 years on the PGA Tour—and the past seven years straight on the European Tour. Indeed, Mitsubishi Diamana models also have more than 270 wins and Tensei has 80. Kuro Kage and Fubuki, names well known to GolfWRXers and often seen in tour WITBs over the years, have more than 80 wins combined.

With win totals this high across multiple shaft families, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear a Mitsubishi driver shaft was played for the 500th time in a win on a major professional tour.

A little more about the makers of the Diamana DF gamed in victory number 500. In the golf equipment world, you’ll often see Mitsubishi designated “MCA.” Perhaps puzzling to the carbon fiber and kick point neophyte, “MCA” merely stands for Mitsubishi Chemical America. As a sidebar, many GolfWRXers familiar with “MCA” think it denotes the combined companies of Mitsubishi Chemical and Aldila — both venerable shaft houses in their own right — as Mitsubishi acquired Aldila in 2013, but isn’t the case.

With respect to Mitsubishi proper, the Japanese company established a carbon fiber division way back in 1974. In other words, the company, broadly, has been active in the space since, well, it was a space to be active in. Mitsubishi began making carbon shafts in 1979, doing so for decades for its domestic OEM partners in Japan.

It wasn’t until 2004, however, that Mitsubishi Rayon Composites, Inc. proper hung a shingle in Carlsbad, California, to begin developing its own branded products for sale to the aftermarket to satisfy the graphite boom.

The first solo Mitsubishi win (non co-branded shaft) came in July of 2004 at the European Open, and it was also the first victory for the Diamana.

In any industry where innovation and improvement are expected with each product iteration and where new materials are being developed all the time, it’s difficult to pinpoint inflection points and key technologies.

Nevertheless, we asked Mark Gunther, MCA’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing, to highlight a few touchstone innovations and how they informed future shaft developments.

Gunther told us the decision to use metal wire in the butt section of the Diamana Ali’Islei shaft in 2008 led to the development of the TiNi Wire prepreg (the sheets of carbon fiber and resin that are rolled together into golf shafts), which featured in the Kuro Kage line. That technology eventually begat the 304 Stainless Steel Metal Mesh, which is the centerpiece of the popular MMT (Metal Mesh Technology) iron shafts, which debuted in 2019.

Additionally, Gunther highlighted the use of pitch fiber in Diamana X shafts in 2012. Shortly after Mitsubishi merged its pitch fiber production with, at the time, Mitsubishi Rayon’s carbon fiber division to form one business unit, pitch fiber was used for the first time in an $800 Mitsubishi shaft. This led to the use of pitch fiber in the third generation of the Diamana series, and later, the popular Aldila Rogue series. It continues to be the platform for innovation in MCA pitch fiber today.

Mitsubishi has leveraged the GEARS full swing and body tracking system as a secondary testing process after running products through internal testing protocols. MMT (Metal Mesh Technology) shafts were validated via GEARS prior to PGA Tour seeding and rapid adoption by many of the game’s best.

With these innovations as a bedrock — and 500 professional wins under their belts — looking to the future, Gunther says

“There’s every reason to be excited about the future. We’ve built a very talented team that covers tours and golfers globally, we continue to create breakthrough technologies and materials that you’ve seen in Tensei Pro White 1K and in things you’ll see soon like Kai’li and Ascent, and we’re more committed than ever to validating the performance of our products through testing systems like GEARS. Whenever it’s possible to turn over a stone to help golfers shoot lower scores, we’re going to explore it.”

No doubt those explorations — and foundational shaft families like Diamana and Tensei — will have Mitsubishi’s win tally ticking toward 600 faster than, say, a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO GSR.

Equipment

Tour Edge unveils all-new Exotics mini driver

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

Tour Edge Golf has today introduced the all-new Exotics mini driver, engineered to deliver a powerful combination of speed, control, and versatility in the long game.

The Exotics Mini combines a titanium face with a stainless-steel body in design to balance ball speed with stability and control, creating a versatile option at the top end of the bag.

At the core of the design is Tour Edge’s proprietary Combo Brazing technology, a high-precision thermal bonding process that seamlessly fuses a titanium cup face to a stainless-steel body into a single, continuous structure. By eliminating energy loss found in traditional multi-piece constructions, Combo Brazing is designed to deliver faster face response, more efficient energy transfer, and a uniquely powerful yet controlled feel.

The multi-material construction also allows mass to be positioned lower and deeper in the head in a bid to increase stability, while the thin titanium face is engineered to maintain ball speed across a wider impact area.

“While the initial goal was to enhance control and versatility in the long game, Combo Brazing ultimately drove measurable gains in ball speed and distance within the mini driver category. In robot testing, we’ve documented higher ball speeds, higher launch, reduced spin, and increased carry and total distance compared to leading models.” – Vice President of R&D Matt Neeley

In addition to distance performance, the Exotics mini emphasizes forgiveness through a heavier stainless-steel body that shifts mass toward the perimeter. This configuration increases MOI relative to traditional all-titanium mini drivers, helping preserve ball speed and directional stability on off-center strikes. Paired with Pyramid Face Technology from the Exotics metalwood line, the design is intended to support consistent speed across the face.

To further enhance MOI, a lightweight carbon fiber crown frees additional mass that is strategically repositioned low and deep in the head in design to improve stability and promote optimal launch with controlled spin.

“We designed the Mini to be about five millimeters shallower than other mini drivers on the market. That change improves playability off the deck. From a clean fairway lie, it can function as a strong 3-wood alternative while still providing control off the tee.” – Tour Edge CEO David Glod

An adjustable hosel system allows for loft and lie tuning to dial in trajectory and shot shape, while a fixed 13-gram rear weight helps stabilize the head through impact to improve dispersion consistency. The Exotics Mini Driver is available in 11.5 and 13.5-degree lofts in right-handed models.

Pricing & Availability

The Exotics Mini Driver is available for pre-order beginning today for $399.99 USD at touredge.com, and will be available for purchase at retail outlets worldwide on May 22, 2026.

Equipment

Srixon ZXi combo or TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo? – GolfWRXers discuss

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

In our forums, our members have been pitting a Srixon ZXi combo against a TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo. WRXer ‘edutch22’ is on the hunt for a new set of irons and kicks off the thread saying:

“Looking at picking up a new set of irons and think I’ve narrowed it down to Srixon ZXi combo or Taylormade P7CB/770 combo. I am currently a 5 cap and allbeit I feel irons are my weakness. My miss is a little to the toe side. I am decently steep at 4-5 down. Always thought I am high spin but recently on trackman my 7 was spinning at 5800 roughly.

My question or looking for thoughts on which one would benefit me more from a forgiveness standpoint? Or is there another iron is should be looking at entirely? I only get to play about once or twice a week, if I am not playing a 2-3 day event. Thanks in advance.”

And our members have been sharing their thoughts and suggestions in response.

Here are a few posts from the thread, but make sure to check out the entire discussion and have your say at the link below.

manima1: “You just can’t go wrong with Srixon ZXi7.”
MattM97: “You have to hit them to know, the V-Sole on the Srixon can be make or break for many.”
dmeeksDC: “P7CB is more forgiving for me than ZXi7 because my main miss is low middle and the P7CB still flies and spins great on that miss. These are both really nice irons but I like the P7CB more than the Zxi7 and the P770 (or P790) more than the Zxi5. The Srixons are larger so if that gives you confidence that is the way to go. I don’t feel like I get any benefit from the V-sole and the P7CBs live up to their high Maltby forgiveness rating so the TaylorMades have been great for me.”

Entire Thread: “Srixon ZXi combo or TaylorMade P7CB/770 combo? – GolfWRXers discuss”

Equipment

From the GolfWRX Classifieds: 2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade combo

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2026

Gianni Magliocco

At GolfWRX, we are a community of like-minded individuals who all experience and express our enjoyment of the game in many ways.

It’s that sense of community that drives day-to-day interactions in the forums on topics that range from best driver to what marker you use to mark your ball. It even allows us to share another thing we all love – buying and selling equipment.

Currently, in our GolfWRX buy/sell/trade (BST) forum, @pianoman0123 has a 2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade combo up for grabs.

From the listing: “2024 Wilson Staff CB/Blade Combo. 4-8 irons are CB’s and the 9,PW are Blades. 5-PW have Project X 6.0 Shafts and the 4 Iron has a Steelfiber CW110 Stiff Shaft. Standard Length, Lie and Lofts. These are in very good condition the shafts just don’t work for me. Like new Lamkin Grips on the 5-PW and a stock Golf Pride on the 4 Iron. $525 OBO.”

To check out the full listing in our BST forum, head through the link. If you are curious about the rules to participate in the BST Forum, you can learn more here: GolfWRX BST Rules