Equipment
Club Junkie Review: Graphite Design Tour AD VF wood shaft
Graphite Design has been a legendary brand in the world of premium golf shafts since the company was founded in 1989. Graphite Design has had some popular shafts over the years, but they are probably most well known for the Tour AD DI that was released in 2010. Today we are talking about the newest shaft in the Graphite Design lineup, the new VF. The letters do stand for something, Victory Force, and according to Graphite Design every victory requires force! For a more in-depth review, please check out the Club Junkie podcast below or on any streaming platform. Just search “GolfWRX Radio.”
Out of the box, the VF has a very familiar look with a red handle section and a black tip section that are separated with the traditional 10 silver rings. The color combination is definitely more subtle than some of the other Tour AD shaft combinations. Graphite Design doesn’t make too many low-launching shafts, so the VF is filling that need. The VF will suit players looking for low/,id launch and low spin shaft to put in their driver or fairway wood.
The shaft profile is a firm+ handle section, it matches the stiffest handles Graphite Design shafts, with a stiff midsection, and finally a very stiff tip. Exotic materials are used along with MSI Design to maintain stability and consistency. Graphite Design uses Torayca M40X carbon fiber in the handle section to make it stiffer and enhance control of the shaft. Ultra-high modulus Torayca T1100G is used in the middle and tip section for added stability without losing that smooth feel.
I built up the VF shaft using a universal tip system that allows me to use the shaft in any driver head. The building went extremely smoothly as every Graphite Design shaft I have ever installed has a consistent tip diameter and I have never had any issues with a sloppy fit. Once the VF was cut to length and installed, the shaft has a great look that doesn’t jump out as distracting or eye-catching. If you are playing a TaylorMade Stealth 2, then the shaft blends in naturally and they look to visually be great partners!
You would expect a smooth and responsive feel from any Graphite Design shaft and you will get just that with the VF. For me the shaft was exactly as Graphite Design describes, being mid/low launch and offering a very penetrating ball flight. The Tour AD XC might launch a touch lower, but I like the feel and consistency I get from the VF just a little bit more. No matter what driver head I used, the VF seemed to offer ball flight in a similar window, slightly lower than the Fujikura Ventus TR Blue I was using. Even shots into the wind showed no real signs of rising or ballooning. Spin was also lower than I expected with the VF shaft. On the course, I noticed a penetrating, boring flight no matter where I hit the ball on the driver face. Shots struck low on the face held a good amount of distance and even the low heel strike seemed to launch lower and carry further.
I even took a couple of driver heads out to the range with a launch monitor and noticed that I rarely saw a spin number with a “3” in front of it. Almost every shot, good and not so good, seemed to spin around that 2,600 RPM number. With many fittings and shaft tinkering, that is usually on the lower end of what I find with my swing. As I said with the shaft being mid/low launch I was seeing an average of around 11 degrees while using a couple of 10.5-degree driver heads. On course, the VF was very straight and consistent and while it seemed easier to square up than I expected, it did not want to go left as easily as some other shafts. I would consider the flight just slightly fade biased but if you release the club properly you will be rewarded with a straight shot down the fairway.
Overall, the Graphite Design Tour AD VF is a really solid mid/low launch and low spin option with a smooth feel. It is starting to gain some traction on the professional tours and could be a great shaft for your swing as well.
Graphite Design Tour AD VF Specs
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Editor’s note: This is an excerpt from an article our Andrew Tursky filed for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. You can read the full article here.
Thompson entrusts Craig Allan, director of Sea Island’s Golf Performance Center, who works with various PGA TOUR players on their fitting needs. Last year, Thompson informed Allan that something wasn’t right with his irons. He’d been striping his driver with a Titleist ’21 Pro V1 and Titleist TSR3 driver, but he was struggling with distance control with his irons due to low spin, while catching too many fliers out of the rough.
Allan offered Thompson three solutions: weaken the lofts of his current irons, test out some higher-spinning golf balls, and test out different iron heads and shafts. Thompson didn’t want to hit the ball higher with his irons; he wanted to address the golf ball instead. Initially, Thompson decided to change into a Titleist Pro V1 Star prototype golf ball that offers higher spin rates.
Although the ball change provided a nice solution for his iron play, his driver play suffered.
“(At the) Memorial (Tournament presented by Workday) last year, I started playing a spinnier Titleist golf ball, and it was great for my iron setup at the time,” Thompson said. “But kind of over time I saw my driver’s stats kind of go down, which is kind of a strong suit of my game. So we were trying to figure out after Valspar (Championship) this year how we can get the driver back going.”
Following the Valspar, Thompson and Allan got back to work in the testing center. Thompson was ready for Allan’s third option, which meant he would switch back into his previous Titleist Pro V1 ’21 golf ball, restore his driver dominance, and begin looking at different iron heads with weaker lofts and different shafts to gain spin and distance control.
After two weeks of testing different iron head-and-shaft combinations with the lower spinning golf ball, Allan and Thompson decided on the Titleist 620 MB irons (5-9) equipped with True Temper Dynamic Gold Mid Tour Issue X100 shafts, which offer slightly higher spin and launch compared to the True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts that Thompson was playing previously.
Head over to PGATour.com to read the full article.
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BK says: League play is back, weather permitting, and it feels like I have been away for years! We are going with a few brand new items in the bag this week as I try and figure out the 14 clubs I am taking on my golf weekend in a couple of weeks. Irons are the Ben Hogan PTx Tour, a progressive set that is built around multi-piece long irons and on-piece forged 9 and PW. The driver head isn’t new but the shaft is the brand new Fujikura Ventus Red with VeloCore+ technology. Finally the lob wedge is the Titleist Vokey Wedgeworks 60 A+ grand.
Driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (10.5 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 6x (2024)
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour (15 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Red 7x (2018)
7-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (20 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8s
Irons: Ben Hogan PTx Tour (4-PW)
Shaft: KBS Tour-V 110 Stiff
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (50.12F)
Shaft: Nippon Modus Tour 105 Stiff
Wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10 (56.14F)
Shaft: Nippon Modus Tour 105 Stiff
Wedge: Titleist Vokey Wedgeworks (60 A+)
Shaft: True Temper Dynamic Gold S200
Putter: Toulon Chicago
Shaft: Stroke Lab
Ball: Titleist ProV1x
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There are 15 “equipment free agents” in the OWGR top 100, as of June 9, 2024, which is the Tuesday ahead of the 2024 Genesis Scottish Open.
“Equipment free agents” are defined here as players who do not have a sponsorship or a brand deal to play a specific company’s golf clubs. If the player has a brand deal to use a company’s staff bag, or their driver, or their irons, or their putter, or they wear an OEM hat, then they’re excluded from the “equipment free agent” list.
Full disclosure, I’ve excluded borderline players such as Maverick McNealy, Justin Rose, and Matt Fitzpatrick from the list, due to their putter relationships. I probably could have kept them in, since they use varied brands throughout their full setups, but we have to develop some basic definitions here to keep this clean.
Given the amount of golf-ball brand deals there are on tour, however, “equipment free agents” are still considered “equipment free agents” if they have golf ball deals.
Since I’m making the rules here, that’s just something everyone will have to live with for this article/research study. I do think, however, that most “gearheads” would agree with me, that an equipment free agent is someone who can play any 14 clubs that he chooses, thus, he’s an “equipment free agent.” Golf balls just don’t count in this circumstance, in my opinion, and I hope you agree.
Aside from some sort of under-the-table deal that no one knows about, as far as I can tell, and based on what I know, the 15 “equipment free agents” listed below are not compromised by any current club deals. These are players who are free to test and use any golf club, made by any brand that they want to, unrestricted by a contract.
Maybe I’m wrong, and a few of the players do, in fact, have contracts to play certain clubs, but I guarantee that I do not know about it. I’m doing the best I possibly can here to keep these results unbiased.
Also, we have to keep in mind that we’re dealing with equipment free agents here. These are players who tend to enjoy the freedom to test equipment from different brands, and they tend to switch clubs on a regular basis. So, what’s listed below could change by the week, or even by the day. However, I’ve done my best detective work, using our GolfWRX.com weekly WITB photos, using information obtained from equipment companies, and by analyzing the most up-to-date photos on Getty Images, or otherwise. Despite my best efforts, however, I’m sure to get something wrong, because these free agents switch clubs on a whim, and their bag setups often vary day-to-day.
I apologize if I got any information incorrect, but I do guarantee that the information listed below is accurate at a moment of time in 2024. For each of the 15 players, their club information is accurate as of the most recent information possible, as of the day before the Genesis Scottish Open. When you’re reading this article, however, things may have changed slightly. Or, a player listed below could have already signed a new brand deal. That’s just the nature of the “equipment free agent” business, and it’s just something we’re all going to have to accept here.
Lastly, before we get to the results, a few brief notes on the categories.
The categories here are drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters. For the fairway wood category, I’ve excluded the TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver. It just makes things a little too confusing, because most players who have a mini driver in the bag also have a 3-wood that they use depending on the course or conditions. In this case, I used the lowest-lofted fairway wood in the bag for each player. It just kind of evens the playing field this way, because the Mini Driver is a specialty club, and it can’t necessarily be called a fairway wood – it literally has “driver” in the name! But, just know, that about 1-4 Mini Drivers are in play on a given week by free agents.
Also, I researched just the “7-iron” to avoid any confusion around mixed sets, and to avoid trying to determine what’s considered a “driving iron” and what isn’t. It’s a cleaner list going with just the 7-iron, and I think it gets us what we’re all looking for. Maybe I’ll do some further study on “mixed sets,” but for now, we’ll start with just the 7. Additionally, we’re breaking down just the lob wedge, rather than all wedges used throughout the set. Not only do I think that the lob wedge is the specific club that most people want to know about, but it’s also super messy to include all the wedges in a player’s bag, because many players use some sort of mixed-model or mixed-brand wedge set.
Anyways!
Below, I’ve compiled a list of the most popular drivers, fairway woods, 7-irons, lob wedges, and putters among the 15 “equipment free agents,” who are each ranked inside the top 100 in the OWGR.
The information compiled below is listed numerically, by most usage to least usage, and listed alphabetically.
Driver
Ping G430 LST (4 players)
Titleist GT2 (4)
Titleist GT3 (2)
Krank Formula Fire
Ping G430 Max 10K
Ping G430 Max
TaylorMade M6
Titleist TSR3
Fairway Wood
Ping G430 Max (5)
TaylorMade Qi10 (4)
Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond (2)
Krank Formula Fire
TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
TaylorMade Stealth Plus
Titleist 915F
7-iron
Titleist T100 (2)
Titleist 620MB (2)
Avoda Golf Prototype
Callaway Apex TCB
Callaway X Forged CB
Miura KM-700
Mizuno MP-18 SC
Ping Blueprint S Forged
Ping S55
TaylorMade P770
TaylorMade P7TW
Titleist 620CB
Titleist AP2 718
Lob Wedge
Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks (7)
Titleist Vokey SM9 (4)
Titleist Vokey SM10 (3)
Ping Glide 4.0
Putter
Odyssey (6)
Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball
Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini
Odyssey Toulon San Diego
Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype
Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie
Scotty Cameron (4)
Scotty Cameron 009M
Scotty Cameron GoLo N7
Scotty Cameron P5 prototype
Scotty Cameron T5 Proto
TaylorMade (3)
TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red
TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB
TaylorMade Spider Tour X
L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
SIK Pro C-Series Armlock
Individual Breakdown of Free Agents inside the Top 100 (according to the latest WITB information and photography)
Patrick Cantlay
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: Titleist 915F
7-iron: Titleist AP2 718
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Scotty Cameron T5 Proto
Bryson DeChambeau
Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro
3-wood: Krank Formula Fire
7-iron: Avoda Prototype
Lob Wedge: Ping Glide 4.0
Putter: SIK Pro C-Series Armlock
Jason Day
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P770
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Limited Red
Denny McCarthy
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Callaway Apex TCB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Scotty Cameron GoLo N7
Davis Thompson
Driver: Titleist TSR3
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #7
Stephan Jaeger
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Ping S55
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey Ai One 2-Ball
Aaron Rai
Driver: TaylorMade M6
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: TaylorMade P7TW
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: TaylorMade TP HydroBlast DuPage SB
Adam Schenk
Driver: Ping G430 Max 10K
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Mizuno MP-18 SC
Lob-wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Odyssey White Hot Pro Rossie
Adam Scott
Driver: Titleist GT2
Fairway wood: TaylorMade Qi10
7-iron: Miura KM-700
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: L.A.B. Golf Mezz.1 Proto
Brendon Todd
Driver: Ping G430 Max
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Ping Blueprint S Forged
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks Proto
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego
Cam Smith
Driver: Titleist GT3
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist T100
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Scotty Cameron 009M
Patrick Rodgers
Driver: Titleist GT3
3-wood: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond
7-iron: Titleist T100
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM9
Putter: Odyssey Toulon San Diego prototype
Mark Hubbard
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: Ping G430 Max
7-iron: Titleist 620MB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour X
Ben Kohles
Driver: Titleist GT2
3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus
7-iron: Titleist 620 CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey SM10
Putter: Scotty Cameron P5 prototype
Matt Wallace
Driver: Ping G430 LST
3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 Tour
7-iron: Callaway X Forged CB
Lob wedge: Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks
Putter: Odyssey O-Works Jailbird Mini
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Stephen
Oct 12, 2023 at 11:59 am
You mentioned the Tour AD GP was one of your favorite Graphite Design shafts (same here). How did the VF compare to it? Do you think it’s the GP replacement essentially?
Brian Knudson
Oct 12, 2023 at 12:45 pm
To me the VF launches just a little lower and definitely spins less. I also find that I have a little less draw, more straight, ball flight with the VF.
Julia
Oct 3, 2023 at 6:08 pm
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