Opinion & Analysis
A Golf Geek’s Dream: Time in the Tour Van
One week ago, I walked up my driveway with a bounce in my stride that I only get at the end of a great day. Watching the sunset from the top of Mount Kilimanjaro was special, but spending the day in a PGA Tour Van at the Valspar Championship was beyond words.
“Honey, I’m home,” I called out to my girlfriend as soon as I walked in the door. “I went to the Valspar and watched a bunch of tour players hitting bullets on the range,” I said. “But then I got to hang out in a tour van and watched Scott build a set with an SST Pure. It was the most amazing thing!”
“Sorry,” she said, looking at me like I was a bit crazy, “but I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I tried to explain it in plain English.
“Today, a friend took me into a tour van and introduced me to Scott E. Garrison,” I said. “Scott owns and operates a tour van. His van is basically a tractor trailer truck that’s a pro shop on wheels and steroids. Imagine a science lab crossed with a tailor shop crossed with the best stocked pro shop you could imagine.”
Scott E. Garrison (right) and Bob Van Sweden, my hosts for the day.
“Let me see if I get this,” she said. “Your great mood is because you spent the day in a tractor trailer truck?”
“Not just any… Scott’s,” I said. “He travels to about 32 tour events per year, usually stays from Monday to Wednesday, repairing, fitting and building clubs for tour players. His van is full of the most unbelievable technology, a lot of which you can’t find anywhere other than a van like his. He has a couple of lie and loft machines, a gripping station, a saw, a belt sander and a machine to get shafts PUREd.”
“A PUREd?” she asked. She looked at me like I was crazy and speaking a foreign language.
Scott E.G.’s Tour Van.
“Yes, a PUREd,” I said, barely holding back my excitement. “It’s this machine that analyzes golf shafts and identifies the most stable plane. It’s helped PGA Tour players earn $2 billion around the world.”
“PureD made $2 billion?” she asked. “Sounds like a vitamin or a workout tape.”
“No, it’s better,” I told her. “What you do is load a club shaft into the machine, then the machine spins the shaft around to locate the strongest point in the shaft. When the machine identifies the spot it even marks it! Then, when Scott builds a club, he puts that spot into the 12 o’clock position on the club, which optimizes performance.”
Scott using his SST Pure machine.
Her interest piqued. “Why is that important?” she asked.
“Because even something as well built and precise as the shafts in golf clubs have individual characteristics that can be used to make how you use them more or less effective. In this case, it allows you to position the club so it can be its strongest, most consistent and most effective when you swing.”
“Wow, now I get it,” she said. “So that machine could be the difference between someone winning or losing on tour?”
“Exactly,” I said. “I also got to watch Scott put together a set for a big deal on the PGA Tour while the guy stood there. The process was pure artistry. First, Scott looked at the desired specs for the player. Then he weighed all the heads, all the grips, PUREd the shafts and then set upon building what was literally a perfect set.”
“A true artist at work,” she said.
“You got it,” I said. “As he moved effortlessly, he spoke of the precision required in his work, teaching me about the nuances of the process, as well as the challenges of working with tour players. Many of these guys can tell even one swing weight.”
“At one point he held up two brands of golf grips: an Iomic and a Golf Pride,” I said. “He pointed to the end of a club and said, ‘See here, Iomic has no butt, but Golf Pride has about a quarter-inch butt. When you build, you better account for the difference.'”
A Golf Pride grip (right) and an Iomic model.
I kept chattering.
“He was moving from machine to machine through the process, snipping a little hear, measuring a little there, then some mixing and a little light banging and VOILA!” I said. “The perfect set; all lengths, swing weights and frequencies spot on!”
I had her attention as she sat sipping her water.
“The process continued,” I said. “A hybrid for another household name player. Then a putter grip and then a loft and lie check.”
Scott told me that many PGA Tour players came into his Tour van every week to check their lies as he measured a golf club using his $6,000 digital loft and lie machine. “And then there are some who come less often,” he said. “Depends on the guy. Some are very particular, others are not.”
I continued recounting the events of the day to her.
“Around 11 a.m., the Pro-Am was about to start,” I said. “The players and everyone other than Scott left the van. As he continued to work I asked, ‘Was that stressful?’ He laughed. Just how he looked at me, it was clear that he loves his work as much as any artist or craftsman who needed to be on his game all the time. He made it all look very easy.”
“And then what?” my girlfriend asked.
“I watched him work silently for a long time,” I said. “It really felt like he was the master sword fitter, arming the greatest Samurai in the land, and I was watching him build the swords that would make the difference between life and death.”
“Come on young Skywalker,” she said laughing. She kissed me and led me into the kitchen for for dinner; I could smell the spaghetti bolognese, my favorite.
“It didn’t just seem like it,“ she said. “He probably was.”
“Yup,” I said. A perfect day, as I kissed her lightly on the cheek, a happy, contented man.
—
Scott has one of the most amazing Instagram pages (@scotteggolf). It is AWESOME and a must follow! He also offers “Tour Experiences,” where you can have him build you a set of clubs. To find out more, you can visit his website at ScottEGGolf.com.
Bob Van Sweden is a full-time club fitter in St. Petersburg, Florida. His website is http://www.golfrepaircenter.com/.
Club Junkie
Tour Edge Exotics mini driver review + TaylorMade Spider ZT Max first look – Club Junkie
On this episode of Club Junkie, I put the new Tour Edge Exotics Mini Driver to the test and break down the performance, forgiveness, distance, and where it fits compared to a traditional driver or strong fairway wood. If you have been curious about adding a mini driver to the bag, this one is worth a look.
I also dive into the new TaylorMade Spider ZT Max putter that was recently spotted and discuss the growing zero torque putter trend. Plus, there is a closer look at the new Project X Titan Yellow shaft showing up on the PGA Tour and what makes it different from other profiles currently out there.
Opinion & Analysis
AVL: We’re talking about practice! My best tips for taking your game to the course
With the beginning of June on the horizon and courses rounding into peak condition for the season, it’s time to hone the finer skills that often get rusty over the winter. More sunlight also means more time to get out on the course and work on your game.
Whether it’s the practice green or the driving range, there’s always something to improve—whether you’re enjoying the fresh air or preparing for a weekend game or tournament. You can work on drills or freestyle around the green, and friendly competition is a great way to sharpen your skills.
While there are endless ways to get better at golf, I’m going to focus on practicing around the green. Let’s take a look at a few things to keep in mind as we head into the summer months.
Drills
From the driving range to the practice green, it’s important to incorporate drills into your routine. Years ago, I spent a weekend working on my short game with James Sieckmann. He recommended doing drill work for 5–10 minutes, then returning to your main practice.
This way, you create a balance between structured drills and real-world scenarios, so you’re not confined to “perfect” situations. For example, hitting the same three-foot putt over and over is good for repetition, but after a while, it becomes less interactive for your brain.
My approach is to use a putting trainer with a narrow gate for the ball to pass through, or simply place tees just outside the width of the ball. I’ll hit a series of four putts through the gate for three sets. Then, from a similar distance, I’ll hit four putts without the training aid and repeat that sequence three times.
Next, I’ll hit a number of 15–25 foot putts in a random fashion, then circle back to repeat the short putt drills with and without the training aid.
This breaks up the rhythm of hitting short putts with the training aid. When you hit the same short putts over and over, it’s easy to get into a groove—which is great for the drill, but not reflective of actual course play. While finding a rhythm is fundamental for drills, I like to introduce variation with longer putts to keep things realistic.
Game Mode
Once you’ve established a foundation with drills, it’s time to simulate on-course scenarios. This is where a few practice games come in handy.
One that I’ve been enjoying lately involves putting 10- to 15-footers with two balls. If I make the putt, great! If I miss, I pull the missed ball back a putter length. Suddenly, that little tap-in becomes a nerve-wracking three-footer—at least at first. As you get better at this game, those three- and five-footers become much more comfortable and routine.
It may sound cliché, but each shot is just what it is—it’s how we react that makes the difference. I like this game because it blends the pressure of on-course putting with the consequence of leaving yourself a much longer putt than usual.
Another game I like is one I recently learned from Brad Faxon. Place three tees in a line at four different locations around the hole: one at 3 feet, one at 6 feet, and one at 8 feet. The 3- and 6-foot putts count as par, and the 8-footer is for birdie.
This game keeps you focused on scoring and helps you get into a competitive mindset. You can even think about this putting game while you’re on the course. I just started playing it, and last week I couldn’t get better than two under par.
Competition
Competition during practice is when drills and games come to life, and you start to see results. For me, nothing beats a putting contest with a friend or two. In the right setting, these contests can become talking points for the whole season.
Match play, a game of 21, or simply seeing who can make the most one-putts (with a small prize on the line) are all great ways to simulate real on-course pressure. Recently, I played in a putting contest where one competitor made back-to-back 30- and 50-foot putts. As they say, expect your opponent to make every putt—and he nearly did. That’s impressive, and it’s something you see on the course, too: you have to stay committed to your game plan, no matter what.
When it comes to practice, it’s important to blend feedback from recent rounds with the fundamentals you want to reinforce. Drills, games, and competition—from the driving range to the putting green—form the backbone of skills you’ll rely on during actual rounds.
Finding the right balance is something we’re all working on, one practice session at a time. With the beginning of June on the horizon and courses rounding into peak condition for the season, it’s time to hone the finer skills that often get rusty over the winter. More sunlight also means more time to get out on the course and work on your game. Whether it’s the practice green or the driving range, there’s always something to improve—whether you’re enjoying the fresh air or preparing for a weekend game or tournament. You can work on drills or freestyle around the green, and friendly competition is a great way to sharpen your skills. While there are endless ways to get better at golf, I’m going to focus on practicing around the green. Let’s take a look at a few things to keep in mind as we head into the summer months.
Drills
From the driving range to the practice green, it’s important to incorporate drills into your routine. Years ago, I spent a weekend working on my short game with James Sieckmann. He recommended doing drill work for 5–10 minutes, then returning to your main practice. This way, you create a balance between structured drills and real-world scenarios, so you’re not confined to “perfect” situations. For example, hitting the same three-foot putt over and over is good for repetition, but after a while, it becomes less interactive for your brain.
My approach is to use a putting trainer with a narrow gate for the ball to pass through, or simply place tees just outside the width of the ball. I’ll hit a series of four putts through the gate for three sets. Then, from a similar distance, I’ll hit four putts without the training aid and repeat that sequence three times. Next, I’ll hit a number of 15–25 foot putts in a random fashion, then circle back to repeat the short putt drills with and without the training aid.
This breaks up the rhythm of hitting short putts with the training aid. When you hit the same short putts over and over, it’s easy to get into a groove—which is great for the drill, but not reflective of actual course play. While finding a rhythm is fundamental for drills, I like to introduce variation with longer putts to keep things realistic.
Game Mode
Once you’ve established a foundation with drills, it’s time to simulate on-course scenarios. This is where a few practice games come in handy. One that I’ve been enjoying lately involves putting 10- to 15-footers with two balls. If I make the putt, great! If I miss, I pull the missed ball back a putter length.
Suddenly, that little tap-in becomes a nerve-wracking three-footer—at least at first. As you get better at this game, those three- and five-footers become much more comfortable and routine. It may sound cliché, but each shot is just what it is—it’s how we react that makes the difference. I like this game because it blends the pressure of on-course putting with the consequence of leaving yourself a much longer putt than usual.
Another game I like is one I recently learned from Brad Faxon. Place three tees in a line at four different locations around the hole: one at 3 feet, one at 6 feet, and one at 8 feet. The 3- and 6-foot putts count as par, and the 8-footer is for birdie.
This game keeps you focused on scoring and helps you get into a competitive mindset. You can even think about this putting game while you’re on the course. I just started playing it, and last week I couldn’t get better than two under par.
Competition
Competition during practice is when drills and games come to life, and you start to see results. For me, nothing beats a putting contest with a friend or two. In the right setting, these contests can become talking points for the whole season. Match play, a game of 21, or simply seeing who can make the most one-putts (with a small prize on the line) are all great ways to simulate real on-course pressure. Recently, I played in a putting contest where one competitor made back-to-back 30- and 50-foot putts. As they say, expect your opponent to make every putt—and he nearly did. That’s impressive, and it’s something you see on the course, too: you have to stay committed to your game plan, no matter what.
When it comes to practice, it’s important to blend feedback from recent rounds with the fundamentals you want to reinforce. Drills, games, and competition—from the driving range to the putting green—form the backbone of skills you’ll rely on during actual rounds. Finding the right balance is something we’re all working on, one practice session at a time.
For Korean golfers, we always look forward to the last of the kkot-saem-chu-I for the true start of a new golf season. The term refers to a cold snap, but literally translates as “winter being jealous of the flowers beginning to bloom, thus lashing out one final time before surrendering to spring”.
A rather poetic mouthful packed into a short expression.
Koreans can be like that. Understated, yet oddly expressive at the same time. And nowhere is this more true on the golf course and in our golf bags. In fact, I suspect many Korean golfers look forward to new apparel and accessory drops more than they do actual equipment launches each year.
At this point, Korean golf fashion may exist on its own timeline. (courtesy of @seonbi_golfer)
There is ample evidence to support that suspicion. Korea is the world’s third-largest golf market behind the United States and Japan, yet its appetite for golf apparel exceeds that of both countries combined. Recent estimates suggest that Korea accounts for nearly 40 percent of the global golf apparel market, placing it among the world’s most influential golf fashion markets and punching well above its size.
Simply, we care deeply about how new golf clubs look and feel, but enjoy looking good while swinging them even more.
Golfers in the West may laugh and say that golf is played on a course, not a fashion runway. Perhaps. But what’s the harm in trying to look and feel good, if the added self-confidence can help actual performance? It certainly seems to have worked for Jason Day, who may have unlocked a new stats category: dormant strokes gained. Coincidence?
During the COVID-era, estimates placed the market near $9 billion, an astonishing figure for a single country.
As a proud member of Gen X, I’ve witnessed the highs and lows of golf fashion firsthand. The pleated trousers and wing-tipped shoes of Jack Nicklaus, the stylish plus-fours and knickers of Payne Stewart, the baggy black trousers and fitted mock-necks of Tiger Woods, and the thigh-hugging athletic tailoring of Rory McIlroy. Golf fashion, like the golf swing itself, has rarely stood still.
But nowhere have those trends shifted, evolved, and been scrutinized quite as relentlessly as in Korea. Here, golf fashion moves faster than fairway gossip, and consumers dissect brands with a level of discernment that can be both impressive and mildly terrifying. New brands are studied, judged, embraced, or dismissed with startling efficiency.
The result is a consumer base with one of the sharpest eyes for quality and authenticity anywhere in the world. It is difficult to quantify, but easy to recognize. Clean lines without trying too hard. Luxury mixed with utility. Trend awareness balanced by restraint and purpose.
It’s golf fashion shaped by one of the world’s most style-literate cities, something I like to call Seoul Sensibilities, referring to the taste level forged by a uniquely competitive environment.
And increasingly, global brands have noticed.
Many golf brands in Korea have their own flagship shops dedicated to apparel only
Titleist understood this years ago, when its apparel business in Korea took on a life of its own under new ownership and local direction. What had once been a straightforward extension of an iconic equipment giant became something sharper and more premium. By going all in on the serious Tour-player look (I couldn’t even fit into their XL sizes), Titleist struck the right chord with Korean consumers and helped its fledgling apparel business break into the mainstream. Titleist became a household name even for non-golfers who wore its caps, shirts, and windbreakers in daily life. In many ways, it proved that even heritage golf brands could carry real fashion credibility when viewed through a Korean lens.
Several years later, PXG took a page out of Titleist’s playbook and followed suit. Korean consumers helped transform the brand from one known largely for irons and loud commercials into something broader and more stylish. PXG apparel’s growth in Korea was explosive, where it found an early audience and turned the category into something more than mere logo merchandise. It is still hard to walk anywhere in Seoul without seeing its palindrome logo.
Malbon’s meteoric rise in the United States was genuine, but its ascent into a global golf lifestyle brand owes much to Korea, where it was elevated by a market already fluent in modern golf style. Korea did not simply embrace Malbon. It pressure-tested the concept, refined its appeal, and helped push it into the global spotlight.
As such, new brands may arrive from abroad, but more often than not, their sharpest evolution happens here. If a brand can earn credibility in Seoul, it’s deemed to have passed one of the toughest style audits in the game.
That is why the next meaningful chapter may not come from outside, but from a Korean brand moving in the opposite direction, carrying those Seoul Sensibilities outward as K-pop once did.
Play young Stay dope.
From Seoul, With Intent
Khalhon is a label that feels less like a trend-chasing newcomer and more like the product of a market that has already seen everything. Golfers here have long been surrounded by luxury logos, technical fabrics, and tour uniforms disguised as lifestyle wear and vice-versa. In other words, novelty alone rarely lasts here, and the Koreans seems to understand that instinctively.
Its style language leans into clean silhouettes, relaxed but tailored proportions, muted palettes, and premium materials that speak quietly but confidently. There is a modern city aesthetic running through it all, with strong layering pieces, thoughtful textures, and subtle branding that suggests sophistication rather than demanding attention.
“Built for the course. Designed beyond it.”
Most importantly, the garments seem designed to blur the line between golfwear and everyday style. Shirts, trousers, knitwear, and outer layers move comfortably between a game of screen golf, a lunch reservation, an airport gate, or an afternoon coffee in Gangnam with friends.
It raises the question of whether this is golfwear that happens to look good off the course, or everyday clothing that performs beautifully on the fairways.
Personally, I have long appreciated Nike Golf for its clean, athletic modernization of golf attire. It also has the useful side effect of making me look like a more serious golfer than I probably am. But off the course, there are times when being instantly identified as the golf guy in a crowd of non-golfers can feel a touch self-conscious.
“Built for the course. Designed beyond it.”
That is part of what drew me to Khalhon, which seemed to blend golf and everyday wear naturally. While some of the outfits may be slightly beyond my personal confidence level, the brand also offers tasteful options for older guys like me who still want to express a little personality without regretting the decision later.
These are not simply flashy outfits worn on the course and then banished to the closet until the next tee time. They work surprisingly well off the course too, and I suspect many of the pieces will still look right a couple of years from now, which would certainly be kinder to my wallet than most golf fashion trends tend to be.
And perhaps that broader lifestyle positioning also helps explain why someone like Sean Wotherspoon would find Khalhon creatively interesting in the first place.
“Built for the course. Designed beyond it.”
“Korea is not only one of the most fashion-forward golf markets in the world, but one of the most fashion-forward markets globally. Korea is ahead, and I love to watch and try to catch up.” – Sean Wotherspoon, Creative Director at Khalhon
Seoul and Beyond
If Khalhon’s rise says something about where Korean golf fashion is today, its relationship with Sean Wotherspoon says even more about where it is heading.
For readers less familiar with Sean Wotherspoon, his arrival at Khalhon is not some routine celebrity endorsement or influencer collaboration. In design and streetwear circles, Wotherspoon is regarded as one of the more influential creative voices of his generation, particularly when it comes to blending nostalgia, storytelling, and contemporary culture into products that people can connect with.
He first gained widespread attention through his now-famous Nike sneaker collaborations, where his vintage-inspired designs and instinct for color helped turn him into one of the defining artists of the late-2010s sneaker era. His work gradually expanded beyond footwear into apparel, automotive collaborations, collectibles, and broader lifestyle design.
Modern golf style now extends well beyond the fairways, where performance and functionality are largely expected by default. And while plenty of brands already make technically competent golfwear, Khalhon seems more focused on designing clothes people would genuinely want to wear even after the round ends.
And when guys at Wotherspoon’s level show genuine interest in working with a Korean golf brand as its new Creative Director, fashion circles tend to sit up and pay attention. There’s already a huge buzz among the fashion-conscious here about upcoming collabs with iconic sports stars and brands.
“My creative direction for Khalhon is disruptive, colorful, nostalgic, and modern. My goal is to blend these avenues seamlessly within each collection.” – Sean Wotherspoon
In chatting with Sean, what stood out most to me was how genuinely energized he sounded about the project itself. Despite having already worked across and countless other creative spaces, he described golf as a completely fresh category for him, saying that Khalhon “will be an amazing vehicle for my design work.”
At the same time, his enthusiasm seemed tied just as much to Korea itself. He spoke openly about admiring Korea’s fashion culture while repeatedly insisting he is still a terrible golfer.
There was something oddly refreshing about that humility. Rather than sounding like a celebrity parachuting into golf simply because the category suddenly became fashionable, Sean sounded genuinely curious about what Korea might do with the category next.
And perhaps that is what makes Khalhon feel interesting right now. The brand feels less like a trend-chaser and more like the natural result of a market now confident enough to export its own point of view.
For years, global brands came to Korea to sharpen their image against one of the most discerning audiences anywhere. Now, a Korean label appears ready to send those Seoul Sensibilities outward instead.
Which brings us back to kkot-saem-chu-i.
That final cold snap before spring always arrives with a reminder that seasons are changing, whether we notice it immediately or not. Golf fashion feels a little like that right now as well, as the old boundaries between sport, streetwear, luxury, and everyday style continue to soften.
And somewhere in Seoul, a Korean golf label already seems prepared for whatever season comes next. I just hope they have everything in my size.
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Photos from the ShopRite LPGA
Maria Torres WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 5-M4 3-wood: Ping G440 Max (15 degrees) Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4 5-wood: Ping G440...
Eric Cole WITB 2026 (June)
Driver: PXG Lightning Tour Max (9 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees) Shaft:...
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Driver: Callaway Quantum Triple Diamond (8.5 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 6 X Mini driver: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Mini...
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Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Fyearoldgolfer
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:41 pm
People spouting off with out doing the basic research of checking google. SSTPuring
Was developed by engineers interested in making a golf club better and matched
to the end user. I didn’t use it 20 years ago because of the expense, but now every
set of iron shafts I buy are pured. I now also get wood shafts pured to be aligned
in the hosel setup I will use the most in my adjustables, and aligned in my glue in heads
that still out perform whatever current club heads offered now. I see some noticeable
Improvements every 3 – 5 years, and only buy that head if it outperforms all my current
backups. 15 drivers that need to be culled down to 5. 36 fairway clubs, 7 hybrids,
15 sets of irons, I’ve lost count of wedges 60 or 70, 8 – 10 putters, plus another
4 for sentimental reasons. 8 driver shafts for adjustable heads, only 2 fairway shafts
for adjustable heads, more coming out of some of the unneeded drivers. Played this game
more than 47 years, I can feel a one swing weight difference club to club, my club fitter
tested me all the time without telling me what he was doing, I thought I could only
tell if it was 2 or more swing weights, but he taught me better. Go find your old set of irons
and have them fitted. Sure your own is not a current pw/8 iron, but I would bet you the cost of the new shafts that you play them better, and now your upper end iron is a 4 or 3 iron
that outperforms your new off the rack hybrid.
Iliketomoveitmoveit
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:33 am
I thought the article was pretty cool but still left out a lot of details on what really goes on in these vans from stop to stop. I for one would love to hear more about the back-end operations that make these tour events so successful year after year – from the tour van guys, the caddies, the volunteers, photographers, clubhouse chefs, and more! I think it’s a very overlooked aspect of golf operations that people don’t either seem to care about or even know what impact they have on making an event a success. I say more of these kind of articles/insights – the golf fans want to know!!
Tom
Mar 16, 2017 at 1:10 pm
+1… I agree
People's Champ
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:28 am
Great read and obvious the hackers don’t get it. You can’t win them all Brendan. Keep it up.
Hooker T. Washington
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:45 am
I love how everyone’s objective on here is always to find ways to bash the articles and/or the writers. Brendan, I want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and the conversation/story style it was written in was somewhat refreshing compared to your typical articles.
To all of you who are speaking so negatively on shaft PUREing, it definitely does make a difference…maybe only a minute one in some circumstances, such as steel iron shafts, but noticeably in graphite shafts. Granted, you will only see or feel this difference if you are swinging very consistently day in and day out. I don’t know if they still offer them when you have the process done, but I had received a full page printout with graphs and explanations of the PUREing process when I had a bi-matrix driver shaft PUREd years ago…the shaft was stabilized by 94% compared to the usual logo-down install position…and yes I saw a significant increase in consistency!
So to all the naysayers…go put some work in on your swing or seek out a PGA professional for help improving your game…then go try a driver with a PUREd shaft
Jim
Mar 16, 2017 at 10:41 am
We don’t build ANYTHING without PURing . No one second guesses us. It’s built into our pricing. Every one of our (hundreds) of demo shafts are PURED and PROFILED. We can replicate the exact feel and performance of the club you used for your fitting because of this.
Puring is for real. It absolutely works. For those who doubt or simply don’t understand, here’s the best analogy:
Remember that set of irons – or maybe your current set where you could just KILL (say) the 4iron, but the 5 or 7 never quite worked or felt as good – as buttery as thar ONE perfect feeling club….
the perfect one had the shaft installed on the optimal plane – simply by chance – because of where the silk screened logo got rolled on….the other ‘evil’ iron – the one that felt ‘harsh’ or couldn’t draw the ball with – whatever – THAT shaft was put in with it’s SEAM on a detrimental axis…
Keep spending $48 a dozen on overpriced BS balls and stick your head in the sand on puring….it’s YOUR loss
carl spackler
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:03 am
Look at the seg golf website. The only reason he has a truck is for advertising purposes, so it makes sense that this article is just another advertisement. I’m just disappointed there are not more pictures of him making the shaka sign. Hang ten bro!
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 16, 2017 at 3:45 am
I have tried both Pured and non-Pured on the same equipment and found there is no difference. In fact, my handicap is now lower with an un-Pured set of clubs. If you get a kick out of paying lots of money to have an extra sticker on the shaft of your club, then knock yourself out.
Stevegp
Mar 16, 2017 at 12:33 am
Golf is indeed highly mental. I’m curious about the benefits of Pureing shafts. There are some true believers and I respect that. However, many disagree to its worth and value. Like them, I would like to see some facts and proof of the benefits it provides. Sometimes it is difficult separating facts from marketing spin.
The dude
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:02 pm
Fairytale story at best
CCTxGolf
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:46 pm
“Wow, now I get it,” she said.
Very bizarre way to write this article. Sort of a weak advertisement not trying to be an advertisement actually.
Bert
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:18 pm
I’ve identified the spine on graphite shafts, but are you saying KBS steel shafts are so out of round they need to be Pured? Is this process the same as identifying the spine? Seems like these high quality steel shafts would be perfect no matter how aligned in the club head.
Bert
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:20 pm
Or is it frequency matching?
Jim
Mar 16, 2017 at 11:13 am
Once you ‘find the spine’ – all steel shafts have one – even &500 graphite shafts have one….where do you put it? Prior to SST we would manually test each shaft for Freq, have to ‘spine’ it, then dry fit the head to FLO (Flat Line Oscillate) it, then Freq it again…
A set of our clubs come with the factory shaft logos pointed all over the place…it looks like someone just glued them together and didn’t bother to ‘line em up’ for a “nice display”. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s way more work to build the best, most exacting products….
In house SST system saves time and guarantees every one of your 280-400 per club irons we build you feels perfect…
NO One buying top shelf shafts or custom clubs ever says “don’t” PURE it…
“I tried both Pured and not Pured clubs” – yeah, right…
Bert
Mar 16, 2017 at 7:55 pm
Thanks Jim, I’d like to learn more about the process.
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 12:19 am
I went to one of the very first intro seminars and workshops. John Kennedy @ Westchester CC hosted it and it was awesome. Go to their website. It’s all true. Every steel shaft has an internal weld. It produces a ‘spine’ Graphite shafts have several manufacturing process’ but most common is layers rolled on…each sheet has a start and a stop so sometimes they ‘gather’ more to one side than the other, thus producing a ‘ridge’ or stronger side…
Logos are silk screened on or decals applied as the shafts roll down a work surface, so have only a roulette chance of being in concert with this strong side.
IF this spine ends up at say 3 or 4 oclock, it would make the club harder to ‘turn over’ smoothly and produce a gentle draw…if it’s installed @ 4 or 5, draws easily become a larger sweeping hook. Put in at 4,5,6, the shaft feels ‘harsher’ and transmits more vibration. Some ot these may also produce more or less droop at high speed, thus making a single lie angle change number not as accurate with all irons (our high end fittings adjust each clubs lie angle individually as sometimes folks release longer flatter lying clubs different from more upright ones – the ‘human factor’)…
anyway, it works. And the machine was time consuming and manual. There was a high probability of operator error as one had to rotate a large lathe chuck smoothly and stop accurately on cue. There was no way this could be adopted to mass production.
the machine itself was 25k PLUS royalties! No “garage club builder” has one – or is gonna get one.
we waited for 2 years until they made us a ‘better offer’ and did the spining by hand, then freq’d it on 4 planes by hand to make sure we had it right, then dry fit the head and ‘bounced it’ up and down slighty turning the face so that the club would eventually bob up and down on a single plane – “Flat Line Oscillating”….
We got one of the first new fully automated machines (no more painstaking precision – or possible operator error, and we can do ten shafts in the time it took to do 3 before.
We also purchased a dozen asst shafts from Golfsmith ($10 up charge when everyone was charging 30 or 35 for a raw shaft) and 7 of them were totally off from when we retested them, SO, it’s quite probable anyone – not the trolls – who legitimately had it done and was unhappy simply had shafts that were not properly done…
What sold me – one of our regular ‘haunters’ had a Kmart Adams driver with the std Adams $10 graphite shaft and said he wanted to try it….I took his club and hit it a dozen times – all over the place. After we pured it, he and I BOTH hit it remarkably better. The hook became a draw and toe side hits on high speed video showed less than half of the torque that was opening the face which produced better gear-effect. It stopped several ‘toe-pushes’ from becoming further right toe-push-slices’…
BOTTOM LINE. It’s 100% legit
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 17, 2017 at 3:01 am
Jim, my friend, why would I lie. Im saying I pured my old set of irons (perfectly flo-ed them. Are there different ways to perfectly flat line?????) and now use a set of the same irons that have been reconditioned and the shafts have not been flo-ed/ pured. So yes I have tried both. Maybe if I was a robot I might have felt a difference. Cheers.
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 11:37 am
I’m telling you flat out….Your shafts were NOT done properly. Period.
After we got our first machine it took me maybe 30 or 40 attempts to really ‘get it’. My partner and I would check each others shafts we had done…It was a significant investment in time to get it dead on. We bought 10 shafts from Golfsmith to check their work (we needed some for stock anyway, and it was only a $10 up charge)
Only 3 came out dead on when we retested them….and a couple of em hadn’t even been prepped for PURING properly.
The shaft had to be prepped…any mfr stickers removed (pain in the butt – they never just ‘peel off’) and the butt had to be cut PERFECTLY square and the shaft seated by hand in the chuck. The operatot had to roll the chuck smoothly and consitently ‘hand over hand’ and stop perfectly on cue, then roll the opposite direction.
I’M CERTAIN yours were not done properly.
Also, much to MY surprise and dismay, PURED shafts DON’T FLO! …yeah, I was bummed….”cause I know all the work we did manually to find and orient the strong side and then ‘tweek it a little’ from there to get the Flat Line bounce did absolutely produce better feeling and more accurate clubs…I loved the feel as did our customers, making us a Top 25 Custom Shop – before we finally came to a deal w/SST…
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 17, 2017 at 9:49 pm
Your last paragraph is exactly what I did. Bare original shaft, spine only as a reference, strongest bend toward target, then fine tune flo with head on. I even rigged up a slip pulley so each Twang of the shaft would be consistent. If this is the wrong way, so be it. Perhaps my lower handicap and better play is more mental in the fact that the reconditioned set looks and feels like a 100% brand new set (which I also did the work myself) and I get satisfaction out of that, who knows? Cheers.
Jim
Mar 19, 2017 at 12:11 am
Sounds like you took the time and did it right! I think the issue we have here is terminology.
You weren’t wrong, you were mislead.
PURING is the SST proprietary term for what their machine does. It was hijacked years ago by folks – some out of ignorance, some out of malice, and some who never actually seriously checked out what it was.
A lot of us builders who were all kind of seperately working on this in it’s infancy and spent their time sweat and money figuring out the process (you and I both used) felt ‘challenged’ when this new, very expensive machine came out – as if all the stuff we were doing to make the best clubs we could – when so many other builders/repair guys – and OEMS didn’t bother taking the extra time to do all those extra steps…..
Problem was we were flying blind. We built (same type everything) clubs with the spine in at 9:00, 12:00 etc, but ultimately we were guessing, so we’d hit em over and over and have several of our ‘better stick’ regulars try them and we ended up with the spine up @ 12:00 as it seemed to provide the best ‘feel’ as folks reported, and seemed less likely to hook as opposed to the 9:00 position which ‘seemed’ to feel more harsh, and ‘turn over’ more than 12… again, all soley based on human feedback at the time…we used the Cheetah (pre trackman) on a full length outdoor range 10 years ago for this as it had become standard with our builds….We were well aware of SST, but it was still pretty expensive. Fortunately, they wanted IN to our shop, and after almost 18 months of back n forth and haggling, they made us a better offer…
Prior to getting the unit it’s successes were getting good press, and we never told anyone we ‘pured’ our shafts, we did absolutely promote how we ‘tuned them’ and promoted the manual FLO process with a video we’d run in house, or take the customer into the shop and demonstrate the process first hand.
Whatever you read, or were told about what/how to do what you did (love the slip release!) Simply never should have lead you (and A LOT OF OTHER FOLKS) to believe it was PURING a shaft…
the machine – designed by total NASA engineer types – takes the guess work out, cuts the time and it absolutely works….
If a new driver shaft is in your future, seek a well regarded cat in your area and have them do it for you. I promise you won’t be sorry
Regards & happy motoring. J
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 19, 2017 at 1:44 am
All good mate, sounds like I was doing similar stuff to what you were doing 20 years ago, lol. I failed to mention I also did this process on my old Fairway woods (910 Titleist with Aldila Rip A shafts) but never my Driver (913 D2 Aldila Rip A). I now have 913 fairways with untouched shafts and the same driver. Funnily enough, I have just this minute done a google search of SST Puring near me, Im in Wollongong south of Sydney NSW Australia, and only found 2 places in Queensland (1000+ Klm away) that does it.
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 19, 2017 at 2:46 am
All good mate, sounds like I was doing similar stuff to what you were doing 20 years ago, LOL. Happy golfing, cheers.
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 20, 2017 at 2:43 am
Arghh! Silly double post. I thought the first one didn’t post so I shortened it and they both posted. Doh!
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 3:32 pm
FLO / SPINING IS NOT SSTPURING….Folks have been alluding that – mostly silly articles or threads – sometimes worse; the mildy competent club builder. The guy @ big box repait counter who discounts the SST machine – as he will never touch one, the small shop guy or hobbiest – some of which no doubt read some of our work from years ago when we first started “profiling” shafts and figured out one side WAS stronger than the other….We had to see the proof SST PURING was for real, and it is. I can’t defend it enough here.
We balked at the price, and it was an expensive service….It is NOT related to all the manual work and time we spent to “tune” the shaft for the head (high MOI shaped drivers vs pear shaped heads)….that’s where it became – as good as we were – kinda ‘flying blind’ vs the machine….
When clubs are spined – first step to manually FLOing them, what side goes where? We all debated that back n forth – a case can be made for all 4 compass points, and the process, when done right did produce more stable & consistent clubs, but the biggest thing with irons was feel…
The SST machine simply does it better and absolutely provides both quantifiable & kinesthetic improvement….
tbere’s no doubt in my mind, your clubs were not done properly….
Peace
andy
Mar 15, 2017 at 8:53 pm
i wish there was a standard for buttcaps would make life so much easier.
Dave R
Mar 15, 2017 at 8:03 pm
Great article would like more of these very interesting about shafts.
Aaron
Mar 15, 2017 at 4:57 pm
How does Scott E. Garrison make money? Selling ads on his trailer? Invoicing players for his work? It makes sense when OEM staff players visit their respective brand’s trailer each week, but if Scott isn’t affiliated with any one brand, how is it worth his time?
MrBluster
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:33 pm
Forgetting all the “my dog’s bigger than your dog” chatter- At the Tour vans at all levels, do the players pay for any work that is done or is it all free. Do they tip the operators? How about the equipment available on the ranges and putting greens?
Sekim
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:33 pm
Bob “the guy asking the questions” is actually a well versed club-fitter in St Pete. I’ve been going to his shop for years and it’s a bit funny the way the article worded things. Bob knows all of that already. The tour van access is cool nonetheless…
Ummmm
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:46 pm
That’s because this is a fluff piece designed to get you to spend money on SST puring and hopefully from him.
charles lee
Mar 15, 2017 at 1:46 pm
For OEM manufactures to have all irons pured and perfectly built for tour players would force OEM manufactures to increase to price of clubs. Besides most Joes would never feel the difference. Pros are looking, holding, and swinging the golf clubs almost a 3rd of third of their lifetime. It makes a difference to them.
Blake
Mar 15, 2017 at 1:43 pm
More tour van content please
Artie Jenkins
Mar 15, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Good article and from someone who plays PURE’d clubs I can say they are great. I’m not awesome but I can break par once a week. I think the bad comments are from people who haven’t been fit properly and are showing their ignorance. Poor suckers. Bring your wallet to Jupiter and we’ll play!
Chris C
Mar 15, 2017 at 12:13 pm
The problem with this article is that it makes more than insinuations that Pure-ing makes a difference.
Major OEMs have top engineers, testing facilities, and golf experts, that develop and test new materials and technologies in hopes that they can find something demonstrably better, that still confines to the rules set by the usga and R&A.
Some technologies were milestones and have stuck around through time, i.e. Larger clubheads, titanium and then carbon and multi materials, face thickness innovation and every company is using a version of those technologies. Those milestones are few and far between.
Now, Because of how close we are to the limits of technology within the rules, Companies spend many, many millions of dollars and grasp at straws when needed to find anything that they can legally claim is better so they can market that claim and sell more clubs, even if it barely makes a difference to ball flight. The fact that no major OEMs embrace this as a technology that they can even claim makes a difference, should tell anyone with any common sense that Pure-ing makes absolutely no difference to your ball flight.
Will it hurt the golfer, no. And if it makes you more confident to spend money to “Pure” you’re shafts go ahead. But if you need to “Pure” your shafts to have more confidence, you might as well send me a check for whatever half the cost of “Pure-ing” is and I’ll just text you once a week telling you how awesome you are at golf. You’ll get more of your money’s worth…
Joey5Picks
Mar 15, 2017 at 4:16 pm
Manufacturers add a 1/4″ to the shaft, lower the loft 2 degrees and claim their clubs are the longest. People don’t care about Puring, they care about distance.
Chris C
Mar 15, 2017 at 6:38 pm
You’re absolutely right people do care about that more in the market, and for what it’s worth strengthening the loft and increasing shaft length does change ball flight and that’s something they can quantify and sell, unlike pure-ing.
Jim
Mar 16, 2017 at 11:30 am
Sorry….you couldn’t be more wrong. 20 years of PURING and the robot tests to prove it works. Has shaft manufacturing improved in that 20 years? YES! Dramatically too!
Every steel shaft still has a welded seam creating a ‘spine’ even woven ‘asymmetrical’ graphite shafts had a spine – it was on the mandrel they were woven around….
How can anyone ‘accept’ Frequency analysis / matching and not Puring?
WE ROBOT TESTED factory issue irons with small increments of off-center / off plane strikes then took the club apart, pured it and retested it and the results are quantifiable better….PERIOD…It’s a fact the shitworks. PERIOD…. AND, it’s like $ 10 a club now….a fraction of what it was even 10 years ago.
HONESTLY….IF YOU just got a set of APEX with 110gr Tour Recoil shafts and love ’em, you’re good! Why mess with them…..I HAVEN’T TAKEN MINE APART just to PURE them…..BUT if you’re reshafting clubs, or building custom from scratch, frankly, you’d be an idiot not to do it
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 12:29 am
….IT IS ILLEGAL to Manufacture a shaft with a spine deliberately to improve performance. It is NOT Illegal to FIND the spine and install it in a certain way….those crazy rules again…
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 9:02 pm
….sorry…one more bit to that….It would be illegal to install a shaft that was spined into the club in a position that would affect – or assit in producing a certain ball flight. Say someone wanted to help promote a draw or a fade, the shaft could be installed in a position that would absolutely contribute to that…
adjustable heads / movable weights aside, according to the rules, the shaft can’t be made or installed to help….who’d know? – kinda like wearing a wedge inside your shoe to invert your ankle and help prevent the foot from rolling – also illegal…as is ‘planing down the sole of a shoe to promote same….
lotsa equipment rules no one ever hears about….STPURING is legal, as it’s simply finding the most solid stable plane in the shaft – which is neutral for influencing ball flight – other than to reduce dispersion from imperfections in the shaft.
the consistent feel is just a bonus
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 18, 2017 at 6:25 am
Hi Jimmy, me again. I found the the most solid (strongest) and stable (perfect flo) in my shafts but apparently I didn’t do it properly. LOL. I really need that extra sticker on the shaft, hey.
Jim
Mar 19, 2017 at 12:48 am
…Hey Man they’re like the weights for balancing tires absolutely KEY components….lol
Funny, but for the first few years (flo or SST) the biggest beef people had was the shaft logos were all over the place…a couple folks reeeaally bummed out! “I need that for alignment” (?)… we never got into the trend that started a few years ago where dudes were “too cool” to have any logo visible – even asking for the grip to be installed upside down….If people want the stickers, we’ll give them to them. We don’t put em on anymore as part of the build…
too funny! 🙂
Jeffrey Purtell
Mar 20, 2017 at 2:50 am
All good, I slipped that one in there as a bit of cheek. lol. When I did my 910 fairways with the aldila shafts the graphics were all over the place with the factory A1 setting. Now my 913’s are untouched straight up graphics.
Chuck S.
Mar 15, 2017 at 11:40 am
This OPINION piece is nothing more than a dressed up ad for PURE Shaft Technology. If this tech is so great then why don’t all the other OEM trucks have them as well? Also, the style in which this is written is totally bogus. Who talks like that? Especially to their girlfriend…
The dude
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:58 pm
Spot on….
Daniel
Mar 15, 2017 at 11:01 am
The Pros all Pure their shafts because guys are willing to do it for them for free, then claim it was that process that helped them win however much money they won that week. The pros probably don’t even know the difference, and just say “sure” when one of these guys asks them if they want their shafts Pured. Then that same guy goes and tells all his retail clients “(Insert big name) has all of his shafts Pured, you are missing out if you don’t”
The difference is the retail buyer pays $30 per club and gets no value.
John O
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:57 am
Been wondering why my scores are still around 100. Need my shafts pure’d.
Miramar
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:48 am
The bonsai tree in the background is much more real than the PUREd shafts…
GolfnRide
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:41 am
An awkward, uncomfortable read…
Pete S
Mar 15, 2017 at 11:32 am
There’s a 0% chance that conversation went that way.
ken
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:38 am
Wow..The curmudgeon is strong in you three people.
Get this straight…You WISH you could be building clubs for the best players in the world.
Hell you’d all be happy just to be the guy that removed the grips prior to regripping the shafts.
Matt Abramson
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:07 am
Why did you have to write the article in story form? And then, to write the plot as you did, in such a weird fantastical form involving a women you claim to be you girlfriend? Confusing and awkward. When trying to scam people on a bogus technology, the use of logos (an appeal to logic/reason) is much more effective than the use of pathos. Trying to appeal to the emotions of the reader is very ineffective, ESPECIALLY when you write it the way you did – in fictional story form.
PapaBear
Mar 16, 2017 at 9:02 am
I loved it!
Chris
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:40 am
Lol. Pure-ing is still a thing? Making a living off of nonsense. Must be nice.
cc ryder
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:46 am
pure-ing is real and I feel as if it helped my game and tournament play.
Ummmm
Mar 15, 2017 at 9:35 am
lol@pured
The scam is still alive!
cc ryder
Mar 15, 2017 at 10:47 am
Scam? LOL… troll I say. Pured shafts work. Work for me and for many of the best in the world.
McPickens
Mar 15, 2017 at 1:17 pm
the technology and science is sound, the actual benefit or increase in performance is what is questionable and any gains are likely in your mind
Ummmm
Mar 15, 2017 at 2:42 pm
It took you two posts saying the same thing?
There is literally 0 scientific proof it helps. It was invented by garage club makers as a means to help revenue and be yet another thing those evil oem and big box stores don’t do.
It’s a scam pure and simple.
If you think it helped, since golf is very mental, great. But it didn’t actually do anything for you. This isn’t 1965 and shaft quality and consistency is such that it’s not something that is the concern these snake oil people want you think it is.
Jim
Mar 17, 2017 at 1:30 pm
You know nothing of which you speak.
spoken like a true troll