Equipment
Details on Justin Rose’s lead-taped driver shaft, “Rose” iron shafts
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt of a piece our Andrew Tursky filed for PGATour.com’s Equipment Report. The full piece is available here.
While Rose is not afraid to test any club or shaft on the market, that does not always mean he switches to it. At the top end of Rose’s bag, he combines new technology with five-year-old clubs.
After using several different drivers throughout 2024, Rose has recently switched into Titleist’s new GT3 driver, following a flock of TOUR players that have made the same change. Rose plays his GT3 driver in a B2 hosel setting, meaning it has standard loft and a 0.75-degree upright lie angle.
Most notably, Rose wraps lead tape around the butt-end of his Project X HZRDUS shaft. This helps effectively “counterbalance” the club. While adding lead tape to the grip-end adds overall weight to the club, it reduces its swing weight, making the head feel slightly lighter. It can help golfers feel a bit more connected to the club throughout the swing, and make the shaft feel a touch smoother during the transition. It is not for everyone, but for amateurs who have never tried a counter-balanced driver shaft, it could be worth a shot.
Although Rose uses new Titleist technology for his driver, he still uses TaylorMade M6 fairway woods (15 and 21 degrees), which were released to the public at the beginning of 2016. Sometimes, finding comfort with your equipment is better than using the absolute newest technology, and with his fairway woods, the goal for Rose is not maximum distance, but rather, maximum control.
…By the time Rose showed up at the 2024 Masters, he had switched into a mixed set of Titleist T100 long irons (4 and 5) and Titleist 620 MB mid-to-short irons (6-PW), each equipped with KBS Tour C-Taper 125 S+ shafts.
Rose has kept those irons and shaft models in play since the year’s first major, but he recently switched out his shaft labels for new, custom “Rose” KBS shaft labels.
When you are a top TOUR player with a 2016 Summer Olympic Games Gold medal and a 2013 U.S. Open victory to your name, you can do cool stuff like this with your equipment.
Neal Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,'” Shipley told GolfWRX. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
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, @raw10628 has a L.A.B. DF3 putter and Masters putter cover up for grabs.
From the listing: “Some great items here today, time to thin out and make room for next set of gear. All prices include shipping.
LAB DF3 Purple 33.5” 68° lie with TPT – $725. LAB Masters release DF3 cover – $150.”
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
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 Max (19 degrees @18)
Shaft: Accra TourZ Green 6-M4
Hybrid: Ping G440 (23 degrees)
Shaft: Oban Isawa Red Hybrid Shaft 04 Flex 70 Gms
Irons: Srixon ZXi7 (5-P)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i80
Wedges: Cleveland RTZ (50-MID, 54-FULL, 58-MID)
Shafts: Aerotech SteelFiber Private Reserve i105
Putter: L.A.B. Golf OZ.1i
Shaft: ACCRA Putter Shaft
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
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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...
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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...
Wyndham Clark’s winning WITB: 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (10.5 degrees) Shaft: Project X Titan Yellow 60 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D Tour (15 degrees) Shaft: Project...
Rich D
Aug 13, 2024 at 2:21 pm
Counter-weighting has been around for decades. It keeps the static weight up, while simultaneously driving down swing weight. Most golfers, however, do not like the feeling of “losing” the head in the swing because they cannot feel its weight. To each his own.
Robert
Aug 9, 2024 at 11:41 am
It’s the same place to add lead tape if you have a shaft that feels too light. For instance switching from heavy steel shafts to lighter graphite in the irons. Several years ago I did tests where I put the lead tape up and down the shaft and below the grip is the best spot. It does add some counterbalance, but because it’s below your hands it just feels like a heavier shaft.