TPT Golf Shaft Review - A Star is Born

TPT Golf had their "hello world" moment at the PGA Merchandise Show in 2017, when they first introduced their high performance shafts to market.  Since then, TPT shafts have won multiple times on every major professional Tour.  Justin Rose, Jason Day, and Bryson DeChambeau picked up big wins using TPT shafts.  And Masters champion Patrick Reed hit every fairway the first time he put his TPT shaft into play. 

 

In a very short period of time, TPT experienced significant worldwide success, and momentum was growing stronger.  So I scheduled a TPT fitting earlier this year at Club Champion to see for myself if these shafts can also deliver for amateur golfers like you and me.  And I discovered the answer is a resounding YES. 

TPT stands for Thin Ply Technology, and the story of this Swiss-based company is an interesting one - they've produced everything from yachting sails for the America's Cup to satellite materials.  However, I'm only going to mention a few details about their manufacturing process and materials used that directly relate to my review and experience playing a TPT shaft this season. 

 

First of all, TPT assembles their shafts without any hand-rolling.  Instead they use a robotic, automatic process to to build shafts that are consistently made to extremely tight tolerances and perfectly identical.  TPT also uses carbon-fiber strips that are extremely lightweight and only 25-percent of the strand thickness used in most other golf shafts.  And because TPT shafts have no spine (which is a build-up of material on the shaft that usually requires PURE-ing or aligning to improve playability), they're perfectly concentric for the best performance. 

 

So, how do the TPT shafts perform?  Well, at my Club Champion fitting I saw better overall results with my TPT 16 LKP/MT/SW shaft than five different OEM shafts also tested.  TPT doesn't use flex classifications in their shafts, instead opting for LKP or MKP to designate low or mid kickpoint, and LT or MT for low or  mid torque.  LW and SW are their weight designations, and the shafts are available in ranges from 15 Series to 19 Series. 

 

 

We went back and forth between the 15 Series and 16 Series during my fitting, but ultimately settled on the 16.  Both shafts gave me extraordinary feel, best described as lively and connected.  And distances were impressive.  However it was the accuracy of the 16 Series that tipped the scales in its favor. 

My dispersion tendency was so tight you could almost throw a blanket over it (and it was twice as small as the next best dispersion tendency with a different shaft).  I also launched the 16 LKP/MT/SW slightly higher than other TPT shafts with lower spin, and that produced the best distance as well with good roll-out. 

 

As we all know however, hitting in a simulation bay or on the range is never the same thing as hitting on course during play, so I took my TPT (installed in a Callaway Epic driver) out in the wild for the ultimate test.  And for combined distance and forgiveness my TPT shaft wound up being a top-5 performing shaft for me this year. 

 

 

The main takeaway was how much better the TPT made my bad swings.  On great strikes the TPT shaft wasn't noticeably longer or straighter than other shafts I played this year.  And to be perfectly honest, I'd even say there were some shafts that were definitely longer and straighter than the TPT on perfect strikes.  However on mishits my TPT kept shots in play that had no business being in the fairway.  Even on poor strikes, there's just not a whole lot of curve, and with other shafts these shots would have been lost or unplayable. 

 

 

 

Distance loss on mishits was also extremely impressive.  In some instances my TPT shaft was 20 yards better than similar mishits playing other shafts.  And I'll take that kind of forgiveness all day long. Overall dispersion was consistent not only in left and right movement, but in range of total distance.  I saw very consistent results between my longest and shortest drives on well struck shots. 

 

 

As mentioned the TPT kept my spin low, and launched shots a bit higher, but also produced pretty flat trajectories.  The feel is lively and not stout, but it's still a very connected, stable feel.  This is a shaft I can make my normal smooth, controlled swing with, but I can also step on it a bit more and swing harder when I need a few more yards.  And for you big hitters that means you'll be hitting controlled draws but nothing that comes close to a hook or OB left. 

 

 

Above all else, TPT shafts are about tight dispersion.  Straighter more consistent drives is something we can all use.  And knowing you can swing freely without losing control will bring some swagger back to your driver game. 

 

 

PROS: 

All-around top performer for combined distance and accuracy
Some players will see massive improvement in dispersion 
Fairway finder that shines brightest on bad swings 

CONS: 
Doesn't come as a stock shaft in any driver offerings (and unfortunately that's going to keep many golfers from ever trying it) 
Costs more than most shafts