Louis Oosthuizen and Alta CB Slate 55S @ WGC-Workday

[Wdwfreak]

 

I posted in the thread at the top of the page but I wanted to post a topic as I found this to be a fascinating move here, I wanted to see what everyone thought and I also feel like this is a surprising move that’s been totally under-reported and wasn’t seen very much at all from any sources. 
 

Louis had Ping build him a G425 LST with the Alta CB Slate in STIFF as reported on the homepage but to my surprise he put it in play this weekend! 

 

Now on Ping’s website and they usually give out full specs and it looks like it’s untipped? That is completely wild if that’s the case. He’s hitting it fairly far and straight too, and Louis isn’t a little bunter out there hes at 113 mph according to the PGA tour website. 
 

I don’t know what to think except seeing him and Adam Scott in weaker, softer shafts is very interesting, I certainly felt like things were trending towards very very stiff, and not only is it weaker, it’s a STOCK shaft from Ping. 
 

What do all of you think?
 

First from the website and secondly from Getty,

if you look close you can see the text on the shaft in the first picture and one from today, Sunday where the entire shaft is very visible. 

 

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Wdwfreak

[ASN21]

Louis going with the anti wrx setup 😂😂

[animalgolfs]

A correctly fitted shaft doesn't care about price

 

$50 or $500

[beluga99]

Good pickup.  I will definitely be trying all the stock options when I go for my fitting.  Interestingly it's only 45" as well and still D4.  Must be a heavy head.

[NoCalHack]

I wonder if tour vans even stock S flex shafts. 

 

Louis:  Hey, I want to try an S flex.  Got any around?  

Ping Tour van guy:  No we don't...  Wait, I'll make a run to Dick's.  Is Alta OK?  

 

 

[PorkChopExpress]

Gotta be tipped. He used to use stiff flex with 2” tipped cause he liked how it felt better 

[MPAndreassi]

Completely off topic, but I hate how huge the IZOD logos are. 
 

What shaft was he playing before? Something counterbalanced also? 

[shoot4par]

Think at one point he played a Kiyoshi white.

[Mookieb10]

Great pick up! Really, really interesting club new all around this week. With Nelly Korda pounding 285+ yard drives in TSI1!! and a GP-IZ6s and Lou in an Alta 55s. 
 

This is really quite awesome. Makes me think I’m really a banana brain for thinking “it’s the shaft’s fault” when I hit a stiff driver shaft left. 

[rkillian]

It would be pretty cool to see if TXG did a video on this like they did the Adam Scott Auto-flex stuff. Definitely an out of the ordinary equipment move. 

[gators78]

That's wild, get ready for the light head/whippy shaft trend...also, what brand of grip is on that club?

[bladehunter]

Not ready that odd.  Not a huge leap from s to x.  And some S cpms to others x .... 

[Masse1369]

Maybe now people will begin to realize a shaft makes very little difference.  Find the weight you like and the overall profile you're after.  If it feels and loads good for your swing, you're good to go. True Temper even says the shaft makes the least amount of difference in a golf club.  I have fit thousands of golfers on Trackman and agree with True Temper.  It's all about weight and feel.

[Wdwfreak]

7 hours ago, MPAndreassi said:

Completely off topic, but I hate how huge the IZOD logos are. 
 

What shaft was he playing before? Something counterbalanced also? 

most recently Ventus Red 6X in a G400 from what I can find. However, he puts his counterbalanced Switchgrips in everything. 
 

This whole thing just makes me want to try it. I swing a bit faster than Louis but recently a slightly more flexible shaft has made my timing 10x better and I was hitting the center more often. 
 

 

[Superbrit]

I'm amazed GOLFWRX hasnt gone into meltdown, i mean how is it even possible that a tour pro can use a standard Ping shaft in his driver, and its not even a XXX flex, surely he would be hitting duck hooks or slicing it off the planet, this just cant be right surely??!

 

Someone think of the children!! 

[MaineMariner]

I hit some booming drives with the 50 something gram Recoil driver shaft that came stock in the Callaway BB Fusion. Then I swapped it out for a "real" shaft because I convinced myself that real golfers need a stiffer, heavier, lower launching shaft. 

 

That's it, back to the whippy shaft! All aboard the trend train!

[J_Tizzle]

53 minutes ago, bladehunter said:

Not ready that odd.  Not a huge leap from s to x.  And some S cpms to others x .... 

 

Very good point.  I swing 110+ and just got fit into a XC 6s tipped when I had been playing X shafts.  

 

Fun to see guys trying something new/different.  

[Wdwfreak]

Good insight from Jonathan Wall this morning, 

 

 

“”That might sound counterintuitive,” Oates said. “But when Louis was swinging smooth, he never felt like he was flipping it. The only problem with the initial build was it launched about 1 degree lower with about 300 RPMs more spin when compared to his G400 game, which is always the baseline.

 

With an additional 8 grams of weight in the butt end of the shaft, Ping’s Tour team was able to rectify the launch and spin issue by altering the internal weight setup, placing more glue towards the face. The extreme counter-balanced shaft also allowed for more glue to help tune the overall sound at impact.“

 

Edited March 1, 2021 by Wdwfreak

[br61]

15 minutes ago, J_Tizzle said:

 

Very good point.  I swing 110+ and just got fit into a XC 6s tipped when I had been playing X shafts.  

 

Fun to see guys trying something new/different.  

Good choice on that shaft. I'm still stuck with my XC-6 shaft. Ha

[hd.softail]

First - PING has made really good stock shafts for over 30 years. Never an afterthought and always a part of the total package.

 

Second - With Driver heads getting so low spin, it's not surprising a guy like Louis is going to a shaft that creates a little more spin. I was fitted in a G410 and while I've always play the PING Tour 65, I had to drop to the CB55 to get the SPIN back up where it needed to be.

 

I have an unopened Titleist 915 D2 sitting in the closet just in case, it's getting harder and harder to find drivers that spin enough for low spin, average swing speed players...

[PhlashPhace]

10 hours ago, NoCalHack said:

I wonder if tour vans even stock S flex shafts. 

 

Louis:  Hey, I want to try an S flex.  Got any around?  

Ping Tour van guy:  No we don't...  Wait, I'll make a run to Dick's.  Is Alta OK?  

 

 

We used to stock stiff shafts for what we called government work which was basically when the bosses asked us to build something for a VIP or a celeb.  If we had 500 graphites in X flex we had 5 at most in S flex.  My FedEx account did have every tour stop address loaded though just in case we needed something overnighted.

[Tdsjfb]

But, ohhhhh, the Torque on the Alta CB in stiff! lol

[endy]

Sweet swingin' Louie!! Then he goes to one of the stiffest shafts out there in his 3 wood lol, craziness. Another note, playing C7 in his irons ?!?!? Doesn't he know D2-D4 is where good players play them. 

[vess]

This is a really good shaft. I hit tons of balls on launch monitor to get exact numbers I wanted and this shaft was the best for me.....However I did get the XStiff.

[Tdsjfb]

18 minutes ago, vess said:

This is a really good shaft. I hit tons of balls on launch monitor to get exact numbers I wanted and this shaft was the best for me.....However I did get the XStiff.

What's your SS and weight )55 or 65) Alta do you have?

[RyanBarathWRX]

We had an idea this might happen from pictures we got earlier in the week and thanks to reporting from our own JW when Louis was spotted talking with Adam Scott about his AutoFlex

 

https://www.golfwrx.com/648385/wgc-workday-championship-tour-truck-report-new-putter-for-rory-more-autoflex-experiments/?utm_source=Front&utm_medium=Featured_Latest&utm_campaign=GolfWRX_OnSite&utm_content=unused

 

[vietnameeh]

not to be off topic but that pic, adam scott looking lean LOL

[QuigleyDU]

4 hours ago, Superbrit said:

I'm amazed GOLFWRX hasnt gone into meltdown, i mean how is it even possible that a tour pro can use a standard Ping shaft in his driver, and its not even a XXX flex, surely he would be hitting duck hooks or slicing it off the planet, this just cant be right surely??!

 

Someone think of the children!! 

Louis swing is so good he could hit anything well.. I would argue fitting for tour pros is less important than it is for the rest of us. 

[Valtiel]

13 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Not ready that odd.  Not a huge leap from s to x.  And some S cpms to others x .... 

True, but it IS a lot more odd in Louis' case given that he has long seemed to prefer rebar in his driver. Motore Speeder .2, HZRDUS T1100, HZRDUS Hulk etc etc. He used to play the Motore Speeder in a stiff flex back in the day though, it had just been ages since then. 
 

10 hours ago, endy said:

Sweet swingin' Louie!! Then he goes to one of the stiffest shafts out there in his 3 wood lol, craziness. Another note, playing C7 in his irons ?!?!? Doesn't he know D2-D4 is where good players play them. 

Louis uses counterweights fairly often I believe, so that C7 will be artificially low due to that. 

Per the article that @Wdwfreak posted, it seems like the shaft choice may have actually been somewhat of a means to end for him. The detailed specs that PING usually lists for their players on their website has long documented tons of hotmelt in Louis' driver heads, and all over the head as well e.g. heel/toe/crown/sole. He has also been known to stick with older clubs longer, so he clearly has a very strong preference for feel and comfort, per that and the details in the article. A super lightweight shaft that is also counterbalanced likely freed up enough discretionary weight to tune the sound of the head enough to satisfy Louis, maybe while also satisfying his curiosity about re: Adam's Autoflex setup. It will be interesting to see if it sticks!

[golfnhack]

PS: I have confirmed from my contact at PING that the shaft has NOT been tipped at all. NO Tipping. Straight in S-Flex.