coverstory


Web.com Tour there are increasing numbers of players using quite light shaſts.


“So the 105 is a lightweight 106.5g in the S flex, while the 125 is 128.5g. These shaſts are used by the best players in the world, but can help a wide range of golfers. The feedback we are getting is that they are tightening dispersion.”


Behind tour approval, a second ringing endorsement of the 105 shaſt is Ping’s decision to employ it in their new i and GMAX irons – as a stock shaſt in the i and a free custom-fit upgrade in the GMAX. Elsewhere, both shaſts will be available as OEM options, and through Nippon Shaſt’s approved distributors, including Diamond and Golfsmith.


blue livery to their ranges. Brand usage and awareness has grown steadily ever since, with around 80 players on the European and PGA Tours using Nippons shaſts. The only Nippon Shaſt-contracted player, however, is Karrie Webb – a symbol that in Nippon Shaſt’s homeland, Japan, the ladies’ game gets higher TV viewing figures than the men’s. That shaft livery – albeit reversed with red words on silver – is also evident on another tour-inspired 2015 launch from Nippon Shaft, in the form of the Modus wedge shaft. “We had a wedge shaft out for some eight or nine years in the WV,” Price continues. “The players loved it on full shots, but on part shots they were not getting the level of feedback they’d like.


The two shaſts will sit alongside two other shaſts in a four-strong N.S Pro Modus 3 Tour lineup. “The 120 was the first,” recalls Price. “It’s been around since 2009 but still going strong. It was a radical design: the first 12” of the tip has a thicker wall making it very tip stiff, the shaſt then gets soſter through the mid-section and soſter still into the butt section. When it was put on a CPM (cycles per minute) machine it registered quite soſt, like an R flex, but it didn’t play that way. People needed convincing it was a tour performance shaſt, even when we told them Henrik Stenson was using it. But I think now the message has got through.” The fourth shaſt, the 130, is effectively the design reversed, with a soſter tip, firmer middle and even firmer grip portion. It’s designed to offer a higher launch but with tour levels of spin, and is the shaſt of choice for Sergio Garcia. The two new shaſts, then, add a simpler and more mid- range option to the line.


Tour presence has been increasingly important to Nippon Shaſt since their first shaſt shipments arrived on these shores in 2001. “Even back then, we were advised by the OEMs that if we wanted to be taken seriously we needed a face on tour, and visible tour usage,” Price recalls. “It generates their need to buy and gives a better entry into our product.” However, Nippon Shaſt didn’t have a consistent tour presence until 2009, during which time their only tour success came in rather bizarre circumstances when France’s Christian Cevaer, recovering aſter a skiing accident, won the European Open in 2009 using the lightweight NS Pro 850 shaſt.


Since 2009, however, the brand has had regular presence on both PGA and European Tours. Also in 2009, they addressed the perennial shaſtmaker’s issue of poor visibility by adding colourful red, silver and


“So we took the shaſt away and worked on it. We re-engineered the 125g version in the tip section, and heat treated the 105g and 115g versions to make the tips a little soſter. The shaſt now promotes a lower launch in first part of flight, then a sharper rise and relatively quick drop. Aſter giving it back to the players the feedback has been excellent. It gave us the confidence to release it as a shaſt early this year – and in fact we almost sold out on the first run.”


A couple of months ago TGI Golf managing director Eddie Reid told this magazine that 80% of irons sold through his group were custom-fit – a figure that was under 20% 10 years ago. With the likes of Srixon/Cleveland announcing they no longer sell stock clubs, this drive towards custom-fit should be music to the ears of component producers like Nippon.


“We certainly can’t complain,” Price reports. “We are market share leader for steel shaſts in Japan, with about 85% of the market; globally we are at about 10% in steel, though that figure predates our deal with Ping and should rise. Before we took the decision to have a tour presence, in 2009, our share was around 7%, so we have seen a steady rise. Certainly this year we had 32 players using Nippon shaſts in the Open, whereas six years ago there probably weren’t any. “Last year was steady, and this year has improved on that. So yes, we do


seem to be benefitting from a wider acceptance and practice of custom-fit. And with the quality in our new product, we expect our growth to accelerate.”


www.nipponshaſt.com SGBGOLF 21


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