The new Accra TZ5 and TZ6 shafts might be resonating with some tour players, but it’s average players who might be the inspiration and the beneficiary of these new models.
That’s a fundamental change with the trend in shafts on tour, particularly when it comes to the responsive-tip TZ6, said Gawain Robertson, co-owner and founder of PGMC/Accra. Each new shaft features the wide range of weights and flex variations Accra has been known for in its line that exclusively services the clubfitting community. But each, to a degree, implement softened sections that put an emphasis on feel.
The TZ5 is what Robertson called “the evolution” of the typical design of a shaft played by tour players. It features a lower launch with a slightly softer butt and mid-section combined with a very stiff tip section, obviously aimed at very high-speed players trying to control their tee shots with lower spin. Meanwhile, the TZ6 offers a non-traditional approach that has resonated with some fast-swinging tour players in the same way it will work for average golfers. What’s noticeable is that its tip section is more responsive than the typical stout tour player shaft. The design goal was an unusual and difficult pursuit, a “crazy design idea” Robertson said.
“We just said, let’s make the tip as soft as possible and the torque as low as possible,” he said. “That tip is softer than some of our lightweight shafts. And now tour players are using it.”
That group of tour players has included big hitters Cameron Champ, Jason Day and Pat Perez over the last year, but the idea not only grew from Accra’s willingness to experiment, but from seeing how average golfers were improving distance and flight with softer-tipped shafts. Could faster swingers see the same benefits? TZ6 actually works in different ways for average golfers and tour players to produce the same benefits of higher launch and a more stable flight, Robertson said.
“It’s a bit of a chameleon,” he said. “In the softer flexes, the TZ6 is for the person that needs some help getting the ball in the air, but as you get to stiffer flexes, the torque starts dropping and it becomes more of a players shaft.
“So it sort of transitions from a shaft that helps the average guy get the ball in the air to a shaft that helps a tour guy get the ball in the air with low spin.”
The TZ5 is available in 60- through 90-gram driver shaft weights, as well as 95-gram hybrid options. The TZ6 is available in 50- through 90-gram driver shaft options, as well as 85-gram hybrid options.