PGA Magazine
May 2003

In 1999, the U.S. Golf Association reversed its 1990 decision making a shaft, therefore a club, non-conforming if shafts are identified to possess asymmetrical "spine-like" characteristics.

This decision paved the way for the spining which led to PUREing of golf shafts. Dick Weiss, president and founder of SST PURE®, says the ruling means that" shaft-induced mis-hits, at all levels of play, can be significantly reduced." Four years later, the impact on the industry is just now starting to take place.

Touring professionals such as Jack Nicklaus and Ben Crenshaw have advocated the technique and had their own shafts aligned. On any given week, 100-plus tour players will be playing shafts that have been PUREd. Since consumers tend to be driven toward any new club, ball or technology through the tour players' usage, PGA Professionals are now receiving more and more requests for PUREd shafts.

Today, while two shaft manufacturers are offering "pre-PUREd" shafts at the factory, most shaft alignments are retrofitted with existing components. PGA Professionals can send clubs to clubfitters trained to perform the service, which costs consumers between $30-$60 per club. Grips are removed and shafts are pulled from the clubs, cleaned, and tested to find the seam. Then the original shafts are reinstalled and regripped with the identified seam positioned appropriately.

This process allows PGA Professionals the chance to increase club repair revenues by offering more service. When a consumer is interested in spining or PUREing his or her shafts, PGA Professionals can offer a variety of different methods. Retrofitting or reshafting the club with a pre-PUREd shaft are just two of the options, and all options will enable the PGA Professional to suggest a new grip or a refinishing job. The bottom line is that club repair revenues for PGA Professionals should increase.

PGA Professionals have also benefited from the performance of spined or PUREd shafts. "In three years of PUREing golf shafts, I've never had one customer who played with a set off the rack, had them PUREd and found that the process wasn't a benefit," says Mark Pekarek, owner of Green Grass Clubfitting in Winfield, Ill. "Today's shafts are very good, but an optimal shaft position helps provide more stability and feel."

"I don't play with anything that's not PUREd and nobody on my staff does, either," says Brian Morrison, director of golf at Olympia Fields (Ill.) Country Club. "We're in a relationship business and it's about making the golfer happy. That, and keeping the player's equipment in tune with the times."

SST PURE's Weiss adds: "It is easy for a student to see the difference hitting a PUREd aligned shaft because they will notice at first increased distance, and also that their mis-hits are much straighter."

Better service for the PGA Professionals and consumers seems to be the key to the increased popularity. Golfsmith offers every shaft in its catalog as a PURE upgrade. It also offers the "pre-PUREd and ready to ship" program for many popular model shafts, allowing them to be delivered overnight. All other SST licensees in the U.S. offer retro-PURE services on existing clubs with an overnight turnaround available.

PUREing or spining could become a force in the industry, thereby providing PGA Professionals with the opportunity to increase services to members, and increase club repair revenues.