Callaway FT-i Cut Shaft

I’ve got my driver dialed in. After spending $500 on the new Callaway 9.5 FT-i Tour edition with a stiff Fujikura 686 Speeder shaft, I decided to break out the hack saw.

Before you follow my footsteps, please note that the Callaway FT-i Tour clubs are 45 inches long. The regular FT-i drivers are 45.75 (46) inches long. (Let’s give the people who are having trouble hitting it straight a longer club!)

So, I took my driver down from 45 to 44 inches. If you’ve read about this at all, you know that this also decreases the swingweight by 6 points. Here’s where I had a bit of a problem. The club didn’t FEEL like it had a D4 or D3 swingweight to begin with? Does anyone else feel this way? It simply felt too light? Perhaps the overall weight of the club is light?

In any event, I’m still pretty strong and the extra grams don’t bother me. I first attempted to use these very cool “HOT SPOT” weights that look much better than the lead tape I’ve used in the past. I put them on exactly as the manual describes and let them sit over night. I anxiously went to the range the next day with my Cut Down FT-i with shortened shaft and weights and BAM - first swing - the great looking little weights went zipping off into the distance…..

So, I reworked my approach. I used a 42 gram grip (the Winn black grip) - you can get as low as 39 grams with the Golf Pride Dual Durometer lite. Shaving weight on the grip end actually does make the head feel heavier - this will net you about 2 pts swingweight. Next, I took out the good old fashion grip tape and did a simple wrap along the perimeter of the head. It measure out to about 11 inches. Voila! I’m actually a little heavier than previously - who cares how it looks?

I’m sure this increased the MOI too, but the most important thing is having even more confidence in hitting this already awesome club. When I was playing my best golf I was using a 42.5 driver. 45 inches just feels too long to me. I also knew it was bad when I started compensating early in the round before I felt confident. I’d choke up or shorten my backswing a little to ensure good contact.

Forget that. I want to step up there and rip it. I can do that when the club is back down to 44 inches.

Final note: I spend thousands on Callaway equipment EACH year. I went to a custom fitting in Palm Springs last year to buy my irons. I shopped them for a shorter FT-i. Strangely, they just don’t seem to offer it? Instead, they walked me through a plethora of 45 inch shafts trying to find the right one. I explained I simply “wanted a shorter shaft” and that I’d cut down the shaft if necessary. They didn’t like it. They tried to talk me out of it - tried to talk about how much more forgiving the club is, etcetera. Finally, a Callaway rep mentioned that the actual Head probably wouldn’t be USGA legal with a shorter shaft because of the increased weight. Maybe he was speculating? I don’t know, but it makes sense. They are already dangerously close to the MOI limit and since they measure the head irrespective of the shaft - maybe they had to lengthen the shaft to get it under the limit?

In any event, I’m crushing the club almost as far as I was my X460 - but I simply don’t miss the fairway. It’s amazing. I’ll play tomorrow morning again and can’t wait.

If anyone wants pictures, please let me know and I’ll post them.