When does a fitting tool become an adjustable-feature driver? Well, if you must know, on Jan. 1, 2008. At least if that fitting tool-slash-driver is the SX.1 from Versus Golf.
And when we say the SX.1 offers adjustable features, we're not talking about movable weights. We talking about head-shaft combinations.
The Versus Golf (www.versusgolf.com) lineup so far includes drivers, fairway woods and hybrids. But it's the potential of the SX.1 that company officials are really excited about these days.
"Currently most fitting centers are limited to a few lofts and a few flexes," said Stephen Smoot, director of sales and marketing for Versus. "Now (with the SX.1. fitting system) you can have four lofts and as many flexes as you would like to stock. A clubfitter instantly has more demos and can properly fit a customer in less time and with more accuracy."
"SX" stands for "Shaft Exchange," and the company currently touts the SX.1 driver as a "driver fitting system." Here's how that system works: a CNC machined titanium shaft adapter is attached to the shaft, and the shaft adapter - with its 16 spined slots - is inserted into the bore-through hosel of the driver head. A 1-gram or 5-gram weight ring can slide over the shaft adapter prior to insertion for fine-tuning of the club's weight properties. And a weighted screw nut attaches to the bottom of the shaft adapter, on the sole of the clubhead, to fix everything in place. The screw nut also comes in two different weights and can be easily changed with a ratchet tool included in the kit.
These elements can be fitted together quickly with the SX.1 clubhead to produce the SX.1 driver. And the unit can be disassembled just as quickly to swap out a different shaft.
Here's where it gets a little tricky: The SX.1 driver fitting tool, assembled, is identical to Versus Golf's VS.II driver. Working with a clubfitter, the golfer can use the SX.1 to try various shaft-head combinations until finding the one that is right. The clubfitter then takes those specs and builds a VS.II driver for the golfer.
Now, the golfer could take the assembled SX.1 out to the course and put it in play. But currently - unless a little epoxy is applied and everything is permanently affixed - the SX.1 is not legal for tournament play because its adjustable features do not comply to current USGA rules (movable weight technology is the only currently "legal" adjustable feature on driver heads).
And this is where the date Jan. 1, 2008 comes into the picture. On that date, the USGA (as it announced in a note to manufacturers issued in Feb. 2007) will expand its definition of what's legal when it comes to the adjustability of clubheads. In that note to manufacturers the USGA stated:
The USGA is now proposing to amend the current rule to permit some additional forms of adjustability of woods and irons. The USGA believes that permitting this type of technology is a change that can serve to help many golfers obtain clubs that are well suited to their needs without causing any harm to the game.
So on Jan. 1, 2008, Versus expects the SX.1 to become legal for play without the epoxy. (It's important to note that with all adjustable feature clubs, they are legal only so long as those adjustments are made prior to or following rounds and never during a round.) The SX.1 driver fitting tool will then be the SX.1 adjustable-shaft driver.
"When this (the USGA change) is implemented you can only imagine the changes and focus that will be made to driver technology," Smoot said. "Our Shaft Exchange system is industry leading and Patent Pending. Nobody else will be able to match our design and craftsmanship. ... The fitting tool (SX.1) will be the playable club and we will have led the way."
And at that point? At that point, the golfer will have a driver with which he can tinker to his heart's content with head-shaft combinations. Either by taking the club back to his clubfitter and trying new shafts - or by swapping out shafts himself. Trying a new shaft will require only about a minute's time to disassemble the existing configuration and lock into place the new shaft. The golfer will have to purchase from the clubfitter shafts equipped with the shaft adapter.
But with the weight ring that fits on top of the shaft adapter and the weighted screw locking everything in place, adjustments can also be made to the club's weight properties without having to change shafts.
Smoot expects clubfitters and players - and even other manufacturers - to embrace the SX.1 system. "Fitters will already have shafts with adapters and as we come out with new head designs they will have little overhead," he said. "And as players begin to accept the technology, they will own additional shafts and heads as well. Other manufactures of shafts and clubheads will adopt the SX system and in time change how a club is connected."
How much does it cost? The retail price of the SX.1, fitted, shafted and built by a certified Versus clubmaker, is $499.99 as of this writing. Additional shaft adaptors cost $25.
