Schauffele's Apex TCB irons have some of the weakest lofts on Tour.
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
The gear team at GOLF.com spends a lot of time at tour events photographing the gear used by the world's best players. Posting pictures of the club online without context sometimes works, but it doesn't help the weekend golfer understand why behind the pro's setup.
In this GOLF.com series, equipment editors Jonathan Wall and Ryan Barath answer those questions by highlighting interesting clubs in golfers' bags, unique weights, loft sleeve settings and more. Welcome to “Bay Spy.”
Weak weapons
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
The numbers don't lie. Heading back into the 2021 season, Schauffele increased his average clubhead speed from 119.8 mph to 123.1 mph this season, putting him in the top 10 on Tour. Speed is a good thing to have, but sometimes it needs a change in mechanics to hit some yards.
In Schauffele's case, he weakened nearly every iron and wedge in the bag by one degree to keep carry yards consistent.
“He's weaker in every iron than anybody else,” said Callaway Tour representative Kellen Watson. “He has a 47-degree pitching wedge, which is really old school. That stretches up and down because of the speed he has added.”
It is the opposite of “loft jacking.” The only Tour pro who can claim a set of irons and wedges with weak bedrooms is Tiger Woods, who still sports a 49-degree pitching wedge.
A constant reminder
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
See the red line running down the back of Schauffele's Golf Pride MultiCompound Align grips? It's not for show. Over the years, some tour players have added a “reminder” to the back side of the grip – a raised internal ridge that runs the length of the grip – to encourage consistent hand placement.
Released in 2017, Golf Pride's built-in Align is a small diamond texture added to the rubber that serves the same purpose. Schauffele is part of a growing group of pros who prefer the Align version over the old-school, raised internal reminder that must be added by the clubbuilder during the installation process.
I give it a 10
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
We'll be the first to admit that a 10 iron looks out of place in a bag. Callaway adopted the name that many Japanese brands currently use by replacing the usual “PW” with 10. The 10 iron tag has been reserved for powerful high chambered sets in the past, but the Apex TCB is a better player offering.
So what gives? According to Schauffele, nothing special is happening. He said: “It's just a frame. In other words, Callaway just wanted to mix things up with TCB.
Schauffele isn't the only professional on Tour with a 10-iron in his bag. Callaway employee Nicolai Højgaard's Apex MBs have a 10 iron instead of a putting wedge. It's the kind of minutiae only gear geeks can appreciate.
Custom visuals
Jonathan Wall/GOLF
Schauffele's mallet can't be missed on the course because of the red paint on the head. The color he came to accept over the years, except for a short time with the same putter in silver finish. Visuals are important at the top level of professional golf, and Schauffele rarely sees the need to shake things up.
Go back a few years and you'll find an Odyssey O-Works Red #7 CH in Schauffele's bag. The head color matches the Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas Prototype that he debuted last year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. So, too, does it put black on the face. Or at least it looks like something dark at first glance.
The input found in O-Works Red #7 CH was simply Hot White paint painted black to reduce the contrast between the two colors. However, when Schauffele chose to leave the White Hot in the end to try a different feel with the diamond-cut groove pattern found on his current stick, the Odyssey designers had to find a way to keep the look consistent without installation.
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Schauffele wanted to see a black finish on the face that mimicked the black White Hot insert on his old rod, so Odyssey added black paint to most of the face. The only part that didn't get black paint was the small part at the top where it transitions from the crown to the face.
“Getting off the ground and figuring out where we wanted the red paint to be was difficult,” Toulon said. “If you put it on the edge of the topline, it can collapse or look that way. So we took it slow to make sure it didn't look too shabby.”
Total package
Jonathan Wall
If Schauffele had his way, Callaway's Chrome Tour ball would be in the bag from the jump. Unfortunately, the USGA has to give approval to the prototypes before they find their way to the Tour, so the latest major winner had to wait until January to green light the new pellet. By the time he got to the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the Chrome Tour was in the bag.
Schauffele hasn't looked back. The increase in speed led him to focus on other areas of improvement during testing late last year. Two features that caught his attention were improved circulation and control around the green and stability in the air.
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“I [Tour reps] he did a good job of driving the ball for us,” said Schauffele. “But you can't make changes when you're flying in the direction of the wind. If the ball is moved on the crossbar or in the air, you tend to compensate, which is never a good thing. With this, I saw it flying through the air in steady flight right from the start.”
Having the ability to commit to the shot and not have to worry about wind direction or power made it easier for Schauffele to not worry about his equipment and commit to the shot. In almost all cases, simpler is better in a lesson.
A favorite stick
Jonathan Wall
It should come as no surprise that the favorite club in Schauffele's bag is also the oldest. Released in 2021, the Apex UW “utility wood” features well-placed tungstens embedded within the head for superior launch and consistent spin characteristics with reduced bias.
Due to Schauffele's high angle of attack, he made one important change to the head, reducing the loft from 21 to 19 degrees. Being stronger usually leads to more distance, but in Schauffele's case, his tighter angle of attack actually gives more movement to the ball. Less loft is one way to combat excessive spin.
At 41.5 inches, Schauffele's UW is shorter than most of today's 5-woods. The advantage of going short, this time, is that it allows him to add another “control” club to the bag.
A top scorer
Jonathan Wall
The HL (high-lofted) offering in most programs is designed for the golfer who needs help getting the ball into the air. Better ones have started to adopt them in recent years, especially those with more speed in the tank. Years ago, Dustin Johnson stopped using the traditional 15-degree 3-wood because it moved too much. The club was eventually replaced by an HL version that flew higher and fit the carry gap between his driver and the 7-wood.
Similar to the decision to weaken the loft in his irons – due to increased club speed – Schauffele found himself getting a 16.5-degree Paradym Ai Smoke Triple Diamond HL to fit him better. The forward CG on the Triple Diamond keeps the spin numbers down while the extra 1.5 degrees of loft ensures that Schauffele doesn't get too close to his driver in the bearing department.
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