Just a couple days ago Mitsubishi released the latest installment to the now formidable Fubuki lineup. If our test is any indicator, the Fubuki AX Fairway Wood shaft may be the best thing since sliced bread. Perhaps the most difficult club to get right, the 3-wood poses some unique challenges. Used off a tee and most golfers can outdrive their drivers. Used off the deck and ugly things tend to happen. To a limited extent, low-profile heads helped, albeit at the expense of playability in the rough. The fundamental question for this review is whether or not a shaft can make a difference and, if so, how much of a difference. Testing used a stock Callaway 15* Diablo Edge Tour 3-wood and a 15* Diablo Edge Tour 3-wood with a Stiff 75g Fubuki FW shaft. The Diablo Edge Tour is longer and straighter than last years model, so it presents a reasonable test reference for comparing an aftermarket shaft. Winds were gusting quite a bit into the golfer, so the Normalization function was used on TrackMan to get a better idea of expected distance under calmer conditions.
In this graph, the red lines are the Fubuki FW shaft, the pink is the stock Callaway Diablo Edge Tour 3-wood. Looking at the dispersion graph, the longest shot with the stock 3-wood is only as long as the shortest shot with the Fubuki FW shaft. Here are the metrics: The red lines are the Fubuki AX FW shaft.
