If you're not familiar with the brand, the BGT acronym stands for Breakthrough Golf Technology. The original Stability Putter shaft released by BGT a while ago was a total hit, and here comes its successor, which is built following the same receipt of the first-gen, because after all's said and done, it's the current year and technology waits for no one. To make a long story short, the new BGT Stability Tour putter shaft is quite amazing, as it's designed to deliver a massive improvement in putter performance, just like its older sibling (but better), as well as improved looks and feel. It already sounds tempting, right?
To begin with the basics, let's make a quick recap of the technology behind Stability Shaft: the philosophy of BGT states that once you increase stiffness and you reduce the torque of the putter shaft, you achieve something legendary: a significant reduction in clubhead twisting, which in real life means you'll end up with a better percentage in putts made, especially when it comes to mishits. There's a small problem though: usually speaking, the regular approach is to employ a higher moment of inertia putter design to mitigate these problems, but what you end up with is 1950s steel shaft technology working together with 2019 putter technology and design. Do you see where this is going?
While putter design and engineering is already “in the current year” tech-wise, shaft design is pretty lo-tech if you know what we mean, hence BGT broke the technological ice with the original-one-and-only Stability Shaft . The next question is: okay, the Stability Shaft was kind of awesome, but why should I pay for the Tour version? Well, the short answer is that the new Stability Tour builds on the success of the first-gen but arrives in a more player preferred package; the Tour particle makes a world of difference, especially in the looks department. The truth is, vanity is a golfer’s favorite sin, and the original Stability Shaft was kind of lacking in this department.
The new BGT Tour Stability looks pretty good, as it's been redesigned completely and now boasts a slow consistent outside diameter taper from .600? (the original Stability) at the butt to just over .520? at the tip; and yes, before you ask, .080? is a lot in real life, and this relatively small change has a huge impact on how the shaft looks at address, due to the human eye's particular mechanics in regard to recognizing parallel lines. Since the outside diameter specs have changed, it's obvious that the same story goes on the inside. The new-gen Tour Stability from BGT uses thirty percent more graphite in its construction, in order to make the shaft more rigid and strong. The aluminum insert is now gone because due to the extra graphite thing, there's no need for extra rigidity anymore. Actually, the new shaft is stronger and stiffer than before, but at the same time offers a better feel. How is that possible, you asked?
The secret is in the pudding, or, in our particular case, the graphite wall thickness comes into play. Since graphite is light and strong, the Tour shaft comes with a thicker wall, which reduces vibrations and provides a softer sound and feel. Graphite itself comes with inherent vibration dampening properties, hence a thicker graphite wall is the recipe for success if you want a shaft that feels better, sounds softer and keeps the ball online shot after shot. Moreover, the new Stability Tour shaft is more balanced than the first-gen, as per BGT:
“It will balance like a steel shaft which makes it easy to recreate a specific swing weight when re-shafting. Better golfers can replace their steel shaft without changing the balance of the putter, which allows the most discerning players to achieve precise specifications on their equipment.”
The lesson to be taken home is this: the new Stability Tour putter shaft offers the same benefits as the original one, and then some, in a sleeker, smaller, player preferred package.
