ACCRA wins at the Omega Dubai Dessert Classic

Kingston, Ontario – ACCRA premium golf shafts recorded it’s second victory on a major PGA Tour in 2010. Coming off a victory at the Sony Open on the PGA Tour where the winner used 2 ACCRA shafts on his way to his third PGA Tour win (all using ACCRA shafts), this past weekend ACCRA recorded it’s first European PGA Tour Victory at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Using an ACCRA shaft in his Ping driver, the popular Spaniard known as “the Mechanic” survived a three hole playoff to record his first win of 2010 and place himself in position to compete in another Ryder Cup. Finishing the event in the top 30 of both driving accuracy and distance was a key to winning this event. Known for his incredible short game and accuracy off the tee, his 285+ yard average off the tee (good for 24th in the event) enabled him to take full advantage of his superior iron game.

This same week ACCRA looked for a second victory at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles California. Firing a final round 66 the Northwestern grad from Hemel Hempstead, England finished solo second and moved into the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings for 2010. For several years he trusted ACCRA in his three wood, and late last season added an ACCRA to his Taylormade Driver with great success.

“This has been a great start on PGA Tours around the world for ACCRA branded shafts” stated Mike Biviano (ACCRA- Tour Rep.). “With the new ACCRA DyMatch technology just beginning to gain acceptance and the new DyMatch graphite iron shafts creating a buzz at the Tour level, we are looking to have a great season on Professional Tours around the world” continued Mr. Biviano.

“ACCRA introduced the DyMatch concept in 2009 and has just release d the new DyMatch RT, the first golf shaft totally designed dynamically to match driver shafts, fairway wood shafts and hybrid shafts creating identical feel based on a players swing characteristics” said Gawain Robertson (ACCRA- Partner). “Whether it is the best players in the world or the weekend golfer, this combination enables all levels of golfers to improve consistency, distance and accuracy” continued Mr. Robertson.

ACCRA pioneered DyMatch technology using an innovative design method of creating shaft profiles in “finished” clubs. Designing a shaft statically just doesn’t make sense! Creating a fairway wood and hybrid shaft that deflects and twists the same amount as the driver shaft creates identical feel. Only ACCRA DyMatch accomplishes this.

All ACCRA shafts are available exclusively through the very best club fitters in the world. “We believe that shafts must be custom fit to ensure that every golfer receives the greatest benefit from their equipment” says Dave Makarucha (ACCRA - Partner) “we have selected only the most experienced club fitters to represent our products to ensure every ACCRA shaft is perfectly fit to each golfer of all abilities” continued Mr. Makarucha.

ACCRA premium graphite shafts are available through “certified ACCRA Fitters”. For product information or to locate a Certified ACCRA Fitter near you, please visit www.accragolf.com. If you are interested in becoming a dealer, please contact PGMC at (888) 389-3149.

ACCRA Shafts are crafted using the highest modulus and most technologically advanced materials available.
ACCRA has engineers to “create the best” without any compromises. The recent success of ACCRA’s latest introduction gives remarkable credibility to the technologies utilized in all ACCRA shafts. All ACCRA trademarks are owned by PGMC.

Article from Flagstick Golf

ACCRA Introduces DYMATCH RT Shafts
Posted January 19th 2010 at 1:19 pm by Scott MacLeod

ACCRA Dymatch RT Family
After a year that saw most golf manufacturers and businesses shrinking in size the team at ACCRA golf shafts has a lot to celebrate. In the face of the industry trends the Canadian-based company is coming off a record sales year and looking ahead to a bright 2010. They recently scored another PGA Tour win at the Sony Open where the champion used one of their shafts in his 3-wood.

“We have a strong network of dealers; we believe in their ability to fit golfers and build them clubs so they can play better. We just try to make sure they have the best line of products available to them so that they can do that,” says Gawain Robertson, who guides the company along with partner Dave Makarucha.

To support that statement the company will be revealing some new products in the coming months, most prominently the DYMATCH RT graphite shafts. This line, an extension of the Dymatch shaft products introduced in 2009, will get its first full industry viewing next week at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

“We are really excited about the DYMATCH RT and what it offers for golfers,” continues Robertson.

For those not familiar with the DYMATCH story, this family of graphite shafts was created using a much different approach than is traditionally seen in the golf shaft business. Rather than build to specs the company chose to address ball flight and performance as the deciding factor in the design of the complete line-up. In essence the shafts are Dynamically Matched, thus the product name.

For the complete DYMATCH development story see this story we ran last year on our Editor’s Desk Blog.

The shafts got a strong reception from the dealers and also on the PGA Tour. Robertson says 7 or 8 players made the moved to use a complete sweep of DYMATCH, a driver, fairway and hybrid while another 11 or 12 used a shaft or two. That was good numbers for a shaft not brought out to the tour until early summer.

This brings us to 2010 and the evolution of this product line.

In keeping with their goal of providing as complete of a product line as their dealers need to fit their customers, ACCRA is adding an RT, or Responsive Tip version of the DYMATCH Shafts.

“ACCRA has been known throughout our 5 ½ years of existence for creating response tip shafts with very low torque,” explains Robertson regarding the introduction. “We have been a leader in that category. We wanted to do something different when we created DYMATCH so we came up with a more stable tipped shaft. The followers of ACCRA really enjoyed the original tour series and the ACCRA Axiv so we wanted to give them the best of both worlds from those shafts.”

The end result is a low torque, responsive tip shaft array with the DYMATCH characteristics of dynamically matched products from driver through the hybrid.

Series 1 will be a 55 gram driver shaft, 65 gram fairway wood shaft and a 75 gram hybrid shaft.

Series 2 will include weights of 65, 75, and 85 in the same order while Series 3 will go up another ten grams starting with a driver shaft at 75 grams and working through to a hybrid at 95 grams.

“If you want a stable tip, lower launch shaft the original Dymatch is for you; if you want something that will kick the ball up in the air more with higher spin the RT is what you are looking for,” Gawain adds.

Robertson concludes that their line will be real simple for both the consumer and fitter with all the options they might need. They believe in the DYMATCH system so they wanted to make their best designs available that way. The RT completes that picture.

“Every swing is different and we believe everyone should be fit by a professional with the proper equipment and knowledge to do the job right. The RT just gives us more opportunities to fit more people.”

ACCRA Premium Golf Shaft Company hires PGA Tour Rep.

Kingston ON - ACCRA Golf Shafts, manufactures of one of the most used golf shafts on the PGA Tour recently announced the hiring of PGA Tour Representative Michael Biviano. Mr. Biviano will represent both ACCRA and KBS Tour steel shafts on the PGA Tour.

"We are extremely excited to add Michael (Biv), to the ACCRA Team. His experience and success on the PGA Tour is second to non." Stated Gawain Robertson (Partner - ACCRA) "Biv adds a whole new dimension to our representation. We look forward to growing our Tour presence targeting top PGA professionals." continued Mr. Robertson.

Biv joins Scotty Garrison (Golf on the Run) and his Professional Tour Services Van, combining to provide PGA Tour players with the best service available.

With over 25 years of sports marketing, R&D, equipment testing and custom building experience, Michael has dedicated his career to improving equipment performance and education, while working with the market’s leading OEMs and the best and most accomplished players in the world.

"Combining both ACCRA and KBS Tour enables Biv to concentrate on top PGA Tour players using a Tour proven steel and graphite product. said Dave Makarucha (Partner - ACCRA) "Our relationship with KBS and FST has been extremely close since the introduction of KBS Tour. The partnership that we have created on Tour is just an extension of the overall business relationship."

New ACCRA DyMatch i Series iron shafts

ACCRA premium golf shafts is proud to announce the introduction of a revolutionary new graphite composite iron shaft. Appropriately dubbed ACCRA DyMatch i Series, this updated version of the extremely popular ACCRA i Series allows ACCRA professional club fitters to fit golfers to an even greater array of weight options.

Golfers have a wide variety of different swings and fitters require as many options as possible to properly fit players.

The all new ACCRA DyMatch i Series is available in weights from 40 grams up to 90 grams, but the unique aspect of this shaft is it's ability to be transformed to different flexes by an ACCRA certified club fitter. pick a weight, then a flex and then allow your fitter to "dial in" a shaft to meet your specific ball flight requirements.

ACCRA golf shafts and KBS Tour steel shafts are available through certified club fitters, please visit www.accragolf.com or www.kbsshafts.com to locate the nearest dealer to you.

ACCRA Dymatch

ACCRA introduces revolutionary golf  shaft design – ACCRA DYMATCH

 

PGMC  Kingston Ontario – Premium golf shaft manufacturer ACCRA is poised to introduce an entire line of new golf shafts using a revolutionary method of concept and design.

On the heals of 6 months of unprecedented growth, including it’s best month in it’s 5 year history (February 2009), ACCRA is set to begin shipping ACCRA DYMATCH mid March 2009.

 "As ACCRA shafts are sold through the very best professional club fitters in the world, all of us on the ACCRA team would like to thank these fitters, worldwide, for their commitment to our brand” stated Dave Makarucha (PGMC Partner). “ Professional fitters scrutinize golf shafts like no other  segment of the golf industry, we are honoured that the most knowledgeable golf equipment  professionals in the industry have chosen to support the ACCRA brand at such an astounding rate” continued Mr. Makarucha.

 “ACCRA certified professional fitters will begin offering the new ACCRA DYMATCH series of shafts, March 15^th.  These shafts were designed using the expertise gained from phenomenal success on  PGA Tours worldwide and from constant feedback from our professional club fitters whom deal with golfers of all levels on a daily basis.”  Said Sean Bravakis (PGMC). “Since ACCRA’s inception, all designs have been created using feedback that we receive during our constant communication with our fitters and loyal consumers. We are proud of the relationships that we have developed with so many golfers using ACCRA. Several years ago, Golf Digest described ACCRA as having a cult like following on Tour, this seems to have extended to club fitters and the general golfing public” continued Mr. Bravakis.

 Gawain Robertson, PGMC Partner and ACCRA Tour Rep explains the concept behind DYMATCH “ACCRA DYMATCH was created by the observation that the best players in the world along with discerning amateur golfers, were commonly using different graphite shafts in the driver, fairway woods and hybrids!

Why?

Tour reps and club fitters would "dial in" a player to a driver shaft/head combo....... then had to start all over with the fairway wood and hybrid!
We began analyzing what shafts players were using in their drivers, fairway woods and hybrids and we noticed that the majority of players were using stiffer tip/lower torque shafts in their drivers than in their fairway woods! Now, Tour players,  but they "feel" everything and know what works!
So then we took a look at the method that shaft companies uses to create driver an fairway wood shafts.....

We design cool 55, 65, 75 gram shafts using specific profiles, but as we go from 65 to 75 grams (using the same profile) the tip tends to get stiffer and the torque usually gets lower!

Now consider the size and shape of the heads …..driver, fairway woods, and hybrids.
You will notice that the Center of Gravity (CG) moves closer to the point where the shaft enters the club as we move from driver to fairway wood, to hybrid.
Therefore we really don't require a stiffer tip or lower torque to maintain stability in the smaller heads (fairway woods and hybrids).

Shaft companies tend to make the heavier (fairway wood) shafts with firmer tip sections and usually lower torque..... And then tell club fitters and Tour vans  to “tip it” up to 2 inches!!!!! This makes little sense, forcing Tour players and custom club fitters to find a softer tipped shaft for their fairway woods, usually from a different company!!!!

ACCRA DYMATCH...... Is just common sense!!!!” Stated Mr. Robertson.

“So we challenged our engineers  to design a great driver shaft in 55 grams, 65 grams and 75 grams (all with slightly more stable tip sections than we had done before and butt sections that were easier to "load" than any previous ACCRA), once we test these driver shafts with Tour players and average golfers and know they work......then we measured them dynamically! not statically!

This entailed assembling the shafts into a finished product.

 

So we took the assembled clubs and then put them through Robot, Canon, strain gauge, and human tests to determined the amount of torque and tip deflection a  head receives on center hits at different impact speeds and positions.

Then we challenged our engineers to

design a fairway wood shaft and hybrid shaft to "MATCH" these numbers in "DYNAMIC" form (at length, with a head, grip, and being swung). Honestly who cares if a fairway wood is the same profile as your driver and is 10 grams heavier..... but doesn't "feel" anything like it! Heck that's what's happening on Tour..... players will try the 10 gram heavier version of their driver shaft and inevitably it doesn't work!!

So why not actually design a fairway wood shaft and hybrid shaft that will react identically to a driver shaft when hit in assembled form. this is where we came in!
So 8 revisions and dozens of trials have culminated in the first completely "DYNAMICALLY MATCHED" shaft system ever created!

Series #1 – 55 gram driver shaft, 65 gram fairway wood shaft, 75 gram hybrid.

Series #2 – 65 gram driver shaft, 75 gram fairway wood shaft, 85 gram hybrid.

Series #3 – 75 gram driver shaft, 85 gram fairway wood shaft, 95 gram hybrid.
Bonus 45 gram driver shaft and 98 gram “Tour” shaft.” Continued Mr. Robertson.

During the design and production process, testing of “traditional” driver, fairway wood combinations consistently showed dramatic variances in head twisting and shaft deflection between the driver and fairway woods.

With ACCRA DYMATCH, the reaction of the head through the force of impact remain constant!

ACCRA DYMATCH

Hey Guys,

Thanks for visiting our blog, not only will we be updating this blog with new Press releases, but also with interesting information from the PGA Tour and stories of ACCRA from around the world!

So, ACCRA DYMATCH is set to be released the week of March 16th.....

Please check out our new website www.accragolf.com to see information and specifications on the new product.

ACCRA DYMATCH Article - 2009 PGA Show

By Scott McLeod - Editor FlagStck Magazine (flagstickeditorsdesk.blogspot.com)

Dynamic Possibilities: ACCRA Unveils Their New Shaft Concept

Ten months ago the shaft business was a different place for the principals behind ACCRA golf. By that point it had only been a few years since Canadians Dave Makarucha and Gawain Robertson had taken a distribution deal for a shaft sub-brand and grew it into nothing less than a solid and well-recognized product. Tour and consumer success compelled them to eventually acquire the brand from United Sports Technology, but even with their fresh line of ACCRA AXIV shafts selling well it was no time to rest.

On the PGA Tour, the barometer for golf equipment success, ACCRA was making a strong move. With Robertson working the tee line among the world’s best players they had more than a hundred shafts in play and the wins were piling up, but there was more work to be done.

Most golf companies would have been content with this level of success but the ACCRA gang was on a mission. From the start of their business they had committed to building the best shafts they could, without compromise, and the search for their next product was on. This time though, it was not a new material or simply a design change that had their full attention, it was an entirely new concept for how golf shafts would be fitted, tested, and eventually, purchased.

So it was on a day last March that the idea for the latest ACCRA shaft concept – DYMATCH came to fruition. They will debut this week at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

“A year ago, we (Premium Golf Management Company) acquired all rights to ACCRA,” Robertson told me recently on cool, snowy day in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario. “With that we also took on all the costs for marketing and running a golf shaft company. Until then we had shared a tour rep with UST so last year one thing we took over was running the tour for our product. So in going out on tour as our own company we were able to get to use the tour for things that were beneficial for the company. One of those is to be able to test products using best players in the world.”

That situation lead to some interesting discoveries. “We got to learn and watch what was going on out on tour and DYMATCH is a direct derivative of what we learned in our first year.”

Robertson said one of his earliest observations on the PGA Tour was just how few players were using the same shaft in their driver as they were in their fairway woods or hybrids. He began to wonder just why was this was the case.

In starting to research the situation they soon discovered that most tour players were using softer-tipped fairway wood shafts than the ones they were using in their drivers. Most players didn’t really know this was the case; they were simply doing it based on performance alone.

The ACCRA team began to look at how golf clubs were designed and the impact it has on shafts. It was fairly easy to see that in a driver the center of gravity was much further from the axis of where the shaft and hosel met than in a fairway wood or hybrid. Thus, to achieve the same feel you actually needed a more stable tip section as the center of gravity moved further away from the axis.

But this was just one factor in the DYMATCH concept, another great concern came from working out on tour. Out there one of the major issues with OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) reps was just how many club heads they would go through to fit a player. Similarly, the same goes for shaft manufacturers and the number of shafts they would burn through to get a player in tune. These are tight economic times after all.

“With us we might get a guy dialled in with an ACCRA XE75 in his driver and you think “Perfect, we’ll give him an 85 for his fairway wood and he will be all set.” But what happens is the OEM ends up building 4 or 5 fairway clubs with different shafts because they don’t know if it will actually work. We started to look at that and wonder how we could fix it. How can we get a player a guaranteed better fit while also making it cheaper and easier to do so on tour? We wanted to develop a product that consistently matched from driver, to fairway, to hybrid, in a series of shafts.”

And this, says Robertson, is where it got interesting. Until now most manufacturers have been designing shafts statically – creating them based on specs and profiles that they want to achieve. Then they take them out and test them. From a base gram weight shaft they usually make a heavier one and a lighter one. That is the simple way of doing it. They assume that because the first shaft worked well that the other ones will work well. They test them and make sure they do as much as possible.

For the DYMATCH they took a very different approach. “When we challenged our engineers on this project we told them that we didn’t care what the specs were, we didn’t want them to hit specs, just make a shaft that worked well. We wanted them to create a 55, 65, and 75 gram “kick-ass driver shaft” with certain general profiles – basically a little more stable tip section and little softer butt section – slightly different from ACCRA shafts of the past but appropriate for the clubs out there today. After we did that we did our normal testing then we did a whole range of dynamic testing.”

For those tests, rather than focusing on the 46 inch uncut, raw shaft they put their attention on a normal length (45 inch) driver shaft fit into a modern, high MOI clubhead and with a grip, just as it would be played. They subjected it to a battery of tests for frequency, EI (Energy Inertia) profile, tip and mid flexes followed by a series of cannon and robot testing. They then used a ballistic camera to measure what happened with the club and shaft as it made contact with a golf ball at different speeds.

With driver measurements in hand they then looked to create a three wood shaft the replicated the dynamics of their driver tests, without concern for the static specifications. “The goal was to not to see that the shaft matched at the full uninstalled length, but to ensure the shaft was working the same in a real golf swing.”

It took twelve different versions to get the first three wood shaft.In designing it “backwards” to create the right dynamic end product, each test was essentially a shot in the dark that got fine tuned with each subsequent trial.

Robertson says he believes that with a greater availability of testing devices like launch monitors that the industry will slowly move more toward dynamic trials like they have been doing.“You already see it out on tour with players finding a ball that suits them and then building their equipment around it. That is opposite of what they used to do.”

He says their live player testing including both amateur and pro golfers but they feel that being able to get shafts that match is even more critical for the non-tour level golfer. “For amateurs you are taking away another variable in their swing. Tour players can adjust but why should you when you don’t have to?”

In the end the man from ACCRA says it is results that matter, not specs. They have created a dynamically matched set of shafts not meant to replace their other products but simply supplementing them. “Every shaft does something different for every player. This product line is not for everyone but for those that it fits, they can choose a driver and be guaranteed that the three wood and hybrid will perform the same. Once you find a driver shaft that works for you, average player, tour player, video, cannon, and strain gauge testing has all told us that the fairway shaft will match and perform with the same feel and launch conditions.”

The DYMATCH shafts provide a slightly lower ball flight than past ACCRA shafts, working well with the low center of gravity/high MOI club heads of today.

There are three lines of DYMATCH shafts, Series #1, #2, and #3, providing different weights and performance characteristics.The shafts start at 45 grams and go up to 98 grams with the lighter shafts providing slightly higher launch angles. They all feature innovative new graphics and paint schemes in the familiar copper, blue, and red ACCRA theme (see photo).

After the unveiling this week at the PGA Merchandise Show the next major milestone for the shafts will be getting them into the bags of tour players at the Northern Trust Open in Los Angeles.A couple weeks after that, likely at the end of February, they will be available to consumers through a network of more than 350 authorized dealers around the world.

Almost a year in development, getting ACCRA DYMATCH to market has been quite the process. “A lot of time and effort has been put into these shafts but I think it worked out very well,” concludes Robertson. We are excited for golfers to be able see what a difference it can make to their golf games.”