Fujikura Ventus TR Black Shaft

Earlier this season, Fujikura Golf introduced the Ventus TR Blue to their highly-acclaimed Ventus shaft family. Through their proprietary enso analytics, Fujikura identified that the shaft’s handle and mid section were the highest points of stress during the transition and downswing. To address this, Fujikura added a new “spread tow” carbon fabric in the TR to increase “torsional stiffness” in those two sections. Combined with VeloCore, the end result is a more stable shaft with the same sweet feel expected from a Ventus. With so much immediate success, Fujikura naturally had to expand the Ventus TR family. By enhancing the stiffness and lowering launch and spin from the original counterparts, Fujikura has now filled out all of the Ventus TR profiles. The new Fujikura Ventus TR Black is the lowest launch and spin version of the entire Ventus family, but with a tighter and more responsive feel.

The Looks

At first glance, the Fujikura Ventus TR Black looks similar to its standard counterpart. What sets it apart is a black sparkle base coat, the small gold TR logo next to the Ventus wordmark, and the visible carbon weave underneath the Ventus shaft band just beneath the handle section. That visible carbon weave highlights the new spread tow carbon fabric Fujikura used to increase the torsonal stiffness in this area of the shaft. While the Ventus TR Black is modest and understated lookswise, the visible carbon adds a subtle bit of flair and cool factor to it. And of course, the VeloCore branding near the tip section pops over that black sparkle finish.

How Does it Feel?

Fujikura’s VelCore platform has been notorious for its stability, but the addition of their new spread tow carbon fabric really tightens up the feel across the entire TR family. In the case of the Ventus TR Black, it’s Fujikura’s stiffest profile to date. While the shaft certainly feels stiff, Fujikura really focused on making sure they don’t eliminate all feel from the profile. As a result, the TR Black feels solid and tight, but far from a boardy telephone pole as often happens with stout low/low shafts. You get great response and a nice amount of kick as long as you have a more aggressive transition and faster swing speed to compliment the shaft.

Though the Ventus TR plays a little stiffer and “lower” than its regular Ventus counterpart, I found it to be much more playable from a pure feel perspective. The mid and handle sections are more stout, but also more precise in their feel. I felt like I was able to put every ounce of energy into my swing (read: “swing out of my shoes”) if I had to without sacrificing control because of the improved club awareness. That improved cub awareness is a direct result of the new spread tow fabric working in concert with the VeloCore platform. This experience was consistent for me throughout the entire Ventus TR family.

On-Course Performance

My experience with testing the Fujikura Ventus TR Black is sort of a tale of two stories. You see, I’ve been gaming the Ventus TR Blue and it’s realistically the best fit for me in the family. The numbers above from the TR Black reflect that I could either use a little more launch or a little more spin to get the ball to stay in the air a bit longer. The Ventus TR Blue generally does this for me and primarily why it’s been my gamer this year. What my numbers above don’t reflect is that I’m currently having some pretty significant driver control issues, but the Ventus TR Black is really helping me out with that right now.

With the increased torsional stiffness, I’m able to just “grip it and rip it”. This is helping me because I’m relying more on muscle memory and the spread tow/VeloCore profile “contains” my swing. Add in the low spin and my dispersion really tightened up so I’m finding my second shots in much better spots off the tee. Overall, I’m able to easily find a powerful piercing ball flight with the shaft seemingly doing all of the work for me when it comes to control and accuracy. At the time of reviewing this shaft, that has been a literal lifesaver for me on the tee box.

Final Thoughts – Fujikura Ventus TR Black Shaft

The additions of the Black and Red models really round out the Fujikura Ventus family nicely. By adding the new spread tow carbon fabric, the Ventus TR options provide more stability and a tighter feel when combined with the already-impressive VeloCore technology. Players looking for a piercing, low launch angle and an absolute spin killer will love the new Ventus TR Black. There’s minimal shaft movement and flex for players with more aggressive tempos and faster swing speeds, but with enough presence and response for precise club head awareness. So even though the Ventus TR Black is about as stout and stable as a low/low shaft gets, the combination of the new ultra-lightweight spread tow and VeloCore have an impressively sweet feel that’s tough to beat for a shaft in this category.

Watch us talk to Spencer Reynolds from Fujikura Golf and test out the new Ventus TR shafts below!

Previous Next