Review: UST ATTAS and AXIVCore Green Shaft

New Grips Too
UST merged with its parent company Mamiya-OP last year.  UST has always been a leader in the graphite shaft industry and Mamiya was the first Japanese company to make a graphite shaft.  For years their most famous shaft series was the ProForce line.  The joint venture has worked well for UST Mamiya as they have been able to increase their tour presence and jump headfirst into the high-end shaft market.  
As always, you can expect to see a fairly bright multi-tone shaft from UST Mamiya.  The ATTAS is much richer looking with the orange, white and black carbon-fiber combination.  These multi-tones may not be for everyone, but they are easily recognizable on tour, which is the most likely reason for such design.  The ATTAS shaft I put in play is the 6s, which came in at 68 grams.  I installed an I-mix tip and was ready to go.  It was my first shaft/swing/driver of the 2010 season.  It is one of those shots that has little to no expectation, anything that makes it past the ladies tee is acceptable.  To my joy and delight, I hit a long baby fade that just missed the fairway.  Over the next few holes the only thing I could count on was my driver.  Irons chunked, wedges skulled, putts left miles short, but long baby fades all round long.  I do mean “baby” fade, 5 yards tops.  The trajectory was the coveted high launch with low spin.  The ball rose quickly, but flattened out for long carry.  Spin was low and rollout was quite nice.


The feel was probably the most impressive aspect of the ATTAS.  It was silky smooth.  It had a moderate hinge like feeling that allowed you to really feel the ball explode off the face.  In addition to great feel was the accuracy and confidence in that baby fade off the tee.  I can see this shaft being in my bag for 2010.

The AXIVCore Tour Green is designed to bring down ball flight and kill spin.  My results were very textbook with this shaft.   I I-mixed this one too and it became my second shaft of the year. It looks like all the other shafts in the AXIVCore line; the only difference is that the wording “Tour Green 65 Stiff” was in green letters on the grey band.  It has a much lower ball flight than the ATTAS.   I would say that the AXIVCore Tour Green is a fairly low spin shaft.  I did have a little more trouble with side spin with this shaft compared to the ATTAS.  I hit low power fades with this shaft.  Instead of 5-yard fades, these were more in the 10 to 15 yard range.  This sidespin seemed to take a little distance off compared to the ATTAS.    But I was also playing on softer fairways so that also had an impact on distance.  I think on a windy day with firm conditions, this shaft could be really helpful


The feel was very balanced because the balance point of this shaft was closer to the tip, allowing for a better feel of the clubhead.  While the AXIVCore Green was not as smooth as the ATTAS, it was certainly not boardy.  It felt just a tad firmer.  I think at the price point, this will be a very good shaft for golfers who need to knock off some spin and bring their launch angle down.

Also in 2010, UST Mamiya jumped in the grip market.  They offer three different grips.  The Tour PC, the Comp SC and the Pro DC ½ Cord.  I installed the Tour PC on the AXIVCore Tour Green and the Comp SC on the ATTAS.  I didn’t try a Pro DC ½ Cord.


The Tour PC is comparable to your typical tour velvet rubber grip.  It did have a slightly different feel to the rubber compound.  While it can be hard to describe it was maybe a bit drier feeling, yet soft and tacky.  It was simple and worked as you would want any grip.  I only have four rounds in with this grip, but it still looks and feels like new.


The Comp SC is comparable to your typical dual compound grips.  It comes in four colors; blue, red, yellow and white.  I used the white one and found it to be very comfortable with the multi-density rubbers.  This one, too, was used for my first four rounds and shows no signs of wear.  The white is still very bright and clean.

The biggest selling point of the UST Mamiya grips will be their lower price point compared to their competitors.  If any of their three styles are the types of grips you like to play, I think it is worth saving some money.  The grips are just as good, if not better than the competition.

Overall, I think UST Mamiya is setting themselves up for a very good 2010.  They have ample pro use and many solid products for the amateurs too.  

For more information: www.ustmamiya.com