Neal Shipley survived “Golf’s Longest Day” to qualify for the U.S. Open next week at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, and is set to make his first appearance at his national open since he earned low amateur in 2004. So what better time to be featured in another edition of “Building a Bag.”
It’s also a significant time for Shipley to have a breakdown of his setup featured here at GolfWRX, as the Ohio State alum has been through some substantial gear changes over the past few months to combat one thing – over-spinning the golf ball.
So let’s dive into Shipley’s setup:
Big changes start with the ball
Shipley’s major bag update for this season has been a change in golf balls. Initially, in the Titleist Pro V1, Shipley had to remove loft from his long irons to tackle the fact that he overspins the golf ball. But after testing and transitioning to the Pro V1x Double Dot, he was able to find the right numbers and also launch the ball higher.
“I’ve struggled with spin for a long time and I was battling that, especially in my longer irons and had to take a lot of loft off,” Shipley told GolfWRX. “So I struggled when I got the irons in the right spin rates in the right spin windows, not getting enough height. So I was able to go to this ball and add loft, get the lunch I need, without really adding too much spin.”
The lower-launching and lower-spinning Pro V1x variant is a golf ball that transformed Cameron Young’s game and plenty of players have tested it out on Tour, including Kris Ventura and Jhonattan Vegas.
“It’s been nice to kind of launch the ball a little bit more and get some height more with my launch rather than with the ball downfield,” Shipley added. “So it’s been a nice addition. It’s really good in crosswind. It’s great off the tee.”
Soft stepping experiment
From 5- to 9-iron, Shipley plays Ping’s Blueprint T irons, of which he believes are “one of the cleanest looking blades out there.”
The model has been in his bag even before they even went to retail. What’s most interesting about his iron setup, though, is what he’s doing with the shafts.
Shipley plays Dynamic Gold X100 120 shaft, a pretty common shaft out on Tour. What he and the Ping team have begun experimenting with is soft-stepping, for a few reasons.
“Trying and get a little more, just touch, more height and spin on the ball, a little more deflection,” Shipley said on the process of changing the stiffness of a set of irons by putting the lower-numbered iron shaft throughout the set and changing the distance from the first step in the shaft to the hosel. (ie. The 8-iron shaft is put in the 9-iron and so forth.)
Essentially, the shift makes the shaft slightly weaker by cutting more off the butt end of the club. The change aligns with the ball swap, with Shipley’s freedom now to launch the ball higher with loft without it overspinning. Shipley has also done the same to his i240 4-iron.
No need to de-loft
Shipley plays some of the lowest-lofted clubs out on the PGA Tour. His older Ping G440 LST has just 6.8 degrees of loft – yes, you read that correctly!
Now with the ability to add more loft, thanks to the golf ball change, Shipley’s current driver is at 7.6 degrees. The 9-degree LST head is cranked down on Big Minus on the Ping adapter hosel.
It’s still a stout build, however, as Shipley plays a Fujikura Ventus TR 7x that has been tipped at 2 inches. He also uses the heaviest high-density tungsten back weight available at 35 grams.
More than just the stamps
Shipley was the first to admit that he enjoyed his food while in college. But since his days at Ohio State, he’s slimmed down and earned a PGA Tour Card.
That hasn’t stopped him from having fun with his wedge stampings, though it’s led to some misunderstandings.
On the 54 (degree), we have ‘Big Fudge,’” Shipley said. “It was supposed to be ‘Big Fridge,’ so this happened a little while ago. ‘Big Fridge’ was a nickname between my college teammates and I, with ‘fridge’ meaning stomach, a big stomach.
“We told the Ping guys to put … ‘Big Fridge’ on it, and I think maybe some bad cell service or something, and they thought I said ‘fudge,’ so they put fudge on it.”
On Shipley’s 50-degree he also continues the food theme, this time with his go-to order at the “Golden Arches,” and his stamping “DONS 7.”
“The number 7 meal, the two cheeseburger meal, that was my McDonald’s order, back when I would have McDonald’s frequently,” Shipley shared.
There’s more to just the stamping. He’s stuck with the S159 wedges since graduating from the Korn Ferry Tour, as he feels confident in the head shape.
“I prefer the shape a little bit more of the leading edge, not as rounded of a leading edge, a little bit more straight on,” Shipley added.
The added confidence helps him with adapting to the different grinds needed week-in-week-out on Tour. Shipley is happy to game three different grinds with his lob-wedge.
“Primarily use the T, the H, and then I’ll do a 58S,” Shipley said. “These are actually at 59 degrees. I’ll do the 58 strengthen to take a little bit of bounce off in the S grind and then we’ll shave some trail edge and heel edge relief. Just helps act as like a higher bounce essentially. So kind of stick with those most of the time.”
Heavier the better
The final piece to Shipley’s puzzle is his custom Ping PLD Anser 4D. It’s somewhat of a gentle giant, featuring a heavier-than-usual head, but a custom aluminium insert.
“It’s a little bit heavier, I think this one’s 355 to 360 grams, so a little bit heavier head,” Shipley said. “So the heavier head I feel like has helped me on some of the shorter putts with a little bit of stability.
“But the insert, I think, has been helpful in some of the longer putts. Just kind of slowing the ball down with the softer insert in the grooves.”
Shipley’s one of the few players left on Tour playing an actual Anser blade, having said in the past that he naturally sets up to the right on putts and allows the face to rotate through. Something which he hasn’t been able to mimic with a mallet.
Shipley’s full bag:
Driver: Ping G440 LST (9 degrees @ 7.6)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 7X (45 inches, tipped 2 inches)
Mini driver: Ping prototype
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Black 8X
3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (13.5 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black 8X
5-wood: Ping G440 Max (19 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 8X
Irons: Ping iDi (3 @ 19.25), Ping i240 (4), Ping Blueprint T (6-9)
Shafts: Fujikura Ventus Black HB 10X (3), True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 (4-9 soft-stepped)
Wedges: Ping s159 (46-12S, 50-10S, 54-12S, 60 T or H @ 59)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold 120 X100 (46-50), True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 (54-60)
Putter: Ping PLD Anser 4D
Grips: Golf Pride ZGrip Cord
Golf Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot
