Brava Tour Driver Shaft Life-Tested Review: Is It Worth $439?
The Brava Tour driver shaft claims to be longer and straighter, so we put it to the test.
Some people refer to the shaft as “the engine of the golf club” as a way to describe its important job of transferring power into the club head, then the golf ball, as effectively as possible.
Like any engine, there are high-performance shafts available to golfers who are willing to pay a premium. One such shaft is the Breakthrough Golf Technology (BGT) Brava Tour driver shaft.
Checking in at $439, the Brava Tour is certainly a premium upgrade, but with promises to deliver longer drives, more ball speed, and improved control and accuracy, some players will be happy to pay a premium for those results, especially considering that BGT is clear that the Brava Tour shaft is designed for serious golfers.
We all know that buying every golf product that promises more distance and accuracy is beeline for bankruptcy. We can’t simply take every marketing claim at face value, so we put the BGT Brava Tour Driver Shaft to the test to fact-check those claims, and we were surprised by the results. Let’s dive in.
How We Tested BGT Brava Tour Driver Shaft
To put BGT’s claims that the Brava Tour driver shaft is longer and more accurate to the test, I took it to the driving range, and with the help of the Rapsodo MLM2Pro launch monitor, compared it head-to-head with my gamer, a Mitsubishi Tensei Organge shaft which I’ve been fit into in multiple driver fittings. Tensei Orange is certainly a premium shaft in its own right if I do say so myself.
I hit 10 shots with each shaft, sandwhiching five shots with the Tensei Orange shaft before and after 10 shots with the Brava Tour shaft to help account for streakiness and fatigue. Because I hit range balls for this test, the ball speed and distance numbers are lower than what you would expect with a premium ball, but since I used the same batch of balls with both shafts, the balls didn’t influence the results.
After collecting data on 20 drivers, 10 with each shaft, I threw out the worst it-wasn’t-the-shaft’s-fault drive from each, leaving a data set of 18 shots, nine with each shaft. I also took the Brava Tour driver shaft to the golf course where I used Shot Scope to track every shot and get comparitive data to my typical driver performance.
About the BGT Brava Tour Driver Shaft
SHOP BGT
MRSP: $439
Flex Options: R-S-X
Tip Adapter: Callaway, Cobra, Mizuno, PING, PXG, TaylorMade, Titleist available (+$15)
Grip: Golf Pride Tour Velvet optional (+$10)
Length: Select length from 43-48 inches
The Brava Tour driver shaft is designed for serious players who swing driver 90 mph or faster. BGT points out that added weight helps stabilize the club head, which improves consistency and ultimately boosts ball speed and distance.
You can equip the black and copper shaft with tip adapters for seven different manufacturers, or get it with a raw tip. Likewise, you can have a Golf Pride Tour Velvet grip installed, or get it with no grip. You can also choose your preferred club length.
The tip of the Brava Tour shaft is stiffer, which is intended to result in better control and accuracy. Meanwhile, the shaft itself is 10g heavier than the Brava (non-tour edition) so players with faster swing speeds can enjoy smoother tempo.
The Brava Tour is designed for low launch and has a low torque profile which should also assist with accuracy.
BGT Brava Tour Driver Shaft Results and Review
So how does the Brava Tour driver shaft actually perform? After fact-checking BGT’s Brava Tour claims, here’s what we found.
|
Claim |
Result |
|
Better Control & Accuracy |
Yes: Brava Tour shaft produced tighter dispersion in the head-to-head comparison |
|
Longer Drives |
Yes: Brava Tour shaft produced 3.5 yards more carry and 1.7 yards more total distance in the head-to-head comparison |
|
Increased Ball Speed & Distance |
Yes: Brava Tour shaft produced 2.8 more mph of ball speed and slightly better smash factor in the head-to-head comparison |
While these are my actual, unfiltered results (one throw away shot with each shaft from a 10-ball set, so technically slightly filtered), it’s worth reiterating that your results may differ. While this sample size provides a clear picture, it’s still relatively small.
Let’s dive into those results a little deeper.
| Brava Tour | Tensei Orange | |
| Club Speed | 100.0 | 100.3 |
| Ball Speed | 147.8 | 145 |
| Carry (yds) | 244.2 | 240.7 |
| Total (yds) | 260.6 | 258.9 |
| Launch Angle | 14.1 | 14.9 |
| Apex | 118.5 | 103.6 |
Control & Accuracy
Here's the dispersion comparison between Brava Tour and Tensei Orange shafts
Take a look at the dispersion results I got in the head-to-head comparison between Brava Tour and Tensei Orange. The Brava Tour clearly produced a tighter dispersion pattern. On average, drives with the Brava Tour shaft finished 3.6 yards closer to the center, and hit one more imaginary 40-yard-wide fairway than Tensei Orange.
These results translated to the course as well. In one on-course round with Brava Tour I hit more fairways than any sample size (last 1, last 5, last 10, or season-long) with my gamer.
That raises a question that I’ll bring up more than once, but is ultimately up to you to answer. How much would you spend to hit the ball a few yards closer to the center? Yes, the Brava Tour beat my gamer shaft, and if you find the same results, you’ll have to decide whether or not the gains are worth the price.
Ball Speed & Distance
The Brava Tour shaft also won the ball speed and distance battle against my Tensei Orange shaft. Brava Tour averaged 2.8 mph more ball speed (147.8 to 145.0) despite an average of 0.3 mph less clubhead speed (100.0 to 100.3).
That ball speed helped the Brava Tour win the carry distance battle by 3.5 yards, but Tensei Orange produced a lower apex and more run out, closing (but not flipping) the total distance gap, which Brava Tour won by 1.7 yards.
This again raises the question of whether a few yards of carry and a couple yards of total distance is worth the price of the shaft. The answer to that also hinges on how much the shaft you’re comparing it to costs.
If you’re comparing it to your existing shaft, you’re getting close to a $500 investment once you consider the tip and grip. However, if you’re comparing two different aftermarket shafts, the cost difference between Brava Tour and the alternative could be much smaller.
Brava, Well Done
If you have a swing speed over 90 mph and you’re considering a premium driver shaft for improved distance and accuracy (I don’t know why else you would be considering a premium driver shaft), then the Brava Tour shaft should be on your list to test with an experienced club-fitter.
Brava Tour churned out better distance, dispersion, and ball speed than that Tensei Organe shaft that was fit to me.
Equipment gains in golf these days are always marginal, and gains of 1.7 yards of distance and 3.5 yards of accuracy over equipment that’s already optimized for my game is pretty impressive, even if it seems small on the surface.
Who knows what results you’ll see, but if you’re considering a new driver shaft, this is certainly one to test so you can see exactly how it stacks up for your game, and whether the performance justifies the premium price.