50 Words or Less
The Graphite Design Tour AD GC shaft has a surprisingly soft and lively feel, but the performance is very consistent. Mid launch and spin. Handles aggressive swings well.
Introduction
The language that shaft makers use to describe their products can often feel so broad that it’s useless. “Mid launch, mid spin” could be used to describe a huge percentage of shafts, some of which are wildly different from each other. The Graphite Design Tour AD GC is one of those “mid/mid” shafts. In this review, I hope to give you a more useful, detailed description of what it does so you can decide if you want it to be part of your next fitting.
Looks
The Graphite Design Tour AD GC displays the classic graphic package that golfers have come to know for over a decade. Rings wrap the shaft just below the grip and the “Tour AD” logo. The “Graphite Design” branding straddles the upper and lower portions of the shaft.
What makes the Tour AD GC unique are the colors. Graphite Design calls it “pearl white with bronze and orange accents”. The white lower portion sets it apart from every other Tour AD shaft except the Tour AD HD [review HERE]. The bronze is very subdued, more brown than orange, which helps it to stand apart in a field that typically focuses on bold, bright, primary colors.
Feel
Graphite Design rates the Tour AD as Stiff-Firm-Firm+ from butt to mid to tip. This is stiffer than the Tour AD CQ that I recently reviewed, but, surprisingly, it had a much bigger wiggle. What’s particularly odd is that the tip section is a full point stiffer on Graphite Design’s scale, but that’s where I noted the most bending.
During the swing, I got a similarly active feel from the Graphite Design Tour AD GC. My notes describe the transition feeling as “laggy”, and there’s an active kick through impact that’s felt primarily near the tip. It’s almost like the shaft is giving you a yellow light at the top, then boosting through impact – like waiting for the “2” to smash the gas in Mario Kart.
Performance
My review of the Tour AD CQ [find it HERE] was all about how the on paper specs don’t always translate to the course. Based on the description, the Tour AD CQ should have been terrible for me; in reality, it was outstanding. My experience with the Graphite Design Tour AD GC was similar, but it was the feel that deceived me.
For those who aren’t regular readers, I am a very aggressive swinger. That is not a brag – I’d much rather swing like Adam Scott – it just is what it is. I’m also a mostly-reformed hooker who would much rather hit a big push to the right than see a ball snapping left. All of this means that I prefer shafts that are tip stiff, the typical “low-low” shafts, as they can handle a hard transition and keep me off the left side of the course.
On my first few swings, I felt the Graphite Design Tour AD GC’s laggy transition and kick at the bottom and thought, “This isn’t going to go well.” Despite these negative thoughts, the first few balls were quite good – straight or a modest draws on a medium trajectory. As I kept hitting, I got the sense that the GC didn’t love my aggressive transition, but it wasn’t going to punish me. I wasn’t exactly calling my shots but very few ended up out of the fairway.
When I got into the “Let’s try stuff” portion of my testing, I found the sweet spot with the Tour AD GC. I didn’t have to hit the brakes during the transition, I just couldn’t fly through the stop sign with the pedal to the metal. Dialing just a few percent off my normal swing, the shaft came to life with predictable straights shots on a flat, medium trajectory. I was even able to hit a reliable cut, though this did push the spin a little higher than I like.
The “Mid-Mid” designation for the Graphite Design Tour AD GC does fit, and it embodies the best of that “middle of the bell curve” shaft type. It works well across a range of tempos, and it can produce a variety of shots. The feel is active but not loose. With the right swing, it can produce almost any shot, and it’s very worst results are still playable.
The Graphite Design Tour AD GC is available in weights ranging from 40 to 80 grams. Three flexes can be purchased at 40 grams: Lite/Senior flex, Regular, and Stiff. At 50 grams, Graphite Design offers a Lite/Senior flex, Regular, Stiff, and X-Stiff. At 60 grams, the available flexes include Stiff-Regular, Stiff, X-Stiff, and Tour X-Stiff. The heaviest models have fewer options with the 70 gram model coming in Stiff, X-Stiff, and Tour X-Stiff, and the 80 gram version offered only in X-Stiff.
Conclusion
Testing the Graphite Design Tour AD GC brought back to mind one of my favorite expressions as a golf teacher: “Feel isn’t real.” Based on feel alone, I didn’t think I would get along with this shaft, but the real was outstanding. The Graphite Design Tour AD GC is the rare shaft that I would recommend almost every golfer try, regardless of your speed, tempo, or launch needs.
Visit Graphite Design HERE
He founded Plugged In Golf in 2013 with the goal of helping all golfers play better and enjoy the game more.
Matt lives in the northwest suburbs of Chicago with his wife and two daughters.
- Volvik VTU3 & VTU4 Golf Ball Review - November 11, 2025
- Odyssey S2S Tri-Hot Putter Review - November 10, 2025
- Sunday Golf Coaster Travel Bag Review - November 7, 2025
One Comment
Thank you!! Thank you Thank You!!! I had the same experience when I first got this shaft a few weeks ago. The Feel of this Shaft is Softer near the tip and at first it really messed with me. Even though it isn’t a Soft tip shaft it sure is softer in feel.
I did the exact same thing in terms of tempo and it has worked out pretty well.
However I think the extra Weight and Stiffness in the handle may have CB’d the shaft. While it certainly isn’t a CB, it sure feels like it to me.