A closer look at Pierceson Coody’s clubs

Pierceson Coody is proving to be this summer’s premiere prospect after winning both an NCAA Championship and Korn Ferry Tour title this month.

Coody turned pro after helping his Texas team win the NCAA team title. He started his pro career with Korn Ferry Tour status after finishing atop the PGA TOUR University Ranking presented by Velocity Global, and he’s made the most of it. After just three starts, he already ranks 31st on the Korn Ferry Tour’s Regular Season points list thanks to two top-five finishes, including a win at last week’s Live and Work in Maine Open.

Coody signed with TaylorMade upon turning pro, the culmination of a relationship with the company that started when he was a teenager. To learn more about Coody and his gear, GolfWRX recently spoke with Ryan Ressa, TaylorMade’s manager of player development.

Ressa describes Coody as a mix between old school and new school when it comes to his equipment and gear testing. While he does know what numbers he wants to see on a launch monitor, he’s more in-tune with what trajectory and launch windows he wants to hit.

“He’s old school in the fact that he grinds and digs it out of the dirt and he’ll find it there, but I think he’s new school enough where he knows what numbers he should be hitting,” Ressa says. “He uses launch monitors a lot for his distances, and just to validate spin.”

Since Coody grew up in Texas and went to college in the Lone Star State, he and Ressa often conducted their fitting sessions in blustery off-season conditions. As such, they mostly focused on flighting the ball slightly lower and lowering spin rates.

“A lot of stuff we did in the college season was based around the conditions in Texas and flighting things lower, with more control,” Ressa told GolfWRX.com “He was traditionally kind of a lower launch, spinnier guy that could just kind of hit different trajectories off the tee, especially. He liked that window. That was one of things as background of fitting him in college. When we would go to see him, it was always the middle of the offseason and it was always windy. Whether it was in Austin or whether we were in Dallas. We always had a challenge in the offseason fitting him, because as soon as it would get to February, March, April, and the conditions would lighten up, we would have to make small tweaks to loft, but nothing crazy. It was always trajectory based.”

Although Coody often used clubs that were 1-2 degrees lower than standard, Ressa says he’s trending more towards stock lofts these days, especially now that he’s turned professional and will be playing significantly more often outside of Texas.

“Now that he’s traveling the Korn Ferry and out of the wind, he’ll probably be in a stock setup,” Ressa said. “He plays clubs a little flatter than normal, especially in the wedges.”

Coody uses a mixed set of TaylorMade irons, combining TaylorMade P7MB short irons (7-PW) with P-7MC long irons (4-6). According to Ressa, Coody likes having the control that the short iron blades offer, but in the longer irons, he prefers to launch the ball a bit higher, and with a touch of added forgiveness.

When it comes to the driver, Coody uses a standard TaylorMade Stealth 9-degree head, equipped with a Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX shaft.

“Pierceson is old school. He likes to hit shots off the tee,” Ressa said. “That’s why he uses the (Stealth) driver. For him, was just a little bit more forgiving and versatile, where he was able to shape it and spin it a little bit more when he wanted to, and also hit the bomb high on the face that takes spin off a little bit.”

Interestingly, working into the new TaylorMade Stealth driver came at a unique time. Coody (and his twin brother Parker) both broke their arms during a foot race at the University of Texas in the fall. As part of the healing process, Pierceson didn’t start hitting drivers until March. During the first Stealth driver fitting session with Ressa, Pierceson’s speed was down drastically.

“When he came out of the injury, obviously his swing speed was down, and his ball speed was down about 10-15 mph at the start,” Ressa said. “He injured his arm in October. … For Pierceson, it wasn’t until maybe March that he even started swinging driver. Our first hit with the Stealth, he was swinging maybe 165 mph ball speed, whereas normally he’s high 170s. We initially had to start a little softer (on the shaft) and work up. … It was a fun process starting in March and working up with him through the next six weeks when he got stronger and stronger. We ended up just tweaking loft a little bit as he got a little stronger and getting it into a comfortable position where he’s at now.”

Additionally, Pierceson switched to a TaylorMade TP5x golf ball in December and he uses a 35-inch TaylorMade TP Juno putter. Although he’s experimented with arm-lock putting in the past, Ressa says he’s comfortable with the standard flatstick.

Check out Pierceson Coody’s full club specifications below:

Driver: TaylorMade Stealth (9 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 70 TX

3-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Diamana TB 80TX

5-wood: TaylorMade Stealth Plus (19 degrees)
Shafts: Mitsubishi Diamana PD 80 TX

Irons: TaylorMade P7MC (4-6 iron), TaylorMade P7MB (7-PW)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100

Wedges: TaylorMade MG3 (50, 54 and 58 degrees)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 (50 degrees), Tour Issue S400 (54 and 58 degrees)

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno (35 inches)

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x