Equipment
Tech Talk: UST Recoil Graphite Iron Shafts
In the last decade, graphite has become the material of choice on the PGA Tour for the shafts in drivers, fairway woods and hybrids.
It would make sense that graphite shafts would slowly have started to creep into irons as well, but almost every top player on Tour is still using steel shafts in his irons and wedges.
Mike Guerrette, vice president of brand development and Tour operations for UST Mamiya, said the reason why graphite shafts haven’t become popular with Tour players in their irons was because of a problem with their design.
According to Guerette, graphite iron shafts of the past had walls that were too thick, which decreased ovaling and resulted in poor energy transfer. That resulted in less feel and less distance — two things that never go together on Tour.
UST’s new Recoil iron shafts are made with denser graphite fibers that allowed engineers to decrease wall thickness. Because the fibers are denser, the shafts can be made as heavy as 110 to 125 grams, the weight range that is preferred on Tour. Click this link to read more about the Recoil Shafts.
Check out the video below, where Guerrette explains in detail the construction and benefits of the new shafts, which he says will give golfers more distance and a better feel than steel.
Read more and join the discussion in the forums
[youtube id=”yxA4LqQpKN0″ width=”620″ height=”360″]
Cameron Young’s WITB from his win at the 2025 Wyndham Championship. Cameron is a Titleist staff player but his bag is definitely filled with some unique clubs. Here are the clubs he used to secure his first PGA Tour win!
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees)
Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K White 80 TX
Hybrid: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus HB Black VeloCore+ 10 X
Irons: Titleist T200 (4), Titleist T100 (5), Titleist 631.CY Prototype (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7 (4-9)
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F, 52-12F, 56-14F @57), WedgeWorks (60-K* @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold X7
Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom 9.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet Cord
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Prototype
- Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here.
Driver: Titleist GT3 (10 degrees, C2 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Project X Denali Blue 60 TX
3-wood: Titleist GT3 (15 degrees, A1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 7 X
7-wood: Titleist GT2 (21 degrees, D1 SureFit setting)
Shaft: Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 8 X
Irons: Titleist T150 (4, 5), Titleist T100 (6-9)
Shafts: True Temper AMT Tour White X100
Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM10 (48-10F @47, 52-12F, 56-08M @57, 60-04T @62)
Shafts: True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400
Putter: Scotty Cameron Studio Style Fastback 1.5 Tour Prototype
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet
Ball: Titleist Pro V1x Yellow
We’re proud to once again partner with 2nd Swing Golf to bring you GolfWRX Members Choice 2025! 2nd Swing has more than 150,000 new and pre-swung golf clubs available in six store locations and online. Check them out here.
What is the best driver in 2025? At GolfWRX, we take great pride in our online community and the cumulative knowledge and experience of our members. When it comes to the best driver of 2025, we want to know what our forum faithful think.
Since our founding in 2005, the bedrock of GolfWRX.com has been the community of passionate and knowledgeable golfers in our forums, and we put endless trust in the opinions of our GolfWRX members — the most knowledgeable community of golfers on the internet. No other group of golfers in the world tests golf clubs as frequently or as extensively, nor is armed with such in-depth information about the latest technology.
Below are the results of GolfWRX member voting for the 2025 best driver, along with the vote percentage for each club.
Best driver of 2025: The top 5
5. Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond: 6.02%
Callaway’s pitch: “For golfers looking for a fast, forgiving, yet workable driver, the Elyte Triple Diamond features a tour-inspired shape and is the preferred model by most Callaway tour players.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond here.
4. Ping G440 Max: 6.86%
Ping’s pitch: “The most forgiving G440 model, MAX has a hotter face to generate speed and distance, and a lighter overall system weight with a longer shaft (46″) for faster clubhead speed, higher launch and longer carries. The Free Hosel and Carbonfly Wrap crown save weight to create our lowest CG ever and increase forgiveness while contributing to a more muted, pleasing sound.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 Max here.
3. Ping G440 LST: 9.53%
Ping’s pitch: “LST is an especially good fit for faster swings, offering less spin and more control with a penetrating trajectory. A hotter face, lighter overall system weight and longer shaft (46″) deliver more speed and distance while maintaining tight dispersion.”
@phizzy30: “Not a fan of Ping drivers in general, but 440 LST takes the cake. It’s super forgiving across the face for a low spin head, looks and sounds good and the ability to make it play neutral or slightly fade biased through the hosel settings is very appealing.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Ping G440 LST here.
2. Titleist GT3: 16.55%
Titleist’s pitch: “The GT3 Driver offers Titleist’s boldest combination of power and personalization through adjustable performance. Dial in the CG Track to your frequent contact location to make your biggest drives even bigger while taking total control over flight and shaping.”
@mrmikeac: “I’ve been Anti-Titleist for years and years and years (outside of Vokey, of course). With that being said, HOLY BEGEEZUS the GT3 driver is an absolute NUCLEAR MONSTER! This thing blew my G430 10K Max out of the water in every single category. Forgiveness is the biggest thing that stands out of me, the 3 model has always been one of the less forgiving models in the past but this GT3 can take bad shot after bad shot and still end up in the fairway, I think a ton of that has to do with the adjustability, it’s actually effective. Feel and sound is perfect, that solid crack is so addicting to hear and when you hit it out the screws this thing can absolutely bomb it. Titleist, I’m sorry for doubting you. You have converted me.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT3 here.
1. Titleist GT2: 22.91%
Titleist’s pitch: “Delivering impressive distance from any impact point, the Titleist GT2 Driver extracts maximum performance through a forgiving design. Get the stability and added confidence of a high-MOI driver without sacrificing speed.”
@DTorres: “The Titleist GT2 has proven to be the best driver of the year. Packaged in a classic profile, GT2 perfectly balances performance and forgiveness while consistently being a high performer across all categories.”
You can read what other golfers are saying about the driver in the GolfWRX forums, and see our launch piece here. Shop the Titleist GT2 here.
Other drivers receiving >2% of the vote
| Driver | Vote percentage (%) |
|---|---|
| Cobra DS Adapt Max K | 4.85% |
| Ping G430 Max 10K | 3.85% |
| Callaway Elyte Triple Diamond | 3.68% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 | 3.51% |
| Callaway Elyte | 3.18% |
| Cobra DS Adapt X | 2.34% |
| Cobra DS Adapt LS | 2.17% |
| TaylorMade Qi35 LS | 2.17% |
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Peter Malnati WITB 2025 (August)
Peter Malnati what’s in the bag accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. More photos from the event here. Driver: Titleist...
Cameron Young’s winning WITB: 2025 Wyndham Championship
Driver: Titleist GT2 (9 degrees, A1 SureFit setting) Buy here. Shaft: Mitsubishi Tensei 1K Pro Orange 70 TX 3-wood: Titleist...
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Camilo Villegas WITB accurate as of the Wyndham Championship. Villegas was undecided on a 3-wood when we shot his bag. ...
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Rick
Mar 6, 2015 at 2:00 pm
Why should I take your word? Haven’t even heard your story. Have not seen any reviews on the 800 or 600 series but I’m sure they r out there.
Mike Boatright
Oct 6, 2014 at 3:25 pm
I like this concept but what I fear is breakage with let’s say a 9 iron over time. Your hitting down pretty hard vs a driver that never sees much ground impact.
Mike
Jan 26, 2014 at 7:41 pm
I purchased these shafts, F4, in the Callaway Apex irons. I own a Trackman, here’s the numbers with a 7i, club speed 83.6, ball speed 120.5, spin rate 5970, carry 177.5, total 185.9, launch angle 19.2, dynamic loft 24.1, spin loft 26.5, smash factor 1.44, angle of attack -2.2. Five shots all about the same. Look at ball position to adjust height, spin, carry, etc. Shafts feel great. Would love to feel these in my Ping S55’s with the 110 shaft and see the numbers. These shafts don’t feel like the graphite I’ve tried, tip soft, launch high. I know where the club is, I can feel it.
Gerald
Feb 18, 2013 at 3:43 pm
This sounds like the same comments I heard when people were being asked to put down their persimmon woods and try metal heads.
JEFF
Jan 31, 2013 at 12:37 pm
I shot a 68 yesterday with my crappy DG X 100 STEEL shafts. I got them for 6.00 each!
Bill Gabbert
Jan 31, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Do your homework fellows. You can buy these shafts from Hireko Golf fo only 44.99. And if you haven’t tried them maybe some people on here should try them first before you write such negative comments on a product that might just changed your golf game. I have one coming to demo in an extra TM 7 iron.
Sean
Jan 30, 2013 at 9:00 pm
I’d be very interested in these shafts, but the price is a bit out of my reach.
S
Jan 31, 2013 at 2:33 am
Yes. Me too
Pingback: Graphite Iron Shafts??? | Golf ETC in Hilton Head
Chris
Jan 28, 2013 at 9:21 pm
Wow – lots of negative comments. Have any of the previous people actually hit one of these? They feel great, the offer many of the positives of steel shafts without the negative vibrations. We’ve only had the demos in our shop for a couple of weeks and have already had a couple of “steel only” guys that don’t need or want a lighter weight shaft, make the switch after picking one up. They loved the distance, improved dispersion and feel. Maybe give them a shot???
S
Jan 31, 2013 at 2:34 am
I would love to, if you could sell each shaft for around $30, I would do it. $125 is a bit much, especially when there is nothing wrong with steel
Scott
Jan 28, 2013 at 3:54 pm
If these are so great why aren’t PGA Tour players playing them? Two guys on the Senior Tour are playing them, but that’s what they were always made for: old people.
Famous Davis
Jan 28, 2013 at 1:21 pm
The opening sentence of the article is a hoot. In the last decade, graphite has become the material of choice on the PGA Tour for the shafts in drivers, fairway woods and hybrids. Like graphite wasn’t already the default choice in 1998? GMAFB. To see my ungodly ballstriking for yourself, just come out to Admiral Baker any Tuesday. I’m the guy in the dumpy khakis.
Desmond
Jan 28, 2013 at 9:21 am
I like his hair, wish he spoke English instead of terminology. When he discussed torque towards the end, he reverted back to English. Interesting concept – they should go down to lighter weights and give Aerotech a run…
G
Jan 28, 2013 at 2:34 am
It has NOTHING to do with DESIGN. It’s all to do with COST!
Why would you want to pay $125 PER SHAFT for your irons!!!!!! That’s INSANE.
Andy
Jun 13, 2013 at 7:52 am
They are worth every penny! Take my word for it.