Update 6/28 2 p.m.: GolfWRX spoke with Tony Krampel, the North American distributor for Monstar shafts, which are manufactured in South Korea. According to Krampel, there are around 40 players on the LPGA of Korea Tour using the shafts currently, and Natthakritta Vongtaveelap nearly won using it recently. He also said Tom Gillis and numerous top juniors have tested and played the shafts. 

According to Krampel, the 67 (S-flex), 68 (X-flex), and 69 (XX-Flex) gram versions have been adjusted for American markets after testing with various players and fitters. They’re now built to have thicker handles and stiffer tip sections than the Korean versions. Monstar also has a range of options including 50-gram and ladies shafts.

The shafts indeed have titanium rods that run from the butt-end to the tip section in order to reduce weight while increasing stability. They’re designed to produce a high-launch, low-spin ball flight.

Krampel said he expects the company’s new website to go live within the next week, where American customers will be able to purchase shafts.

On Tuesday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, GolfWRX.com spotted a “Monstar Full Titanium” shaft in Brandon Matthews’ new Srixon ZX7 Mk II driver.

I quickly checked out the photos of the shaft, but I was equally stumped.

“Monstar? Is that like the Monstars from Space Jam?”

Whenever I don’t know something about a golf product – whatever it is – my first text is always to GolfWRX.com equipment expert, and Club Junkie podcast host, Brian Knudson. Not much gets past him in the world of golf equipment, especially when it comes to shafts.

“Never heard of them,” he replied.

Hm. That’s weird.

The alarm bells were officially ringing in my head, so I started asking around to some of the tour reps who were on site at Detroit Golf Club for the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Every single person I asked, though, had no idea what the shaft was.

Time to get Googling.

My Google search for “Monstar full titanium golf shaft” returned an oddly scarce amount of results.

“Alright, what the heck is going on with this Monstar shaft? What IS IT?!”

I then tracked down Matthews, who helped shed some light on how the shaft ended up in his bag, but not much by way of design or technology.

Here’s what Matthews had to say:

“I got it a couple years ago from a guy I know. I guess it’s from overseas in Asia. I think it’s similar to – I guess not similar to – but in the category of the AutoFlex. It’s not as whippy, though. My buddy had one and he was like, ‘Hey, can you try this out?’ Actually, this was the shaft I won with last year at the [2022 Astra Golf Championship on the Korn Ferry Tour]. I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but it works. It’s really sweet.”

At this point, my intrigue was off the charts.

A bit more digging helped me find a GolfWRX forum thread about the Monstar shafts, which then led me to a Korean blog called “Love Golf.”

Unfortunately, the website is in a foreign language, and the formatting of the blog wasn’t allowing me to Google translate. I found a work-around with the help of Artificial Intelligence, though, and I was able to decode what was written about the Monstar shafts.

Here’s the A.I. translation of the Love Golf blog, which provides seemingly reliable design details:

“Hello. This is Love Golf. Today, we’re going to talk about the full titanium Monstar shaft, which is made with an inserted titanium wire. What’s good about having titanium inserted – its resilience is overwhelmingly good. Of course, good resilience would greatly help with direction and distance.

“This Monstar shaft is available in our store. It is Made in Japan. From the Japanese Arute Corp., a company with a 30-year tradition and boasting an overwhelming production share in carbon-pole shafts. With their unique carbon manufacturing technology and the expertise accumulated over the years, they have finally launched a new product, the 2018 Full Titanium Reinforced Monstar shaft. 

“The inner diameter of the Full Reinforced Shaft uses a mix of 60T carbon, which has a strength more than twice that of steel, and an elasticity rate more than five times. During a swing, it supports the force, maintains Low Torque at impact, significantly suppresses twisting, and is significantly smoother than a shaft with the same stiffness CPM. Even though it is lightweight, it outperforms a shaft of the same weight in terms of resilience.

“The Monstar Full Titanium shaft is also the first in the industry to reinforce from the tip start point to the butt end with Titanium Wire, delivering power from the start of the swing impact to the end of the follow through at the butt end, delivering energy so that the ball can fly to the end with impact.

“The Monstar shaft, with the insertion of Full Titanium Wire, has the advantage of being more than 10g lighter, allowing for easier head speed increase when swinging. As a result, it is the ultimate carbon shaft that allows all players to significantly increase their distance and tolerance by solely relying on the shaft.

“In the past, Honma came out with a full titanium shaft. I remember being surprised when sparks flew while cutting the shaft for fitting, even though it was carbon…That Monstar shaft will probably also have sparks flying.”

Some additional research also led me to a YouTube video from Tour Experience Golf (TXG), where the expert fitters tested out the shaft. In the video, they compare the Monstar shaft to the popular pink AutoFlex shaft, which is known for its uniquely whippy construction. As described in the video, however, the AutoFlex X-Flex measures about 210 CPM (cycles per minute), while the Monstar X-Flex measures a more standard 280 CPM.

Matthews himself plays a Monstar Full Titanium XX-Flex shaft, which measures 69 grams, based on the shaft label.

It’s extremely important to keep in mind here that Matthews is currently ranked No. 2 in Driving Distance on the PGA Tour in 2022-2023, averaging 321.8 yards per drive.

To me, that means two things:

1. Brandon Matthews is a different kind of beast (a mon-ster, if you will), and,
2. The Monstar Full Titanium shaft, with its “titanium wire,” is clearly stable enough to withstand Matthews’ other-worldly speed. Surely it can also withstand the speeds of other fellow pros and amateurs, too.

I reached out to the company for further information, but I’ve yet to hear back at the time of publishing. I’ll be sure to update this story should more details become available, and hopefully I’ll be able to test out the shaft for myself in the future and report back. From the sounds of it, this shaft won’t be easy to get my hands on. Hopefully, Matthews’ buddy has another one on deck…

Until then, check out the photos of Matthews’ Monstar shaft here