Do LPGA Players Use Graphite shafts? Break It Down By Club Type

As part of our ongoing series examining the most popular clubs on the LPGA Tour on this occasion Golfing Focus turns our attention to the shafts the top women pros use.

And specifically we wanted to concentrate whether LPGA players use graphite shafts.

As a whole LPGA pros use graphite shafts exclusively when it comes to their drivers, fairway woods and hybids. 3 out of the 7 players of utility irons in the top 100 however use graphite shafts in those clubs including Lexi Thompson and ‘Ronni’ Yin.

Nelly Korda is one of 35 of the top 100 who uses graphite iron shafts alongside Celine Boutier, Minjee Lee and Leona Maguire.

Over 15% of the wedges used among this elite group also have graphite shafts according the data available.

We have previously looked at whether any PGA pros play with graphite shafts but what seems clear from the stats is that the top players in the women’s game are much more willing to embrace the benefits of graphite shafts in their shorter clubs as well as in their long ones.

As a result, Golfing Focus wanted to uncover the reasons for this in addition to the exact numbers of LPGA players who are using graphite shafts in their clubs.

LPGA Players Use Graphite Shafts in Much Greater Numbers Than Their Male Colleagues

When it comes to looking at how many LPGA players use graphite shafts in their clubs it is not really a question that’s worth bothering about concerning the longest sticks in the bag.

In both the women’s and men’s professional game you will not find any of them using steel shafts in either their drivers, fairway woods or hybrids.

For irons, including utility irons, and wedges however it is a different story as we can see from the infographic below.

A cursory glance at the infographic above clearly highlights the difference in how topic of whether LPGA players use graphite shafts is only an interesting one when it comes to their irons.

And it starts when some of the top LPGA pros select shafts for their driving (or utility as they are also called) irons.

Admittedly the information about clubs the top golfers on the LPGA Tour are using can be patchy but of the 7 pros in the top 100 Golfing Focus uncovered putting a utility iron in their bag we found three of them to be using a graphite shaft.

Ronni Yin for example opts for True Temper’s Project X HZRDUS Gen 4 Black 90 HY 6.0 graphite shaft in her 19º Callaway X Forged UT 3-utility iron while Lexi Thompson and Carlota Ciganda both play a Graphite Design and UST Mamiya graphite shaft respectively in their driving irons.

By comparison Angel Yin and Amy Yang both choose steel shafts – KBS’ C-Taper 125 S+ and Nippon’s N.S. Pro 950GH neo S – in their Callaway X Forged UT 4-utility irons.

Although this is a very small data set it starts to highlight the willingness of top LPGA Tour pros to embrace the benefits of graphite shafts in their irons as well as their woods and hybrids.

And as we see below turning our attention to the numbers of LPGA Tour pros using graphite iron shafts this begins to put them at odds with the shaft choices of their male colleagues on the PGA, LIV and Champions Tours.

Many LPGA Players Use Graphite Iron Shafts Including the Very Best

When Golfing Focus took a detailed at whether any PGA pros play with graphite iron shafts we only found only Matt Kuchar and CT Pan among the top 100 to be using graphite shafts in their Srixon and Titleist irons respectively.

On the LIV Tour the number of players using graphite iron shafts is equally small with only Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Gracia choosing a LA Golf prototype graphite shaft in their irons.

Both Abraham Ancer and Phil Mickelson admittedly though also opt for the composite graphite-on-steel Mitsubishi MMT Taper iron shafts.

Then taking an in-depth look at the number of LPGA players using graphite iron shafts we immediately noted the top women pros are much more willing to embrace graphite shaft technology in their irons in addition to their woods.

35 out of the top 100 LPGA Tour pros use graphite iron shafts including world no.1 Nelly Korda, Minjee Lee and Olympic gold medal winner Lydia Ko.

True Temper’s Aerotech SteelFiber shafts are the most used graphite iron shafts among this elite group with their SteelFiber i80 S model being the most used individual graphite shaft alongside KBS’ TGI Tour Graphite Iron 80 S shaft with three players each playing them.

57 of the top 100 by comparison play steel iron shafts according to the available data.

Although no iron shaft data was available on eight of the top 100 on the LPGA Tour the fact that over 1/3 of the top 100 are choosing graphite shafts shows that the pros at the top of the women’s game are far more willing to opt for graphite over steel when it comes to their irons.

Do a survey of regular, and especially male golfers across the world however, and they are likely to view graphite iron shafts with an element of scepticism and occasionally contempt due to their underlying belief that such shafts are only suitable for very slow swinging senior and high handicap lady golfers.

That so many of the best women golfers in the world are however embracing graphite iron shafts as well as one of the world’s top male golfers in Bryson DeChambeau shows that the historical perception of graphite iron shafts needs to change.

In his recent discussion of graphite iron shafts with Golf Monthly KBS’ representative on the DP World Tour listed the following benefits of graphite iron shafts for golfers of all skill levels:

1. Graphite iron shafts can increase clubhead speed due to their lighter weight translating into more distance.
2. Graphite iron shafts are now as reliable as steel shafts thanks to recent advancements in graphite technology.
3. Graphite iron shafts can be made to suit different swings and playing styles by varying stiffness and kick points.

It also of course remains true that graphite iron shafts remain better for golfers with joint issues or injuries by minimizing vibrations transmitted through the shaft.

But the benefits outlined above go beyond the reason why graphite iron shafts have typically been viewed as the preserve of slow swinging and less strong senior and lady golfers.

[Editor’s note – do you use graphite iron shafts yourself and would you consider using them? Let us know what you think about them as an option for your game in the comments section below!]

And given such a large number of the best women pros on the planet, together with one of the biggest hitting golfers of all time, are opting for graphite iron shafts it feels it is now way beyond time that regular golfers at all levels consider them much more seriously as an option.

The one caveat to that though it must acknowledged is cost and graphite iron shafts are typically more expensive than steel ones.

At Golfing Focus we are always desperate that regular golfers don’t make an already expensive game even more so. The best players on the LPGA Tour don’t have to consider the cost of graphite iron shafts in the same way as regular golfers do.

But it is very possible now given the graphite iron technology available that the long-term benefits in terms of performance and comfort could justify the investment for many more golfers outside the elite of women’s golf.

Do LPGA Players Use Graphite or Steel Shafts In Their Wedges?

As would be expected the choices LPGA Tour pros make when it comes to wedge shafts very much reflect those that they make when it comes to their iron shafts.

Although the data on wedge shafts among the top 100 on the LPGA was not as good as we uncovered with relation to iron shafts we still discovered 17% of the wedges being used by this group to have graphite shafts in them.

This number once again included top players such as Nelly Korda (True Temper’s Aerotech SteelFiber i95cw S) and Megan Khang (True Temper’s Aerotech SteelFiber fc90 S) but was less than the number we found to be playing graphite shafts in their regular irons.

That being said that number was again well in excess of the only two players – Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia – whom Golfing Focus’s research discovered as playing graphite wedge shafts on the LIV Tour or top 100 of the PGA Tour.

So while even though the elite of the LPGA Tour find themselves overwhelmingly preferring steel shafts in their wedges they once again show themselves to be far more prepared than their male colleagues to embrace the benefits of graphite when it comes to the shortest clubs in the bag.

Before You Go …

The material golf shafts are made of is one thing but what about flex? Read our next article to find out if LPGA players use stiff or regular shafts across all the clubs in their bag?

Do LPGA players use stiff or regular shafts? Don’t Just Flex Focus

Or if you want to find out how the clubs shafts of the women compare with the best senior pros check out the following post where we analyse in-depth the golf shaft choices of the top players on the Champions Tour.

Flexible Friends: Uncovering The Shafts Champions Tour Players Use

More great articles related to this topic:

• The Complete Guide To The Most Popular Clubs On LPGA Tour
• Driving Success – The Most Popular Driver On LPGA Tour
• Do LPGA Players Use Hybrids? They Have Many in Hand
• Perfecting The Approach: The Most Popular Irons On LPGA Tour
• Do LPGA players Use Stiff or Regular Shafts? Don’t Just Flex Focus
• What Golf Balls Do LPGA Players Use? They’re Not Very Lady Like!
• What Clubs Do Pro Golfers Use? Top 100 PGA Tour Player Guide
• Do Pros Use Stiff Or Regular Shafts – The Complete Guide
• Do Any PGA Pros Play With Graphite Shafts?
• In The Bag: Unpacking The Clubs Champions Tour Players Use
• Flexible Friends: Uncovering The Shafts Champions Tour Players Use