C.T. Pan discusses switching into graphite iron shafts for improved performance

It’s natural for most amateur golfers to assume that PGA TOUR players all play with heavy and stiff steel shafts in their irons. After all, PGA TOUR players swing incredibly fast, and with astounding precision.

"Why would a PGA TOUR player use a graphite shaft? Aren’t graphite shafts for slow swingers?" you may be asking yourself.

Well, at the 2024 Wyndham Championship on Wednesday, GolfWRX.com caught up with C.T. Pan, who recently switched into KBS Tour PGI (Players Performance Graphite) 90-gram shafts in his new Titleist T150 irons.

“You know, I actually played with a couple of (PGA TOUR Champions) guys before my switch, and I was like, maybe I'll give it a try,” Pan explained. “And then, you know, I switched to it. I feel like it's lighter and it's easier to hit. I was able to hit the ball higher, and then I switched into the (Titleist) T150 irons, which have a little bit stronger loft, but higher flight as well. So, just in general, it helps me to helps me hit higher – the ball flies so I can easily stop the ball on the green.”

Over the last several years, graphite shafts that are made specifically for irons have gotten more and more reliable when it comes to stability and dispersion, making graphite shafts a more realistic option for everyone, including the game’s best players. Multiple manufacturers now make graphite iron shafts, and in a range of different flexes and weights.

KBS, for example, offers the PGI shaft that Pan is using in a range of weights from 50 grams up to 100 grams, in 10-gram increments. (For comparison purposes, the most common steel iron shafts used on the PGA TOUR are between 120-130 grams.)

“I worked with the Titleist rep at Colonial and we tried three different options,” Pan explained. “I thought the KBS 90-gram option was perfect. If you look at my past iron shafts, I went from Project X 6.0 to the [True Temper] Dynamic Gold AMT, which gets lighter and lighter with the longer irons. And so, you know, the whole technology space is trending towards lighter shafts, but the stability is getting better and better every year. With the lighter shaft, you can get more ball speed or swing speed, and that definitely means more ball speed.”

For some reason, graphite-shafted irons tend to come with a stigma attached, but Pan doesn’t care, because the performance is better. So, he leans into it.

“I joke about it…I don't care,” Pan said. “I’m able to hit longer iron shots and still hit my numbers.”

For the ego-inflated amateur who refuses to try graphite-shafted irons due to appearances, just remember that PGA TOUR player Pan has made the switch, and he’s finding performance improvements. With the new graphite-shafted irons in the bag, Pan recorded his season-best finish, a T2 at the John Deere Classic.

Maybe it’s finally time to give them a try for yourself.