I conducted a range shootout of several super light steel iron shafts today, and the Apollo Phantom won.
DGSL was the incumbent, and held its own but came in second.
The also rans:
Dynalite 90
FST 90
I did not test Nippon or KBS. I tend to do better with shafts that are not low bend point. Anyway, I was really surprised at the Phantom. No one ever talks about it, anywhere. The fact that I picked it means it will be discontinued shortly. Always happens that way! Club heads were Wishon 752. I have a handful of them in 7 iron.
My iron evaluation is:
1) Does it let me hit the center of the face, and the ball before the turf?
2) Does it put me on the right swing path, and does the face square up?
3) With my puny swing speed, does it fly high enough?
4) How's the distance?
I must be weird, but a surprising number of clubs fail the first two criteria. Last week I tested an Aldalite R 64 gram graphite at D0. I would get two good impacts, albeit slicing. Then I'd hit 3 inches fat. Etc. That's not me, that's the club. Today I tried it with lead tape at D3, and it was night and day. Very good consistent impact, path only slightly left, with a slight fade. Completely playable. So I learned something there!
The Phantom was the best contact I've seen in ages. Perfect, really. It plays a little soft on the CPM scale. I tipped it an extra half inch past R, and still came up in the soft R range. I think for a by the book R flex, you'd need to tip right between the R and S trimming spec. It doesn't have what to me is the "can't find it" feel of a high launch shaft. Instead it feels more "one piece", like a DG. But it went highest and farthest of all of them.
I'm going to buy some Maltby somethings and shaft up a set. 🙂