OBAN CT 115 steel shafts are the first introduction of steel shafts by OBAN. Traditionally a graphite shaft company with the Kiyoshi, Devotion, Revenge, Tour and Isawa models, OBAN has decided to go after the steel shaft market in a big way. Their first introduction, the CT 115, looks to be a great start.
The CT 115 is a taper tip shaft with a constant weight of around 115-117 grams from 36″ to 41.5″. The absolute best thing about this shaft from a club builders perspective is that it is available in 12 different discrete lengths. This means that I can build a softer flex, higher launch set of irons starting with the 41.5″ shaft in a 4 iron, for example, and going through the 38″ or a much stiffer set starting at the 39″ for a 4 iron and going to the 36″ in the wedges. All this is accomplished with the same weight in each shaft. The test clubs we have built have ranged from soft regular to extra stiff. Based upon the testing profile of these shafts, they will perform very similar to a “flighted” set of irons, meaning the longer irons will launch slightly higher and the shorter irons and wedges will launch slightly lower. From a quality perspective, the SQI (Shaft Quality Index) on these shafts is in the highest range of the steel shafts we test at 93.6.
From a club builders perspective, these should make for a very easy build process as the CPM’s have a separation by length of roughly 8 to 13 cpm (5″ shaft clamp) from longer to shorter shaft. If you are not building a frequency matched set, you should expect the shorter length shafts to play slightly stiffer and have a lower trajectory.
For the golfer, the CT 115 offers a great option for going slightly lighter than the heavy Dynamic Gold or KBS Tour shafts but still heavier than the really light XP 95 or KBS Tour 90. We tested several different flexes and saw exactly what we expected. The softer flex “R” shafts launched slightly higher than the XP 115, Project X LZ 5.5 but lower than the C-Taper Lite and Modus 120. The stiffer “S” flex CT 115 had a slightly lower launch and final trajectory, similar to a Dynamic Gold S300. The CT 115 has a slightly lower spin rate than any of the shafts mentioned above that we tested against but it is still in the acceptable range to give a landing angle that will drop and stop on long iron shots.
OBAN is rolling out this shaft through its authorized dealer network to allow them to get comfortable with the performance of these shafts. We feel very confident that this shaft will be a nice fit for a variety of our golfers, including stronger lady players looking for a better feeling steel shaft. In addition, OBAN is the North American distributor for Shimada steel shafts. The Shimada shaft line is a perfect complement to the OBAN CT 115 as there are lighter and heavier shafts with great profiles. More on the Shimada lineup in another post.
Dan Sueltz
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