Last year’s Women’s Open champion, Miyu Yamashita, put a Mitsubishi Vanquish VV (green) 30-S into play this week at the JM Eagle Championship, the final event before the first women’s major of the year. Raw weight for the shaft? Just 42 grams. After it’s installed in the club, it’s final weight is in the mid-30s. Something that seems crazy for a tour professional of any kind.
According to Mitsubishi’s LPGA Tour rep, Yamashita was looking for a lighter-weight part to help her swing faster and get a little bit more distance out of her driver. Over her previous combination, she’s seen increases in performance across the board. A 2 mph increase in ball speed, a 1.5 degree increase in launch angle, and a consistent spin window that stayed stable all resulted in about 10 extra yards of carry, and close to a club-and-a-half worth of total distance after you factor in roll.
The Mitsubishi Vanquish VV (green) is a slightly lower-launching, lower-spinning shaft compared to the more popular and known Vanquish Blue profile. The VV is listed by Mitsubishi as a Med+ launching shaft with medium spin, which is great for players looking for a shaft to help them develop some speed and increase launch without losing any stability. The shaft has a medium-soft handle with a soft mid-section and soft tip section to help promote speed.
Through three rounds at the JM Eagle, Yamashita is 30/42 in fairways hit. She’s ranked seven on the LPGA in driving accuracy, but 146th in driving distance, so hopefully the new driver shaft performance gets her moving up that ranking before heading into the first major of the year next week in Houston at the Chevron Championship.
For more information about the Vanquish VV (green), visit the Mitsubishi Golf website.
