Goodsie

Yep, just play them as is. The X Flex should work just fine right out of the box. If your swing speed is below 100mph then Soft Step them, but I assumed by your Forum name that your swing speed is more in the 110+ range. My swing speed is 107mph and I have hit the Nippon X Flex out of the park and straight with touch. But right now, I'm hitting the KB Tour shaft in my Epon's and this is the dream team as far as I'm concerned. Goodsie

Nippon does make a great shaft. They have led the field in developing lightweight shafts that perform way above their weight specs. Reading between the lines of your concerns in your post, I would say you are a "tweener". Between S Flex and X Flex somewhere. The Nippon X flex really falls into the weight class of other manufacturers S Flex (120/121grams). The dispersion pattern also falls neatly in the S Flex range at 1.5*. Suggestion, move to the X Flex Nippon 1150GH and hit away. Trajectory will be a little lower but the feel will still be there for you, IMO.

The 460cc Driver head has most of us teeing the ball about half a ball above the crown, thus here came the small sapling for a tee (which is littering our courses) then add in the modern shaft that is engineered to launch the ball higher and in the early days of the Cantaloupe sized Driver head the real sweet spot was in the upper region of the face. In a lot of cases of big headed drivers, this is still prevalent today. lGranted, the game is now in the air now versus on the ground so every company did their bit to help us get the ball up with low spin rates and on and on. The natural high ball striker has been having a field day with today's technology. Addressing your particular situation, I have found that the Epon design engineers have actually moved the sweet spot back down to the middle of the face with the chemical milling process plus the placement of the weights inside the head....thus the upper region isn't necessarily the best shot producer with the AF101. So, I suggest that you tee the ball much lower when using the AF101 and see what happens. I found that my AF101 picked up 10yds distance by hitting the ball in the middle to lower region of the face. I used those ball strike labels to prove this to myself. My launch angle is still 12.5* but no longer do I have a drive that flutters out there. Of course, this is a suggestion only, but it worked for me and the AF101 is still the best Driver I've ever hit. Goodsie

The Fubuki shaft had better be a huge improvement over its predecessor the Ali'islei. The US Tour guys flushed the Ali'islei after a short try out. Woody Austin kept the Ali'islei in his Driver the longest of any. All of my better players dumped it too. I pushed all of my stock into Fairway Woods because it helps get the ball up.

GEOTECH SPECIAL GRIND WEDGE I placed the Geotech 56*-08 in the bag last week after extensive Range time and trying hard to find fault with this Wedge. As "T" pointed out in his review, the"C" Grind allows you to play various types of shots without the face lifting off the ground when opened up. This is a real plus on today's golf courses where you can get in all sorts of weird lies around the green. I put a KB Tour 5.5 Stiff in the Geotech Wedge and found that the head and shaft work real well together. The Club ended up at D5 swingweight. It has great feel and control for those short shots that call for a precise landing spot on the green. The grooves will make the ball stop yet aren't so harsh that you can't control the shot. This is a big plus with the Geotech Special Grind Wedge. According to my personal shot stats, I'm in the sand 3.1% of the time, so the 8* Bounce can be laid open to become a 12* Bounce without changing the leading edge setup behind the ball and out she comes with spin. The other 96.9% of the time, the 8* Bounce works like a charm off of tight fairway shots without fear of the leading edge possibly hitting close to the equator of the ball because of the dance caused by the Bounce. All other shots are also a breeze with this wedge, even the explosion shot out of deep grass is easy as the blade moves smoothly through the grass without getting hung up. A very versatile Wedge that has become the 56* gamer in my Bag. Try it, you'll like it!

My pick for a Driving Iron would be the Epon AF-901 with a TT X100 shaft. The loft on the AF-901 is 19*, which I would bend to 17* (1 Iron loft). This setup would keep you under the wind while offering feel and control. As a matter of fact, this is motivating me to get me an Epon Driving Iron for those windy Texas days that I am often faced with.

I picked up a couple of dozen of the Srixon Z-URC. This ball is a gamer and is my bag for this season. I did a little distance test by using a Rangefinder and a friend to do the scoping. The Z-URC smoked the ProV1 and the ProV1x while just edging the Bridgestone B330. The ball gets off the Driver face fast with low spin and a good trajectory of mid to high. The approach shots had great spin, feel and held the greens. The shorter approach shots with the Wedges all held or backed up. Chips were smooth and not clicky so distance control was good. Putting came up with the same fine results of no clicky feeling off the face. The only ball softer was the Nike One Platnium off the putter face but still very acceptable. Srixon has done a good job with this ball in both performance and playability. After trying to cut a dog-leg, the shot stayed in the trees (my bad) and on my pushed punch shot into a tree trunk (my bad again), the ball careened into the fairway. So I picked it up for inspection and found no cover abrasions, just a slight discoloration from the collision with the tree trunk. At $3.33USD for each ball that was still playable after what I did to it, is a winner at my place. I tossed each of my golf buddies a sleeve on the first tee and they all, too, agreed that this ball was a player and a keeper.

Yes, the Sandpaper process would minimize the scratches or remove the shallower ones completely. You then could finish the Sandpaper buffing by using some sort of polishing cream like SimiChrome or similiar. The gouges won't look as bad either if you really bear down in the grooves with the Sandpaper. Good Luck. Goodsie

Being an "Equipment Purist" myself, I felt your pain after I looked at the picture. Here are some suggestions to either fix or minimize the scars. First, you will have to buy two sleeves of Silicone Carbide Wet Sandpaper (320 Grit) and another at 600 Grit. Start with the 320 Grit and buff the scratches until most of the surface scratches are gone or very small. Then switch to the 600 Grit and buff until the surface is once again smooth and shiny. Now to fix the deeper gouges requires a specialist. Locate a Master Welder who is adept at special metal braising. I found a Welder down the road from my Shop and he has filled the deepest gouges using the proper braising techniques to perfection. After the welding job, return home and repeat the Sandpaper process. The scratches and deepest gouges should be gone or minimized. I have done this process many times for my "Purist" customers and they all have been pleased with the result. A lot of work is required on your part, but once its finished you will have your beloved 7 iron back looking good again.

Forged Wedges actually play better for me after several months of use. You can control the ball better after the edges are rounded off plus you can better control the spin. One caveat tho', if you practice a "lot" more than you play and your Course Super uses heavy, course sand on your Range, the wedge might not last a year as the face will become cupped and is no longer flat. If your practice area is good turf without too much sand, you can get a couple of years of use from your Wedges. My Super is nicknamed the "Sandman", thus I have "Practice Clubs" and I save the Playing Bag for the course. This way, I can get three/four years out of a Forged Wedge. BUT, usually TSG puts new Wedge designs in the Pro Shop long before I wear out a Wedge. I just gotta' try the new stuff.

From all reports, the Mach Line shaft is a great match for the AF-101. Epon's strict attention to detail insured that the Mach Line shafts worked well with the AF-101. My AF-101 (9.5* Square) has the Diamana Whiteboard 73S shaft installed. It measures 45.5 inches and is a D4.5 swingweight, right where I wanted it, again Epon's attention to detail made sure of that. Even with the low RPM properties of the Whiteboard, the AF-101 head still gives me the ability to work the ball left, right, high or low. This Driver is a Cannon and gives me great feel and feedback. My confidence from the tee is at an all time high with the AF-101. Goodsie

Having installed the Diamana Whiteboard X for players with similiar swing speed/ball speed as yours, I would second the recommendation of installing it in your new Driver. This shaft's dispersion pattern is very small even on mis-hit shots. My customers are very critical about their equipment and to the man have nothing but good things to say about the Whiteboard, so much so that I put one in my Bridgestone J33 460* Driver. Its not lightening in a bottle (but awful close), but my own experience has been one of better shot patterns, lower take-off, lower spin but workable when needed AND the shaft feels great with a flush feel in the hands. Goodsie

I have handled 6 Diamana shafts in my shop (2 Blueboard, 4 Whiteboard) for competitive low handicappers. Even as great a shaft as Diamana is, each shaft had its own characteristics as to NBP, Spine and Flat Line Oscillation (FLO) which did not all line up with the label down. If you do not get a good Pure/FLO, you will get shaft warp and the Driver toe will droop. Toe droop is not exactly the position that the Clubhead Engineer had in mind to deliver the head to the ball. Here are my findings: Swing speed "less than" 110mph, put the NBP at the 9:00(down target line) and then get a good FLO. For swing speeds above 110mph, place the NBP at 12:00 and, again, get a good FLO. I have talked to most of the Techs at the Shaft Companies and when pressed, they "all" say that each shaft will be slightly different and that the specs change when installed in bore thru's, tipped, and/or butt cut to final length, all of which change the cpm's, the NBP's and Spines. So, with my customer base being very discerning and critical, I must get it right, so the standard "label down" doesn't always fit. Goodsie