coops1967

Well, i'm still perfectly happy with my 301's.. but did see the 302's in person (& the 502's) at the range yesterday (in Bangkok). Didn't try them out, as they only had 302's with Nippon shafts - so my 301's with PX would be way different just from the shaft... BUT the big difference between the two i'd say is the offset. I find the amount of offset in the 301's perfectly ok, however the 302's offsets are reduced and look great... and would make a lovely mixed set with the AF-Tours (would have to bend the longest 302 loft about a degree weaker to even the 2 degree loft differences out...). The 8 irons are 2.4mm for the blade and 2.7mm offset for the Af-302... and the weaker PW loft of 48 in the Tours does appeal to me. I did try out the guys own AF-Tour 7 iron with X100 shafts compared to my 301's with PX 6.0 - very nice. First time i've hit the X100 and seemed fine... and distance was about half a club less which would be as expected. Coops

Unfortunately, i think a lot of guys expect or want the hybrid to be longer than the club it's meant to be replacing.... not sure why, as then you end up with a big gap. Anyway - i got my Epon 301's from Pw to 4 iron, then a 901 at 19deg as a halfway 3 and 2 iron and hybrid replacement - hybrids and me get too hooky on the course, and the 901 offers almost as much forgiveness as a hybrid while looking enough like an iron. And i had it shafted with the same shaft as my irons - so the 901 thru to 301's are all PX - works great. No sudden huge change in length and using the same shaft means keeping same/close swingweight is actually meaningful. I'd say use those spare PX shafts you have first.... you can always reshaft later (even to graphite if you want...), but especially for the higher lofted 901's - think you'll like having them with the same shaft as your irons. Coops

I'd be amazed if they're genuinely replaced any time in the next 3 years, minimum. The grooves conform to new rules, so maybe some different finishes, but can't see a replacement on the way...... The 301's were called Technicity j (?) before - so have been around for longer than 3 years.... wasn't the groove rule change a major factor in the new 302 and 502 models? The 302's look nice - i have 301's and love them.... and do have a Mizuno ProII 1 iron (!) in the cupboard somewhere, which has that old Mizuno T-zoid mass bulge in the middle, a little like the new weight change in that 302... and the 502. A friend still has a set of Mizuno Comp-EZ's which have that kind of weight placement in a cavity - and they (the Comp-EZ's) were one of Mizuno's extremely well regarded cavity back iron sets. So, my guess is the 302 will be an improvement.... which is saying something

Any more news on the new 302's? I've spotted one pic of the rear cavity - some minor weight shifting from the 301's (no need for major changes anyway, i'd say....) - anything else new apart from conforming grooves? Any new finishes......? Just for info years in the future for replacing my 301's........ ;-) coops

looks lovely - as do all the Ion finish Diamana range, they've really hit on a great look for all their shafts. Is this a more neutral bend profile (like a Blueboard) rather than say a specifically low launch like the white? Will they be bringing out some bend profile variations (like the white/blue/red) or is this technology/material going to be introduced 'down' the line gradually........sounds good though. Coops

I'm working on this with my pro at the moment - you need to keep your wrists 'soft' at end of backswing and transition. Will feel like your arms are also more relaxed and need to ensure you don't tighten up your grip. Best to ensure you fold the right arm on the backswing and cock the wrists early if you can, and feel as if you keep that cocked feel all thru the rest of the swing - they'll uncock on their own if you let them, and don't try to force it. Just read Booby Clampett's 'The Impact Zone' and i'd recommend it - it covers this essential idea of lag and the flat left wirst thru impact in great depth.... starting with the putter (!) then chips, pitches up to full swing. Seems like a lot of excellent stuff - particularly his finding that Pro's take a divot (their low point/bottom of swing) ~ 4 inches AFTER the ball.... progressively getting 'worse' as the handicap rises ie the 20+ h/capper will be hitting divots approx 2inches behind the ball up to about level with the ball position. (oh, he also points out that all the Pro's still hit slightly down with a driver, and their driver bottom of swing is still after the ball position...... trying to hit 'up' on the ball with the driver results in the flat left wrist breaking down, lag vanishing and poor shots.) Find a copy and enjoy......i'm off to the range in a short while... (Edited out some 'fat finger' typing errors....) Coops

Go with an Epon 901 with the same steel shaft as you use in your regular irons. Easy

Quite a surprise to see a Japanese firm producing such a minimalist look. Shame about the shape of them though The shorter irons particularly look awkward, even a bit ugly at address..... one of the nicest iron head shapes i've seen for some time is the Royal Collection CV's and not too much paintfill either. Coops

Did i post my copper set of 301's here? (they're on golfwrx) - originally had them in flat black, but the rust was too high maintenance so........ Golfcraft in Bangkok spoke to the guys and agreed they could refinish them. Was not cheap but then again not excessive either (i try to blank cost details from my mind as quickly as possible so can't even remember the exact cost per head)! They did seem to come back with any dings (not many at that point anyway) gone... there's a recent post over there also showing one guys copper 301's after longish term use to show wear - pretty nice wear patterns. I'll be posting pics of my 7 iron which has taken a bashing on mats as i've been seeing a pro and working hard esp with that club.... be a week away before i'm home. They are hella cool - and as above they get sent off to Japan for the treatment.... then you'll need to swap over to the gold/copper carbon ferrules also. ;-) Coops PS can you guys at Tourspec make some 'enquiry' / encouragement about a 'black nickel' finish like the Vokeys..... would be nice with the black nickel KBS shafts Ahem.

and any rumours on a new Epon driver design / AF101 replacement? I did get a hint on that..... I've wondered what a nitrided finish would do - Fourteen did it for a wedge, looked great (kind of satin nickel) and rather than a plating it'll produce an extremely hard surface layer (anti rust too).... think it works with Titanium as well as steels... Coops

Hmmm, looking at the lofts with the 301's could go 301's 4 @ 23 deg 5 @ 27 (bent 1 weaker) 6 @ 31 (bent 1 weaker) 7 @ 35 (bent 1 weaker) then Tour blades 8 @ 40 9 @ 44 PW @ 48 only leaves one 5 degree gap between the 7 and 8.....hmmmmm Coops

I have a set of 301's with PX 6.0 (original pre TT satin stock) at +1/2" length, D2 swingweight. I went for PX because i'd heard good things about them and had played Mizuno TP21's for 8-10 years wuth Rifle 6.5's and loved the shafts... And i then demo'd the 301's but with PX HL shafts ...... and these were why i went with Epons - unbelievable feeling..... HOWEVER - the 6.0 PX is merely OK feeling if you're swinging well, yet very unpleasant on a bad swing day. (This is with my 301's of course....). Would say they are the shaft equivalent of a pure blade - they'll give lots of feedback and info on how your swing is performing, BUT even a great swing doesn't feel as good as you'd hope - certainly nothing like the HL versions i tested. Note the feeling may not be as pleasant as regular rifles but they do offer an unusual and worthwhile ballflight when struck well. So definitely demo first or just change one iron and compare - softer flexes may well feel far better (?). Epon now offer KBS shafts, and they're designed by the ex-Rifle chappy and are well reviewed. He also designed the 'Novatech' BTR shaft - a stepless shaft. The shaft is underrated in terms of how a club feels - when i bought those Mizuno's i demo'd a bunch of blades and cavity backs at the range ( approx 15 years ago? anyway, blades were still nothing unusual or fancy in those days of Drivers with steel shafts, ye gods). Was surprised how easy the choice was - and i wasn't particularly keen on the Mizuno's before hitting them. Really wanted the Mandrella RM cavity backs.... beautiful. Only later did it occur to me that only the Mizunos had Rifle shafts - every other club was TT. And i had no idea what the 6.5 meant on the shaft either..... they still felt way way better than any other club with TT shafts.

I play the Tourstage X01-R4... they're cheaper where i am than the ProV1's! And less common on the course so easier to identify ;-) The E5 is also good, but doesn't have the same response on chips and short pitches etc. Used to love the old U-Tri Tour....... May try the PRGR mentioned - coops

I dealt with Golfcraft in Bangkok - and they were perfectly happy to get heads only from Japan (custom ordered in matt black finish, no paintfill) and then fit them in Bangkok with shafts I supplied. Would certainly make shipping and customs hassles in UK less likely with heads only.... coops

Those ProjX HL may be the reason why i bought my black epon 301's!! - i tried the 7 iron 301 with ProjX hl and was stunned by the feel of them. (I played Mizuno TP21's for 8 years etc etc and they were with rifle shafts....) But was put off by the HL tag - high launch?! And having great things about the original X ... and having a source of old original satin stock X.... well - here's a review of my 301 irons with Project X 6.0's Wondering about FST/KB tour shafts - the main Rifle designer is now with them... google fst golf shaft and rad for yourself... anyway - It's been a long time since I got the black irons in hand... but was away for work then training then... well, anyway. First round was on Sunday. From practicing before, can tell the clubheads have very decent forgiveness - i started by hitting them way off towards the toe. Very easy to see on these irons - no need for impact tape.... some were half off the end of the face grooves :shock: , but direction & distance on an otherwise (!) reasonable swing was not drastically affected. At least I wasn't shanking them, eh. After remembering the Tour Tempo stuff and getting some kind of rhythm found the clubs to be great - and over the round played fairly ok on a round I usually get killed on - kind of shortish and narrow with absurd amounts of water on both sides of fairways and the like. Project X shafts - i'm an old Rifle fan, but previously used only the 'regular' Rifle shaft - and found them very nice and comfortable, and spent years before I knew what the 6.5 on the shaft label meant. So was keen to find out how these highly rated shafts were..... they're 6.0 flex and satin finish (old pre TT stock). Now having said that.... these feel horrendous on a bad swing :oops: , of which there were plenty to start with. The actual result of a bad swing is perhaps not all that bad, compared to a 'regular' shaft but a bad swing will feel really really bad - that's my impression, curious how others have found these shafts to play. A good swing feels fine - would say a standard Rifle may feel smoother - but the performance/trajectory when swung well is as noticeably excellent as the 'feedback' on a bad swing is shocking. Will be sticking with them for a good while yet - feel they could help improve my swing. Driver - the G10 12deg with Prolaunch Red. Had a sudden attack of common sense and decided to swing it choked down an inch or so - ie around 44 1/2".... much, much better than 45 3/4" as far as my swing goes. Will be keeping this shaft, and have ordered a Roddio 7WA to install at 44 1/2". Will get on a launch monitor with the PL red before and the roddio after to see how it affects the numbers - the roddio is meant to be v low spin so should go well with a 12 degree head, i hope :roll: At the shoppe also left 2 putters (Rife Dana & Scotty Studio #5) and a Mizuno MP-003 driver for sale...... so didn't feel too guilty about picking up a replacement putter :mrgreen: Nice weight (350g head), finish and feel. An Odyseey Black series #9 Coops

The main problem is the UK sterling price tag.... something like 1200 GBP if i remember - that's $2500 US for the standard no customised set! (only 5 - PW also maybe?). Here in Thailand they're not cheap - but cost about same as Tourstage, ie ~ $1000 for a 5-Pw set. If the tester knew the price before hiiting the ball..... he'd expect them to feel like the inside of a chinchilla fur lined codpiece! coops

Same request.... i was looking at the Roddio shafts especially for heavier shaft weight and low spin. Would love to hear how the 8-WA feels... (which is for the hitter rather than smooth swinger again? BA or WA, need to check).... coops

I'd have gone for Tourstage Xblade CB's.... the ViQ forged had excellent feel, so i expect these are same but with way way less offset, which i like. And with the tungsten inserts etc in longer irons you get good looks, feel and forgiveness. However, I stopped by Golfcraft in Bangkok and ordered custom Epon 301's instead ;-)