nobmontana

Would be interested to know how much forgiveness the A grind provides. Looks to me more of a players hybrid. I have had my challenges with players hybrids where it would go left whenever I tried to step on it just a hair.

last of the Tourstage breed! So tempted! GLWS!

Thanks Ash! great information. Please let me know what you think about the A Grind. I think you are right; for the purpose I seek, wood type hybrids are probably the better choice for me. I was reading up on an article from Choice magazine on how to best choose your long iron or its replacements. ( DI, Hybrid, Fairway ) They mentioned that modern balls ( which produce lower spin ) necessitate even the tour pros to move away from long irons and use DIs or Utility woods. How they generalized the recommended choice for different players was based on swing speed. - For those fast swingers who can swing the DI club above 45m/s ( 100mph ) DI s were recommended. Hybrids and Fairways went too high for them. - Hybrids were the recommended choice for players above 40m/s ( 89.5mph ). - Fairways for players under 40m/s What was really interesting to me was that back spin numbers were lowest with the DI and highest with Fairways with hybrids in between. I actually did not know this but I guess from the flight trajectory, it makes sense. From the above recommendation, I do fall into the Hybrid category.

The head shape , particularly the face with a boxy toe , reminds me a bit of the Adams a12 pro I had. Are these forgiving and automatic or more of a workable players hybrid?

I have an MP H5 21 deg in my other bag but I can't get the same kind of trajectory nor the forgiveness as the 902. The MP H5 is more workable and has a lower trajectory more suited for windy conditions but i am not confident to use it to get it to a green and make it stop. So Honma TW-U are forgiving as their utility woods? maybe it has a lower cg than other DI type utes ?

I use the 709 limited combo set and the CB MC MB all feel incredible in their own way paired up with DG Pro S300 shafts. but for me 1150GH with Mizuno MP33 are still the winner in terms of feel at impact. I also use 1150GH in my MP62 Coppers which redefined "buttery soft" for me.

cool! is this the current model or last year's? and do you have the driving iron or the wood type hybrid?

I had a pretty magical experience the other day with my AF902 with Diamana Thump. This is my 200 yrd club. I was having another mediocre round that day so I decided to agressively attack the greens in a way I usually don't. par 4 used a 3 wd off the tee. 205 yrds shown with my range finder. pond right in front of the green too. used my hybrid to go for the pin. gave it a smooth but confident swing. straight ball started going right at the pin. "probably going to roll off the green anyway" i thought .... Boom! lands 2 ft right of the hole... 1 hop .. 2 hop both small hops and stops. Wow! best 200 yard approach shot ever! next two holes, very similar experience. 202 yrds then 210 yrds. on the green with soft landing. obviously not trying to replace this club anytime soon but wanted to know what else is out there that could match the forgiveness and accuracy of this hybrid .

K, Beautiful irons!! GLWS! Those Vegas look sharp!

they look sharp!!

Would be interesting to know what type of Ti they are using on the face? My AF-153 feels and sounds really nice off the face but the distance I get is far from spectacular compared to my G30. What is their strategy to improve distance performance?

I am really liking this. G30 head loft set to 9.5 deg Head weight is 207g or so. Waiting on a heavier weight which will get it to about 218g. Once I have the heavier head weight, I might reduce the length further down to 43.5" Gonna name mine "Mjolnir" Yesterday at the range the measured swing speed was as fast as my other full length and lighter drivers . Not sure what is happening. Perhaps the Turbulator on the G30 is working its magic?

Just picked up a Kitada putter head once again. This time it's their SM490A model with Black Boron Finish. My old Gold's putter has a flat face with no milling. And honestly I do not mind the feel of it. I think the JIS 303 already gives a softer feel off the face to begin with. While I think deep milled faces are great in terms of soft feel, I actually don't like it when it gets too mushy. After some trial and error, I found that the feel I am after is the fine milling on my Ping 303 Redwood. So back to the Kitada head. The model is KP-2F which is their version of Newport 2 and they do all of their heads with fine milled faces. Received the head today and paired it with a Nippon heavy shaft and gave it a few rolls on the carpet. Feel is sensational!! Not too soft and not too firm! Perfect! The Boron finish is really nice as well. and the design of the engraving and lettering ...... well let's not go there :) I wish it was completely blank to be quite honest. Top notch material / finish and top notch machining technique.

I was actually eyeing on this!! Congrats! I think it had the UST FF shaft in it? How does it feel?

never tried one. But the 203 was much more player oriented. I would expect the regular 202 to be right in between the 202HT and the 203 in terms of forgiveness based on specs.

good point. but I think due to the shorter length , it's not so bad. 2nd trial today with the following spec. 352g overall weight 44 " length Zcom pro 95 stiff shaft

Epon 202ht is really forgivng. Shallow and rounder profile head. Does launch higher than most 15 deg heads. Feel and sound is quite solid even though it is a Ti head. face does not look closed.

I hit this FFF ( Frankenstein Fairway Finder ) driver twice today before we called it quits due to severe wind and rain. First, my back is still okay... I think I am getting somewhere with it. I was hitting around 250 with it which is about the same as my 3 wood. Gonna try a different shaft but the head weight felt good. I am going to keep the head heavy. Will try going lighter on the shaft and a bit longer length this time. May be 43.5" Will keep you posted!

Good stuff. Stu-san, I am going to throw in another possibility in the mix. If the FEx went in your heavier 435 head, would that have produced different results for you?

ok put together my first trial using some left over pulled shaft from years ago. Ping G30 10.5, 42" overall length w/Nippon 950GH FW X flex. Upped the swingweight to D5 using a bunch of lead tape. Overall weight came to 378g!! I might break my back after tomorrow. Will report back.

Though I love both of these shafts. I am betting on the FEx ( assuming it is the original FEx w/ Red,Gold color ) !

Those two are identical heads. The one branded as Jbeam is called Jbeam FX BM-435 and the one from Crazy is called Crazy CRZ-435 even though it is labeled as FX BM-435 :) There are also 435 II and 435R which are successors to the original 435, these newer once were not as popular as the original 435

Probably beating on a dead horse but the A Grind driver discussions re-sparked my club Ho mind to pursue an "off the tee fairway finder" club. To be completely honest, I have never felt like my 3 wood was ever going to be more "reliable" off the tee than my driver from the perspective of "keeping it on the fairway" Also on course and on range, my 3 wood probably gets the least amount of hitting time. I do have one slot open for another club in my bag since I normally play 13 anyway. So just looking for thoughts and ideas you might all be willing to share to keep me awake at night! :) Success Criteria: - Better than 90% of normal driver distance. ( longer than my 3 wood I suppose ) - Significant improvement of fairway percentage over normal driver Head Size > Large or Small ? Head Weight > Heavy or Light ? Head Profile > Deep or Shallow ? Loft > High or Low ? What's the ideal loft ? Overall Length > Long or Short ? Ideal length ? Swing Weight > High or Low? Shaft material > Graphite or Steel ? ( Yes steel!! ) Shaft weight > Heavy or Light ? Shaft kick point > Low Mid or High Shaft torque > Low or High Here are my thoughts for my first trial. Head Size > "Large" because it is supposed to be more forgiving Head Weight > "Heavy" for more stability and for the extra momentum at impact created by extra weight Head Profile > I am thinking shallow; For added forgiveness and ease of launch. Loft > Will need to experiment maybe with a loft adjustable head and also dependent on shaft profile. Overall Length > Shorter the easier, right? I am going to start with 43.5" Swing Weight > Probably higher for added stability and feel of control. Shoot for D3 or higher Shaft material > Graphite with some heft or may try steel wood shafts. Shaft weight > Heavier Shaft kick point > Will start with Mid kick and possibly try others depending on result. Shaft torque > Not sure on this one or if it matters too much. Will keep you posted.

EZone 380 and my beloved Tourstage P02-6 ( 365cc ) needs to be in the mix as well! Oh, and don't forget the Titleist 983K (350cc) including the H-Cr model. Surprisingly Epon Zero does not qualify!! ( 415cc )

Now this head would look slick with a wood grain pattern paint !!