needmoregolf

Lucky Money aka Lai See aka Red Envelope I've been meaning to do a write up on my first experience with a new love affair my custom Golds Factory putter, fondly named, Lucky Money. Let me back up a bit since I've not really given a formal introduction of myself since I joined the site. I'm relatively new to JDM, as this year marked my first year with this new obsession, but my, has it been a crazy ride since I jumped in the deep end...and I havent looked back since! It started with some Miura wedges, then Miura irons, then my first Epon set (AF Tours), and now its hard to count the stuff that's been in/out of the stable and all the new directions Ive headed with such amazing quality gear. Ive pretty much abandoned all USDM clubs (some old stuff still in the corners of the garage but will need to make an exodus at some point) and have no regrets of all the clubs Ive tried and the experiences I've had thus far being a part of this awesome site and getting to know some of the great members here. One of the early members who befriended me, Stew, warned me at the onset that the addiction would spread like wild fire. He told me that while the iron sets, drivers and wedges may all seem pricy compared to their USDM counterparts, they are well worth their value in the quality and fun I would have with them. I have to agree, I've never had better equipment in my life and Im always thirsting for the next opportunity to try some more JDM, whether old or new. I dunno, call me a club ho, but that's pretty much the state of affairs when it comes to my outlook on all things golf-related at this point. He did warn me, however, about avoiding the putter threads as the potential craze may severely impact my pocket book.. (ominous, I know! ;) Well, it was that one fateful night after putting the kids to sleep when I was sitting on the "throne," and starting browsing the putter threads on my phone...finally. I went from thread to thread looking at all the amazing pics of all your putters that had been through Gold's, and I literally stood no chance!! There was one putter though, that really struck me and sent me over the proverbial edge. Let me take pause and give credit where credit is due...tokidoki1986's Soft Black Inner Gold 1st Edition Seven Putter did me in -- what a beauty! After I handled my "business," I hit the computer and looked at as many pics and read as much as I could on everyone's experience with Golds, the prototype first edition Seven putter and TSG's handling of it all. I was hooked and there was nothing I could do to stop the urge to get one of my own. Weeks later, after unsuccessfully trying to suppress this urge, I contacted Chris to start the discussion about potentially starting a project at some point. Well, the conditional statements were short-lived and days later I was already working on designing my putter with Chris. I like to think of myself as a creative individual with a good sense of design aesthetics, but if I'm being honest, I had no freakin clue about what I wanted. I liked tokidoki1986's putter, and everything I could think of was based off his putter. Chris basically put together a itemized quote for a putter that would match toki's, but somewhere along the way, his encouragement gave me some confidence to start personalizing and making things more custom to me. Before I knew it, I was starting to make small adjustments, which lead to major personalizations and I ended up with something that is definitely somewhat of an homage to tokis original putter, but has my personality written all over it. The entire process was so exciting, working with Chris and going back and forth on email. He was very patient with me as I was making the slightest tweaks and sending new mockups, and he would do his best to either re-quote the changes, or just encouraged me to continue personalizing and designing until I was completely satisfied. I am truly happy with the end result (I'll post my mockups to show how closely everything matched, which is so crazy how precise the craftsmanship is at Gold's!), and I could not say better things about the entire process, especially it being my first experience with anything this custom, and working with a master of his craft, Sasaya-San. Thank you, Chris (and the TSG team), for helping this beauty come to life! I urge anyone that is considering this type of custom work to pull the trigger, as the level of service from TSG cannot be beat and we all know how amazing the flatsticks that come out of Golds Factory always are THE BEST! So, without further ado, let me introduce you all to Lucky Money 1. Seven prototype first generation SM490A putter head 2. Black Boron finish 3. 2 Dark Tungsten weights in the face with milled dots/red paint fill and Chinese characters engraved - toe weight "RED - 利" and heel weight "Envelope - 是" 4. Horizontal PZ Milling on face 5. 5 Overlapping Cavity Inserts with the middle one being larger and my last name engraved w/ red paint fill - 3 copper (main circle has a smaller milled inner circle), 2 tungsten (2 smaller milled inner circles w/ red paint fill) 6 Orbit G weights on sole - otherwise clean on the sole 7. Orichulum site dot 8. Site line 9. 4 Red Aluminum inserts in the bumpers w/ smaller milled inner circles 10. Seven logo milled on toe in red paint fill 11. Shimada Black Shaft 12. Superstroke Mid Slim 2.0 grip This putter might be over the top to some, but for me, it was just such an eye-opening experience to the endless possibilities and the level of quality things can be done by those that are truly passionate about their craft. I definitely think this will be my "busiest" creation, but this first one is something that helps me identify with some important roots, and hopefully that will translate to some much needed zen with the flatstick!! =) One last thing, I must warn those that are not already lucky owners of a Golds putter, it definitely raises the bar for every putter that you will ever encounter, and there is an incessant itch to potentially send in whatever flat stick is currently in your hands to get a Gold's tune up, no matter how amazing it already is!! Thank you all for the inspiration! ;)

I like the original SLS more, tail is too snubbed on this new one and really does make the nose look too long and unbalanced. as much as I love that throaty AMG sound and throttle response, I vowed to never own another one after a failed E55 wagon. I do have to admit, they might have the best seats in the biz tho!!

Not sure why I can't close this topic?

First video is hilarious...if I could get Batman-like expletives to appear after each of my driver swings, I would pay almost any $$ amount haha

nice bag, digging the iron headcovers. do they actually stay on unlike most other Epon headcovers?

thanks Chris, great story. let's get the rights/licensing together and make the documentary ;)

ok, someone drop the entire back story please, this is becoming an interesting tangent.

haha it seriously has! I don't want Gatorade, I want Modarts and a SD like THIS Mike!! ;)insane setup bud, please don't ever leave your bag in my car or have me hold your clubs, that may be the last you see of them! lol

top shelf as always, M! great prices too, GLWS buddy!

Like T, I'm a product nut and will be going with the Cybex Aton Apex ( not a car brand ) My car is nowhere near as cool as this Evo! I know, right!? I'm pretty sure you have a sweet ride, Chris, judging from your taste in clubs, putters and even golf carts! Maybe you can have Modart and Gold's design you a car seat?? lol CNC machined w/ orichulum (sp??) weights to balance the MOI of the car seat 5-point harness buckle!!

friggin hilarious! What Gold's could do w/ this is off the charts ;)

thanks mate, that's quite an endorsement coming from the original crafter of that sweet putter. next time can you ask him if he's ever going to come back and make the custom hand made putters again?

+2...me likey

Even the Recaro baby seats are cooler in Japan! ;) And you keep it super clean...my car seats (not to mention car) are complete wrecks now from the kids. haha Super fun looking whip!!

Good to hear you've found better balance with work and family, it is hard but something we must all do better. oh, and make sure you're finding time for golf for yourself as well!! take care T!

Rich, I didn't pick up on it at first, but is this not the original burning copper finish from Yamada? this one does look outstanding...is this a special finish done by golds or just a tune up of the original?

Looking forward to TSG member reviews on these, look really nice.

Just send em in to get refinished hutch! These would look awesome in that NiCr w/ the dark faces/grooves

I think another aspect which makes this topic even cloudier is most have not commented on how they expect their ball flight to be with the addition or lack of offset in combination of their natural swing. I think this plays into the discussion as well, because some offset certainly helps someone wanting more consistent right to left ball flight. Those that like to hit fades might opt for zero offset because it naturally promotes that ball flight with it being flatter across the face. Perhaps those that are looking to this thread for information could also post their desired ball flight and what offset is like on their current sticks. For myself, I prefer right to left and my natural swing already promotes this direction, so when I play clubs w/ heavy offset, I have a propensity to hook or pull if my swing isn't good. I tend to fan the face open more with clubs having more offset to minimize this miss, but it looks a little awkward at address and I'm not starting the swing w/ a nice warm and fuzzy feeling. That being said, if there is almost zero offset, I automatically think the shot will be a little underpowered w/ a resulting fade (or worse - a block/slice), and I overcompensate for it in my downswing, which isn't good either. So, it goes back to what some have said, a little offset goes a long way to add confidence every time I stand over the ball that the ball flight will be either pretty straight or my ideal baby draw ball flight. Currently gaming Epon SUS316 that have some offset and I welcome it so I confidently put on a nice easy swing. *disclaimer - this all assumes those days I have a tuned swing that is working well, as I definitely have those days where my swing is complete sh*t and offset isn't even part of the discussion*

yes, that is a fantastic putter!

Chris, what is the difference between these and the tours and also the latest yururi wedge that you posted about? my understanding about the raw gekku was that it was the non-conforming versions of the tours (or vice versa however u want to look at it), but please correct me if I'm wrong. big fan of yururi but have always been a little hazy on all the differences in their vast line of wedges

Any added benefit to using these over what we have available here in the states besides it being like super glue and really really hard to get off?

Might just be the best damn looking wedge ever. Modart's are certainly awesome looking, but there's just something about this raw look and texture. Is there a price yet?

Don't see why not?? This thread should be inclusive of anything gold in hue ;) That looks very interesting, how does it perform? Anyone got a 24k gold putter they'd like to share?? lol

it's in the TSG shop now, I think $495 or thereabouts?