TourSpecGolfer

So we were a bit perplexed about the new Yonex blade a little while ago in regards to the titanium in the sole and the hosel design. A bit more info after speaking to them. It's made in Japan, the hosel design reduces the hosel weight by roughly 3 grams. deep within the head it's actually a lighter Titanium blend material to create a cavity effect that makes the club more forgiving. overall with the design they have a very forgiving MB with a lower CG than most blades. It's in-between a compact blade & neo blade, just a great size for someone looking for a good forgiving blade. the light was bad at their booth but enjoy the pics anyway:

We knew Ryoma was working on a new utility wood that utilizes their DSI technology but having seen it for the first time I was pretty blown away, These pictures don't do it justice, it looks stunning in the real and as usual different as Ryoma always makes things. Later this week we are heading over to Ryoma HQ for a meeting and will provide many more details on what's coming. While at the Basilius Shaft booth we noticed these utilities tucked away in a bag and were happy to see it's the club many Ryoma fans have been waiting and asking for. Here's what we know so far.. It's Titanium and has DSI tech and the usual forgiving shape we can expect from Ryoma. As far as how heavy the DSI is in this head is unknown but we will know shortly. Enjoy the pics gents :)

The new VG3... What to think of it, I don't know. The design itself makes sound technological sense but the looks of the back cavity don't do it justice in my opinion. When talking to the design team it was evident they could have gone two routes, rounded or sharp in the back area, while I agree rounded was the way to go it could have been pulled off differently from a visual perspective. The new VG3 features a very deep undercut cavity in the long to mid irons, It's 2 piece head has a very thin face and deep within the cavity there is a tungsten weight. As far as irons go the VG3 has insane MOI and Titleist is boasting stability and a strong trajectory. Again the loft is strong 44* in the PW also the short irons loose the undercut and you will notice it's filled in. Looks aside though this is Titleist's most forgiving version of the VG3 and somehow through design they say it's the longest. Made by Endo so the feel, fit & finish are top notch and I must say looking down at the club head you forget about that back cavity. I have yet to hit it, samples are sitting in a box in Tario's office as I write this. Just trying to take it all in. Anyway gentlemen here are some in hand pictures from the show.

Only their irons are, the woods and custom grind wedges are fairly reasonable. Modart (R is silent) is $600... Per iron!!! We've got a demo iron on the way, the cage demo was booked solid. It supposedly feels stupidly awesome. I witnessed everyone saying this but haven't it felt it for myself.

They do look similar don't they. The Modart is on an entirely different level in price and manufacturing though, not necessarily better IMO just very different. S25C Forged but 100% CNC milled so there is no grinding done at all which means zero heat transfer and the carbon retains 100% of its natural feel.

I don't really care about this putter nor can I confirm Odyssey is telling the truth but I know exactly what your saying. Your stance is the same as Sasayas. Which I agree with and don't at the same time. Original Damascus is long gone but looking at the mineral make up of original Damascus the method to create the same make up has been recreated. There are two sources to get 1-2% carbon and one of them is in Japan. Does that make it Damascus? Not really but it is the same. Same argument as champagne that's not from france. The bottom line is this recreated material is essentially the same as Damascus and they are using the name. Now 99% of brands are using layered or laminate Damascus and the name as essentially been torn down to a decoration or print. Laminate or layered Damascus look cost one price while recreated 1-2% carbon Fe is way more expensive.

Spot Reserved for Girls...

We will be adding to this topic over the next several days...

By Tario via GolfToImpress It was an eventful first day as always at the Japan Golf Fair here at Tokyo Big Sight in Odaiba. Firstly weather was crappy as always seems to be the case year in and year out but especially this year with already a week of snow under out belt, he flurries began early and raged on throughout the day. We decided to go social this year by posting to Facebook, Instagram and Google+ while at the same time shooting as many photos as possible to blog and forum post about after and all the while squeezing in numerous meetings to improve Tourspecgolf's offerings and partnerships. While Tourspecgolfer, Tourspecgirl and I covered many brands and clubs, what stood out for me the most on the first day was the discovery of a non conforming Ryoma Maxima Special Tuning. Ryoma you see is not even here at the Golf Fair but the club was at Graphite Design's booth. TSG has an official meeting with Ryoma next week at their Shibuya office but we were glad to find the Maxima Special Tuning as many customers have been asking. (we also found a Ryoma utility by the way which can be seen in our Social posts.) First things first, this is definitely not the official Special Tuning model, it is a limited Beat Takeshi model that was actually made in honor of Tom Watson (in this case called Tobu Watson - Tobu in Japanese means to fly and in golf it refers to big distance). However the fact that this special edition model exists, means most likely down the road, a limited edition Maxima Special Tuning for the masses will be released (we'll probably know for sure now next week.). The Maxima which is already considered to be one of the easiest drivers to hit very long will be further enhanced by a 0.88+ COR Face. Another club that stood out to me was the new ONOFF Labo 358 Shingo Iron made for Japanese pro Shingo Katayama. Onoff took the very popular ONOFF Forged and made it to Shingo's specs including a much sharper overall profile, more compact head and much less offset. The face milling is also far more aggressive and the weighting adjusted for a more powerful spin heavy trajectory. ONOFF will be releasing limited sets of this Endo forged player's cavity in March so we will be taking pre orders soon. Imagine the wonderful feel and ease of use of the original ONOFF Forged in a smaller sharper package with a straight neck! I spent quite a bit of time as well hanging out with Romaro and their designer Abe-san which I will make a post about later. They featured not only their updated Type R driver, new iBrid utility iron, but also two new irons, the Ray MC (middle cavity), and Ray H as well as 3 new wedges. The MC is aimed at the middle to better player wanting forgiveness in a cavity back iron with great feel and balanced performance. The H is aimed at the better player who wants a smaller CB with less offset and a thinner top line. Stay tuned tomorrow for more highlights in the mean time its time for some rest!

Craig's latestSeven Putter has an insert made of Damascus on an SM490A head, it wasn't cheap but according to Tario it reminds him of the Epon 460ZR in a putter

via GolfToImpress Odyssey had on display a very rare and limited putter made for the Japanese market named the Damascus Grand Limited Putter as Damascus has been a trend lately when it comes to high end putter materials that said not all Damacus is the same. Some brands offer full Damascus made putters at less than half the cost of the material alone. This is what I'm calling Faux Damascus or Damascus look. True Damascus has a very high carbon content of 1-2% while most modern damascus used in putters has only a fraction of 1% and this in my opinion tarnishes the name Damascus. Putter makers rushed to the Damascus trend with materials that have a undergone a layer forging or lamination process that provides the look of Damascus but doesn't feel or perform the same. So how do you know if your getting the real thing? The easiest way is price, True Damascus isn't cheap expect to pay at least a couple of thousand dollars for one. When you putt with real damascus the feel is sublime the extra added carbon creates almost a spongy impact. It will wear as it's forged Fe and not stainless and what's the point in putting a plating on something this special.

If you break down the minerals in GSS it's exactly the same as JPN SUS303, No difference. Stainless steel generally is also not known for being soft, that would be carbon or Fe. Putters are very technical and specs are very sensitive when it comes to putting. Face angle for example, it's more vital to have the proper FA in a putter than it is in the driver. lie angle is important too, length, head weight, and balance or counter weighting. it's not just about the length. Add to that the putter can make the biggest difference in one's score and its very import the player is physically & mentally confident about their flat stick. IMO putting is the game within the game.

That's what most people think but it's not exactly that simple. Many blades don't have more mass than parameter weighted CBs. I've gone through a bunch of prototype Irons that haven't been cut out yet, meaning the cavity is totally filled in so it can still become a blade or a CB, it's like a big fat blade and they feel no softer than anything else yet have double the mass behind the impact spot and around it. We have asked the question "what makes an iron feel good" to some of the best designers. The answer is interestingly, CG, loft, design, sole, material, process as a combination + perception. "Pure" and feel is so subjective then add to that the annealing process has a lot to do with how soft the metal actually is. So you can make the same exact blade one soft or hard at impact. Then there is shaft. Feel is vibration running up through the hands into our ears so that also plays an effect on pure. Graphite often feels more muted or soft attached to any head, it also makes irons that are harsh outside the sweet spot feel less harsh. Grip material and design matters too. In Japan there are far fewer generalizations about golf lots of gray areas that fall into perception and preference sorta like how one mans best driver is another mans worse. Publications in the USA also tend to stay away from generalizations but on the web we say this is how it is because of X,Y,Z without really understanding it. I don't fully understand this either. The most common public perception I see is: smaller, less offset thinner irons look better. The more people who say this the more that are influenced by the crowd even if the shape is actually rubbish. Designers and grinders look at the hosel to neck transition and can spot garbage, but 99% of golfers can't see it and immideately zero in on top line and offset because of context created. I don't know where I'm going with this but I guess what im trying to say is we each have our own version of pure, to some it may be what others call mushy and to others harsh. The majority have been influenced by the crowd. I'm sure if we ran a poll people would say blades are more pure than anything else.

Your selecting solid older models to play with and as you said looking for the "RIGHT feel and looks". add heads natural performance characteristics to that as well. I would say don't worry about face angle so much, you have to come in 0* square for it to play as spec'd. If it's a visual thing it can be adjusted by hand to look as open as you wish. The V201 is pretty much square to my eye.

Site will get faster guys, just gotta complete a few new features then move to a new blazing fast server.

If money is not a prob send the rat to golds .

Not really although many think that. Design, materials, annealing process play a more important role in regards to softness. There is nothing that says a blades design is softer because of its shape or size or the lack of a cavity.

In my experience when I hit many of the muscle cavities they all feel much more firm. TourStage MC, previous Yammy Tours, Miura CB1007, list goes on... Slightly bigger cavities like the 302, Srixon 725, CB2007. Etc.. Etc.. It begins getting softer. Go one step larger into OnOFF forged, VG3, legacy Black, etc.. it gets even softer. Is this on purpose or an attribute of design as muscle cavity players often seek feedback (harsher on miss hits). But also when you got more dense mass behind the impact zone it sometimes feels softer as well. To sum it up IMO muscle cavities feel more firm and harsher on miss hits while the slightly larger players cavities are usually softer. But what's also interesting is some blades feel softer than muscle cavities. So what I was saying is this 316 is softer feeling than many other muscle cavities.

The best quality Japanese refinishing at a reasonable price. Including copper & double copper. Main thing is quality as I'm a stickler on that.

Problem will be solved shortly guys, we are working on something.

If we could only choose one weight what would it be? Spec requests? I usually prefer 80-85g

If we can get an order of 25 pcs together I can have one custom made for TSG with special colors & logo on it.

GF will do whatever you send them. They are an aftermarket modification company. This isn't a Gold's Factory Putter it's a SEVEN prototype made of SM490A. GF doesn't have this shape in their own blanks and nothing in SM490A. Almost three quarters of GF's work is mod's to other brand's putters. Many people think Gold's makes putters, they don't but they do make putters better :)

Pardon my ignorance, what are the 825's?

Second batch of 500 for the global market.