TourSpecGolfer

Here's one I almost forgot about. A very important part of the TS 2013 line up. The 709CB. The MC is a little demanding, sweet as heck but still requires a good strike. Here's one for the more casual player, someone looking for some extra padding. I hit the 6 iron, just a few quick impressions on this one: - It's a bit softer than the MC - Doesn't feel as soft/dense as the 909 MB - It reminds me of a sexier Yamaha V-Forged but a little less soft... in a good way. It's size is hidden well, better than the Yammy but overall both fit the same type of player. Thats me really as another direct competitor with these are the ONOFF Forged. So many awesome designed choices in this category right now.

Another great looking head has arrived to TSG. This time it's got me more excited than usual because of something as small as the face material used. In this case it's Cold Forged Japanese DAT55G which is in my opinion one of the best. I'm a big fan of VL Ti which is a technology Endo uses for high end drivers but I see Japan made DAT55G as it's equal. So why wouldn't more companies use it? For a couple of reasons that make a lot of sense and the first is price. It's expensive and the next is how hard it is to get. It's made in Japan and not a commonly used material for golf club manufacturing. Don't mind the unfinished ferrule guys. Who else has used DAT55? Crazy and J-Beam off the top of my head and we know how people absolutely love those woods, then there is the still current but ever popular GT-460 aka Crazy CRZ 460 still to this day the most loved Crazy driver by the average player. The feel of DAT55G is something else, It's very soft yet not as hollow feeling as one would expect. It's the true meaning of metallic sponge. Ok Enough with the materials, the new GT Mono Forged Driver features a more shallow face than the GT-450, It's designed to promote stable launch and low spin. All three lofts have a square face angle 9.5, 10.5 and 12* lofts which is very different as one would expect a closed face on the higher lofts.

We covered the PB in June 2011. That's how long it's been around, the sad part is they haven't replaced it with anything quality. When Yonex made it's big push was in 2011 when they signed Ryo Ishikawa, since then it's been down hill. They did great selling drivers although we noticed they didn't last long in peoples bags, they did pretty decent with the Kyoei forged MB and the PB although a great iron didn't do so well. Since then most of the product has been on the cheesy side. We have pics of the entire new line up if anyone is interested. It's not Endo unfortunately. i-Ezone is the new wood & iron line up.

Finished my review, it's pretty much what everyone else has been saying about the new Bolds. From the GTI Blog: A couple of weeks ago the all new S-Yard BOLD Wedge began shipping to TSG customers, In the last week first reactions have been coming in with an overwhelmingly positive response. The most common response has been about the amount of spin it produces, some customers are saying it spins more than any non conforming wedge they have ever hit. I've had the Bold in rotation for a bit over two weeks now and am very comfortable sharing my own opinion along with the opinions of some of our members. If you haven't heard yet, Kenji Kobayashi former president of ENDO and the man who designed every Epon golf club since their inception has taken charge as President of S-Yard Golf. For those who don't know who Mr. K is, he is one of the greatest golf club designers. This is quite exciting as his roster of past designs is unrivaled from driver to irons and putters. In this blog post we will take a closer look at the performance of his most favorite design yet. The S-Yard Bold Wedge. The Bold does spin like crazy. Many people are reporting that they have to adjust for more distance because the bold holds balls to the green. What we have noticed here at TSG is that not only does the ball spin like heck but that it also doesn't shred the cover off the ball. Previously many I knew thought the Yururi Raw Gekku had the most spin, it was known for chewing on balls too. This bold can produce the same amount or arguably even more spin while not shredding covers nearly as much. We had 4 golfers play the Bold for 9 holes while 2 of us have had 3 full rounds of play + range time. We even had a female test them then purchase them for a rebuild with graphite on the spot. The spin is that impressive. n for testing was the 52, 56, & 60* lofts, from the pic above you see next to no offset in this 60* with less loft you will see a slight increase in offset, nothing big and it's there to help the player hit it straighter the further out they are. From the looks of it above the milling design also does a great job in framing the ball acting as a target. Our members are also praising the S-Yard Bold's dynamic sole grind. The bounce plays less than stated and it has a pretty narrow sole. Yamaha incorporates something similar with a higher bounce more narrow sole making it not as scary for the usual low bounce golfer to get used to. Off tight to proper lie we found it performed extremely well. In the rough it took a short getting used to period and for bunker shots it really depends on the type of sand, dense sand was much easier than dry fluffy sand which also shows that the bounce plays back seat to the sole design. The Bold removes weight from the sole and places 3 tungsten weights opposite on the back face. This is considered radical alterations to wedge design. We have seen some brands tinker with it but not take it this far. Because Mr. Kobayashi did this he was able to create the COG location of 21.5mm. For a wedge he believes this is the sweet spot that has never been done before by anyone else. It also features an extremely well thought out face milling pattern it's the most intricate we have seen to date also even more spin was created by decreasing the pitch of the score lines as well. The finish is really something else i'd describe it as more of a stain applied on S20C. It really just keeps the glare off the club bringing out the pure soft feel of Endo's S20C. It will wear and rust over time so keep them oiled or not... I'm glad they didn't make this plated actually. I do think it would look great plated and TSG may do that aftermarket but I think the darker finish really hides a couple of thicker areas on this wedge extremely well. In the future we plan to put a bunch of brand new wedges on the LM, we weren't able to do that this time around with a Launch Monitor that could produce accurate results from a higher lofted wedge. Each person who hit the new Bold wedge really couldn't think of another club that spun the balls like these. The biggest adjustment made was having to hit chips, pitch shots etc.. a little longer because the ball would choke up so quickly. This is a good problem to have and is easily cured by awareness and time. If you are interested in the newly released 2013 Bold wedge click here for the official product listing in the TSG ProShop.

I do think a 20+ hcp could get along with it. 10.5 in R flex & 10.5 in SR

There's gotta be a good simple reason for this. It just makes no sense to me that FW lie adjustability is a no brainier.

Ok let's compare then.

J & B, what about with drivers do you notice any difference in a flatter lie vs more upright?

This topic is all about what you have noticed with the new BOLD wedge in regards to performance I've been hitting the bold for a little bit of time now and have some interesting observations. My wife has been playing BOLD's as well and noticing some pretty cool things as well. Many members have it in hand now and I'm curious as to what your noticing in terms of real world results and performance.

Low Spin, Deep Faced, Mid launch driver is exactly what the doctor ordered. I'm finding no fault in my 388 whatsoever but the TSG crew has been waiting patiently for this XV release as Mr.K seems to be especially excited about the performance of this driver and fw.

I like this thread. I appreciate you bringing it up ant. coop thanks for your contribution as well. I dont think it has to do with K-san's swing. These types of lie angles are the new standard and I haven't seen any adverse effects of having a 60* lie on a driver. A flatter lie does make sense to me for FW's as they make contact with turf. Whats interesting is this is industry wide, not only for drivers made by K-san or Endo but even factories elsewhere. It seems like one of the less clearly defined questions out there so I think we need to gather opinions from designers. we know many. This thread has got me curious so I'll ask Mr.K and others for their thoughts on this. If you could put your question into one simple sentence or paragraph what would you ask? I'll ask 2 mold makers and 3 designers what their thoughts are on this. I think the answer could be one of the theories already in this post.

What you said is spot on for me. The toe shots of the 388 are sometimes as long or longer than my center shots. heel not so much but still better than most. It's bizarre as shots that I would have guarantee faded go dead straight with this club yet I can fade or draw it a little easier than most drivers I have played. I'm at least 7-10 rounds into the 388 and near that many range sessions. I don't think I will be changing the shaft for a while either.

Updated: Soft Black Finish in original post.

It was supposed to be released yesterday in Japan but it wasn't. Possibly another delay? Gotta love Ryoma they keep me waiting with anticipation.

Wow this shaft is more stout than most other brands stock shafts. I should be S/R. I'm playing stiff with amazing results.

I don't know anyone who has hit both. RI? Tae? Compared to the non Tour Yammy forged iron I would say 909 more dense while the yammy is softer neither better to each is own. I'll just say when it comes to feel the 909 doesn't disappoint.

The majority of Endo's production is done in Thailand. It's not a matter of where it's made as it the design, tech, process, and materials. For Endo that means Japanese technology, staff, QC, and materials located in their thailand factories. I also think a big factor is price point the Japanese can do so much more with a driver that cost $900 usd vs $300. It's pretty apparent when looking at brands like Srixon, Cleveland, Bridgestone etc.. In order for these makers to bring a club to the states some features have to be excluded. i.e no forged model in the states, or no tungsten in irons or 7 piece forged Ti driver heads. A lot of people say whats made in Japan comes out in 1-3 years in the states, that's not exactly accurate as many of the technologies never make it stateside due to cost. So unless the global golf market is willing to pay for those advancements chances are it will not be wide spread no matter how great it is. Gimmicks are much cheaper to make and market than new technologies. I hope that helps, as for car analogies I think the RX7, GTR & LFA are good examples of cars that only the Japanese can do.

This is a great question F1, I can give you my opinion... Endo has a lot of expertise in molds and I think thats where a lot money is made. Endo can produce designs that no other company can. It's far more expensive to produce any type of golf club mold at Endo than anywhere else. Despite costing a lot more money many of the worlds best brands still make their best and most high end forged products here. When it comes to forgings they produce the most complicated and advanced designs. They allow OEMs to try new technologies because Endo has the technology and process. The rest of the world will catch up some day but only if Endo stands still. I don't see that happening. For now they are simply the only ones who can produce certain designs. If you look at the many Japanese OEMs that use Endo the majority use Forged VL Titanium as a face material in drivers it must be for good reason. That's a give away that the driver was made at Endo, also nothing is really CNC milled, It's all pressed or laser engraved. You will often here the term Chemical milling or recently the use of alpha gels, those are just few of the many things that only Endo does. Of course materials pass J.I.S standards which is a plus. The brands that are pushing the envelope have to go to Endo, Callaway Imo has some of the best golf technology in the world and for their top models only Endo can deliver, TourStage and Yamaha have shapes behind the forged faces that enhance forgiveness and those are the types of things only Endo can do, or like the face milling we are now starting to see in the ONOFF Forged, Yammys, and the SYD Bolds, only endo can do that right now and those little things done properly and with insanely tight tolerence make for something very special. I do think finish, QC, everything else is easily #1 as well. Thats my take.

Much of Endo's Manufacturing is done in Thailand but not these FH1000 irons. There is always a difference when it comes to Endo.

There have been many forged fourteen irons, some at endo and some in china. These were forged in China.

What's really interesting is that in Feb at the golf show they told us these were cast like the TB-1000 and these actual photos are supposed to be of the soft casting version. But when the official information came out it said Forged of S25C.

Played again today and thanks to this club I'm able to hit Par 5's in two on a more frequent basis than before. It's for sure longer than anything else i've tried in some time, I just wish it were a little more shallow and forgiving.

Yes along the lines of the 705M I would say. It's just a bit different is subtle shaping and a little more but I think they are be similar in most ways. Stew I think the 909MB is softer than previous blades from TourStage or that could just be in my head but its for sure softer than the MC and maybe even the CB. Your right about the clicky I could get used to it.

Sorry can't reveal all the pictures just yet...