TourSpecGolfer

So yesterday I played my 3rd round with the Personals. Keep in mind I'm a 12 hcp and I shouldn't be playing muscle backs. Tested: 3-PW Epon Personals w/ KBS Tour Shafts in Stiff Flex. Custom Lie 1.5* flat. Standard Length & Grips. Round 1: The first 6-9 holes were pretty bad for me. I had a handfull of shots toward the heel that would skirt the ball low and slicing, the feel was still pretty nice for mis**ts not damaging to my hands like I have had with other blades and players CB's in the past. By the turn some pretty amazing shots surfaced and I started to dial them in and by the end of the round things were peachy. I was hitting them better and more accurately than my ONOFF Forged irons but I quickly wrote it off as the honeymoon period. Round 2: From hole 1 - 18 these delivered. That was fast! It usually takes me several rounds to dial anything new in. This is where I started to get that these are special indeed. First thing that stood out is just how amazing these feel. It's so pure. I had the AF-Tours in the past and dont remember them feeling this pure. Anyone who has both please chime in. AFTours are a bit more meaty and longer heel to toe but I don't recall them being this forgiving. Maybe I'm just hitting it well now days. The setup is nice not a butter knife but I prefer that. It inspires confidence. Round 3: I put the 3 & 4 irons in the bag because I was hitting the #5 extremely well. I'm back to 3-PW and boy do these feel pure. IMO these are in a class of it's own. I was expecting an increase in score without my beloved UT's but that was not the case. The short irons setup perfectly. The shape is second to none and they are very forgiving as far as blades go. I said it once and I'll say it again that Epon has the best two MB's on the market in the Personals & AF-Tours.

Wish you could have taken pictures, I'm fascinated by how fakes are getting hard to identify.

Like wise, I'm gaming a Ryoma Special Tune 10.5 w/ CB46. Mine is at 45" and I'm loving it!

Man that CB is a 12 year old open model head. The blade well there have been many variations of it used by a variety of different companies. These are made by Kyoei and they basically have stamped their logo on a pre made design.

All blades have offset. Even KZG's zero offset blades have offset. I think the question is why would any golf company hinder performance by not having any offset. It's part of the design of a golf club.

Looks poorly done.

Just about everything can be faked now days and extremely well. Often the shape is a dead give away, Fake Ryoma's too.

44.5 is the shortest I would ever consider. I stick to 45" usually. It depends on how center you hit it as well. If you miss center often shorter will serve you. If your like Xerobound (Tatsuro) u can go beyond 46 and still hit the center all day. Shaft design also plays a factor as well. Some of the crazys feel better and perform better a bit long by design. Lastly what course your up against is something that should be factored in. Is it wide open with few placement requirements or is it narrow and tricky. I know without doubt a 46" shaft feels better kick wise and is longer but I do value accuracy so I tend to split it down the middle with a reliable 45".

I don't either but I couldn't resist. I'm at a 12 now trying to get to a 9. My plan is to play the personals until my 2012 VG3's arrive then switch to those.

I really love the Patek 5960p.

Epon is sold out of Blue, I think there is only one more red & black in Niigata Japan HQ.

Isn't she purdy? The new 2012 Epon Personal Muscle Back Irons. Had a set built with KBS shafts 1.5* flat for me. It's design is second to none. This can't be done with CNC and only one factory can produce these types of designs ENDO. It features 3 different finishing techniques. brushed satin on the face and sole, a textured bead blast on the 2nd tier and mirror chrome on the top and lower tier. I have 1 round in her so far its deliciously soft yet not mushy. Just a hair less forgiving than the AF-Tour and a bit more compact as well. These are the best blades I have ever seen or laid my hands on. I think Epon has the best two blades on the market.

If you provide specific info about your game and curret setup we could help you narrow it down better.

You've got balls C! Unfortunately the big E won't do custom finishes on these. I wanted custom satin and in 5-PW but for these you can only get the standard finish. I could ask a factory in Himeji to strip the plating then add copper and finally satin but that center channel wouldn't be smooth unless it was ground down a bit and they could not guarantee it would be smooth without that grinding.

MOFO is collaboration #2 already.

Lots of good points here, I think the safest way to handle this is to simply switch the name. How's Stealth? Oh wait those things have caused death too. Let's do this, the person who comes up with the name we use in the final will get a free one. The only requirement is the shaft graphics remain the same. Everyone happy? There are already 5 kamikaze prototypes which of course I'm not going to destroy so those will go up for auction at a future time.

So here is where were at: The majority likes it. The outspoken minority feels its emotionally charged and for an understandable reason. We know the Japanese are fine with it as they know what it actually means. Interesting that age is playing a factor in this as well, our younger clients are saying dont you dare cancel it! while some of the older gents are a bit offended. Again I'm not attached, If it's scraped it only makes the 5 prototypes even more desired.

Actually the Japanese love it. Do you think crazy would allow this otherwise. It's designed by a full blooded nihon-gin who resides in hawaii It literally means god of wind and Divine wind. it's meaning is a source of pride and history for the Japanese. My inbox has 11 supporting and interested and only 1 who doesn't and I thank him for his opinion but its simply a CHOICE of graphics on a golf shaft. My take is get over it there are far more offensive things going on in this world than this. I'm not attached to this design in particular, I play a CB-46 not Royal Deco. I can kill this off now maybe, put it to a vote, or just let it be. Let me ask you this, if someone designed a putter that said "Allah-o-Akbar" - "god is great" in Arabic would anyone be offended?

I was never one to shy away from controversy. The stealth fighter and rising sun also adds fuel to that fire doesn't it. It was designed by the infamous Jumbo Karakuchi. The Kamikaze will be a special shaft graphic for the Royal Decoration available as an upgrade option. We're selecting our favorite Crazy shafts and kicking it up a notch. If its not for you great stick with the standard graphics. You guys will love what we have coming next... Or not ;o)

Thanks for your comments but were sticking with this name guys. These are just custom graphics we "might" be offering in the future.

Kamikaze means "divine wind" and it's actually from the 13th century. A huge Mongol army (sent by Genghis Khan) attempted to land in Japan and invade it. The Japanese fought back and managed to prevent a serious landing, but the Mongol fleet was still moored offshore waiting to launch a new attack. A great storm blew up and many Mongol ships were sunk. There weren't enough troops left for an invasion and the survivors retreated back to mainland Asia. The storm was seen as divine intervention - divine wind - Kamikaze.

This was actually a topic of conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with a known wedge designer. Their opinion was in deeper bunkers with softer sand like what pros play and better maintained courses feature, a grind like the K is actually a hindrance while in harder more shallow sand bunkers its a works very well. Most courses stateside have shallower bunkers with harder more compacted sand due to rain or lack of new sand in the bunker. The K-grind works well because it helps the player get under the ball easier AND reduces drag in the sand meaning you can be more confident in going after it which should equate to less thin shots and a better result and if your shot is a bit fat it glides through much easier, BUT when the sand is deep and soft the shot becomes fatter and digs deeper creating a less desired result which is often short. So in the end it's give and take. I agree with that assessment and perhaps you can give that a test. deep & soft vs shallow & compacted sand.

I would love to see what Crazy shaft they would play myself.

I'm sporting a brit. It was this or a stainless daytona, everyone told me go with the daytona but I wanted modern. Watch snobs hate the bezel but that was the main reason why I bought it. It came with a stainless strap but later I swapped it out for the black alligator band like below.

They were tainted by Basileus shafts..ha ha but yea we had a full testing on the trackman and should have gone with Crazy's or Tour AD's. I'm not selling my ZERO just yet. I'm stuck on the Ryoma Special Tune yet the Epon is like crack and has me hooked. Not the best club for my score but the word that sums it up is purity.