TourSpecGolfer

I never thought of Baselius that way, my take was they never took off. AAA is great though. Many of these designers in Japan are often not business or marketing savy people they are eclectic and interesting for sure often making for passion or hobby and following the beat of their own drum regardless of money or logic. Its not the easiest thing to deal with.

Full write up in the blog, photos right here:

Just my 2 cents but we have to remember there are not many equipment brands in the USA (outside of putters) period so we will hear less of these stories. There is no golf manufacturing base in the states so for a smaller company or designer having the resources to create clubs just doesn't exist, this goes for woods, irons, wedges the USA has little manufacturing capabilities. Then take a look at Japan and even my experience here, I can catch a train anywhere meet with factories, meet with finishers, meet with companies that simply test CG locations in drivers, meet with agents from factories both in Japan, Taiwan and China and establish a network of accounts without having to do nearly as much. This is the big difference. If you count the amount of boutique driver brands in Japan it's unreal, boutique equipment brands period, the amount of shaft options etc.. It's like our food situation or shopping situation in the states, you see the same stores in the same malls and the same foods and companies in the same grocery stores, powerful brands take over in the USA and squeeze the small guys off the rack, then go to Japan and see every town and city and shop has something special and unique they are known for. Much more contrast and selection. Take Blades for example, open face drivers, XXX flex shafts, the actual people who make the worlds best shafts, you would figure those types of things should all be more abundant in the states, they are not. Japan has more of everything, Brands, CB's, Irons, Drivers, Wedges, etc.. etc.. Nearly nothing is handmade or forged in the big box USA golf shops now days it's all mass processed like our foods. Same with our malls we go to Best Buy for electronics, compare that to Akihabara the difference is huge, similar products in multiple iterations with key differences for different types of consumers. Noodles, Beef, Water, we can take this a thousand ways. Yes it can be seen as saturation especially in Golf as the Japanese market get's smaller as younger people are not taking up the game, but we can also see it as more options. Walk into a grocery store in Japan and compare it to our Ralphs or Walmarts and you will see how big boys take over in the states and squeeze out the passionate smaller producers. It's not easy to establish a brand in the USA like PXG has, it takes a bang and tons of cash. They are likely not profitable spending millions on the players with such low volume due to the high price point. Another thing is their expansion has come at a cost, PXG price lists are constantly forwarded to me for heads only coming from S.E Asia well before they had accounts established there. So with growth came uncontrollable headaches. Establishing a brand in the USA is very different, golfers don't pick up on boutique, craftsmanship, and the personal story like they do in Asia. The flashy brand name advertising and endorsements take the cake and just spending habits are different. For example at private courses in the USA I see many bags of they same ol stuff, TM, Cally, Nike, and lots of really old beaters even from very wealthy members at private courses. In Asia and Europe the quality of clubs on the range are on a different level, I've seen a lot of full Honma Beres bags in public courses in Italy and across Europe but in Japan and parts of Asia the diversity of clubs in the bags of players is a lot of fun to see, I see the same brands we are so excited about here on TSG in the bags of many. As for Technology, Big box Japan always rules imo. Main reason is price point. Because retail prices are higher we see the newest stuff in Japan first, even if it's fluff. They push the boundaries and I think PRGR, TourStage, and others are good examples of it. Truth is with USGA/R&A restrictions all this "tech" can't do much anyways. So we pick our favorite flavor ice cream and tinker and with changing heads with different launch, spin rates and mating things to some great shafts the gains are much more than those restrictive cavity soles, channels behind the faces, multi adjustable hosels etc.. again just me 2 pennys worth.

I would love to but MPB has been waiting many weeks for this one and I would not want him to wait a moment longer, will have tracking today.

Again the door is open if he wants to clear the air. It doesnt take much to reply. The choice is his. Lets keep this thread on topic.

I'm not sure if it's left or let go but as such is business. The original graphic artist for Crazy was Masaaki Fukushi who went to TRPX and now is with COA hence why they all look so similar in that gothic design. I think the winner of the whole mess is LOOP as they walked with none of the BS and the true main actors Takahashi and Hashimoto they also have stable leader at the helm of the co. My 2 cents: Shaft Design - LOOP Materials - Crazy TRPX - I have their new shafts but their future is uncertain, I went to their HQ last month and it's less passionate enthusiast and more investor driven. They could never explain their shaft designs clearly to me. COA - Only time will tell but that is horrible branding. Can't get a straight answer on the shaft designs. We do offer custom fitting form services with LOOP & Crazy that just started which makes shaft selection a bit more certain for the customer, it's similar to the 7D form but we send it to the factory manager at both brands for their recommendation then follow up with our own to help the customer make a decision. What I like about this is I'm starting to see the fittings step away from flex and more toward shaft profile. For example based on my SS I should be playing the LOOP HD in Stiff. But because I require anti right they put me into a LOOP BW in SX. I tried both and experimented the same way with Crazy learning it's ok to step away from our normal flex in exchange for a proper shaft profile. LOOP Forms are analyzed by Takahashi-san & the owner of the co for TSG. Crazy Forms are analyzed by professional golfer Taka over at Crazy

Same here, Ive known him for 15 years and like him personally but stay away from his equipment ventures now days. He is not with GS anymore and just a designer at GTD, he is doing very well as a swing coach for female pros and amatuer players.

Yes I removed those remarks immediately, off topic swipes at TSG basically. This thread is about MPB's beautiful putter and any questions about GF, blanks, process and anything related. My door is always open, so when Robbie is ready to communicate his frustrations with me privately and settle them all is well, I have reached out.

Im trying to sort things with Robbie, Unfortunately I suspended him for posting some antagonizing remarks. Hopefully he responds to my olive branch and we can clear the air.

Your right this is essentially a mini driver, the only way Endo can build a FW, Its expensive to make and thats why other companies dont produce FWs with them. There are many forged cup face FWs and DAT55G fairway woods with titanium or stainless bodies. I personally prefer all stainless or full titanium which is the cheapest but seems to feel the best in a FW with the most predictable results. Right now I favor the Modart, Crazy Full Titan, A-Grind DST/Original and Jbeam TF-FW. I notice Ti heads are longer than the stainless heads but I dont buy 3 woods for distance or the tee box and seek strictly clean contact, straight repeated shots, feel and appearance.

Yes they shouldnt be played over 98-100mph tops, the conforming is SP700 while non conforming is DAT55"G". ( dont buy non G Im told ). But TSG has finally collaborated and is nearing completion with a company to offer very high quality driver face shaves, re score lineing, face refinishing back to black or silver and laser logo faces. Turning conforming drivers into High COR done in Japan. Will announce in weeks.

Abe formerly of crazy and trpx left or was let go and started this brand with an investor focused on gaudy apparel. He asked Jbeam to produce a driver for them, Jbeam is not connected to them in any way. This driver appears to be very similar to the glorious. Everyone wants Jbeam to co-produce with them because their heads simply work. Abe-san, contacted us several weeks ago for help and I agreed to take photos and let the members decide. I agree this name and the entire brand image is a wreck. Speaking of wrecks...lol George Spirits reached out again to us to re-establish a business relationship, I will take photos of their recent driver and new irons and let our customers dictate their fate on TSG.

Considering you hit your 3 wood 296 off the deck you are in the less than 0.5% minority of golfers. Your a beast! We have to consider that most golfers dont hit a 3 wood 200 yards or even hit a 15* to its actual loft due to bad contact and should be playing a 5 wood in place of the 3. You sir are the exception. This fairway wood is built like a mini driver which is awesome but the S-Yard XV is not made by Endo and is very different in shape, design, construction and material, made by OTA. AF-205 they took the old mold, straightend the face and lowered the rear and adjusted the specs which must have made the difference for you. I can tell you that Epon or not due to the face depth and shape many of our customers would struggle getting it up consistently with clean contact compared against something like a Maruman Shuttle or many others. If you can hit this design 296 you should be able to hit many woods even longer because there is no technology that I see it has that makes it superior especially against the Ryoma. I think you just found the perfect head for your characteristics combined with this shaft. Your right that upright lies make clubs easier to hit but this is for most players and many on tour, its not a better or worse player thing its a swing / body type thing. Hosel reeming may help if you require flatter lies in the future.

Many shops in Japan are saying distance and forgiveness is better than AF-503 but setup is much less clunky.

Non Conforming Version is coming out soon!

Thanks for the pics! face looks deep for the average player. what weight/flex EVO II did you like?

That I can say is Kitada for all current models.

From where would you start? Love the shirashu in Kamakura!

They do not sell putters under their own name. You guys would not recognize the name. They do make putters for other Japanese brands That's all I will say...zip.

For a long time Kitada made the GF blanks, but in recent years Kitada has reduced his workload and only serves 4-5 brands today. Gold's switched to another factory using the same designs. The newport 2 style was a Kitada creation, the GF00A is Sasaya's own design. I'd love to out the manufacture as they are solid and make other fine brands putters but Sasaya is a close friend of mine and would prefer I not so I respect that.

Same prodcut as Japan. XXIO makes very good performing clubs for the slower swinger or high handicap player. For years they were considered the benchmark that their competitors aspired to beat.

I've asked the meister he says not for the public knowledge.

Yes but Im not allowed to say.

If you already thought Kitada made his blank heads why are you surprised? With this logic, based on who makes the club the brand should be named after the factory? Recent Yamadas are not made by Yamada, past ones not fully. So where do we draw the line? we dont...

thats correct, manual milling, hand milling.