master

I have a VIQ utility 22* with GD Tour AD UT85 regular flex. The club is in good condition. I can sell at US$200.

I toyed with the 50/56/60 set up for awhlie & found the gap between my P/46* & gap /50 too close. I mainly used 56* for all chippings & pitching, 60* for sand trap hence the usage of 60* was not often. I then switched to 52/58 combination & had a hard time adjusting to 58 for chipping & phitching & now switch back to 51/56. I am very comfortable with this set up & find my up & down stats back to where I was. So, if you are confidence with a set up , don't tinker it.

Hi Gocchin, Nice equipments you have. I envy you. How do you find the Yahama driver? I just bought the same driver this Sunday, 10* with factory installed Rombax 6X07 S flex, I haven't been on course with this driver but at the range, this driver is a bomb, very forgiving, soft when hit flushed, I'm not sure whether it was due to I'm getting use to the driver/shaft in my second outting at the range, or the shaft needs run-in, but last night I was hitting this bomb after bomb, my swing speed is around 45m/s & I have no difficulty hitting the driver/shaft & I feel the shaft has losen it a bit, like gradually accepting me, what a unique feeling.

I have a Srixon AD utility with GD UT85 R flex.

Chris may have better insights but I'm told by golf industry people in HK that G-Fields expanded too quickly, they tried to provide a large products range from driver to bag. G-fields is small in Japan & Tourspec is their largest source of customers thanks to Chris' work. Although most of the stuffs are made in China one still needs to place a minimum orders eg one hunderd bags per colour, not to mention the tooling & R& D costs. It's tough for a small golf manufacturer competes with the big OEM. Imagine how long it took for Royal Collection to become today's size & they are still not offering full range of products.

Gotenda closed down from Admiralty as well, don't know where they've moved.

Chris is right that JPX is softer than OnOff, but I just prefer a crisper feel than JPX. JPX club head is slightly bigger than OnOff.

In terms of feel, I prefer OnOff, but interms of forgiveness, JPX E500 edges out OnOff, so you really need to demo them all & find one what fits your game, also the thickness of the club, the leading edge, offsets etc all affect your perception of the club.

I've tried a 6 iron demo on course with NS Pro 850 R flex, quite forgiving, easy to hit, accurate, ball flight tends to go a little bit high, may be due to the shaft. Feel is crispy soft, not mushy, I would say the feel is in between Mizuno & Tourstage where Mizuno is the softest. I don't know where the iron is forged but the build quality is superb & is beautifully made. I've demoed this set of irons together with Srixon ZR600, Fourteen 770 forged , new VIQ forged & the Mizuno JPX E500. They are all excellent irons & not difficult to hit, the choice is more of a personal preference on a particular feel of the irons.

Tks Chris, would love to try it when it's available.

Has anyone heard of a wedge called MTI? It seems that from reading Golf Gear that this wedge is favoured by many Jpga pros but I've never seen it in Tokyo golf shops.

These are wonderful irons, soft but not mushy, accurate & beautifully made. I find them easy to use & quite forgiving & is my back up set when my game is not on.

This irons were also voted by Japan's Golf Gear mag's "King of the King" test as the best mid-size irons. I would love to try it if not my obsession for the Gold's Factory's flat back irons.

So far I'm happy with the putter & wedges I bought. Yes, the putter will rust if you don't look after it properly. The quality of the finished product is just top notch.

You are most welcome Gocchin, gold's products are Works of Art & you have to see it & play it to appreciate it. Every product is hand grind by Sasaya-san. I used to own Miura irons but feel that since they expand, they have lost that magic feel & their second hand value is way down in Japan. With Gold's, because of the product range & quantity is so limited, even in Japan you have to really look for it. I visit Japan average 6 times a year & have never found a second hand Gold's product in all the second hand shops, they are so rare.

It's about time that Gold's is being recognised by TSG. I have owned private stock #2 tour & 2 wedges 52* & 58*. The crastmanship is unreal, like other TSGers, I have owned The One, Balde, M2AL, numreous GAS wedges but they just can't compare to Gold"s, private stock tour is the exact putter currently used by several JPGA pros, the feel is very soft & direct, roll is top notch & impact is extremely stable. One can't ask for a better putter... until the next Gold's Factory. The wedge feels soft but not the Mizuno soft, very well balanced & have loads of spin. Downside of Gold's products are they are all expensive, you have to wait for a long time & one really needs to look after them. For private stock tour putter, you need to clean & oil it thoroughly otherwise it will rust, & it is so beautiful that you don't want to use it often. My next target will be a set of combo, 3 to 6 cavity back & 7 to P flat back with gold emblem, they are costly & have to wait for Sasaya san to do it slowly.

Try Jeep golf which is at the Ginza exit of Sinbashi station, very reasonable price, one of the cheapest in Tokyo. You can go to their website & find out the exact location. www.jypers.com. Happy shopping in Tokyo.

My wrists are hurting due to too much golfing with DGS200 shafts. Has anyone has any experience with the Tour AD or Axiv iron shafts. Tks.

Try Sinbashi, there are two golf shops near the JR station Ginza exit, the shops are just opposite each other. One shop is called Golf Partner, it sells used as well as new clubs. Another one is called Jeep, sell new equipments only. This shop is always packed & their price is probably the lowest in Tokyo for a majority of products. You will have fun there. Highly recommended.

I demo'd it in Hong Kong & the price is reasonable.

I have tried a demo 6 iron with M46 shaft on the range. The feel is fantastic, soft but not mushy, very forgiving & accurate, minimal offset. Build quality is first class. I'm using NC-1 at the moment & I much prefer the 900MD to the NC-1 because of the offset. I like the feel of the 900MD better so I'm trading it. Hope it helps.

I have hit the blue for about ten minutes on the range. It 's a 9.5 degree head with PRGR stock shaft, shaft flex is m46. The head is beautifully made & quality is first class. This driver goes long & have crisply soft feel , much better feel than the "Duo" models. What surprise me most is the forgiviness of this driver & you feel you are always in control. I haven't tried the black but reading from the Japanese magazine " Golf Gear ", the black is a bomb & hit the ball longer than the blue.

The Feb issue pf japan Golf Digest has an interesting long drive contest. The testers are 1) japan pro with club head speed of 50m/s, 2) a lady JLPGA pro with club head speed 40m/s & 3) amateur with club head speed 43m/s. Drivers specs are 9* or 9.5*. All together they hit 1,520 balls over a period of 27 hours at three different places. Two outdoor ranges at golf courses & one indoor range for recorging various data. Drivers are mainly divided into three categories, 1) high cor, 2) comply with USGA rules, 3) Japanese domestic components. The final results for the longest 8 drivers are: 1) YY Cyberstar Nanov/ 0.83 cor ( ave dist ) 280.1 yds 2) Yamaha inpres 350v/high cor 279.2 3) X-drive 405 HR /high cor 278.8 4) Team Yoshimura / high cor 272.9 5) XXIO / high cor 272.7 6) X-drive 405 /0.83 cor 271.9 7) PRGR TR-X Duo /high cor 271.7 8) Callaway X18 / high cor 270.8 It's interesting to note that the winner of this contest is by a .83 cor driver. Almost all majar Japanese manufacturers are preparing for 2008 by launching USGA compliance drivers in 2006. Next year will be a busy year in testing drivers. Wishing you all a properous 2006.

The Cv101 iron is already selling in limited quantity in Hong Kong & Thialand. The design is very similar to the SFI irons. I have bought a set, played several rounds with it & am not sure of it. My present set of irons is Gauge NC1 with NS Pro 1150 shafts. CV101 comes with NS Pro 950. The feel is crisply soft, with less feedback than the NC1, I haven't bothered to check the loft but this iron does hit far, so give me some problem in dialing in. It is quite forgiving but I feel not as forgiving as the NC1. Ball flight is a little high, this may due to the shafts rather than the iron itself. Finishing is first class & it is beautifully made. However, as a player irons?, I think the let down is the feel although I am coming from the perspective of a NC1 user (also owned MR23 CB, TS201, MP32, Miura CB 201), the feel is not hard but very similar to Miura, which is not my peference. It gives you less information than the NC1. I may need to give some more time to this set of irons befor deciding what to do with it.

I have the MR23 US spec CB & X'CB. To me, the X'CB are more forgiving than the US spec & the ball flight of X'CB is higher. I wonder anyone has tried the V300? I'm told this is a very forgiving set of irons.