jacksonlui

thanks for putting up these articles!! I'm surprised the FT-iQ didn't do better, I was expecting good things for this driver. indharbor, the FT-IQ is suppose to be very forgiving on off center hits and easy to setup due to the square design...have you experienced this compared to your older Epons?

i love the finish on the face, it's like the faces on the Miura and many TM TP irons...what finish is that called? That's one complaint I have on the 901. These type of finishes on the face is much more durable but someone had said that it's not as flat? I don't know but it's sweet looking.

yes, that's the NA TE 2008 model. I use to own the LE blades and they were a tad smaller but a little more solid and went a little further, but loss a little more distance on off centered hits than the regular NA TE blades. In another words, the TE is more forgiving distance wise but the LE is more solid. I would just buy the Epon and Tourstage and do your own comparison. The resale value might not be too bad, don't know. That's the ONLY way to compare, not by reading. Otherwise, just close your eyes and pick one, they both are great. It's not an easy choice unfortunately. I just think the 901 looks better and has more technology and is a limited edition. I'm sure the 901 will probably feel more solid, still not crazy about the shiny chrome.

thanks for the tip. i have 5 full bags so far so i'm just an all around ho and i'm not really proud of it. i think it's hurting my score because i can't settle on something...but it's so much fun. i've been spending so much time trying this and that I've forgotten all about changing my spikes. It's been two seasons and they are worn down....something so simple that can help your game... I have the David Whitlam ETBW Devon...really nice putter...shafted with a UST filter shaft and some backweighting. It's a really nice putter just haven't gone back to it yet since trying others... you're right that I need to stick to a putter...hopefully the GT1 is it.

unlike most, I didn't like the Premium Zone at all. The feel of the ball of the face of the premium zone felt dead to me. The stock GF felt much better and more lively. The Whitlam putter was even more lively and so far the GT1 is a good balance of lively and solid, it really provides me with great feedback. The spider is a little more muted and soft but keeps the ball tracking really well. I felt a smiliar thing with the GT1. Don't get me wrong, I made some nice putts with the GF, it's still a great putter and much better than most that I've tried. I'm going to put it up for sale soon so I can start thinning my collection.

the club feels fine so it doesn't matter where it's forged as long as they ensure they keep tabs on the quality. many oems have their components manufactured from China and then assembled in the US as a means for cost savings. I'm okay with it as long as the quality control is up to par. However, if I spend top dollars on something like Tourstage, Epon, or Miura...I expect everything to be done in Japan. It's like buying a BMW with an American transmission that was built in France. The transmission in the '99 3-series was the case, it pissed me off when I had to shell out $5K to replace it.

it's in the pro shop

hi Guys, I was lucky enough to add this putter to my collection and had wanted to give everyone a review: I'm a poor putter on the course due to a variety of reasons but I'm pretty darn good on my big moss. I've been switching back and forth between the Gold's and the spider. The spider is indeed ugly but nothing has placed a better roll on a ball... I never really had any urge to buy a George Spirits putter, it looks like any other ordinary anser. When I first laid eyes on this putter and it's fit and finish...let me tell you this is indeed top quality. Very nice lines and a very nice finish. The bottom part of the putter is glossy while the top part is matte. The putter head itself seems very meaty. The head seems small and the body of the putter seems very muscular. Kind of like a sports car where the body is wide and sits low to the ground. It gave me this impression. The head looks smaller than my other putters but I think it's only an illusion from the meaty disposition. So enough of how it looks, it looks great and frames the ball very nicely. The millings on the face is substantial and deeper than the Gauge and GF putters. Not quite as deep as a Rife or Yes but a good median. The grip itself feels like an iomic. It may be a mid sized since it feels a little thick. George Spirits is engraved deeply into the grip with big block letters. This is the first I've seen and I like it. Very bold and in your face and also provides a nice texture when you grip the putter. The grip itseld is very chiseled in a way that the flat part is very flat and the round or 'D' part is very round. I like the grip a lot. The club itself is very balanced and weight is pretty good. The total weight probably could be a little higher. Starting the swing back was nice and smooth, i didn't have to steer it or felt like it was unstable. At impact and the follow through, the putter itself was also stable. I credit this towards a good balanced putter with good total weight. To sum it up, this putter is easy to put with and allows you to create a smooth confident stroke. This putter puts a real nice roll on the ball, as good if not better than the Gold's. I still feel the spider puts a better roll on the ball but this looks a whole lot better, takes a lot less space in the bag, and you have many more cover choices. Distance control was very good and the sound at impact was soft. Not quite as soft as my Gold's private stock #2 but soft enough, I don't like it too soft. It has a nice sound at impact and something I prefer. So far, I prefer this over my Gold's Private Stock #2 but the jury is still out till I get a few rounds in. I have no way to compare this against a pimped out GF. So is this putter worth $400 clams, we'll have to wait and see. ..spent some time on the putting green today and this is one solid putter. i like the fact that when I sole it, it doesn't twist. I can soil the putter and position my body around. It was rolling further than I'm use to so I need to dial in the distance. Puts a very nice roll on the ball and looks beautiful with my Rebecca Bonbon ComoCome putter cover.

yeah, please let us know where the VR is forged. it's as good as the old Nike forged blades, they were solid as well. just not forgiving.. i'm pretty sure the 901's and Epons would be more forgiving than the VR's.

added to my post above on my range session

I've been waiting for a long time for my 901 blades to arrive. I knew USPS would be out shipping today and with my luck, I missed the doorbell. Being such a dedicated skank club ho that I am, I drove for about an hour tracking down the truck. If I succeed, I will be hitting these today, if not I will be hitting them on Tuesday..nuff said. I was able to track the truck down and did a routine skid - turn - block...the only thing I didn't have was sirens flashing. I think I might have startled the driver thinking it was a hold up. In a way it was... Now that I have "them", I can't wait to take some pictures and share my thoughts with everyone on TSG. I only hit these into the net and took some measurements with the Vector launch monitor. Many of you are interested in comparing this to the Miura blade so here goes: Comparing the 901 to the Miura TE 2008 hitting into a net (7 iron): club 1: Tourstage 901 NSPRO950 Stiff (D1) club 2: Miura TE 2008 Tour Flighted Rifle 6.0 (D2) Physical attributes and opinions ================================ The 901 has a slightly: - larger top line mainly because it's not rounded off like the Miura. - larger sole - more of a blunted edge - larger face - more offset - shorter hosel (0.25 inches) - less dense feel at impact - better look at address - better overall look - more advanced technology built into the head The 901 still feels great and feels like a blade. I think some of this difference has to do with the different shafts. The Miura was very dense and the 901 was very soft and hollow. It's hard to describe this feel, you can definitely tell which was was forged by Miura or Epon. I like the way the 901 sets up at address a little bit better. All the little differences are insignificant in my opinion. Overall the 901 wins hands down in the looks department and the setup department, I will have to give it to Miura on the feel, with the 901 very very close behind. Feel is so subjective and can vary with shafts and the way you impact the ball...so take my opinion of feel as only my own. The 901 is very balanced and easy to swing. The 950 shaft might be a bit light for me but I'm going to stick with it for a while to see how well they perform before throwing in the KBS Tour 5.5 or the Tour Concept S300 or the 1150. The quality of assembly is premium as expected. The ferrules are nice, perfect and no glue is present. The packaging from Bridgestone is superb the heads and grips are individually wrapped. Forgiveness I took 5 shots with each club and noted how far from the sweetspot at impact, then compared the same "mis**t": 901 Miura Shot#1 = Thin (centered thin hit, 0.5 inches below sweetspot) BallSpeed = 100.0 98.0 Carry = 139.3 138.1 Total = 145.2 145.2 Shot#2 = Heel (centered heel hit, 0.5 inches right of sweetspot) BallSpeed = 101.4 99.3 Carry = 143.0 143.0 Total = 148.0 149.8 Shot#3 = Center BallSpeed = 103.5 101.2 Carry = 149.4 144.4 Total = 156.0 150.2 Shot#4 = Toe (centered toe hit, 0.25 inches left of sweetspot) BallSpeed = 101.7 101.9 Carry = 150.7 149.6 Total = 159.1 157.2 Shot#5 = High (centered high hit, 0.15 inches above sweetspot) BallSpeed = 101.1 98.3 Carry = 149.9 139.5 Total = 158.3 145.8 Summary: Center and Toe hits seems to perform the best on both clubs while heel and thin shots are penalized. High hits seemed better on the 901 than the Miura. You are penalized 5% in distance for heel hits and 7% on thin hits that are 0.5 inches away on the 901. I only have the consistency of a midcapper so just use these numbers as reference. If only I can swing at the same swingspeed everytime, like a robot, these numbers would mean a lot more. Most of my misses are thin so this is a concern. It's also interesting how I get better performance from toe hits and I hardly hit on the toe. The ball speed didn't change but both carry and roll is better, maybe I need to start learning to hit off the toe. On average, here are the numbers: 901 Miura carry = 146.5 142.8 roll = 6.9 7.0 offline = 0.5 7.3 ballspeed = 101.5 99.3 swingspeed= 75.1 73.5 As you can see from the numbers, the 901 setup is better for my misses while I tend to push the Miura setup due to a stiffer shaft. I might perform better in the Miura if I put in a softer shaft. I gained 2mph with the lighter shaft on the 901 without greater dispersion. I'll have to post a review after I get some course time and there will be much less data to comb through instead I'll just share my experiences. So far nothing puts the 901 far ahead of the Miura except in the looks department. The Miura is one of the best if not the best blade out there. The initial impressions put the 901 amongst the best right next to the Miura. Too bad the 901 doesn't have the shiny sandblasted face like the Miura, I think it's much more durable. The dark grey finish just marks up too easily. ...and a few hours later after some range time.... so I took a trip to the grass range today to see how they would feel through some turf and trajectory. the sound was a little better outdoors but still doesn't have the dense feel of the Miuras, maybe a better word to describe it is light and smooth. Kinda like the way i like my coffee, light, smooth, and sweet =) No problems through the turf, in fact, I had several nice looking strips of divots..should have brought my camera. Somehow with this setup, I am able to take deeper divots which is a good thing. The trajectory was surprisingly low especially with these NS950 stiff shafts. I usually hit pretty high balls. I did however start moving my ball further back in the stance (middle to left of middle) and I use to play one ball position up front. This may explain the deeper divots and lower trajectory. Nevertheless, the trajectory was "strong". Most of my misses was small pulls but definitely playable. So far I'm happy with my purchase and I'm looking forward to hitting the links next week. Jack

how did the 901 compare to the Nike VR forged blades? i like the way those look and they are cheaper

If the 901 has been knocked for it's forgiveness, how did they come to that conclusion and what did they compared that to? forgiveness is just so subjective and is a term that's been used so loosely. there are so many factors that provide forgiveness and the lack thereof, it would also depends on who's reviewing it, etc.. Unless it's done by robot testing, I just wouldn't take anyone's review on forgiveness as fact, although it can be useful as one data point. Is the forgiveness because the club is not balanced for you and you can't hit the sweetspot causing distance loss? you can't hit the sweetspot because the swing weight is not for you, the shaft is too light and you have lack of control, you don't like the grip, the leading edge doesn't suit your angle of attack or turf condition, too long a shaft, the feedback isn't there, address position doesn't provide confidence? there are so many factors....hope i'm not just spouting off....i'll stop, it's just difficult to make an assessment when the term and information is so vague. it's like your employee coming to you saying that he has difficulty doing something because it's not working...you ask yourself..wtf..what's not working? Jack

give it a shot, you never know. i'm playing the miura TE's once again after going through many cavity backs. finally settled on the TypeS but I don't score any different with a blade and now it's hard going back to a cavity back. the feedback that you get is so addicting. you don't even have to look after you tee off. perhaps you can get a split set and practice with a blade. i definitely find a blade easier out of the rough..i spend a lot of time there because i can't find a driver that will work for my crappy driver swing, not even the EMB!

much better pictures than the spy shots. these look really nice. from these pics, it looks like the sole has a different finish. any further details on that? is it some sort of tungsten weight? it's interesting it's design to be forgiving enough for a low-mid cap. would be a tough choice between these and the 901's. really looking forward to some comparisons and more interested in performance.

i would like to see him review the 901 irons, driver, wedges. eventhough i don't know what he is saying, I enjoy watching his swing and hearing the sound of the club at impact, and also the expression off his face when he hits it.

thanks!!

hi I was wondering who that guy is and what is credentials are, the person doing the reviews. He's lucky, he gets to try all the good stuff !!

you need to put the UDM stuff in the UDM BST section, that way people can go to the right places to look for stuff

i can't wait for reviews on the 901s. i haven't really found any good reviews yet. hopefully mine will show up by Tuesday.

i tend to miss up and down the face rather than across so i prefer a deep faced driver, to me that look better. this driver looks like it was assimilated by the borg! so far i'm having a honeymoon period with my geotech and the emb is sitting in a closet.

can't provide feedback yet, won't get them till another week or two.

yeah, that is awesome. what ever happened to Paradiso? they made some nice bags too. i can't use tour bags because they keep falling over at the range.

thanks for the review 88, can you compare this in terms of feel and performance over the mb5003? does this mean that you are going to pickup a set of 901's? a snafu has hung up my 901's for another 3 weeks so i can't do a review.

wow, $35 smacks for a glove that I'll wear a hole through in one range session.