gocchin

Hi there, as I may have mentioned in my email. There is no ting or metallic sound with the AF-701 but a subtle click and it is not due to the asroll face which feels like its forged but rather caused by the undercut cavity. The JPX E500 Forged and the AF-701 are both great irons with the slight edge in ease of use and forgiveness going to the AF-701. The AF-701 and Type X have no similarities at all except they both use an undercut cavity which is also a different design on both. The AF-701 was a totally new design. The type X has been unavailable for a long time now.

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New year! May all of us bring our handicaps down!

The old 460D is the equivalent of the 4.6D and has a 1.0* closed face and is weighted for a draw. A very forgiving driver. Not quite the same feel as the newer Yamaha&s but was one of the best selling drivers during its release season.

Looks great J, I love the no paintfill e you should leave it that way!

Here are some other examples of Chris' great work... before and after:

I have not tried the new 4.6VRPM yet but compared to the 2008 model it has lower center of gravity but is designed to be lower spin for max carry and additional run. The head may actually seem more compact and pear shaped than the previous model and biggest change is the face design. The 2008 model used the X Inface design while the new drivers use the 3X Multiface design. What that equals is higher ball speeds, more forgiveness and feel.

That's what I said in the first post! (^_^) They are in fact using the same head as the Vega 50th anniversary CB not blade but ground, engraved/stamped and finished by Sasaya-san to the customers specs.

It looks like Sasaya-san will return with cavity backs and blades from Gold's for 2009. He's been working with Kyoei who he has a good relationship with and testing custom grinds and finishes on a head design that was used for Vega's 50th Anniversry iron which in itself was very limited. He is testing prototypes now... subtle grinding, different finishes and stampings for now:

The day they can adjust all specs for fairway metals including the lies will be a great one I tell you. You're not the only one wanting flatter lies on FW's which no OEM's really offer (in Japan Epon and Mizuno do but by 1 or 1.5* max). Length is usually okay, even face angle on some JDM woods can get up to 2* open. Loft is doable cause some manufacturers like Epon can just hand pick from the batch the closest loft to your specs. The issue is the lie especially with more and more woods being more upright these days as manufacturers lean towards upright as being more forgiving/better for pure impact (but as we know this doesn't work for everyone).

A, considering they are from niimi-san and his affiliation is with Endo I am guessing that they are from Endo, but then again I could be wrong and both C and C will know better. They are the classic blade design so every blade will look like that but differ in weight and and muscle thickness etc, things that are hard to see in pictures. For example not only the sole is different but so is the toe and the muscle groove is not as pronounced as the Vega. Nevertheless a great looking blade!

The 352S is definitely softer than the Cross Eight 401, though I don't think they are softer than the Cross Eight S201 which is considered a distance 2 piece ball. The S on the end of 352S actually stands for Soft Feeling. I liked it's all around performance and feel but didn't think it was as soft as the new 2008 Gran Z.

Golf Alba recently checked in with the top 10 Long Drivers from Japan to see what ball they were using and results were interesting: 1. 431Y Tourstage X-01 R4 2. 422Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 2. 422Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 4. 415Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 5. 411Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 6. 408Y Pinnacle Gold 7. 407Y Pinnacle Gold 8. 404Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 9. 403Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S 10. 397Y Mizuno Cross Eight Tour 352S I was very surprised to see that the Mizuno 352S was used by 7 out of 10 top Japan Long Drivers. This is a ball that I regularly use and have found to be real all round performer.... but I swing slow! They basically said this ball flies long and far with low spin and high ball speeds. Alba got a golfer who swung around 120mph to give it a test. He drove his usual ball the 4 piece Mizuno Cross Eight 401 308 yards then drove the Mizuno 352S 315 yards.

The only difference between the two models is loft. One has standard loft and the other is strong loft (4* stronger if I remember correctly 5i 28* vs 24*) They are very expensive at 165.00 per head retail. I can surely add them to the pro shop this week. As I mentioned above a very nice looking and feeling compact CB from Kyoei.

They were announced last month in Japan but won't be available retail until the new year. All the top Japanese Srixon Pros are playing them already including Stenson who is in the pic below with Nakajima and Hoshino. Both are three piece balls with the Z-Star being the slightly softer and more distance ball while the Z-Star X is slightly harder and geared towards faster swingers wanting control. I just watched the Srixon release video and the pros actually are raving about the feel and control.. a soft ball with great spin and touch around the greens. Steve Flesch is also playing them it seems as he gets interviewed in the video along with Stenson. I'll post the video on the blog.

Here are some pics Sasaya sent me: PZ Milling: Deep or Hard Milling, you can see the deeper grooves: Mid or Standard Milling, the typical Milled face: Sasaya didn't have a fine milled face on hand but he said it's pretty much milled perfectly flat and pretty much smooth.

Sorry for the delay folks. We've got the random winners here. Epon 5 Wood: gbs GS 56* Wedge: jnims29 Everyone else that entered in this contest gets their choice of Como!Come! Democrat Donkey or Republican Elephant limited cover. We do ask that you kindly chip in on shipping. (^_^) Please PM me with your personal details so I can make arrangements. Thanks to all who entered!

Good club makers are hard to find... especially ones that actually care about giving you the personal attention you need. Wish Goodsie was in Japan... (^_^)

As far as I know they are Japan only. But they do surprise me sometimes and release the bags later on outside Japan. Taylormade USA and Adidas USA are starting to catch on that the Japan market goods are awesome and are starting to allow some of the good stuff to leak to markets outside of Japan.

No similarities shaft wise. ONOFF is a brand belonging to Daiwa golf who produce their own graphite shafts (Roddio being one of them). Daiwa is in the graphite/carbon business and they also make very high end fishing rods. The new Plus iron does look very nice. Their irons have a lot of appeal in Japan, the plus and the red both are very forgiving and great performing for the audience they target.

It's also available in all black. They'll be in the pro shop this week so you'll be able to see them.

The Anser 2 is available in multiple headweights to start ranging from 340 go 360g without tungsten so Sasaya-san will reach your desired weight without a problem. Being a custom putter he will grind/machine as much or little as he has to, to make weight. (^_^)

There are other products in the works. (^_^) Our fellow lefties may be very happy this coming year too.

Great pics B and great feedback. Once again Yamaha has a winner with their tour model. It's in very big demand here in Japan and won't last long. Definitely report back once you get out on the course with these!

I don't have any close up pics of the millings but I asked Sasaya-san if he has some.

As C said it's pretty much a M401 Gold's Mallet made for DWD. DWD and Gold's Factory have a good relationship and Sasaya-san frequently makes DWD specifict putters using Gold's models. They are always limited in number so nice to have. That specific model is a 340g head with Teflon black finish. I may add weights but I'd keep the face the same because pz milling would wipe off that dragon and you don't want to do that. (^_^)