gocchin

Thanks I added the categorization! ^^

I scanned these all at identical resolutions from May's Choice magazine so they should all be in scale to each other. Good for a top line reference. Features some 2006 models and 2007 models up to March of this year with a few missing here and there like JPX E500 and Srixon WR... The irons are broken into 4 categories as you can see from the colors, mostly based upon lofts and iron design (and shaft influence): First category is irons with a focus on max distance and high trajectory - just hit it and it goes, high and far, strong lofts thicker top lines Second category is irons focusing on feel not distance... weaker lofts, more for feel, player not worried about max distance but has feel as a priority Third category is irons focused on playability and control - on impact you know where the ball is going, blade type irons are here Fourth category is irons focused on both distance and playability - irons go far with controlled trajectory and playability, all around type irons here. From left to right: TaylorMade R7 XR, TourStage ViQ 2006 (cast), Mizuno JPX E500 Ti-face Callway X-20, Nike CCi, Daiwa OnOff From left to right: XXIO 4th Gen PRGR is3 502, Yamaha Inpres X 460D, Yonex New NanoV From left to right: Wilson Tab Tc-1 Mizuno MX-25, Mizuno MP-60, TaylorMade R7 Draw From left to right: Titleist 735CM, Titleist 755, Titileist 660 Ben Hogan Apex Plus, Callaway X-Forged, Taylormade R7 Forged From left to right: Mizuno MP-67 Nike CCi Forged, Titleist 695MB, Mizuno MP-37 From left to right: Ping S58, TourStage X-Blade CB2, Srixon ZR-600 Miura MB5002, Honma Beres TW902, Royal Collection CV Blade From left to right: Ben Hogan Apex MacTec NV-nx, Callaway X-Tour, Daiwa OnOff Plus From left to right: TourStage ViQ Forged 2007, XXIO Forged, TourStage X-Blade GR Cobra UPi, Fourteen TC770 Forged, Yamaha Inpres X 425V

Visiting TSG and Chris is like this...

This sounds very odd. Is it a stock PRGR shaft on there? You should have no problems using any grip.

The weight helps stabilize any hits towards the toe. The face appears square to maybe a little closed. It is still easier to hit than the 5 wood I had. The XXIO has a shallower face and almost V like sole which so far has been good in any lie, also the shaft being shorter than even my 18* 5 wood makes hitting the sweet spot easier. XXIO specs claim that this club is good for 200-210 yards with 90mph driver SS. I'd be pretty happy with that. ^^ B, you should like the X-UT, as we discussed before, low trajectory and keeps the left side out of play. Hope it works out for you.

Srixon WR is bordering on Game improvement. From the above sets only the Yamaha is probably considered a Game improvement iron, even still it's forged, the G-Field and ViQ are as forgiving as game improvement but geared towards mid cappers. The epon and yururi are pretty darn thin... what do you consider thin??

Congrats B, Chris told me about your visit last night. Sounds like it was fun. He enjoyed his time with you for sure. Have fun with those new irons and you will be posting on the forum for sure to let us know how they play for you!

So far I'm very impressed with all these irons... I can't decide which to take on my next 18.... Yururi or Epon... The G-Field and ViQ's have already been out for a few rounds...

Well I've been struggling with hitting my woods. I have a steeper type swing geared towards iron play so I've always liked hybrids/utilites. I spoke to Chris a while back about getting an easy to hit utility wood with a lower loft and he suggested I try the the XXIO Utilities. I picked up the New XXIO U5 which is a 17* Utility coupled with a 41"XXIO shaft. While the head design is a beauty, I was a little concerned at first at how shallow the face was. After hitting a few balls with it my worries all but vanished. The design is superb and the shallow face makes it super forgiving and easy to get down under the ball. A super low center of gravity, plus weights towards the back, coupled with that shallow face makes balls rocket off the face and then fly on a mid trajectory with very good roll. Japanese stock shafts in utilities and woods are typically light weight and a bit on the soft side but the XXIO MP400 shaft worked well with good feel and even a little bit of kick. The shorter than a FW shaft length really helps striking accuracy as well and I was only losing maybe 10 yards off my G-Field 16* 4 wood, but the XXIO being a utility will be more versatile and easier to hit. As usual this club is typical XXIO quality. I've used Srixon in the past but since I was looking for more forgiveness, I've turned to XXIO in the last couple of months and boy their stuff is superb. If you're a mid to higher handicapper, or just need forgiving clubs to help you out, look no further than any of the XXIO clubs. This one's going in the bag. Now back to testing irons...

I left my ViQ's at my clubfitter so today's pics are just the other 4. For size comparisons, the ViQ has the biggest head and it's topline is about the same as the G-Field and Yamaha. Toplines on the Epon and Yururi are very close with the Yururi having the most compact head.

Carlo, both irons are superb and honestly you cannot go wrong with either. If game improvement and feel is what you want then you should choose the Type X iron. Very forgiving with great feel and does not setup like other game improvement irons which is a good thing. Reasonably thin topline and good sized head, you'll have a pretty good looking compact iron with game improvement type results, an iron you can play all the way down to scratch! (^_^)

They are out and now in the pro shop! Currently Japan only TP Fairways!! http://www.tourspecgolf.com/catalog/product-info-1335.html

I would be shocked if they were not .355 taper unless a previous owner had reamed them out for graphite.

I will add accuracy and performance at a later date which will in the end determine value. Performance measurement needs a bit more time playing. Playing from all different surfaces, it's actually been very dry here lately due to lack of rain. I take a small divot after the ball, medium deep. Will take all the leading edge, topline pics tomorrow!~

Come on you know you've already been tempted... The ViQ's are definitely great irons but after having all 5 together, visually they are definitely the biggest and the others really give them a run feel and forgiveness wise. After a few days, so far the breakdown is as follows: Feel: 1. Yururi 2. ViQ (tie) 2. Epon X (tie) 4. Yamaha 5. G-Field-1 Yururi has the most pure feel... no undercut. The Epon even with the undercut comes in just about even with the ViQ with no undercut, the advantage of Endo using the absolute best steel for Epon I think. Yamaha edges out the G-Field slightly. Forgiveness: 1. Epon X (tie) 1. G-Field CCB-1 (tie) 1. Yamaha (tie) 4. Yururi (tie) 4. ViQ (tie) The undercuts on the Epon, G-Field and Yamaha really help the ball go from virtually any spot on the iron face. amazing forgiveness on all three. The Yururi and ViQ were pretty even and not far behind the top three. The Yururi surprised me as I thought it's smaller sized head would give me trouble but not at all. Setup: 1. Yururi 2. Epon 3. Yamaha 4. G-Field 5. ViQ As you saw from the address pic above, the Yururi and it's compact head and thinner topline sets up absolutely beautiful. The Epon is not far behind... also amazing at setup. The Yamaha, G-Field and ViQ all are considerably bigger and thicker than those two, with the ViQ's being the largest. I did like the ViQ very much initially but after comparing it side by side with others, I may infact prefer a slightly smaller head. Sound: 1. Yururi 2. ViQ 3. Epon 4. Yamaha 5. G-Field The two irons with no undercut top the sound category as pure hits sound great, while the other three with undercuts have a more clicky sound at impact. Performance: Not enough time to determine yet....

Tried hitting the Yururi all over the face today and it was still very good feeling all around. It's the most pure of the bunch when hit flush for sure with no undercut. Off center hits towards the toe or heel still felt good, I was surprised because I thought those would be punishing. Compact wonderful setup. People who saw it today marveled at the design and looks. Even the face is almost satin like... ball impact didn't show up as much as I thought it would... should have used impact tape....

The Roddio's don't list CPM ratings because an authorized dealer can install any of the flexes to meet a certain range of CPM. Remember also, if you find sites that list CPM based on installations in Japan, many times they are using a different clamp from US spec measurements meaning the CPM can be off anywhere from 12-18CPM (higher).

All the good balls (JDM) were in my bag so I just grabbed a ball out of the junk pile to quickly snap that pic... (^_-) I wanted to add the JPX E500 to this test too but I only have so much money!!!

The MTI wedge from Cool Design is still a Tour Only wedge unavailable to the public. It's had strong tour presence since last season when many Tourstage and Srixon staffers began carrying them.

Hi rikisan, The reason why it's so soft is that the Q series from Mizuno were made of very soft SUS304... feel should be very nice. With the SUS304 putters I've always found the sweet spot to be a touch inside the sightline towards the heel. The small channel you see on the bottom is carbon type filling placed to promote balance. This is one very nice looking putter!

Ajay, The gekku is like a work of art, very nice looking iron, most compact head of the bunch, pure feel and at address no sign of the cavity at all. Not a super super thin top line but one of the thinner ones. Here's a quick pic:

Tourstage ViQ Forged 2007:

Here are the G-Field CCB-1's:

Here's the Forged Yamaha Inpres X 460 D:

I always do, not to worry, it's just night now so pics all together will have to wait until tomorrow... though I did take the Yamaha, ViQ's and CB-1's individually few days ago.... I will post those first...