gocchin

Shinichi, what kind of ball flight are you looking for and what drivers did you play in the past? I noticed you didn't consider the 460 or ViQ MX.

Had a set of i-506 and found the leading edge a bit sharp, feel and design were great, head is smaller than the New ViQ forged, the tourstage may have a slight edge in forgiviness and feel.

Daytime outdoor pics are nicer (^_^) I was surprised how compact the head is. I didn't think that way from pics but seeing it in real life is... wow~~!! And it is heavy! Though for an anser guy, the L takes getting used to.

Between 3 and 4 bills. (^_^)

Another option is to go with a Mach Line Proto 7080 Stiff.... that is a VERY balanced shaft with a low kick and and maybe even longer than the Axiv.

If you want to raise the ball flight you'll probably be looking at one of the Axiv's with low kick. A 6568L will have similar weight and torque to the PT-6 and with some nice kick.

Been looking for one for a while... finally got one for a great great price~!

Many of the Mach Line are built to load and unload symmetrically. There has been a lot of research put into them to make them balanced top performers. I too do not have a fast swing and excel with all the JDM shafts. Mach Line looks like the up and coming shaft of this year... gonna be lots of great things from them. Their presence on the Japanese tour is growing quickly as well.

Gosh people will never forget the carpet divot will they??? (^_-) Well it shows I'm hardcore right? \(^^)/ I really love playing golf and taking pics of golf gear these days... life is fun.... o(^^o)(o^^)o

It appears as if the short game is also my strength so I was wondering too whether I should bag a 60* as I found myself reaching for the 58* a lot this past Monday. I am not long so my Scratch 47* PW which is a real wedge, Epon X 52* and 58* makes me in fact have 3 real wedges. They were by far the most dependable and used clubs (scoring clubs afterall!). Anyone play a wedge with a loft even higher than 60*?

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Yamaha, especially coming from the Epon 460 which I think is the purest feeling driver around. The Yamaha is super forgiving and yes it is quite long. When hit flush on it actually sounds like the Epon, and yes very soft. I also love the design of the head, very high tech looking and the face is slightly closed which makes it easier for me to go straight. It's a great match with the Roddio. It was a great recommendation for me by Chris... (again)^^

Haha actually I'm currently retired. I was working when we last met downtown but now it's just golf. (^_^)

Everyone loves pics and it's a nice day outside so I took some! Here's the bag lineup I used yesterday (also added to first post):

Haha yes I guess it's a surprise to many that I just started last year. But I have a passion for the game... though my actual playing does not quite match my knowledge yet! As I said, a lot of what I have learned is from Chris and 4-5 Japanese golf magazines that I read every single month. Not to mention I spend countless hours surfing Japanese sites about gear. The rest goes to practicing golf and time with the wife, who luckily loves playing too (trust me that really helps!) I am always more than willing to help anyone here on the site with equipment choices and I hope that all my reading and learning comes to good use. I've always thought that the more info everyone has the better so I'm here to share! I plan on playing 2-3 rounds a week so hopefully I can give some good feedback, plus I not only spent the winter practicing indoors but also fiddling with a Vector Launch monitor just to understand ball flight and shaft characteristics. It's one thing reading about it in a magazine and then actually trying to replicate results on the monitor and in real life. I come from a technical computer background, so my love for gadgets and tech has naturally moved on to JDM gear, the most high tech and quality stuff there is in my opinion. Without TSG here, I would have never become what I am today golf-wise and Inpakuto probably would not exist... now to find some time to post on the blog would be nice. (^_^) Duffer, I'll be waiting for your return from HK. I've got another Epon on the way to me, a custom one Chris is helping me build which I cannot wait to try with the Roddio!

We probably haven't bid against each other unless you're bidding on Yahoo! Japan Auctions? (^_^) You have a very nice collection, especially the Gold's. I was going to grab number 5/5... (^_-) Here you go and he had some friends sitting with him in the living room:

Well, many of you may not know that I only started golf last July after falling in love with the game at a corporate Golf Day. I joined TSG in August and had mostly a Taylormade Bag at the time, by the time I full converted to JDM it was late fall and there was no golf left to play. The last two weeks, the weather finally got good here in Toronto, the first week I had a fever for 4 days then had to have a root canal. Finally today I got out for 18 holes to see if the winter of practice at the indoor range and lessons plus lots of new JDM equipment had paid off. Firstly I want to thank Chris here at TSG, not only is he a good friend and great guy, he knows everything about JDM equipment and is totally honest about it. He has helped me learn so much and when I wanted something that wasn't right for me he told me so without hesitation. He set me up with all my gear and helped me make choices on every piece of equipment. He and Jacque and TSG have made golf so fun for me. I have practiced hard and spend countless hours studying my many Japanese Golf Magazine subscriptions. And it helps to have a Japanese wife who I must thank for also being patient and understanding with this hobby of mine. Haha this is like a victory speech or something! So on to today. I was nervous the first hole as I had only hit the Roddio/Inpres X 460D at the range. I am not the best at driving the ball. I have always struggled with a slice and until I got the Axiv hit too many shafts that felt to0 boardy and stiff for me with no feel. I do not have a fast swing, so discovering JDM shafts is a blessing for me. Not only do they fit my swing profile the feel is amazing. The Roddio is so smooth and feel is superb. My clubfitter was part of our foursome today and he said the Roddio W5BA was loading and unloading perfectly for me. It felt great and honestly works amazingly with the Yamaha 460cc head which I am pleasantly surprised about. The driver is super forgiving, with it's closed face that helps me hit straighter and the shaft loads and kicks well with feel I honestly think is better than the Axiv. The roll is also fantastic. However, I was not hitting my woods well today. The drives on the first three holes were pretty good then my swing got funky. However the rest of my bag saved me. Because I wasn't driving the ball well the woods weren't doing so good either so I had to rely on my short game. Let me tell you this, My Epon Model X wedges saved me many times, in the sand, in the rough, I stuck many balls close to the pin. The wedges are unbelievably versatile. They worked for me in every condition. I also hit a few really good shots with my Scratch Inpakuto PW. It is just so soft like butter, I'm really happy I thought of getting a custom PW. My clubfitter has a 60* Scratch and he is telling me it's his fav club right now. Another club that really surprised me and saved me from the rough a few times was the Fourteen UT-106 that Chris recommended I get. He was dead on. I thought I preferred the wood style utility but this baby with an iron type face rocked!! When I hit it solid it was a pure bullet. Paired with a Tour AD UT-85 it is so easy to hit. It's like Blader-X said, when your equipment works so well and it all comes together for you, it just makes the game such a joy to play. After a few sand saves with the Epon and putting with my Gauge The One putter to make par, I was smiling from ear to ear. The ViQ forged were also very reliable and the Axiv shafts a big improvement for me because of my slow swingspeed, I basically had a great day with Utilities, Irons, Wedges and Putter. My failure with the woods was more my swing being off than the equipment (I was off the toe far too often with the driver). I did not even hit my Royal Collection CV Pro 18* 5 wood once because I just didn't feel confident with my woods, but my clubfitter borrowed it for one hole and ended up 220yards right next to the pin. So without a doubt all the equipment was awesome.... just need to practice more now. Anyway a productive first day and yeah I love my JDM bag!! Pics added below too:

Andry I think it's the 340g head based on it's total weight of 520g at 33" and the standard NS PRO shaft. I'm up to 16 putters.... more than half are Gauge/G-Field... more to come too. (^_^)

I've been buying up G-Field and Gauge Putters, for collecting purposes and for fun. I really do like their putters... grabbed three more from Japan! Before you ask, they're for me and not for sale. (^_^)

I'm glad J we made the right call NOT to tip the shaft. I was pretty confident looking at the specs it could handle your swing. Now I'm really happy it worked out for you!

Kent, the ViQ Forged with it's low CB and tungsten in the longer irons has a purer feel to it and really gets the ball up. Forgiveness wise they are close. But the MX-23 almost seems more clicky than the ViQ's. Almost identical offset. The ViQ's are longer for me by 5-10 yards but like you said, could be the shaft. Keep in mind we're talking about a new 2007 iron versus a model from two years ago, so you're getting newer tech and probably better quality. The JPX is definitely worth a go too... very good look and feeling iron as well... There are just too many awesome irons out there in my opinion!

That I like.... who doesn't like customization!

Those look so amazing... I'm not good enough to hit those!! But the black gloss is hot! What does the face look like?

A few users have been asking me about the 2007 ViQ Forged and a lot of the questions were directed at size of the heads... I looked in my closet to see if I could find a few comparable heads that people could relate to and took some pics. Closest head size, sole size, and topline are the RAC LT and MX-23's. Probably closest to the LT's. Here are the pics... All pics are MX-23 --- ViQ Forged --- RAC LT except for the last pics which are ViQ Forged-RAC LT sole and RAC LT-ViQ Forged topline. Please note topline pics are hard to compare because certain angles make one topline look thicker than the other. Also the RAC LT topline is more rounded while the ViQ is flat.

Here you go sir! http://www.tourspecgolf.com/catalog/product-info-1300.html

41/2 45/3 49/7 53/8 57/12 61/5 And yes.... you can do that tonight when they get added to the Pro Shop.