gocchin

It's a very good driver and honestly Romaro should get more attention than it does as their product line is so well rounded as a few here have found out. Based on premium component sales, I think Romaro is close to number one in Japan ahead of all other brands. It has taken a longer adoption rate perhaps outside of Japan but as people like yourself find out... more will join the fray! (^_^)

Rigged up a little soft box at home using my tablet as a light! The milling detail is very nice in this shot. You can not only see all the milled steeps and grooves around the back cavity but even how the back face is milled flat. A lot of detailed work.

Most likely similarly priced. I am trying very hard to get a tester!

Considering there is gold in it I think it looks pretty good. Look beyond the gold badge and the rest of the design is really nice. The target is the premium and older golfer who would go for high end Honma and Majesty.... in this case I think the Emperor looks better.

Just finished shooting some pics of the new Emperor forged iron from George. Its not typically the look I personally prefer but I can't help but admire the workmanship and CNC. Quite the beauty!

You are very welcome Jay, you have always been a pleasure to help. I will of course do a comparison.

Well we are trying our best to get them out as early as possible. For the GT Wedges, the topline is not thin but the head itself is quite compact.

Carlo is right, shorter the length, heavier the head. Longer the length lighter the head. Or swing weight would be reversed ie super high on the long lengths and ultra light on the short lengths...that said.... Stew also sent me his 1999 Matsumoto for refinishing... We brought the head weight up closer to 365g using orbit weights. Next Gen PZ milling to soften up the feel. He wanted blast art so we were able to make the blast art MATCH with the 1999 on the sole... it looks awesome. Sasaya-san touched up and refinished he whole putter so it looks like new!!! Here it is!! more pics too of Stew's two other refinishes...

Michael, we certainly would have liked them to ship right away. But we have no control unfortunately how S-Yard allocates their stock. And as I noted we got in towards the end of the first batch which is still trickling in. We did not find out until late last week that we would be pushed back to April. As Chris said if you don't want to wait we'd be happy to refund you as there are those on the second batch ready to move up to the first or we can switch you to something else (though I know you want these). (^_^)

According to golf pride Japan the niion are being discontinued. We have access to a few of each color only.

You might actually be one of the first ones since they already have your shafts sitting there.

We can get them. By bulk as well. 20 - 500 pieces if you would like. Come in yellow, orange, pink, green, white Putter grips as well.

To update everyone, when we first learned about the Bold wedge the first shipment allocated for JAPAN ONLY at launch was practically sold out. We got in right at the end of that batch and will be the last to be filled. The wedge has slowly begun trickling on the market here in Japan but with TSG orders being at the end of the line, they most likely will not start shipping till some time in April for us, especially with many of them being custom orders.

To update you all on the Ryoma Maxima, they are running into supply issues just as they did with the Special Tuning model. We have too keep in mind that Ryoma is a small company and demand for their drivers have always exceeded supply. We are trying everything we can to get the drivers early, but Ryoma has made it clear that the first priority goes to the domestic market here in Japan. They have already told me the V and G models are behind schedule for launch and only the shafted D model will be ready for end of April. In the mean time their promo video is up as well as new images. They have made design changes which I will translate and write up in the next few days.

Yup you guys figured it out!

The offset as you can see is not really noticeable at address. Feel on the Geotech is more crisp than the ONOFF which is more like a pop at impact whereas the Geotech is a crisp tink. I had a Baldo TT Prototype 21*, but the Getoech felt better, had a bigger sweet spot and out performed it overall. I am replacing it with a second Geotech. Hard to beat a nice UT like this for right around 200.00 shafted. Cherry Blossoms version....

Back in February we got the chance to get a sneak peak at Geotech's all new revised GT lineup. The GT line is Geotech's bread and butter and represents the best in performance and design and technology, all without breaking the bank. We've watched the GT line evolve over the years and with Geotech's metal wood manufacturing experience, get better with every new release. I had already been a firm believer of the GT line having bagged the GT N SWS FW and Utility in my bag last year. I was very excited to see the all new black GT lineup at the show and could not wait to get my hands on the clubs for some first hand testing. I typically do not hit a 5 iron in my bag (play strong lofts) so I was lo0king for something to fill that slot. I immediately thought of the new GT U-0379 so I contacted Geotech and ordered a 24* assembled for me right at the Geotech shop (while Geotech are components, any custom assembled clubs are built for the customer directly at Geotech). The U-0379 is a good looking club, and available in 4 lofts, 17 19 21 and 24* lofts. One thing that got my attention was the heavier heads of the GT utility. By going with heavier heads, it allows for each build to have a shorter club length. We see many utilities today over 40.00" in length and longer but with the heavy heads, the GT models come out a 1.00 to 1.50" shorter. Depending on shaft, this can also result in a heavier overall club build. There are a few reasons that this is good. The shorter length club results in more accurate ball striking and more consistency. This results in a good balanced between both distance and direction control/stability. My GT utility was built using the new GT/Fujikura collaboration ISOFIT shaft (71 grams but more on this later) and came out at 360g and D2 swing weight at 38.25". Compared with other 24* type utilities on the Japanese market we are looking at about 1.00" or more shorter plus 15-25g heavier. I can get too quick with the swing sometimes especially with a lighter club resulting in either pulls or hooks and topping shots (hitting them thin). I was very happy with this as the extra weight can help control my tempo and help me hit the sweet spot more often. As I've discussed on the blog before, maraging steel is a common alternative to titanium in fairway woods and utilities and even irons. Ti is pricier and not as strong when made very thin however maraging which has similar feel and performance to Ti is stronger and more durable and most importantly costs less. A few years ago most fairway woods and utilities were either stainless steel or Ti faces with stainless aimed at stronger players and faster swingers while Ti faced models were much more rare and premium and aimed at slower swingers or those desiring more distance. Maraging is much more common now and has found a place in between Ti and stainless steel. Geotech notes that the Custom 455 maraging face is not only thinner than stainless steel but more durable which results in less energy loss when you strike the face off center. Maraging has elastic characteristics similar to Ti which help increase ball speeds at impact. The face of the GT U-0379 is all black PVD as you see in the image above. It is mid height and slightly longer from heel to toe which help the average golfer who typically misses towards the toe or heel. The thinner face does result in a higher pitched impact sound but it is not loud by any means. The sound is crisp and pleasing. One of the new design features of the new GT series woods is the stepped sole you see in the image above. This multi level sole creates a V channel down the middle of the sole which helps reduce friction with the turf so that golfers can not only stay online to the ball but also not worry about losing swing speed due to contact with the ground. Like the previous GT lines, the GT U-0379 features Geotech's Stability Weight System or SWS which features interchangeable weights in the toe and heel of the club. This can alter not only the weight of the head which can help with swing weight or different length installs but, also with trajectory and head bias. The standard head comes with 1g in the toe and 4g in the heel. The extra weight in the heel helps the head rotate square at impact for a straight to very soft draw ball. Geotech also offers weights ranging from 1g to 7g as options. The 24* GT U-0379 features a 102cc head which is on the compact side. The all black finish sets up well (especially with a contrasting white ball) and unlike the previous GT N SWS utility looks quite a bit smaller at address. Even with the smaller head, its shallow back design still allow for the CG to be placed lower in the head for an easy launch. The sole of the UT is the heaviest and most rigid part of the club which also help bring the center of gravity down. I very much liked looking down at this setup and even with the size of the head, it was more than forgiving and again very good feeling at address. It was rather easy to launch the ball which can come in handy when in trouble spots. While many may not know it, Geotech has been producing their own shafts lines including several high modulus models (XDB) which were carried on TSG. This year Geotech has joined forces with Fujikura Shaft to create a new model shaft called the GT ISOFIT. Two Types of models were created TM (tip to middle) and MB (middle to butt) classifying the kick points of each shaft. An advanced 3 Axis by 4 Axis weave in the tip section (TM models) increases shaft acceleration and stability thanks to more consistent load and unload at impact. In the TB models, the 3x4 weave is placed in the mid section for more control and stability which favor the more aggressive swinger. The new GT ISOFIT models include driver shafts in the 50 and 60g range as well as FW shafts in the 60 and 70g range, a utility shaft in the 70g range and an iron shaft in the 70g range. I chose the 7i model which is the 70g iron shaft to match with the GT U-0379 utility. The iron shaft is is a TM model meaning tip to middle kick point for a higher launch while the 7U utility model is a TB or tip to butt kick point. Since I was building the utility to come very close to my iron club length I stuck with the iron version and I'm very happy I did as it is very stable and accurate but still with good feel thanks to 3.4* of torque. Overall the UT performs and is right up there with utilities twice its price. Geotech has strived to improve their product line up year in and year out without increasing prices, making their products attractive for players of all levels and all budgets. Anyone wanting a well balanced utility with great feel and pretty good looks to boot, the GT U-0379 is a definite option, especially if you want money left over after your purchase. The U-0379 is <a href="http://www.tourspecgolf.com/product_info.php?products_id=4859">available as head only</a> but can be built with any shaft available in Japan by Geotech. <a href="http://www.golftoimpress.com/contact">Just contact us for a quote! </a>

This goes to show that feel is completely subjective. The FF shaft simply does not work for me as I feel it mutes the feel of a putter too much. (though it might be better with a putter that has a sound slot) Also so you play the George Spirits Mono 3, that has a true sound slot in the flange/sole which is probably why it has more of a click to it. The mallets have no click, very nice feel on the mallets.

From a photography standpoint I must add that I had fun today shooting these images with an old "junk" lens I picked up for 1200 yen or around $13.50. Old and manual focus but pictures turned out not bad at all sticking the lens on my X-Pro1 body.

George Takei is a name that is synonymous with golf club design in the Japanese market. The former founder of Gauge Design Japan and G-Field Golf has traveled the road both high and low when it comes to golf clubs in Japan. At its peak, George had led Gauge Design into becoming the number one putter on the Japanese tour, besting the likes of Odyssey and Scotty Cameron. Gauge Design Japan and G-Field eventually dissolved as the company broke off seeing former employees of Gauge form new companies like Gold's Factory and Romaro Sports. George however, continued to hone his design skills and passion/dream of creating the ultimate golf clubs. Several years ago, the George Spirits brand was born. George continued on his journey to create his dream golf clubs, with the sky the limit. Top quality forged irons and wedges, premium forged and cutting edge designs for woods and of course putters. George Spirits recently released their Mono line of pin style putters the Mono1 , Mono2 and Mono3 models. Personally I am much more of a mallet type player so I was very happy to see George release the new Mono M1 putters featuring Style1 a center shafted small mallet and Style2 a double bend shaft over heel mallet. I was immediately draw to the Style1 as I typically use a center shafted putter with more of a straight back and forth type of stroke. George Spirits as usual was of course very accommodating and sent over both models for me to try out. All the new Mono line putters from George Spirits are premium SUS303 steel and fully CNC Machined. As I mentioned the Mono M1 are small mallets and feature nice 350g head weights. The face of both putters feature a fine but reasonably sharp feeling CNC milling designed to promote forward roll and improve feel. Besides material, the way the face is milled on a putter can very much affect the feel of the ball at impact. Feel is subjective and everyone is different when it comes to personal tastes. There are those golfers who love ultra soft feeling putters and those who prefer a firmer feel. I think I have always been right in between and I am glad to say that George has designed the M1 putters with just the right amount of milling depth to create a soft feel but still good feedback at impact. Soft but crisp as the ball pops off the face of the putter at impact. Not too soft to the point where the feel is muted and not to firm to the point where impact is hard. Another interesting design point of the Mono M1 putters is something George has carried over from his first generation George Spirits putters a few years ago and that is a top line channel parallel to the face. The channel does a couple of things. First it acts as an alignment tool along with the two sight lines in the flange. The channel is perpendicular to the white sight lines creating a T (or two T's) aiding the golfer in squaring up straight to the ball. The second thing it does is create a sound channel or sound slot to a certain degree. While many sound slots or floating faces as they call it are typically on the bottom of the face on the M1 they are on top to not only fine tune the sound at impact but to act as that alignment aid. I like it. Both M1 Styles are very solid putters. The workmanship is superb, a flat black finish on top prevents glare while an IP sole adds some class. The machined "divots" in the back cavity are a very nice touch and 350g for many is just the right weight for playing on various types of greens. If I were to pick at anything, I would have liked to see variable weight heads in other words heavier heads as the length gets shorter. 350g seems just right at 34" but at 33" its a tad lighter than I would have liked. I really want to keep the Style1 center shaft as I've spent the day putting with it and like so many things about it, the way it sets up, the way it feels at impact, the way the ball rolls off the face and very nice direction and distance control. Best of all what really stands out is a reasonable price for a premium machined SUS303 putter that won't break the bank. We'll be adding both the Style1 and Style2 <a href="http://www.tourspecgolf.com"><strong>to the pro shop</strong></a> in coming days so make sure you check them out!

Why don't you just buy one from us and avoid the risk? Drop me an email an I can sort you out.

It really depends on the shaft. If the shaft for example has a stiff tip and stiff mid section matched with a soft butt, trimming the butt to length for a hybrid may be enough to kill the feel of the shaft ie eliminate the soft butt thus changing the profile and the design, That said I have used and do used driver shafts in my utilities and have had good experiences. One other thing to consider is weight, cutting over 5-6 inches (or more) off the butt of a driver shaft (from its original raw length) will drop a lot of weight and also change the balance point of the shaft. I used a kai'li in my Epon AF902 and it worked awesome. I have also used a Roddio and a Crazy LY02. Of course they were all tip trimmed as well for proper stiffness/stability.

T.388 is quite the pear shape and small.

Matt call customs tell them to get it going... they are very slow and always need a push.

Kenmochi had an adjustable component driver for nearly 2 years now. P-Tune is a line from Pigeon Golf here in Japan... they are VERY VERY small, and mostly popular with smaller golf shops and clubmakers. Most of their exposure is in golf magazines like Choice. They do not produce a lot of stock which is probably why availability is low. I think we can get it if anyone wants to try.