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That title probably doesn't make much sense but what I'm talking about is Kamui Works, a very prestigious hand made golf club maker in Toyama City. Kamui Works has been making premium drivers for over a decade and is a favorite among low handicap players and those wanting a premium custom made driver with a focus on feel and distance. The big draw for many golfers is that Kamui will make their drivers to any spec including conforming or non-conforming. Just like the Kamui Silver 456 prototype I received in the above picture. The popularity of Kamui Works grew as their premium drivers had premium demand. However with the companies growth, several workers from Kamui Works left to start another company called... yes you guessed it, Kamui. This second Kamui has also grown in popularity by producing performance oriented drivers including the Typhoon series (TP-05 pictured above) which has recently gained favor with many long drive competitors in Japan. These Typhoon drivers are made for competition and thus are conforming to USGA rules. Typhoon's are being built as long as 48" and with ultra 7 Star flex shafts (XXXXXSTIFFFFF!) for the fastest swinging competitors in DRAKON (Driving Contest). I showed the TP-05 from the newer Kamui above so people would realize that there are two Kamui brands but I will continue talking about the original Kamui Works below. The original Kamui Works still produces high end hand made drivers and all of their models can be hand made with the following options: Conforming or Non Conforming head Specified real lofts Real face angles Custom head finish While both Kamui brands sell different product lines and operate independently, they still share many of the same manufacturing techniques which makes Kamui unique. Kamui drivers are made using cold forged as roll titan faces utilizing DAT56, a next generation titanium steel from Daido Industries. The titanium is cold forged using pressure moulding with 400 tons of pressure. The 456 Proto above also features a dimpled back face which creates variable thickness all across the face for feel and added ball speeds. Premium club maker Kamui Works then uses TIG Welding (by hand) to attach the face to the driver body. Because this is all done carefully by the hands of top Kamui Works craftsmen, there is very little margin of error when it comes to loft and face angle. You order 9.3* and that's what you get. The driver heads spend a lot of time on the grinding belt and are worked thoroughly by hand to ensure uniform thickness all throughout the head. Kamui Works believes this is an important process in creating a maximum performance driver as uneven surface and walls of the driver would not only throw off the overall balance of the head but cause the performance to fall below optimal. Moving from rougher belts to finer belts with many steps in between, Kamui Works ensures a perfect polish and shine with the final touch being done by hand and cloth buffing. This is pure hand made attention folks. The head is then hand painted to color and finish of customers choice. All specs are verified to exact measurements and Kamui Works then builds your club to exact finished CPM desired. All very impressive but how does it perform? I received a Kamui 456 Silver Driver today, shafted with the new Bassara Griffin G53. It is exactly 10* in loft and is a conforming model. You can choose the face angle of your Kamui Works driver anywhere from 1.0* open up to 2.0* closed. This driver has a closed face of 0.5*. I took the club over to the driving range here in Kiminomori and hit a few balls to get a feel of this combo. Let me just say I was very impressed with this driver. I am very much into feel when it comes to golf clubs. A driver may look good and hit it long but if it feels like crap at impact I can't play it. I test and play lots of drivers and am very lucky to have access to all the top drivers in Japan. Feel wise the Kamui Works Silver 456 ranks right up there with the best of them. It has the soft feel of Epon and Yamaha but with the pop of a PRGR. The Griffin matched with this head is a very smooth combo. No worries about timing here as the shaft loads and unloads square at impact. Even though it usually takes me a few balls to get used to a new driver and shaft combo and how it unloads, I was able to pure my first 4 balls right in the sweet spot and it felt awesome. As expected with the Griffin, trajectory is a more piercing mid flight especially with the Kamui being a true 10* loft. This driver spins low as I still get very good run. I've been gaming a Yamaha and PRGR lately because I love the feel of the Yamaha and the Pop of the PRGR at impact. This Kamui has both feel and pop and can be built to exact spec. I'm thinking of getting one made to 10.5* with a closed face, pearl black head and COR of 0.88 shafted with a Griffin G43. The Kamui Siver 456 is one hot driver. We've decided to carry Kamui drivers so look for them in our pro shop in the next week or so or contact us for a custom build!http://www.golftoimpress.com/contact/ Via Golftoimpress.com blog!

There are so many very good ladies irons sets in Japan. Most very lightweight with an emphasis on forgiveness and distance. Japanese spec ladies irons are very easy to use and made for the Asian lady. I would suggest the new PRGR Sweep for a beginner. It is made for the lady just starting golf. They are a 2009 model that were just released and are the lightest easiest to hit ladies irons available now. They are also the most reasonably priced. Other options include the new ONOFF Ladies Irons. They also just came out and are not quite as beginner oriented as the PRGR sweep but still can be played by a beginner. Both sets focus on ease of use and fun for the lady golfer as we all know it can be frustrating for those just starting out. Both these sets just released so they are not even in our pro shop yet. If you're interested or need more info just drop me a pM or email.

It's not actually a new driver (though it wont be out till later this year). Like the 2007 X-Drives, Tourstage occasionally releases one of its prototype models to the public for retail sale. It's a smaller prototype head that was used on tour. Most likely this is Tourstage's method of countering say, Mizuno's 425cc S1 driver. This is a limited edition so there are very very few numbers available. This is the same prototype that was used by Miyazato Yusuke on tour (Ai-chan's brother). TS says this is shaped like a smaller 701 but has the CG placement of the GR (ie higher launch) but matched with low spin. Straight angle face.

Hi J, I don't have them on hand anymore as I sent them back to three luck. Size wise they are comparable to the zestaim ie not ultra compact like the TS 701 but perhaps a tad bigger but still as small close to compact head. They do not look GI in any way. They make the AF-701 look big. The AF-Tour is on the bigger side for a blade so they might actually be compable. One of these days I need to round up all the irons and really do size comparison pics.

Cool let us know how it goes... its got a finish like you would have liked on the TS but now you can build them to spec yourself! (^_^)

GS was a pure cavity back. This is one piece milled pocket cavity. They were in fact quite different C.

C he got the putter back in March so he has definitely game it! The finish is White Chrome... no cold star with Golds. (^_^)

Hi Mike, S25C and 0.355" tip.

There is now a matching bag tag for that putter!

Japanese golf brand Three Luck introduces their all new Sky Dream Jump D-Tour Type CF I irons. Premium forged and made in Japan, this smaller sized pocket cavity back is a very high end one piece CNC milled head. The fine back face milled under cut produces exceptional feel and forgiveness. Three luck has placed the CG low for a high a launch ball with soft landing. Stronger lofts (25* 5 iron) allow distance performance coupled with soft forged feel. A sharper toe and less offset aim this at the mid to low handicapper wanting a smaller forgiving forged iron from Japan. Finished in a matte black satin finish, with a light mirror finish on the cavity where it says CNC Forged, the new CF I is one hot looking iron. These will be available as heads only or custom built with your favorite shaft!

Hi P, the R9 irons are due in September, the new Burner Forged in October. Chris had already posted live pics up on the blog.

Actually if you checked properly you will see that Geotech models are forged in China, Taiwan and Japan as well. It depends on the model. Most of the wedges are now forged in Japan. The 670HC, 670HC Limited as well as the EK were all forged in Japan. The Blade Classic and N-16 Forged are also forged in Japan.

Via Golftoimpress.com A new Mitsubishi Diamana prototype sporting the Ion red colors of the old Diamana Redboard and the flowerband of the new Kai'li have appeared on the Japanese tour. This new prototype is currently being tested in the driver of Mizuno pro Toru Suzuki and in the driver and fairway wood of PRGR pro Azuma Yano. Mitsubishi Rayon Composites explained it this way: The very successful original Diamana series was released with Blue, Red and White Boards in that specific order. Diamana then moved to a new method of manufacturing and design with the Blue Kai'li. So following that pattern a Red model is next in line. Mitsubishi goes on by saying that this will be different from the previous Redboard. The Blue Kai'li like the old Blueboard is a lower launching low spin control shaft. The new Red Prototype is based on feedback from pros on the Japanese tour wanting a shaft with max carry coupled with accuracy. The Red Board was the highest launching Diamana so we can probably assume a mid launch, low spin, low torque shaft. On the first day of testing, PRGR Pro Azuma Yano used the Red Proto 70 in his driver and gave feedback that the shaft has exceptional distance and was very good at unloaading to the square position at impact without having to make any effort at timing the shaft. He proceeded that same day to re-shaft his fairway woods with the Red Proto as well. Lighter weight 60 Protos are being tested on the JLPGA while the heavier 70 and 80 series are being tested on the JPGA. We'll report back as we get more info on this shaft.

Via golftoimpress.com Masayuki Sasaya has worked hard at being the premium custom putter maker in Japan and while many hardcore enthusiasts know and love his work, Gold's Factory has long been a boutique/niche brand with a smaller high end clientele. That may have all changed with Octobers issue of Golf Digest here in Japan. Gold's Factory's Sasaya-san is featured as the master of hand crafted putter making and customizations in a 10 page article that talks about putters in Japan today. Gold's Factory is talked about along with IPT Yamada Putters as really being the two only custom crafted putter makers in Japan today and Sasaya-san's ability to craft putters of his own as well as modify other existing putter brands In the last few years in Japan, with the demise of Gauge Design Japan/G-Field (where Sasaya-san was in fact the Chief of their Tour Division), golfers have longed for a Japanese brand that stood out against all the big overseas putter brands like Odyssey and Scotty Cameron. Many of you who know TSG have followed Sasaya-san's work on his blog as well as our site and know the fine detail and amazing feel and performance that his putters give. The fact is when it comes to hand made attention and quality, there is NO other putter in golf like Master Sasaya's. Gold's Factory is a one man operation, every putter is milled and crafted by the master himself. There is NO mass production here. This is something that cannot be said about the larger brands. Besides crafting the most unique and one of a kind custom putters for each individual customer he serves, Gold's Factory has opened its doors to modifying and refinishing other brands. The putter tuning market has yet to be realized here in Japan. Most buy off the shelf putters without realizing what a customized putter fit to a players stroke can do for their game. When it comes to putter tuning, one of the most common things Gold's Factory does is add weight to each head, tungsten weights in the sole or face increase the MOI of a putter and change the CG positioning. This helps feel and roll as well as forgiveness on the face. The added weight creates control and can help smooth out a putting stroke. Back to the custom work that Gold's can do, Golf Digest talks about how a Gold's Factory putter is built to spec for a customer including not only the head weight but the type of neck, the type of face milling which further enhances the feel, even the type sole. Gold's Factory can create a tour quality custom putter from scratch... a billet of carbon steel to finished masterpiece. So now that Gold's Factory is getting the recognition it so rightfully deserves, what does this mean for Sasaya-san moving ahead? Probably much more work and greater than ever creations as we saw when Tourspecgolfer posted about the Ryu-Zen putter earlier. TSG is always here to help as building a custom putter is not easy and the options can be overwhelming. If you want a dream putter handmade by one of the TRUE masters in the golfing world, drop us a message and we can help you design your masterpiece.

That's great guys, definitely chime in here after you get it on how you like it!

Living in Japan, I follow the Japanese tour even closer than I do the PGA tour. All the websites here and magazines cover pro players and the gear they use extensively. One thing I noticed at the beginning of the season was the number of pro players on the JPGA carrying the PRGR Egg Spoon PX-03. Top players including Hideto Tanihara and Shingo Katayama use the Spoon as their choice 3 wood. This peaked my curiousity and being a big fan of PRGR or Pro Gear as it is known here in Japan (Pro Gear is the golf wing of Yokohama Rubber Industries), I decided to pick up a Spoon for my bag around 2 months ago. So after two months of play, I'm ready to report back on this interesting fairway wood. The EGG Spoon was originally released last year with 13, 15 and 17* lofts. It became so popular in Japan that this year, PRGR expanded the line to include the EGG Fairway Woods which included 5, 7 and 9 woods. Both Tanihara and Katayama use the PX-03 as a 15* 3 wood but many Japanese amateurs who struggle with the driver have picked up the 13* strong 3 wood to even replace their driver off the tee. I typically play a 4 and 7 wood in the bag along with a higher lofted driver so I grabbed the Spoon with a 17* loft. The EGG Spoon PX-03 is a mid sized fairway wood with all lofts being 165cc in size. The head however looks bigger because of its shape and design. It has a similar concept to the Cleveland HiBore. While the crown and back isn not exactly "scooped out" ala HiBore, the head is tapered towards the back stretching the head from front to back and pushing CG deeper in the head. It does have an aligbment mark on the top, a big red EGG like dot, that I am not a fan of but I quickly got used to and forgot was there. The face is on the shallow side, while not ultra shallow like many woods today, I would call it mid shallow which makes it easy to hit the sweet spot which is higher on the face. Design aside, what really sets the Spoon PX-03 apart from other fairway woods is the materials it uses. The Spoon has a Ti-6AL-4V Titanium Crown and Face laser welded to a SUS630 Stainless Steel sole plate. With the Crown and Face being light weight Titanium, this allows PRGR to use a heavier SUS630 Sole to again bring CG deep in the club. Also while its common to see Ti faces in fairway woods these days, they are typically paired with SUS630 bodies meaning both the sole and crown are SUS630. What the combination Ti Crown and Face does is create driver like performance. I must admit, when I first got the EGG Spoon the sound and feel took getting used to. It does not sound or feel like the typical fairway wood. Impact is more of a solid "THWOCK" unlike some woods today that emanate a higher pitched metallic "TINK". I realized after a while that the Spoon sounded and felt like older sub 400cc drivers. In other words a very solid confident feel which many players crave for. Performance wise, this is a mini driver. Distance for fairway wood is above average. Even with the deep CG, trajectory is piercing, starting low and slowly climbing, peaking then still coming down with roll. The low spin Spoon is made to go far. It's performance makes it the go to club for reaching par 5's in 2 shots. The square angled face produces very straight shots (fade and draw at command) and I found that I could almost equal my driver distance on several occasions! One thing some people may not like and some may love, is the overall weight of this club. The Spoon is light, which again gives the impression that it was meant to be a mini driver. The heaviest 13* barely breaks 310g on the scale which is the equivalent of some drivers today. This light weight really contributes to distance. Lately I have been experimenting with light weight clubs and found that they do in fact allow average golfers with very average swing speeds like myself to swing faster and hit longer. I'll be honest here that sometimes on a hot summer day, by the 15th hole, my clubs feel heavy and I wish they were lighter. The EGG does the trick and paired with the stock PRGR EGG graphite, the Spoon is a very controllable distance performer. As for the stock shaft, it is available with M-35 (80mph), M-37, M-40 and M-43 which in PRGR's ratings mean 43m/s or just under 100mph for the stiffest stock shaft. PRGR originally released the club with only these stock shafts available but found that better and faster swinging players were yearning to play this club so the EGG Spoon is now available with all the top shafts directly from PRGR. I rely on my PRGR 7 wood for accuracy and I want a stronger wood for distance. The Spoon fits that bill perfectly and I have grown to really like the feel and sound. I average around 230y with my driver and last week I hit a shot from the fairway with my Spoon that traveled nearly 230y as well. Needless to say I was very happy and this club will stay in the bag for quite a long time coming. Looking for a mini rocket launcher behind your driver? The PRGR EGG Spoon PX-03 is ready for take off! via golftoimpress.com

All you golfers who love the Epon dog... he's back. Via golftoimpress.com Epon Golf is releasing all new limited high quality stand bags. Back by popular demand is the famed Epon dog which everyone seems to want on their Epon bags. These bags are high quality poly urethane, not nylon like most stand bags. This gives a tour bag quality feel but as a stand bag. The bags weigh 3.5kg and feature a 5 slot 9 inch opening with individual dividers. A dual strap and sturdy legs make this a must have bag for those who walk and carry their clubs. The new Epon stand bag is available in 5 great colors, blue, red, sacs blue, pink and yellow. Only 50 of each color will be produced so numbers will be limited!

I'd suggest giving the Diamana Kai'li a try. It is a different design from previous Diamana's and is a very stable shaft that usually keeps the left side out of play. It's considered low-mid launch with low spin. You might want to consider the Kai'li 80 Stiff, as it is 78g and the 70 which is in fact under 70g may be too light. The heavier weight will give you more stability and keep the trajectory down. Another option is the Ozik F7M2.

Sounds like you had a blast Marty... sure is fun to be in Japan huh? (^_^) The Crazy shafts have been a very popular choice lately for people getting Epon. The last 4 or 5 custom orders I worked with customers on were all Crazy shafts with AF-101.

We're still waiting to hear back on sizing... I won't post them up until we do because it is important people get sizing right the first time. Remember this is a pre order. The actual shoes don't come out for 2 more months however pre-order is suggested as Asics is making 10,000 pairs but spread that among 8 different sizes and then 3 different colors plus the crazy demand already generated by this shoe equals super quick sell out.

Kyoei Golf is one company who always listens to their customer. They believe that the work they create truly represents the art of Japanese forging. So when golfers make suggestions Kyoei is always ready to listen. Low handicap and pro level players conveyed their desires to Kyoei to create an iron with the pure feel of a blade but still the performance of a cavity back. Dual Forged One Piece Head Kyoei went to the design board, or should I say design computer, and created a 3D CAD design for the new and first Zestaim model the NF-810 cavity. Kyoei decided to take their most premium JIS S25C steel and forge it two times over to create a strong yet ultra soft iron head. This ONE piece iron has intricate CNC milling work in the cavity as you can see in the second picture on the left. While many cavities these days take away "the meat" of the iron from the center and place it outwards towards the toe and the heel to increase MOI, the Zestaim NF-810's detailed cavity actually peaks in the center. This higher cavity provides pure feel that players desire when striking the sweet spot. In order to still help players launch the ball, the center of gravity was placed at a low 20.5mm and 34.5mm from the hosel line. A slightly rounded toe matched with a thin top line, minimal offset and compact head create a cavity back that sets up and feels like a blade but performs like a CB. Each NF-810 head is hand grinded and then plated with a satin finish (please watch the Kyoei Manufacturing Video I posted earlier). Two models for the masses The Zestaim Fi-1 NF-810 is available in two flavors. A standard loft model and a strong loft model. The standard loft model features a 28* loft 5 iron and no paint fill on the iron. This is aimed at the pro player with a primary focus on control and accuracy. The strong loft model has lofts 4* stronger with a 24* 5 iron. The strong loft model is aimed at those who want pure feel but need a bit of help when it comes to distance. This is one very good looking iron. Kyoei is offering custom grinds and finishes with the NF-810 just like all their other irons in the Zestaim lineup. Look for these heads to be in the Pro Shop with the rest of the Zestaim Lineup next week!

Check out golftoimpress.com for the video as well! Kyoei Golf in Hyogo prefecture is one of Japan's oldest forging houses, making soft forged irons for over 50 years. Many of you may know them as the house that forges Vega golf clubs as well as wedge heads for Gold's Factory. Kyoei believes that they are global representatives of Japanese forgings and their business philosophy not only hinges on producing the highest quality heads but also cutting edge design and service that demanding golfers want. Every employee is trained to be part of Kyoei's synergy and harmony and creating an environment where seniority and ranking does not exist. Each skilled craftsman is able to show his own flexibility and independence. This creates an atmosphere where Kyoei workers truly produce irons and wedges from their hearts. Yes this is a translation of the Kyoei Philosophy. (^_^) Recently, Kyoei has launched a new line called Zestaim. Zestaim allows Kyoei to show off not only their superior forgings but also their CNC and grinding skills. Zestaim irons are all forged in house from ultra soft JIS S25C steel which Kyoei supplies themselves. Each Zestaim head is forged and finished with great care and detail. Kyoei sent me two of their new Zestaim Models, the Zestaim Fi-2 Muscle Back (top pic iron on the left) and the Zestaim Fi-2 Toe Heel Semi Cavity Back (top pic iron on the right). Both the muscle back and semi-cavity are compact irons with thin sole and topline and minimal offset. Focus is on the better golfer wanting feel and control. As you can see from the pictures, the detail of each iron is superb with wonderful finish and full back face milling. All Kyoei Zestaim irons are available custom made for the customers including custom grinds and finishes. The Semi Cavity is for those who want a blade like setup and performance but with a touch of forgiveness. There is a slight cut out in the lower cavity allowing for weight to be moved lower and towards the toe and heel, hence the name Toe Heel Semi Cavity. This increases MOI and widens the sweet spot. The stepped cutouts were planned by Kyoei for proper distribution of thickness of the head and face in order to maintain a premium soft feel. The Zestaim Fi-2 Muscle Back is also completely CNC Milled with wonderful looks. Those who want a challenge and the purest feel will opt for this iron. The thickest spot is in fact right behind the sweet spot where the CG is also moved towards the heel. This prototype model has traditional lofts (28* 5 iron) and is made for accuracy and touch. Only 200 sets of this model are made to be available. Many of you may not have seen Kyoei's promotional manufacturing video. It's in Japanese but it is pretty much self explanatory. It covers 3 main processes, forging, grinding and plating/finish. You get a look into the entire manufacturing process from start to finish including the cutting of raw S25C steel into billets for forging.

Via golftoimpress.com PRGR is about to launch the new EGG II hybrid iron set in Japan at the end of August. We got a set last week to check out and here's my review. The original EGG was a favorite of many average and senior golfers in Japan looking for distance and forgiveness in a very very easy to hit package. The EGG iron was essentially a complete set of over-sized hybrids all the way down to the wedges. The scooped out cavity and wide sole made every iron easy to hit. The shaft lengths featured a 38.5" 5 iron with a 23* loft which meant added distance overall. The first generation EGG though was not without its flaws. PRGR went back to the drawing board for the EGG II and took the best features of the original EGG and improved on its overall design and performance. When I first took out the EGG II, the first thing I noticed compared to the previous generation was that the irons seemed more stubby from toe to heel in the longer irons. The sole of the longer irons resemble traditional hybrids much more now, wide and deep center of gravity making it very easy to hit in any lie and to get the ball up in the air. As you can see in the first two pictures above, the sole gets progressively narrower and the face deeper as the irons get shorter. While the long irons resemble hybrids, the short irons look much more like traditional irons. This is a good thing as we all want easy long irons to hit but turn our focus to more accuracy with the shorter irons. The scooped out back is much more prominent on the long irons and this is to push CG much further back to help you get the launch you need for distance. With accuracy the key, the short EGG II irons do not have as deep a CG in order to provide a more stable trajectory. PRGR also worked on the weighting and coupled with the change in the overall shape of the iron by decreasing its heel to toe length and increasing its sole width creates a much easier to hit and hit straight model than the previous EGG. The previous generation EGG had a very long face which sometimes cause the player to go right with the ball. I found the the new EGG II much easier to hit straight and draw lightly. Its almost as if the smaller face area makes it easier to hit the center. As an average golfer I can say these are very easy to hit. The feel has changed slightly from the original EGG which had a bit of a deadened feel to it. The EGG II is more lively thanks to its custom 450 Maraging steel material. Maraging steel is a very popular choice in irons these days. It is stronger than forged and stainless steel so can be made very thin. This creates feel and a very hot face. The difference here is that while most manufacturers use Maraging steel on the face, the entire EGG II is made of high strength Maraging steel. The 5 iron launches high for maximum carry and it gives very good distance with its longer shaft and deep CG and tunsgen weight in the sole. It is very easy to square up and hit straight. The stronger loft and longer length of the EGG II 5 iron out hit my GN502 5 iron by an average of 10-15 yards! The short irons look and feel much more like traditional irons with a bit if a pop at impact. At address you don't see any cavity which is a good thing as you can focus on attacking the pin without being distracted by an overly large head. The EGG II does have offset to help the player square the head. I am not a fan of overly large goose necks but with the subtle black PVD finish, any offset is almost not noticeable. The sole design of all the EGG II irons feature a blunt leading edge. This really helps prevent digging as the sole will deflect and glide over the turf. I am a fan of lightweight irons. We slower swinger befit tremendously from less weight both when it comes to creating club head speed and forgiveness. I can swing the EGG II very freely and strike the ball very well because of its lighter weight and overall head design. The new EGG shaft is in the 50g range and features a HIGH kickpoint. The high kick point prevents the iron from ballooning and is a perfect match with the high launch design of the head. So what was considered Japan's best hybrid iron set just got better. If you are looking for the ultimate in easy irons to hit, the EGG II is your choice.

Size will depend on width, I am waiting for the Asics rep to get back to me on width. As people have discovered Japanese shoes are not necessarily smaller and in many cases fit larger than US brands because of the extra width. This is one of the reasons I have not listed the shoes yet until I can confirm width as that can affect peoples choice of sizes ie standard width I take a 26cm but EEE I can fit into a 25cm.

I'm just waiting for some points to be confirmed by Asics... should be later this week! I am getting white x green! T