gocchin

Glad to report these are very easy to hit and spin very well. Balls drop and stop just the way you guys like it. (^_^)

Of course the ball trajectory changes because the loft changes (^_^). The stock shaft is a lighter more feel Japanese market version of the Motore. I spent time at the range with the driver today and the overall heavier weight was not an issue for me, if anything it just slowed my tempo somewhat. Feel of the R9 Max reminded me of the 2007 Burner driver in a good way. I hit the driver on 3* closed and 12* loft and the ball definitely went high and left. I then hit it on 3* open and 9* loft and the ball was lower and right so yes FCT works. (^_^) The shaft feels pretty good and the driver has good balance even with the added weight of FCT. As for differences between the R9 and R9 Max, I'll put them here again: 1. The R9 Max is 460cc large and is meant to be more forgiving than its 420cc R9 brother. The larger head inspires confidence for those who need it. 2. The R9 Max has only one weight port but has a larger left right spread than the R9 thanks to its ability to adjust face angle by 3* either way. 3. With the 3* face angle either way, effective loft is changed 1.5* stronger or weaker. (TM has used the simple calculation, every 1* the face angle is changed equals 0.5* for loft. 4. The stock Motore shaft for the R9 Max is lighter than the US Spec R9 by 10+ grams. The R9 drivers are heavier as it is. The lighter shaft is good for feel and distance for us average folks. 5. The best upgrades are available for the R9 Max and R9 Japan Market drivers including the Tour AD EV series, Diamana Kai'li and very hot Fujikura Speeder Motore. More shafts are on the way.

The crown for me works, for some reason I can always strike a PRGR driver well. The crown also contributes to the feel which is great. I hit both 502 Tour and 502 Silver side by side today and both have that great pop ofｆ the face. However trajectory is night and day. The Tour is a low bullet and the Silver is definitely high launch. Surprisingly the Tour feels just as forgiving as the standard Silver, with just different flight characteristics and a cleaner head.

Brett is still around. He is busy with his teaching. All the videos have been moved here: http://www.youtube.com/user/TourSpecGolfer

One of the clubs that arrived Saturday was a new R9 Max. It's my first time playing with Flight Control Technology and as simple as the concept seems it took me a while to figure out that adjusting the face angle also changed the effective loft. The first thing I wanted to do was change the loft and I was thinking how do I do that with neutral left and right?? (^_^) Technically speaking for every degree you change the face angle, you also change the effective loft by 0.6*. For ease of calculation, TM has decided on a 1 to 0.5 change ie the R9 Max goes a max of 3* open or closed so that would change the loft by 1.5*. There are also 1.5* increments in the FCT for face angle. Here are the pics I took today. The Pic that says Neutral Face angle should say 10.5 degree loft.

This week. (^_^)

They feel forged. Very soft. Kind of the way Vokey TVD's don't feel like cast except maybe even softer. These are very good wedges. I will test them some more tomorrow. Then I gotta return them to Crews. (^_^) The new Shimada wedge shaft is a black nickel chrome. Comes in two flavors, NW110 and NW120, 110g and 120g wedge flex like the Nippon WV line.

PRGR has always made their own shafts. Very good for stock shafts. Stable and good feeling. I am very happy with PRGR clubs which is why I am bagging them. Very well made. Made in Japan and very good feel and performance.

These clubs don't suit my game. They were sent to me like all the clubs I post here. (^_^)

PRGR's standard GN502 is one hot driver this year. However its specs were aimed more at the average golfer with its low and deep center of gravity and a balance point that allows for the head to rotate quickly and square to the ball for a draw. The standard model did not suit PRGR Pros or the faster more aggressive swinger so PRGR is releasing at the end of the month the new GN502 Tour Driver which is currently played by both Azuma Yano and Hideto Tanihara on tour. The 450cc Tour has a much shorter center of gravity and weight moved FORWARD in the head creating a low spin and mid trajectory shot. The balance of the driver and square to slightly open face is made for a straight to fade ball. The specially tuned control shaft is also mid to lower torque heavier weight shaft putting the overall weight of the Tour between 307 and 315g, 20-30g heavier than the standard GN502. Its a very clean and awesome looking driver!

Got set of new Crew's Triple Sole Max wedges for 2009. Made of soft 8620 steel, not your typical carbon steel, these wedges are not forged in the traditional sense. Crew's uses a method called compression forging that is a cross between forged and cast creating a super soft and consistent wedge. The face is CNC milled flat, the scorlines are milled (not stamped) and then the complete face is milled which is why this thing spins like mad! The sole then gets a triple grind treatment for ultimate versatility and turf gliding. Available in wide variety of lofts 49/10 51/10 53/10 56/15 58/15 and left handed 52/10 and 57/15. The bounce may seem high but keep in mind that with the triple grind sole, there are in fact multiple bounce measurements on each sole and the measured bounce is at the highest point. Beautiful looking wedge! These will be in the shop this week! Pics below are with the dark nickel 110g Shimada wedge shaft which is standard along with the DG and 950GH.

Had a humongous box of clubs arrive today so will be posting up lots of pics as I take them. First club out of the box was the TP Forged for 2009. The club is very clean and simple with on the TP badge in the cavity. CNC Milled cavity lines look great. The iron is compact and minimal offset with a straighter sharper toe than last years model. The face is lightly brushed satin but the back cavity is shinier than I would have hoped for. Overall a very classy business like iron! Here are the pics!

Its difficult to actually claim that the steel for miuraism is better than standard MG but if you consider this, MG irons are more retail/mainstream so produced in larger quantities not forged on order like Miuraism. Since they are forged when ordered to specs, more attention is paid to the details of those Miuraism irons so one could consider the "quality" higher. Miura typically only offers black on wedges and blades so they may be able to do the Miuraism blades though it is not on their official list.

People have questioned in the past why Miuraism is so expensive compared to standard Miura Giken irons. Besides being forged on order from Miura's best steel and built by Miuraism themselves, I was finally able to get a list of official options from Miuraism. These are all included in the price which is why it is so high: loft change lie change length change Choose Satin or Mirror finish Choose any steel shaft (upgrades may cost more) Choose any Graphite shaft (upgrades may cost more) Face Progression/Offset change (yes you can specify how much offset on your irons!) Bounce Change Custom name stamping Sole/Grind design change Top Line/Blade change (ie thinner topline, thicker topline) Custom work like grinding neck etc I think those are some pretty good options that most makers won't offer. (^_^)

You can get any set makeup you want for the Honmas. They are actually more compact than the AF-701. Technology and design wise they are amazing but not quite as forgiving as the epon and ping. The Honma is about the same size as the Legacy Forged.

Hi Randy both are very good irons. I played the AF-701 for over a season and have hit the Rapture V2 J before. The Pings are VERY forgiving and easy to hit. They are however larger than the AF-701. They are not forged but feel pretty good and have quite a wide sole. The AF-701 is not considered GI, it just happens to be super forgiving and easy to hit which is why it is the choice of so many different levels of goflers. The Rapture is probably aimed at mid to high handicappers while the Epon suits any level player including single digit handicappers who have bought the irons. I personally chose the AF-701 for being forged and less chunky than the Pings but if you want forgiveness you cannot go wrong with either. Best of all both are built to spec.

Very very nice irons. Clean and all business like. The pentagon measures the strengths of the iron. The Tour Forged strengths are of course control and playability.

Titlelist Japan introduces its limited edition 10th annivesary Vokey Wedge set. The 10th annivesary wedges are made in Japan for the Japanese market using Bob Vokey's favorite 400 series head. Vokey designed these wedges with 52/10 and 58/10 specs perfect for any lush course in Japan or the world for that matter. Soft cast and spin milled, the 10th Annivesary's are finished in a black nickel with mid gloss. They are available only as a 52 and 58 set with NS Pro 950GH Stiff (D1 and D3 Swing weight) or DG S200 and X100 (D3 and D5 Swing weight) The 52* is 35.5" and the 58* is 35". This wedge set will be released in May but are guaranteed to sell out because of their limited numbers. If you want a set you pretty much have to pre order in the pro shop.

At the masters he played: ONOFF 2009 Driver (Red) 9* - Roddio Prototype X Flex ONOFF Fairway Wings Plus 5W ONOFF Katayama Shingo Prototype Wedges 46 53 59 No word on irons as he seems to still be transitioning into ONOFF so still playing the Nike with GD Black Prototype graphite and Yellow Iomics. Seems to still be playing the itsy bitsy and still has another Nike Fw in the bag. His driver:

Hard to say really since there are many Diamana Protos floating around in Japan. Any info on a butt sticker?

Okay everyone. Got some bad news. Spoke to Asics and there is no scheduled release for Shingo's Asics in the near term. The shoes he was wearing at the Masters were prototypes only. I do not think they were expecting this much fanfare and attention. Hopefully they will speed up the move for these shoes to go retail but from the sound of what they are saying it will not be for quite some time. Nevertheless we will of course have them here when they do go retail.

I would have to assume that they do since they use Cleveland's Zip Grooves. According to Cleveland they are right at the max conforming grooves allowed. (Also I doubt they would released a brand new wedge to be non conforming especially for a major wedge brand like Cleveland)

Cleveland has introduced two new forged in Japan wedges. The teardrop shaped 588TA Forged and the rounder CG-F1 Forged. Being forged in Japan and part of Sri Sports, my guess is these are done at the Srixon plants. Cleveland Golf Japan introduces their new 588 Tour Action wedge. Forged in Japan from soft carbon steel and featuring Cleveland Golf's patented Zip Grooves, the 588TA has a a slightly rounded leading edge and teardrop head shape with a straight neck. This versatile head is easy to play square or open. The CG-F1 wedge features consistent milling of each groove to maximum conforming dimensions. The absolute integrity of these grooves is maintained by the application of a proprietary coating to each groove for protection during the face sandblasting process. The resulting ZIP Grooves are Cleveland's biggest and most precisely milled ever. The 588TA Forged Forged is available with either S200 or NS Pro 950GH Stiff in 3 different lofts (56 and 58 are available with standard or low bounce) Cleveland Golf Japan introduces their new CG-F1 wedge. Forged in Japan from soft carbon steel and featuring Cleveland Golf's patented Zip Grooves, the CG-F1 has a straight leading edge and round head shape with a taller heel and straight neck. This versatile head is easy to play square or open. The CG-F1 wedge features consistent milling of each groove to maximum conforming dimensions. The absolute integrity of these grooves is maintained by the application of a proprietary coating to each groove for protection during the face sandblasting process. The resulting ZIP Grooves are Cleveland's biggest and most precisely milled ever. The CG-F1 Forged is available with either S200 or NS Pro 950GH Stiff in 3 different lofts (56 and 58 are available with standard or low bounce)

Just an update that the R9 Max launches this weekend earlier than expected! And yes we do carry the standard R9 420cc with JDM shaft upgrades if people are interested. Just drop me an email or PM.

Low spin, specially designed performance control for Fairway Woods shaft. Its on my list of products to be added to the shop this week.