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A beautiful day to take some pics of this years new Tourstage X-Blades! I also setup a minature studio in my home office consisting of the sides of my computer case to take ball in front of face pics. One thing that amazed me was how small the face of the 701G is. It is very comparable to the 901 blade and definitely smaller than the 701 by a few mm height wise and length wise. It makes up for it with the undercut/pocket cavity. Otherwise all the models increase progressively in size, and offset and target audience (from pro to mid capper) Here are the group pics (couple of rival sri sports irons got in there too!): The Limited 901 Blade: The 701 CB: The 701G Pocket CB: And the GR Forged C-1 CB:

I received some demos today so started by taking pics of the new Srixon GIE irons and the XXIO forged. In the past, these two companies under Sri Sports targeted different levels of golfers with Srixon aimed at the athlete and lower handicapper and XXIO aimed at the average and higher handicapper. These two models fall somewhere in between and the GIE is the first line in a long time where Srixon promotes its primary strengths as ease of use and forgiveness. Meanwhile the XXIO forged targets all levels of players wanting a forgiving forged iron. The XXIO Forged is about the size of the aF-701 but with less offset and a thinner top line. Head wise it is bigger than the cast GIE. Both use undercut/pocket cavity style heads which increase MOI and forgiveness on off center hits. The XXIO undercut is a lot deeper while the GIE is more compact. I took some new style pics this time around along with a golf ball so that members can get a better sense of size. For face pics the iron with the white bottom scoreline is the GIE. XXIO Forged: Srixon GIE:

Standard like angle on the T1 is 58* but Mizuno offers lie angle changes as special order + or - 1.5*.

So you can have your odyssey or cameron refinished in Gold's White Chrome or Teflon black... add tungsten weight, repair dings, remove logos, engrave names, even add an insert or blinker! All done by master Sasaya!

Tourspecgolf is proud to introduce TSGCraftWorks, a new division focusing on clubmaking and golf club modification and repair! Our first area of offering to customers will be custom putter modifications, repair and refinishing. We are honored to announce that all custom putter services will be performed by Master Sasaya at Gold's Factory here in Tokyo. In the past Gold's Factory only provided these exlusive services for owners of Gold's factory Putters but now the door is open for any make and model of putter that simply needs new life or wants to be modified to stand out from the crowd and take its performance to the next level. Master Sasaya will provide all kinds of custom work for putters including repair and removal of dings and marks including logos using welding techniques and grinding. He can also do neck work and all kinds of tungsten, and insert work. He can machine and install custom alignment aids which we call blinkers and refinish putters in one of many exquisite finishes (please note we cannot guarantee an exact match of the original finish ie if your original finish was oil can and you have us refinish with the same finish it will be a Gold's Factory Oil can finish). Because of the differences in design and materials between many of the putters on the market today, each putter job will be custom quoted. We have listed a table below of prices only for general reference. Please contact our custom clubs specialist with the make and model of putter you have and what services you would like performed. Example Repair, Modify and Refinish Jobs: Above are a few examples of recent jobs. The first Gauge Design Pro Series Type 2 which is made of SM490A steel, a very soft steel not commonly seen in putters. The putter was refeshed to new with the removal of the old finish, scratches and marks removed, the aluinser base plate also removed and refinished. The brand new looking head had its weight engraved on the toe and a G Mark in the cavity next to the Gauge Caliper. It was then plated and refinished in a Teflon Black with white accents. The second picture is of a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 which had a request for Tungsten inserts. This was a tricky calculated job thanks to the thinner steel near the face center thanks to the existing insert. In order to cut the holes, Sasaya-san used a hydraulic cutting device that applies enough heavy force to crush the putter. So in order to carefully cut the tungsten holes, the device had to function at extra slow speed over a period of 2 -3 hours cutting in batches of 0.05mm at a time. The putter was replated and refinished in a white chrome and the paintfill redone. The third putter is another Gauge Design Whitlam refinish. The body had scratches and damaged removed then had tungsten weights inserted in the face as well as new mini tungsten (5mm in size) inserted in the bumpers. This bumped up the headweight from 345g to 362g. The putter was then replated and finished in an oil can/anitque copper finish. Example custom work: The Blinker as we call it is not only an aligment aid but functional weight added to the putter, All Blinkers are custom designs and can be made at different weights (30g and up) and sizes. Transform your anser into a neo anser putter! Example Millings: If you plan on refinishing your putter, you can always give its face new life with some custom milling or even a custom insert. Master Sasaya can do a smooth face, or as shown in the above pics left to right a standard milling, a deep face milling or a Premium Zone style milling. He can also create a different styles of inserts from various materials for your putter face. Example finishes: TSG CraftWorks and Gold's Factory provide a bevy of exotic finishes including Black Oxide, Gun Blue, Nickel, and as shown above.from left to right, Teflon Black, Soft Black, Beads Boron, White Chrome, Stainless Beads Blast (Stainless steel putters only), and an Oil Can/Anitque Copper style finish. Example pricing: As mentioned above, all custom putter services through TSG CraftWorks are custom quoted for each job depending on the make and model of putter. We only offer the highest quality putter work and are proud to stand behind these services. Only your imagination is the limit. If you want the best please contact our custom clubs specialist with the make and model of putter you have and what services you would like performed.

The new Tour AD EV series and Rombax F were released at the same time and are also in the shop. Bassara is also available (but not in the shop). Roddio is not. Motore Speeder will most likely be available next month. No word on FCT shafts yet.

PRGR is releasing some new clubs in April including a GN502 Silver Tour Driver with higher and shorter CG and a more open face for a low spin, lower trajectory fade to straight ball. They are also releasing a Forged GN502 Iron which will be an advanced multipiece forging with less offset for the better player. A new PRGR 500 Wedge Type 02 will be released and is touted as an advance but forgiving forged wedge with multi back thickness and special milled face. Finally they have decided to widen their PRGR EGG FW lineup since it is so popular to include 5 7 and 9 woods. Look for these items at TSG in April!

Yes they do R. Quite a few ladies are now playing the Bassara R but they also hit their 7 iron 150 yards or more so the R flex is no issue for them (some even play stiff with those distances). The soft stepping helps a touch but I said it really puts the flex between flexes so yes for some that is not much of a change.

There are a couple of other things to consider. How big our your sister's hands? Some of the men's graphite shafts have thick butts for larger hands and a lady may have trouble turning over with the thicker butt. For example the GD AD-65 has a 14.8mm butt end while the Rombax has a 15.1 butt end. It may not seem like much but one can definitely feel the difference. I have played Axiv, Bassara, Tour AD, Mach Line and Rombax iron shafts. The Axiv play the stiffest. Followed by the Tour AD and Mach Line. The Rombax probably the softest. The models you spoke of all play great with the AF-701, nice feel and response. Good high but manageable launch and good accuracy. Soft stepping those shafts once will probably put you in between flexes. Also what length will your sister be playing. If she goes shorter you will also have to consider that will stiffen up each shaft a touch. Any reason why you don't want to go lighter? How far does she hit her 7 iron?

Just finished translating the specs and design and looks to be a very good shaft. It will be offered as an upgrade for almost all major JDM brand drivers direct from the factory. Fujikura introduces their all new line of 2009 Motore Speeder shafts for the Japan Market. The Motore Speeder is the most advanced shaft Fujikura has ever made featuring the world's first 7 PLY cross axis design. The Fujikura 7 Axis technology (a special 3 axis design layered with a special 4 axis weave) minimizes energy loss and creates a shaft with little to no rounding during flex. This creates great feel and kick as the shaft unloads with full force creating even more head speed for the golfer. Stability is placed at an equal importance to distance for the Motore Speeder and the shaft produces minimal twisting for accuracy in addition to distance. The Motore Speeder is designed for low spin, high ball speeds and mid to high launch for maximum carry and run out. Available in 40 50 60 70 and 80g weight ranges with various flexes and bend profiles, there is a Motore Speeder for every player out there. The new Fujikura Motore Speeder begins shipping at the beginning of April so any orders before then will be pre orders.

Some of you may know these guys are they are super popular in Japan. Kuma-ku you may have seen in my bag before. They are now officially available at TSG. New high plush driver covers! I wrote up some interesting descriptions this time around to tell their stories. (^_^) Rilakkuma has become one of the hottest new anime style characters in Japan since his debut in 2003. Rilakkuma is literally a combination of the words Relax and Kuma (Bear in Japanese). The Rilakkuma Driver cover fits drivers up to 460cc in size. The great thing about this cover is it has a mini pocket too for tees and balls. Rilakkuma's story is that one day he appeared in the apartment of an office worker named Kaoru. Rilakkuma wears brown bear suits (which is why he is brown), as in the picture books Rilakkuma is frequently seen sitting around waiting for suits that look exactly like him to dry on the clothes line. True to his name, Rilakkuma greatly enjoys relaxing. He is often accompanied by Korilakkuma, who is a smaller white bear with a mischievous personality, and Kiiroitori, a yellow chick who plays a tsukkomi role. Korilakkuma frequently plays pranks on Rilakkuma whilst he is sleeping, such as drawing on him, putting headphones on him and sewing odd color patches on his bear suits. Rilakkuma's favorite foods include mochi, pancakes, and doughnuts. Kuma-ku is a lovable orange metallic robot bear from the year 2040. He has come back in time to enjoy golf in our era. He is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) based robot bear usually found in most homes in the year 2040 so he is pretty smart and learns very quickly. Because of this he not only acts as a plush headcover to protect your driver up to 460cc, he can also double as a talking puppet on your hand (you need to do the talking). Great for your golf bag and entertaining kids when you get home!

The Super Delight goes street in Japan for around 200USD so I think the seller is overestimating. (^_^) The Super Delight is an ultra light 36g shaft. Available only in L flex and SR flex with torque around 6.7. The AF-101 head is spec'ed around 198g give or take 2g.

The Delight line has very high torque, can you believe the Regular flex Delight (not superdelight) has 8.0* of torque! Definitely aimed at the smooth swinger. They are not expensive shafts though compared to other Japanese high end shafts. They retail for around 200 so street of around 160 or so... Even the Delight XZ in stiff and x-stiff have a torque of 5.9*

The Science Eye is a good toy to have if you like to monitor your swing speed and get an idea of your swing path ie inside out or out side in or straight.... no machine can fix your swing of course, but for some people the data may be useful as it also measures your tempo (ie time to complete a swing). So putting all that data together you could probably get something out of it like consistency and change in swing path etc. As duffer said software and manuals are still Japanese but the machine itself is quite straight forward.

This putter is not released till April so you may have to wait a while for a used one. (^_^)

After the launch of the new X Series late last year, all the new models had shallower faces. Tourstage has decided to add a new deep faced 701R to the lineup which will launch at the end of the month. It targets the better player wanting to work the ball and keep it low and out of the left side. It is only available in 9.5 Stiff with Tour Design or Kai'li 70 Stiff or 70 X-stiff 8 (more proof it is made to battle the left side with only the Kai'li being offered) The 701R has a very deep face and very short center of gravity for a much lower launch .

All Srixon and XXIO clubs are available custom through our custom clubs ordering and always have been. The Tour Van availability is new and an added bonus.

Its not ridiculous at all. Many smaller brands and component brands do not have the capacity or funds to create original designs on a constant basis. Geotech uses some catalog and open model heads and also some of their own designs. Some smaller companies only use open model. Designers and suppliers of open model and catalog heads can easily make money by supplying these heads to smaller companies. The Majority of JDM companies are all original design. Epon, Miura, Mizuno, Tourstage, Srixon, XXIO, Fourteen, Yamaha, S-Yard, Royal Collection, TM Japan, callaway Japan, etc you see where I am going with this list. Also while many irons are forged in the same place that does not make them necessarily feel the same. Every brand has a budget and will spend different amounts of money to pay for different levels of quality of steel and designs.

That's good to know. It would open a whole door of shaft options then. I think I'll get an R9 Max for myself since I have a ton of shafts sitting here.

Nic, Individual cover wise, nothing beats the DWD covers right now. They give you 11 covers plus a tie to keep them all together. They fit snug and give great protection. Even I　use them (^_^) They are more expensive for sure but they are unique and stand out from the other plain black iron covers.

Yes that is what I mean. Probably more comparable to Tourstage than Epon feel wise which is of course good feel. But of course feel is subjective. (^_^)

Forged in Japan at Srixons own plant. Currently the most professional/low handicapper model in the Srixon Japan retail lineup. Very compact and thin topline and setup pretty much like a blade. Srixon forgings are more crisp and this one is no exception though a very solid iron.

Yes sir, availability begins sometime next week. 2.6kg and a 9" opening. It's around $220.00 plus shipping:

Your 1/2 a flex is probably a good estimation especially for R flex (which is why there is an SR flex).

R, the Motore is the "stock" shaft for the R9 (not necessarily for TM only as Motore is a Fuji "name"). As to how the JDM one actually feels and performs we'll have to wait and see when we get some demos. The JDM one is lighter as you noticed and the JDM R9 also plays 0.5" longer. So in other words what you're asking is, is the stock JDM Motore going to play softer? My guess with the longer length and lighter weight is yes probably a tad softer. Also the US models do not offer a Stiff/Regular which spreads the flex out for　JDM one. My guess for the JDM stock Motore　is as follows (phonzy this is for you too) Please keep in mind that this is a general estimation. Swing speeds and flex are always a guess and one must take into consideration tempo and transition as well which is why there is some overlap. Regular 80-90 Stiff/Regular 85-95 Stiff 95-105 X-Stiff 105 and up Stiff The aftermarket shafts will play true to flex.