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3-woods tend to stay in my bag longer than most clubs, even more so than drivers. I just have a hard time settling on one I like and can count on both off the tee and the fairway. It was the last club in my bag to go JDM as I just couldn't let go of a beautiful wine colored TM-R7 (before TM went all white and stupid...), even though discovering JDM had thoroughly changed my game and my bag otherwise. Then along came Kobayashi with his S-Yard XV line, and there was no looking back. Nice soft thwack and unbelievable distance and roll out for me even if the flight was way lower than I was accustomed to. That club has been a solid keeper in my 3-wood slot for as long as it's been out. But then watching as my bag went further and further into A-Grind territory -- everything from irons and wedges to hybrids, and even trying the 440 and Proto drivers -- I finally felt I had to try the DST 3-wood. And whoa, mofo!, am I glad I did! The DST is everything I've loved about the XV -- it's hyper long and delivers precision with that soft thwack I need to hear and feel -- but with one important exception: it flights the ball much higher for me without losing the rollout I so loved with the XV. Beautiful long high arcing shots off the tee have really helped me on one hole on my home course that is a blind tee with a rising hillcrest the first 40 or 50 yards with nothing but an embedded white rock to aim at. Easily up and over with a lazy draw and then past a fairway bunker that sits about 210-220 out on the right side. And also able to lift a shot off a downhill lie on another (too) long Par-4 hole later in the round makes me smile at a shot I just couldn't hit before with anything but a hybrid or an iron (for a layup). And of course that stealth black A-Grind finish that just makes me chill. I don't know how else to put it, but shiny finishes on metal woods just don't do it for me. They look like kids over dressing to make an impression or something... DST is the new 3-wood in my bag. I want to sleep with it at night.

Given the way I fell hard for the S-Yard T.388 driver this year, I was defintely anxious to get my hands on the new XV 3-fwy wood. My relationship with an old R-7 3-wood has turned, over the years, into something of a challenge, as many clubs have tried -- and failed -- to kick it out of my bag. It's firmly been the one club that would not go JDM in my bag. But after spending the holiday weekend with the XV, I can say that the R-7 now sits next to my bag here in my office. It still calls to me, but there is something Kobayashi-san is doing with these S-Yard clubs that just clicks for me. First of all, for T-388 lovers, this 3-wood looks like a mini-me T.388. Here it is sitting right next to the stealth bomber itself: The look is a match at first sight, and even though the face is not the same titanium, the thin maraging steel gives off the same flexed punch that T.388 contact keeps me coming back for. Sound, as Tario has aptly described it, is deep enough to tell you you're getting the same rebound effect that powers the driver, and the flight is straight-on penetrating like the T.388, and yes, this thing is long, too. My first go around with it was the range. First swings did feel a little stiff or heavy to me, and I have to admit the R-7 was still smiling when I got home. But I put the same light weight (51g) Hiskei Wave carbon shaft in it that I've been using in the R-7, and headed back to the range. And it was then that this thing really began to pop for me. Net at the range is at 230yds, and my hits started climbing well up above the mid-section in height. And still the trajectory was missile like and straight. Not a trace of ballooning even as the ball found the top part of the net, which for me is a very long 3-wood. So... took it to the course. And cracked it off the first tee to where my pre-t.388 driver used to leave me. And found it both accurate and long the rest of the day. It was great off good fairway lies, and I found I could get the ball up in the air like the R-7 if I moved it a little forward in my stance. And I even hit a low flying missile from the rough at the end of the day on 18 when I sometimes feel tired playing the course's toughest Par-5 coming in. Here are a couple more views of Stealth-3 as it's now being called here: My thanks again to Tario and K-san and the S-Yard crew! My R-7 has even nodded graciously to me, and I've thanked it for being the longest running club in my bag ever. But at least on the long end, S-Yard now rules for me.