2006 Tourstage Gear

[K2_2]

Tourstage!!! If you’re busy, I’ll sum it up by saying the gear rocks.

While the new 2007 gear is not out yet, I was able to hit some 2005-2006 Tourstage gear including the X-Blade CB (new and old) and the 2005-2006 VI-Q forged. The X-Blade Two (2006 X-Blade that is a blade) felt amazing, and is honestly, not something I ahve the game for at the moment. The X-blade CB is a nicely crafted players cavity that allows you to work the ball and control trajectory, but it is not particularly forgiving if you have only played once in the last 6 months (hey, that’s why I was going to the range). I’d rather try the Fourteen 770 for that type of club, but haven’t taken one out for a demo.

The ViQ forged will also let you work the ball, and is, imho a smashing club! As I mentioned, I’ve played once in the last sixth months and am also having some tendonitis problems (so both the graphite and Nippon shafts were a blessing). I was able to stretch, hit a few pitch and runs, and then knock ball after ball out onto a green that was 165-170 yard carry over water with a 7 iron. I know for a fact I was lucky to catch a few on the club face but you couldn’t tell from watching where the ball ended up.

My only gripe is that the graphite shaft is only 55-60 g, and while I was fine sailing full shots up in the air with this or the Nippon shafted irons, I couldn’t hit a low shot with the graphite shafted ViQ to save my life. With the Nippon 950’s I was still able to hit about the same distance (maybe 3-4 yards shorter) but I could hit the ball lower as well (not everytime mind you, but that is lack of practice, not a problem with the club). The Tourstage shop guru agreed that it was tough to keep the graphite shafted ViQ low.

I also tried the 430 cc ViQ. This was a 10.5 degree, 45 inch, 55 g stock shafted, rocket :tsg_smilie_cool: !!! I will say up front that I could not jump on this like the Cally 454 I have, but that was from a pro who had it tipped to keep the left-hand side of the fairway out of play (it is really stiff for a YS-6 which normally plays a bit soft). When I did try to jump on the Vi-Q the ball ballooned a bit (partly my swing being out of tune, and probably due to picking the wrong loft to demo as well) but it did not snap left, which was really impressive for such a light shaft. When I wasn’t going after it though, I could make nice easy swings and carry the ball 245-255 yards without breaking a sweat. I won’t make direct comparisons without hitting other clubs back to back and or with the same shaft. However, I will say that it felt really good, sounded amazing, and went like stink, all without any changes. I have hit some other impressive drivers back when I was in Japan, and after fiddling around with specs I have found some drivers in the US that can produce similar results, but I have never hit a stock driver that felt or performed like that.

I probably won't sell all of my Callaway kit as I've spent time getting it set up and have gotten comfortable with it, but I will definitely be building an all import bag over the next year (already started with a putter and I'm waiting for reviews of the 2007 Vi-Q forged :tsg_smilie_money3: ).

Edited December 20, 2006 by K2_2