Epon AF-302 and AF-502

[ihatebogies]

I've been an admirer of premium JDM equipment for years and have very much wanted to purchase a number of clubs I've seen on this website but because of financial constraints have been afraid to pull the trigger on them without being able to demo so to speak the club/clubs you're going to drop some decent coin on. Thanks to a long time member here and someone I hope to get to meet in person some day, graciously allowed me to hit a couple of his own personal stash.

So on with it......I had the opportunity to have in my own hands a 7 iron Epon 302 shafted with a stiff superpeening Nippon shaft and a 5 and 7 iron Epon 502 with KBS Tour stiff shaft softstepped once. A little about me, I'm 61 and fluctuate between a 6 and 8 handicap, don't hit it far but do manage to get around the course ok. My driver swingspeed is around 92 mph and I have a smooth tempo golf swing. Having said that the shafts in the clubs on paper weren't that far off for my swing I felt.

Off to the range and course........I took out the 302 first and thought it might be a bit much for me. I have played a players cb in the past (Titleist 690.cb) and loved them when my game was on. But as time has slowed my swing (strike up the violins) I have gone to a GI iron (Callaway X-20). I like the Callaways but certainly don't love them. So when I loosened up and made my first real swing at a golf ball with a premium JDM club I fully expected to mis**t it and have that horrible feel you get when you mis**t a club you have no business playing. I was shocked, nice gentle draw into a flag on the range that I was aiming for. Very buttery but not Mizuno soft if you know what I mean. So I repeated this over and over and for the most part got the same results. As always a poor swing does you no good no matter what you have in your hands. the Nippon shaft in this club was heavier than what I normally play but smoother than I expected. On the course I pulled this club out several times and was very pleased with how accurate it was as compared to my X-20's. Kind of like the difference between driving an Acura TSX vs. a Ford Explorer on a winding road. The 302 was everything you wanted on demand and you could trust it when it counted!

On to the 502 (this is a mini review right). The 502 was shafted with a KBS Tour shaft which I had once in a set of the infamous R7 taper tours of another site. I never got on with them in the taper tours nor did I like them in the 502's. To me the 502's felt very dead, little or no feeling at all and I kept thinking why all the hype for this iron. I kept wanting to like this club because it's a beauty but never hit any shots that were memorable in my mind. It could be the shaft though but to me the 302 is the better for my game. The 302 is more forgiving than I would have thought and the 502 was nothing close to what I wanted it to be.

I can't thank Jeff (idrive) enough for allowing me the opportunity to hit clubs I've looked at and drooled over on the internet and always wondered what they'd be like in my own hands. It's too bad there isn't a reasonable way to demo these and the other JDM clubs most of us just get to look at and read about on the internet because Epon sure makes as good or better golf club than I've ever had the opportunity to play in my 45+ years of playing golf. I hope this is of some help to any of you considering these clubs. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.

Jim

[Randy]

Thanks for the mini-review.

[landshark]

yes, jeff(idrive) is a good guy. i've had the opportunity to play with him a few times. always been a pleasure. i may see if he still has any fourteen tc550's on hand.

Edited April 15, 2010 by landshark

[japstar]

Does anyone know of any places where I can demo the 502's? I'm located in Sacramento, California, and like the way these clubs look. I just need to be sure that these clubs perform well enough to justify the price. If anyone has a set of these clubs and would be willing to let me demo them, that would be even better. Thanks in advance.