Blader-X Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 Okay, I've promised this review for some time and I know I'm way overdue but good things are worth waiting for. While they do have a newer lineup for this year, I wanted to share some thoughts on a new favorite club of mine. Many here are familiar with Royal Collection for many years now and their clubs have always been outstanding. I myself played several models years ago and they had always been very solid performers. I moved away from the brand for a time looking for something better as is the case with most of us; but, RC has caught my eye again and I couldn't be more pleased. I've had the club installed with a Graphite Design TourAD P9003X shaft at 43" and a swingweight of D3. Same shaft I have in my current driver and also a shaft that I had in an Epon AF201 fairway wood. This club replaces a PRGR Egg w/ GD SF8 that was previously in the bag and before that an Epon Technity 3 wood. The TourVS provides the best feel of any fairway club I've hit to date. That's the one major thing that I enjoy about JDM is the feel of the clubs is usually much more enhanced. Ultra smooth is how I would describe it. Upon the hit a silky feel is transmitted up the shaft through the arms bringing much joy!! While I describe the hit as smooth, it should not be interpreted as soft or mushy. The hit is very solid. Quite a bit of punch is employed on the ball. Trajectory is low to mid for this club as would be expected. While the EGG has been a big hit here and it was in my bag for a time, I didn't get the trajectory I was looking for in the EGG. A little too high for my taste. The TourVS is a laser beam. Very straight both in dispersion and flight path. Off the tee the flight is very level and long. Hitting off the fairway is no problem for this club. I have not noticed any problems at all and I believe the design of the sole really helps in that regard. I did hit this club for some time the the Nippon steel shaft that it came with. The difference was with the steel trajectory was even lower but still deadly straight. The P9003x is my shaft as I've written before here how the shaft seems to be a perfect fit for me. Sound of this club is not at all loud nor muted. Quite harmonious is how would describe it as it only enhances the feel. The feel and sound seem to go hand in hand. All shots with this club seem to rocket off the clubface and pure shots are just unreal. A very solidly built club and an absolute joy to hit. Who is this club for? Most likely the lower/mid handicap player who doesn't have a problem getting a fairway club airborne. The main reason I went to this club was for a lower trajectory than what I had with the EGG. Overall I'm very pleased with this club and because of this club have recently decided to delve back into Royal Collection. I recently ordered a new TRC rescue club and while only hitting a little bit of that around the house, I can tell the faces of each club provide the exact same feel. The newer line of RC fairway woods are exciting as well since they now incorporate the twin rail sole which I believe will help with tightening up dispersion even more. Royal Collection continues to build extremely solid clubs and are a definite must look for those in the hunt for new fairways/utilities. PRGR Egg - Epon Technity - Royal Collection TourVS Epon - RC TourVS - PRGR Egg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 good stuff. ive gone a similar path to you, repalcing my egg withte roycoll 304p and a yamaha v both i think are more versatile than the egg, but i still think the egg is the longest out there tho roy coll has the a fantastic feeling plus workability is second to none still got my older bbd type h as welll. mine are shafted withthe crazy 80 fw and that suits just perfectly. that p9003x is a sensational shaft, u didnt tip it to play in fw did u? i would think it wold struggle to get airborn . brilliant set up you got there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant Posted April 5, 2011 Report Share Posted April 5, 2011 thanx for review man! i got their TourVS driver recently and gonna post about it here in due time as well once i'm able to get it in actual play, so far literally just hit a few shots with it on the range and while i obviously got very excited about my new toy and the feel, sound and looks of it thats no basis for review. btw did you ever game their ProTP wood ? would be interested to know how it compares for you in case you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spoon Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 very nice review! i was close to purchasing a RC wood but got the yamaha instead which i havent used yet. that must be sone sick combo with the gdp9003x! monster mini driver of the tee. like the way you used the word harmonious which is the holy grail feel of JDM clubs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eca Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Gr8 review! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blader-X Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Thanks for the kind words. The P9003x that I had put in here was in the Epon AF201 before. That setup was very good. However as it is here in the world of JDM there's always something coming along that one just has to try. When the EGG first came out I felt I really had to try it. So I of course I did and in the EGG I had a Graphite Design SF8 shaft. The club was an excellent club but I didn't see and huge increase in length and the trajectory was too high for my taste. I like 3 woods to be low/medium piercing bullets. Also, I just never could get over the sound of the EGG. Don't get me wrong the EGG is a great setup, but I just wanted something different. Royal Collection had been catching again which is why I went this route. And, I haven't been disappointed. This new setup, for me, is better than the previous two I've bagged. The feel is better than both. Trajectory is along the same lines as the Epon and better than the EGG. Also, I prefer the height of the face of the RC. While I know that the lower faces like the EGG do help in getting the ball airborne, lower faces have always made me nervous. I feel like I'm going to dig underneath them even though I don't. Just that uneasiness though is not something I need when I'm over a shot. I think we all know how much confidence plays in hitting any club. Some clubs are just better than others in inspiring that confidence and its different for all golfers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 RC FW's and utilities simply have great pop to them. I prefer the feel over any other FW. I actually did not like the feel of Yamaha FW's and utilities as much as they felt harder. RC, ONOFF, Fourteen much softer yet crisper. Egg is just a completely different club when it comes to feel (especially the first gen as we all know). (^_^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted April 7, 2011 Report Share Posted April 7, 2011 I have the same exact Tour VS 14* with a Crazy Black 80II FW and I also really like it. I find the it to have a nice ping sound to it at impact, it's very low launching and low spinning, and it feels I would say, electric upon impact. Mis**ts are a little harsh but I like that in a club. I had an TM R9 fairway before this and I thought, although nothing exotic, it was an outstanding club, as well. This RC spins less and feels slightly hotter in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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