Tourstage 705 (415) vs PRGR 435 vs my old Adams 9015D

[coops1967]

I'd picked up an Adams 9015D while in Houston, back in March 2009... had heard such good things about it that I just checked how it looked at a golfstore then decided to get one head only from Sellingers - I wasn't interested in the off the rack length of 46".

Fortunately had the sense to order one made up at 44 1/2" from Sellengers - they picked out a heavier head and i'd chosen an 83S Blueboard as I had a 73S blueboard in my G10 in bangkok and knew i'd never find the 83 weight anywhere...

It's worked a treat, and never really looked at anything else since - nice open faced, clean head and excellent sound/feel.

I haven't seen the Yonex 380 anywhere (fortunately? ;-) ) but the new PRGR 435 model and the Tstage 705 sounded/looked interesting so....

While at Wilding Golf in Bangkok (indoor golf simulators with 2 cameras for each bay) practicing I had a look at the Tourstage shoppe - there was no new 705 version there, but i'd seen the 455cc head at Fuji Supermarket (yup, this Japanese Supermarket has a Tourstage booth in there...) and it looked good. I asked about the 705 and the guy said they have and I could demo... 415cc? Yes.... in about 30mins it was brought round to the centre and a I tested it out against my old Adams.

The Adams is 10.5 degree with an 83S Blueboard at 44 1/2", the Tourstage was the 705 415cc version 9.5 degree with the Graphite Design AD-DJ6S but at 45 1/2". I'd have chosen the 10.5 degree but there were only 2 left in the country (out of original 10 sent to Thailand), both same spec.

Not a demo head, so had to try it taped up, and taped up over the original shrink wrap.... and it still did very well. I seemed to tend to hit then off to the heel, yet distance was up with or longer than my Adams and launch was also fine despite the lower indicated loft. I was choking down on the Tourstage due to the excessive length of the club, but was very impressed... quote liked the shaft too - I was worried that the lighter shaft and more closed face of the Tourstage might give me some nasty pull hooks, but was ok. The Tourstage was nice and square faced (maybe slightly open but i'm used to the definitely open Adams look) and is certainly cute looking... a kind of mini version of the pretty shaped Adams really :-

Adams 9015D

Tourstage 705 415cc

Side by side

Look at my cute little face

Tourstage Sole

I didn't buy it straightaway (!) as I had the idea of heading off to the All Star Range on my home where i knew there's a PRGR shop (along with shops for Yamaha, Honma, Epon, Tourstage, Nike, TM, Mizuno, Ping, Srixon and others).

so.... they had the PRGR 435cc version for demo both in 9 and 10.5 degree with stock shaft at 44 3/4"... some made for Diamana shaft.

you can check out pics of the PRGR at Tourspec proshop - it's also decent shape, and at 435 cc is very much in between the Tourstage and the Adams in appearance - they're all a nice shape.

The PRGR definitely was the also ran here, for me... sound/feel was in last place, easily although it's not bad - just the Adams and Tourstage are in a different league in sound/feel from most anyway. The Tourstage is a bit more muted than the Adams, but still good solid sound. The PRGR didn't perform for me so well, compared to the Adams... maybe/probably the shaft is an issue.

So... phoned up wilding and reserved the Tourstage - picked it up yesterday, one range visit today and a round tomorrow...

The lighter AD-DJ shaft got me thinking though.... I'm not getting any younger, and I still have my 73S Blueboard (nice ion flowerband version) so..

i've already been to Golfcraft to fix it (!)... I mean get the Tourstage tipped an inch down to 44 1/2" (6g of lead in tip for swingweight) and put my leather gripmaster grip from the 83S on it. Pulled the 73S from my G10 and installed that in my Adams...

Now have

Tourstage 705 (415) 9.5deg at 44 1/2", AD-DJ6S

and

Adams 9015D 10.5 deg at 44 1/2", Blueboard 73S

i'll be back to golfcraft on the launch monitor to have a crack at seeing how they do against each other - and intend to swap the shaft between them also to see a real direct comparison - any predictions?

I saw they have a Quaddra Fire Express 65S in stock

Hopefully I won't 'need' to try that option out with the winner (!).

Coops

[Eca]

9015D long and consistent

705 = odd bomber but not as consistent.

I don't know really.. just guessing :)

[gocchin]

Coops

Was it the new 435 or the older one for PRGR (the one in our shop is the old one)? It seems PRGR replaced the original id435 very quickly and it was barely out a year. The new 435 forged at Endo is superb and very much inline with the X-Drive 415. It's a huge improvement over the original 435.

[coops1967]

Coops

Was it the new 435 or the older one for PRGR (the one in our shop is the old one)? It seems PRGR replaced the original id435 very quickly and it was barely out a year. The new 435 forged at Endo is superb and very much inline with the X-Drive 415. It's a huge improvement over the original 435.

Yup,

you're right... i tried the 2011 version as in your proshop now, not the new one in your blog - that explains it... i was a bit disappointed!

I didn't mention it, but it felt like it's easier to get the club back square with the smaller head Tourstage.. but without makingnme hook it, my usual fault. I've got them now at same length etc so looking forward to seeing how they compare and how the two shafts compare also.

I remember reading Miura saying how his driver's size was no bigger due to this 'effect' - i mean the face center is a lot closer to the shaft line, so impact torque on the shaft and the golfer's arm torque to get back to square will be much lower....

Any idea on how a DJ6S should compare to a blueboard 73S and.... the 'ultimate' fire express 65S ?

coops