***** MY new driver builds THREAD ******

[supo]

Prgr egg7 , 9* with diamana ilima 70s 

44.875  d1  313g

swapped  this  shaft from the 83g   diamana aliislei ( which is prob my 3rd fave shaft of all  time) and  oh boy   it  changed its profile............. by a MILE.....,

aliislei was low, sturdy heavy and punchy. didnt like to be moved laterally  what so ever.

it was a purpose built wind buster that was designd to hit  the middle of fairways with a draw swing,  NO WAY was htis or did this go  left.

not a once.

misses were ALWAYS fades, cuts, slices , blocks ,  which im ok with bec thats my miss and  ive come to peace with that flaw  i cant alter..

 I diidnt reay want to  swap  this out  but i cudnt find another egg 9  for the life of me and i wanted to test the head ( which is prob my 3rd/4th  fave head ever as well)  with a lower kick higher launch  shaft, diamana is obv my go to so with the success of the astro / ilima 60s i thought why not give it a try.

well 5 days of holidays belting the  be hey zeuss  out of balls on links has taught me , some things are best let  unchanged, some are worth a change.

This one  is a success   BUT  maybe not as big as id hoped.
It flies  higher  or sure.

its lighter.

it ultra stable and its longer  than the ilima

BUT
it feels   light airy thin. this is a trait im becoming sued to with this shaft, it performs superbly, the wind didnt kill it what so ever in fact with   more spin it actuallly kept the flight very stable. i  didnt really miss many  fairways/sides  with it at all, and i had NO problem with its carry  Vs   total  distance but  it felt a little thin.

Its a head scratcher, bec it worked  really well , it did what i wanted it to but i felt underwhelmed  at impact with it, especiay when i was hitting the  KAMUI tp07/stinger along side it.   it was night and day  but when i marched to the ball the diffference wasnt  really that big, it was enough to game the KP all the time, but the egg prob was close with it    for carry  , actually iwas hoping   this  wud  be   my wet weather driver, its a good un for sure, but not enough airtime to be an all carry no roll  bat.   ill throw a leather gripmaster on it for the sweaty summer   tho bec its def where itll perform well.

was it as good as the original  with ailislei  ?
its a push, prob yes 

 this head  stands the test of time ( and R&D )  and wi be  a stable  club for a lengthy time   ,  rating: very good to excellent,  not superb. 

 its a keeper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2023 by supo
E

[supo]

ASTRO TOUR v2  11*  /   diamana X 70s
323g  45 inxch d1.5
The   same head/weight as is  on  my  GD pt6x  which has been  my fave driver of  this season , in fact its been hard to take that one out of the  bag  , i originaly planned to build this  new one  to leave on the links  so  ican travel  lighter. but that didnt work quite as planned..................

THIS one came back with me, the GD stayed put.

ahhhhhhhhhhhh, sigh, there is just something SO more my style  with  this shaft than anything else really , with the exception of   the 7d and stinger  that just makes me wonder why i actually built   anything else  NOT DIA X . .
as much as l still  enjoy  several  other shafts , namely the quadra fire express tp-V nx ( kick  on this is unique, makes u think ur grabbing WAY more miles than in relaity, VERY sweet smooth shaft  ,  love  the feel,  it feels   soft but isnt , the  original fire express, diamana kaili/aliiseli, daiwa tataki, crazy black 50 ( oh boy THIS  is one shaft i love opposite to  the  TPv nx )   and   thats bascially all im down to these days , everything esle has been expunged , still    i feel the X has all   them covered  .

super low torgue, mild/ow flight , arrow like performance , miss**ts dont get monstered.   feel is solid  and smooth   but   u  do need  to  give it   jjust a bit more welly to activate  it  but by no means is it a lightning rod . like say the crazy black 80ls  is.. thats from anohther planet that thing...  the  DIA X is  just chicken soup , me.
So,   when i took both these 2  drivers  out for a DECENT show  and tell i found myself reaching for this one more than my fave   Ptx.
at times i can  exude  a bit brand  favourtism   ,  prefering a known  brand  for  "superior"  brand   for no other reason that it simply " presents/  looks " better , seeeeeeeeeeems better  ....., petty i know  but its true.  A perfect example  is   a massive bias i have  for  say  a 1990s   hiro mats    Mz 07  putter over a  mid 2000s  bettiardi tour .......  if u read everyone in the golifng  universe in "merica   there NO way  possible  there can be a similarit y in quaity    unessss of course u have both and hit both  and well...........  i digress.., 

 but for drivers i kind of go for whats  the newast ive built  and hope its thwe  best at the time,  and i gotta say after 2 solid sessions  with both of these, the  X shafted has taken pole position  in my bag.

 One of the reason  i LOVED the  pt shafted  one was bec as much as it goes well  it LOOKS freeeeken awsome , has an earthen green leather gripmaster i had put on  with that light blue / white grey hue pattern  shaft , with the grip, it  just looks SO mine mine mine ish.  i just lovel ooking at  it which of COURSE thwith a sort of  palcebo  effeccr makes   me THINK im going to hit it better and low and behold........... i  most often dont miss.

BUT the 2014 x is on another  level.

kick point maybe ?

materias perhaps?

diffference in distance ?
 nope none  that i cud see.

  flight , yes, bizarely the X is higher than the  PT and it makes the head feel like its a bit hollower and  tingier, the feel /flight combo has me.

theres very little if any lateral movement on both these but the DIA  X  i find has a tine bit more abilty to shape, might be the S flex vs the X of the pt   but if i really want to try and get one to go left,  the DIA  is the one i cud prob count on more ,  wind, mehhhhhhhhhhh  nah,  it doesnt matter 1 iota  the X 
 eats it up with aplomb , ballooning , not a peep.
since i discoverd astro tour heads ive been addicted to thier  shape and performance,  they can  not be overpowered, they can not be broken , these are made for long drivers of   JN with a range  for normal  humans.  thankfully  with   my modest distance   returns these days  this head offers me a confident feeling at address and  im ALWAYS thinking im one driver away from  a return to the hallowed days.
yea this  one ............................... is RIGHT at the very top along side my all  time best evers.

 id pop it   ahead of the  PTx and a step up  from the diamana ilima/egg  i had built same time, the fact the shaft  was  $900+  at release  makes me think theres a bit more fairy dust and unobtanium sprinkes  in it,  prob quantified  when   i spoke   to the lead designer of diamana and he says " we wont make another  one of these they are too expenseve and theres nothing  left   was can improve  on ........... u shud  buy as many as u can nad put them in as many heads as u can , inflamatory words  to mahooooooooooooooooooosice club ho..

 

like i still am ! 

 

THIS is a keeper ,and a  not to be sold er.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2023 by supo

[supo]

ryoma d1   9.5* /  diamana ilima 70s

an oldie   but  one the besties

 low.

wow  forgot how low this head launches as a rule. 

straight,

almost   no ability to shape it.

set up dead straight  and flat at adress this thing jsut says go that way and no other. not being funy didnt even try and shape  , no point , its one way or the  high way, loved the change of look.

actually not many ive got have the same visual that back up its play prowess.

this LOOKS like it hits   low . piercing and straight an thats  100% what it does.
i dont know how many of these ive had over the  yeears, my alst one had a stinger in it @ 10.5 which when nailed   was sublime but it   was a driver that needed 100%  impact to active , the shaft change  to the ilima  has made a big difference . i   the sahft feels a bit airier thinner  nad lightler   profile in hands and give me a lot more scope to NOT cream it 100% and not get killed.  its a nice insurance policy.

gott be able to give tit  some welly tho , need swing speed to activate this  or it just wont work, well  my buds 10 mph   lower  and he cudnt get it to work at all.  hated it.

good............. ,means he wont nick thIS one!

played on my best track  yesterday   hit  9 very solid drives and only 1  miss that  ran thru  into the   bunker :" aways out there, a shot of similar impact with others" wud have pulled up short, was quite impressed.

yea   this is a  def  long one  but only on dry decks, wont take htis out in rain , no plint wont get off the ground  , one of its ++++s    is it gets cheat miles  down the middle.
not for flying trees,   for disecting  the short stuff. too me 1 drive to get used to it again.
played this head as much as any other  since 2009 
i thinki ts a love it or no way ,too low, dont suit . which  is why  so many   of these got  moved on so early years ago and the d1 maxima got taken up so well, pesoanlyl i didnt like the maxima 1 bit , the d1 was  always my go to.

shaft difference is EXTREMELY noticeable. makes  the 9.5*  a more forgiving set up.
the stinger  was  great in it  (years ago  BUT NOW thiss  ilima has all my attnetion of late , driver no4 with  this shaft this season, and not had a fluffer with it yet, take s bit of time to get used to the feel but its  a shft for the ages for sure

ryoma d1
astro tour v2
prgr egg 7
kamui pro  tp 07 

not  a foot wrong anywhere here.

 

ryoma d1/ilima  (probably) better with a 10.5*  head for all round use   but no way am i gonna mess with this as tit  is. headed back to the links in wither 100%  !!!!  

this is where htis will really shne ,  or  here in autumn when things firm up a tad. 
mid sumer cud use a littel more airtime./ hang time to get over the humidity .

this is  firmly back in the bags tho.

when does a hobby become an obsession ? 




 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by supo

[chiromikey]

Thanks!

I think I’m going to put a Zinger in my D1 V-Spec and give that a shot as my geriatric driver. I’ve been getting along with the 435/7d and scoring well but it’s still a tank and it takes every bit of effort for me to finish the round with it.

[supo]

if u like the head but just want a bit of  relief   id jsut give  the shaft a bit of a   tweek.

ive gone back to all time faves  this season, not even looked and a new nad best........ the kaili  in fairway woods has been  aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh   awe  inspring.  so much so  i had to  put one in an old  TP09  9.5*  driver   head  for fun and its been great.,   bit more workable  and   mid  flight   but  its gets right out there  with the big dogs of later vintage.  had it in play yesterdy as well. not a com-laint cud i hear.
thats a step down formteh diamana X  i  play as a rule   and u can notice it in impact  and felx , but its not "worse"   just a bit ..........typical  where as the X is uber dynamic.  feel is BIG.
ives till got all my  unicorns  but i dunno going back a smidge hasnt been a bad thing waht so ever.
prob given me a bit more power towards teh end of the games  in fact.
for instance..

driver-  , 7d,diamana X/stinger  to  kaili/ilima  yes a big  diference in feel  esp off the middle  but much easier to miss a bit and not try nad kill. enjoying  them  right now but   in mid summer (next weeked) ths big  guys come back out.
 

fairways- diamana stinger,X, fire express proto crayz black 80    to  kaili, muziik  dogatti , ali islei   in the  same heads , i can notice a very discernable difference over all so far thsi season.

 been good to hone , but now all the  big ones back i nthe bag.

gotta say the dogatti 6  in a fairway wood has been a very eye opening experiment. super easy to ignite, mid+ flight, quite workable , very veyy    nice feel , pretty electric, built  that for a  a bud but he took an ali islei   60s  one instead    so  i kept it   for winter,spring,  really liked its perfoamnce and  doesn t need  to be   killed to    get it to   work. 

back in bg a tho from  thsi   week.
kamui tp 09 / 7d
kamui tp 07 / diamana X  60x
jbeam  black 435 / stinger  70x
astro tour v2 / diamana X  70s

getting toasty finally  overhere , balls are going noticeably further ,def  higher and feel is INSANE npw. premium times mean premium gear. 

might bust out the NS protos in prgr tr500s again now as well! 

 best score this  season  yesterday  and felt great.

 

 

 

 

[supo]

taylor made  tp -09   jpn ed.  9.5*    (endo) / diamana kaili  70s

Right, if ever i want to make sure , like really really make sure i hit a fairway with even  a crappy swing goin on , then  this  thing is one of the top contenders id  reach for  in my  posse of long sticks. ive now got 2 of these , one  OS with a  100g bimatrix   blue  at 44 inch for links play in awful wind  and this new one i pilfered from a buddy.
yes , that does say 2009......... a thousdand years ago driver  head  which  not only holds it own   in feel and looks against the best ever latest releases, its SMASHES  THE FK  outta them.
Its so clean it looks like my bud never even used it, i traded  it for an astro tour   11*  with  diamana  aliislei 63s  which he absolutely loved and  got him  a bit more easy  flight   to work up to  some  speed  again , both are satisfied  traders.

the 09  head has an electric   ting at impact which is enahnced  nicely by the KAILIS mid kick, mid launch  denser  characteristics, its a very different feel  to the  ILIMA  ive been hitting   of late, there is NO similarity in feel / flight what so ever here, the ILIMA  has a much more instant luanch to it, its flies high but flat, the KAILI is flatter, lower   and  MUCH punchier impact, a better chioce for higher  lofted heads and faster swing speeds, this shaft has been   put in a TON of my recent fairway woods  builds  last 18 months,   for  damn good reason~~~!!!

Its not an overly  long ball  lama, not by any  stretch , esp   these days  but its NOT 30 +  yards behind  my big guys either. its about 15 id guess,, which is enought  to take notice  of for sure but when out and out distance done matter that much and  confidence /  accuracy   do , then  this is when this guy gets the call up ive been co gaming it with a jbeam  435  and  my astro tour and it  looks  very much  easier  to hit a fairway with  at address if u have many and varied to choose  from.

i never think im gonna  crush it   but i never think im gonna miss my aim  point either.
its not  a   big dogs club anymore, but for anyone looking for a  realatively compact  triangle back  shaped head that inspires a TON of confidence to get  the ball  to a spot , then  im hard pressed to  choose a better   one.
others in this realm are the   

onoff type s 

ryoma  d1

royal coll

prgr egg 7

these came straight  into my thinking for  my best  fairway finders ive hit.

that  kaili   shaft   mid summer is a DEF winner. 





 

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by supo

[supo]

On 3/17/2013 at 7:17 PM, supo said:

s-yard 9.5 * with diamana X 70s

44.875 x d3.5 x 330

 

the s-yard MUSt be lighter THAN IT IS NOW. its very playable , but with a small removal of weight im thinikng i might get a bit more out of it . the match of this shaft and head is perfec tho, theres no need to change anything over here. maybe perhaps i cud go the 60s in it .. it wont make a lick of differnce to the stability of it and it might give me a bit more head speed. il lthink this thru with my builder.

over all tho im extrememly pleased with the performance of thsi driver. its a beaut.

  back to back rounds with this at  my no 1 course    this wekeend  and  with the jbeam 435 / stinger 70x combo in play  stroke  for stroke.
  i cudnt really find 2 more diametrically  opposed  heads if i tried.
i used ths one as my shorter, go to must hit a fairway   when  i wasnt worried about distance  as much as position , that  went well   but  wasnt its only   trick,  bec  this went  miles more than  i   thought  whne i stepped   on it, , much more so  than  iwas trying to get form it. its not as long on out out dive as the beam  is but for the ability to hit ANY shot u cud possibly  think of , thers nothing ive ever hit that can hold a candle  to it. tee it low hit stinger worm burners, tee it hight  get some  welly to it itl lstay airborn for an eon plus a can  hook, slice  pull draw punch , bunt with  it with excellent control .
forgot how much  versatility this has , combo with  diamana   X shaft, superb!
easily, like... theres no competition  from another   driver  for  the most versatile  head  there is. 

feel is spuerb. sound is as good as it gets, theres room out  in driver land for a modern verison of this.

but whats the point when this is so  good as it is.

id challange anything to  match the  range or imagery of a shot over this , plus a  sneaky  aside it DOES  go long when needed .

top of the shop combo  glad i brought it back. no need to touch it, 






 

[supo]

2 more to the bags for the year  and it over

kamui pro  tp09  10* - NS 950 dr sahft steel  45inch 

RC  bbds 10.5*  NS 950dr steel 45inch

the steel guys.
the RC is very light , airy and  tingy , high launch  all carry 338gram .
so soso soso so so easy to hit, i made it as a range tool  to improve  my swing speed but it eneded up playng very well and is taking a bag spot  on occasions for must hit  fairways, its  that concistant.

its not long, but its no slouch and as   said its preposterously straight and high.theres a cpl of holes i play that require nothing more than  to  hit the faiway   260ish   and  im  in range  for  wedge pin attack . any miss tiny left of right, its the trees OB or the water AND its always very  windy , always, i  never  hit  driver on these, more oft lay up with 3 wood then have a 5 or 6   to the green, with this thing tho ,, its like playing a huge 3 wood and it goes 240carry just by looking at it . its the perfect club!
in fact it was so relaiable i had to make another SS trainer so i built the  kamui pro tp 09s 10*, same   steel shaft but at 350g, slightyl differing resutls with this, very thumpy, dull, muted impact, VERY nice to hit in the  hands.
its heavy, its slow and it accelerates with force , it is what its made to do, after hititng this  for a bit then going back to proepr driver, it feels like a wand, its playable  for  sure, not the most left hand seide friendly, not going to get a lot of daw  out of this, LOTS of potenetial slice,  so  its a fantastic tool to  train the body to hit left, any mistake and it just goes right.

played it last week, got a few out of the middle and its pretty darn  good,  gets  out there, its longer than the RC for sure but  not for  gaming. really does a good job of getting the bod in tune.

can do worse than make one.
 

Edited December 18, 2023 by supo

[supo]

 SRIXON ZR-30 / DIAMANA KAILI 70S    9.5*   45inch
Matsuyamas old  driver.

 why did i not find this  a  cpl of yrs back    , !!!!!

gamed yesterday  at home course  non comp  so just hitting balls.
first real game of the year. 15*c   so  very good temp  no wind , great  conds!
 i hit   9/10  fariwasy with it , not bad for fist  hit , not even range time.
 over the day  it had a  cpl of yard draw  no more.  miss hits were the usual  blocks a few yards right. extremely straight mid flight , ball flight completely reliant on tee height.
as a rule i prefer rounder fuller headed drivers , this is one,  a bit smaller  and  more rouned than  the jbeam 435 i covet so much  but  not too dissimilar, very   easy on the eye at address.
looks small compact and  straight faced.
imact..................wow,solid, pingy  not toingy nor tinny  .  very very   good impact/sound
kaili shaft is fabulous with it. 
i was swinging well and getting  the best distance id gotten  in a cpl of years.
consistantly. 
 the ball flight was " perfect" ,  cud not find any fault  on this waht so ever.
100% added to the   rotation. , in fact so impressed i  bought the other  one for links. 

 

Edited March 25 by supo

[03trdblack]

13 hours ago, supo said:

 SRIXON ZR-30 / DIAMANA KAILI 70S    9.5*   45inch
Matsuyamas old  driver.

 why did i not find this  a  cpl of yrs back    , !!!!!

gamed yesterday  at home course  non comp  so just hitting balls.
first real game of the year. 15*c   so  very good temp  no wind , great  conds!
 i hit   9/10  fariwasy with it , not bad for fist  hit , not even range time.
 over the day  it had a  cpl of yard draw  no more.  miss hits were the usual  blocks a few yards right. extremely straight mid flight , ball flight completely reliant on tee height.
as a rule i prefer rounder fuller headed drivers , this is one,  a bit smaller  and  more rouned than  the jbeam 435 i covet so much  but  not too dissimilar, very   easy on the eye at address.
looks small compact and  straight faced.
imact..................wow,solid, pingy  not toingy nor tinny  .  very very   good impact/sound
kaili shaft is fabulous with it. 
i was swinging well and getting  the best distance id gotten  in a cpl of years.
consistantly. 
 the ball flight was " perfect" ,  cud not find any fault  on this waht so ever.
100% added to the   rotation. , in fact so impressed i  bought the other  one for links. 

 

Did you use the new version of the Kai'li or the old version?

[supo]

original version.
been putting that  shaft in all my heads over the last few months.
i cant gt any more stingers  ,  so this is EASILY  the next best thiing.
yamaha v202    10*
this  srixon one ( x2)
taylor made burner  tp 09
jbeam 435 ( bit low in this)
astro tour  v3


 

Edited March 26 by supo

[supo]

srixon zr 30 -  9.5* -diamana X  70s
yamaha v 203 10*- diamana X 70s
yamaha v 203  9*  -diamana aliislei 83s 44 inch

builds  to be done  next 2 weeks..  

[03trdblack]

16 hours ago, supo said:

srixon zr 30 -  9.5* -diamana X  70s
yamaha v 203 10*- diamana X 70s
yamaha v 203  9*  -diamana aliislei 83s 44 inch

builds  to be done  next 2 weeks..  

You're going to make me break out my Srixon ZR 30 driver again! 

[supo]

wonderful head.. never heard about it  till amonth back. now i have 3, lossess  nothing to anything  i  play.

i dont  put those shatfs  in any old head.

really kike its feel sound and look.  kind  of reminiscent  of the kasco 340, oh that was  a head  to play.... 460cc might not be  for everyone