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Got my Epon Personals today. Compared to 302's


Mjr. D

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After about a two week wait in customs, I received my Epon Personals today with Pure grips (nice looking and feeling grip... chrome butt cap thing is interesting) and KBS C-Tapers in X.

They were supposed to come at +1" but are only +0.5" for some reason. Kind of annoying.

Thoughts:

I grabbed my 302s with Matrix Program 130 shafts and my new Personals and headed to the range.

I hit the ball pretty mediocre today so my findings may change once I dial in my swing, more:

Looks/Design:

Beautiful head. Small (heel to toe) but thick (for a blade). Not intimidating to hit at all. Top line is about the thickest I've ever seen on a blade.

The design is all it's own. Never seen a club like it. I'm surprised other companies haven't experimented with a hybrid-like blade, like this, before.

Flight:

I'm not sure how anyone can say the C-Tapers are low launching. I hit these only a hair lower than the ultra high launching Program 130s. These, in my experience are not low launching shafts. My Super Peening Blues, Modus 3's and Monaco's launch significantly lower.

Feel:

I can't say I was floored. In fact, the 302s with the Programs felt quite a lot better on pure strikes. Both have an Epon feel, however, not sure if the graphite allowed for a softer feel but 302s win here.

Distance:

This was even. 302s should, in theory, go further with the half inch longer shaft, and cavity design but the Matrix 130s are high spin and therefore I lose a little distance with them. I was impressed with the Personal's distance. Excellent... especially for a blade.

Accuracy:

Personals and C-Tapers win here. Graphite shafts are less consistent in my opinion.

Forgiveness:

For a blade, excellent. The 302s are easier to hit but that's expected. However, the if you can hit the 302's consistently there's no reason you can't hit the Personals. I'd say they're even with the Miura MB-5003s here.

Honestly, these are a great club, I'm just a little bummed about Epon screwing up the specs and the feel isn't as nice as I had expected. Could be the C-Tapers, though. Again, they were also going up against graphite shafts in the 302s.

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Congrats on the persoanls. Solid choice.

When you placed the order did you specify what finished length you wanted them at or did you just ask for .5" or +1" over standard? Japanese standard specs are usually shorter then say American standard specs. However I feel your pain spending that kind of coin and not getting them perfect.

Personals launch higher then the "traditional" blade IMO. Some may disagree but I would say ditch the c tapers and throw in the nippons spb and I think you will change your mind about the feel. To me the c tapers gave a very muted/dead feel, again that's just what I felt.

The 302/graphite will no doubt feel better since the graphite will really dampen any harsh vibrations emitted to the hands/body etc.

I have aerotechs in my personals and so far it's all I could ask for. Love them.

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Congrats and well worth the wait..... I always dream of one day having the opportunity to hit em personal... oh well...maybe one of these days I will get lucky

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well............u will prob. lfind its the shafts not the heads. that make these not the best feeling.

if uwant betetr feel then u might want to go the monacco route if thats the case....... just a a thought.....

but seign as ur gettign gooddistacne id prob advise against it.

i also think ,that being able to swing close to the speed of light ,the chemical arrangment of your ball might been altered from what us mortal humans can hit it at , if they are going the same distance as other clubs. .........thats a very big surprise...........all my findings point to the fact the pesoanls are at least 1/2 club shorter.

ive got the ctapers, and i agree they dont feel that great but..., they are WELL WELL lower than both the monaccos and SP blues. ive found so far. ive elft them in oz as my wind breakers. they are unmatched so far on links.

if u can get the personals high ur a lucky guy.. u get the stability of c-tapers with height which must mean ur gettign spin. which is nice to hit to greens.....................,

damn!

distance wise im very surprised they are the same length as the 302..

the personals are shorter than everything i have. noticeably so. except the af tours.. they are prob the same as those. which i know are shorter than the302 i used to hit.., and the 301s i have.

if u get more distance with them then DONT change id say.....

and

yes they are dead set terrific irons right,, so easy to hit as a hybird blade.

good pick up.. may ur days be filed with epon bliss................

u wannt post some piccys some time???

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Beautiful head. Small (heel to toe) but thick (for a blade). Not intimidating to hit at all. Top line is about the thickest I've ever seen on a blade. The design is all it's own. Never seen a club like it. I'm surprised other companies haven't experimented with a hybrid-like blade, like this, before.

nice review!

the only caveat i have is with your design descriptions. i think the top line is actually no thicker than other irons but the angle in which epon beveled the front portion of the top line does make it appear thicker. however, could you tell me how the top lines compare between the two (both visually and actual thickness)?

also, this type of blade has been done before by hogan. in fact, not only does the design pay homage to hogan but so does the name.

are these your first go with c-tapers? not many swings fit these shafts and i usually get banned for a week whenever i say how much i like their feel on a golf forum. i think they play stiff to flex and dropped a half flex. i haven't found a better shaft since!

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If flushed shots don't feel amazing with personals it is definitely the shaft. I know you swing at like Mach 1.3 but a c-taper x is a stout SOB.

Chiro likes them I know but it is one shaft I will never put in a set of irons I ever buy again. I swing a 6 89-92 and had the S flex and they were very demanding. Like turn a modest GI iron into a blade demanding because the particular mechanism of my swing wouldn't load the club sufficiently even at my SS.

In December I went to a comprehensive shaft fitting in which I allowed the fitter to select shafts for me based on my swing and the monitor results. I made a concerted effort not to peek at the shaft before swinging it because I didn't want to be prejudiced towards any of the offerings. The c taper was the only one I hit a few balls with, turned to fitter and said "get this thing outta here!" Even on pure strikes the feel at impact just wasn't on par with the other shafts I was hitting. Even pX.

Ultimately the 2 shafts that were the best combination of numbers and desired feel ended up being the Aerotech 95 and 110, we opted for 110s because of a lowered ball flight relative to 95s.

I understand I'm just one person, but I feel fairly confident that many people who hit the c taper next to other shafts in the same head would get similar results to mine. The height you're getting is the head, not the shaft.

From my experience owning Miuras with c tapers the only shots that really feel good are steep shots that really compress the ball into the turf. I'm a bit of a picker and for me it was simply a bad combination because even on "good" picked iron strikes I'd get a telltale vibration telling me I got it a groove low. I'm not a good enough striker to want to feel a difference between flushed and a groove low...both are just fine with me!!!

I know Chiro likes the no-nonsense feedback from the c tapers so if you're into revealing the slightest of mistakes in your striking, these shafts will do just that and will likely make you a better striker in the process. Personally I want my $2000+ set of irons to feel great on any impact on or immediately adjacent to the sweet spot. :) To each his own...

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Great feedback!! I feel the same way. I had to turf the crap out of the head to compress the ball and get any decent at all. I'm also a picker and often hit the ball thin... these don't help this out at all. Harsh.

Either i'm going to pick up some graphite shafts... something heavy, low spin and launch (if there is such a shaft) or try the Shimads or Aerotechs.

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Great feedback!! I feel the same way. I had to turf the crap out of the head to compress the ball and get any decent at all. I'm also a picker and often hit the ball thin... these don't help this out at all. Harsh.

Either i'm going to pick up some graphite shafts... something heavy, low spin and launch (if there is such a shaft) or try the Shimads or Aerotechs.

Just to beat everyone to the punch… Recoils… Alternately the Tour Attas I find a nice piercing trajectory with...

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Really!? Ya I'm going to investigate these. Probably even better than the Matrix Program 130s since those are supposedly high spin high launch.

The Crazy graphite iron shafts are a waste of money in my opinion. Nothing is worth $2500 or whatever it is. I could put X100's in these and play outstanding golf.

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Thanks, I actually have the Monacos in my Mizunos. Great shaft.

I used to have X-7 TT's in Miuras. Didn't like them. Very average feeling.

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