Posted July 2, 201311 yr When we visited Buchi for the first time in February, Kusaba-san, Buchi's club designer (former founder and chief designer for Solid Contacts - Ryo Ishikawa's first brand) wanted to show us this "cool club" he had in his bag, at the time it was just a prototype driving iron. When I went back to visit a few weeks ago he had a demo for me to try and I loved it. At that time we were in the midst of ordering several Buchi demos which have just started coming in now. One of them that arrived yesterday was this new driving iron the SP-301. Forged from S25C in Himeji, this driving iron is made to of course replace longer irons and provide ease of use in a clean looking package. Because every single iron and wedge is grinded by Tabuchi-san himself, we asked for this driving iron to have as close to no offset (unlike many other driving irons today that have goose necks!) and a clean look ie no sheep (^_^). The 05 is what I have here now and it's a 24.5* driving iron that replaces either the 4i or 5i (depending on the lofts in your set). There is also a 21.5* to replace the 3i or 4i. Check out the photos I just took, deep cavity and a shallower face for easy launch. This driving iron is meant to get you out of trouble but at the same time with very little offset provide nice direction and control. Please note I have yet to shaft it up so I just stuck in a shaft for photos. I can't wait to shaft this up and give it a try as it felt awesome hitting it at Buchi. The cavity is not only wide but the face thick for a very pure feel. The sole luckily is not overly wide but wide enough to qualify as a rescue type iron. Since each one is made by Tabuchi-san, like his irons and wedges you can specify the grind type, amount of offset and stampings. If you are interested, let me know and we can set one up for you now!
July 2, 201311 yr Author Any grind you want, more bounce, rounder sole, leading edge, trailing edge. Price depends on shaft but can be had as head only too. Just send me an email.
July 2, 201311 yr Author Srixon's Z-UTi is way thicker on the top line and has way more offset. The sole is also considerably wider. Don't know about the Callaway. Neither offer custom offset or grinds though!
July 2, 201311 yr that is really nice! i have been looking to have a replacement to my Epon 901 19degrees. Do you think they could work into something similar maybe even "longer" (18?16?) more like a 2 iron?
July 2, 201311 yr This isn't as big and clunky as the 901 or most driving irons and better yet it feels awesome at impact. When I saw it back in Feb it had much more offset than this. The Tabuchi models we will present to you guys will be minimal offset so everyone can add offset if they like.
July 3, 201311 yr 17 degress would be very interesting! When will we have the pleasure to have the Buchi on the TSG shop?
July 3, 201311 yr Author you can order now ... its more complicated as all clubs are custom so I will work with each customer
July 25, 201311 yr Author JUST A NOTE, AFTER VISITING BUCHI, THEY HAVE AGREED TO MAKE A #4 18.5* OF THE DRIVING IRON AS A CUSTOM ORDER JUST FOR TSG!!!
July 25, 201311 yr Can they scustom stamp per client request? 18.5 is a very strong 4:) Im down for a #4 21.5
July 25, 201311 yr Author Nope its not a 21.5 bent to 18, they have made a mold for the 18.5. As I noted above, numbers cannot change on the sole as they are part of the mold. They in fact number them 4: 18.5, 5; 21.5, 6: 24.5. I did ask them a few months ago why they named them this way and they had given me an explanation which made sense but for the life of me I can't remember why i was!!!!
July 25, 201311 yr I could see Buchi making a sick combo set starting with these moving on to one or both cavity back designs then into the muscle back & wedge.
July 25, 201311 yr I'm really glad that it's an 18.5* mold, I normally like to tweak with the lofts and wouldn't have really wanted to if they had already bent the heads, fact that 4 is stamped on the sole doesn't really matter to me... The lack of a lower loft kinda pushed me in the direction of not ordering the driving irons, might have to grab them now.
July 26, 201311 yr hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yes.......... very eye catching, might go hit one of them tonight if ones availbe in any loft. like the idea of no offset very much
July 26, 201311 yr Nope its not a 21.5 bent to 18, they have made a mold for the 18.5. As I noted above, numbers cannot change on the sole as they are part of the mold. They in fact number them 4: 18.5, 5; 21.5, 6: 24.5. I did ask them a few months ago why they named them this way and they had given me an explanation which made sense but for the life of me I can't remember why i was!!!! thanks for clearing that up t. DOWN for a 5 then:)
July 26, 201311 yr This look like a beauty of a club. Very appealing what seems to be coming out of this studio. Tario -- still looking forward to your posting pics of the cavity back iron you mentioned in another thread was coming.
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