+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Introducing A-Grind Golf and while the brand and name itself is new the people behind it have been part of the Japan Tour for over a decade. Let's start with the man himself Yusuke Ako-san who was the lead designer for Royal Collection from 2004 to 2013 for all their clubs including woods, irons, wedges, and utilities. Yesterday I sat down for lunch with Ako-san in Kobe Japan to talk about A-Grind and to organize special offerings for our members Above a photo from the Japan Golf Fair, this is the A-Grind Classic Driver intentionally made to be a mix of new and old with a sole design and head size reminiscent of the wooden club era yet it contains materials, manufacturing technology, and many shape angles like the face that are vital for distance, forgiveness, and performance. For those familiar with Royal Collection woods the face shape shares a similar design, Ako-san is known well in Japan for how his woods look and perform. The A-Grind Classic Driver is 350cc's and available in 9.5 and 10.5 lofts, it features a Forged Titanium 6-4 face dead square face angle and a standard head weight of 202 grams. it's a club for purists and at impact it's sound/feel is near perfect. Here is a prototype fairway wood that Ako-san has been working very hard on, he is "the man" when it comes to fairway wood design you can give him full credit for the royal collection and also the old sonartec fairway woods of past. This fairway wood will be coming end of march to TSG and Ako-san promises it to be his greatest FW design ever. I will post specs soon on this one as it's not released yet but in person it's dimensions and especially face profile has us very excited. Below the A-Grind Hybrid Utility, there are two utility clubs by A-Grind one a Hybrid style the other driving iron, Ako-san has been a Tour Rep on the JPGA Tour for nearly 10 years, he travels in the tour van during the golf season to nearly every event which is one of the big reasons why after only 1 year in business so many players have A-Grind woods and wedges in the bag and also 2 JPGA tour victories within months of the official brand launch. The A-Grind Utility is available in 4 different lofts # 2/18 ° # 3 /20.5° # 4/23 ° # 5 / 25.5 ° and all very compact and sleek looking. Made using a 455 Stainless face and 17-4 SS body. Below the Driving Iron Version, with already 2 JPGA victories under this particular product's belt make no mistake it's for the professional level golfer, It's #1 goal is accuracy in a more forgiving long iron. It's trajectory is medium it's a 2 piece SUS431 head done in a beautiful satin finish. Made in # 2/18 ° # 3 /20.5° # 4/23 ° # 5 / 25.5 °. Below is the A-Grind Muscle Back forged of S25C in Japan and finished with a nickel chrome satin finish hand ground with a very thin top line, sole, and extremely minimal offset. The lofts are traditional at 47* on the PW. The MB and CB will become available Mid March they are currently in production, the cavity back iron targets top players with its thin appearance as well, it's a great year to be considering new blades or players cavities , Ako-san designed these with the input of Japan Tour players who play MB irons implementing what they wanted to see in a professional level CB. Lofts are semi traditional with a 46* PW. Below a new prototype semi mid sized forged iron in the works no release date confirmed on these. Probably the best selling product and most used on the JPGA Tour is the A-Grind Tour Wedge offered completely raw or in a nickel brushed satin finish in 50/52/56/58 lofts. We hope you enjoyed the brief introduction to a very exciting brand, We will have more in hand images in about 1 week followed by proshop listings and on course reviews so please stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiromikey Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 That driver...!!! Drooling!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHWhite Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 CB irons and wedges look fantastic, like the clean look, maybe even more so minus the paint fill Would definitely play these! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vegaman Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Really liking the no frills, pure design language. Oozes understated class Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 not often i like the look of a whole range but htis range does indeed look particulary intersting. the wedges especially. can see the fourteen design in the driver head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Available Now: Driver UT Hybrid Wedge Coming Mid March: MB CB CB2 FW Everything now available ships head only pretty quick so drop me an email [email protected] if interested. We also have future plans to offer Tour Only wedges hand ground by Ako-san shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfbaka Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Love that fairway wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Love that fairway wood Couple more pics: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shacco Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 What kind of face design do the woods and utility woods have? Insert or cup face? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLL33 Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 Agree the whole line looks fantastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
604_skyline Posted February 19, 2015 Report Share Posted February 19, 2015 wow that FW looks downright perfect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daamartin Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 Can't disagree. Love the look of that FW! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjr. D Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 What lofts do the fairway woods come in? Is this the new leader in fairway woods? Also what is the difference between a cup face and insert? Is this forgiving or players? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 The whole range looks outstanding. I like the look of it all, the blades remind me of my Yonex. Hopefully they play as good as they look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 got hold of the driving iron today. very nice looking thing. kinda like the fouteen thing from a cpl of yrs back but much nicer on the eye. lovely grainy look to it and the lettering is eye catching bit of of of set so it wil be easy to hit id think not as aggressive as the honma tw-di. liked the design. think a few of these will go out the door., Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Golfbaka Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 got hold of the driving iron today. very nice looking thing. kinda like the fouteen thing from a cpl of yrs back but much nicer on the eye. lovely grainy look to it and the lettering is eye catching bit of of of set so it wil be easy to hit id think not as aggressive as the honma tw-di. liked the design. think a few of these will go out the door., Having hit the Honma and the A-Grind side by side IMO the Homna is easier to hit and 'more explosive'. I guess it depends if you want a long iron replacement or fairway wood distance. Personally I was looking for something 10-15 yards longer than my 5 iron, so the A-Grind fit the bill. They look great in the bag as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-500 Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 They whole line-up looks similar to some Geotech models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpbachman Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 The range looks great! I love the face profile of the woods & driver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 23, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Guys while these are not in the store yet they are shipping now. please email for price, we can do head only or shafted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shankopotamus Posted February 23, 2015 Report Share Posted February 23, 2015 Chris, have you demo'd any of these? Particularly interested in the hydrid style ute. Wondering how it stacks up against the i-brid 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Chris, have you demo'd any of these? Particularly interested in the hydrid style ute. Wondering how it stacks up against the i-brid 2. No not yet, I have a few of each coming which should arrive by early next month, then I figure 1 week to get in a round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted February 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2015 Shingo Katayama Design Collaboration Wedge by A-Grind Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+TourSpecGolfer Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Who's ready for A-GRIND week at TSG? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-500 Posted March 22, 2015 Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Meeeeeeeeee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RLL33 Posted March 23, 2015 Report Share Posted March 23, 2015 Me, too. E-mail sent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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