gocchinTario (aka gocchin) joined Tourspecgolf back in 2008 after spending over a decade in technology and business operation roles at a major Canadian financial institution. Before joining TSG and following his dream of moving to Japan, Tario and Chris (aka Tourspecgolfer) hit it off though their similar passions for Japanese culture. Chris hired Tario to manage TSG online operations, sales and marketing. While those are Tario's primary responsibilities, being a golf club guru and product specialist, he has also taken up the role of blogger and custom club tester and fitter along the way. Tario's hobbies include golf (of course), gadgets and technology, cars, Japanese pop culture and idols, photography, sweets, exploring Japan and walking the dog.
I posted a Happy Holidays and New Year message last week but since New Year is actually here now I thought I’d make another since most people are now off …
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A lot of people took advantage of our recent Cyber Monday sales so due to popular demand we are releasing coupons again for our Boxing Week Sale! These coupons are …
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My wife took her parents out for a Christmas dinner today and we let her dad choose what we would have. Of course he chose sushi so we were off …
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Well it’s 9:40pm on Christmas Eve here in Japan. While Christmas is not a widely celebrated holiday in Japan, nor does everyone celebrate Christmas, I thought I would take the …
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Royal Collection has released their all new Next Generation BBD 305V fairway wood. Today I received 4 demo clubs and headed out right away to test them as they simply …
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I had forgotten to post this up when I got back from Yokohama. We’ve talked about this place before as its a favorite of TSG Staffers – Uogashi Standing Sushi …
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Today I received the brand new Taylormade Japan Limited Edition Itsy Bitsy Spider Ghost Putter. While the Itsy Bitsy Ghost was previously seen only on Tour in the bags of …
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It’s the weekend and the weather has been nice so I thought I would take a break from golf though I do need to post up my Itsy Bitsy Ghost …
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ONOFF has always prided itself in creating well designed golf clubs that not only look good but make golf easier and more fun. The Fairway Wings has been their utility …
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Roads and especially parking spots in Japan are very narrow. Consider that half the cars are Kei class, Japan’s sub compact sized car which is barely wider than a smart …
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Thanks to the popularity and success of the Prototype RF700 Hi Cor Alpha Spec driver, Geotech has released a conforming model due to demand from those better players who play …
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I was invited to the season ending Tour event at beautiful King’s Fields Golf Club here in Chiba. The Hitachi 3tours Championship is held at the end of every season …
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Today was a nice day so I headed over to the range to test the ONOFF Iron and when I got home I thought I’d play with the car. Both …
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ONOFF is about to release their all new 2012 lineup and the first club I’ll look at today is the new ONOFF Iron or as some call it the RED …
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Another cold and wet day outside here in Japan which makes it hard to test golf clubs and modify the car. I was able to get out earlier before the …
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A box of 2012 ONOFF demos arrived yesterday and as I noted when I first saw them at the ONOFF Product Launch in Tokyo in October, they look amazing. Top …
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It’s been so busy lately with work and my brother’s visit, that I haven’t had the chance to get going on my new project which is Project JDM STi. Project …
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The weather sucks, its cold and raining. I can’t really get out and test these two wonderful fairway woods but I had a break in the rain today so snapped …
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My brother flew in on Friday and we headed to Yokohama for a few days where the 20th Annual Hot Rod and Custom show was being run by Mooneyes. I …
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The new Ryoma F Fairway woods arrived this week for testing. We received a 15* F3 and and a 18* F5, both with stock shafts. Initial visual impressions are that …
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Bridgestone always comes out with cool anime related limited golf products like Doraemon and Lupin III. Now they’ve released the Newing 2 piece distance ball featuring the super popular Japanese …
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Royal Collection introduced a new SFD Black line which focuses on distance and stability. The clubs are all marked with the words “Super Fairway Drive” which stands for the objective …
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Taylormade Japan has decided to release a limited edition Spider Itsy Bitsy Ghost Pure Roll Putter for the Japanese market. The Ghost will be available in 33 34 and 35″ …
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We’ve got a few product announcements for today. ONOFF has officially announced their new 2012 line to the general public now and as I mentioned back in October the clubs …
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It was a beautiful day in Japan today so my wife and I decided to drive about 30 minutes south to the Kasamori Kannon in Chonan for some hiking and …
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The winter releases have only just kicked off recently with the arrival of the first batch of new 2012 models. It’s time for a little update on what’s hot in …
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A neighbor asked me if I wanted to go down to Chonan and play the Abiding Club Golf Society today. I checked the course online and it turned out to …
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It was a fun but busy few days testing out all the demos from Yamaha. They ended up sending a total of 31 different clubs when in fact there were …
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I’m in the midst of preparing a big Yamaha Irons review for tomorrow’s blog post. In the mean time I thought I would post up the new additions to my …
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Before I undertake the huge task of snapping photos and doing writeups on Yamaha’s new Inpres X line for 2012, I thought I’d tackle something easier but equally as hot, …
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A huge, and I mean HUGE box filled with Yamaha demos arrived today. When the courier pulled up and brought out the box I thought he was delivering furniture as …
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It’s hard to believe we’re already into the first week of November. Some of our friends in the West have already seen their golfing seasons for this year come to …
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It’s been a while since we posted up some Gold’s Factory eye candy. Gold’s is busier than ever with many many modifications, refinishes and custom created putters as well as …
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Today we’re going to look at the new 2012 Yamaha Inpres X D Series lineup. In the past Yamaha had two lines the V Series for the athlete and better …
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Working in an online environment like TSG can result in long hours everyday, 7 days a week of manning the site and helping customers as well as researching and understanding …
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With so many enthusiasts and hobbyists these days building and working on their own club, we’ve decided to start offering an array of club making tools. We’ll carefully select club …
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There are a lot of new 2012 Yamaha models to cover so I’m going to start today with the V Series, especially because it features the two limited tour models …
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Yamaha today made the big announcement, 4 new drivers, 4 new irons including 3 forged models. A new power spoon. Clubs look awesome and I will be going into detail …
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One of common dilemmas when helping of fitting a customer for custom driver is what length they should get. Many customers simply say “I play standard length” or ask me …
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I was invited to ONOFF’s 2012 product launch today in Aoyama and took the chance to check out the new 2012 collections. The launch included all the new 2012 model …
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Today I’m going to look more closely at Keigekiku Yururi’s current wedge lineup. As you may have seen on the blog a few weeks ago, I covered the different forged …
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NGS, a premium Japanese shaft maker who has brought us their top performing shafts in the past like the Mach Line Proto series and D Rev Tour lines has decided …
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The season has begun for new announcements and releases of 2012 models. Today Sri Sports announced the XXIO 7th generation launch. XXIO has long been the leading mainstrem average golfer …
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PRGR sent over their New iD Forged iron for the 2011 fall season. The new iD Forged fits in right below the pro model iD BL iron as the new …
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Every year I wait for October to roll around so I can get my copy of Gakken’s SHAFT & TUNE publication. I use this “Mook” (they call publications which are …
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Tourspecgolf is proud to introduce Titleist Japan’s all new Vokey Design FORGED Wedge!! Titleist Japan decided it was time to create their first ever forged Vokey wedge for the Japanese …
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Geotech sent me their new Prototype RF700 driver to check out. The great thing about this driver is its their Alpha Spec model which is Hi Cor/Non conforming at close …
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It’s a long weekend here in Japan and my wife and I went to visit her brother in Inba. He works in the agriculture industry with a focus on vegetables …
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As I mentioned last week I have all of Yururi’s current model lineup here for some photo taking and side by side comparisons. I was outside today snapping shots of …
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I got the chance test the PRGR Red Eyes Pocket multi speed tester on Monday at Katsuura so its time to give some feedback on its operation and functionality. Pro …
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PRGR sent over its all NEW iD435 driver for some photos and testing. This new athlete model 435cc conforming driver will be released in Japan on October 15th. I had …
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Today I’m going to introduce an exciting new product which really isn’t new. Since Bridgestone discontinued their Science Eye swing monitor which reads head speed and ball speed, we’ve been …
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This is just a reminder to everyone that the window for pre ordering the new and Limited Edition Ryoma Special Tuning Hi COR heads closes this Sunday at midnight EST. …
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There are currently 4 great Yururi forged irons golfers can choose from but which one is for you? All four models are premium forged in Japan from S25C steel and …
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We’re having very nice weather these days in Chiba. After typhoon number 15 cleared across Japan and swept away the humidity and moisture, days are much cooler now and great …
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