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Gold's Factory sent over a couple if their new Trinity series putters featuring the new Next Generation Premium Zone Milling. they are for a photo shoot I'm doing however it was a good opportunity to also test out the new milling for the first time and see the new Trinity weights and inserts. The two models I received are both based off of Gold's Factory's Anser No.2 head made from premium JIS SUS303 steel (also known as GSS in some circles). As with all Gold's putters, they can be fully customized including lie, loft, head weight, type of milling, finish, weighting, engraving, types of necks etc. The sky is the limit. This is an intricate milling process with the cnc machine guided by HAND.

Compared to the original two Red and Blue Trinity prototypes, these two are far more clean and simple with only two weights in the sole and inserts in the cavity and face heel. Head weights are 350g but Trinity models can go as high as 380g or so depending on the type and number of weights used. Each weight is CNC machined right at Gold's Factory on order and come in a variety of designs and sizes. The Trinity putters also feature the tri-level sole we've all seen on Tiger's Newport 2, and the brushed non reflective satin finish for that pure and simple look.

This was my first time rolling the ball with the new Next Generation Premium Zone Milling.  Premium Zone milling was first introduced on the now defunct G-Field's Premium Zone putter about 6 years ago (hence the name Premium Zone). PZ milling is known to give great forward roll and super soft feel. Master Sasaya further enhanced the milling angles by using overlapping half circles and zig zag patterns within those circles. These milling marks are at similar depths and angles to the original horizontal PZ Milling so the result is just as good forward roll and just as soft (if not softer) feel PLUS now reduced side spin.

Feel is very subjective and one of the most debated topics is the feel of putters. Soft or crisp? Too soft? Too Hard? Not responsive, not enough feel? I do like a soft feeling putter but not to the point where I get no feedback. Some carbon steel putters and insert putters can be this way, too soft that you really can't tell where on the face you hit it. The great thing about SUS303 is that it has a certain crispness to it and the Trinity putters have that combination of soft but crisp feel thanks to the face milling and material complimenting each other. Putting the ball is very responsive and with minimal skidding the putter face is great at promoting forward roll. At 350g, these two Trinity's have great balance of direction and distance control. I tried putting with different balls which all have different cover firmness to see what kind of feel I would get from the Next Gen PZ Milling and every ball was responsive and produced the similar soft but crisp feel that I like. Hitting the putter off center is much more muted so you can clearly tell when you pure a putt simply by the sound and feel.

As always Gold's can create your own custom putter or do some serious modifications for your existing putter.  The sky is the limit for what is probably the most used club in your bag! Check out some of the one of a kind putters Gold's has or base models which you can use to design your dream stick!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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Gold's Factory is off to a great start this summer with special features in both Weekly Golf Digest and Golf Waggle. Two of Japan's top golf publications showed of works from Master Sasaya.  In Waggle magazine (Rory on the cover), Waggle uses a Gold's Factory Blue Trinity model to demonstrate putter length.  In Weekly Golf Digest (Lee Westwood cover), Gold's Factory is part of a 6 page article on customizing putters and having heavier putters with shorter lengths.  They talk about Gold's Factory as THE place to get custom putter modifications in Japan and showcase Next Generation Premium Zone milling for soft feel and better roll as well as custom center shaft welding for Fastback Camerons and tungsten weighting for increases in putter head weight. We look forward to seeing more Gold's Factory works in more publications this year!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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The Gold's Factory Tiger Woods Tribute putter has been a hot seller for TSG in recent months.  Master Sasaya has created a new version that includes adjustable weights on the sole.  These should be available in the next week in the TSG ProShop so keep an eye out. ( There is no weight adjustment being offered on this model, these are set in place weights that can only be removed by Gold's Factory). In the images below it shows some different translucent paint options at no extra charge.

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I'm happy to announce that Taylormade Japan has finally added all 2010 models to their custom clubs program. This includes the SuperTri, Superdeep, Burner TP Driver and all Fairway Woods.  Drivers and woods are available directly from TM Japan with ALL shafts from Mitsubishi, Graphite Design, Fujikura (except Bangvoo) , Mamiya and Project X Graphite.  Custom driver lengths are available from 44.5" to 47" long and FW's plus or minus 0.25".

For irons, joining the already available  for customization Burner Forged are the Burner TP, R9 Forged and R9 TP Forged.  Please keep in mind that not every shaft is available with every iron model however here is a listing of TM Japan's new iron shaft offerings:

KBS Tour S or X
GS75 GS85 GS95
DG and DGSL
Project X
NS Pro 850GH 950GH 950GH HT 1050GH
Fubuki AX graphite
Tour AD 75 85 and 95 graphite

Custom lengths for irons are available in increments of 0.25" up to plus or minus 0.5".

Now here is the bad news. TM Japan still won't do custom lie angles or loft for irons which we sure wish they would because of all the requests we always get. I especially can't understand why they won't do lie changes when all custom clubs are built by TM Japan tour vans!

I guess I'm glad they've finally added the new clubs to their program so its better than not having the options. If you need help with specs, availability or getting a quote, please email us for more details!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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In this day and age of mass produced golf clubs, there are very few TRUE masters that still craft a club by hand. I have had the pleasure of watching Masayuki Sasaya of Gold's Factory hand make all his wedges, putters and irons and in the process learning what it takes to make a golf club not only perform but a work of art.

Introducing Grind Studio...

A couple of weeks ago, I took a drive up to Gunma Prefecture to visit Grind Studio and its sole employee and owner, Masahiro Tomaru. Tomaru-san happens to be one of the few great grinders left in Japan that does every single club Grind Studio produces with his own hands. I had a chance to sit with Tomaru-san for nearly 2 hours as he talked about his designs, work and also his background in the golf industry. It was a great visit and I really learned a lot about his passion for golf club design.

The Background...

Masahiro Tomaru was an aspiring pro golfer and from 18 years of age to 22 he worked hard at trying to pass the pro test as its called in Japan to become a professional golfer on tour.  Tomaru-san came to the realization that making the tour was to high a mountain to climb so he instead joined Dunlop (Sri Sports as we know it today) in the golf sales department hoping to expand his golf background. As Sri grew, Tomaru-san wanted to move into golf club design, where his real passion lay however, Dunlop had no vacancies there so he left at age 25 and went to Fourteen Golf.  At Fourteen, Tomaru-san spent 11 years fine tuning his skills as a club designer and craftsman. He was responsible for most of Fourteen's irons designs as well as credit as the creator of the MT-28 wedge.In case you didn't notice, MT = Masahiro Tomaru.

Click Read More to find out about Grind Studio products and all the great pics!

RC DB Forged - a Tomaru grind...

Tomaru-san decided to leave Fourteen to start his own company called Grind Studio. At first he also lent a hand at designing wedges for other top Japanese brands including the still sought after Royal Collection DB Forged wedge (Double Bounce). This wedge has a cult following for its tour like grind and shape and was made in very few numbers, each hand ground by Tomaru-san and stamped with a small "T" on the toe face.

Original designs premium Japan forged...

Since starting Grind Studio, demand for Tomaru-san's wedges have steadily grown as has his skill for grinding and designing wedges and irons. He currently has his own wedge designs forged for him by Kyoei and Oichi from both S25C and S20C which he then grinds, engraves, stamps and finishes from the raw head. This includes a cavity back and muscle back blade as well. Since Tomaru-san creates everything from scratch, customers are able to not only choose lofts from 45-62* as well as bounce, but also, grind type, head shape ie round or tear drop, conforming or non conforming engraved grooves, face milling, amount of offset including zero offset,  custom logos, stamping and finish including non plated raw satin and black or a plated satin or chrome.

Very large demand, heavy Japan tour usage...

Tomaru-san's popularity has grown immensely in the last two years however he has remained a one man shop guaranteeing that every Grind Studio club is made by his hands. But because of this popularity, wait times can be long for customers wanting his wedges. As Tomaru-san noted to me in our meeting, his priority especially right now with the new golf season underway, is the over 50 pros around Asia (primarily on the Japan tour) using Grind Studio wedges.  Players who have used his wedge at one time or another include Ryo Ishikawa, Shinobu Moromizato, and Yusuke Miyazato (Ai's brother).  At this time customers are waiting 2-3 months for wedges and irons and even at that, most customers feel it is well worth the wait as customers wedges get the same options, attention and quality workmanship that pro wedges do.

The Process...

Creating each wedge is time consuming and a lot of hand work. Here is a break down of what it takes to grind one wedge, non plated satin.

Pricey, takes a while... but worth it!

I was lucky enough to own a Grind Studio wedge a few years back when Grind Studio was just becoming popular. (since then he has been featured in Golf Digest, Albatross, Weekly Par Golf, Choice and many other top Japanese magazines.) I sold that wedge and have regretted it ever since as it was one of the softest and easiest wedges I have ever played. Not to mention it was beautiful and spun the crap out of a golf ball. I am glad that I was able to meet Tomaru-san and discuss having him create Grind Studio wedges for Tourspecgolf customers.  Tomaru-san has agreed to begin crafting wedges and irons for global golf enthusiasts through TSG starting this summer due to his heavy workload at this moment.  The exciting thing is that this also includes custom irons with any kind of grind and bounce as well as any amount of offset including zero offset. The cost will be high due to the amount of work involved and the quality of the wedge since customers pretty much get a one of a kind custom made tour quality wedge. The wait time will be long, but good things come to those who are patient and wait. (^_^)

Contact us if interested in a some Grind Studio Wedges.

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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Kamui Works has long been known to make some of the best hand made drivers in Japan especially for the athlete golfer. For many years their Asiri line was the premium choice for the better golfer those who wanted a custom made driver for performance. In the last year, we saw the release of the 456 Silver which took the performance of the Asiri line to a whole new level and more. Suddenly everyone wanted a 456 Silver including the average golfer. With the hand made custom specs, the 456 Silver can be made to perform for any player with any swing speed or style.  The 460cc forgiving performance driver opened the door to the average golfer market for Kamui.

In comes the all new 2010 TEIOO Mid Air Iron. This is a hybrid performance iron made for the average golfer wanting the ultimate in forgiveness and distance. With lofts 2-3* stronger than most average golfer models (22* 5 iron) and an ultra low center of gravity, players can gain more than a whole club distance by using the TEIOO.  Your an average to slower swinger but want to hit your 5 iron 185 yards? Sure, the TEIOO can reach those distances with the strong loft and longer recommended club length (38.5" 5 iron).  The high COR Maraging face is very thin producing ultra high ball speeds for lots of carry. The long irons feature a hybrid style head which progresses to a more traditional iron style head from the mid to short irons.

The new Kamui TEIOO is available in two models, the standard "Silver" model or an Ion Plated (IP) Gold model. Best of all, the TEIOO is available as heads only or custom built to any shaft you want. We've already requested demos so stay tuned for an in depth review! If you are interested in a set please contact us for more details!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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So after a week of being away in the very hot tropical island of Palau, I am back in the golfing world here in Japan. The weather was great, the water was crystal clear and diving was fun, but it was hard to believe a place as beautiful as Palau did not have a golf course so I'm glad to be back!

It's the time of year here in Japan were many of the top manufacturers are releasing new 2010 models. This is an exciting time for golfers and with so many new drivers to choose from it can sometimes be overwhelming. I've talked in the past about driver specs and how different specs can affect a driver's true performance as well as finding the right shaft.

Today I'm not going to talk about shafts for once but rather look at some interesting numbers provided by Golf Digest Japan on several of the latest and greatest drivers here in Japan. We're talking about real specs, the loft, the lie, the face angle, the center of gravity, where the sweet spot actually is and more. Many manufacturers state a certain spec on their mass produced drivers but due to manufacturing oddities and quality control, what you see is not what you always get.

Do real specs make a difference to golfers? For many average and recreational golfers, they probably don't think twice when buying a driver off the shelf at their local golf shop. However, for the better player, the golf enthusiast, the player struggling with  their driver shot, real specs on a driver can make a huge difference.

Imagine you're a player who battles a hook and would like to keep the ball from ballooning. You see that new model driver with a 9.5* loft and square face angle and think that is the driver for you to keep the ball straight and get that more penetrating trajectory. What if that driver had a real loft of 12.8* and the face was in fact closed 2.0* due to manufacturing inconsistencies? Those rainbow drives and duck hooks could end up getting much worse.

So we've got data for 24 new model drivers but due to space constraints I will post what I think people are the most interested in (maybe I'm just lazy^^) including the new Titleist VG3, Nike Machspeed Round STR8-Fit, Callaway Legacy Type S, Tourstage X-Drive 703, Yamaha Inpres X D201, Srixon Z-TX, ONOFF Red, R9 SuperTri, PRGR GN502 Tour 440, Cobra S2 and Ping G15. Please keep in mind that these are only examples, what you see here doesn't necessarily mean every single club of a specific model has real specs like this. The drivers were randomly picked off the shelves. I've also made a few images of what key specs players like to look at here in Japan using the new PRGR 505 RED driver (which unfortunately was not part of the test but I just happen to have taken pics of the driver yesterday).

So click Read More to find out all the results of the test!

Some of the key points players look at are of course real loft, real face angle and the actual lie angle. Other points of interest are the sweet spot height, simply because the sweet spot is not in the center of the driver but usually more towards the top. It's good to know as that point will create optimal smash factor and spin (or lack thereof). Face height matters for many as well too as better players tend to lean towards deeper faces for control while average golfers miss towards the toe and heel so go for more shallow faces. The gravity angle is another spec which the Japanese look at. The larger the gravity angle the faster the head rotates to a square position at impact. So its typical that drivers with a large gravity angle are good for slicers. The depth of the center of gravity also affects the trajectory of the ball (and affects where the sweet spot is). The deeper and lower the CG the higher the launch. Those wanting high launch and max carry look for deep and low CG points while those wanting lower more penetrating ball flight for control look for a shallow and higher CG.

So lets check out some of the results. I'll list the off the shelf specs or stated specs followed by real specs for your reference, plus any comments I might have.

Titleist Japan VG3 Driver: 10* Loft 45.5" D1 Stiff/Regular Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 11.5
Real Lie: 62.25
Real Face Angle: Open 1.25
CG Depth: 39.5mm
Face Height: 58mm
Sweet Spot Height: 36.5mm
Gravity Angle: 23.5
Head Weight: 195.1g
Comment: The VG3 is made for carry and distance so I'm not all that surprised to see the higher real loft (I should mention that besides manufacturing consistencies, some manufacturers purposely produce different real specs... maybe to protect hurt egos^^). I was surprised to see the 1.25* open face though as this driver is aimed at a more average crowd unlike previous Titleist drivers.

Callaway Japan New Legacy Driver Type S: 9.5* Loft 45" D1 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 9.5*
Real Lie: 59.5*
Real Face Angle: Open 2.0*
CG Depth: 37.5mm
Face Height: 57mm
Sweet Spot Height: 33mm
Gravity Angle: 22.5
Head Weight: 200.5
Comments: The New Legacy Type S is part of the dual release by Callaway along with a Type L driver. The Type S is aimed at the better player and the real specs show it. The specs are probably the closest in this test to being right on and its not surprising considering this driver is made by Endo. Heavier head weight, very open face, real loft same as stated loft and a smaller gravity angle and shallower CG make this a very good choice for the athlete golfer.

Taylormade R9 SuperTri Driver: 9.5* Loft 45.25" D2 Stiff Stock shaft
Real Loft: 11.0*
Real Lie: 60*
Real Face Angle: Open 0.75*
CG Depth: 40.5mm
Face Height: 60.5mm
Sweet Spot Height: 35mm
Gravity Angle: 22.5
Head Weight: 198.5
Comments: The SuperTri is meant to be the highest launching R9 driver so no surprise that the CG is pretty deep back. The face height is rather deep at 60.5mm so its hard to imagine the SuperDeep TP will be even more!

Ping G15 Driver: 10.5* Loft 45.75" D5 Regular Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 13.25*
Real Lie: 59.75*
Real Face Angle: Closed 0.5*
CG Depth: 37mm
Face Height: 57mm
Sweet Spot Height: 33.5mm
Gravity Angle: 23.5
Head Weight: 197
Comments: Almost 2* more for real loft. The CG depth helps bring that ball flight down a bit.

PRGR GN502 Tour 440: 10.5* 45" D1.5 Regular Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 11.25*
Real Lie: 60*
Real Face Angle: Open 0.5*
CG Depth: 34.5mm
Face Height: 55.5mm
Sweet Spot Height: 62mm
Gravity Angle: 19
Head Weight: 193.8
Comments: Very shallow CG in this model PRGR dubs as a tour model for the better player. Open face and small gravity angle help avoid nasty hooks. Face is shallower for a "Tour" model.

Yamaha Inpres X D201: 10* Loft 45.75" D0 Stiff/Regular Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 11.5*
Real Lie: 60.5*
Real Face Angle: Closed 2.0*
CG Depth: 34.5mm
Face Height: 52mm
Sweet Spot Height: 34.5mm
Gravity Angle: 24.5
Head Weight: 193
Comments: The standard D201 is aimed at those who want to hit a draw and keep the right side out of play so the 2.0* closed face helps (stated face angle for this model is 1.0* closed). The real loft is higher but CG is not deep. The Gravity Angle also helps square the face for the most forgiving driver in the Inpres X line. This is also one of those cases where it seems the brand has chosen a higher loft for this set up on purpose as in the Yamaha fitting guide they state the loft is 1.5* higher than marked... so they do know!

Nike Japan SQ Machspeed Round STR8-Fit Driver: 10.5* Loft 46" D1 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 12.5*
Real Lie: 65*
Real Face Angle: Closed 1.25*
CG Depth: 39.5mm
Face Height: 52mm
Sweet Spot Height: 36.5mm
Gravity Angle: 23.5
Head Weight: 195.9
Comments: Okay a bit concerned about the upright real lie angle. Lets hope that is a typo in my data here (its probably not since the VR Driver in the test wqas 64.25* lie). Deep CG and high real loft are calling for some high launch here.

Srixon Z-TX: 9.5* Loft 45.25" D2 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 10.75*
Real Lie: 60*
Real Face Angle: Open 1.0*
CG Depth: 37mm
Face Height: 55mm
Sweet Spot Height: 33.5mm
Gravity Angle: 23.5
Head Weight: 193.2
Comments: Overall specs aren't terribly off. The real loft may be a tad high, pretty good gravity angle for an athlete model.

Tourstage X-Drive 703: 9.5* Loft 45.25" D2 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 9.75*
Real Lie: 59.25*
Real Face Angle: Open 1.0*
CG Depth: 36mm
Face Height: 54mm
Sweet Spot Height: 31mm
Gravity Angle: 23.5
Head Weight: 195.8
Comments: Another very close to real spec driver manufactured by Endo. Its no wonder Epon drivers are very close to real spec as well. Its also no wonder Endo produced drivers cost so darn much.

Cobra S2 Driver: 9.5* Loft 46" D4 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 11.0*
Real Lie: 62*
Real Face Angle: Open 0.5*
CG Depth: 39mm
Face Height: 55mm
Sweet Spot Height: 34mm
Gravity Angle: 21.5
Head Weight: 198.9
Comments: A tad high on the real loft so coupled with the deeper CG could produce a higher launch than desired. Its an improvement though as a few years ago when I reported real lofts the Cobra LV4 was 4.0* more in real loft than stated.

ONOFF Driver: 10* 45.25" D2 Stiff Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 13.75**
Real Lie: 62*
Real Face Angle: Closed 1.5*
CG Depth: 39mm
Face Height: 55.5mm
Sweet Spot Height: 37mm
Gravity Angle: 24
Head Weight: 190.5
Comments: The real loft coupled with the deep CG will definitely produce a max carry high launch ball. With the closed face this driver is meant for the average golfer looking for carry and to avoid the right side.

XXIO 2010 Driver: 10.5* 46" D1 Regular Stock Shaft
Real Loft: 12.5*
Real Lie: 60.5*
Real Face Angle: Closed 2.5*
CG Depth: 40mm
Face Height: 52mm
Sweet Spot Height: 31.5mm
Gravity Angle: 27
Head Weight: 189.4
Comments: The most closed face, the largest gravity angle in this bunch are the designs for an anti slice driver. The XXIO is always long for the average golfer, maybe those specs are why.

So there you have a small sampling of current model drivers and their real specs. For many this means nothing and the driver you choose may not necessarily have specs like these nor might you care if they do or not as long as the driver performs for you. If it doesn't perform real specs might be one of many possibilities why it doesn't.  Yet for those who are picky as hell about specs, there are companies like Kamui, Epon and others who will build club heads to spec from scratch so you know exactly what you are getting. Hopefully this post gives you an idea of how sometimes specs can vary when buying golf clubs, which once again proves, if that demos gives you the best results ever, buy it because the one on the shelf may not have the same real specs!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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( Oklahoma State Diamana Custom Shaft )
image via golf.com

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After many requests from customers to get Kamui's fairway wood in the pro shop, so we thought we would get a few heads in to check out. Yesterday I received a custom 3 and 5 wood from Kamui and they are indeed a simple and clean design with a very traditional shape and mid height or semi shallow face depending on how you look at it. The Kamui FW is hand made to spec just like the Kamui drivers that TSG carries.

Each Kamui Fairway Wood is made from soft SUS630 for the body and a FORGED high maraging face. Maraging steel is stronger than SUS630 so can be made thinner providing soft feel and POP off the face at impact.  The heads are considered mid to smaller sized heads with a pear shape.

As always Kamui's are hand made made to exact specs. Keep in mind also that while I list adjustment guidelines here, it is NOT uncommon for Kamui to be able to adjust even more beyond these guidelines.

3W
Loft 15* plus/minus 1*
Lie is 59* plus/minus 1* (or more)
Face Angle 2* closed to 1* open (but like the driver 2* is probably doable)
Weight is 207g and can be increased up to 217g

5W
18* plus/minus 1*
Lie is 60* plus/minus 1* (or more)
Face Angle 2* closed to 1* open (but like the driver 2* is probably doable)
Weight is 214g and can be increased up to 223g

7W
21* plus/minus 1*
Lie is 61* plus/minus 1*(or more)
Face Angle 2* closed to 1* open (but like the driver 2* is probably doable)
Weight is 223g and and can be increased up to 232g

Like the Kamui drivers the Kamui fairway wood can be purchased as head only or custom built with any of the best shafts Japan has to offer. The Kamui FW will be in the shop this weekend with a head only price of 299.00. If you need help with specs or need recommendations or a custom quote, as always feel free to contact me.  Here are some pictures, at the moment, head only:

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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Today I received my 2010 Yamaha Inpres custom fitting book with all Yamaha's options and guidlines for custom clubs and fittings for customers.  There are lots of awesome shafts available including new models like the Bassara Griffin, Diamana 'ilima and Fuji's new Motore Speeder VCX.1 Blue series which replaces the old red Motore Speeder.  All woods and irons can be built to any length and loft and lie adjustments are now available for irons and wedges plus or minus 1*.

Custom fitting is so much more than just choosing a shaft based on swing speed nowadays and Yamaha is well aware of this. The fitting guide for retailers like ourselves provides numerous recommendations of head and shaft combos based on users swing styles (ie swinger vs hitter) and bad shots (slice vs hook). They also recognize that not every hitter hooks the ball and not every swinger slices the ball. Sometimes its the other way around and I was happy to see recommended combos for the hard hitter who slices!

Most custom orders take approximate 3 weeks or so and are built right at the Yamaha factory. If you need help finding the right head/model and shaft combo to fit your swing, please don't hesitate to contact us!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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We've got some great news for customers in our Pro Shop. Not only will we be carrying the new Yamaha Inpres 2010 Line up, but we will now offer full customized specs as well as upgraded shafts direct from the Yamaha factory. We can quote you on any specs and any available shaft and even help you make the right choices. Yamaha's new drivers the V201 Tour, V201, D201 and D201 Type S as well as V Forged, D Black and D Steel, and D Power Spoon will be available with all the best shafts built to spec including length, swing weight and grips for woods and loft, lie, length, grips and swing weight for irons.

Some of the options will include:

Woods:

Fujikura's Rombax X, Rombax Z, Rombax V, Rombax F, Rombax Y and the new Rombax J (most likely the Motore Speeder as well)

Graphite Designs Tour AD EV Series, MD Series, DI Series, Quattro Tech Series and PT Series

Mitsubishi's Diamana kai'li, 'ilima, Blueboard, Whiteboard, Redboard

Roddio's Pentacross WA Series, Tricross EX Series

Irons:

Nippon's NS Pro 750GH Wraptech, 850GH, 950GH, 1050GH, 1150GH Tour

True Temper's Dynamic Gold, Dynamic Gold SL, Dynamic Gold HL, GS75, GS95 Rifle Project X, PX HL, PX Flighted

Graphite Design's Tour AD 75 85 95 in gray, blue or green

Mitsubishi's Diamana and Bassara Iron shafts

Roddio's Pentacross I Series Iron Shaft

Fujikura's Rombax Iron shafts, Motore Iron shafts, Speeder Iron shafts, ZCOM Iron shafts

Please contact us if you need recommendations or help with new custom specs and Yamaha!

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.

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Kamui Works 456 Silver

Since introducing the Kamui Works 456 Silver driver back in September, it has been a very popular choice for many golfers who visit our pro shop. The ability to customize so many specs and hand made to finish is a big draw. Also the fact that one can choose conforming 0.83COR or Non-conforming 0.88COR has been a big factor as they have probably been going at a 1 to 1 ratio of conforming vs non-conforming when it comes to sales.

For the Average to Athlete Golfer

Features aside, I've decided to do a one month update on how the driver actually performs. I've had a 456 Silver in the bag now for nearly a month and including 2-3 practice sessions and 1 round a week I'm ready to give a bit of feedback on feel and performance. Because the 456 Silver is so customizable, it is really made for all levels of golfers. As for me, I am a very "average golfer", the most common golfer you can find in Japan. I play for the enjoyment of golf but I'd always love to get a good score (shoot high 80's low 90's) so I need all the help I can get.  I drive the ball around 220-240 yards at most and if lucky on an elevated tee with down slope fairway can hit it 260 or so (this is very rare).  I struggle with the right side and an occasional slice especially if I speed up and rush my tempo resulting in an open face and glancing blow. So I'm a lot like many of the average golfers out there.

Finding the right fit

Getting a driver to perform optimally for each individual  is not as simple as buying it off the shelf. Pairing a good head with the right shaft to suit ones swing is very important. A great driver head can become a very bad one with the wrong shaft in it and an average driver head can become a pretty good one with the right shaft in it. This can sometimes be the hardest thing to figure out which is why off the shelf clubs still sell well and can be perceived to provide "adequate" performance without having to worry about specs and right fit. Luckily I know my specs so I went with an 11* real loft as I need some launch, a draw biased head with 1.0* closed face to help battle the right side, a 61* lie and a NON-conforming model to see if it would help me gain distance.

I have been using the Bassara Griffin in my recent drivers which is a very very good shaft. The Griffin has smooth feel, mid launch, low spin and very stable, but it was not giving me the launch I needed in the driver and I found the butt of the shaft a bit on the thick side (I have small hands), which made it hard for me to turn over sometimes. I am also not a fast swinger so I decided to go ultra light with some kick and chose the Fujikura Motore Speeder VC3.0. The Motore Speeder is the worlds first 7 ply shaft. It has done very well in Japan but truthfully it plays softer than say a Motore F1 and is really aimed more at the smooth swinger or regular tempo guy. Wrist clock and aggressive transitions need not apply (look at the new Motore Speeder X.1 series which solves this). I went with a finished club length of 44.5" and a total final weight of just over 280g.

I personally find I have a hard time squaring a driver that is longer than 45" because at times my body turns than the club and my arms and hand sometimes cannot catch up. I can also make much better impact with the shorter club. Those of you who read the blog will know that I am not a fan of manufacturers increasing club length to increase distance, ie 46.5" drivers. The longer length makes it so much harder to pure the sweet spot for max balls speedes and optimal launch and spin.  So a long driver is not an advantage if you can't hit it consistently and honestly for the average golfer consistency is the hardest thing to we strive for.

My Specs

So the final specs, Kamui 456 Silver, 11* loft, 2* closed face, draw biased, Motore Speeder VC3.0 44.5"  and C8 swing weight. For the swing weight I could have gone with D1 or D2 which is standard in Japan simply by getting a heavier head from Kamui but in my constant testing of drivers, I have found that I have a harder time loading the shaft on a driver with a higher swing weight.  This is a personal thing and may not work for everyone but I believe as a slower swinger I can still feel the head at C6-C8 but I seem  to be able to load up and unload  the club much better.

More forgiving than expected

So how does 456 Silver stack up? First of all I cannot play any club if it does not feel good. I am a fan of soft feel and the Kamui is a pleasure to play feel wise. It is one of the softer drivers I have hit. The dimple face DAT55 next generation Titanium provides a sponge like slingshot effect. I cannot feel the difference between the conforming demo 456 I had earlier and this non-conforming one. They both utilize the same face but only with different COR.

My typical miss on the face is towards the toe or low on the heel.  With the shorter club I have been able to stay around the center (thanks to the shorter length of the club)  but this club is ultra forgiving as many customers who have gotten one have also noticed, especially for a driver with a mid to deep face. I am in more fairways than usual, I have lost less balls out of bounds since switching to the Kamui. Off center hits still provide very respectable distance.  Overall, I may have gained a few yards here and there just based on the virtue that I am in the fairway more often but isn't that what we all want afterall? Better 230 yards in the fairway than 230 yards out in the woods.

The Motore Speeder lauches mid to high, with the VC3.0 being probably on the higher side due to its light weight. This paired with the 11* face is fine for me, as I have a tendency to use a strong grip slightly de-lofting the club and this combination gives me a launch just about right. I would have liked a bit more roll and the Kamui is rather low spin but the Speeder is probably adding spin to the combo as I had more roll when I initially tested the Kamui with a Griffin which spins less.

Consistent Distance and Fairways keeps

This driver is very straight and just as long if not longer than anything I have ever hit including the Epon EMB and 460ZR, XXIO, GN502, ViQ, Hyper ERC, Burner, etc which are all very good drivers that I have played. For any golf ho the ability to keep a club in the bag is a sign of its value and performance. I have no plans on changing out the Kamui 456 Silver anytime soon.

The Kamui is a premium driver and is definitely not cheap. But you get premium quality and attention to detail with exact specs and hands on manufacturing. Knowing your specs and finding the right shaft is essential in getting the Kamui 456 Silver to perform for your swing. Do that and you will have a driver, custom made for you and finished by hand that you will play for a very long time coming.

Tario (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, 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 and walking the dog.